The Sun.
London, England, 1822-02-27 00:00:00

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

(No. LVI.)

LE RENEGAT, i. e. THE RENEGADE, by the Viscount

d'ARLIgCOURT. 2 VoLs. Bvo. Paris, 1822.

We noticed the Solitaire, the former produc-
tion of this author, in our paper of the 15th of
February, 181, and then alluded to the con-
troversy at Paris between the supporters of the
old French School of Literature, and the modern
innovators who have introduced a new style,
called the Romantic, formed on the model of the
works of our immortal Shakspeare, Lord Byron,
and the author of Waverly. We understand that
the controversy continues to be carried on with
undiminished ardour.

Since our report, the Solitaire has passed
through seven editions, and been translated into
English under the title of the Recluse ; yet in
spite of this extraordinary success, and notwith-
standing for months every pretty mouth at Paris
could talk of nothing else, and so many secret
tears were shed over it, this work could not
escape the censure of some French _Aristarchi,
by whom it has been severely handled. The
fame of M. d'Arlincourt has been called in ques-
tion, his laurels disputed leaf by leaf, and the
most unequivocal proofs of his brilliant triumph
obstinately contested. These critics will not
admit that the formidable man of Mont Sauvage
possesses any merit, notwithstanding he has been
melo-dramatized at Paris and London, and trans-
lated as an opera buffa at Rome ; they chuse to
forget that the innocent and interesting Elodie has
furnished Paris with the subject of we know not
how many romances, designs, engravings, and
cloaks, and they have wickedly treated the vir-
gin of Underlach, the flower of the valley, and
the dove of the monastery, with more severity
than did the wily Countess Imberg and the
traitor Palzo. But this is not all. These lite-
rary critics have penetrated into the saloon of the
author, guilty of having made so much noise in the
world ; they have found fault with his mode of
speech, his manners, habits, and amusements; they
have watched his every step, and followed him
whithersoever he went; in short, they have dis-
closed most of the practices in use among the vo-
taries of Apollo.

M. d'Arfincourthowever was meditating, in the
midst of these impotent clamours, and preparing, in
the very presence of his enemies, a narrative ca-
pable of affecting even the classics themselves,
and seemed to say to them : " To confound your
criticisms, I am finishing a composition which
shall surpass in the marvellous, in theatrical
touches, and impetuosity of style, that which you
now condemn ; and though the faults of the ro-
mantic school it displays may shock still more
your jealous eyes, I will spare no effort to ex-
cite your sensibility, and force you to confess
that inventive minds may diverge into new
paths, and that pre-eminent success cannot be
obtained by a too rigid adherence to the lessons
of the school." Such is the character of the Re-
njgat ; and we doubt not this hero of the new
style will be as well received by the world as
his predecessor the Solitaire.

We shall now proceed to relate the principal
events in the new work of M. d'Arlincourt.—
The reader is transported back to the eighth
century, at the epoch when the Saracens crossed
the Pyrenees and invaded the whole of Narbo-
nese Gaul and a part of Aquitaine; and it is in
the mountains of the Cevennes, in those solitudes
ravaged by torrents, covered with volcanic re-
mains, and resembling most frequently, accord-
ing to an expression of the author, infernal towns
deserted by demons, that the action takes place.
We have no longer the adventures of a warrior,
who turns hermit to expiate his crimes, and whom
the sight of a young girl suddenly converts into
a lover, and a man of wealth : the Renegade,
formed on the largest proportions, is on the con-
trary at the zenith of his power; he commands brave
armies,and his name alone puts whole battalions of
the enemy to flight; vengeance animates and burns
within his bosom, and like another Coriolanus he
covers his own country- (France) with dead
bodies, reduces it to ashes and ruins, and ravages
hat beautiful Kingdom, of which he would have
been the Sovereign but for terrible misfortunes :
now a victory, and the whole of Gaul is sub-
dued ; again a victory, and all Europe perhaps
is Mussulman.

Fortunately for all Europe, history tells us,
there was a Charles Martel. M. d'Arlincourt
says the same thing, but Charles Martel in the
romance occupies only a secondary place : he ap-
pears only a short time before the denouement,
and it is plain that with a little more audacity
the author might have very well done without
this hero. The principal character in the work,;
who arrests the triumphant march of the children
of IVlahomet, is a young woman, an inspired vir-
gin, the most lovely of human beings. Though
she gains a regular battle, and takes a fort by
storm, her fame does not rest on deeds of war :
she has a weapon of a different nature, and
equally powerful as the sword of Joan of Arc;
she speaks, and her voice awakens expiring
patriotism, and covers the mountains of Ce-
vennes with soldiers. The ememy's General
himself, the ferocious Renegade, cannot re-
sist the enchantments of this Christian Armida.
Here she saves his life ; there she appears
when he awakes from his slumbers, as a protecting
divinity ; elsewhere she pours the balm of conso-
lation into his heart, which the ingratitude of
man has rendered barbarous ; and a single word
from her, a single look, is enough to calm the
fury of Agobar, and to stop the course of his
blasphemies. But Ezilda, who yields with still
stronger force to her feelings, as soon as she re-
cognizes in the Renegade the being for whom
her hand was destined, Ezilda meditates a
greater victory : she wishes to bring back the
chief of the Infidels to the worship of the true
God, and this triumph, which is only ac-
complished after most unexampled efforts,
is the predominant object of the work. All the
other figures are grouped around this astonishing
woman, and she absorbs such pre-eminent inte-
rest that it would, in our opinion, have been
more appropriate to give the romance the title of
the Inspired than that of the Renegade. Besides,
Agobar, divided betwixt vengeance and love,
interests less than Ezilda: one is, perhaps, a

more theatrical personage ; the other breathes,
on the contrary, that spirit of charity, that Chris-
tian enthusiasm, that Angelic heroism, which
charm every heart.

The denouement of the Renegade is gloomy
and terrible. As regards its moral effect, the
work is irreproachable. Though the author has
employed very brilliant colours, he seems at
least to have bestowed them on subjects calcu-
lated to awaken generous sentiments and elevated
ideas. He does not belong to that class of lite-
rary innovators, who delight in displaying the
beautiful, the grand, and the heroic, in the
maxims of a systematic villain, or the exploits of
a misanthropic robber.

We entertain little doubt of the triumph of
the Renegade. The name alone of M. d'Arlin-
court will carry his new production to the con.
fines of the romantic world. In a few days the
present edition will be exhausted *; and we
may venture to say, that among our Gallic neigh-
bours he who has not already perused the Rene-
gade will be disclaimed by that frivolous Divi-
nity who presides over the saloons of Paris.

* After this article was written, a second edition of the RE-
NEGADE has been published at Paris, and Mr. COLBURN has
advertised that a translation of it is in the press.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, FEB. 26.
HOWARD AND GIBBS' BANKRUPTCY.
The LORD CHANCELLOR was this day again occupied ara
hearing Counsel in the above Bankruptcy until three o'clock,
at which time his Lordship rose.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Fan. 26.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION.
THE KING V. DOLBY.
In consequence of this case being fixed for this. day, the
Court was crowded to excess at an early hour, but only the
two Special Jurymen were in attendance, viz. William Fisher,
Esq. and William. Kimber, Esq.; the pannel being called
over, several persons whose names did not appear on the
pannel stood up, and stated they had been summoned.
The CHIEF JUSTICE requested they would wait.
Mr. Scam. Err said, he could very well see the contrivance,
that a number of persons had been summoned to supply the
places of those who did not appear; he should, however, con-
tend, that the Act which gave such power to an officer, viz.
95 Hen. VIII. cap. 6. only applied to criminal cases; that of
Philip and Mary enforced the same law.
Mr. EVANS supported the same line of argument.
The CoaoNen was then preparing to call over the names of
the Jurors he had summoned, to supply any deficiency that
should arise in the non-attendance of the Jurors, when
Mr. SCARLETT objected ; the practice, he said, of selecting
Jurors by de tales circumstanti6ns, was always done instanter,
and not that they should be ordered to attend, as in that case.
The forming of a Jury was quite in the power of an Officer,
as he might take care to strike at the Crown-office such a Jut y
as he knew would not attend, and order those to attend in
Court whom he might contrive to select without controul. In
support of his objection, Mr. Scarlett cited Hawkins's Pisa's,
and various authorities, together with the two Acts before
referred to.

Mr. EVANS also cited cases from many of the books, all of
which supported Mr. Scarlett's objection ; lie also referred to
the 4th and sth of Philip and Mary, which supported the
same principle. _

. .
The CHtsF Justice said, it was true that there were vari.
ous writers upon the subject, but that they had followed each
other; but the first of them had not taken the cleat est view
of the subject—at least that was his opinion.
After a fea, words froM Mr. Gurney and Mr. Tyndal, on
behalf of the prosecution, the Chief Justice considered the
objection could not be sustained. He then read from an old
manuscript on second, as follows :

" Mr. Coroner, I desire you will call a sufficient number of
able persons to attend, to supply any deficiency that may
arise in the pannels."
The Coroner (Mr. Stirling) was proceeding, when
Mr. SCARLETT submitted, that there was only one Coroner
in attendance—there ought to have been two. The Learned
Gentleman produced several authorities to that effect. `
The Chief Justice holding it to be good, Mr. Murray went
up to Mr. Gude. the Deputy Coroner, and having had some
conversation with him, an application was made for the case
to stand over a short time, until the arrival of Mr. Unwin,
the other Coroner.

The Court would not, however, agree to this, and the
trial was postponed.
The Chief Justice ordered the Special Jurors that were not
in attendance to be fined.
PITT, QUI TAM, V. STEWARD.
This was an action to recover penalties for alleged bribery
in the borough of Cainelford. The evidence did not apply,
and the Jury found a verdict for.the defendant.

Monday afternoon the body of a young man,
apparently about twenty, was found in the
Regent's Canal, at Limehouse, and was conveyed
to the bone-house to be owned. lie was shab-
bily attired, and appeared to have been about a
week in the water.

COURSE OF EXCHANGE, February 26.
Amsterdam
Ditto, at Sight l2 5
Rotterdam l2 9
Antwerp l2 5
Harnburgb 37 4 2i Us
Altoria
Paris, 3 Day's sight 25 40 . 0 Us.
Ditto
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Frankfort on the pain
Madrid
Cadiz
Bilboa 364 Effective
Barcelona
Seville

Gibraltar
Leghorn
GeLoa 43i-Venice, Ital. Liv. 27 GO
Malta 45 -Naples 391
Palermo
Lisbon
Oporto
Rio Janeiro
Dublin .... 9i Cork 9i pc! Cent.