The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

111 0 ORE'S POETICAL WORKS, V. oz. VI.
Longman, London, 1841.
In his preface to this volume, Mr. Moore gives
some interesting particulars respecting Lalla.
Rookli, the most successful, with the exception
perhaps of the Irish Melodies, of all his poems.
After stating that a negotiation was opened on
the subject with the Longmans in the year 18142,
and that the late Mr. Perry offered himself as the
poet's representative in the treaty, he goes on to
say—" The short discussion that then took place
between the two parties, may be comprised in a
very few sentences. 'lam of opinion,' said Mr.
Perry, enforcing his view of the case by argu-
ments which it is not for me to cite, .4 that Mr.
Moore ought to receive for his poem the largest
price that has been given, in our day, for such a
work.' That was,' answered the Messrs. Long-
man, three thousand guineas.' Exactly so,'
replied Mr. Perry, ' and no less a sum ought he
to receive. It was then objected, and very ma-,
sonably, on the part of the firm, that they had
never yet seen a single line of the poem; and
that a perusal of the work ought to be allowed to
them, before they embarked so large a sum in
the purchase. But no, the romantic view which
my friend Perry took of the matter was, that
this price should be given as a tribute to repu-
tation already acquired, without any condition
for a previous perusal of the new work. This
high tone, I must confess, not a little startled
and alarmed me ; but, to the honour and glory
of romance—as well on the publisher's side as
the poet's—this very generous view of the trans-
action was, without any difficulty, acceded to,
and the firm agreed, before we separated, that I
was to receive three thousand guineas tor my
poem." At this period, scarcely a line of Lalla
Rookli, as it at present stands, had been written
but in the year 1816, it was sufficiently advanced
to be placed in the publishers' hands. Alluding
to the time spent in its composition, Mr. Moore
tells us that lie had been "at all times a far more
slow and painstaking workman than would ever
• be guessed." This confession does not at all take
us by surprise. for we have no great faith in what
may be called the impromptu inspirations of ge-
nius, and cordially agree with Sheridan that very
often " your easy writing is d—d hard reading.'
Genius, if it desire to display itself to advantage,
and make its fine powers appreciated, must
labour, and labour hard too; it must dig deep
for the golden ore of thought and sentiment, and
not content itself with that which comes readiest
to hand, and lies on the surface. But to resume
our quotations :
Having thus laid open the secrets of the workshop to ac-
count for the time expended in writing this work, I must also,
in justice to my own industry, notice the pains I took in long
and laboriously reading for it. To form a store-house, as it
were, of illustration purely Oriental, and so familiarise myself
with its various treasures, that, as quick as Fancy required the
aid of fact, in her spiritings, the memory was ready, like an-
other Ariel, at her " strong bidding," to furnish materials for
the spell-work,—such was, for a long while, the sole object of
my studies ; and whatever time and trouble this preparatory
process may have cost me, the effects resulting from it, as far
as the humble merit of truthfulness is concerted, have been
such as to repay me more than sufficiently for my pains. I
have not forgotten how great was my pleasure, when told by
the late Sir James Mackintosh, that he was once asked by
Colonel W—s, the historian of British India, " whether it
was true that Moore had never been in the East ?" " Never,"
answered Mackintosh. " Well, that shows me," replied Colonel
W--s, "that reading over D'Herbelot is as good as riding
on the back of a camel."

I need hardly subjoin to this lively speech, that although
D'Herbelot's valuable work was, of course, one of my manuals,
I took the whole range of all such Oriental reading as was ac-
cessible to me ; and became, for the time, indeed, far more
conversant with all relating to that distant region, than I have
ever been with the scenery, productions, or modes of life of
any of those countries lying most within my reach. We know
that D'Anville, though never in his life out of Paris, was able
to correct a number of errors in a plan of the Troad taken by
De Choiseul, on the spot; and, for my own very different, as
well as far inferior, parposes, the knowledge I had thus ac-
quired of distant localities, seen only by me in my day-dreams,
was no less ready and useful.
An ample reward for all this painstaking has been found in
such welcome tributes as I have just now cited ; nor can I
deny myself the gratification of citing a few more of the same
descrip.ion. From another distinguished authority on Eastern
subjects, the late Sir John Malcolm, I had myself the plea-
suoe of hearing a similar opinion publicly expressed ;—that
eminent person, in a speech spoken by him at a Literary Fund
Dinner, having remarked, that together with those qualities
of the poet, which he much too partially assigned to me, was
combined also "the truth of the historian."
Few poems have been honoured with more tri-
umphant marks of public approbation than Lalla
Rookh. On its first appearance it was received
with a burst of enthusiasm by all classes of
English readers ; and since then, it has been
translated, not only into most of the Continental
languages, but even into Persian ! Mr. Fraser
met with a copy of it at a " town on the shores
of the Caspian;" and a splendid divqrtissement,
founded on it, was acted at the Chateau Royal
of Berlin, in 182'2 when the present Emperor
and Empress of Russia performed two of the
principal characters! Yet notwithstanding these
striking testimonies in favour of its power of
awakening interest, we are not disposed to rank
Lalla Rookh among the happiest flights of its
author's genius. It is too much encumbered—
indeed overlaid—with ornament; and the very
learning, on which Mr. Moore so much piques
himself, assists in leading him astray from the
right path of taste and judgment. With a little
less parade of orientalisms he would have pro-
duced a better poem, nor would lie have lost
anything in point of popularity.

THE FRENCH STAGE AND THE FRENCH
PEOPLE. Two VoLs.
Colburn, _London, 1841.
From the title of this work many readers would
be apt to suppose that it referred to the drama as
it at present exists in France, but such is not the
case ; it is a collection of anecdotes and sketches
illustrative, for the most part, of the French
stage previous to the revolution, when I'reville
and Le Kain were in the height of their celebrity,
and Talma was yet a name unknown. The au- •
thor is M. Fleury, a comic actor of considerable
note during the latter part of the reign of Louis
the Sixteenth, and who was specially ipatronized
by the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, herself an
amateur performer of no ordinary talent. In his
second volume, M. Fleury indulges in some re-
miniscences of the stage subsequent to the death
of the King and the Queen, and makes one or
two passing -allusions to Napoleon, and the
effect that his avowed patronage produced on
the drama; but these are the most meagre and
uninteresting portions of his work, whose attrac-
tion may be said to be confined in a great mea-
sure to the first volume. It is from this, there-
fore, that we shall select our extracts; and first,
here is a recollection of Voltaire at Ferney, with
whom the author, then scarcely out of his teens,
and. just commencing his theatrical career,
chanced to be staying on a visit :
We stayed about a fortnight at Ferney, and during that time
were overwhelmed with kindness and attention by the great
philosopher. For my part, I had my share of censure as well
as of praise, and both had their influence on my subsequent
success. I have still present in imagination that satirical coun-
tenance, every wrinkle of which seemed to laugh the whole
world to scorn. Voltaire's wig was a memorable curiosity. I
had for some time sacrilegiously premeditated an attack on this
strange sanctuary of genius; and I made an attempt to put my
design into execution one morning when the philosopher sallied
forth after breakfast. Voltaire turned sharply round, and with
his penetrating eye scanned my little figure from head to foot,
while I stood as it were transfixed and spell-bound. After a few
moments he said, " Per-met-tez-nioi, Mon-sieur
Having uttered these words, dividing the syllables in his pecu-
' liar manner, he paused as if ransacking his memory, as if
searching for some appropriate term of reproach. Then curling
his mouth to the left side of his face, as he always did when he
wished to be particularly sarcastic, he continued, " Per-met-
tez-moi, Mon-sieur . . . de Fleury . . . to tell you (here he
softened his tone, doubtlessly thinking me sufficiently punished),
that I am not royal enough to understand and tolerate pages'
tricks. Remember, that at the court of Ferney wigs are re-
spected in consideration of what may happen to be within
them." Observing my mortified and penitent air (which he
seemed to suspect, and rightly, was partly assumed), he placed
his hand under my chin, and raising my head, said, " Come,
let me look at you ; if I mistake not, there is something in your
face that tells me you will be a wicked rogue, and a good
actor."
Every one remembers, of course, Burke's de-
scription of Marie Antoinette, whose charms of
face and figure have been praised in the most
extravagant terms by almost every writer who
lived during her reign. We subjoin M. Fleury's
sketch of this celebrated Queen, who is not
quite so lavish of his admiration of her, except
as an actress :
I have seen her Majesty perform, and superintended several
rehearsals, and her acting appeared to me to be very far from
royally had. She was quite at her ease on the stage ; and
the art of acting the acquirement of self-possession is.one-Jialf
the battle. On the other hand, Iby no means agree with those
who have so loudly extolled the beauty of Marie-Antoninmetore
Still there was something in her look and manner eovue
fascinating than positive beauty.
large, had a power of expression wy
formed. Her month,
of her neck and shoulders ex.hichilreerndeerYeeds'thehm agpherfneco-tt:
• index of her mind. Her skin con-
tourwasqudi.estliitcealwtehliychfaii,ra,sabnedenthteerrne(l
though stamped with that peculiarity
which was peculiarly appropriate
In Blaise and Babet, for
sas exceedingypretty,a anclhad aincemrtaaniny
tohf eth poutingAustrianec
h expression,raetleiPr
the following lines :
half reciting, half singing, b
she persona e .
example, nothings could. be more charming than her manner of
"Le soir dansa stir I her ette,
Blaise et moi nous dansions tons deux;
Mais it me quitta pour Lisette
Qui vint se meler a ncs jeux."
The fact is, that the Queen's acting was characterised by a
degree of grace, feeling, and delicacy, which would hare made
the fortune of any public performer.
These volumes, winch are translated, we pre-
sume, by the Editor, Theodore Hook, abound in
curious anecdotes, though they certainly do not
illustrate the manners of the French people, as
is stated in the title-page.

CHOICE SELECTIONS FROM THE BEST
FRENCH POETS.
Whittaker, London, 1841.
The compiler of this useful school book, M.
Delille, is a gentleman well known as a success-
ful teacher of the French language, and the

EVENING

author of many elementary works 41.1.1t,Ipt,..rminalc.issro
guage, which are favourably spoken of by those
who are qualified to judge of their utility. The
present work will not detract from Mr. IJelille's
reputation, for it is compiled with great skill and
judgment ; the extracts from the.different French
poets are arranged in chronological order, which
is a great improvement on the majority of similar
publications ; and a treatise on French versifica-
tion is added, in which will be found many ser-
viceable suggestions to those who may desire to
become acquainted with the laws that regulate
the metrical productions of our continental
neighbours. We have Looked over the various
extracts carefully, and have been much pleased
with the good taste manifested in those that have
been taken from Moliere, La Fontaine, and
Racine.