The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-24 00:00:00

MAY 24, 1847.

the proportion of three to one. Yet, accustomed as
he was from his very infancy to the langusge of
flattery, and the gestures of servility, can we wonder
that Louis was impressed with a very intolerable idea
of his own importance. The well, turned compliment
which Bulwer has put into the mouth of Lauzun—in
his drama of "La ValliCere"—when the Marquis of
Montespan, speaking against the King has exclaimed,
" But if I thought my honour touched, an' it were
forty kings"—Louis enters, overhearing the last
words, and asks " Well! and what says the Marquis
of forty kings ?" The Marquis, embarrassed, hesi-
tates, but Lauzun hastily and happily rejoins, "He
says that forty kings could never make one Louis !"
This compliment is only a specimen of the constant
language of the courtiers, and the cherished convic-
tion of the King. Not the least curious chapter in
these volumes is entitled "A day in the life of Louis

XIV.;" it gives a minute catalogue of the de-
tailed rules by which the great monarch's actions
were ordered—the lilliputian chains of Gulliver,
but chains that were voluntarily imposed. That little
word makes all the difference ; and, consequently, we
find even Louis the Great, who would brook no
shadow of restraint or word of opposition, himself a
very slave to the most ridiculous regulations. No
word but ridiculous can certainly be applied to the
details of his morning and evening toilette. For
instance, here is a note upon a most important sub-
ject—and remember we are speaking of the Great
Louis—of the King whose domestic and foreign
policy, like the military campaigns of Caesar, have
been severally exemplified by a brief and emphatic
sentence, "L' etat e est moil" and "Il n'y a plus de
Pyrenees !" Now it is of this same Louis that we
are told " Although the King, without an absolute
disregard of etiquette, was at liberty to put on his
garters with his own hands, he was not free to take
them of at night ; and while it was the admitted pri-
vilege of the head valet de ehambre to unclasp that of
the right leg, an inferior attendant was permitted to
unclasp the other." In these miserable details of the
toilette there is one piece of information which is
very pleasing : while the King was dressing, or being
dressed, after the Royal family had approached him,
thegrande entrée, a levee took place. To be admitted to
this levee was a great privilege, and the greatest pre-
caution was observed to prevent intrusion ; the name
of each person who presented himself at the
door was reported to the King, for him to
signify his pleasure respecting his admission.
Princes and governors marshalls and peers, were
alike subjected to this tedious and somewhat
humiliating ceremony, from which three individuals
alone were exempted ; and these three were Racine,
Boileau, and Mansard ; who, on their arrival at the
guarded door, simply scratched against the panel,
when the huissier threw back the battant, and they
stood in the presence of the monarch." The reign of
Louis Quatorze was rich in men of genius, and his
conduct towards them was, in most cases, worthy of
them and of him. "If Corneille had lived in my
reign," exclaimed Napoleon, " I would have made
him a Prince ! " It is very doubtful whether the title
of Prince could have added anything to the real dig-
nity of Pierre Corneille ; but the exclamation was
honourable alike to the illustrious speaker and the
illustrious poet. In the same way their unrequested
entrance into the chamber of the King could have
conferred little honour on Racine or Boileau ; and in
the same way, when Louis found Moliere taking his
breakfast while performing his duties as court up-
holsterer, and, in the presence of all his workmen,
bade him come and take his seat by his side to finish
his repast, such a proceeding, whatever might have
been its effect in the eyes of the workmen, cannot
exalt the poet in our estimation; yet, in all these in-
stances, for the sake of the King no less than for the
poets, we are gratified to find these things occurred.
Towards Racine, indeed, the conduct of Louis was,
ultimately, not free from reproach ; but we cannot
now further pursue these episodes, we must refer our
readers to Miss Pardoe's volumes, where they will
find abundant amusement, and no little information.
The third volume closes with the death of Louis and
the formal announcement from the palace window,
" The king is dead ! Long live the king !" We
presume that Miss Pardoe will not stop here ; the
reign of Louis XV. will form a fitting continuation.
The reign of Louis XV., which to a certain extent
equalled, if not exceeded, in its glittering gaiety and
dissipation the reign of his great-grandfather and
predecessor, while over it loomed tokens of the im-
pending storm, to fall so heavily upon his next suc-
cessor. Of these tokens even the thoughtless
courtiers were sufficiently prescient to be aware.
" Apres nous le deluge" was the universal belief, yet
the only moral they drew from it was, " Carpe
diem P' Their smiles were in no wise saddened, and
their excesses in no wise sobered, by these gloomy
and too correct forebodings. We are confident that
all who, like us, have perused these three volumes of
Miss Pardoe, will be, like us, desirous that she will
not leave " half told " the history of the French
court in the gorgeous time of the old monarchy.
The binding, printing, and getting up of these
volumes are all excellent ; the beginning and end of
almost every chapter is ornamented with an elegant
woodcut. Among these are portraits of some of the
chief literary characters, or representations of the
public buildings, &c., mentioned in the work. Each
volume contains a full-length, highly-finished en-
graving, namely, portraits of Louis XV. of La
Vallie,re, and Mme. de Maintenon ; there are besides
two half•length engravings of Louis, taken at dif-
ferent periods of his life.

KIRKHOLME PRIORY. 3 Vols. By IlfissLaura
Jewry.
The second fiction from the pen of one of the most
promising novelists of the day, is now submitted to
our consideration. We commenced the perusal of
" Kirkholme Priory" with all those favourable im-
pressions which had been given by the " Ransom"
fresh in our recollection. 'We reasoned by anticipa-
tion, that because the "Ransom" was a beautiful
hook, "Kirkholme Priory" would inevitably be so
likewise. We remembered the animation and the
interest of Miss Jewry's former romance, the clever
adjustment of the plot, the rapid variation of incident,
the effective contrast of characters, the ripeness and
glow of the language. Our anticipations were con-
sequently, and very accountably, beyond the antici-
pations with which we opened the " Ransom :" and
thence possibly, as well as from other reasons
to be hereafter mentioned, our satisfaction was
by no means so great on closing " Kirkholme
Priory, " as it had been on concluding its
predecessor. In her really exquisite story of the
" Ransom," Miss Jewry had selected for herself every
possible advantage. She had situated her romance
in the most romantic epoch since the establishment of
Christianity—the epoch of the Crusades. The sublime
and glorious form of the saint-like Louis cast an
historical glory upon the fictitious personages and the
imaginary events. The scenery changed fitfully, but
rhtt
hehe
eewadnai
citronaietphni.te
deliciously and dramatically, like the glasses of a
s
magic-lantern : now i;tonfwoiwabisi Oxford
cixa,
iafnnoscirgad.
among
orrni
nt
There
et
t laysthe English
E sands; ngn i ws
and
dtSovereignswirna was
o Cyprus,
os
and the orane ; now it was the voluptuous Court of
dated lanes of old Paris ; now it was in the midst of
fascinating tradition too upon which the whole narra-
tive hung, like the sword of Damocles, by the thread
—a lady ransoming her betrothed from an Is 1 amite
by her fair hand, conveyed in a casket! The
peculiar
interest of the work radiatedfrom one • •
appi opriate and
attractive centre—a lordly English hall, situated in a
noble chase, shaded by venerable trees, and adorned
with the sorrel-herbage and the fern. Beyond all
this, the authoress, by a very dexterous and poetical
contrivance, associated the arch-crime of the story
(from which crime the subsequent incidents devolved)
with one of the most surprising of discoveries—the
discovery of the telescope. She did this at the hazard
of an anachronism—seeing that it is mere than doubt-
ful that the combination of the lenses is owing to the
skill of Friar Roger Bacon, and a great deal more
than merely probable that Galileo or one of his contem-
poraries was the real originator of the great astrono-
mical instrument. She did this, we say, at the
hazard of an anachronism, but she did it with such
inimitable adroitness, that the anachronism would
he readily forgiven, supposing it were proven.
With all these adjuncts of fascination gathered
about her—in the midst of a treasury
of romance of her own collecting—Miss Laura Jewry
wrote her first novel, and immediately obtained the
popularity she deserved. Now " Kirkholme Priory"
is aided by no one of those extrinsic advantages. It
speaks not of a crusader, but of a fame-hunting artist.
It has no Count Robert in it, no Fitz waiter, no Con-
stance, no Lady Cicely, no Gerald Fitzeustace, no
Dickon, no Alinor Perrot, no William Longsword.
Instead of carrying its readers in imagination to the
revelries of a palace or the feats of the tourney,
" Kirkholme Priory" takes him into the modern
drawing-room, and shows him the pic-nic of a
parvenu. The hero is no longer loosening the buckle
of his helmet, but the heroine is untying the
strings of her bonnet. The passionate Count of
Artois is no longer parrying the thrusts of
assassins .ir the moonlight of the Levant, but Sir
Triplex Plantagenet Hopley is committing solecisms
in a shower of rain. Miss Jewry's genius as a novelist
has floated down from the lofty and inspiring atmos-
phere of the Past to the lowly and too •frequently
debasing influences of the Present. Her first corn-

Pi ICh SD•

position had something in it akin to the historical
fictions of Sir Walter Scott. Her second composi-
tion bears a resemblance to the fashionable novels of
Mrs. Gore—indeed, there is a peculiar similarity
between the descriptions of Naples and the southern
portions of Italy in " Kirkholme Priory," and the
descriptions of the same places in Mrs. Gore's " Peers
and Parvenus." It is scarcely fair, M short, to in-
stitute any comparison between the two narratives of
Miss Jewry, as they cannot be mentioned together
without the depreciation of the latter. We shall
therefore consider "Kirkholme Priory," per se, as it
merits to be considered, for, notwithstanding its
many difficiencies and blemishes, it is still enlivened
with the evidences of very considerable talent. In
fact, while we are compelled to speak somewhat
disparagingly of her recent publication, we
are satisfied that its chief fault is the unfortunate se-
lection of the materials, not the incapacity of the au-
thoress, in putting those materials together. The
second title of the book expresses its intention—
" Modern Heroism" The work is professedly written
to demonstrate that heroism has not taken wings unto
itself and forsaken the world ; and the manner in
which this proposition is argued is through the last
struggle made by the patriots of Poland to effort their
emancipation. "For the subject matter of the details
relating the noble display of modern heroism afforded
by Poland during the present century," says the au-
thoress in the preface, " I am indebted to a distin-
guished Polish officer, an eye-witness of and actor in
its struggles for freedom." But in spite of this re-
markable advantage of accumulating her details from
the oral narrative recounted to her by one who had
witnessed and partaken in the last Polish revolution,
' Miss Jewry has imparted, perhaps, the very smallest
amoant of interest to the portion of her present story,
relating to those emeutes. There is a pain-
ful obscurity and dimness about the painting
of the scenes situated in Warsaw and its vicinity;
and notwithstanding the Knight-errantry of Francisco
Casolani throughout his adventures in those quarters,
there is comparatively little to arouse the attention or
animate the imagination of the reader. It is in the
portraiture of her more domestic characters, of Mary
Clarenham (known more generally under the pet sou-
briquet of Una), of Mrs. D'Espec, of " Mr. David"
and his gossiping sister, of Albany D'Espec, of
Gordon Clarenham, of Mrs. Jerningham, and of
Arthur D'Espec, that the novelist is here the most
successful. Altogether, the heroine Julia Dormer is
repulsive, and the hero Francisco Casolani is unna-
tural. One is a creature of the most selfish impulse,
and of the most cruel and unrelenting egotism. The
other is a dreamer and a visionary, aspiring after
eminence, but never having sufficient perseverance
to attain it. His mother, again, the Contessa, is
among the most heartless worldlings that the
fancy ever conceived, as her second spouse Sir T.
P. Hopley is among the most ignorant, the most
vulgar, and the most silly. Adrian Fullerton is no
type of a class : he is as unlike the generality of his
brethren as Father Rodin in the Juif Errant—and
that is saying a vast deal. What we would especially
deprecate in the book is its moral influence—an
influence which is, doubtless unintentionally, bad.
From first to last the most conspicuous characters of
the fiction are nothing better than infamous apostates.
In the opening chapters we find a young bride
forsaking the creed of Protestantism and entering
that of Roman Catholicism for no higher reasons that
are apparent, than ambition, girlish affection, weak-
ness of intellect, or religious indifference. In the
closing volume we find a preux-chevalier leaving the
church of his youth and his manhood, and.
without any loftier incitement than that of
eccentricity or love, entering the pale of the
Church of England. Surely no beneficial
effects can flow from the description of such wilful
and flagrant recalcitration ! Much, however, as Miss
Jewry has failed in the particulars we have enume-
rated, she has undoubtedly displayed a capacity of
thought, an elegance of diction, an adroitness of con-
struction, and a felicity of portraiture, which entitle
us to anticipate great things from her subsequent
writings. Without depreciating in any manner her
fellow-labourers in the fields of romantic literature,
we cannot but regard Miss Laura Jewry as promis-
ing to eclipse all the female novelists now living. In
her graceful toils she carries with her the encourage-
ment of the public ; may she achieve for herself yet
higher rewards I

CHARITABLE COOKERY ; or the Poor Man's

Regenerator. By A. Soyer, of the Refirnt Club.
This little brochure, published at a low price for
the benefit, as the author tell us, of the labouring
classes, contains no less than twenty-three receipts
for making cheap, nutritious, and savoury articles of
diet. Among others we have the receipts for the '
various soups now in course of distribution among
the starving poor in Ireland, and several receipts for
making a variety of articles of food from Indian corn
and Indian corn meal. The following observations
explain how it happens that M. Soyer'a soup, although
made from a less quantity of ingredients than many
other sorts of soup, is actually more nutritious and
more palatable. After giving a list of natural pro•
ductions used for food, M. Soyer says—
" But the grand secret is, to obtain from the above all
the nutriment which they possess, which is done by fol-
lowing my receipts, and reducing the animal and vege-
table substances to a glaze, and mixing it with the
farinaceous, and thereby obtaining a palateable and
agreeable food, and economising the productions of
nature to an immense extent ; for, by the system at
present adopted, more than fifty per eent. of the animal
and vegetable productions are lost, and the nutriment
from the farinaceous ingredients is rendered less, in
consequence of being unpalateable. In my visits to the
different charitable institutions of this city, I have been
surprised at the want of knowledge manifested in making
of soups. In some parishes I found 100 pounds of meat
cut into pieces of a quarter of a pound each, put into
toe gallons of water, at twelve o'clock of one day, to
be boiled until twelve o'clock the next day ; by such
proceedings the ozma7one of the meat is lost by evapo-
ration from the boiler, and only the gelatine and fibrine
are left ; the former has been proved by a medical
board, instituted at Paris for the purpose of inquiring
into the subject, to contain no nutriment whatever, and
the latter contains about the same as a piece of dry
wood. What would be said of a cook who would put a
quarter of a pound of meat, or even a piece weighing
thirty pounds, to roast before a large fire for twenty-
four hours? What nutriment would it contain at the end
of that period? My principle is easily illustrated by
putting twelve onions into a gallon of water, and
boiling them for as many hours, no smell arises from it ;
but :cut the half of one, and fry it, and the perfume
will be diffused over the whole house ; thus I extract
the aroma of every ingredient which I employ, and any
one carefully following the receipts will produce a
palateable and nourishing food."
This useful little manual concludes with a descrp-
tion of the model soup kitchen now in active operation
in Ireland, and one of which we should wish to see
established in every parish in the United Kingdom.

FINE ARTS.

MR. SCRYIIfGEOUR'S GREAT PICTURE OF

MACBETH.

There is at present in the studio of Mr. Scrym-
geour, in Tavistock-street, Covent-garden, a picture
of" Macbeth's Feast," which is of the highest order
of art. The artist has taken as his point of time for
illustration, the moment at which Lady Macbeth,
rising from her throne, hurriedly dismisses the guests
with the order—

" Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once."
The figure of Lady Macbeth is noble and com-
manding, and the light falls upon her, as stand-
ing up, she motions the guests away. At the
left of the picture in the foreground, stands
Macbeth, distraught by the vision of the murdered
Banquo. The appearance of the vision is most artis-
tically managed. At the extreme left of the picture
there appear looming, as it were, out of the deep
shadow, and appearing gigantic from their very in-
distinctness, the forms of Banquo and the Weird
Sisters. The expression and attitude of Macbeth is
quite sublime, every fibre seems tense with mental
agony. The grouping of the guests and of
the attendants is admirable ; and in the
gallery are the minstrels lighted by torches, and here
Mi.Scrymgeour has introduced some,very fine effects
of cross lights. The principal light of the picture is
from a lamp in the centre of the gallery, before
which hangs a banner hiding it from the view of the
spectators, and the effect thus produced is quite
Rembrandtesque. This picture considered as a work
of art is of the highest order of historical paintingt
is not a mere reflex of a scene acted on the
stage; it is historical in the strictest sense of
the term, and is destined to perpetuate the fame
of the artist. In the same studio there is a small picture
illustrating a passage in the life of Burns, which
is a little gem. Our readers no doubt remember the
circumstances under which Burns composed his soul-
inspiring lyric, 61 Scots wha ha'e."
It was during a
thunder-storm, when he was returning home on
horseback at night, over the field of Bannockburn, ac-
companied by a friend—if we recollect aright, by
Dr. Currie. The storm burst with intense fury,
upon the wayfarers, but Burns was insensible to the
flashing of the lightning, the pealing of the thunder,
the howling of the tempest, and the pelting of the
pitiless storm—he was charging the English on the
plains of Banncockburn. His friend watched him in
astonishment in this his moment of inspiration, and
at length the voice of Burns was beard giving utterance

to the first verse of the noblest patriotic lyric that ever
proceeded from the lips of mortal man. This is the
scene which Mr. Scrymgeour has undertaken to illus-
trate. The figure of Burns is the very beau
ideal of an inspired poet, and is, as to form
and 11,ature. an excellent portrait. The poet, of
course, stands boldly out in the foreground, while the
dark and dismal heath, and the various effects
of light and shade produced by the storm form acces-
sories that greatly enhances the pictorial effect. We
are glad to find Mr. Scrymgeour once again in the
field. We remember some promising pictures of his
in the exhibition some seven years ago, since which
time we have lost sight of him. He has, however,
judging from these two pictures, been working hard
in the interim. They more than fulfil the promise
of his earlier productions.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC
INSTITUTION.
The directors of this truly scientific establishment are
making preparations for the instruction and amusement
of the holiday multitudes. There are gas microscopes,
chromatrope, dissolving views, and very many other
things calculated to amuse and instruct the visitors, both
young and old. The practical illustration of the diving
bell, and the descents which take place at stated in-
tervals, have been for months past a special feature at
this establishment. The lectures here are, perhaps, the
most attractive portion, and the subject chosen by
Dr. Bachhoffner is one highly beneficial to all classes ;
it is on light ; and the agreeable manner in which the
learned gentleman treats his subject demands our
highest commendation. The Pr,fessor pointed out to
his audience the means of obtaining the greatest amount
of light at the least possible expense, and illustrated his
discourse with numerous beautiful experiments. He also
described the various modes used in domestic illumina-
tion, from the earliest periods to the present time, and
proved the principle invented by Argand to be the
only true one. The mechanical and scientific models
are also objects of unfailing interest, and are explained
in a most able manner by Mr. Crisp, the engineer of the
establishment. With such abundant resources as are
contained within this excellent institution—with such
strenuous endeavours on the part of the managing com-
mittee to maintain it in all its original usefulness and
credit—its galleries will ever be the haunt of the intelli-
gent and inquiring classes of society.

IRISH DISTRESS.

ROYAL SURREY THEATRE.
Under the Management of Mrs. Frances Davidge, Lessee.
THIS EVENING

Will be performed Bellini's Opera of LA SONNAMBULA ; or,
The Village Phantom. Rodolpho, Mr. Leffler; Elvin°, Mr. Harri-
son; Alessi°, Mr. Ilorricastle ; Amina, Miss Rainforth ; Lisa, Miss
R. Isaacs ; Teresa, Mrs. Daly ; Annette, Miss Vaughan.
To conclude with the new Nautical Drama, called THE WRECK
AND THE REEF. Captain, Mr, Tindell ; Halstead, Mr. Hopi-
crstle ; Ben Block, Mr. Neville ; Christmas, Mrs. Ware.
Boss s, 25., Pit, 13.; Gallery, 6d. Doors open at Slx, commence
at lia II -past Six.

ROYAL VICTORIA THEATRE.
THIS EVENING
Will be perisrmed THE LONELY MAN OF THE OCEAN ; or,
the Night Before the Bridal. Characters by Messrs. N. T. Hicks,
Dale, Searle, Bird, Raymond, Gardner, Miss Vincent, Mrs. G. Lee,
and Mhos Burroughcliffe.
Atter which a Drama from the French. entitled DONZELLA ; or,
The Misnk and the Assassins.
To be followed by M:. Cox's DISSOLVING VIEWS.
To conclude with ADMIRAL SAM. Supported by the entire
itrengthi of the Company.
Boxes, Is.; Half Price, 6d. Pit, 63. ; Gallery, 3d.