The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-07 00:00:00

HOOD'S MAGAZINE.

Now that " Ignez de Castro" is completed, it is
pleasant to have revived before us a tragedy whose
excellence has been repeatedly evidenced on the
stage, but the poetry of which has never before been
submitted to the more serious ordeal of the closet—
we mean " The Avenger." It is being published
now for the first time, and it is suitable that it should
appear in this Magazine, seeing that its author, well
known as the author of " The Provost of Bruges,"
and the latest of whose dramatic productions, " Look
before you Leap," is now being successfully per-
formed at the Haymarket Theatre, has been some
time numbered among the many excellent contri-
butors to this periodical. It would be almost supe-
rerogatory to comment upon the various beauties of
" The Avenger," they are so generally acknowledged.
And supposing them to have been less familiar, we
should have abstained from passing any opinion upon
the tragedy at this moment, as only the first act is here
introduced to our attention. The nervous terseness of
the language, and the effective glibness of the dialogue,
should however be remarked, as they are among the
principal fine qualities of the writer's style of com-
position. " Nell Gwynne" is pursued with the same
blemishes as hitherto; it is one of those numerous
pieces constructed out of the mere tinsel and
spangles of romance. " Blanche Neville " deserves
less notice than the foregoing. Quite a multitude of
scraps, odds-and-ends of prose and metre, compose
the remainder of the Magazine. There is a " Con-
cise Description of llong-Kong"--a very concise one,
by the way—occupying merely two pages and a
quarter ; there is an article on " The Incorporation of
the Scholastic Profession ;" land beyond these a swarm
of facetious fragments, sentimental stanzas, sonnets,
proverbs and opinions, de omnibus rebus et quibusdam
aliis. " A Lecture on Authorship" would permit of
a very considerable extension, and no very incon-
siderable improvement, before it would absolutely
deserve the magnificent eulogium of the editor.

THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE REVIEW.
Many very charming contributions are in this
number—paramount amongst which is the one upon
" L'Entente Cordiale." From the lengthy paper
entitled " The Whigs and the Church," the views of
the Young England party upon the present Govern-
ment, particularly in their relation to the Established
Church, may be gleaned. Lord John Manners con-
tinues his historical ballads ; the present, being the
fifth of the series, is upon the demise of Prince
Henry Plantagenet. " A Flower from Jean Paul's
Autumn Garden," is a fantastic chapter which makes
us feel inexpressibly grateful that Richter was ever
in existence. In the review of the "Revelations of
Austria" we find this pithy and most suggestive
sentence :—" After the revolution of July, suspici
was aroused against the Duke of Richstadt, the grand-
son of Kaiser, Francis the First, and that grandson
died immediately." Never did career dawn amid
such supernal promises as that of Napoleon the
Second ; never did career close more prematurely or
desolately. Born King of Rome, he perished a pri-
soner of his phlegmatic grandfather, and perished
mysteriously. It may be interesting to many to
know that according to an organical statut3 of the
family of Habsburg, all the Archdukes are obliged to
learn a trade ;" and, in consequence of this eccentric
custom, it would appear that the late Kaiser, Francis
the First, was a sealing-wax maker, while the present
Kaiser, Ferdinand the First, is a turner. We
transcribe the following because of its singularity.
The perfidy and heartlessness of the Emperor Francis
is amongst the most execrable circumstances of the
i
seu
forcopep,
psot6
oue
rria
deph doaemst
eealshna icos qfwhushwetoayn t
friendship,
crushed
roetpufshospGehl
ocet English n
soi sr hs
ho
anl
ro
enkr
eel
dda
son-in-law
late war. While he "served their turn" like a
s tdhearuesgl
cyho t rte nor
—an Princes had always been
found more dangerous and disastrous to France and its
' sovereigns, than their enmity.
" After a thousand combats lost, the vanquished and
humbled Kaiser changed:his policy.
" ' From the most implacable enemy, which he was, he
all at once became, in appearance, the stanchest friend,
the nearest relative of Napoleon.
" As it has been said, amongst the baggage taken
by assault from the capital of Vienna, Napoleon found
the Archduchess Maria Louisa,' daughter of the Kaiser;
he repudiated Josephine, his guardian angel, and mar-
ried the Archduchess, the devoted political instrument of
Austria, and the cause of his degradation, and of the
humiliation of France.
" It would be wholly to misunderstand the nature of
man, to suppose that a vanquished enemy could so
readily become the sincere friend of his conqueror.
" It was self-deception to imagine that the nabs-
burgs were not seeking the means of revenging their
humiliation, or that they sincerely gave up their alliance
with England.
" In Paris there was a great rejoicing over this mar-
riage, which was looked upon as the ultimate and con-
solidating result of the victories obtained, and as estab-
lishing French supremacy on an unshakeable basis.
There was rejoicing also in Vienna over this `mesalliance,'
which was looked upon as a necessary sacrifice, as a po-
litical embryo, which was only engendered with the view
of undermining the power of France, of bringing about
her fall, and of raising Austria, and with her despotism,
" Germans were heard, immediately after this mar-
riage, to predict the downfal of Napoleon, and the ruin
of France, so fully were they convinced that this marriage
was only a snare on the part of their Kaiser. Those who
were immediately about the person of the Emperor
Napoleon, and took part in public affairs between 1810
and 1815, must agree that without this marriage, and
without the inspirations, and encouraging influences,
direct and indirect of the Germans, th chivalrous ad-
venture of the Russian campaign of! 1812 would never
have been undertaken. Buonaparte, as a simple French
citizen, representative and chief of the generous French
nation, was the first captain in the world, the first French
citizen, and in some measure the defender of all the op-
pressed. In his enterprises he consulted only his own
intelligence and the welfare of France—his country ; he
distrusted all the princes crowned by the grace of God;
and was ever on his guard.
" ' As son-in-law to the Kaiser, ennobled, metamor-
phosed, n ces, consud
and received within the pale of German aristo-
cracy, he consulted
his own interests, personal and dyapp nastica ; consentedlte to
restrain France within its former boundaries under Louis
the Sixteenth, provided he was left upon his Imperial
throne. He became the mere paladin of his wife, and
sank into the position of the last of legitimate princes.
To obtain their simulated confidence, he was obliged to
accord his own sincere confidence ; to render himself
worthy of being their chief, or even their equal, ho was
obliged to become the champion of sovereigns, to sur-
round himself with clergy, and be the faithful companion
and zealous defender of all despots.