The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-28 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

LOVE AAD AMBITION. By the Author of
" I?ochingharn." 3 Vols. Colburn.
The author of "Rockingham" has in these volumes,
whilst more than maintaining the high reputation he
had acquired by the publication of his first work of
fiction, given proof of a versatility of talent for the
possession of which the world had not hitherto given
him credit. He is as much at home in the Court of
Philip 11. of Spaio, as he was in that of George 111.
of England, and his pictures of the state of society
and manners at the gloomy Court of the successor of
the Emperor Charles V. are as life-like as those of
the manners of the British aristocracy at the com-
mencement of the present century, with which he
presented us in " Rockingham." " Love and Am-
bition" consists of two separate tales, the scene of
the longer and more elaborately constructed tale of
"Villaflor" being laid in Spain just at the time
of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and that
of the second " Fernanda," which is a pure
1 ove story, being laid at Palermo during the time that
Sicily was governed by Spanish Viceroys. In both
these tales we find the same fertility in inventing
variety of incident, the same intense passion, and
'he came intimate knowledge of human nature, which
made of " Rockingham" one of the most interesting of
novels ; but "Villaflor" is, in an artistic point of view,
superior to " Rockingham." Its construction is faultless;
not an incident, scarcely a conversation is introduced
that does not tend directly to the production of the
catastrophe, and it would be impossible to displace any
portion of it without deteriorating from its harmony
as a whole. It is evident that the author must have
been long accustomed to move in the very highest
circles of society both in this country and on the
continent ; that his diplomatic attainments must be of
no mean order, and that he is intimately
acquainted with the whole of the interior
workings of the continental bureaucracy. None
but a diplomatist could have so completely developed
the character of Maldonado; none but a statesman
could have drawn such a perfect portrait of an ac-
complished bureaucrat as our author has dashed off in
Assumar, of a courtier-statesman, as he has drawn i❑
Idiaquez, or could have shown, as he has done, the
effect produced by a bureaucratic education upon a
naturally warm-hearted, kindly-disposed mind, as he
has shown in the shrewd, prudent, somewhat worldly,
but most excellent, most sincere, and most generous
Boles. Our author has also, in his time, had at least
one grande passion, or he could not have so thoroughly
entered into the feeling of intense devotion with which
Villaflor regards Elvira; and that he possesses the dra-
matic art in the highest degree is proved not
only by the faultless construction of his
plot, but by the brilliant and sparkling
dialogue in which it is developed ; it reminds one
not unfrequently of Beaumarchais in his happiest
moods. In " Fernanda" likewise we have the
same brilliancy of dialogue, and the same in.
tensity of passion, but the plot is much more simple,
and the tale not more than half the length of " Vil-
laflor." This second success will we hope stimulate
the author of "Rockingham" to fresh exertions. Why
does he not give us a comedy ? He posesses all the
requisites for achieving a triumphant success as a
dramatist ; at all events, we trust that we shall ere
long meet him again in the pleasant realms of
romance.

HUMBOLDT S COSMOS. Vol. 111. Part 1.
We have already noticed the earlier portion of
Mrs. Sabine's very excellent translation of Hum-
boldt's famous work—a work now so well known
and so deservedly admired by the lovers of science.
The first part of the third volume of " Cosmos" has
just been published by Messrs. Lougmans. All who
can appreciate the difficulty and the excellence of such
learned researches and scientific speculations will
hardly need any recommendation of a new portion
of " Humboldt's Cosmos." The volume before us is
chiefly occupied with the stars and planetary system, or
the " Uranological portion of the physical description
of the Universe." One very interesting chapter re-
lates to the different degrees of visual power as
effected by telescopes and other means in recognizing
the movements of the heavenly bodies. As regards
the general belief that stars may be occasionally seen
by the naked eye in the daytime, Baron Humboldt
tells us, " The power of seeing stars with the naked
eye in the daytime from the shafts of mines, or on
very lofty mountains, has been a subject of examina-
tion with me from early youth. I was aware that
Aristotle had affirmed that stars could some-
times be seen from vaults and reservoirs,
as well as through tubes. Pliny also mentions this,
and notices at the same time the circumstance that
stars can be clearly distinguished in the daytime
during solar eclipses. In the course of my profes-
sional engagements as a mining engineer, I for some
ears passed a large portion of every day under
ground, looking up from the bottom of deep shafts to
the zenith, but without ever seeing a star, nor have I
since found an individual in Mexican, Peruvian, or
Siberian mines, who had ever heard of stars being
seen in the daytime, although in such
different latitudes as those embraced by my inquiries
and experience in both hemispheres a sufficient num-
ber of zenith stars must have presented themselves
advantageously. This entirely negative evidence
renders very remarkable the highly credible tes-
timony of a celebrated optician, who, in early youth,
saw the stars during bright daylight through a
chimney. Phenomena whose visibility depends on an
accidental concurrence of favourable circumstances
must not be denied because they are of rare occur-
rence." The notes appended to this volume contain
much interesting matter, among other things some
letters from Arago.

THE QUARTERLIES.

EDINBURGH REVIEW. No. CLXXXIX.
About the most interesting, if not the most im-
portant article in the Edinburgh for the present
quarter, is the gossipping criticism on " Lord Ilol-
lund's Foreign Reminiscences." A genial spirit,
inspired doubtless by the subject, pervades the whole
of this delightful contribution. Possibly we may be
induced to regard the paper in question with an
especial kind of predilection from the circumstance
of its calling so vividly to our recollection one of the
most exquisite contributions ever printed in this
facile princeps of all the periodicals. Can there be
any need tor us to observe that the article referred to
was penned immediately on the decease of Lord
llolland, and that the author was no other than
Thomas Babington Macaulay ? In the contribution
DOW before us, calling to mind that magnificent com-
position, the same names appear before us in enthral-
ling sequence, the names of those famous men whose
phantoms were again conjured up by the imagination
of the essayist to wander through the precincts of
the noble mansion under whose roof trees Addison
breathed his last. Comments upon the genius of
Dumont and Mirabeau, anecdotes of the good and
unfortunate Louis XVI., of Marie Antoinette, of
Pitt, and of Talleyrand, are followed by observations
on the wonderful career and character of the Em-
peror Napoleon. Lord Holland's well known partiality
for Napoleon is treated with a kind of pitying for-
giveness by the reviewer, but full justice is done to
the generosity with which the great English patrician
endeavoured in every way to alleviate the sufferings
of the imperial captive. The reviewer will not in
any manner coincide with Lord Holland in regarding
Napoleon's confinement in St. Helena as an act at
once cruel and ungenerous. Nevertheless he cannot
refrain from remarking—
" As to the want of those courtesies and attentions
which might have alleviated his imprisonment without
endangering his safe custody—the petty torments and
mortifications, the limitations imposed on his supply of
books and necessaries, the refusal of a barren title to one
who had ruled and conquered half the territories of
Europe, and with whom we had not only fought but ne-
gotiated—all this was inexcusable. There was exhibited
throughout a wretched and pitiful meanness, as well as
a want of common feeling disgraceful to all concerned."
The subjoined will tend to illustrate the astonish-
ing powers of that genius which subjugated Europe,
and held it more or less under domination during
twenty years. The reviewer says—
" lie (Napoleon) exhibited to some of our officers at
Elba a practical acquaintance with nautical affairs which
amazed them. His inquiries were unceasing, and from
the nature of them must have led in some instances to
unflattering replies. When on board the Undaunted he
saw the crew breakfasting on the best cocoa, an article
which at that time would have been a luxury to the most
delicate Parisian beauty: 6 How long have your seamen
had this allowance?' he asked of Capt. Usher. 'From
the commencement of your Imperial Majesty's conti-
nental system,' was the answer. Napoleon was silenced.
We have had ourselves further evidence of the minute
accuracy of his knowledge. A very gallant Irish officer
commanded a small vessel of war off Elba. Invited to
the Emperor's table, his host asked his birthplace. On
finding that he came from the banks of the Shannon,
Grande et belle fictive que votre Shannon!' observed
the Emperor. But,' he added, it is ill-defended. Your
at award roadstead is at a place named Tarbert. Your
batteries are commanded. lc ould have landed my troops
out of reach of shot. I could have taken your batteries
en revers, and have thrown your guns (cuibute) into the
sea W hat then would have become of your vessels lying
at anchor and laden with grain for the army in the Pe-
niesula?' We give this anecdote on the authority of the
gallant officer to whom the remark was addressed, and
who by his own local knowledge had perfect means of
Touchiv g the accuracy cf the observation."
The accuracy of this can scarcely be matter of in-
credulity, or even of surprise, to those who are in
any way acquainted with the marvellously minute
history of his life written at the imperial dictation
during the time of his exile and confinement. Na-
poleon 3 opinion on Voltaire is adroitly indicated in
the sukjoined paragraph :
" Lord liofland gives us some insight into the intel-
lectual pursuits of Napoleon. He was fond of French
tragedy, which he loved to read aloud. We cannot agree
that, because he admired Zaire, he must therefore have
admired the other works of Voltaire. On the coutrar),
we think that the use to which be had turned the pen of
Geoffroy, in furnishing replies to the Encyclopedists, and