The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-23 00:00:00

LII'ERATURE.

The Man of the People. By William Howitt.
3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
This is a remarkable book, which refers to event-
ful times, and brings prominently before us some
important persons, who belong to fact, though
they hero make striking the pages of fiction. The
author has exhibited singular ability in the con-
struction of this book, and many passages present
eloquent descriptions and elevated ideas to the
notice of the reader ; therefore, those who do not
agree with the one-sided arguments that sometimes
appear, may delight themselves with the perusal of
a brilliant work, and derive the satisfaction there-
from that never fails to attend the contemplation
of superior attainments. There is a mournful
pathos in the short and sad sketch of the father of
the hero, the gifted and ill-fated Hugh Stanton.
This man was peculiar in his views, but he erred
on the right side, and he was also as different from
those around him in genius as in the motives that
actuated them ; as so often happens, the hard and
cruel society around him eagerly decried his faults,
but overlooked his rare merits. He died after a
melancholy life ; but, although prevented from
achieving what he might have done, ho left behind
him a name that lived in the recollection of many.
Philip inherited much of his father's talent, but he
possessed other qualities more available in every
day life. Had be been under fostering auspices ;
had he been blessed with one prudent and yet sym-
pathising friend ; had he been placed in a sphere
that would have drawn out his better and softer
qualities, and kept in abeyance those sterner attri-
butes which he, unfortunately for himself, shared
in common with his parent, then the son of Hugh
Stanton might have been indeed a great man, a dis-
tinguished luminary in that Church he desired to
enter, or a bright ornament in the literary world.
However, a man can but work as he has opportu-
nities, and it appeared Philip's destiny rather to be
compelled to hide his gifts than to find a way
to make them of service to himself or others. This
to a man who knew that, if he had had opportu-
nities he might soon have increased his ten talents
a hundredfold, was indeed a hard burden to bear,
and a bitter infliction to sustain. He therefore had
every excuse in his many mistakes, and, indeed,
serious errors, for nothing hardens or irritates the
mind more than to feel that one is not in his right
place in the world. The various persons of note
with whom Philip came in contact in the course of
his career are ably delineated; and the many sad,
serious scenes in which he mixed are also most
vividly depicted. The time at which these events
occurred was an eventful epoch in the history of
the country. Alen were divided into two danger-
ous extremes: on one side was the tyranny and
exclusiveness of the higher orders, and on the
other the excited conduct and extravagant demands
of the multitude. We now live in happier days,
when reason and justice for the most part sway
the voice of public opinion, and the most
grievous wrongs are sure in time to be
redressed, not by riots and rebellions, but by
fair representations and searching inquiries. Those,
however, whe would like to retrace in fancy these
stormy incidents in the civil history will be pleased
with this clever work, in which no pains has been
spared to bring before them all the important ques-
tions then discussed in rage, and demanded in
clamour. Philip was no agitator, but he was so
mixed up in their affairs that he was taken pri-
soner with the rioters, and only escaped an igno-
minious death by the intervention of friends. He
finally succeeded to his uncle's title and lands,
through the sudden death of his cousins, when tra-
velling abroad, but this elevation to the pleasant
places of life did not obliterate from the mind of
the wanderer the lessons he had learned in the days
of adversity. He looked on the existence of toil
with a gentle gaze since he had once studied it
atttentively, as he wandered a lonely outcast on
the broad highway of the world. He sought out
sorrow and suffering, to be the means of alleviating
and removing them with renewed ardour, as h,
remembered the days when no one had come for-
ward to cheer or solace his calamities. He did not
isolate himself though, as many who have come
down in life so often do, but he made friends with
all he could, and thus he often passed a pleasant
hour in the midst of misfortune, and tasted of that
peace which the misanthrope can never enjoy, nor
the desponding discover in his melancholy wan-
derings. The complex affair of the inter-
cepted letters adds, of course, to the inte-
rest and heightens the mystery of the tale, but
to some it will appear extravagant. The sketch of
Archdeacon Freemantle is admirably drawn. The
man seems to stand before us in his duplicity
adroit subterfuges. Too many like him and
are extant
now-a-days who take a tyrannical advant age of the
immense power they possess, and work out ill to
all who offend them. It would be
discomfiturevery satisfactory
if all such characters met with the
finally annihilated the wily deceiver.
that
eeeiver. Jeremiah
Sterland is a man of a fine
disposition, and despite
his peculiarities, he attracts •
interest
the more striking individuals
to himself that
do not inspire.
Honesty was his ruling sentiment, and he never
cringed to the mighty
The ladies do not figurevenor spurned the mean.
conspicuously
in these
f
pages, but they are bothry pleasing
their several styles. There
Isa
e dignity
i specimensaa o
li a
and a grace in Helen that
sems tostampi theml
at first sight with a charm that subsequent scru-
tiny does not deprive them of. On the whole, '
this new work is asu •production • superior in its way,
and it is one which in its varied descriptions, and
vivid pictures will not fail to make a powerful im-
pression on the minds of its readers. It is not often
that so complete a sketch of political events is met
with in a work of fiction, and for this, as for other
reasons, " The Man of the People " may fairly be
expected to attain a great success. Those whose
views of public life vary widely from those which
actuate the ss riter of these volumes will not refuse
to bear their testimony to his skill and judgment,
while the mere lover of literature will admire the
eloquent style and spirited tone of these pages.

History of the Reign of Henry IV., King of
France and Navarre. By Martha Walker
Freer. 2 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
Miss Freer has already done good service in the
cruse of historical literature. With a degree of

patience and application not often found among
feminine writers, she has explored the tedious me-
moirs and voluminous correspondence of the middle
ages, whose very language is now intricate and
obsolete. The weighty piles of State papers have
no terrors for her, but she resolutely applies her-
self to the study of every document that can serve
to throw light upon the epoch she is discussing or
to illustrate the motives and actions of the rival
parties of the time. She has chosen for her sub-
ject a very important era in French history, and
one which can well afford additional consideration
by English readers. Though most persons are, of
course, acquainted with the outline of events: and
the names of the chief actors, yet few general
readers are familiar with the secret workings of
a time which affords much matter for instruc-
tion and reflection. Commencing with the me-
moirs of Marguerite D'Angouleme, Duchesso
D'Alencon, and Queen of Navarre, the sister of
Francis 1., whose beauty and virtues form a
pleasing contrast to too many of her royal rela-
tives, Miss Freer then proceeded to the life of her
heroic daughter, Jeaune D'Albret, the ruling
spirit of the Hugenots, whose somewhat stern and
harsh disposition may be readily forgiven for the
sake of her firmness and high principle. The
biography of Elizabeth de Valois, daughter of
Henry 11., and Catherine do Medicis, and wife of
the gloomy bigot, Philip 11. of Spain, although con-
temporaneous, was somewhat of a break in the chain
of French history. Nevertheless she was a fair
and graceful subject for a feminine pen to delineate,
although she might be wanting in force of intellect
or character. Not long after the memoir of Isabel
de la Paz, as her subjects fondly styled her, Miss
Freer attempted a mole ambitions and arduous
task. hitherto her works, though political and
historical in character, had been exclusively devoted
to female subjects. Now she adventured on the
life of a king, and gave us a narrative of the Court
and Times of Henry 111., King of France and
Poland. Though some things rendered this reign
an especially difficult one for a female historian,
Miss Freer acquitted herself of her arduous task
with judgment and ability. The brief and inglori-
ous reign of that monarch being concluded, she
brings us now to the glorious career of—

" Ce 11,,,r0s qui regna sur la France -
Et par droit d• conqueto et par droit do naissance."

The volumes before us form only the opening por-
tion of the history. They are entitled " Henry
IV. and the League," and relate the storms and
contentions which intervened luring the troubled
period between the murder of Henry 111. and the
triumphal entry of his valiant successor into Paris
five years later. This gloomy and troubled time of
civil war, when the unhappy land was torn and
desolated by the recklessness of selfish factions,
occupies the whole of these pages ; it remains for
the future volumes (to show us the happier time
which followed the general recognition of the
rightful monarch, who, happily for his turbulent
subjects, was no less clement and magnanimous in
the hour of triumph than valiant and persevering
in the time of darkness and defeat. The following
passage aptly pourtrays the condition to which
the enemies of Henri Quatre found themselves re-
duced in 1594 :

" Bitterly was Madame de Montpensier disabused of her
wicked and ambitious speculations. Ruined in fortune
and repute, Catherine de Lorraine knelt to implore the
clemency of 'the execrable Navarrois.' Her brother,
Mayenne, who at the commencement of the troubles she
had so successfully incited to rebel, was an exile from the
capital, impoverished, and in his reverse mecked and de-
ludod by the Papal and Spanish Courts. The Duke de
Guise, shut up in Rheims without troops, or money, hum-
bly waited the favourable moment to make submission to
the victorious king. The League, inaugurated by the
crime of regicide, had brought woe and desolation on the
roe: of Lorraine. All the principal perreus who had pare
taken in the crime which hurled Henry 111. from his
throne, were now by a singular instance of retributive
judgment, in their turn overthrow'. Many had lost both
life and fortune, even to the utter extinction of their race
in the desolating warfare which ensued. The chieftains of
the League were either dead or miserable exiles. The power
of the Holy See received a blow, from which, in France, it
never recovered. Spain lavished her treasures in pursuit
of the shadowy claims of Donna Isabel ; and by the diver-
sion of her troops from her Flernishiterritory so strengthened
her rebels of the Netherlands, as to enable them eventually
to emancipate themselves from the Spanish crown. The
war with Franco, so recklessly waged by Philip 11. was
never thoroughly extinguished until the great-grandson of
Henry IV. sat on the throne of King Philip, after the
dynasty of the Emperor Charles V. in the male line had
become extinct."

There is a slight error, no doubt accidental, in the
last sentence, since Philip V. was the grandson of
Louis XIV., and consequently one generation
further removed from Henry IV. In conclusion,
the authoress writes as follows :

" Thus Henry IV. overthrew the power of the Holy
League. Its chieftains were proscribed ; its confederation.
dissolved ; its influence extinct. Tho victories, and, aboveall, the supple temper of the King, which enabled him to
mould his religion to his interests, and to choose his friends
according to his circumstances, combined to achim this
grand result. Neither had the expedients of diplomacy
been neglected by Henry. He had indited lay. letters to
Queen Elizabeth ; passionate appeals to the Pope • remon-
strances to King Philip ; exordiums to the Sultan Amu-
r:lth, and practical homilies to the Seignory of
Venice and to the Italian potentates. Never depressed by
reverses, the joyous buoyancy of Henry's temper cheered;
while his courage in battle, his presence of mind and his
fortitude, rendered his soldiers heroes."

Miss Freer deserve% great credit for the care and
research with which she has written this work.
Copious references to varied and standard authori-
ties, to State papers and documents, are given in
the marginal notes, with a brief account of the
genealogy of each celebrity of the time. She tells
us that her work is drawn from the MS. documents
in the Bibliotheque Imperiale and other unpub-
lished sources ; and we must commend her care and
fidelity in composition. She does not indulge in
many original observations or criticisms, but her
work flows on in unbroken narrative. There is, how-
ever, a considerable advance perceptible on her
former works. There is more freedom and decision
in her style ; and we have no doubt, with the addi-
tional advantages of time and practice, she will
acquire an eminent place among the female histo-
rians of England.

Tuscany in 1849 and in 1859. By T. Adolphus
Trollope. Chapman and Hall.
The
olLee by thectofth people of T
the author istousschaonwy
it a thegreathe
a
t ad-
vance
o
to moral self-government durinlguntdheerslaasntdtenexycessasreas.
The greater part of the work is devoted
recapitu-
lating the history of the b
which distinguished the revolution of 1848. how
the populace were excited to rebellion by the op-
pression of their rulers, and the stinging satires of the
poet Giuseppe Giusti ; and how the kindling spark
was given by the outbreak in France. After re-
viewing all the causes which led to revolution, the
third chapter winds up as follows
permanency of
supremacy
And so the year 1846 came to a close, amid symptoms of
coining storm and trouble sufficient to alarm the blindest
things
devil
eN,ir
believersia ndi
conjuredn theth eunfailingu up by
theofesbtarbultieshfeodro. orderlloof
Cy Pius the Ninth was already re-
fusing all obedience to the further conjuring of the alarmed
pontiff, and was claiming to be himself a master spirit, that
could compel popes and kings to bend to his will.
At length the war of independence fairly broke out,
and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, as a last hope of
maintaining his rule, put himself at the head of the
movment. But it would seem that his conduct was
by no means honourable, for while pretending to join
heart and hand with his subjects, he in reality was
holding correspondence with the Austrian General,
Itadetzky :
It is asserted, then, that a quantity of papers, correspond-
ence chiefly, which had belonged to Radetzky, was pur-
chased for a very considerable sum in Milan ; that among
these papers was a letter from the Grand Duke to the Aus-
trian general, telling him that he sent him twelve thousand
"canaille," which he hoped he—the general—would rid
him of.

The Pope having yielded to the storm, finding it
impossible to restrain the military ardour excited
in Rome by the insurrection in Tuscany, soon began
to cry back. He suffered his troops to advance to
the frontier, under General Durando, but would not
give his sanction to their crossing the Po. Thus,
what with treachery in the pretended leaders, want
of unanimity and disorder amongst the people, and
Austrian bayonets without, the struggle for Italian
independence was abortive. Peter the Great of
Russia once said, after sustaining a defeat by
Charles XII. of Sweden—" Let us have patience,
the Swedes will in the end teach us to beat them-
selves." Even so was it Tuscany ; ten years of
subjugation under a galling despotism has taught
the Tuscans the value of moderation—the force of
which has been proved by late events—aud that t•
succeed, it is necessary to trust to themselves, rather
than to those who, having once tasted the ques-
tionable joys of high command, will stoop to every
artifice rather than forego their power. The free-
dom of the pecple must emanate from themselves ;
it is a grave mistake to expect to obtain it by the
aid of crafty rulers, or by the interposition of
grasping foreign despots. It is needless to call
attention to the author's confluents on the conduct
of the British Government, swayed as it has bees
of late years by German influence ; all sensible sad
disinterested people can have but one opinion ill
the subject. The book is written in a bold and
fearless style, without favour or affection to any
party, and is well worthy the attention of thlot'
who take an interest Italian affairs.

The Queen of England and the Prince Consort
have presented to their grandchild, the son of Prince and
Princess Frederick William, an exceedingly costly, beautiful,
and artistically manufactured cup and cover in gold, in re'
membraneo of their having been godfather and godmother
to the young prince. The whole of the jewels used as omit-
ments are valuable diamonds, and the cup bears an inscrip
tion in English as follows :—" Queen Victoria and Fri".
Albert to their grandson, Frederic 'William Victor Albert,in remembrance of the sth of March, 1859." The date
that of the baptism of the young prince. The cup
15 °t
London manufacture, and is a worthy specimen of the gel
smith's art,