The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-09 00:00:00

ADELPHI THEATRE.

The annual benefit of Mr. Webster is alwaya looked for-
ward to with great pleasure by the numerous patrons of the
Adelphi Theatre, because on that occasion, more especially,
they are enabled in some degree to mark, in a substantial
manner, their high appreciation of the efforts made for their
amusement and gratification. The interesting event came
off last evening, and drew together one of the most
mumerous and brilliant audiences that has yet as-
sembled within the walls of the new theatre. The
entertainments commenced with the drama of " Janet
Pride," which was wisely reserved for the occasion, for
certainly within the whole role of the characters of Mr.
Webster there are few that gives him greater scope to dis-
play those great abilities which have stamped him as the
most intense and natural actor of the present generation.
His magnificent embodiment of the part of Richard
Pride is too well known and appreciated to stand
in need of the slightest adulation or elaborate
eulogy. From first to last it was the perfection of
dramatic art, and the moist eyes of the audience amply
testified how truly he played his part. His "make up,"
as it is professionally termed, for Richard Pride was ano-
ther triumph of artistic skill; and whether as the idle,
drunken, dissipated workman, or the wild and reckless
denizen of the bush, in each he was unapproached and un-
approachable:
To Mrs. Mellon the greatest praise is due for her pathetic
delineation of the suffering mother and injured daughter
(Janet Pride). In both parts she exhibited the most in-
tense and truthful acting, and won immense applause. Mr.
Toole also contributed greatly to enliven the play by the
capital manner in which he sustained the part of Dicky
Trotter. Mr. Selby's Carl Bernard was one of those
finished bits of acting for which that gentleman is so cele-
brated ; and Paul Bedford acted with all his usual good
humour and gusto.
At the fall of the curtain the applause was immense, and
after the principal actors had all re-appeared a special call
was made for Mr. Webster, who shortly afterwards ap-
peared before the curtain. He seemed to be particularly
gratified at the warmth of the applause, and after bowing
bowing his acknowledgments he came forward and briefly but
gracefully returned his thanks. He said the recognition of
his labours in the cause of the drama that evening was par-
ticularly gratifying, and he only regretted that he was'net
able at that moment adequately to express how deeply he
felt thelonour. For many years it hat' been his good for-
tune to receive the favours of his audience, and he trusted
that his future efforts for their amusement would be deemed
worthy of continued support. In the ensuing season many
novelties would be produced, supported by new and original
talent, all "native and to the manner born." After remark-
ing that he looked hopefully to the future, Mr. Webster
again thanked the audience for the extraordinary enthu-
siasm of his reception, and then retired amidst loud applause.

EXTRAORDINARY DEATH FROM POISON IN HYDE
PARK.—lnformation was yesterday received by Mr. C. St.
Clair Bedford, the coroner for Westminster, of the death
from poison of a respectably-dressed female, described as
Miss Anne Owen, aged about 30, of No. 1, Lower George-
street, Chelsea, whic took place in Hyde Park, about half-
past nine on Tuesday evening, apparently under the sub-
joined singular circumstances :—At the time above men•
tioned some persons, male and female, were sitting on a cir-
cular seat in the park, near the Serpentine, when attention
was suddenly attracted to one of the females (the deceased),
who fell suddenly from the seat. One of the party called a
policeman, and the hapless female, appearing lifeless, was
conveyed to St. George's Hospital, where, on examination,
she was found to have died from the effects of poison. Tho
body was then removed to St. George's Workhouse, Mount-
street. Upon her person was found a phial three parts
full of cyanide of potassium, which it is alleged was pur-
chased by the brother• in •law of the deceased, with whom
she had been lately residing, the day previous, for photo-
graphic purposes. An inquisition is appointed to take
place on Friday next, to investigate the circumstances of
this, at present,
mysterious case.
THE LIVERPOOL POLICE COURTS.—Yesterday
the business of the Liverpool police-courts was conducted
for the first time in the court-rooms attached to the now
police-oflice buildings in Dale-street. There was nothing
in the way of ceremony or observation of any kind on the
occasion, and the business, which had been conducted in
the borough sessions-house ever since its opening on the
30th of Oct., 1828, was quietly transferred to the new pre-
mises, where it will be conducted in future.

AUGUS 9, 1860.

LITERATURE.

The Poetical Works of Sir B. Bulwer Lytton, Bart.,
One vol. pp. 561. Routledge and Co.
The Dramatic Works of pFir E. Balwer Lytton,
Bart, 111. P. One vol. pp. 496. Routledge

_
and Company.
Among the numerous popular editions of favourite
authors published of late years by the Messrs.
Routledge, few, if any, can have been more gene-
rally acceptable than the two here particularised.
It was fitting, moreover, that the firm whose enter-
prize had already, at a cost to themselves of no less

han twenty thousand pounds sterling, placed the
- - -

novels and romances of Sir Bulwer Lytton within

reach of the great mass of the reading public, by
the issue of those celebrated fictions at prices vary-

ing from penny weekly numbers to shilling,
eighteenpenny, or half-crown volumes—it was
fitting, we say, that the firm who had acted
thus in regard to the further popularization
of the prose writings of Sir E. B. Lytton.should

become the medium also for the wider and wider

dissemination of the poetic and dramatic effusions
of the genius of the same prolific litterateur. Those
who have already possessed themselves, by a very

moderate expenditure, of the Bulwer Novels, from
the history of Mr. Pelham to the masterpiece of
Pisistratus Caxton, will now find themselves en-
abled, by the same adventurous publishers, to com-
plete the ample display of the productions of Bul-
wer Lytton upon their book-shelves by adding to
them these two comprehensive volumes, comprising
within their narrow compass our great novelist's
numerous poetic and dramatic compositions. In
reference to the second of these two supplementary
volumes, the one namely giving to us for the first
time, we believe, alone in a separate form, the col-
lective Dramas of Bulwer Lytton, it is especially
noticeable that those dramas no longer in-
clude among them " The Sea Captain." In
the five-volumed edition of the Poems and
Dramas of Sir E. B. Lytton, published a few years
since by the Messrs. Chapman and Hall, of Picca-
dilly, there was an intimation, if we recollect
rightly, of some such projected withdrawal of " The
Sea Captain." That intimation is at length realised
—the withdrawal, then hinted at as probable, being

now apparently decided upon definitively. To
what end this is done the public is left to conjecture
—the obvious impression being that the writer
designs some more careful revision, or remodelling
of a drama once popular among even the more fasti-
dious of our London playgoers. This circumstance
of " The Sea Captain's" withdrawal is all the more
noteworthy from the fact, that while an
ellision so absolute has been thus ruthlessly
decided upon by the dramatist, his maiden
play, " The Duchess de la Valliere," has been
carefully retained in the present collection—nay,
still here, as in the earlier collective edition of Sir
Bulwer Lytton's plays, it leads off the series. Yet
"The Sea Captain" during its season was unquestion-
ably successful, and" The Duchess de la Valliere"
was--though not by any means whatjis technically
called damned—most unmistakably, when produced
upon the stage, unsuccessful. We can only con-
jecture therefore that the former—clever and suc-
cessful though it was—but inadequately realises its
author's ideal of what he intended it to be.
Whereas the retention in its original form of the all
but damned play of " The Duchess de la Valliere"
confirms our own long-cherished opinion that that
historic drama is as worthy as a literary perform.
ance, if not as a dramatic composition, as any other
play that has emanated from its writer's hand—
confirms, or at the least strengthens, that opinion
of our own, we say, by our author's evident con-
viction to the same effect, in his own matured and
tempered judgment. A persuasion evidenced
plainly enough by the simply contrasting in-
cidents here particularised—namely, the with-
drawal of " The Sea Captain," simultaneously
with the retention of " The Duchess de
la Valliere." Together with that the maiden drama
of our brilliant and popular playwright, the volume
under notice contains the four later and greater
dramatic effusions which have secured to Sir E. B.
Lytton his high reputation as one of the
most accomplished dramatists of his age. There
is that ever charming " Lady of Lyons,"
that one always associates somehow with
two of the most remarkable comedies in our dra-
matic literature—Tobin's " Honeymoon," and
Shakspere's " Taming the Shrew." There is
" Money," perhaps the wittiest comedy that has
appeared upon the English stage since the
plays of Sheridan. There is 66 Richelieu,"
which, if only for its marvellous portraiture of the
whimsical side of the great Cardinal's character,
mast ever remain an enthralling study for the lite-
rary psychologist. Finally, there is that long-
titled drama, generously written for the benefit of
the Guild of Art and Literature, and enacted, to
that end, with various ability by Mr. Dickens's
amateur company—i.e., Not so Bad as we Seem;
or, Many sides to a Character. Dramatic produc-
tions, any one of which, almost, would have been
perfectly sufficient—(certainly this would have been
the case either with the Lady of Lyons," or with
" Money," or with " Richelieu")—perfectly suffi-
cient to establish securely and permanently our
author's repute as a dramatist. A single work
of rare merit has before now been adequate—.
(as in the instance of poor Tobin's masterpiece
hereinbefore incidentally specified)—been perfectly
adequate to secure to the writer of it lasting fame
among our galaxy of great English playwrights.
Sir Edward Lytton has insured the permanence of
his eminent reputation as a dramatist, however, by
the production of three plays ranking in the highest
category among the stock-pieces "holding their own,"
season after season, upon the English stage—pieces
not less favourites with the actor than with the
audience—chosen by the former for " starring in "
upon a benefit night—filling the theatres with the
latter upon their every reiterated representation. It
is thus incontestably with the "Lady of Lyons," with
" Money," and with " Richelieu." The fact that it is
so is notorious. To appreciate the literal accuracy of
which statement it is only necessary to glance casu-
ally now and then at the playbills and the theatrical
advertisements. So much for the dramatic works
of Sir Bulwer Lytton here given to the public in a
single volume by the enterprise of the Messrs.
Routledge—so much for the chances of that single-
volumed edition winning for itself a wide popu-
larity—so much we should rather say, perhaps, for
the certainty of its being eagerly welcomed by what
has happily nowadays to be counted in round num-
bers by the million the great mass of our reading
population As to the Poetical Works of this
Protean genius—who is Novelist and Dramatist
also, no less than Orator and Statesman—a very
few words will be sufficient to indicate the proba-
bility, or rather, here also wo should say the tole-
rable certainty of this compact and beautiful single
volumed popular edition being most acceptable
among the cheaper editions of bygone and living
poets already issued to the extent of a noble library
from the establishment of those publishers for the
1,000,000! These few words even might be judi-
ciously restricted to what would of itself be an im-
plied panegyriC, a reprint of the mere table of
contents—the Poems themselves range over fields
so wide and various. Within the compass of these
561 pages octavo, a world so alluring and so
diverse in its fruitfulness lures the reader as if down
through the winding sylvan ways leading to the Vale
of Tempe, down into the Arcadian haunts of Fairy-
land. Here as in the dream of Horace—

Nos manot Oceanus cireumvagus arva, beata
Petamus arva, divites et insulas
Reddit übi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis,
Et'imputata floret usque vines.;
Germinat et nunquam fallentis termes ohm,
Suamque pulls ficus ornat arborem ;
Melia cavil manant ex ilice; montibus altis
Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.
For here, are we not with Morvale in the New
Tinzon traversing, even among the streets of May-
fair, the sequestered mazes of dreamland—musing
in her garden with Eva, the bride of the 11l Omened
Marriage—soaring in companionship with Milton,
the blind seer ! into the trackless empyrean—wan.
dering by the sedgy banks of the Avon with the
fair young Constance—turning the sibylline leaves
in which the Parcae chaunt to us successively of
Napoleon the Great at Isola Bella, of the Cardinal
Mazarin, of the young poet Andre (henier dying
in despair for his ruined genius upon the scaffold of
the Revolution, of the faithful little mourner
of Mary Stuart of the avenging horrors accumu-
lated in her last days over the head of her aged
rival Elizabeth, and of the wierd dream dreamt,
according to a historic legend, by Cromwell, the
Lord Protector P Above all—immediately prior to
the two books of the charming Corn-Flowers,
whence Fancy scatters
"---from her pictured urn
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn"—
have we not the twelve books of that elaborated
national epic of KING ARTHUR, in regard to which
Sir Edward Lytton still asserts at the close of his
Preface—" I am unalterably convinced that, on
this foundation, I rest the least perishable monu-
ment of those thoughts, and those labours, which
have made the life of my life." If only in conside-
ration of this solemnly avowed and deliberate con-
viction' on the part of our great writer himself, the
comprellensive volume, comprising within it the
whole of his " Poetical Works," could hardly fail to
command the attention and win the favour of that
ever-widening multitude, beside whose hearths,
his name has long since come to be enshrined as a

" household word"—one among the cherished
penates and beloved lares of our popular litera-
ture.

Memoirs to Illustrate the History of my Time.
By F. Guizot, translated by T. W. Cole. Vol.
111. Bentley.
The third volume of M. Guizot's memoirs opens
with the year 1832, when he was himself a member
of the cabinet, occupying the congenial post of
minister of public instruction. Whatever may have
been M. Guizot's errors as a statesman, his patron-
age of letters reflects on him nothing but honour,
and the tone in which he always speaks of men of
science, art, or letters, is worthy of one who has ac-
quired a reputation in literature as well as in politics.
The first chapters of this volume he devotes to the
recapitulation of his labours in the particular de-
partment over which he presided, and a general
description of the state of education in France at
that epoch. He then proceeds to narrate the poli-
tical events of the time, and the complex questions
that troubled, divided, and finally overthrew the
ministry. It was in truth no easy task which the
members of the cabinet undertook in assuming the
responsibilities of government. The people rejoic-
ing in the charter, proud of the freedom, they had
waded through so much blood to gain, expected
every day greater concessions; while the turbulent
spirit of Red Republicanism still actively foment-
ing discontent in the heart of the capital, and the
recent establishment of the monarchy, seemed to call
for, what M. Guizot terms, the policy of repression.
On this difficult path they started with some draw-
backs.
" The ministry was far from combining all the conditions,
or of presenting all the features, usually considered essen-
tial to a Parliamentary cabinet. We did not enter into
office together and at the same time; neither did we all
spring without exception from the same political ranks. We
had not all adopted similar maxims and marched under one
flag. Of the eight ministers of the 11th of October, 1832,
four had belonged to the preceding Cabinet, four only were
new. Some had supported and served, other s had op-
posed the Restoration. A close investigator of our ideas
and general tendencies, of our habits of mind and life,
would have found amongst us important distinctions. But
whether from principle, taste, good sense, or prudence, we
all looked upon liberal government as the form required. All
were unanimously desirous that the monarchy and the char-
ter should pass into a truth together."
In attempting to follow the policy of resistance
in the then existing state of France his Cabinet, as
M. Guizot acknowledged, endeavoured to carry out
a most difficult work. In his own words, " in
struggling against disorders, it undertook to con-
quer by the laws alone, and by laws enacted and
applied in presence of liberty." Yet, while he de-
fends the general principles and policy of the Go-
vernment, M. Guizot does not by any means take
the part of an undeviating adherent. He frankly
admits, in many instances, that they committed
serious errors in judgment. For instance, the
series of prosecutions of the press, in which they
suffered themselves to become engaged in 1833, he
regards as a mistake, which aggravated the mis-
chief they were anxious to stifle. His remarks on
the liberty of the press are not without importance,
and contain much truth. Two points he especially
dwells upon as deserving the attention of those in
authority. He considers that they should meet the
enemy on their own ground, not by attacking them
before a legal tribunal, but at the bar of public
opinion ; that they should avail themselves of the
facilities offered by the press to set questions fairly
before the public by the establishment of organs of
their own. Secondly, he maintains that " power
must be indifferent as well as bold ; and while its
partisans maintain the struggle with vigour, it should
bear blows with patience, and notbe:too eager either
to stop or punish them." On another occasion,
where he thinks the Ministry in error, he dissented
in opinion from his colleagues at the time. In the de,
bate or the budget of 1833 two members of the Cham-
ber, holding public offices, vehemently supported
an amendment proposed by the opposition. A
tumult was excited in the chambers, and after a
stormy debate the amendment was negatived, and
the Cabinet decided the following day on removing
the two dissentients from their posts. The retire-
ment of Marshal Soult from the Cabinet was an
error, attended by more serious consequences to the
ministry. Owing to his irascible temper, and other
drawbacks, his colleagues had long desired his re-
signation, and they seized the opportunity of a dif-
ference of opinion respecting the substitution of a
civil for a military governor in iAlgeria to break
with him. This M. Guizot now terms a double
error ; for he considers they greatly anticipated the
day for the establishment of a civil government in
Algeria, and they found, too late, that " the door
by which Marshal Soult went out remained an open
breach for the enemy they contended with." The
secret societies were amongst the most formidable of
their adversaries. The leading one of the Friends
of the People had been dissolved in 1832 by a decree
of the Court of Assize in Paris ; but its chiefs soon
re-established it under another name. It was trans-
formed into the Society of the Rights of Man; " it
was organised into sections, each consisting of 20
members, and governed by a committee of 11 direc-
tors. The number of sections soon amounted, in
Paris, to 162 ; the central committee had thus un-
der its orders about 3,000 men." A number of
similar societies were connected with it, so that the
central committee was able to congratulate itself on
being the parent of more than 300 other societies.
Their principles were not doubtful. They an.
flounced their determination of overthrowing all
monarchies, and founding the Republic on their
ruins, "not an abstract Utopia, but the Republic
born in 1792 already known to France." The recol-
lections of the Reign of Terror, the Noyades of
Nantes, and the tragedies of the guillotine, did not
interfere with the projects of these theorists. In
an exposition of their principles they de-
clared that " the Society of the Rights
of Man, adopted as the expression
of its principles, the declaration presented to the
National Convention by the representative of the
people, Robespierre." Some of the sections of the
societies adopted the names of Couthon, Marat,
The 21st of January, Abolition of 111-acquired Pro-
perty, and similar pleasant and pacific titles. It
is not surprising that M. Guizot, whose father had
perished under the guillotine, was not inclined to
share their sentiments. He is justly indignant at
the countenance these advocates of anarchy received
from many persons of station and reputation,
actuated by various motives. On his once
remonstrating with a wealthy banker who
held monarchical opinions, on this subject
—" What would you have me do ?" he said ;
" you and your colleagues will never do me any
harm ; but these gentry will one day be the mas-
ters, and they have friends who are very capable
of seizing my property and cutting off my head."
Such pusillanimous conduct merits nothing but
contempt, but it proves the feeling of insecurity
then prevalent. Another difficulty was the dis-
tribution of inflammatory pamphlets by the public
criers. On this the Government determined to
take active measures. A law was passed subject-
ing the distributor of writings in the public tho-
roughfares to municipal superintendence. Riots
and tumults broke out, repressed with extreme
severity by the authorities. Another bill was in-
troduced directed against associations. In speak-
ing of this bill, M. Guizot says he has no wish
to extenuate its character, but he considers it was
necessary at the period. It would have been
better, he admits, to have made it exceptional;
but the name of exceptional law had become
so unpopular, thanks to old associations, that
the Cabinet dared not make the experi-
ment. After a debate of fifteen days the bill was
passed by a strong majority, and the Government
proceeded to dispose of a foreign diffi-
culty—the long pending dispute with the
United States respecting the compensation
due for the seizure of American vessels during the
Empire. The outbreak at Lyons, and the disaster
at the Review on the Boulevards in 1835, when in
an attempted assassination of the King 41 persons
were killed or mortally injured, are subsequently
alluded to. Of the outbreak at Lyons we have a
very full account in the Historic Documents, written
on the spot by an eye-witness,!and giving full details
of the struggle and its suppression. M. Guizot's
defamers, among other accusations, asserted that he
had issued " most pitiless orders for the suppres-
sion of the insurrections at Lyons in 1831 and '34."
This he proves to have been a calumny, since at the
former epoch he was not in the Cabinet, and at the
latter he occupied a post where he cculd issue no
order whatever concerning Lyons. On this point
he expresses some indignation; but, generally
speaking, his public career appears to have afforded
him more satisfaction than disappointment. Not
keenly sensitive, and fond of power, his long tenure of
office seems to have been to him a source of gratifica-
tion, notwithstanding all the attendant drawbacks.
He says that he feels no inclination to complain, as
some politicians have done, of the sorrows and re-
verses of public life, though he avers that, when
most successful, he never found it sufficient to
com-
pensate for the absence of domestic affections and
to the sympathy.death
t hT These ehis observationsaccotn pli
accomplished
makes
and n alluding
estimable
wife, whose loss he had to deplore during his tenure
of office in the Cabinet of 1832. rile romance which
attended their first acquaintance is familiar to most
readers. Madame Guizot was one well fitted to
share her
G husband'sifted anxieties,berse lt withan d n
s37napathise in
his pursuits. 0 d
or inary
powers of mind, and entering warmly into all his
projects, it is not surprising that her sudden loss
filled him with despair, It was fortunate for
the survivor that the inevitable duties of his office
afforded him some distraction. With regard
giveitlain his
a
to the results of his labours as Minister of
Public“o n tlhnes
itsr Instruction; to ifoAn
April,
,elWB3i4ll,yearoliv n
after statistics—
" at itshte p
i nsr—G
mulgation of the law of the 28th of June, 1833,
I commu-
nicatedto the King the nature of its progress, in a detailed

report, including acts, documents, and results. I repea
here in a few words and figures, such of the latter as can
be so conveyed. In the course of the year named, the
number of primary schools for boys increased from 31,420
to 33,695, and the pupils actually receiving instruction from
1,200,715 to 1,654,828. In 1,272 townships, school-houses
had been built, purchased or repaired. Fifteen new elemen-
tary normal schools had been established. Thirteen years
later, by the end of 1817, through the unremitting efforts of
my successors in the department of Public Instruction, the
number of elementary schools for boys had augmented from
33,695 to 43,514, that of the pupils from 1,654,828 to
2,176,079, and of the school-houses belonging to the town-
shins, from 10, 316 to 23,761. Seventy-sir primary normal
schools supplied masters to every department. I pass over
in silence all that had been either begun or accomplished
for girls' schools, asylums, workrooms and other establish-
ments, directly or indirectly affecting popular education.
Such at the end of fifteen years were the fruits of the law
of June, 1833, and of the movement which I cannot say it
created, but which it undoubtedly directed to a real and
effective institution."

He frequently finds occasion to censure the want
of public liberality towards men of art, science, and
literature. With regard to the holders of offices
in public buildings, he speaks of " that jealous par-
simony which bitterly assails the worldly comfort of
those hard-working men, the greater part of whom
are distinguished, nearly all of whom are limited
in means, and which doles out to them the producer
always extremely moderate., of their long labours.'
He inserts a letter of M. Saint Hilaire in answer
to an assertion publicly made, that the house
allotted to him in connection with his duties at the
Botanical Gardens was unnecessarily large. M. de
Saint Hilaire says, with justice, after disposing of
the accusation, that if he had devoted the 40 years
of uninterrupted labour and research which he had
passed at the Botanical Garden, to the active prose-
cution of a trade, he would in all probability have
been a rich man, instead of which he had diminished
his own private means by the purchase of books
and materials for the prosecution of his studies,
and by the publication of works of elaborate science
for the diffusion of knowledge. On another occa-
sion M. Guizot writes as follows respecting literary
societies :

" I am a steady partisan of monarchy and administrative
government. France owes to both much of her prosperity
and progress. I feel sincerely grateful to the Emperor Na-
poleon I. for having said to M. de Fontanes, " Leave us at
least the republic of letters," and I adopt these words more
seriously than perhaps Napoleon himself meant when •he
uttered them. The system of administrative monarchy, its
intractable unity, its monotonous bearing from head to foot,
its frigid prepossession for things rather than persons, its
severity against disorder, and its want of sympathy with
liberty,--al these characteristics are unsuited to the region
in which the literary and scientific character holds rule.
Such establishments require a large share of independence
and spontaneous action, of variety and personal govern-
ment. Not to gratify vain or fantastic whims, but from
the very nature of the:men with whom we treat, and the
matters specially treated of in such cases. General and su-
perior administration requires rules and agents ' • above all
things it fears and rejects individual caprices, unforeseen
acts, anomalies, and abuses. It is ill suited to the manage-
ment of scholars and philosophers, men accustomed and
disposed to invent, to criticise, and determine their ova
ideas and labours, and with whom it is necessary to con-
verse and argue incessantly, instead of simply sending theta
a copy of instructions on a formal circular. Shall govern'
went place over them an agent analogous to itself, a petty'
administrative Sovereign? In that case, the scholars and
philosophers thus controlled, take offence, the Government
incurs their secret opposition and ill-humour • they resign
and nullify themselves, leaving the affairs of letters and
science to be transacted by mere strangers to their necessi-
ties, their tastes, their pleasures, their studies, and their
books ; who may, perhaps, introduce order into literary ee"
tablishments, while they utterly destroy their vitality'-
Then follows a general feeling of astonishment that lettere
languish and scholars become disaffected."
The narrative portion of the volume before us ter'
urinates with the downfall of the Ministry in
1837, though the Historical Documents occupy s
considerable portion. Whatever may be our opinion
of a statesman's career, it is always interesting to
see his own account of it, and in criticising the
acts of the French Government at that epoch we
must remember the serious and alarming perplexitiee
which surrounded them. In recalling a time, how-
ever, when the press was comparatively free, and
, vigorous opposition was possible in the Chamber
of Deputies, we should conjecture, notwithstanding
all the trimming statecraft of Astutio and hi°
. master, that modern Parisian liberals must be in-
clined to reflect on a certain fable which tells 136
how a discontented body politic exchanged a King
Log for a King Stork.