The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-17 00:00:00

LITERAL'

It4t

The Countess. da•Bonnevalt - ,her Life and Letters.
~,..k
By Lady Georgiana Folicitou. 2 voL. Hu, st
and Blackett. . . .
:• ..,
The re:calk of Al Guiz.,t, *llicti . is.Byptixed to
this work, is car aibly a s'eryaliplicaiite one, forno
u.ovel could cliron.icle a more i.,vulautie. devo-

don, and few fictions pie exit,.teaching
semibility, such hive made stiong by suffering,. as
are to be found in the recFreli of thisiliqerical
If the peeuliar attrinids'Of her chs--
3')11)0 out more couspicatoudy -Italie-the Age
she lived, sh.s is also e iritl.d to praise
from pracising the:n alone and*.airiaide'V'She is
net Sing:el cut as oce of a spVtles4 tafinliany of
pure maidens and honouraLle kit rather
exemplified as a bright Ontrast'tocher wandering
sisterlicod, ac a shining light ib.har ,cllrliened
neration, she is as a vestal nymph tanning the ex- :
pining flames on the altars Of virttie as'a devotee •
who lingercA to pray at ifs ne4/bcted'sbrines,
and to • present the inc: rise of '6aittll'e • holicit
sacritiv, a pure heart, anal a, , dove& d spfrit, a'sa
peace offering for her country; before the (-fronded
pude 3of he (val. As such the Cotiatelie Of Bau-
neva' must ever hive a clains on the respect
of all who eau appreciate hOletigi
celleece, who regard the standard of mo-
rality as oeiety's stronghold, and- consider
the barriers rais:d ag iinSt vice as .brilivarks of -de-
f :nee from the inroads of the woi'st of enekeies. • It
is a moat dull interest which aPpe:tains to the life
of the fair daughter of the De &roils.. Mom her
er Adle to her grave she was Solitary, misunder-
. tood, and neglected. She passed her.-ehildhood
in dreams never to be realised ; her' youth was
given to a lova whose blossom; never:iaw the
Hower, and whose light wag (nay. eitindu'shed, as
the sun eclipsed at noonday ; her after years were
devoted to prayers which charity will
.hope might
plead for her unworthy husband at the footstool of
Mercy, but in this world she never saw them an-
swered. It seems strange that one so refined and
elevated in mind, and senthnent, shatild have so
sacrifi,.ied herself fm one so different in tone=-and
feeling, but then it was the idea 'more than the
reality. The Collet Do .Bornieval was interivrined
with her earliest ass)ciations ; he was the-fheitte of
wonder to her childish into)ligonee; of
her youth's unfoldiag fancy. In a mat'etial'and
selfish society, her glowing and ardent spirit hailed
the thought of a -being, in some form superibr to'
those around her. Unhappily for lier,-shalies-.
sussed no friend to warn her from the fatal favina,.
tion that had spell-bound her, and, indeed,'-after
some years all con Tired to favour the for, from motives of family interest, a
marriage de convenance was arranged be-
tween Judith() de Goutaut and her eousin, the
hero of her romantic youth, the object of herele-
voted homage. The Count, himself, was •'raot so
inach to blame for the misery that 'afterWards en-
strid as might be supposed, for he wail inveigled
into the marriage, and, auo; ding to the custom of

Leruine.

tha country, felt bound in honour to fulfil the: con-
tract. Ile was of a dangerous class, one' who pos-
sessing rare powers of fascination, was totally de-
void of principle, and entirely swayed by the pas-
s'on and prejudice of the hour. He obtained a
great influence over all with whom he came in con-
tact, and those who least approved him came ender
the sway of his attractions. "He is certainly Very
wild, but he has such a good heart, they would ex-
claim." The authoress ably expresses 'tho danger
of such an argument iu these words :—" Alas, how
many hearts have been broken, how many destinies
I.:lighted, how much affection trodden under foot by
pod hearts of this fatal description, by men who
know how to combine the charm of sensibility with
the most degrading vices and theemost withering
selfishness." Phere is sometimes no danger,more
great, no trial more severe, than to have one's ear-
nest wishes realised, out's fondest hopes fulfilled,
nothing more clearly proves the fallacy of human
judgments, and the vanity of mortal desires, than
the 'suddeu acquisition of a coveted 'treasure.
It was sa pre-eminently with Judithe de
Goutaut. She was united to the chosen of
her heart. For a short moment all 'seethed to
smile upon the fair young bride, her husband
sLeined all she desired. lie had returned crowned
with glory to a country that revoked her fbrmer
ern decision agaiuSt her gallant son, that seemed
to forget his faults, pardon his errors, and let him
feel that admiration, for his bravery had cancelled
all former shortcomings—" For Fiance could bear
the pride of him of whom herself was proud I'
All around her seemed to whisper the same sweet
words of hope, and the very season of the year
seemed like her heart to sing with joy. The wed-
ding was celebrated during the " joyful exhiliration
of the early days of spring, when the horse ehesuuts
of the Tuileries were putting forth their rich spiral
blossoms, the lilacs of the Luxembourg exhaling
their sweet perfumes." This was, indeed, a beau-
tiful illusion, for a more dreary union could not
have been devised than that which saw Judithe de
Goutaut and the Count de Bonueval joined'at the
altar "to be parted from that time till the awful re-
indoe that stall take place" when time shall be no
more, and when marriage and giving in marriage is
over. The letters that the young wife wrote to her
husband are very painful to peruse. With the
sense of want of proper knowledge of the fiictual
feelings, that existed in the mind of their writer,
!ICU° can help beinc, impressed with the idea that
this was a true and faithful heart that was lareak-
ing, while it poured forth its sentiments, that
the love of which they aro the record would,
under happier auMpiecs, have been mighty to save
from peril, and strong to endure ail suffering.
Judithe de Bonneval is a striking exampleof the
'[auger of setting the affections on one exduSive ob.
ject, to the neglect of other interests on earth, and
the desertion of holier hopes in heaven—
" Aid to make idols, sad to find them clay,
And to bewail that worship, therefore pray,"
might ttuly have bell urged ou her ; she ha I need
with her enthusiastic self-devotion, with her warm
itnagit,ation, and her tender heart, of the sustaining
power of self-control, and the elevating influence
of unworldly aspirations. It was not till every Lops
was rudely shattered, every promise for ever de-
stroyed, and every ray of sunihins vanished fore
the darkened pathway, that she at last onnfessed
the impotence of her idol, and the unworthy hold
it had obtained over a life destined- for better
things. The ill-fated hero of her youth be-
came at last a renegade, and bitter must
have been the news to the faithful heart of
the mourning wife. The sighs at the couch of
suffering, the tears at the deathbed, the chill
that strikes the heart at the grave of the beloved
one are as nothing to the agony whic't attends the
discovery of his guilt. It was so with Judithe when •
she learned that her husband, who n vicissitudes had
uninjured, and battle fields had spared, bad not
only betrayed the cause of the earthly sovereign
under whose banners he served, but had deserted
from the standard of his heavenly Master. " The
Count de Bonueval abjured the faith of a Christian,
the honour of a gar 'cam, he became. he follower
of Mahomet, a turbaned renegade, -a, vile apos-
tate." Surely no more startling waking from
her long dream, could have been devised in the.
language of fables, than was at hand in real life for
the excited woman, who had given up her thoughts
to what did not exist, to a creation of the fancy,
more than a real existence. The only true
and actual attributes of J udithe's long attachment
may 1)3 summed up in sin . and suffering.
were the attendant spirits on its course, and they,
after hope had laded as a flower, and even faith's
star had set iti the gloom, survived -to its close. It
is mournful to reflect that this is pot a fictitiousiner re
presentation, ably narrated, as
a_ptuhre-
se, imaginarybut
The shadows of romance
chronicle of a living soul.
drama's truthful
thesk etcrleic,
record
dvidelyr paennaenetduato: iewllxuitrategee:
thosedarkness of
whosere sensibilities
bai
:seat
irititeta
oeri tt
wilight
hggealhorradeet.
arousedss el
klns cinto
he covered
ditghbheyt
__
display
ouehoifn hsecne ,
he true tragedy h
pathos,
for
r sorrows unregrette
tered, and leave unfelt
their tears over the story of the sad daughter of
their sympathies tha nov trhefaentd t
France.