The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-22 00:00:00

THE PRINCESS; OR THE BEGUINE.

By Lady Morgan, .Author of " O'Donnd," &c. In 3 vois,

London . Richard Bentley, 1835.

" As cold water is to the panting hart, so is good
news from a far country," was the forcible and elo-
quent language of the wisest of men, when describing
the delighted feeling which accompanies unexpected
good fortune ; and to those who have experienced the
toil of perusing the various publications which daily
teem from the press in endless variety of subject, size,
and style, this description would not appear misapplied
in expressing the pleasure which accompanies the laying
hold of a really clever work, in which instruction and
amusement are happily blended. There appears some-
thing refreshing in the very look of the pages; and upon a
genuine " devourer" of books, the reading of each
•
chapter acts as a spell, " steeping the senses" in still
deeper " forgetfulness ;" till at last the charmed being
realizes the prayer of the distracted lover, by " an-
nihilating both time and space" in the imaginc,l. 'reality
of a new existence. The heart expands itself to re-
ceive the friendship of unknown individuals, to whom

we feel drawn by the strongest chords of sympathy ;
and though we know not whether another page will

not raise them to the highest pinnacle of earthly am
bition, or sink them to the lowest depths of abject
wretchedness, still are we alike prepared to participate
in the full extent of their joys or their sorrows—to
pour out the vial of our wrath on their oppressors, or
to burn the sweetest incense of our heart before the
shrine of their benefactors and deliverers. Such is

the mysterious power which the creations of real
genius obtain over the minds of all true lovers of
books ; and to readers of this class such creations
and the Tales of Lady Morgan are well entitled to
that distinction—are not less objects of gratification,
flan the cooling stream to the parched throat and
quivering limbs of the hart hunted on the mountains
of Judwa.

The " Princess" is a powerful ta'e, and exhibits
on every page the impress of the extraordinary intel-
lect, and.vigorous faculties of the highly-gifted autho-
ress. In some respects it bears a strong resemblance
to Lady Morgan's previous works of fiction, only dif-
fering from them, in a marked degree, in the political
character which belongs to it—and in treading with a
more incautious step on the very verge of social
morality. We confess, though agreeing in the politi-
cal opinions of Lady Morgan, that we should have
preferred her adoption of incidents which would have
led her to eschew the discussion of our social system. We
have a horror of female system-mongers—female diplo-
matists, and female politicians under whatever banner

they choose to enrol themselves. When they do write
on such subjects, we are happy and thankful to witness
their exertions in the cause of civil and religious liberty
but were they to be influenced by our counsel, WC
would recommend them to preserve the purity of their
feelings, and the sweetness of their tempers, by shun-
ning a path only trodden from dire necessity, and as a
consequence of the incorrigibility of the depraved na-
ture of mankind.

The apparent object of the " Princess" is altogether
unnecessary—the justification of the Belgian revo-
luion. The tale has little plot, and less incident.
Sir Frederick Mottram, a highly sensitive and intellec-
tual gentleman, and a member of the House of Com'
mons, has, in early life, formed an attachment to a
beautiful orphan, a relation of hiS mother's, who had
been brought up in the family. As the girl was not
considered by Sir Frederick's parents a proper match
for their son, he was sent to Italy, and the orphan
turned out on the world to seek her fortune in any way
she pleased. Fortunately for her, she had studied
painting, and had a correct taste in the fine arts, 14
means of which she contrived to support herself
for some time. Failing to obtain the patronage
her talents merited, she went to the Conti-
neat, where in the course of her sojourning,
she was takdn notice of, patronized, and eventually
married, by the Prince of Schaffenhausen. After a
short time the Prince died, and the Princess returned
to England, where we find her received into the,
highest circles, the brightest luminary in the world 0'
fashion, and secretly regarded as an intri guante from
the Court of Austria, charged with the counsels 0
Prince 7Aletternich. In the meantime Sir Frederick
Mottram had been naany years married to a
lady of rank and family, but destitute of every
quality of head and heart capable of riveting the
affections, or commanding the respect, of her hus-
band. They soon grow indifferent to the society. °f
each other, and at last, in a fit of extreme irritation
at the fashionable levity of his wife, Sir Frederick quits
his residence in town, and goes to Belgium. The,
Princess, who had seen him repeatedly in London, han,
ingratiated herself into the afilTtions of his wife, an°
by a strange incident led him to believe that herself, the
first mistress of his affections, had died in a workhouse'
follows him ; and 'in the habit of a Beguine, or nu°
of the Order of Charity, contrives to meet him so often
that at last he falls in love with her. His offers are
rejected, and soon after he is joined by his wife, and a
party of English friends, to whom the Princess Pr'
cents herself in her high character. We pass over the
various adventures which led to the discovery of her
real character, on the part of the Princess ; and of her
relationship to an Irish family, who is likewise eon'
fleeted with Sir Frederick Mottram, though all poi
ties, the Princess excepted, are previously ignoran. °
the existence of such ties. The shock, however'
proves too much for the constancy of Sir Fredr
rick's wife, and the lady accordingly elopes with $
young nobleman, and shortly after dies. To presersil
the purity of her heroine, Lady Morgan, strangely
enough, in our opinion, makes the Princess reject the,
Land of Sir Frederick, and ascribe her own previoll'
conduct more to political motives than to sentimens(
:If a more tender nature. The termination is no relief
to the general character of the work, which verses
throughout on the very brink of a moral preciPle'i
Lady Morgan may advance in justification ti
her book, tkat she has described life °-
it exists in the highest circles ; but we 01;
tend that the existence of certain vices is no reas°l
for giving publicity to them, and what is still mfr,
dangerous, ascribing them to persons otherwise '11';
tuous arid intelligent. Her heroine, whatever she Iltaila
seem to Lady Morgan, will appear to the moral Ora
as a woman whose virtue was hardly worth preservin§:
and who throughout acted a part which no really 11
tuous person would dare attempt.
The great excellence of the Princess consists in thee
masterly manner in which Lady Morgan has dill,
the character of Sir Frederick Mottram's Irish se „(
vant, and the strength, sternness, and that ctittirj,;
irony so peculiar to herself, with which she ~..15),11
bare the cold-blooded Conventionalists of -,"„i',11
life among the most fashionable circles of the Br";:s,
aristocracy. In the whole range of Romance-wilted
we know of no author who has attacked and exliesoi,
the absurdities of conventional forms, with such beg
thering power as Lady Morgan. But that she Pi's
the evil too far must be confessed by all who are leo
that such forms could not be dispensed with, unfor a
at. the manifest risk. of substituting a greater evil of
less one—without endangering the whole social cyst
as it only can exist in this country. In her reprohaoie
of Sabbath legislation ; and her prophecies of the
ors,
of the Aristocracy unless that body anticipate the "vs,
and spirit of the age, by reforming those institute
social and civil, to which it owes its claims to resVt'lli
we most entirely and heartily concur. She has- the
some wholesome truths ; but we feel confident well
Aristocracy will not thank her for them, however 00e
intended. In the following trite extract—the 0111 Ys of
las
we can give—we have a fine example of the c
ctifr
people who cry out against the wild destru eels
schemes of the Reformers, and the present opr9.lll,ei;
of the Wellington-Peel Administration. We glogil
as a fair sample of the caustic vein which runs the.
the whole of these volumes : le;
‘‘ Mr. and Mrs. St. Leger were rather a popular 64/2711
for she was a flirt, and he was a fool. Each, there ;i0 e:1
1"
representing a very large class in the world of fashion, °,ba
a considerable portion of its suffrages. Mr. St. Legerlij 01,
r
ruined his own private affairs in the outset of life ;!a Dee
that reason, probably, (no other being ostensible,) he Pa d
selected to manage those of the nation.
" Among other diplomatic offices, he had recentlY,
the honour of representing the Majesty, of England 111,0 vco
man Court of the third or fourth class ; where, as Ei's'o clo
traordinary, he had been sent by the then Ministry, cud
the Polonaise with Dowager Margravincs, play icaroyect o
truckle to legitimacy. For these services he had e.n,ii,rit• 113
income which exceeded that of the American Presl`-0.
might have salaried the whole frugal Cabinet of 13eItcl,doOia
" Bentham would have said that Mr. St. Leger w
mired his wages, and minimized his services s but b°lote.let
the grandson of two Dukes represent without an aecistiostit,
come ? and in a German *Court, where qualities are ewss.
by quarterings, high birth was indispensable. it 0,
therefore, selon les regles of legitimate diplomacy- ta '43
Reform, however, came and, rePardiess of vel
.bb!l'oee
had, among other things,
ministre; and the Ilor,:ourable- Mr. St. Leger, bell' t 5
permitted to 13.7ig. on the public purse, had return! to fis
"c".-Lly reformed this petit_ aoov
wife to P„
ngland, to hang on their own noble relatiolnoVerAss'nj
a seat in the House if they could„—a seat at a ci_oicl,<ictif
where they could,—a box at the Opera when they ifte, tc,tei
to join in the full cry of Conservatism against a
_sYsruiv,
whatever it may prove to the nation, was to thou
fullest development."