The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-26 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
THE COURT AT RA VENNA.

Nickisson, London, 1844.
" Court at Ravenna" is, without exception,
n.e of the drollest comedies we ever read. As for
t4Nes,pl,ot, it is impossible to give any account of what
4 ttn all human understanding ; and the leading
foeldents of the play are hardly less perplexing,
derq theY set both nature nog probability at
gin,allee, and go tumbling one er the other in
jr,:'",°lls• confusion, just like so many drunken
ai;:`nen at Donnybrook Fair. Many of the scenes
ve' laid in the coffee-room of the Swan tavern, at Ra-
-11114; and two of the principal personages are the
itris and Chambermaid of that same tavern, who
to t-ge in a world of waggery, which it is but justice
1,1,4 e author to say, in no respect reminds us of the
411 iant repartees of Congreve or Sheridan. Then there
pat, Sir 'William Kypas, who, it appears, is a great
urac'n of the Swan, and who does the landlady, Mrs.
ate,!ife, out of no less a sum than one hundred
presses' pounds, of which she more than once ex-
t„ her apprehensions that she shall never
(;i;e", a farthing. Also, there is a certain Duke
er,'es, together with a Count and Countess of
PCrtes who vie with each other in talking just
71)1'ank vese as is in fashion on the boards of a
broken
theatre in Whitechapel. The quantity of
°"en metaphors in which these illustrious per-
14:ages indulge is really incredible, nor is their
:3' disdain for the low vulgarities of
.syntax and
niar less to be admired and wondered at. 'We
ra°ll.ld not omit to add that, among the dra-
4481ersonm, there is an exceedingly funny steward
114:;1111 an excess of the comical, kicks Boots for
the'iig presumed to fall fast asleep in the doorway of
piae, ~Wan Tavern. This remarkable incident takes
Sowards the close of the fourth act, and from the
our:sinned exclamations of Boots we are not with-
end:lir fears that the steward's kick must have sorely
-41 aged him. Those who have the slightest pre.
thieetion for the absurd and ludicrous cannot do better
ot,,,.Peruse this comedy. No wag's library can be
''ldered complete without it.
4.4/

'SU 6'. FOREIGN REVIEW. No. XXXIV.
Taylor, London, 1844.
j„11,,!, character of Robespierre—a curious problem
sa,.^4lch of late years so many historians and es
eats have exercised their ingenuity—is canvlssed,
per?ansiderable length in the present number of this
Who°dical• Unlike the generality of those writers
does have speculated on the subject, the Reviewer
ta,, not go off in paroxysms of horror while enu-
ts:tng the events that 'harked the close of this
teaZll'uary Dictator's reign ; but discusses his pre-
kft,,,,4)llB as a statesman calmly and impartially, and
ye.' detailing the incidents of his career from the
lient.l7 89,, when he first took his seat in the Consti-
/9; 'tseembly, down to the period of his fall in
ilsen-I,le°llles to 'the conclusion that justice has not
40,"°11e to his powers of mind, and that he was by
l'epr-eana so poor a:creature as he has been generally
ai,•esented to have' been. In this opinion we are
tsaeaglY tempted to: coincide with the Reviewer. The
Pose Who overthreW in succession every party op-
de t° his views, and " wielded at will the fierce
kettip',,rbaeY" at by far the mostcritical period—as Lord
aiy-ac'vuarn has justly temarked—of French history in
°Nee, must have pasessed intellectual powers of no
kali 41'3' calibre. As an orator, though it is the
0.041,!0 deny him any sort of eulogium, he was in-
vitgarably the most adroit, argumentative, and con-
eallajlg, of all that the Revolution produced; and his
With' Practical sagacity contrasts most favourably
the ptille bombastic rhapsodies and tinsel imagery of
gefe,":4l3-trap speakers of the Gironde. The great
lases.' of his speeches, as we read them now, is their
this, and sickening adulation of the mob ; but
thief, the time they were delivered, constituted their
inau excellence, and is the secret of that tremendous
t,hre:aee which Robespierre exercised during the
.crao, stormiest years recorded in the annals of
Of the political system which he deemed it
%%saidhe
bllt on him to adopt, of course nothing can be,
; °'se•
rl• ut 41l unqualified reprobation. " His tyranny,'
" bat the Reviewer, "if he had been able to carry
ever would have been, perhaps, the most intolerable
and /30-I°lvil on earth, being at once a religious, moral,
of 1,11
tyranny, uniting the worst intolerance
was ritanisin with the despotism of Napoleon." It
the a great day for France and humanity when
aai axe fell on the neck of this gloomy
the ie remorseless fanatic, for, though many of
Cras lv,llo brought him to the scaffold were quite
tevoriasi):olle,etiltiao despotic as himself, and not half so
yet their power to do evil was circum-
-414 Ou,a and ;hey were compelled to go with the cur-
tarot, Public opinion, which had already set in in
that af mercy and toleration. The Reviewer hints
Robespierre had shown vigour and presence of
bee at
at the crisis of his fate, the result.inight have
rQoreyz different, and he might have "gained a dominion
.1
irn 'Ucute
41ePaossib. His hour had come, and no human
peril Could "111 d have averted his fall. If he had not
oiyi bed in July, he must have perished in the RA-
ow Pg. month, for he had no resources left; public
t'i-alon was fast deserting him, the mob, by whose
hergency °and on hi hadh risen.
nothing
yowere,.dewdteloreexlrpeeaedtyfrtoomtuhriisi
vviltll; theirnfgor tune:Them'
fabric
eosfhad politicalb een
long alienated by his cruelty,' and the feacbra
and religious fanaticism, which he proposed to erect in
France, and whose foundations he had laid so deep in
blood, was wholly unsuited to the free-thinking spirit
t°f his countrymen. In the article on " Modern
•-;tiglish Dramatists," occur some ingenious specula-
lns on the subject of the present declining state of
stage, which, we ,think, may be quite sufficiently
cunted for by the fact that we have no first-rate
Performerse among us, whether in tragedy or comedy.
ita or two stars we have, such as Farren and
ir:ereadn but compared with their predecessors,
NY are but " stellie ininores" twinkling faintly in
t:`,l‘r
stheatrical firmament; and why should we put
era
,!lves out of the way to see a play of Shakspeare
tme6riheridan imperfectly represented on the stage,
we can enjoy it without stirring from the
g' retirement of our study ? Referring, inciden-
thii to " len," the Reviewer says, "We have heard
hohgr,rania termed a noble tragedy ; we admit its
lyric 1' but we crave to read, instead of tragedy,
its ala,l drama ; for its conception, its construction, and
!Yrie,-I°Pe,..notwithstanding the blank verse, are all
If " Ion" be not a pure tragedy, fashioned
!ttio,rlet accordance with dramatic propriety, then we
.to 7, not where such a production is to be found.
fillet', thinking it is incomparably the noblest pro-
Nde°,ll of the sort that has appeared since the
corsage of the drama ; and exhibits a skill
as eieuntioo a grandeur of conception, and
aathoelegy and catholicism of sentiment that no
tbr save Shakspeare has equalled. had it appeared
Play'e earlier days of Kemble and Siddons, the one
the lon to the other's Clemanthe, who can doubt
bat "thus • iashe reception it would have met with ?
eeeutr;* Macready with his fiat, broad face, and
'ereotr,
ele fashion of declamation, made a very indif-
eltez "'reek hero, and Miss Tree was scarcely less
'nt
r,i the character of the Greek heroine. In
'and:lion and Prospects of British Husbandry"
Lilat,Zistibblfi! practical article—the Reviewer states
,„ toe sole exception of the Netherlands, there
cintaali"ler people whose agriculture exhibits such
t,,Lseass„,,s as our own. The " Sugar Question" is
juhrt th—e'4rwith a calmness and fairness that will ex-
e espeet even of those who may dissent from
1114inighe argument which it adopts. Of the few re-
tbel,articles, the ablest is the elaborate account.
""4tio,t , Literature and History of the Slavonic
Itiot 3.'
Di 'a the a Prom. the sketch of ' Robespierre" we
etator "etails of the last days of this inexorable
bis `lt •
str.
te -.age that a man so suspicious as Robespierre
11%. -gat have foreseen the plot that was to destroy
(I'4, He must have observed extremely orai-
q,b.—presei_the general reception of his last harangue
pie %II w,etting day ; and those members of the_ con
--
011:e knew that they must either destroy Robesd
tf, °e destroyed by him, were busily employe
~e`ior be whole night between the Bth and 9th Ther-
Thllvetiefinghag over to their side that mass of the
rat l;en; uPon which Robespierre seemed to rely.
ira4"er it hsof the Dictator had in fact deserted him; or
he *a ad done its work, and another kind of genius
_
'4ll4(lllrteend for what was now to be done. And yet if
emeted on what his position had been when he
ii,izerieL"..'? Girondists, he might have seen that, had
slim brought a force to bear upon. the Assembly
out he and not the Girondists must have
ICfor :31_eurse was now clear—it was no longer a
41teni,4:44ing, but for prompt and energetic action.
of%'liot:iZtes and the commune of Paris were his
I%„' aria, "'Jo commanda.nt-general of the national guard
too „was ready to die for him. Henriot, it is true,
ea,,sPass,Vaan of head ; but there was no man of head
ti of him, and he had been found sufficient in the
Qe-at to e Girondists. But instead of giving instruc-
4vtiti•-toenriot to march his troops and surround the
iOettihl !vith the canonniers of Paris, he went to the
ariiy
ilsith a foolish notion of more speech-making
rowe,,ll°_,g about respect for the laws. His voice
tiuks, "e° in the shouts of his enemies vociferating
till
hg. teaso le tyran I' It was an open rebellion, with
ants PPose it but the unheard voices of himself
ath,nb tether Augustin and his adherents Sainte Just,
and Lebas ; he was like a general who has al-
,lat to,!aself to be surrised, or rather like a wild
,"alveeen in the to ; for in this his last struggle he
want s
%,"Ditea ant of courage, making such violent and de-
al,„ef_fer.ta to be heard, that Fieron exclaimed,
rt•el e(L)o."l:sDrrati est dur a abattre!'
.But vain were.
lent cpults_valive struggles: Pour la derntere foie, prest-
n'',Rth 1," sins, je to demande la parole.' And when at
"e h
the, er de 14,c1 exhausted himself by repeated efforts,
utitig hi Aube exclaimed,' The blood of Denton is
17, rOetedlll.' And truly the same measure which he
,r
s.,_,cut to Danton, vainly demanding to speak
th"e"thonour,' was now to be meted out to him.
light of that July day (the 27th), in the
istowarika94 RohewiPlace de Gi6ve (which to him who treads
Il °lath, ~,,_ll3Petent knowledge of the past is alive with
fril•ek43,`"ceornories) presented a busy and eventful scene.
heeNis ire aches arrived bringing Robespierre and his
ea 0Q ra the five different prisons to which they had
11YeYea, and from which they had again been