The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.,:
,
LODGE'S POR 7'R..4.1 TS. V*, V. irn4 pp*
The same commendations which Nt4 Jaave bestow ••cs.„
cn the former volumes of Mr. 13ohni ery, beriut u 1;
and. very cheap edition of " Lodge's 36 tat,
applicable to the new volumes now bef
the celebrated individuals whose personh
are here exhibited to us by the masterly hand of a
Vand)ke, a Godfrey lineiler, a Peter Lely, and other
contemporary artists, and whose characters and his-
tories are briefly but admirably set forth, in the very
interesting b;ographies of " Lodge," are Selden,
Oliver Cromwell, Monk, Queen Henrietta Maria, the
heroic Countess of Derby, Hyde,; Earl of Clarendon.
Sir Kenelm Digby, and others, in Volume V., which
contains no less than thirty memoirs and portraits-
A similar number is also contained in Volume VL,
among
which the most interesting are those of
Charles 11. and bis Queen, Prince Rupert, Alger-
non Sidney, Lord Russell, Locke, and Tillotson
The characters of these personages are forcibly, and
for the most part (making due allowance for the
writer's loyal predilections) fairly described with a
few vigorous touches. Of John Selden it is remarked—
" Mr. Selden was certainly the most learned, and per-
haps, the most honest Englishman of his time. He
was actually a patriot, for his continued efforts to
serve his country, however frequently he might have
mistaken the means, seem never for a moment to have
incurred even a suspicion of selfishness." Of Oliver
Cromwell we are told—" We shall seek in vain for
any other estimable qualities in Cromwell's character
than judgment, courage, and decision." Mr. Lodge's
portrait of the Lord Protector is somewhat unflatter-
ing, a fact readily accounted for, when we read the
opening passage of the biography of Monk,
penned by the same hand. Opinions, indeed,
differ as to whether the most famous act
of Monk's life has entitled him to the
gratitude of posterity, but as to the justice of these
remarks upon the sentiment of gratitude itself there
cannot be two opinions. "As we are told," says Mr.
Lodge, " that we may cover a multitude of our own
sins by our charity, so, in another sense, may it be
said that we frequently cover those of others by our
gratitude. It is difficult even to discern the faults of
one from whom we have received great favours ;
painful to dwell on the contemplation of them; and
scarcely possible to proclaim them, &c." The story
of " Charlotte de la Tremorille," the heroic Countess
of Derby, is necessarily dull of interest. Many
other attractive themes and memorable anecdote',
too numerous to particularise, abound in these pages.
In the memoir of the Duchess of Richmond, no less
celebrated for her virtue than her beauty, we are re-
minded of a circumstance perhaps not familiar to
all who are accustomed to the sight of
penny-pieces. The King was an ardent, perhaps the
more ardent, because an entirely unsuccessful suitor
to the fair Stewart before her marriage with the
Duke of Richmond, as the following anecdote testi-
fies :

THE EFFIGY ON PENNY-PIECES.

"Charles's passion for her increaseddaily, and betrayed
him into several singular, but inoffensive extravagances.
Among these a gold medal appeared, doubtless by his order,
representing on the front his own bust, and on the reverse
a portrait of the idolised fair one in the character of
Minerva; said to have been so exquisite a likeness that it
was instantly known, as Evelyn, who lived in her time,
informs us in his Nusitnata,' by all who bad ever
seen her. We are told that Philip Rotier, who,
with his father and brothers, was joint engraver
to to the Royal Mint, and who executed the
dye, fell distractedly in love with her in the interviews
to which he was necessarily admitted to study her fea-
tures, and soothed his hopeless passion by copying again
and again, in various sizes and metals, this happy effort
of his art. The King was not less desirous than the
engraver to disseminate to the utmost the belovel por-
trait, and it was presently transferred t) the copper coin
of the realm, on which it appears to this day, unaltered
in its general appearance, as the emblematic figure, and
bearing the inscription cf Britannia."
In, alluding to this circumstance, and to the virtue of
the Duchess (the golden medal reminding him of the
fable of " Dance") Waller wrote some complimentary
verses, in which he observes—

"Britanzia there, the fort, in vain
Had battered been with golden rain:
Thundi.r itself had filled to pass—
Virtue's a stronger guard than brass."

LEILA. Part IV. By Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.
The present cheap and elegant republication of one
of the least known, and yet one of the most
imaginative of the remarkable fictions penned by our
poet novelist, progresses from month to month favour-
ably. Each instalment is embellished with two of
the exquisite engravings originally decoratirg the
romance of the " Siege of Granada "—engravings
pr,:duced under the superintendence of Mr. Charles
Heath from original drawings by some of our most
distinguished artists, such men, for example, as
Maclise and Stephanoff. " Ayxa la Horra reproach-
ing Boabdil," a sketch copied from a picture by the
former gifted painter, affords in the present number
an admirable specimen of the style of embellishment.
The narrative itself has advanced as far as the com-
mencement of the Third Book, depicting among other
incidents the temptation of the Jewess—consequently
the work is just about half completed.