The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-30 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

HISTORIC FANCIES. Colburn, London, 1844.
The spirit that pervades this volume, the prose as
well as the poetical portion of it, is of a most catholic
and tolerant character ; indeed the author, in some
instances, pushes his love of toleration to excess,
which in the discussion of historical matters is a fault
that should be as seduously guarded against as an
indulgence in the antagonist quality, for truth never
lies in extremes, but is always found in the mean.
The work is evidently the production of a young
writer, thoughtful, ardent, and well-informed, and
amid much that is brilliant in expression and gene-
rous in sentiment, contains also much that is erro-
neous in opinion anti exaggerated in the portraiture
of character. Thus, speaking of the favourite policy
of Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, Mr. Smythe
says :—" Upon his attaining the Ministry, Richelieu
found the King only the first of his nobles. He resolved
to make him something more. He undertook to concen-
trate all the power which he saw dissipated among many
great feudatories and lords. His policy was to
confound and equalize all classes below the King. But
not satisfied to dedicate his own life to this object, he
devolved his power upon his successor, Mazarin, whom
he himself had formed, who was instigated by the
same motives, and who sprung, like himself, from the
Democracy ; inherited, with instinctive zeal, his
hatred and his views of the Aristocracy. But the sa-
gacious policy of the Cardinals was not destined to be
continued by the great king whom they had made.
He took pains in nothing so much as in rebuilding
what they had pulled down, in raising up what they
had so skilfully destroyed." Surely this is a very
erroneous view of the policy of Louis the Fourteenth!
So far was this sagacious monarch from opposing
himself to the system of Richelieu and Mazarin, that
he carried it out to its fullest 'extent, for
while he gratified his noblesse by showy pri-
vileges and courtly marks of esteem, he took care
to deprive them of all substantial power, and reduced
them to the most abject state of dependence on his
arbitrary will. It was not by destrcying, but by,
rigidly following up the political system of the Car-
dinals, that he was enabled with perfect truth to make
that memorable boast, " L'etat c'est moi !" Never,
in the whole history of France, were the aristocracy
with all their pompous titles and imposing wealth,
such mere impotent shadows, as during the long reign
of the Grande Monarque. In a clever, brilliant sketch
of Mirabeau—who, however, is rated infinitely beyond
his deserts—our author takes occasion to remark that
Casimir Perier, the leading statesman of the year
1831, possessed " an energy and a genius only in-
ferior to Mirabeau's." This is high praise, but as-
suredly it is not warranted by facts. The French
Minister was a man of fierce impatience and un-
bounded pride—arrogant, egotistical, and determined ;
but he wanted the comprehensive views, the practical
sagacity, the impassioned eloquence, and dauntless
intrepidity of the great leader of the Revolution, while
as regards " genius," he had not an atom of it in his
composition. He was the mere mouth-piece of the
Bourgeoisie—the congenial advocate of their narrow,
selfish theories of legislation, and died a victim to
chagrin at his inability to control a movement which
Ess could not comprehend. In his biographical
sketches of Couthon and St. Just, Mr. Smythe, ap-
parently from a desire to be thought original in his
opinions, takes far too liberal a view of the character
of these two Republicans. So far was the former
from having anything of a " Roman of free Rome"
about him, that he was wholly made up of artifice
and plausibility—a twaddling, maudlin sentimen-
talist, who could shed tears over his lap-dog,
while with a dry eye he daily consigner) scores
of his countrymen to the scaffold. As for St.
Just, he was a hard, merciless, pedantic dogmatist,
an advocate of principles of which he had never con-
sidered the tendency ; cruel from want of human
i.sympathies ; and "lofty"—as our author assures us he
I was—only in his sublime self-conceit. That he was
4‘ intrepid" we will not venture to deny; but his was
not moral courage—the noble feeling that sustained
Vergniaud and the other Girondists in the last
memorable night of their existence—but the brute
courage of the bull-dog, originating solely in the
utter absence of imagination and the finer instincts of
our nature. The truth is, that with a few rare ex-
ceptions—such as Mirabeau, Roland, Carnot, Verg-
niaud, and perhaps Danton—the whole of the French
Revolutionary chiefs were a set of unmitigated
quacks and vagabonds, who had talent enough to
enable them to pull down a vicious system, but were
destitute of the political sagacity requisite to con-
struct an enlightened one on the ruins. As, on the
whole, we prefer Mr. Smythe's poetry to his prose,
we shall confine ourselves to an extract from his beau-
tiful poem entitled "Mary Stuart's Last Prayer :"
A lonely mourner kneels in prayer before the Virgin's fane,
With white hands crossed for Jesu's sake, so her prayer may
be vain.
Wan is her cheek, and very pale—her voice is low and faint—
And tears are in her eyes, the while she makes her humble
plaint.
O little could you deem, from her sad and lowly mein,
That she was once the Bride of France, and still was Scot-
land's Queen.
0, Mary Mother I—Mary Mother I—be my help and stay I
Be with me still, as thou hast been, and strengthen me to-day I
For many a time, with heavy heart, all weary of its grief,
I solace sought, in thy blest thought, and ever found relief:
For thou, too, wert a Queen on earth,—and men were harsh
to thee!
And cruel things and rude, they said,—as they have said of
me I

0, Gentlemen of Scotland ! 0, Cavaliers of France !
How each and all had grasped his sword, and seized his an-
gry lance,
If Ladye love, or sister dear, or nearer dearer bride,
Had been, like me, your friendless Liege, insulted and belied !
But these are sinful thoughts, and sad,—l should not mind

me now,
Of faith forsworn, or broken pledge, or false or fruitless vow I
But rather pray—sweet Mary—my sins may be forgiven
And less severe than on the earth, my Judges prove in heaven.
For stern and solemn men have said—' God's vengeance will
be shown,'—
And fearful will the penance be,—on the sins which I have
done !
And yet, albeit my sins be great—Oh Mary, Mary dear !
Nor to Knox, nor to false Moray, the Judge will then give
ear I

Yes 1 it was wrong and thoughtless, when first I came from
France,
To lead courante, or minuet, or lighter, gayer dance.
Yes—it was wrong and thoughtless,—to while whole hours
away
In dark and gloomy Holyrood, with some Italian lay.
Dark men would scout their hate at me, and I have heard
them tell,
How the Just Lord God of Israel had striken Jezebel.
But thou—dear Mary—Mary mine! hast ever looked the same,
With pleasant mien, and smile serene, on her who bore thy
- name ;
Oh, grant that, when anon I go to death t I may not see
Nor axe, nor block, nor headsman,—but Thee, and only Thee!
Then, 'twill be told, in coming times, how Mary gave her
grace
To die, as Stuart, Guise, should die—of Charlemagne's fear-
less race.

FACTS AND FICTIONS, 3 Vols.
Allen, London, 1844.
In these light and amusing volumes, which are the
production of Mrs. Postans, we have a series of prose
sketches illustrative of oriental character, scenery, and
manners. The authoress writes vividly, because she
writes from her own persona recollections of British
India; and in one of her sketches, entitled " A Tale
of the Phansigars," gives an interesting account of a
young Indian girl and her attendants, in company
with a party of notorious Thugs, whom she had
encountered on the road, and accepted as an escort,
supposing that they were a travelling company of
native merchants. The denouement of this tale,
though somewhat abrupt, is brought about in a very
exciting manner. The " Emperor's Grave " is a
sketchy description of Longwood and the tomb of
Napoleon, at St. Helena; but these have been de-
scribed so often, and so circumstantially, that the
subject is quite an exhausted one, and will not admit
of repetition.

JOE SMITH, THE MORMON PROPHET.—(FROM A
CORRESPONDENT.)—This extraordinary personage, who was
shot in attempting to escape from custody, was born in the
year 1806, in Manchester, New York; from an early age he
attended a Dissenting chapel, and when seventeen years of
age, it is said that an angel rppeared to him, telling him his
sins were forgiven, and that he was chosen to translate the
sacred book of Mormon, which was written in the Egyptian
language on plates of gold, and had been hid for 1,423 years
in a stone box, on the hill of Comorah, in the New York
territory. It was not, however, until four years after that
he received the plates from the angel; the translation was
conducted in a most singular manner, having prevailed upon
a person named Harris, who resided in Palmyra, to assist
him, Smith dictated from behind a screen, while Harris
transcribed. Harris having had some misgivings in conse-
quence of not being permitted to see the plates, withdrew
from the sect after it had cost him 10,000 dollars; he was
succeeded by a person named Cowdery, by whose assistance
the transration was published in 1830: in the fall of the year
his followers amounted to about eighty persons ; but in the
following spring tiny numbered above 1,000, when they re-
moved-to Kirkland, in Ohio, where their first temple was
built. In 1838 having been threatened by the myrmidons of
i the law, n consequence of having incurred debts to a consi-
derable amount, they fled to Independence, Jackson County,
Missouri; here they were shamefully treated by the Lynch
lawyers—their houses levelled with the ground, 30 killed, and
15,000 banished by the Governor. The party then emigrated
to Illinois, and in the Western wilds built the city of Nauvoo,
all the inhabitants of which are Mormons. It was estimated
in the beginning of 1843, that there were nearly 100,000 of
the sect in the United States. The Book of Mormon has been
proved to be a novel written by a person named Spaulding,
since dead, transcribed by Smith, and interpolated with por-
tions of Scripture, the whole being intended to show that a
great number of Israelites, on the dispersion of the tribes,
emigrated to America, and in A. D. 420, were cut off by the
Indians, with the exception of Moroni, who escaped and hid
the book.

The Drury-lane Committee have invited their
lessee, Mr. Bunn, to a dinner at Greenwich. in testimony of
their approbation of his conduct in the management of the
Theatre during the past season, which is to take place at the
Trafalgar, on the return of the manager from Paris. The
Earl of Glengall will preside.

GUERNSEY.—GeneraI Sir Thomas Saumarez ar-
rived by the Transit from Southampton this evening, just as
we were going to press. We have learnt that the result of
his mission to London has been entirely satisfactory, but we
Jaye not beard Any particular§s—Guernsey Star tgrilaW§day•