The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

ROMANTIC BIOGRAPHY OF THE AGE OF
ELIZABETH. 2 Vols. Bentley, London, 1842.
In these volumes we have a series of brief biogra-
phical sketches of some of the most remarkable per-
sonages who flourished during the reign of Elizabeth.
The sketches are introduced by a sort of preface,
wherein the author apologises for the occasional
sprightliness of his narratives, observing, " we have
endeavoured to extend to the literature of fact, some
of the gaieties which are more usually associated with
the literature of fiction, without abandoning the gra-
vities which necessarily belong to diligent research,
and minute accuracy of statement." Doctor Taylor
has meted wisely in apologising for, what he terms,
his " gaieties," for assuredly they are such as call fur
an apology, being, in truth, among the heaviest por-
tions of his work.. Indeed, had he not directed our
attention to the circumstance, we should never have
discovered that there was the slightest particle of
gaiety in his biographies, for bad puns, quaint con-
ceits, and ponderous attempts at drollery ought rather
to take rank under the head "gravities." Doctor
Taylor is a sober, sensible, and, generally speaking,
dispassionate writer, who brings a fair share of know-
ledge to every questit n that he discusses ; but, as for
sprightliness or waggery, he has just about as
quick and relishing a conception of them as an
elephant has of dancing a minuet. The very weight
and verboaeness of his style are fatal to his attempts
at the jocular. If we except this blemish, we know
of no particular olfaction that we can urge to the
volumes before us. They treat of some of the most
bustling characters who figured during a trying
period in English history, in a lucid and intelligent
manner ; and though the additions they make to our
stock of information are by no means extensive, yet
. the matter is well digested, the different hypotheses
ingeniously supported, and a creditable tone of im-
partiality is maintained throughout. Among the
memoirs, is one of the Earl of Leicester, the well-
s known favourite of Queen Elizabeth, whose character
—as D'lsraeli has justly observed—is one of the most
mysterious in our historical annals. Lqctor Taylor,
with praiseworthy diligence, has collected all that is
known of him, and for much of his information he
has been indebted to the singular and calumnious
chronicle, entitled " Leicester's Commonwealth,"
which is supposed to have been written by the Jesuit
Parsons, one of the most extraordinary men of the
age in which he lived. The Doctor, with his usual
clear, strong sense, exhibits a wholesome distrust of
the calumnies of this man ; yet he does not wholly
repudiate them—nor, indeed, can he with any pro-
priety, for they sbow a close acquaintance with the
private habits of Leicester, and were pretty generally
credited by his contemporaries. The memoir of
Parsons is interesting, but the author has done but
cold justice to the subject of his biography. This
indefatigable Jesuit was a man of the most
commanding 'energy and fortitude of character,
and was hardly less wily and cautious. His
influerice in the cabinet of Spain, and at the
Vatican was, at one period of his chequered career,
almost omnipotent ; and nothing could surpass his
indomitable perseverance when he came over to
England as a Missionary to encourage the spread of
the Catholic faith. Beset by spies at every step of
his progress, exposed to dangers of the most for-
midable nature, his order rigidly proscribed, and his
presence in the kingdom more than suspected, he was
forced to adopt all sorts of odd disguises—one day he
was "hale-fellow-well-met" with a common soldier;
the next, he was dressed as a peasant, and sitting
among bigoted clod-hoppers in a village ale-house ;
now, he was a country squire ; and now, he was
disguised as a travelling pedlar. But amidst all
his dangers, amidst all the strange chances that befel
him—in all the trying situations into which he was
thrown—his coolness and self-possession,. and above
all, his determination to persevere in the objects of
his mission, never once deserted him. He bore up
manfully to the last, and only quitted England when
the discovery and execution of his brother missionary,
Campian, convinced him that he had not a chance
left of success. As an author, Parsons was volumi-
nous, and by no means scrupulous in his assertions,
or in the arguments by which he supported them.
His " Leicester's Commonwealth" has been already
mentioned; and of his work on the " Succession to
the Throne of England," suffice it to say that it-pro-
duced a wonderful sensation at the time, and—to
quote Dr. Taylor's appropriate observation—" was
the storehouse whence the Regicides, in the days of
Charles 1., drew most of their arguments."

RICHARDSON'S GEOLOGY.
Builliere, Loudon, 1842.

In a modest and judicious preface, Mr. Richardson,
after stating the reasons that induced him to under-
take the present work, says :—" in submitting this
volume to the public, the reader is respectfully re-
minded that it is one of the most elementary cha-
racter; that it is designed merely as an introduction t 2
others of far superior merit ; and that the highest
objects of the writer will be attained, if by means of
its pages, the reader should become acquainted with
the admirable reasonings of a Buckland; and many
other geologists, of whom science and literature may
be justly proud." Mr. Richardson's diffidence has
here caused him to underrate the importance of his
work. It is not merely of the " most elementary cha-
racter," but discourses in a learned and scientific
spirit oa all matters connected with geology, and will
instruct those who are conversant with the pursuit,
quite as much as the novice. Another recom-
mendation that the volume possesses is, the uniform
clearness and simplicity of its style; it is nowhere
defaced by technical and pedantic terms, ouch as com.