Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1848-09-09
Norrs on NEw sooKs

1Mf fAAANts N1tiANM Ntah stEstttr AtkfntNAAs0fN
tsai thers had come - hghi "a Lanlon . bady =
~ Remains 4 lord BHaoS. twelo.a 10 lhei
character, sud esasssiiug II. 6rsl spistolary am
other hcfriuiere ksdasu fylies, whseh clear uP mel
81 be Suppressed domrstc history aud, second
the sui mare nsnHspeeied mNsicFY q q soR hrar
lng his naiae, aBf ths sdiiof ~ HB marycsi0us n
Icr1ry Wiadtal. The sHmnncatun produced ap
parenuy much EHropesh wonder, ~ rather Wa,
about - 80 80, whpn tha vastsr nrlUnshmcnt 81 shs
late polIical reeenrratlanr lheFe arrived 10 exiln
gush III other bewoBtcasnt Perhaps the new
Byron, % sustaia Ihe hereditary hrnaFs ii b.s name
has goae a. help ti,a Lombard liberty which III.
fashtg--we ccmmebd bic chcice q oae u 0nt
helps himself - a father, Ne shaala nas takT au
ordinary one-last twenty years ago gave IL,
upon trial, a. hppslsss lur pengle ha sing and
dance and carve quite boo well ~ trosmen, ana
have exchanged Coz soller tngs lhe komaa giofirs
which Virgil preferred 10 the trcaafai asii spi.
npiiiG Hlelins rFa." or. She ByroRs being of Cat.
lie lineage, lie may hare hssicned ~ help pull down
Kings and set up dirlaiors play Al baRleaes. assist
thar other poet potician, I.ainariine, aud make
red republic Or he may have ihoHrhi proper 10
emulate his great-grandiathcr, the Admiral, and
sailed around the world o. be may remembering
his fathers Irish Ayalar'' have rnp 10 strike cor
Repeal or, lastly, be may, hike his fathefs lagaIer,
\ have sold out his fathers memory and manuscripts
| to his mother not in law, who onl-bids tie book.
sellers. a 10 the genuineaess Of either The new
Byron papers progenywe are not 40 haste either
believe or 10 dlsbelIeye. The manuscripts are pro-
badly quite as authentic a. Mcphersons 0ssian o.
Chaiterton's Rowley, or Irelands Shakespeare. or
orr own Mr.. Wilde's love correspondence Of Tas.
so and Leonora. And rs for the offspring, ByrOu
may have had a son without knowing ID for sctl-
ship is thing OF which, according 10 the proFeTh,
very wise people may be very Ill-inlormed. III
Edward Nv. were now % return 10 life and read
Walpole's t" Historic Doubts,' he would he greatly
puzzled to decide whether the . impostor" Perkln
Warbeck was or was not the second OF the babes
whom we have all seen slain in the tower hy
Z" bloody RicharC." There have been seyeral
Louis Seventeen,ls, one OF whom il still alive and
by some believed IN Who would be astonished
if under the high premium which could now be-
had i'll France Tor such discovery, sou of NapO-
leon and Josephine, concealed from the beginning
through some superstitious apprehension Of hers,
should be all al once brought to light! For our
part, we have long doubted the vertableness OF tire
supposed brothers Of Napoleon the side Of the
wit, they were certainly of no kin 10 him:
Be this il may, since the Byronian Remains
do not appear and SINCE, il they 10 wait for the
regeneration Of Lombardy, or France, or Naples,
or 1--WE fear) Ireland, the postponement is like to
be sadly long, why should one not make the most
of what we have, and elucidate little his lordships
existing productions We propose Just now 10 do
so in one curious pOint-that OF the sources from
which many of his finest passages have, conscious
ly or unconsciousy been drawn.
And, first of all lei us examine certain lines in
his "Monody on Sheridan" where he sets forth
with great beauty the ills OF life which birth or
genius makes conspicuous, and envy (if not i'm.
morality would render scandalous "a life which
was hardly less his own than Sheridan's. These
penalties of elevation are here chiefly viewed a.
those falling on the author or the noble; but in an
other place (Chide Harold Canto Ill., he touches
again on them affecting one who has risen TO
empire, like Napoleon. The two passages are as
follows:
Hard is his fate on whom the public gaze
il fixed forever 20 deract praise
Repose denies her requiem 10 his name,
And Folly loves the maryrdom Of Fame.
The foe, the fool, the jealous, and the vain,
The envious, who but 1--we in others pain
Behold the host, deligh,ing to deprave,
Who track the steps Of Glory 10 the grave:
Seize each fault that daring genius
Half to the ardor which its birth bestows
Distor the truth, accumulate the lie,
And pile the pyramid Of Calumny
In his portrait of Bonaparte, he says:
He who ascends to mountain.tops will find
The highest peaks most wrapped in clouds and snow
He who surpasses subdues mankind
Must look down the hate Of those below.
Though far above the Of glory glow,
And far beneath the subject earth be spread,
Round him icy rocks, and keeny blow
Contendng empests on his naked head,
And thus reward the tolls which those SUBMITS lei.
Now, the common hint from which we think
these passages have been expanded, is in the speech
of julius Cesar on the Catilinarian conspiracy, as
given by Salust:
"Qui magno mperio pradii in excelso a,aem aguni,
faca cunc morales tia in fortuna
minuma centa neque sudere neque odisse ed IMMUNE
iasc deceit qua apud aos iracunda dicitur in impeo
perbia ct crudetas appelatur."
| Another case in which, through fine expansion
and decoration, one may easily see the borrowed
thought of another, is the suboined
! As, rising on its purple wing,
| The insect queen Of Eastern Spring
| Der emerald meadows Of Cashmere
! Invites the young pursuer near,
And leads him on from fowr to fow'r,
Aweary chase and wasted hour;
Then leaves him, as it on high,
With painting heart anil fearful eye;
80 beauty lures the ul.grown Child,
With hues as bright and wing wild,
chase Of idle hopes and fears,
| Begun in folly, closed in tears
II won, to equal ills betrayed
Wo waits the insect and the maid;
life Of pain, the loss Of peace,
: From infants play or mans caprice.