The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-10-30
NO. 513.

in'Pr'I,' ssrmer glow into the cold, finely
bTe'lD'I, ..atuary ne places on his pedestals,
chI'sD't nth the has reliefs of classic beauty,
iH'iO-- onr admiration or elicit our applause.
70 o '-,ss. however, in behalf of Freedom and
be VIZ ,ho-t poem on Revolutions" with
,bs;s lines;
10y Gay -. order. which God mean, should be
Ia' ~ -, .,oy thaf well. when il comes near;
A W III ouit mans heart; he will breathe free"
e,..or AYroux, now, if we mistake not,
..,.,or of Christopher North, 1.-THE gifted
~ IN the editorship of Blackwood's Mag
We 80, for the first time in the field as a
BIZ aIsvs of Cavaliers, and Bon Gaultier's
have before shown what he could do
D' -. line. His Boutwell, is longer poem
- -, he has before given to the public, and
s..Jr written. 1t processes to depict the
-. of that bad Earl in his gloomy prison,
e. ,-nh,d;es the main incidents of the history
W. Queen of Scots, up to her parting
;. ,bs murderer of Darnley, whom she had
: .. her next husband Professor Aytoun's
..b;e. are. Of course, with the beautiful
a Unfortunate Queen. As to the precise
~. If completely she had in the sad ana soul
INC, events which led to her exile ana
.A Il Is difficult for any one now 10 speak
!. os-,ainty. Not a little special pleading
,b.ra been, in our opinion, on both SIDES
10 question; and all one can say IN either
-. >, most, is, not prOren. 1t is still a moot
j, cos.ton. and volumes yet might be written,
-;,bout reaching any more satisfactory result.
:. !. who cannot believe that Mary could not
-. :, Welded herself up to the impulse OF bad
linz. Il seems to us, do not enough regard
.;nss and the circumstances. Educated
.sa corrupt Court Of France, coming to Scot
n with the full purpose to change the state
,.a,irs. disappointed in not finding the power
,b.- beauty and fascinating manners equally
lat On the sterner Scot as on the vivscious
r...,b-ne, with graver questions, in which
. n no common minds believed their liber-
70. vs-e inyolved-;t is easy to see that her
..,.a,- might have been soured, her suspicious
l..r awakened, iealousies of those she viewed
=. I.r sdyersaries fostered, and she wrought
~ d, deeds at which she might otherwise have
a,abk. Professor Aytoun, however, does not
,-sat the subject; and we think that in his
f.r., 20 save Mary from odium, he does great
iI.,;c1 to Murray the Regent, Knox, and
hers. who were opposed to her. They felt
,a when 80 dear privileges aud rights as their
his 10 God and conscience were at stake, they
,;5ht not, from a mere chivalrous admiration
TIER Young and lovely Queen, peril interests
.Acr,dly ntrusted to their care; and as they
fought, 50 they acted. Mary had not the
,orous intellect and force Of character pos
.ssrl by her great rival, Elizabeth of England
al She had TO YIELD What would have been
r. result to Scotland, and her most precious
D5rty Of conscience, had such been Mary's
arsrter, cannot certainly be told but doubt
is, if she had not triumphed, the struggle
YGd have been far longer, and possibly the
' jDj, Sic came there weak, vain woman, re
~ on her beauty and fascinating charms
ii these were not all she needed to effect the
,,oluton she contemplated Well for Scot
ad, perhaps, that it was so. The land wa.
,Ied from a greater spiritual tyranny, anC
i Is now what she is, aud what otherwise she
-gh, never have been. Professor Aytounl
njeci Is no new one for poetry. The sterr
'rn Law Rhymer, Ebenezer Elliot, also
ought ms rugged muse to essay her powers
= it were, in Bothwell's dungeon. Schiller
rs, in BIS Mary Stuart, has touched upon mani
olhe points that are embraced in this volume
PbirssOr Aytoun, however, has succeeded il
h'slacing q work inwrought with passages o
5-oiye Characterization, and highly poetic il
var, Perhaps there is no singh
lle which would compare WIN sv..,v vr l.:
aiasr short poems in heightened enthusiasm
1a sPrit-siirring energy; but, as whole,
;Tinciye Of his skill and power in the master
irambers, and will be read, no doubt, wit
arrest by the public.
.hs author Of Lyterid, we believe, ia JosIAi
RQ.NcY, Of Boston. So at least we hav
50 1t stated, and this is the name in whic
IL eafyr:gEt has been entered. His forme
| fin We have never seen. Chdricles is drs
m4ae poen founded on the close of the life @
ltrlus, Emperor of Rome, we'll known as
1'iess and debased tyrant. 1t is modelled o
ls plan Of the Greek tragedy, and the mai
ls'esi Of the piece turns on the devotion G
A1cleN his physician, to the tyrsnt, on &C
-li Of former days of fellowship and friend
~ But the character of Tiberius, CaliguIa
Llls' and others, are all 80 bad, that there i
pom for sympathy. The reader cares nc
'niher one or the other prevail; and there
i@4ahing SO unnatural in the physician, Will
easSsing what wretch Tiberius is, yet e,
p'tsing the interest he does in him, withou
Tue slightest possibility, apparently, that AN
lAGe he can say or do will exert Il salutary il
aleice on him to reform him, that even Char
"es does not enlist the reader much in hi
A'i. The language is we'll chosen, and TIA
''Ana written carefully. The situations an
'ar nnwndng of the plot, which indeed is
sgt one, are made to harmonic with Nj
ylrys object. There is something startlin
-,le supposed dead man coming forth to Gel
0a Caiigula, while in the midst of the exul
Adl Of his succession to the imperial crown
'd he effect is only momentary; the read,
oce leaps to the conclusion that murder
Dung to one whose part is so far taken, an
vi lberius is hurried away to die, witho,
''Ae pity Tor his fate, or any pleasure in ii
c-aph Of his murderer. We do not wond,
~N Charicles prefers to retire to his solitud
.-A=' than to live honored at such q Cour
lou opinion, the author would have made
%Geper impression on the public mind, hs
= aosen some subject admitting it to