The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-05-18
NOTICES OF NEW hooks.

REcoLLEoTToNs OF THE LAST DAYS )F SHELLY AND
BYRON. By E. J. TRELAwNY. 3osroN {: Tick
NOR d FIELDS. For Sale by CUsHNGs BAILEY,
an this City.
The closing scenes of the lives of hese two bril-
liant but erratc poets, may well be remembered by
one who figured in them so conspiuously, as the
author of this volume would have us believe he
did. The impulsive genius of Shelly, and the way
ward, selfish eccentricities of Byron, must have
been deeply impressed upon the mind OF one who
so fully enjoyed their companonshipand confidence.
Roth Golf o,.iiod ny of the diosyncrasies of
Their dispositions, sought in a foreign cl;me refuge
from imagined prosecutions in England, and free
dom from the restraints and conventionalities
had affected to despise. On the Continent whe~e
every of opinion found its believer and where
the conduct and actions of men were not subjected
to the test of established morality, Shelly gave
himself up to the inide philosophy which had
driven him from the University of Oxford and after
wards deprived him of the tutelage of his son,
and Byron became the miserable victim of his own
evil nature, which had brought upon him the in
dignation of his countrymen. Thus, unhappily,
were spent the last days of these gifted, but un-
fortunate men, and it is here that Mr.. Trelaw-
ny associates himself with them, and from this
point he follows them, until the end of their
earthly pilgrimage. With the devotion of
true friendship, he burns the mutiated body
of Shelly, which was found upon the shore of the
Gulf of Spezzia, and deposites the ashes in the
Protestant burial ground at Rome. Shelly gone.
poor Byron claims his undivided care and although
he was not present at Missolonghi to smooth the
dying pillow of the unhappy man, he arrived soon
after the spirit had departed, in time to Illustrate
his dying wish, expressed to the faithful Fletcher
on no account whatever to allow his body to be
uncovered. Mr.. Trelawny, in relating this, SAYS:
81 asked Fletcher bring me glass of water On his
leaving the room, to confirm or remove my doubts
the cause OF his ameness uncovered the Pilgrims feet
and answered-the great mystery was solved Roth
his feet were dubbed and his legs whered the knee
le form and features OF an Apollo with the feet legs
OF sylvan satyr."
We are forced to the opinion that the volume be-
fore us, was intended to elevate Mr. Trelawny upon
the shoulders of these literary giants and by de-
failing the extreme intimacy which existed between
himself and them, to establish his claim to share
of their worldwide fame
LIE LIvRE DIES MERvEILLEs, PARIS L1pRAIEE DE T..
HAcHETTE CrE. 1853
The "WoNDERBooK" and "TANGLEwoop TaLys''
having always been favortes of ours we are pleased
at seeing them reproduced in a very pretty French
dress. The translation is rendered. with great deli-
ty and spirit, by our accomplished fellow-citizen NJ
Leonce Rabillon, who is already well known as an
artist and a man of letters, here and in France
We doubt whether Hawthorne's genius was ever
more strikingy displayed, in the Scarlet Letter,
than in these wonderful tales that amiliarize the
young with the finest legends of antiquity, clothing
with flesh and blood the bare bones of the old nv
thologies, and at the same time presenting the sub
tlest analoges for the consideration of the Oldest
and wisest heads Unlike Hawthorne's other sto-
res the Wonderbook, with its sequel, one unbro-
ken beam of pure sunshine, without one morbid
mote. SO fine an original, so happily reflected can
scarcely fail to be popular with polished and genial
people like the French 1t is well worth the atten
uon OF our puDnc, IL only for the spirited vino..oo
of Bcrtail.