The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-17
BoNRIHARD.l

his fancy wiihin tho lines of literal or HE:
torieal truth. Ills object in composing the
poem, as Sir Walter Scott has well drawn cut
the analysis of it,ywas Ike that. of Sterne in
painting his Imaginary prisoner. What the
poet sought was TO portray captivity in the
abstract, to mark its effects in chilling the
mental powers at the same time that il be-
numbs aud withers the animal frame, unit
the hspless victim becomes as it we're, q oart
OF his dungeon, and identified With his
chains 1t was possibly an aftertl lioupht with
him to'prefx to the pathetic tale of the three
brothers, whom his fancy liked upon as the
denizens Of those gloomy vaults, the stanzl
which links 10 these immortal lines the name
and memory of Bonpivard:--
CHillop, ihy prison is a holy place.,
Aud thy sal 1oor an altaT-for twas trod
Until his vers steps had left trace
Worn, II the cold pavement were a sod,
by BGnOivardi May none those stems ehaCel
For they appeal from tyranny to God.
'I was not sufficiently aware" writes Byron,
''of- She. history of Downward, or / should
have enaehyored to dignity the subject by an
attempt to celebrate his courage and his vir-
tues" notice furnished by citizen of
Geneva YVES subsequently appended by Byron
10 the poem, contaiDinga brief summary of
the life, $sutferfngs, Sand public services of
Downward, to which little has been added in
the way of facts in such later notices as have
graphy. What was wanting to the formation
of aproper estimate of the genius and the
achievements of this martyr to his country
was some access, on the part of the public,
to the literary remains buried in the library
which Downward had himself founded at
Geneva. Spoken of with admiration, and
even, rapture, by those few inquirers whose
veneration for the author or whose interest
in the history of his time bad urged them to
the task, it was not until comparatively late
period that these valuable writings became
available for general use. A patriotic move
mept Cating from 1923, which had for its
object the publication of the national
memoirs, and especially of materials for
the history of Geneva, had for its first fruits
in 1881 the ChrOniqueS dc Geaeoe of Bonni-
ward, which had been unfairly disparaged by
M. Gautier, the IN sst recent historian of the
city, owing say the editors of Bonuivard, to
undue prepossession on the side of the Dukes
Of Savoy. For the same reason, they CON-
plain, no notice was taken by M. Gautier of
the history left in manuscript by the syndic
Michel Roset, younger contemporary of
Bonnivard with whose authority he generally
concurs. The excellent rule of printing YER
batim the text of Bonniverd, with alt its
distinctive archaisms or idio5yncrasiss of
grammar and spelling, was wisely adhered to
in giving his ''Uhronicle" to the public. mo
little difficulty was indeed experienced in de-
cipheripg what The editors call the Gothic
hands of the writer's secretaries, who were
manifestly many in number, and who made
use of at least three totally distinct styles of
forming the same letter, each as little clear to
the eye as the Greek or German alphabets
would be to person ignorant of those Ian
guages. The work is OF genuine value and
interest, If not for any novel historical light
it may throw upon the archives of the
Gepava Ranuhlic. val for tha
it indirectly affords of the genius and spirit
of the writer. The character of Bonni ward is
deeply impressed upon his narration of every
incident, as well as upon the style of every
sentence which he writes. Our object in
calling attention to his long forgotten works
is not 30 much that of analyzing their con-
tents, or apprecieting what amoant of new
facts they may contribute to the biography of
the author, or to the history of his times.
What we would rather point out, and seek to
illustrate b. the aid of the writings newly ae-
quired by the public, is what the world
has gained by their disclosure of strong,
prescient, and reflective spirit, true repre-
sentative of the best spirit of his age. Too
long have these speaking characteristics OF
the man and of his times been condemned to
an oblivion or interment not less injurious
and unjust than that which for years psnt in
and wasted the frame of Bonnivard ia the
vasilts of Chillon. t ..i f.1f 4 J
The first breaking of this long imprison-
ment among the shelves of the Geneva Ii
brsry gave rise to the scheme of O uniform
edition of ali the writings left in manuscript
by Downward. This plan was interrupted by
the death of the principal editor. Nearly
all the works have, however, by
degrees seen the light. Ia 1855
appeared Bonnivard's keen and caustic
pamphlet against the See and Court of Rome,
fortified by lifeEke sketches of the eleven
Popes during whose reign he had lived en-
titled "Advis ct aevis, etc., de la Source de
lIdolatTie ct Tyrannie papale, sllivis des diff
fOrmes Reformateurz de ladvis ct devils de
mensonge ct des faulz miracles du temps pre-
sent" The editors, Nj M. Chaponniere and
Revillion, justly remark upo1F the ''vieux
esprit Gaulois, <he biting wit and humor of
this controversial fragment. Bonnivard de-
served to be called the Rabelais, the
Marot, the Brantome of his time, as he has
been Justly styled by Senebier, his fellow
histouographer, the GeneyeseA Montaigne
While lashiDg unsparipgly the vices of the
Popes and the falsehooa of their system, the
moderation of his personal opinions aud
principles, both in politics aud religion, is
set such as to bear out what was said of him
by Rousseau, that he was a lover of liberty
though a Savpyard, aud tolerant though
priest. "A republican, of what|we should call
the type of Milton or Hampden, he had
nothing about him of what would now bs
teamed Red. To see his adopted country
free and self-regulated was the object of his
aims and sacrifees. For this end he lsbored
against the Bishop of Geneva and the Duke
of Savoy, and for this he paid the penalty of,
two years in the dungeons of Grolee, aud
left elk years impressions of his steps on the
mois5 flags of Cbillon. He had for asso-
ciates in peril and disaster men of equal
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