, 1873-02-02

Of the same stuff sstho rest of US. we differ il
name, place, and circumstances. There ar
thousands OF royal heads which mover wea
crowns, thousands OF royal hands which move
wio1d sceptrea. The dead Emperor is, after all
no better than tho dead bricklayer.
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| sir EDWARD 'aULwER LyTToa.
DY PROFESSOR WILLIAM MATHEWS, OF TIE UNI
| vEns1TY or CHICAGO.
The life Of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, whe
died recently in London ut the ago Of 81, is 6
vivid illustration of the marvels that 1aa7 be
performed by man Of mere talent, toiling with
indefatigable energy through long eeries Of
years. Wc sag talent, for that he had that only,
though in the very highest Degree and wes not,
though he narrowly escaped being, genius, ia
think is very clear. Had he beon such, he would
not, probably, have scattered his forces over
go largo . field. Instead Of lighting up the
| whole horizon Of thought, he would have con-
! denscd his eheet~ightning into few luminous
points, or single powerful bolt. As it was,
| neither intellectually or morally Was his mind
determined with veTwhe1raiug force in any one
direction; upon no one subject did his affections
centre; and the result was, that while no aston
ished the world by his width OF sympathy and
variety Ct mental faculty. he never REACHED tho
pinnacle of excellence and fame,--.ho topmost
peak Of tho literary A1ps,-but only lofty
| summit Tna. ho was Z tiraless worker, the
Ecores Of worEs which be spun from his
brain bear witness. Poet, dramatist, novelist,
essaJist, orator, panpllcteer, and historian, he
-"swung round the entire circle" Of literary ef-
fort, and won high Success in everything ho at
tempted. That he should have done this in spite
Of his dsadvaDtages,-t disadvantages Of ease
and afauence, to which he was born,-is sill
greater marvel, and compels the admiration Of
those who would otherwise find it hard to forget
his fobles. It is hard to write books when ono
is clothed in rags, aud leboring to make the pot
boil; but it is harder still, when one is clothed
in purple and fue linen aud faring sumptuously
every day. Alany 4 spiritual giant lies buried
under mountain of gold. To hunt and shoot,
aud live in clover,-to frequent clubs and op-
eras, and A1mack's. enjoying the vau-
ETY. Of London sightseeing, morning calls,
and Parliamentary small-talk, during the
eeason, and then on to the country mansion,
with its weH-stocked preserves and its Thousand
delightful pleasures, a!ternnted with a few
months on the Scotch moors, Or run across the
Continent to Venice or Rome,-an this, il has
boen truly said, is exceedingly attractive but
it is by no means calculated to make man
"acorn delights and live laborious delays"
It was to his mother, woman OF great energy
and rare accomplishments, that Bulwer was in
debted for the formation and guidance Of his
literary tastes. Her father was profound
echolar, and tho first Hebraist Of his day. 4
favo1ite book Of her son in his childhood WAS
" Percy's Reliquss," which Was the match that
fred his genius, for he wrote soma ballads in
imitation Of it, when only or 6 years old. He
went to no public school, but graduated at CAM
bridge, where he competed successfully for the
prize poem Of his year. Better in many respects
than the University education was the lifc-ed-
ucation," to use ono cf his own terms, Which he
got in part by wandering over England and Scot
land on foot during the long vacation, ard af*sr-
wards by travelling through France On horse-
back. He began to publish q: the age Of two-
and-twenty. "Weeds and Wild Flowers" his
first book, WAS followed by sO'Neil, or the
Rebel" q Byronian posm minus the
Byron. Falkland" his first novel, ap-
peared next year, but fell doad from the
press, being too sentimental even for tho
Laura Mati1das Of tho circulating libraries. II
was in "Pe1ham that he first fairly caught
tho ear Of the world. In this work tho author
gave what many thought sympathetic portrait
ure Of gcatleman,-a dandy Of superior or
der, something more than what Cowper calls ga |
fine puss gentleman, that's all Perfume" but |
still wozshippor at the Ghr;no Of fashion, and
more careful about the cut OF his coat and the |
stylo of hia whiskers than about the furnishing |
Of his bruins. The book has many clever cpl |
grams and some powerful paesages,-a few, |
such es Tyrrels dcath-sceae, that are. artistic
lily fniskod, and, though shallow as whole, |
showed that thoge WAS power in tho author.
In ''Pau1 Clifford" with its skilfully woven /
plot, novel which was dercely lashed by tho |
noralists, Bu1wor took somewhat higher fight; !
but even yet his wings we're not fairly dedged. |
It WAS in Eugene Aram' TINT he first showed |
he mettle that was in him it was the first dig
inct print Of the hons foot Being early inter-
,sted in the story Of his hero, he set to work to
:ol1ect the particulars OF his lifo, and these he
Eose into the powerful and fascinating romance |
.bove named. In this story he has aimed to |
;how What strange influences sometimes
:hequer the web Of life; how q mind
noble, by deviating by An al
most imperceptible angle from the path OF yir-
ue, may be gradually lured on till it is hopeless
: entanslcd in tie neshea OF sin. "0bsta prin-
ipiis-resi5t beginnings" is tho moral which it
reaches with fearful emphasis in every page.
20 not daily with sin, or listen to tho faintest
uggestfoos Of Tho tompter and rely upon it !
hat, with whatever eccrccy you nay commit
rime, there is an avcnsins Fury tracking the
lood-staiaed, which, sooner or later, will drag
i'm and his Sin to the Light Some critics have
affected to the psychological t1rtlfulneas Of
sugene A1em's portrait. Is it possible, they
ave asked, for a man to be betrayed into drea1-