The Sun. — 1848-04-13 (London, England)

LITERATURE.  THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF- FEBRUARY, 1848. 1 Vol., pp. 383. By Percy B. St. John.  The author of this attractive volume has been doubly fortunate—an a man and as a writer—in wit. nessing the late remarkable and glorious revolution. We, residents in England are fortunate likewise in the circumstance that Mr. Percy St. John was a sojourner in Paris during the immortal days of February. He has appreciated so accurately the position of parties in the French capital ; he observed the 6 meutes so vigilantly; he sympathised with the people so thoroughly ; he has described recent occurrences with a pencil so vivid, so rapid, and so inimitably copious (considering that the book under consideration was completed within a fortnight after the transference of the Go • vernrnent from the Tuileries to the Hotel de Ville), that we may well congratulate ourselves on the coincidence of his presence throughout the disturbances. Those who may erroneously anticipate from the title-page a narrative of the entire revolution from personal observation are sanguine overmuch, and (if the apparent play upon words is allowable) frivolous over more. 'They are associating the divine attribute of übiquity with the body of a mere bookman. No such description of the progress of events among than 0 .eoAt hcf rcefiwaeurggnehtueiarrc eni thchays eha shallParisians uoacilntonlhne ogbr(ceenel congenial oi given us his confidences in the shape of an autobiography, or until a semi-romance or demi-history shall the brother of the the great bg; ir e. a t Alphonseexpectedastronomer Lie M. ea mmsaEtienne r moret ine ) ttle,ha,ehtermawqvoDeuoefninsatttbyeehdeeecednhd, laßori f riierPsnepit earoueai h,lbn:l—aletsilifearnnai eo r. wedozenForthe e places at once, even according to the explicit revelations of Mr. Percy St. John, and the gifted but Under-Secretary moat s °gain ae r timetier s simultaneously, clothed in the trappings of the Garde National, and elevated on the shoulders of the gamins. Mr. St. John has judiciously collected his materials from a variety of authentic sources—from his own experience as an eye-witness, from the hearsay of trustworthy informers, from orations, reports, proclamations, and printed sketches. The book evidences in every sentence the hurry in which it was composed and the excitement with which it was projected; yet these very characteristics—characteristics which at first sight might seem. to be absolute blemishes —s thattiat tahmeyongautthheepnrtiioccatiepalimneraitstoreffmthaerkv.aoblulemem, seeing r thein into 0 actualseventeen chapters, h andabp the late e lreasxt, ec record.aitn excitement catastrophe. pe Theanr t ao partakes swo rohkfcicti Chapter ae partitionedp theyter I. c o confusionn consequent upon t first to last—was the earliest stock-jobbing trick from _ definesXwl 8 3 1 1. i otc to "wtdthhhaeeet when browcauses transference efLtenhroeeunt iocs e recenttohfePhilippethtrheerve crownll.dtai revolution"—causes is: miserable co iefs eh Jul les: ion of svtblunderiaa oyr,lli oTfutohhrs The variously co—nafs uittnashets the st daodnfettttohbt hreboe ern accuracye: e—cde etdhteeFs pßroe eteo.vefobl our Nut. o Revolution oneauth owillauthor's , s may b 0 government of Louis Philippe;appointment France by purchased majorities ; the entrance ofTcorreaction which has taken place everthe since; the personal government trial; the suicide of the Duc de Praslin; the Reform rpuupetiodn'Aiunmtoalethe as Go administrationvern r ot. banquets; the King's Speech; the prohibition of public meetings." Algiers; o f tllBrt eu3 oaogseettnshhr t:eue This accumulation of reasons for an insurrectionary movement has long been notorious. Chapter 11. displays the overt progress of the popular opposition as revealed by the " Reform Banquets" in the vicinity of the capital, and in the departments ; and thus preludes the opening of the newly-elected Parliament of 7  " To face the Legislature, composed of a compact majority of contented placemen, ministers, and personal friends of King and Cabinet, there was an old King, who for eighteen years had succeeded every day in adding some link to the chain of power, with one son, the future regent; another married to the heiress presumptive to the throne of Spain ; another Viceroy of Algeria ; another with a high position in the navy; a daughter the wife of a neighbouring King ; in close alliance with the Monarch of Austria, and ruling in Spain through his creatures; with an army general!ed and officered at his will ; a capital surrounded by the most extraordinary fortifications in the world, and commanded by eighteen detached forts ; a police the most perfect and extensive known to civilized society, and composed not only of constables, but of regiments of horse and foot;—he seemed to occupy an impregnable position, from which nothing but the thunder of the Almighty could dislodge him; a Cabinet, headed by a great orator and historian, though an impracticable statesman, enjoying the friendship and support of its Sovereign, and commanding a perfectly servile cohort of Deputies in the Chamber. " The Opposition was in itself weak, but in the errors of their opponents they were mighty ; for the Cabinet of the 29th of October stood before the country convicted of corruption and servility; of alliance with absolutism ; of opposing the liberal intentions of the Pope; of conniving with Jesuits to enslave Switzerland; of impelling Ferdinand of Naples to resist the just demand of his subjects ; and, worse than all, of having, in their anxiety to curry favour with the dynasty, given way to every counter-revolutionary scheme of Louis Philippe. " In Chapter 111. " the opening of the Chambers " (the last session of the Parliament of the French monarchy) by Louis Philippe, in person, on the 28th December, 1847, is described with graphic brilliancy. Chapter IV. glances at " the February sittings of the Chambers," and recounts very minutely " the preparations for the great Reform Banquet." Chapter V. begins the diary of the revolution with " Sunday and Monday, February 20 and 21 ;"‘ Chapter VI., " Tuesday, February 22 ;" Chapter