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Leader (1850-1860), 31st March 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16

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      Henb.Y Iv. Qf France.* Le Bearnais Is On...

      and the special - ' progress made in each of these fields . duringthe reign of Henry ; , whilst about one-f tmrth is ¦ 'devoted , to a succinct h story of the reign , which gives little of the romantic incident which 3 ends ' the charm to Henry's career . The . value of the bulk of the book to those who desire to understand the , actual condition of France at the period is immense ; but as we have said , the majority of those who turn to the 4 iistory of Henry IV . do so for the life arid adventures of the king . Miss Freer seems to have perfectly comprehended this truth , and her two volumes are a spirited history of Henry and his during" exploits from his accession to the throne to the capture of Paris , which virtually established his . sovereignty over France . As a picture of those exploits , and a , narrative-of-the most interesting- portions of those dreadful wars , of the whole forty

      years ' horror of which Davila has so well if not so fairly told us the story , Miss Freer ' s work is deserving- of all ' . commendation . We may especially give her credit for the ability with ' wlM . ch she lias treated the awkward subject of Henry ' s amour . ? . It would be impossible to write the life or reign of Henry IV . without frequently mentioninghis ; mistresses . They played too important a part in the history , influenced so much the course of each campaign and the policy of the amorotis monarch , to be left unnamed ; whilst jt would be impossible , in a book written for the English society of these days , to dwell upon their-scandalous stories . Miss Freer has avoided tlie difficulty with great judgment . She will , however , find the task more difficult when she comes to the last years of her hero ' s reign : —her hero , -in srood truth ,.-for although as a ladv she of course rates

      hinr soundly for his misconduct , and presents with great fairness the consequences of his follies-and caprices , still Henry is a hero to . . her , just as lie is to the laborious M . Poiiison : ¦ . .:.. ' - ¦ ¦ ' On this point , however , we must differ from Miss Freer and M . Poinson ; aiid , useless as it in ay . be to run a tilt against a genei'ally accepted .. conclusion , avow oiir own opinion that Henry the Fourth , although brave , able , witty , and courteous , was in the main little better than the best abused monnrehs of his . house . We are not unjust enough to try him by the standard of an advanced civilization , and a purer morality . But a monarch who persistently sacrificed his duties to his pleasures , and the childish excesses of whose subservience to the rising favourite were balanced by a heartless abandonment of the declining one , is not protected from reprobation bvtheindulsrence which the licence of that age compels ua

      to allow to all its heroes . It mighthave been excusable in a " captain of cavalry , " as Napoleon / " in depreciation of his military talents , called him , to waste his time in roniantic adventures " and sensual excesses ; but it is impossible to acquit the King of France , who loses the opportunity of ciipturing Pnris to play the jy . ilhint to the Abbess of Montmartre . and risks not only his own life but lives of his devoted army , by leaving it for a day . or two , to visit , in the disguise of a ini ' llor , " -Giibrielle D'Estrecs . We . will not dwell on such follies ; but who can feel respect for-the monarch , or even for the , man , who suffered " lacharmanteGnbrielle , " if aio-t to die , at least to die unavenged ; . bought Hcni-jette JJ'Entraques of - her father for a certain number of crowns , and , when nearly sixty , exposed himself to the greatest humiliation ? , and perilled the" peace of his . country in his mad dotard ' s passion for tlio child Princess DeCondo ? And what , can be said , in favour of the

      great king , either as Protestant or Catholic ? His religion was , indeed , merely , a cloak , without which he would have been nipped hi the very bud of his ambitious enterpi'ises . By his . ^ profession of Protestantism alone , he maintained himself in theposition to claim the throne of France when ib legally devolved upon him . By the enthusiastic acceptance of him by t . ho Huguenots as their chief , and by the -immense sacrifices they made , he was enabled first , to resist the- deadly enmity of tho Guises , who did not hate him as a Protestant , but as an obstacle to their projects , and then to compel tlip adherenco oftho . se Catholic subjects ' who joined him against

      the League . Protestantism did everything for Henry , and the moment hv e had obtained from it all that it could give , he abjured it , ' ami became a Catholic . If political necessities ^ , in other words , his own ambitious interests , made this stop . inevitable , as tho historians who commend -his . wisdom , and even lib selfsacrifice , magniloqueutly asserts , —at all events , they did not obliye him to bo ungrateful to the o 1 d > friend * who had ruined themselves in his cause , and to bestow all honours and rewards upon tho relatives of his mistresses , or tho men who had fought most hardly against 'him , and only accepted his sovereignty because they could no longer resist it , .

      This sensuality , this ingratitude , this thoughtlessness , tins indifference to tho Toolings or | services of his friends , ro long as * hjs own pleasures were not interfered with , are indolible stains upon the character of Henry , and loci him into many a fault which rises up against him in condemnation . True , against thoso defoots his admirprs mny sot his gonorosity and easinoss , but tho generosity was of that spurious laud much practised in our own days . Henry was generous enough of tho property and labour of other persons , and is easiness was merely a dislike to being troubled himself . With-» 11 , however , he was very brave \ had momenta of high feeling , and

      if ho did not sketch out groat schemes of European policy himself , could ad 6 pt them from others . Miphelet ( wo think ) summing up his vices and virtues ,. his faults , fpllios , and abilities , savs that , aftoiall , ho was but a typo of the IPrauce of his day . And of our day , too ; for X ^ ranco is really little ohnngod , Paris ruled France in the days of Honny , ruloa it more completely now t and tho spirit of Paris , tho outsido . the veneer of civilization , with all the old ferooity and lust of war and rapine underneath , ' is the spirit which rules tho Franco of to * dny , nnd random ISuropo unquiet nnd distrustflil , whilst tho old projects of Henry IV . for ft . ro-o . rrnngom . ont of

      Europe are again brought forward as the basis upon ¦ which the policy of France should rest . There must have been some stuff in the man whose spirit , after two hundred and fifty years , yet animates the hearts of his * .-coimti * ymen , but all the efforts of his admirers fail to make Henri Quatre aprevx chevalier , or a great king .

      308 Tjie Leader-Andsaturday< Analyst. [M...

      308 TJie Leader-andSaturday < Analyst . [ March 31 > 18 ^ ° -

      Romances And Tales.* Rphe Author Of'the ...

      ROMANCES AND TALES . * rpHE author of'The Living among the Dead has not attached A " any especial meaning to the above title , which would be equally applicable to any other work of fiction yet upon record , simply signifying 1 the different emotions , passions , and feelings continually enacting around the" monuments of our forefathers . This book is decidedly well written , though the incidents are somewhat too much huddled" together , and there is an evident want of tact in the arrangement of the characters . The author has also fallen into the fatal error of introducing 1 towards the conclusion three or four retrospective chapters explanatory of events whicli occurred long before the commencement of his story , and recording the pn ^ t lives and misfortunes of persons in most of whom , since they have never been presented bodily upon the scene , the reader cannot be supposed

      to take the slightest interest . . This is perhaps the / greatest mistake a writer of fiction could possibly commit ; . it destroys at once all that he has been lwupurhig so long and earnestly to achieve . The sympathy of the reader ,, thus cut off from the main thread of the story , ' gradually ' . subsides into weariness and . indifference , and before the end of one of these seemingly interminable digressions ,. ¦ becomes completelyobliterated ; and it requires that the last two or three chapters should be replete with incidents of the most stirring and elevating 1 nature to enable the author to recover the ' ground he has thus unconsciously lost . The giving among the Dead , / however , notwithstanding- the blemishes above enumerated , possesses considerable merit . Two or three of the characters are . well conceived * and the tone throughout is thoroughly healthy and free from all morbid tendencies . We have no doubt th . at . it will enhance the

      reputation of the author . , A number of tales .,. entitled Storied Traditions of Scottish Life , form a . volume of odd and , to such as feel an interest in this peculiar kind of lore , not Unpleasant reading . . All . the tales ; ire remarkably well told , and in some instances wrought iip t 6 a cliinnx of no ordinary excitement . . The story of " Sergeant Da vies VG host ;" which at its termination surprised us into a hearty fit of l . aughtex ' , deserves a slight sketch at . our hands .. We give it as follows :- — The supposed ghost of . Sergeant Davies . appears to Sandy M'Pherson and commissions him to inter with due decency his . mouldering remains , Which at the ' . time lie exposed on Christie Hill ; he also delivers up to him the names of his murderers , Duncan . Clerk and

      Alexander Macdoiiald . The noise of this affair gets bruited abroad ,, and inquiries arc instituted by the civil authorities , which bud in the aboye-nientioned parties being committed for trial . They ave , howeyer , ultimately acquitted by their . countrymen . Soon after'this Duncan Clerk receives his " quietus" in this world , and his widow becomes thereupon open , to the addresses of one Allan MCS ' itb , an old and never-wearying suitor , who , in the hope of gaining her favour , promises- to bring the triulueer of . her late husband to justice upon the charge of perjurv . After a short lapse of time Agiios Clerk , during a lonolv walk tliroutrh an unfrequented . path , encounters ft figure

      bearing the semblance of her deceased lord . The seeming apparition with ns little delay as possible reveals the object of his visitation , namely , that his conscience pricks him for We Wrong-s . he committed while in ' the flesh to the aforesaid Allan M ' jJsal ); ho therefore exhorts his widow to make , him adequate compensation by bestowing upon him her hand . The poor wpnian . stiimls for a few . moments in mental perplexity and doubt ; suddenly a now light breaks in upon her > and , darting forward , she seizes hold of the arm of tho would-be spectre , delivering herself in tho following oracular manner : ¦ " Tho deevil ' s in ye for a Jtfuse loon , but you ' re Allan ]\ I * jS T ab lainsol' ! and what ' s inair , ye wero the ghost o'

      Sergeant Davies ! " , Sir ?/ and Seal , by Miss Wethorell , fully justifies tho authoress s former reputation . Two editions are published of this extraordinary work , It ia , perhaps , the best uf this excellent writer ' s productions , possessing in the-highest dogroe all that shriplieity of style , purity of sentiment , and self-development of character for whioh her worksare remarkable . We havo only to add that tho more expensive edition of this work ia profusely illustrated .

      Miscellaneous Books.F Rphe Plan Of This ...

      MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS . f rpHE plan of this little Stepping . Stone is clenr ,. j » ml simple , and really J . calculated to ensure to the learner a sound knowledge of Greek . It ia divided into eleven parts , containing Gospel extracts , fables iVom / lisop , easy odes from Anacreoh , & c . These axtraota are also oonstrueil into ISuglishf thus making the woik n flrst-rnto stepping-stone for beginners , By the ( easy , and at the aamo time thoroughly sound and critical method adopted by ( ho oornpHor , tho lenrner may soon Acquire a knowledge of the UrccK tongue . . _

      * Tho Ijt'inq Um<M<) Tho Ljc<Ul. A Btory...

      * Tho IJt'inq um < m <) tho lJc < ul . A Btory foun < le ( l on Facts . By the AuU \ pr of " lilonham ' . " Arthur Hull , Virtue , and Oo . StorM Tradition * qf Scottish IAf »> Xiy ALEXANDER Leicuiton . Edinburirli : Williitm V . Nlnuno ; Simiikiii , IMarahall , and Oo . 8 « v and 8 * af . By tl » o Author of " WKlo WWo World , " niul " Dollars anU ( jonts . " Anotiu-r Edition ofsnmo , illuetmtod . Jliehuril Hentloy . f PowAw . CUtMfrl . JTo . IK A 8 ti > pp \ na Btom fwrnthonefflnnlM of Qrvvk tiriumnar to . M ^ ii , >}>/ u > n . J $ y the . Kov . John Day Qoi ^ is , M . A ., LondQn i Longman and Co .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 31, 1860, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31031860/page/16/