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    » n > rt » Ap >«^^ . * ira »« o «^ aSiISS ^^ H = 7 r 3 i ^^^ _ . Vm&fcbefore Leyden had been ^ stored , or th . e . traces of blood , and fir ^ had l » ee ^ p ) ijMtepa ^ edjin ! Haaitew ^ But the spirit of the people wa $ not displayed i ^ -Asia ;« a 9 » e . : though their native border * were , for half a century , menaced l ^ tke ^ pajorisb . arms , though / after thirty yeara of tetror , they had to endure jE 3 % years of inseeurity . When Mr . Motley writes the second half of his narrative , it will be less dramatic than the first , but it will not be less instructive . It w # l exhibit the restoration of an exhausted country , a aation in ; wbich not a ; family had escaped the general sorrow * preparing the prosperity x ) f a happier generation—building new cities , founding new colonies , establishing a powerful , navy , giving to the low and narrow provinces of Holland and Zeetandr European rank and historical renown , creating the spice trade by sea , andi unhappily , perpetrating in , the East crimes , of as deep a dye as it b ^ d avenged in the West- .

    Mito the square , as , pent iu a corner , the burghers stood at last at bay ; It was difficult to carry the houses by atorm , but they were soon set on fixe . A I **™ W ^ r pf sutler ^ and . other yarfets had accompanied the Spaniards front ^ ne crtadel , brmgmg torches and kindling materials for the express purpose ofiLw thetown . With great dexterity , these means were now applied ! and in a . lirfS interval , the City-hall , and other edifices on the square were in flames TJ ™ conflagration fled with rapidity , house after house , street after street , taking firT ^ Nearly a thousand buridfeigs , in the most splendid and wealthy quarteroF tT cit in blazeand multitudes of human beinea

    y , were soon a , were "burned Jith them . In the City-hall many were consumed , while others leaped from the windows to renew the combat below . The many tortuous streets which led down a slight descent from the rear of the Town-house to the q * iays were all one vast conflagration . On the other side , the magnificent cathedral , separated from the Grande Place by a single row of buildings , was lighted up , but not attacked bv the flames . The tall spire cast its gigantic shadow across the last desoerafce conflict . In the street called the Canal aw Sucre , immediately behind the Town house , there was a fierce struggle , a horrible massacre . A crowd of bur ^ A ™ *

    grave magistrates , and such ot the German soldiers as remained alive still confronted the ferocious Spaniards . There , amid the flamijog desolation Goswin Verreyck , the heroic margrave of the city , fought with the energy of hatred and despair . The burgomaster , Van der Meere , lay dead at his feet : senators soldiers , citizens , fell fast around him , and he sank at last upon a "heap of slain * With him effectual resistance ended . The remaining combatants were butchered or were slowly forced downward to perish in the Scheld . Women , children old men , were killed in countless numbers , and still , through all this havoc directlv over the heads of the struggling throng , suspended in mid-air above the din and smoke of the conflict , there sounded , every half-quarter of every hour as if in gentle mockery , from the belfry of the cathedral , the tender and melodious chimes

    Mr . Motley possesses the faculty of description and the faculty of narration ; but his style is enfeebled by amplification . It is inveterately voluminous , it overflows the subject j it beats in froth upon the Zeelani coasts , and breaks over the dykes , as though it were the German Ocean . By sharpening his diction , Mr . Motley will gain a qualification as an historical writer , in which he is at present deficient , the breadth and freedom of panoramic painting are not inconsistent with that " copious brevity , " at which Gibbon aimed . Mr . Motley , because the surface is large , scatters the details , and , at times , amasses pages of unimportant miscellanea . But , it would be unjust to confound a tendency with a habit , His practice is to write with care and point , though , wherej he floats upon declamation , it is in stirring episodes , where declamation is least required . Allowing for venial defects , however , the work possesses historical and literary characteristics , which entitle it to more than an ephemeral reputation .

    Mr . Motley has searched the whole range of historical documents necessary to the composition of his work . He has , in no place , spared himself the labour of minute and . critieal authentication . In a warni and varied style , deepened occasionally by the use of strong lights and- shadows , he narrates the epic story of the victory obtained over the empire of Charles the Fifth by the fortitude of the small Netherlands nation , driven by oppression almost to frenzy , but never to despair . It was the law of the Ripuarian Franks , that when a free woman married a slave , she was to he presented with a . distaff and sword . If she chose the distaff she was condemned to perpetual bondage ; if she chose the sword , she was to strike her husband dead , and claim her liberty . Thus the Hollanders , thriving in their servitude , had to choose between the fair cities that had enriched them , and the freedom that had been alienated by Spam . They preferred to be free , and , for years , gave up their industry and their wealth , and struggled for independence in the midst of unutterable calamities . : *'¦¦ ¦ . " of be

    ^ he History- Terror ; Would a ghastly but an instructive book . It should present a comparative ^ which rulers have sought to paralyse opposition by erueljty * Among , these , the epoch of the Inquisi ^ tibnmSoUand ^ tated until . neither , Efen ^ rchastity remain , men torn to shreds by engines of torture ,- women set ^ apart iai hund ^ ds tp adorn tbe ^ final triumph of the siege , and then to perish in agonies pf shame and affliction ; : children scourged-to death for having learned heterodoxy in monosyllables , the labours pf ages destrbyedy and cultivated lands given back to the sea , to promote the glory ofja Xfhurch * and to fee « 3 the pride of a king . Qn the other side , the Hollanders inflicted upon themselves worse than inquisitorial agonies for the sapbe oT free thought , and free speech ; and , to resist an imperial tax , taxed themselves to tenfold its amount . This heroic conflict is described in all its vjftjriatiphSiby Mr . Motleyi , who has drawn upon a number of independent

    sources , the elephantine folios of Bbr * twenty-eight Dutch , Flemish , Spanish , and Italian chronicles , tbe reports of the Venetian ambassadors , the correspondence ofthe grangeNas $ aii family , the documentary outlines of the Hajjue , Brusselsj and X ) r , esden , and the unpublished histories of Poiitus Payen , . Renom deFrance , and Pasquier de la Barre . With these full but c 6 n ^ icting ; records under his hand , he has constructed a systematic and copious history , abounding in merits and defects , in graces , conceits , and frivolities . Thus , some of his chapters are headed severally , "A Mortal Cb n ^ - aiid ^ afTriuiapni * ' " The First Whirlwind , " (( Blood Shed and Spared ^ ' " PVudent Phili |)/* < e A Tenth Penny and a Model Murder , " " The Antwerp Furjr , mm ^ | Ue ;( 3 hent Concord , " "The Under Side of , the Cards /' « : The ^ OutlaF ? A lie ^ n / ' " Sterile Conferences and Teeming Intrigjies , " and " ^ tcblul , Wiuiam . " These , are puerilities . It is well for Mr . Motley that ^¦ h , w ] fe is composed with more judgment than his " Table -af Contents . " This -picture of the massacre of Antwerp is effective ¦ :- ? -

    In front of the famous Exchange , where in peaceful hours , five thousand mer- ' chants met daihr to arrange the commercial affairs of Ghristendom , there was a determined . rally , a savage slaughter . The citizens and faithful Germans , m thia broader , space , made a stand against their pursuers . The tessela-ted marble pavement , the graceful cloister-like arcades , ran red with blood . The ill-armed y ^?!? 1 ^ 4 tfteir eoewes clad . in complete panoply , but they could only die fdr'theirt homes . The ^ aaaasacre' at ; thid point was enormo , us , the resistance at last overcoine . '; ¦ ¦ ¦ - ! i ;• " _ . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ " ¦ ^ £ arith ? iey the Spanieli cavalry had cl < tft , its way through , the city . On the-side farthest'removed . from the castle , a , lorig the Horse-market , opposite the Xffew ^ own , the-etatea dragoona and the light horse of Beveren had be . en posted , and the'flying masses of pursuers and pursued , swept at last through this outer circle-. < 3 hamj > agny waa already there . He essayed , as his laat hope , to rally the cavalry'for a final Btand ^ but the effort was fru itless . Already seized by the panic , they had attempted to rush from the city through the gate of Eeker . It was looked the

    , ; they thentumeel and ; fl ^ d . towards Red-gate , where they were met face to 4 ape , by Don Pedro . TWis , witoi charged -upon them with his dragoons . Retreat seemed . Uopeleas . , Ahorseman iu complete armour , with lanoe in rest , was seen to leap , from : the pawpetpf ithe outer wall into / the moatbeldw , whence , still , on horseback , he escaped witjb , lifp . Hew were , so fortunate . The confused mob of fug ^ tayes and . conquerors , Sp&itfard ^ Walloons ,. Germans , burghei-a , struggling , flh < j . utujg , etnkipg , cwraing ^ dying , swayed hither and , thither like a stormy sea . Alpn ^ thq spoons Ho . ree-market the fugitives fled onward towards the quays . J ^» y fel l beneat h ithe flwords of the . Spaniards ^ numbers were trodden to death byyth . enhpofstof hdrsoa ^ BtiU * greater multitudes were hunted -intjo the Soheld . Chomp ^ gny , -who had thought it possible ; even at the last moment , to make a stand : m . the New-town , and to fortify the Palace of the Hansa , saw himself de-« ei * ted 4 With great daring and presence of mind he . effected hia esoapo to the fleet of the Prjnoo of Orange in the . river . The Marquis , of Hawd " , of whom no deeda of valour on that eventfuVday havq been reoorded , was equally successful , T 1 ^ P un K ° ^ y Oberatoin , atfcemjpting , to leap iqto a boat , missed hia footing , wad 01

    Stet ^ * * po weigjBD jqis armour , was drowned . ^ w ?^" ?^ ,- 'wlllilP the shprfc November day was fast declining , the combat atill raged to the interior of'ttffo city . Various currents of conflict , forcing thoir 1 SS ^^^ through many fttrqets , had . at laat mingled in the Grange Place . ^^ nw ^ W Mxegvlor > not ' very epacious square / atood the gorgedua Hotel do ? SSWSa ^ W'trt lj ' tttattytotibried , fotttaattcaily-gablad , riohly-deodrated pftlaceaof jWi ^^ rr-HOToatoittgiiBti'viggle . toot place . It w < w > termina . ted for a time by fc ^ ff Sr ^ r ** ^ Wh » i ; arrivmg * liro ug U * b o atreob of Saint iTouia , ncflompaBiod bStt ^ OT ^ t ?^*^ ftUwged aeciaivfily into the « x < 51 de . Tho maeaos were hffi ^ e ^ Sffi ^ H 9 ft ^ *' mPw f « und t *» fuM . in tb © bwttdinga , »» d every M 9 WWW » % » a fmm » P' , ^ owH oyja ry . Kwxdow a » 3 balcony a Jio ^ t fi ^ o , waa poured

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    PINE-CONES FROM ITALY . PinoccM . ^ iondon : John Wi Parker and Sod , " PiNOCCHi '—pine-cones—is the quaint title of an anonymous volume of poems recently transmitted to us . The flood of Parnassian raving which reaches our critical table , in the shape of small books of verse , is so overwhelming in bulk , and generally so weak in its elements , that it is our habit , as the reader knows , to reduce the inundation by taking up great bucketsfull at a time , or ( to change the metaphor ) to spit a score or two of skylarks on one barb , and serve them up daintily roasted for the reader ' s intellectual supper . But the . volume now in our hands , though not encouraging us to hope that any great addition to the poetical stock is about to be made , possesses sufficient claims on attention to justify us in abstracting

    ourselves for a few minuses from , the throng of troubadours , to give a little separate attention to this particular singer . We should judge the author of " Pinocchi" to be but a young man ; at least , we hope so , for he has the faults of a young writer , together with a young writer's beauties . Power , as yet unconscious of its own tendencies , degree , or limitation ; aspiration towards the true and beautiful , not yet educated into an art , : nor practised to the extent of acquired mastery ; a pervading sense of poetry , still imperfect in expression , still seeking for that confident utterance which can only come after many and painful trials ; may be found within the pages of the anonymous volume lying on our table . It is the first lisping in numbers ; but it is a lisping that has a music in , it , and which speaks hopefully of future efforts . The author will no doubt himself perceive that he has many faults

    to amend . He has yet to acquire an independent style ; he lias yet to learn the virtues of self-control and condensation ; he has yet to discover that unusual words ( somewhat after the manner of Mr . Bailey in his *• Mystic " ) are not necessarily poetry , and are generally destructive , in their cumbrous weight , of that delicate aroma ; he has yet to find out that a too-great frequency of compounded words ( eloquent modes of expression when used sparingly ) is most fatiguing to the ear , and gives his verses an appearance of congestion , as when a printer crams too many words into one line of type , and does not leave sufficient space between each to render the sense clear . But these are faults which time vyill probably mend ; and in the meanwhile , as we have said , a sense of poetry pervades the pages .

    . the author * we should conjecture from several of the poems , resides , or has resided , in Italy . The murmur of an Italian music haunts his lines ; the smell of Italian pine-woods is blown over his pages ; Italian scenery and Italian art shine with an exotic flush at every turn j and wo fed the hot , odorous languor and dreamy silence of southern noons . The opening poems , descriptive of the haunts of the monstrous Tiberius in the island of Capri , arc among the best in the volume , The crumbling ruins and sickly , drooping vegetation on the rocks , arc touched with " a lino horror , " and made to suggest a dreary consciousness of the stain of guilt that clings about the famous island of gouts . But we prefer to quote , as a Tnoro manageable specimen , a short poem with a melodious Italian burden in praise of the country : — A , STROPHE FROM CAPRI . AOTJ ( STIU > I ? HK JTHOjM NAFMSB . " O I quanta e bella lu oampagna ! " So , ncouring up and down tho Porgok , Wwblad a Mr child , with flax efcreaming hair And Ittiod oUeok—in aooth aho was most fair . Her moubh . flamed aa the poppy ' a ruddy crown ; H « v eyoa wore bluq aa bugloaa xnidat wluto down , •'»

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    mm ' ifflPh ii jg , jLi ? Tg < B » [ No . \ m& , ^ A-m ^ At

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1856, page 234, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2131/page/18/