450 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[APRIL., 



The Tidlerles. By the Author of 

 " Hungarian Tales" Qc. 3 vols. 12wo. 

 Mrs. Gore's heroine is the accom- 

 plished daughter of one of the oldest 

 and most aristocratic families of France, 

 inheriting all the prejudices of her caste 

 to the fullest extent. The hero is one 

 of the canaille the born-vassal of the 

 lady's family and his mother her fos- 

 ter-nurse. After the manners of the 

 country, the children were playmates, 

 and grew up together for years. The 

 boy was devoted to her, and as his years 

 increased his feelings took a deeper tone, 

 while the young lady regards him sim- 

 ply with a friendly kindness, as the son 

 of her favourite bonne, and her old com- 

 panion. These two -persons, standing at 

 the very poles of society in unrevolu- 

 tionized France, it is Mrs. Gore's ulti- 

 mate object to bring together, through 

 the equalizing medium of the revolu- 

 tion cutting down the haughty preju- 

 dices of the one, and elevating the per- 

 sonal merits of the other ; and she has 

 accomplished her purpose with a clear 

 perception of the spirit of the revolu- 

 tion, and no common acquaintance with 

 its details. The lady marries the Mar- 

 quis de St. Florentin, and mingles with 

 the court ; while Camille, her humble 

 admirer, gets a better education than 

 usual in his station, and early wins his 

 way to fortune in the manufactories of 

 Lyons. At the outbreak of the revolu- 

 tion, though sharing, with those of his 

 class, in the bright anticipations of its 

 early friends, he becomes no vulgar jaco- 

 bin ; but foreseeing the interruptions to 

 business, he realizes his large gains and 

 repairs to Paris. The chief magnet that 

 drew him there was still the marchioness 

 to shield her in the too probable perils 

 that awaited her caste, was the single 

 and absorbing prompter of all his move- 

 ments. At Paris he has a cousin, a lead- 

 ing orator in the clubs, and one of the 

 mountain in the Chamber of Deputies. 

 With this person, the better to carry his 

 views into effect, he resumes his inter- 

 course, arid under his auspices enters 

 the National Guard, and soon, by other 

 influence, becomes an aide-de-camp of 

 Lafayette. 



At this time the king's friends were 

 planning his escape, and De St. Floren- 

 tin, on the impulse of romantic loyalty, 

 devotes himself soul and body to the 

 accomplishment of the enterprise dis- 

 regarding the claims of his family and, 

 as it fell out, perishes in the attempt, 

 Camille had failed in his efforts to de- 

 ter him but his position in the Na- 

 tional Guard enabled him to gratify his 

 fondest wishes, in serving the marchio- 

 ness, who is at last conveyed away in 

 safety from Paris, and conducted to her 

 father's chateau. 



Meanwhile Camille's cousin, the jaco- 



bin leader the very beau-ideal of a 

 fiend is panting for revenge. He has, 

 of course, a natural antipathy to all aris- 

 tocrats, and especially to the family, 

 whose steward his own father had been. 

 In his youth he had been shut up in the 

 Bastille, for some offence, and once been 

 struck by the head of the family. He 

 resolves to have his revenge to devas- 

 tate the estate, murder the owner, and 

 marry the proud daughter St. Floren- 

 tin's widow, to whom Camille is so de- 

 voted, and watches over so intently. 

 Camille is just in time to rescue herself 

 and one of her two children the other 

 is lost in the mtlie and carry her to his 

 own estate, and place her under the 

 protection of his mother, her beloved 

 bonne. In this secluded retreat the lady 

 lives unmolested, and Camille, happy in 

 her presence, withdraws from his official 

 engagements at Paris, and spends his 

 life in contributing to her comfort, and 

 attempting to make himself agreeable. 

 He, however, makes no progress the 

 lady hardly suspects his hopes, and 

 dreams not of any thing so audacious 

 as an attempt to realize them. Sudden- 

 ly the Jacobin leader discovers the re- 

 treat of his cousin and the marchioness, 

 and intelligence reaches them that he is 

 on his way, armed with authority, to 

 work his own purposes. Camille and a 

 confidante of the marchioness confer to- 

 gether, and the only means of safety for 

 her seems to be marriage, to give him 

 a legal right to protect her. The pro- 

 posal is made the lady is horror-struck, 

 but eventually submits, apparently not 

 knowing what she is doing. The cere- 

 mony takes place Camille is himself 

 flung into prison, and at the very mo- 

 ment, when the ferocious jacobin hopes 

 to seize his prey, he is himself assassi- 

 nated by a little manoeuvre of Robe- 

 spierre. On Camille's consequent re- 

 lease, the lady, alive to her situation, up- 

 braids him with trickery and treachery ; 

 and poor Camille, seeing her prejudices 

 thus indelible, takes suddenly a solemn 

 leave of her and joins the army. 



Five or six years elapse, when in 

 Italy, after the battle of Marengo, ap- 

 pears, in an important command, a Ge- 

 neral Mainville. This is Camille. His 

 official authority brings him in contact 

 with an Emigre family of distinction, 

 where re-appears also the marchioness. 

 The marchioness's lost daughter is found 

 to be a protegee of Josephine both Jose- 

 phine and Bonaparte are aware of the 

 circumstances, and through their agency 

 the intercourse between Camille and the 

 marchioness is resumed. No very press- 

 ing influence is necessary the lady's 

 prejudices had had time to give way ; 

 she gladly and gratefully recognizes the 

 validity of the former tie, ana becomes 

 the wife of Camille, who shortly after- 



