562 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



Mr. St. John has heard or read some- 

 thing of Dr. Parr's wig. But nobody 

 but nimself ever dreamed of calling it 

 careless, or applied the terms clerical 

 ringlets to his frizzled episcopal bush. 



" We find the Greeks," says Mr. St. 

 John, " in their most homely dialogues, 

 making perpetual reference to the pic- 

 tures of Parrhasius, Protogenes, or Apel- 

 les, or to the statues of Phidias, Myron, 

 or Lycippus;" but what homely dia- 

 logues are these, and where are they to 

 be found, put of the pale of Mr. St. 

 John's fertile imagination ? The same 

 risking spirit, in fact, pervades the whole 

 volumes still they are, we repeat, very 

 agreeable reading calculated to beguile 

 uneasy sensations, and capable of charm- 

 ing, if any thing can do it, a fit of the 

 gout, or a tooth-ache. 



The King's Secret, by the Author of the 

 Lost Heir, 2 vols. I2mo. A good tanta- 

 lising title this, and the publisher, as 

 became him, has made the most of it. 

 The mighty secret, however, proves to 

 be none of George the Fourth's, or any 

 of his race, but of one who has gone to 

 the shades some centuries ago. It is one 

 of Edward the Third's, and which, at 

 last, the author leaves as he found or 

 framed it. The very tale winds up, not 

 without its own denouement, but with- 

 out resolving the mystery. The histo- 

 rical event, which constitutes the frame- 

 work of the piece, supplies but a small 

 portion of the details they are em- 

 ployed mainly in developing the com- 

 plications of family interests. It is Arte- 

 velde's the well-known beer-brewster 

 of Ghent, one of Grattan's heroes in- 

 trigue with Edward to transfer the co- 

 ronet of Flanders from Count Lewis to 

 the young Prince of Wales. The scheme 

 fails, and the projector, Artevelde, a fine 

 manly fellow, perishes in the prosecu- 

 tion of it by private vengeance, in a 

 tumultuous assembly of the citizens. In 

 his negotiations he employs his daughter, 

 and despatches her, on one occasion, in 

 a private yacht to the Thames, to confer 

 with the Icing. In her passage she is ob- 

 served and recognised by the follower of 

 a Flemish noble ; a Flemish noble who, 

 unluckily, is attached to the native 

 prince, and has also a direct interest in 

 defeating Artevelde's scheme for the 

 marriage and settlement of this daughter, 

 who has all her father's confidence. Be- 

 fore she reaches the king, she is seized 

 by this nobleman and his agents, but is 

 finally rescued, more dead than alive, fry 

 the activity and bravery of a young ci 

 tizen, which lays the foundation for the 

 love story. This young citizen appears 

 as the nephew of a rich old goldsmith 

 the goldsmiths were the money -jobbers 

 of those days but he has a soul "above 

 buttons'' and bullion, and with good 



reason, as the finale shows. He has al- 

 ready distinguished himself for all sorts 

 of martial exercises, and at some city 

 pageant even beaten the bravest of the 

 nobles, and was panting and burning for 

 glory in fields of serious warfare. But 

 he was nothing but a miserable citizen, 

 and emancipation seemed hopeless, when, 

 by the greatest good fortune that ever 

 befel mortal man, he rescued the dis- 

 tressed damsel and such a damsel too 

 one who was entitled to figure in courts, 

 &c. Torn from her attendants, and espe- 

 cially a confidential friend of her father's, 

 she entrusts the youth with her com- 

 mission, and despatches him to the king, 

 in whose presence he acquits himself with 

 good tact and discretion. The king is 

 engaged to attend a " passage of arms" 

 in the city, and takes young Borgia in 

 his suite, where again he excites admira- 

 tion by his prowess, and obtains an im- 

 mediate appointment in the king's ser- 

 vice. The king's interview with the lady 

 determines him to start instantly for 

 Flanders. Borgia accompanies him, and 

 they fall into the hands of the agents of 

 the same nobleman who had attempted 

 to carry off the lady ; but by a counter 



E'ece of good luck, they are rescued, and 

 nding at the Flemish coast, lose not a 

 moment in prosecuting the brewer's 

 scheme. That, however, as we have 

 said, fails. After Artevelde's death, his 

 daughter becomes the king's ward, and 

 nothing remains for the author but to 

 develop the private interests, which, 

 from their complexity, proceeds but 

 slowly, and not very consecutively. 

 They are exceedingly complicated the 

 brewer's daughter is not the brewer's 

 daughter, but the heiress of title as well 

 as fortune ; and master Borgia's parent- 

 age is " The King's Secret" he may be 

 a brother, the offspring of Queen Isa- 

 bella's intrigue with her favourite Mor- 

 timer. But though Mr. Power has ham- 

 pered himself a little with details to- 

 wards the conclusion, many of his scenes 

 and sketches are good. His strokes are 

 few and broad, but usually decisive, and 

 tell effectively. Artevelde's character 

 is well exhibited ; but' the king's is any 

 thing but an historical portrait it re- 

 sembles more that of Edward the Fourth. 

 But Artevelde's daughter is the crown- 

 ing figure she is a clever girl prompt 

 and intelligent frank and straight-for- 

 wardready in expedient, and resolute 

 in action. It is by far the best portrait | 

 in the piece, and well sustained. 



Mr. Power has fagged at his arche- 

 ology, and especially studied the local 

 antiquities of London ; but, being a little 

 too eager to shew off all his acquisitions 

 in this way, he has overlaid his pages 

 with details of dress, arms, and chivalry. 

 This is a common blunder. Writers of 

 historical romance have been worried by 



