1825] |, 
pest, that,seyeral of the scenes (though now 
assuming a, new form). have graced the pages 
of some)periedical publication. 
_Letters,.om, the Character and Poetieal 
Genius of Lord Byron. By Sir Egerton 
Brydges,.,Bart.,, &e, &c. &e. er. 8vo.— 
The first ana second of these letters damped 
considerably, the expectations which the 
name in the.title page, in combination with 
the subject, had conspired to raise. Some 
glaring instances of incongruous metaphor, 
and figurative obscurity, which had very 
little, of the appearance of resulting from 
the careless familiarity of epistolary com- 
position; together with a sort of desultory 
indulgence in.some thing very like common 
place, led us to apprehend that we were 
about to be entertained with a diffuse sort 
of gentlemanly conversation on a critical 
subject, such as might do very well over 
our wine, when we could have, every now 
and then, our own say in return ; but which 
might very ill repay our continued atten- 
tion, without either wine or alternate chit- 
chat to enliven us, through a soliloquy of 
457 pages... Had we strained, as far as we 
are afraid it has sometimes been strained 
by. succeeding critics, the metaphorical 
maxim of Dr. Johnson about the leg of 
mutton, we should probably, therefore, 
without tasting another mouthful, have 
condemned the whole joint. But, happily, 
we recollected another critical metaphor, 
somewhat older, and perhaps quite as pro- 
found as that of our surly Aristarchus, 
** One, with a flash begins and ends in 
smoke, another out of smoke brings glo- 
rious fire ;” and we accordingly proceeded. 
The result has been the confirmation (for 
no one who has not ceased to be familiar 
with the wholesome banquet of plain roast 
and boiled, can call it a discovery) that 
every part of a leg of mutton has not ne- 
cessarily the same flavour. The ensuing 
Letters of Sir Egerton Brydges, though by 
no means free from the blemishes alluded 
to, display no ordinary portion of moral 
and critical discrimination and good taste, 
and ave, in fact, entitled to more attention 
than at, present we have space to give 
them ; and till we can assign to them the 
place they seem to be entitled to in our 
crilic-crilicizing pages, we recommend the 
volume to the perusal of those who have 
either extravagantly overrated, or more ex- 
trayagantly deprecated the writings—the 
poetry of Lord Byron: that is to say, nine- 
tenths, at least, of all the readers, and talkers 
about reading, by whom, his name is men- 
tioned, 
{ For. notices of works in hand, and a cor- 
rect and complete list of mew books published 
in, December, see Literary Varieties}, 
“99c° i) Th 
ion FOREIGN LITERATURE. 
wile FRANCE, | 
»| Pae! French press has been fruitful. in 
biographies; | some of them) evidently 
written, for the. purposes of ambition and 
Literary and Critical Proémium, 
J4L 
party, others, professedly at least, with 
more liberal and impartial, views. The 
prospectus of the Biographie Barthélemy; 
in 10 vols. 8yo., of which 50,000 are said 
to have been distributed, has recorded cir- 
cumstances respecting book-makers . and 
book-speculators, calculated to. expose. the 
kind of partnership, by which, they haye 
conspired to enrich themselves, at the ex- 
pense of truth and justice. _ It professes to 
be an édition completée sur celle dela Belgique, 
augmentée de 2,000 Articles ; and the Editors 
profess themselves advocates for national 
glory, independence, constitutional liberty, 
and truth: to be neither Republicans, Na- 
poleonists, Orleanists, nor Ultras; and 
they boast of the large sums of money that 
have been rejected by them, in the disdain 
of being made instruments of falsification 
and deception. Of Madame de Staél, they 
speak as having written for and against 
both despotism and liberty, democracy and 
aristocracy. But upon her haying. given 
utterance to.the maxim, that ‘‘ the legiti- 
macy of the people is more ancient still than 
that of kings,” they exclaim, that “‘ such a 
sentence is sufficient to provoke and ex- 
cuse all kinds of revolutions!’’ And) in 
her Histoire des Dix Ans d’ Exile, they find 
proofs, from the beginning to the end, that 
she “ was of the Reformed. Religion.” 
They athrm, that ‘if Napoleon had con- 
descended to encourage the intriguing pride 
of this illustrious Genevese, she would haye 
negociated for her return to France, witha 
panegyric in her hand, full of flattery and 
imperial adulation.”” Of Napoleon, who; 
in the Editor’s opinion, was “ the greatest 
captain of modern times,” and “ the greatest 
despot that ever existed,” and ‘‘ who reign- 
ed fourteen years over France, and over 
the French Reyvolution;’’ ‘‘ who beheld 
emperors and kings humble themselves be- 
fore him ;’” ‘‘ whose alliance was solicited 
by all the monarchs, from the Emperor of 
Russia to the Duke of Baden; whom all 
the potentates of Europe flattered, admired, 
and saluted with the epithet of the great, 
and with the name of brother,’ &c,—of 
this ‘ giant of revolution,’ they announce 
that they will record whatever he has done, 
whether it be great, handsome, prodigious, 
or useful; that they will mention his faults, 
his crimes, his ambition, his despotism— 
that despotism which tended to complete 
his ruin. We can only add two short ex~ 
tracts from the prefatory announcement, as 
specimens of the spirit of the work: 
“ According to our mode of thinking, a 
priest, a bishop, who has taken the oath to 
all systems, and served all governments en- 
gendered by the revolution; who has not 
wisdom enough to retire in. due time) from 
public affairs, and to manage himself so as.to 
secure a last asylum in the national esteem ; 
a bishop, who, in, his old age, has a comedy 
performed in his castle, being unable to 
play it in the theatre of the world; an 
ex-priest, who finishes. his :days under 
proscription : 
