166 
who, in a letter to Madame Panam, recom- 
mends the publication of her narrative. 
This letter, though written by one of the 
old noblesse (thePrince deLigne), breathes 
all the spirit of republican virtue. “The 
twaces of a court in a nation are,” says he, 
“irremoveable. That of Charles U1. of Eng- 
land has left the vestiges of debauchery 
imprinted on all the literary productions 
of his time, and a School of Comedy, which 
seems to have been intended for represen- 
tationAefore Messalina, by the actors of 
Caprea. In Asia, in Europe, in Spain, in 
Htaly, you will find remains of the charac- 
ter of the ancient courts. Sometimes 
brilliant, they resemble those silvery traces 
which reptiles leave on quitting ruins. 
‘They impress themselves like marks, and 
spread themselves like stains.” The li- 
thographic portraits of Madame Panam 
and her Seducer are well executed, but 
the translation is as bad as possible. ~The 
gallicisms are innumerable, and the refe- 
rences to the letters and other documents 
in the Supplemevts are so maliciously mis- 
placed, as to render them almost useless, 
Even the compositor seems to have com- 
bined with the translator to spoil the work; 
for we frequently find sentences withont 
periods, and three or four lines in succes- 
sion without a single comma, 
Except a little slang in praise of war, 
of military glory, and of the battle of Wa- 
terloo, “ Influence and Example, or the Re- 
cluse,a Tale,” may be safely recommended 
to the readers of Novels. ‘The characters, 
to be sure, are too far exalted above the 
sphere of the subscribers to a circulating 
library to be offered as models for imita- 
tion ; but this is the fault of novels in ge- 
nei:.!, and the source of the evils that 
novel-writing creates. The heroes of this 
volume can purchase estates at pleasure ; 
and, whatever difficulties cross their path, 
it is never the want of money of which 
they have occasion to complain. The 
dangers described as the consequence of 
Influence and Example are those of the 
gaming-table and hypocrisy in high life ; 
evils certainly, but not such as readily 
beset the linen-draper’s shop-boy, or the 
milliner'’s apprentice. ‘ 
There have been always versifiers who 
have determined, 
in spite 
Of nature and their stars, to write; 
And of this number is Mr. James Bird. 
*¢' The Vale of Slaughden,” “ Machin, or the 
Discovery of Madeira,” and ‘Cosmo, 
Duke of Tuscany,” have been brought for- 
ward in succession, unnoticed by the pub- 
lic ; and now we have “ Poetical Memoirs,” 
and ‘the Exile.’ Why will Mr. Bird,who 
is certainly no fool, thus persist in giving 
his thoughts in measured lines? Why has 
he adopted the stanza of Don Juan in his 
Poeticul Memoirs, when he has too much 
good sense to blaspheme, and too much- 
Literary and Critical Proémium. 
[Sept. 1, 
morality to he obscene? Perhaps he has 
chosen this measure because it comes 
nearer to prose, which is his natural ele- 
nent. The following stanza contains much 
good advice, and shows the near approach 
of the two sorts of writing :— My 
Father told me, that to pen a Sonnet 
or two was well enough; but, if my brain 
spun out long odes, whate’er [I said 
upon it, (he hoped his strictures would not 
give me pain,) I tel] you, boy, said he, the 
more you con it, youll find but little 
leasure, and less gain: an overdose of. 
- ? 
verse quite sets me loathing, and will not 
bring you meat, nor drink, nor clothing!” 
—Our readers may amuse themselves by 
dividing this extract into lives of certain 
lengths and ending with @rtain syllables, 
as it is printed by Mr. Bird, : 
Some of the daily newspapers have as- 
cribed the tragedy of the Duke of Mantua 
to Lord Byron, on the strength of a 
masqued portrait of the autbor in the title- 
page, which they are pleased to affirm 
bears a resemblance to the physiognomy 
of the noble poet. Had they pernsed the 
next leaf with any moderate degree of at- 
tention, they would bave discovered a 
dedication to Lady Byron, which would 
have completely settled their seruples. A 
man must be a blockhead indeed who 
should publish a book with the view of 
having it mistaken for the production of 
Lord Byron, and dedicate it to that indi- 
vidual to whom, of all others in the world, 
his lordship would be least likely to in- 
scribeany production of his genius,whether 
in verse or prose! Without, however, 
caring to be informed who is really the 
author of the Duke of Mantua, we may 
venture to affirm that it contains many 
passages that would do honor to any poet 
whatsoever, whether patrician or plebeian. 
The story is interesting and skilfully ma- 
naged, and the language is throughout 
abundantly energetic and poetical. The 
Sketch of Hermione, the Moonlight Scene 
on the Terrace, and the Sybil’s Prophecy, 
are eminently beautiful, and certainly by 
no meaus unworthy of the most successful 
efforts of the noble bard to whom the tra- 
gedy has been erroneously given. ‘The 
prose dialogues are conducted with infinite 
spirit and humour, and remind us of those 
rich and racy colloquies which are: to be 
met with in the productions of the drama- 
tists of the Elizabethan age. Maturin in 
his tragedies has blended prose with his 
blank-verse with excellent effect. It re- 
quires, we should suppose, more skill to 
managefsuch interludes, than it would tq 
render them in blank verse; and, that it 
makes a pleasing contrast with those parts 
of the play which aim at a more exalted 
character cannot be denied. Besides, we 
have often thought it prodigigusly absurd 
where the servants of the piece are repre- 
sented so imperturbably ere 
at 
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