I.! 1 KRATORE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1874. 



it" fur one-third of tli>- individual man, 

 but tln-y will, no doubt, be told to keep silence, 

 as having themselves never risen above reason, 

 ami -> !>>ing no more able to talk about the 



r than tho blind about color. 

 FI:\N i:. If we look impartially at the lit- 

 rcsults of the year now closing, wo find 



few original works of any real valuo. 



i , in the first place, direct your attention 

 t> publications connected with historical sci- 

 Roprints abound, recueila of articles 

 contributed to periodicals, new and improved 

 editions of classical authors, and that is nearly 

 all. Your readers are aware that the French 

 Foreign Office, adhering steadily to the custom 

 which lias prevailed for the last two centuries, 

 h:i I. until quite recently, closed its doors against 



nts, even those who did not wish to trans- 

 form history into a weapon for the politics of 

 the present day. This was carrying precau- 

 tion to the most absurd lengths. Better times, 

 however, seem to be approaching ; and a com- 

 mit too has just been organized, nnder the 

 direction of M. de Vielcastel, for the purpose 

 of revising the old rules of the Ministere dcs 

 Affaires Etrangeres, and placing within the 

 reach of the public some of the treasures it 

 contains. The merit of bringing about this 

 improvement may justly be claimed by M. Ar- 

 mand Baschet, who, in a most interesting vol- 

 ume, has told us in detail how the "Memoirs" 

 of Saint-Simon contain only a small portion 

 of the documents left by that garrulous gen- 

 tilhomme on the reign of Louis XIV. and 

 the regency of the Duke d'Orl&ms. What 

 danger can there be, as a matter of fact, in 

 sending to the press the state papers and 

 other documents of general importance be- 

 longing to the pre-revolutionary epoch ? None 

 in the least, if we may believe M. Geffroy and 

 Herr von Arneth, whose three handsome and 

 substantial octavos have rendered to the cause 

 of history and to the reputation of the unfor- 

 tunate Marie Antoinette the most signal ser- 

 vice, by placing before us the correspondence 

 of the Empress Maria Theresa with Count de 

 Mercy- Argenteau, the Austrian embassador at 

 the court of Versailles. The influence of Spain 

 over Continental politics reached its highest 

 pitch about the middle of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury ; and in this chapter of modern history 

 there are many portions which are intimately 

 connected with the annals of our French 

 neighbors. Such, for example, is the whole 

 question of the matrimonial alliances, so fully 

 analyzed by M. Perrens, in his work entitled 

 "Les Manages Espagnols sous le Regne de 

 Henri IV et la R6gence de Marie de Medicis." 

 This gentleman, confining himself to an epoch 

 with which he is thoroughly familiar, has de- 

 voted another work to the relations between 

 the French court and the papal see. The at- 

 titude of the Ultramontanes toward the Gallican 

 Church, the talents of the diplomatists on 

 both sides, the importance of the theological 

 books which arose from the conflict, and final- 



ly the serious character of the questions at 

 Htnko, give exceptional value to the new 

 volumes of M. Perrens, and lead us to wish 

 that a writer so deeply conwrnant with the 

 ecclesiastical history of hia country would at- 

 tempt what ho himself considers so necessary, 

 a special work on that very subject. M. 

 trilaussonville's " L'Eglise Romaino et lo Pre- 

 mier Empire," and the book I am hero noti- 

 cing, are detached parts of an edifice which de- 

 serves to bo raised in a care/ul, judicious, and 

 impartial spirit. M. Pierre C16ment's "Ilis- 

 toiro de Colbert," finished by this tavanVt 

 friend and collaborates, M. Geffroy, is an ap- 

 propriate sequel to the collection of dispatches 

 and state papers which the great statesman 

 issued during his long and laborous adminis- 

 tration. It throws the greatest light npon the 

 reign of Louis XIV., and illustrates with much 

 detail the working of tho various branches of 

 the public service. 



The Count de Paris deserves to be named 

 for his elaborate history of the civil war in 

 America; nor can I pass over M. Dantier's 

 historical studies in Italy, BO interesting, so 

 beautifully written, notwithstanding their frag- 

 mentary character. The invasion of the Lom- 

 bards, the reign of Theodoric, the struggles 

 between barbarism and Christian civilization, 

 the Normans, the commune* of Northern Italy, 

 the attitude of the papacy toward the empire, 

 such are the subjects treated by M. Dantier 

 with so much the more success because, in 

 addition to his thorough acquaintance with 

 printed and MS. documents, he enjoys the ad- 

 vantage of a long residence in Italy, and a 

 consequent knowledge of the country. M. 

 Francois Lenormant, with his wonted activity, 

 pushes his inquiries into the most various 

 quarters : the two volumes entitled " Les Pre- 

 mieres Civilisations," treat of Egypt, Assyria, 

 Phoanicia, and Chaldea ; they are a series of 

 essays originally contributed to sundry period- 

 icals, and where a number of interesting ques- 

 tions connected with the history, tho literature, 

 and the religion of Eastern people are care- 

 fully discussed. In another work ("La Magie 

 chez les Chalde'ens ") M. Lenormaut examines 

 the different systems of magic and incanta- 

 tions practised on the banks both of the Nile 

 and of the Euphrates, thus throwing new light 

 upon a most important side in the develop- 

 ment of ancient mythology, and deducing from 

 the study of comparative religion fresh argu- 

 ments for the consideration of ethnologists. 

 M. Lenormant is open to the accusation of al- 

 lowing sometimes too much to mere conject- 

 ure. On the history of ancient Rome, three 

 works of unequal importance, but each de- 

 serving a notice here, have been published 

 during the course of the last twelve months. 

 M. Gaston Boissier's "La Religion Romaine 

 d'Auguste :uix Antonins " is a complete and 

 admirably drawn sketch of heathen society at 

 an epoch when society was not yet thorough- 

 ly leavened with the spirit of Christianity. 



