1810. 
poems in prose ;* and it cannot be denied 
that the epopee, even when thus de- 
prived of a part of its charms, may still 
preserve sufiicient means to interest and 
please. His ‘* Poem cf Joseph” would 
alone prove this. 
The subject of that work was partica- 
larly suited to a man who, hike M. 
Puaols, had been captivated in his 
youth by the simplicity of the patriarchal 
manners; who seemed to have modeiled 
his own life on them; and who thereivre, 
in delineating them, had no need to 
recur to foreign sources. There is no 
history more affecting than that of Jo- 
seph; and the fine and pathetic manner. 
in which it is related in the sacred wri- 
tings, surpasses every other style of nar- 
rative: this is not the result of art; but 
it is far above all art. It was a bold 
attempt, to enter on ground already so 
occupied: this sublime picture of sim- 
plicity might be disfigured by cfforts to 
embellish it, or lose a part of its effect 
by being loaded with accessory cirecum- 
stances. The story itself too, compri- 
sing only a small number of events, and 
being confined to the narrow circle of a 
single family, seemed rather adapted to 
furnish materials merely for a dramatic 
plece, than for a poem in nine cantos. 
The reception however which the work 
of M. Bitaabé has met with, not only 
among his own countrymen but also 
foreigners, and the numerous editions 
through which it has passed, prcve that 
the author has overcome or avoided all 
these obstacles. 
The success of this poem inspired him 
with a desire of making a bolder trial, by 
composing a genuine epic, on a subject 
aimost wholly of his own invention, 
which would admit of his employing 
allegory, the marvellons, and fictions of 
every kind that he should think proper 
for giving action and life to his poem. 
With this view, he undertook #0 cele- 
brate Liberty, in the persons of William 
of Nassau, and the heroes who, in the 
sixteenth century, eflected the independ. 
ance of Holland. xy 
M. Bitaubé, as heanforms us himself, 
had begun this iatter work long before he 
published it in France. Some detached 
passages of it had been translated into 
Dutch, and printed at the ume of the 
EAD 
* If any reader should be at a loss 
_ to reconcile these terms, he may he 
* seminded of Telemachus, and the Death of 
Abel, both ef which axe examples of poems 
in prose, 
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of M. Biiaubé. 239 
revolution of the United Provinces ir 
1787; but it was under the auspices of 
the F real revolution that the poem was 
matured, received its last form, and ap- 
peared in 1796, The sanguinary catas- 
trophes of which France had beconse the 
scene, could not deter him from con- 
secrating this monument to the divinity 
to which he had himself been in danger 
ot falling a sacrifice; for the celebrater 
of Liberty was not safe from the fury of 
those whom she had° emancipated. 
They bad made him expiate his confi- 
dence in that respect, as well as the 
offence of not having applauded and 
joined in their excesses, within the walls 
of a prison. Some alleviation jndeed 
was given to his sufferings: for though 
the cruel caprice of his persecutors at 
first separated him from the faithful 
partner of his affections, the wife who. 
had partaken his fortunes from his youth, 
who here constituted all his family, and 
who had been arrested along with him; 
yet a subsequent caprice allowed this 
interesting couple to inhabit the same 
prison, and thus assist each other to sus- 
tain their affiction. This unexpected 
indulgence filled them both with such 
joy, as, in the first transports, alinost 
made them forget their eaptivity. 
When the government of terror, under 
which France had groaned, found a 
termination in the fury of those who haa 
established it, M. Bitaubé left the dun- 
geons of tyranny, together with all the 
victims whoni the tyrants had: not had 
time to sacrifice. His long confinerrens 
however had thrown his domestic 
affairs into embarrassment. The mode. 
rate ease which he enjoyed in his cir- 
cumstances at Paris, depended almost 
wholly on the assistance that he received 
from Prussia: but bis pension had now 
been suppressed; and though he had 
some property at Berlin, all communica- 
tion with foreign countries was stopped. 
He had Jony owed his support entirely 
to the kindness of his friends; and his 
gratitude now sighed for an opportunity of 
discha arging this debt. Brighter days soen. 
shone upon Prance, and seemed to pro- 
mise her a calmer futurity: peace was 
concluded with Prussia; M. Bitaubé's 
pension was restored, and its accurnu- 
lated arrears were pa id: and ina single 
day he not only reimbursed his friends, 
but had the additional bappiness of ren- 
dering to some of them the same service 
as he had received at their hands. 
About this time also, the literary 
societies which the revolution had abol. 
ished 
——— ens ey Snes = 
ee - == 
Sater 
— 
2 
