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Leader (1850-1860), 21st April 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17

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      Kecent Pllench Literature.. Tvtovel^ Or ...

      M . Louis Figlmeb , succeeds admirably in putting : together under a familiar and . interesting fern all the principal scientific discoveries which "have occurred . 'during ; the last twelve months . Astronomy , meteorology , -agriculture , mechanics , every tiling- relating- to the domains of science 'finds- a place ; in this useful book ; and a mere glance at tlfc table of contents will show how- ' much Is being- continually done throughout the civilized world for the benefit of the human race , and the furtherance of oxir everyday comforts . Of course , one of the principal subjects discussed by M . Figuier on the present occasion is the Great , Eastern , and the details he gives of that vessel , bonvnviid chidly from M . T . Raymond ' s article in the Journal des Dehats , are well worth perusal . The chapter relating to medicine and physiology has likewise seemed to us peculiarly suggestive ; nor must we oinit mentioning- the . ' biographical article On ' ALEXAlCDER VON HvMBOXBT . . ' .

      . ... , . Beforegoincr on to notice other publications of the same kind as the " Anncc Scientiftqite , " we must say a-few words . of M . Fiouiick ' s " Hislolve ties . Meri-eilicux ' dans les Temps Modc-mes . " * - . What a subject 1 o analvze , with all that we know about spirit-rapping-, table-turning , animal magnetism , and other like contemporary phenomena ! "' Would 31 . FicriER be bold enough to fly info the face of the Spiritual Ilaqazinc , and to strip the magicians of our own times of the garb of supcrmiturnlisin with winch tm--y have bedecked themselves ? Yes ; faking his stand on tiro douHiin of history , he attempts to prove " Quo voiis les pro'diges q-. u out excrle en divers temps la surprise on radmiration des homnios , sVxphqucnt avec la seulo connaissance de noire organisation phyfciologique . '' author lances at the his of

      After an introduction , in which our g tory ihe Jtfervcilleiix fro-m the remotest acres down to the present time , we have first an account of the extraordinary facts connected with the so-called denwniacaVposstssioiV of the l ^ oudun Ursuline nuns under the reiyn of Loris XIII . This singular episode , which J T . Ar fred DE Vid ^ Y has turned , to sufdic . obd account m Ins . novel C / nq Jlars , is fully explained by M . FiGUiEit from contemporary documents , and the evidence supplied , by the law and ecclesiastical witnesses of that affair enables him-to appreciate' wish much clearness the true character of what Fiibaix Graxtjieh ' s enemies endeavoured to proclaim a * a case ai ' - 'frond fide demonopnthy . We were not aware ihat any person , in the year 1 S $ O , would .-be Sound . pnHmsiasticenouii-h-to maintain the existenceof Me devils Asaiodel-s , Exsas , the unfortunate but perhaps

      and -Okuhkhtts , as inmates of nuns : some confirmed . lanscnfst , from bis quiet stiuiy at l- ' ^ -cl . t , lias already shrnsru-ed up his s 1 iov . 1 c 1 c . at the bare idea of M . I ^ oris FiGUi r ^' s quest ion inicibe miraculous character of the convulsions which occurred about ' one century ajyo at the tomb of the deacon Pvkts hi the fainous clmetiPrc Saint Mvdurd . lhesc physiological phenomena wou-Mlmve been simply ridiculous but / or the horrible circumstances attending- upon them , and which 31 . Louis Iiciuiee relates at full Tent-thin his volume . No doubt the continued system of persecution followed by the King of France against the Jansenists was both a blunder and a crime , but it is painful to see the Portlioval reformation , so grand , so useful , so important in its beo-inuiii ^ s , represented a century later by a few cra .-k-branied old women , and jtfvinir rise to the following epigrammatic lines : — - .. .

      " Do par le Rai > < 3 tf «» se <"> Dic-n , Do fain ; miracle en a lieu . " Wo shall not stop to offer any remarks on the Protestant prophets who sprang np during the -administration ot Louis XU ., with the war of the Cnmisni-ds , and whose doings occupy also a long chapter in M . Flank's work . The divining rod used by the magicians of antiquity is the fourth subject which our author ermines : it has nt least the merit of not bong connected , with trao-ieal events , sueli as tho * c doscribod m the three o her divisions of the book- ; but it is no less a notable monument of human weakness , and of the irresistible propensity wo all- fool or- supernatural facts , oven at epochs-we might have said , especial y «* epochs- ^ when irroligion nnd scepticism are most prevalent . M . Loms FiGriKU , we are glad to hoar , announces two iui-thw volumes of his Histoirodes Uenwilleux ; they will include the history of animal

      magnetism , table-turning , nnd spint-vnpping-. i , » " i The M ** e SoionUPqle was the first publication undertaken hy Messrs . Haciikttb for the purpose of g ^ . ng a kmd of resumf of the inventions and discoveries made during the year ; but litoruturo as wellm mrfenoo Iior its annnl « , nnd I . hose amials should bo nraiorvdd ; liei -o the Annie IMttrairo * edited by M . V ^ perW , urn ! now publaSod for the second time . It is true that if all th « works issued f prn tlio French press or performed on the French stage wore like MVPbtdkau ' b haniel or M . ttoXAB . ! " »• '« f * ro Vvodu , ne it would bo far bettor to leave thorn un-menturned ; but ns a set-pff against bucIi productions wo find IVfadmne Ubcamieb b oon-espondonce ami the Life of Mad . uno Swbtciiink . Music , both vooul and instrninoninl , has likewise ftmnd its chronicler . M . Sbudo , the oooomplinhed critic of the JRovue dos & eu . v Mondos , tulcea lun position Bide by side with Messrs . Fwarisu nnd Vap « m ? av , and Sen " noes in the Ann 6 o MusicateX Rioba « d WioN «» , Bc « tfMA * fK , the music of the future , in fact , all thoso who mistake nowo for havmony nnd eccentricity for genius . The last-named serial does not SSlnr to bo the closing one in the collection , uh the neNVHpnpers nre Edy advertisii . fftho Anni'O MhtmHque , the Amdo llohgteuso , & c . & o . .

      The three volumes recently published of VoLtatres complete works * contain some of his most celebrated prodiietions , the Siecle de Loicis XIV ., Jlisioire de Charles XII . , et de Pierre le Grctnd . As a narrative simply-written , full of interest and of dramatic effect ; the C 7 iar 7 es XII . is ^ undoubtedly Volt-4 JUe ' s masterpuce , and it would be difficult to . overrate it ; but the Siecle , de i . oui . i XIV ., although considered by many ; is quite , equal , if not superior to it , seems to us decidedly below the reputation it has long-enjoyed ; Never was there ' a more one-sided , prejudiced view of ^ France under the reign of the Grand JMonarque , and contemporary memoirs and staj ^ e papers have so completely demolished VoLTAiifE ' s glowing , account , that the Siecle da IL-mls XIV . must be acknowledged to be as uiitrustwortliy as any piece of official panegyric can possibly be . In . the case of ji writer like the jPatriarc / i of JTeency . it may ba desirable , to have in print even the smallest scrap of his writings ; but the same rule could' hardly apply to inferior litterateurs—Sedvixe . for instance . Thus M . ITacicette

      seems to us to have acted very wisely in selecting' for publication thirteen only out of the numerous comedies , vaudevilles , and other plays owned by that prolific anthor .-f ¦ liichard Cwiir dc IJon , le Defer / 'r / ir , and inoi-e particularly' I > e I ln / u $ o j > 7 / e sun . * It- x <( roi >' , ¦ are dfridedly the best of these compositions , lie furring to le I ?' hilu $ <> phe , ' ' . \ recent critic says :- — " C'est de tout point' un chefd'oeuvre . Une situation forte , des . caracteres . ; bien -. traces , ' ct quo rcleve encore le eontraste , des scenes . terrible * sans emphiise et sans cxageration , on touchantes sans fausse sensi . bilif d . un style dont le natu ' rel constant '' nVxclut ni 1 'clevatioii ni le pathefcique , expliqucut renthonsiasme de Didkkot . . . . The only fault we have to find with this volume is that no biographical notice of Skdatxk has been prefixed . ,. as- in the . case of Pascac , Racine , Uoixeatt , and the other authors which foriii part of the collection .

      Between the plays of -SivD ' ai ^ k modern . vaudeville there are many differences , arising from the altered state ¦ of . society at the present time , and other causes which it would take too long to enumerate . A comedy , therefore , such as La Ocrf / eureimprcvue , should convey to our mind something totally distinct from the idea which we associate with the plays of M . BAYAUD-t Vf & do liot mean to assert the superiority-of contemporary playwrights over the ' dramatic authors belonging to the anvicn . regime ,: but let our readers just imagine the ' . fertilityof a litterateur ' who , in the space of thirty years , composes tiro hundred and twenty-fice drariias , making " up together a grand total of three hundred arid ninctyt / o'cc act . * . Such was M . Bayard , like his celebrated nainesake , a true chevalier sans peiu- cl sans rejv ^ ochc . The collection of- his works in twelve . volumes , published by M . Haciiktte , contains a few deii' -htful scenes , and is also in tores ting as a sketch of French

      society during the / ir . st half of the present century . It is -trufi that the view which M- Bavaui > . gives ' of mankind is rather superficial , and now that Gkokcje Saxd has given up composing metaphysical and radical novels , we do not know of any writer entitled tq'be considered as a faithful exponent of those wants and aspirations which are-unceasingly at \ vork below the brilliant surface in France . Qua motive which has induced Geouge Sand to forsake the preaching of socialism in her novels is , perhaps , the one stated formerly by AlFTi-uu .: — Je connaiasais les f / rand . * , jc ve counaisnais- j > as Its jicf / ts—at all events , -some of her moi'e recent productions , intended as a delineation of rural life , are , we conceive , far prefV . rable U > Con « itelo or to Zeila , and , without being a composition of the very highest order , Promenade autour d ' un Villarfe % is well written and-interesting . Whilst we ai ' o alluding to novels , let us not forget a scries of three pretty tales || by ' the Count de Gkammokt ,

      Bossuet is one . of the French classics , and fhe coinniontarjes , expositions , annotations written on hifj works , if ' collactetl together , would frighten , by their bulk , the most . cou . linued bibli « jgnipher . To-day M . Feu * Mohm , one of the professors of tjut Fnnich University , takes in hand thewoll-known JViscgurs ifirVIIinluira Uni * tw ' . ytfW ^ fand . iiXRniinos itasthe roaiimddu caradere , di ( . ( f < ii \ iac , vt dos doctrines of the author . If wo were asked to name one ol'BossV kt s productions—the one which wo consider Iuh . niasterpiccu , we are not quite sure that we would select 'the I ) is < : oi < r * sur I'JDitloire Uuiverseile , but still wo must acknowledge Unit JV 1 . Mourn , points out , in a very clever manner , the merits of the work under review , nnd his brochuro is worth reading .

      After an interval of ten ye lira M . Satntis-Bpuvk has published the concluding volumes of his PoH Royal . ** About the composition of this history there must , bo . and there are , various opinion * . Its great delect i ' s its want of unity ; it in essentially fnvgmtintsiry m ifs Character , and the author's fondness for jwrlruit-writing has ed him to throw bis account of the Tort Royulmtu into tho Hlmpu ot ft c-allory of brilliant skotchuB connected together , nobody known wry well how . Pascal , Aknaumj , Nicoi . k , and oven lUvisn mitiirnlly find their place in tho annals of Jimfc'i ^ m ; but it an iiIJuhiou , a

      April 21, 18g0.J The I.Eader And Saturda...

      April 21 , 18 G 0 . J The I . eader and Saturday Analyst . 381

      "Jjmolrv <Fos Mci'voilhtt.V D<Tw Loa Tvm...

      " JJMolrv < fos Mci'voilhtt . v d < tw loa Tvmp * Mwfevuca . I ' wWUKi Pjqci ' ijk . Vole . I ., H . 12 o . Iluchottc . t VAmu \ o JMtimirc ot J ) ramallUuc . Pup M . S . Vap « i « AU . 2 d Ann 6 o . 12 o , I-luoliotto , t UAmdoM ^ ioalo . Pw M . T . Swudo . . lo ftnn < :-o . 12 o . Haohctto .

      « Civtivros Comph'tvs'to Foltalro. 12o. ...

      « CIVtivros compH'tvs'to Foltalro . 12 o . V .. | s . Ot—31 . Huohotto . t aSnvros clioisioa do SMcthic . 12 o . Hiichctto . t ThSAlvc rh M . B < u , ard , mmr «> w Koth > op «>< M . B . SoaiBB , do l'Aondfimlo Frixnvivis . 12 o . Vol . ' xii . Uiiohotto . . § Promonad , mUour d ' un VUlaa * . Par Gboiioh Sand . 12 o . Huoh-QtTz . o 9 G . ntllhomjnos Vultures . Par lo . Ooroto D » OrahmokT . 12 o . " I Ol £ « rfM su >< I'WHtohv Vninnollo dc JBomhcI , Par P « wx Mojibl . 12 o . 1 ' ftriB ot r . ondras : Ilnohatto . ¦ VoH Itojfftt , Par Q . A . ^ aXNTH-Bbuyb . 8 vo . VoIb . IV . and V . 1 urn ot LondvoB . ' ' Huohotto .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 21, 1860, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21041860/page/17/