of the poet, and
stands out more clearly in his true nature and character.

_The Life of Henry the Fourth, King of France and
Navarre. By G. P. R. James. New York: Harper &
Brothers. 2 vols. 12mo._

Few kings have been so fortunate as Henry the Fourth in the reputation
and good will they have obtained from the people. By democrats as well
as monarchists his name is held in a kind of loving veneration. Much
of this popularity is doubtless owing to his superiority, in
disposition as well as mind, to the ferocious bigotry of his age, and
to his great edict of toleration which healed for a time the horrible
religious dissensions of France. Apart from his ability, however, his
virtues as a king sprung rather from good-nature and benevolence, than
from moral or religious principle. His toleration was the result of
his indifference as much as his good sense; and he was not a
persecutor, because to him neither Catholicism nor Protestantism was
of sufficient importance to justify persecution. He was a fanatic only
in sensuality; and if he committed crime, it would be rather for a
mistress than a doctrine. The last act of his reign, growing out of
his impatience in having his designs on the Princess of Conde baffled,
showed that lust could urge him into an unjust and unprincipled war,
where religious superstition would have been totally ineffective.

Mr. James's Life of Henry is a careful compilation from the most
reliable sources of information, and embodies a large amount of
important knowledge. Though far from realizing the higher conditions
of historical art, it is more accurate and spirited than the general
run of historical works. Mr. James's conscience in the matter of the
present book, seems to have been much greater than we might have
expected from the king of book-makers. When his history was ready for
the press, the French Government commenced publishing the "Lettres
Missives" of Henry IV., and Mr. James delayed his book four years, in
order that its facts might be verified or increased by comparison with
that important publication. His work, therefore, is probably the
fullest and most accurate one we possess on the age of which it
treats. It is well worthy of an attentive perusal. It abounds in
incidents and characters which would make the fortune of a novel, and
is an illustration of that kind of truth which is stranger than
fiction. The Harpers have issued the work in a tasteful form