passed from poetry to politics, being now one of the best
and most conspicuous speakers in the Chamber of Deputies. A certain tone
runs through M. de Lamartine's works, that leads one to infer he has
deeply read and admired Lord Byron. M. Casimir Delavigne was a great
favourite at one period; it might be my want of taste, or a deficiency
in the knowledge of the French language sufficient to relish that class
of poetry, but certainly I found his works laboured and tedious, and
could not in spite of all my efforts derive any pleasure from their
perusal. The productions of Beranger are confined within a very small
compass, but containing that which causes one to regret that his works
are not more voluminous. The true nerve and genius of poetry,
continually sparkling throughout his writings, as a patriotic feeling
and a generous love of liberty formed the principal points in his
character. The efforts to suppress that spirit which was attempted in
the reign of Charles X called forth the powers of his muse, but since
the accession of the present monarch to the throne, as all has been
conducted on a more liberal system, his pen has lain dormant, which has
disappointed all who have read and admired those effusions of a free and
exalted mind, which he has at present published, and led to the hope
that they would be continued. Of Victor Hugo's productions I need say
but little, as they are so generally known in England, particularly his
Notre-Dame de Paris, which has been dramatised under the title of
Quasimodo and acted at Covent Garden, as well as at other theatres, and
few I believe there are who have not felt some sympathy for Esmeralda.
When Victor Hugo wrote this, the works of Sir Walter Scott I think were
bearing upon his mind; his poems and dramatic pieces at one period
created much sensation, and undoubtedly possess a certain tone of merit.
The Comte Alfred de Vigny is the author of one work which may be
considered as a gem amongst the mass of publications which emanate from
the French press of that nature; it is entitled, Cinq-Mars, an
historical novel, which is decidedly one of the best and most
interesting of any that have appeared either in England or in France for
several years past; he has also written a tragedy on the subject of the
unfortunate Chatterton, which at the time it came out excited a deep
interest, but M. de Vigny, like many of the present literary characters
in France, appears resting on his oars. Not