The Autobiography of a French Protestant Condemned to the Galleys.
Translated from the French. (Religious Tract Society.)—M. Michelet, in the course of his investigation for his work on the "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes," lighted, it seems, upon the original of this volume, and said of it, "It is a book of the first order, distinguished by the charming naiveté of the recital, by its angelic sweetness, written as if between earth and heaven." This naturally led to a reprint, and a translation into English has followed. The work does not appear for the first time now in an English dress ; so long ago as 1758 it had attracted the attention of no less a person than Oliver Goldsmith, who translated it under the pseudonym of "John Willington." The present translator does not give any reason why it was not considered desirable to rest satisfied with Goldsmith's rendering; but as be has done his work very well, and produced a narrative which fairly represents the spirit of the original, we are not much concerned to know. The story is indeed an interesting one, and the manner of telling it quite deserves M. Miohelet's eulogy. The picture of life on board a French galley is as perfect as it is fresh ; the systematic cruelties, only relieved by the humanity of Turks, are described with a terrible simplicity ; the reader's attention is kept up as in a first-rate novel, and everybody must rejoice at the end, when poetic justice is done, and the villain of the story, Louis XIV., humiliated and baffled, is compelled to release his victims at the request of good Queen Anne. It is also pleasant to learn that M. Marteilhe, the narrator, was so little affected by his sufferings as to reach the advanced age of ninety-three.
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