19 OCTOBER 1839, Page 17

MRS. GORE'S COURTIER, AND OTHER TALES.

TIII3 V0111111C, which has reached us from Paris, and forms one of the series of GILIGNANI'S editions of English authors for Conti- nental supply, has been or is about to be reprinted the lanne cir- culation, by Mr. Commis. It contains a dozen tales of ahnost as many ages and nations. England, Ireland, France, Germany, America—the days of' the Normans, of the Stuarts, and of the Commonwealth—the war Of Indeptealence in South America, and the less stirring life of the present titue—all contribute to vary the character and interest of the volume.

As a collection of tales, these may vie with any that have ap- peared since SCOTT'S detail ; displaying the ease, fluency, and spirit which characterize Mrs. GORE, besides exhibiting what are called" striking effects "—though as often melodramatic as natural. But, generally speaking, tales are for reading rather than criticism : the manners of the age are seldom observed, or the general cha- racter of life and human nature. Their brevity leads the writer to startle by stage-situations; the promising anecdote of different ages or other chutes, Ile has heard or read of, tempts hint to st.enes or countries of which he knows nothing ; and the easy means of giving variety to his pages allures him in the same direction.

Of the tales before us, the longest and most ambitious is that which gives its title to the book—The Courtier (f The Duy$ qf Charles the Second. The story is based upon the marriages of the period, when parents wooed and won for their offspring, without allowing them a choice in the matter, or deeming they had a right to pretend to it. III die subject Mrs. GORE has chosen, the purpose of the bride's hivalid father is loyalty and protection for his daughter ; that of Lord Lovel, the bridegroom's sire, the means of assisting the King in Ids struggle against Cromwell, and sus- taining the wealth of his family. But the young husband is offended at the restraint put upon hint ; he looks down upon his wife, the daughter of' it simple squire; and abjures his country rather 'Atm remain with her : and it requires a display of super- human powers and excellencies, backed by a series of adven- tures in which King Charks, his Queen, the Duke of Bucking- ham, and other courtiers figure, to reconcile hint to his lot—or more truly, to • induce him to fall in love with his wife without knowing her.

In all those touches which depend upon a knowledge of woman's heart both in its strength and its weakness, Mrs. Goan exhibits her wonted skill: many of her scenes are theatrically exciting; and the story is flowing and effectively told. But the whole lacks con- sistency. The characters. are not such as the time would have formed ; they often put on a different nature to accommodate the convenience of the writer : the hurried marriage was not likely to have been contracted by two such then; and the metamorphosis by which a hoyden is transfbrtned into a paragon of beauty, dignity, and virtue, which awes whilst it charms the profligate Court of the Second Charles, is almost as strange as any in- Ovid. 0,- Tales are almost as unfit for extracts as for criticism : they should be read. Here, however, is a passage or two.

A SCENE IN PARIS.

Traverse the Rue de Kvres at what hour you may, yon are sure to meet with one or more Sisters of' Charity, in their coarse woollen gowns aunt clean white yuimpes, gliding along with the noiseless step acquired by habitual minis- try in the chambers of the sick ; bent either upon some pious errand between one hospitel and another, or carrying succour to the afflicted, or commissioned by their superiors to inquire into 'the authenticity of some tale of no. It' young, (and many a face both young and fair may be found under the shadow of the gnimpe,) the nun's countenance is usually cast down as she moves along; and, as she passes, her lips may be seen murmuring a prayer or paternoster. But if middle-aged or more, she looks straight before her ; her spirit being too much engrossed by the cares and duties of life to need forcible estrangement from the scene around.

Then comes the grave-looking priest, pale with vigils and fasting, about to convey to the pillow of the sick and needy those spirit Ital consolations of which health and opulence have yet to learn the value. Unlike his spruce, sineg reve- rence of the English Church, hie them is spare, his eye fixed with inward me• ditation. "Nothing can touch loin further" of the vanities of life. Ile bath but one thought, One hope, one care ; the folding of the flock whereof he must render an account to the lord of' all Christian shepherds!

THE HOUSEHOLD HOSPITAL.

The porter, during my poor commissinnuire's absence, took upon himself the

task of explaining the rules, regulations and f the hospital ; which, by the way, is one of the numerous public m lic institutions for which France is

indebted to the—Mpubligne une et indirisible. Not altogether eleemosynary in their condition, the inmates of the House- hold Hospital are admitted upon payment of a sum of' 4W., which secures them meat, drink, clothing, firing, pocket-money to the amount of seven shiliines a month for the remainder of their days, and burial at the close. Tide pay- ment, however, regards widows and widowers, and admits theism only to the dormitories of the establishment. To obtain a double room and set up a household apart, a further trifling gratuity is required; or rather eighty of' the best bedrooms are thus appropriated, and the remaining eighty bestowed gratuitously on couples whiffle destitute of resources.

Nothing can be neater or cleaner than the chambers allotted to either class ; opening from an airy corridor several hundred feet long, having, opposite to

each door, its locker:for, wood and charcoal. The service of the establishment is conducted by forty nuns, .S.wers de Clwrit6 ; and the exquisite and delicate neatness of their kitchens, laundry, and gallery of linen-presses, do honour to their jurisdiction. Abundance Of wholesome food—such as rice stewed in broth, meat, vegetables, and, baked fruit—are at all hours in preparation, in a cuisine which has the airiness and elegance of a varnished Dutch toy. " Would Monsieur like to see the dormitories ?" demanded the porter, per- ceiving how much I was interested in the details of the establishment; and immediately a door was opened into a ward containing more than one hundred clean white beds ; beside which many of the female inmates sat knitting in their chairs, in groups r)f two or three, beguiling the remnant of their num- bered days with harmless reminiscent gossip, which so fully occupied their attention that they took no note of our entrance. A few of even the bedridden had knitting-needles in their bands, while some charitable neighbour sat by, reading or chatting for their entertainment ; and as the light of a lofty window fell upon one of these venerable groups, throwing into strong relief their pale puckered visages, I longed for the pencil of Wilkie or Donner to commemorate the curious scene.