TAHARTINE'S MEMOIRS OF CELEBRATED CHARACTERS. *
HITHERTO Lamartine's best works have been productions of the imagination on legitimate subjects as poems, or the result of ob- servation, as in his travels, or narrative history with whose persons and events he was either contemporary and in part himself an actor, or was at least familiar with men who were, so that he more or leas possessed the character of an original historian in spirit if not in knowledge. In his more solid works he also enjoyed the advantage of a contemporary attraction in his subjects.
As yet, the Memoirs of Celebrated Characters have none of these characteristics, but take the form of mere literary compila- tion, of a very wide range in their periods, and of a bookmaking kind in point of literary merit. It is now an idea of M. de Lamartine that universal history is best written in the form of a series of biographies, which would more vividly repre- sent their respective times than the "cold and lifeless pages of an abridgment " : which, if true, is nothing to the purpose, for the Memoirs of Celebrated Characters when completed will fill the space of *many abridgments, and indeed many histories. A list of upwards of a hundred names is presented to the reader, followed by several etceteras which intimate many more. The plan has its advantages, especially for Lamartine's object of Making a lively impression on the reader : whether it would fur- nish the same general view of the progress of mankind and their condition at particular epochs as a history may be questioned ; cer- tainly it would not without introductions or episodes, which, what- ever they might be called, would be really historical. Classifica- tion, however, is essential to the plan. The book before us has none. The author has not even taken the trouble to arrange his list in any order, either alphabetical, chronological, or by subjects. The book opens with Nelson ; the outlines of whose career are scarcely narrated with accuracy, while the filling up is often as much a romance as the " brandy " with which our author repre- sents Wellington as stimulating the last cavalry charge at Water- loo. The great Admiral is followed by Heloise ; a woman who represents a class of her sex, but is not peculiar to her times ; though Abelard might well illustrate the intellect and learning of the age, had Lamartine been capable of the task. Another sea- man follows the lovers' Christopher Columbus • he is succeeded by Palissy the Potter; the fabulous Oriental hero Columbus; by Madame de Lamartine, comes after the porcelain-maker; and the first volume winds up with Cicero. A. few opening pages of the second volume dismiss Socrates : then we have Jacquard the inventor of the loom ; a large portion of which paper is occupied by a contrast between town and country labour, and the history of silk : next to the weaver comes Jean of Arc : then Cromwell; upon whose character a new light is sought to be thrown by means of Carlyle's Letters —that of a fanatic "pure et simple." Homer, Guttenberg, and Fenelon form a closinob trio. Notwithstanding the great variety of ages and subjects, it will be seen at a glance that biographies of nearly all the persons are among the most accessible and indeed popular books in literature ; the facts common property ; the modes of stating them varied ad infinitum, from such elaborate works as Irving's Life of Columbus, or Carlyle's Cromwell, down to articles in every biographical dic- tionary. Yet easily obtainable as are the facts, Lamartine will not always go to the trouble of stating them correctly, or he improves them by inventions of his own. To the patient research, the origi- nal knowledge, and the lifelike views which that research induces, the book has no pretension. The "characters," in fact, are artieles such as are written for periodicals from volumes adopted as a text or storehouse, the author contributing little more than a comment an the facts and a skilful mode of presenting their pith. Even con- sidered in this light, the Memoirs of Celebrated Characters is the reverse of remarkable. Thoughts of originality or depth may be ' History of the Girondists." In two volumes. Published by Bentley. circumnavigator. Certain "memoranda" look very much like the " notde
found, as well as passages of power; but the book at large exhibits exhaustion, with haste carelessness, or indifference to the public.
In Nelson, and to a less degree in Columbus, one can trace an inclination to depreciate military merit in comparison with naval; because the author wished to lower Napoleon. The ocean and the weather undoubtedly present difficulties from which the dry land is free ; but, the commonest technicalities being mastered, the sailor always has a house over his head, such as it is, and a bed to lie on ; and his enemy has to strive with the elements equally with him- self. Estimated by facts, the disasters other than defeats have been as great by land as by sea ; miscalculations very. much greater. No man would dream of going to sea without oaring for water and provisions ; yet very great men have led armies into desert or barren countries where they could not be fed. However, let Lamartine say his say. "Amongst the illustrious men who have filled the foremost ranks in na- tional contests, we have always felt most interested and dazzled by heroes of the sea. The immensity, the power, the motion, the terrible attributes of the element on which they combat, seem to elevate them above the standard of humanity. This is not a vain imaginative delusion, but a just estimate of their glory. The variety and extent of natural or acquired faculties- which must of necessity be united in the same individual, to constitute a great naval leader, astonish the mind, and raise the perfect sailor beyond all comparison above ordinary warriors. The latter require only the single firmness which faces fire unmoved ; the former must be endowed with the double valour which equally braves death and the fury of the elements. But the self-possession which suffices on shore will hardly be found efficient on the ocean. All the resources of intelligence must be combined with cou- rage in the chief who directs the manceuvre or the broadside from the quar- ter-deck of an admiral's vessel, or any other man-of-war. He must be en- dowed with science, to steer his course by the heavenly bodies unwearied vigilance, to preserve his ship from storms and quicksands; skill in handling the sails which regulate the immense machine like a master-key' ; prompt daring, 'to rush into fire through tempest, to seek one death through an- other • self-possession, which dictates when to strike or how to parry the de- cisive'blow ; devotedness, which rises under the certainty of destruction and sacrifices a ship to save the fleet.; the ascendancy of a master-mind, which forces all to look for safety in a single voice; decision, which acts with the infallibility of inspiration ; obedience, which yields up strong conviction to superior authority ; discipline which bows to the equality of established laws ; a calm aspect with a beating heart, to inspire confidence in inferiors-- manly grace and dignity of demeanour, to preserve in the close intercoursi; of a crowded ship the prestige which generals on shore maintain by seclusion and reserve, and which naval commanders must keep .up in hourly and close communion ; a prudent boldness in assuming the risk of responsibility in sudden emergencies, when a moment or a manceuvre may decide the fate of an empire. Disasters which cannot be foreseen or calculated, dark nights which scatter the squadron, storms which swallow up the vessels, fires which consume them, currents which run them aground, calms which neutralize them rocks which dash them in pieces: to foresee, provide for, and endure all these contingencies, with the stoicism of a mind that fights hand to hand with destiny ; a narrow deck, with few witnesses, for the field of battle; a thankless glory, always ready to disappear, which is lost in a moment, and frequently never reaches the ears of your country ; a death far distant from all you love a coffin shrouded in the depths of ocean, or cast overboard as a fragment oishipwreck ! This is an epitome of the sailor ! an hundred dan- gers for a single ray of glory—ten heroes concentrated in a single man Such were the great naval warriors of France, of Spain, of England. Such was Nelson, the first and last of these Titans of the sea."
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