PROMENADES DANS ROME

... Je suppose que M. le Chevalier de Châtelain, observateur philosophe d'une population qui a subi toutes les vicissitudes humaines, a voulu annoncer par ce titre qu'il parle de Rome, telle que le temps l'a réduite, vénérable et majestueuse dans ses ruines, ignoble et bizarre dans son état présent; cette Rome enfin, jetée de la main terrible des Césars à la dextre bénite des héritiers du pêcheur Céphas. L'ingénieux et spirituel narrateur a banni le ton grave et trop souvent emphatique de ses nombreux prédécesseurs, qui crurent devoir grossir leur voix pour nous parler de la ville éternelle, M. de Châtelain, tout en rappelant les pompeuses merveilles de la Rome morte, qu'il oppose avec adresse à la mesquinerie monacale de la Rome vivante, sait retracer d'un pinceau vif et pittoresque les contrastes qui ajoutent du charme aux plaisirs de l'étude. Ecrivain habitué à captiver les suffrages du public, il a compris qu'une froide méthode historique n'était point exigée dans les descriptions des ruines, des restes épars d'une civilisation éteinte, que l'imagination rassemble à son gré pour recomposer le passé. En cela, gardons-nous d'exiger du narrateur une sèche exactitude, trop commune à la plupart de ses devanciers, et de féconder, du moins en partie un champ tant de fois moissonné. Quelle que soit la puissance de la pensée, on ne décrit bien que ce qu'on a bien vu. Aussi M. de Châtelain, avant de songer à composer son ouvrage, avait longtemps parcouru l'immense sépulture où toutes les pompes de la terre et de Rome elle-même se sont ensevelies. Il n'a d'abord poursuivi ses habiles investigations qu'avec la ferveur d'un ami des arts, sans autre but que le plaisir de surprendre les secrets de

rantiquitéy et de suivre^ sur le théâtre même des plus grands événemens, la chaîne surprenante qui rattache le passé au présent Quand le philosophe, Tarchéologue ont été complètement satisfaits, l'historien a pris la plume afin de mettre le public dans sa confidence. Pour at> tirer l'attention et mériter la reconnaissance de cet airbître capricieux, il faut beaucoup d'art et de bonheur ; l'auteur ne l'ignorait pas, et il s'est armé contre les périls de l'entreprise ; s'il ne les a point tous évités, il a presque toujours fait preuve d'adresse, il a senti que de longues descriptions amèneraient bientôt l'ennui si elles n'étaient entremêlées d'anecdotes variées, tantôt graves, tantôt plaisantes, et toujours instructives et habilement liées au sujet. C'est ainsi qu'il a trouvé le moyen de rappeler des faits historiques, et de peindre les mœurs, les lois, les usages, les vices, les vertus des tristes descendants des maîtres du monde ; enfin, il a su mettre ses remarques en action. Je citerai un passage qui expliquera ma pensée et donnera une idée favorable de sa narration vive, simple, et vraie.

Je le répète, on sent que l'auteur a vu et parfaitement exploré tout ce qu'il retrace ; mais je dois avouer que paifois, se complaisant trop dans ses souvenirs, il devient prolixe, et lasse l'attention du lecteur. Les petits sujets et les grands sont traités souvent avec ime égale profusion de détails, en sorte que l'ouvrage, manquant de proportions, n'offi'e pas l'intérêt qu'il pourrait acquérir si l'auteur le retouchait avec sévérité. Le principal défaut de l'ouvrage est dans l'excès même de ses richesses et cependant l'absence de mesure, l'espèce de confusion dans l'ensemble, quoique n'étant pas dues à l'artifice du narrateur ne laissent pas de reproduire quelque chose des émotions brusques et variées qu'il éprouva lui-même, et qu'il communique au lecteur avec un style original dans son abandon, parfois trop négligé, mais toujours naturel ; la conviction de l'auteur est communicative, et la lecture de son livre est un véritable voyage à Rome. Ruines, monumens, mœurs antiques, usages nouveaux, héros.

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poètes, législateurs, artistes, mendiants, princes, moines, et pontifes sont peints avec un esprit dégagé de tout système et de tout préjugé. L'observateur n'a fait que peu d'omissions, et, ce qui vaut mieux encore, il n'a rien emprunté à la complaisance de son imagination ; on sent que tous ses modèles ont posé devant lui ; enfin il fait éprouver à la fois le désir de voir Rome et la satisfaction d'être né ailleurs. Ces sentiments sont une garantie de succès ; lors même que le lecteur n'est qu'à demi satisfait, il ne reste point indifférent — De Pongerville, de l'Académie Française {Extrait du Constitutionnel.)

1853. Fables Noiîvelles. and Edition, 1855.

" A collection of fables in verse, gracefuUy written in the lively strain common in his cotmtiy, and so rare in England."— 7:^ Criticr

"A volume of fables, in the French language. A lively book, which will remind readers of iEsop, La Fontaine and Gay, without injury to their famé, by any undue assumption of rivalry." — TTie Weekly Dtspatch,

" M. de Châtelain is not satisfied with proving himself one of the most finished French versifiers of the day, but he comes out in the présent volume as a reformer, or more properly speaking, an assailant of the social abuses which he descries in England. We can very honestly recommend the volume to the attention of our readers."— 7%^ Wcekly Times,

*' To La Fontaine the Chevalier appears to our English eyes to bear a great resemblance ; he has the same command of language, the same easy versification, the same fluency and polish." — lUustraied Magazine,

'' Il y a beaucoup d'originalité dans ces fables ; la plupart des idées qu'elles renferment sont nouvelles. En les lisant on croirait souvent que ce sont des fables in* édites du bon La Fontaine, tant M. de Châtelain a su imiter les tournures, le langage, la naïveté de cet immortel fabuliste. M. de Châtelain est grand ami de la liberté, ennemi juré des privilèges et de toute atteinte

portée aux droits des peuples ; aussi plusieurs de ses fables ont-elles une tendance politique." — Gazette de Guemesey,

''This is the gentleman who, as our readers will recoUect, was a successful competitor for the Duninow Flitch ; and they will not be surprised to leam that the most pleasing of his miscellaneous pièces — his ' Pensées du Cœur * — is a ballad, * Ce que j'aime le mieux,' addressed to the amiable lady who shared with him in the rustic honours of the bacon. M. de Chatelain's |>oeins are not ail of récent date, some going as far back as the civil war between the Classiques and the Romantiques, and another, *Le Cygne et le Crapaud/ to 1831, in which year he had the misfortune (or rather the good fortune) to be sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and to pay a fine of 1,320 ûancs for having asserted ' Que les Chambres en 1830 n'avaient pas eu le droit de faire un RoL' As may be expected, he does not spare Louis Philippe, or Mes faits et gestes de la cour de Claremont.' In other matters of interest at the présent day his feelings are entirely those of an Englishman. He detests * shams ' of ail kinds ; and he siigmaiizes them in plain language thaï mustfind an écho in every honest heartJ* —The Atlas.

" The book contains no less than fifty original fables, in that easy, joyous kind of mètre virhich is peculiarly French > and there are also several minor pièces, some of them bearing spécial référence to récent events. It is such Works as this which makes the study of the French language so pleasant, and we recommend it to those who are désirons to become proficient in its idiomatic peculiarities." — The Liverpool Standard.

" This volume consists of fifty original fables in French, and a large number of minor poems. The fables are really good ones, and often remind us of those of the Chevîdier's great countryman, La Fontaine. The language is more easily understood than that of La Fontaine, and therefore the modem fables should be recom-

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mended to ail those who are not versed in the French idiom used by the poets of the days of the immortal Molière." — BelTs Life in Landariy Oct, 21, 1855.

1860. Victor Hugo. A Biography written for 'The West of Scotland Magazine and Review/ then , edited by the poet, Robert Buchanan.

1862. L'HOSTELLERIE DES SePT PÉCHÉS CAPITAUX.

Prix is. Londres, B. M. Pickering, 196, Piccadilly.

" Court et bon. Uauteur aurait pu mettre cette devise au frontispice de son ouvrage. C'est là une petite histoire, un conte du vieux temps raconté avec un grand charme de détails, et un vrai bonheur d'expressions. De plus, rhistoire a im but ; ce qui est à considérer dans ce siècle oïl Ton écrit si souvent sans but. C'est un coup de balai dans les écuries d'Augias. A dire vrai, M. de Châtelain a fort passablement manié le balai. L'impression de l'ouvrage est curieuse, et mériterait l'attention des bibliophiles. Il semble que M. de Châtelain ait trouvé, dans un coin, quelque vieille presse d'un siècle passé, et qu'il lui ait confié le soin de transcrire une histoire des vieux temps dans les caractères de jadis." — Uylmspi^d de Bruxelles^ 23 Nov. 1862.

"It is decidedly a very clever performance." — The Glohe^ Sept, 22, 1862.

1863. Les Noces de la Lune. Prix is. B. .M Pickering, N*^ 196, Piccadilly.

• • • " A slight but agreeable poetic brochure, embodying one of those middle-aged allégories which range through such a variety of subjects ....

" Such is the présent legend, in which M. de Châtelain narrâtes, in his light and graceful verse, the old allegory of the marriage of the planet Satum and the Moon, in the form of a vision, in which he describes the différent stars and planets who hâve been invited to the ceremony, the nuptisd banquet in the astronomie heavens, etc.

" When a thème of this sort has been well selected and managed with poetic invention, variety of appropriate fancy and grâce, it cannot fail to attract, and M. de Châtelain deserves no little praise for treating a thème so abstract and remote from human s)nnpathy, and giving it a poetic interest, as he has done. A vein of French gaiety runs throughout, and * Les Noces de la^Lune ' is just such a sketch as Fontenelle might hâve written in an hour of relaxation, had the author of the * Plurality of Worlds ' been gifted with the talent of versification." — TheNaiiofiy Dublin, Oct, 24, 1863.

" This pleasant whim, which is half poetry, half burlesque, may be read through in half an hour, and has fancy and humour enough to make the time seem short." — 77ie Athmaum, Nav, 21, 1863.

1864. Perles d'Orient, i vol. pp. 276. Prix 4s. Londres: Rolandi, 20, Bemers Street, W.

" Most of our readers are probably aware of the facility with which the Chevalier * strikes the l3a-e.' No matter under what guise he appears, — as ancient or classical bard, as minstrel of the romance âges, as singer of quaint old lays, or translator of rare old dramas....In this volume he is in the East, tuming his reading of the countries there and their legends to account....The Chevalier maintains his acquired réputation. He is generally both graceful and vigorous," — The Athenœutny March 26, 1864.

" The ability of the Chevalier de Châtelain has long been recognized, and * Les Perles d'Orient * will not fail to increase his réputation as an author and translator." — Public Opinion, May 21, 1864.

" Authors among the Orientais are oftener poets than anything else, and it is from the poets chiefly that the Chevalier de Châtelain has derived his materials. We like his mode of dealing with the subject. He is a sort of La Fontaine, with a considerably wider range than the old fabulist of Champagne was able to take ; and at one

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time entertains us with the myths and legends of Hindustan, at another with those of Persia, after which he drops in amongst the Turks or Arabs, and with easy ingenuity enables them to speak French.

"The 'Perles* are full of lustre, and deserve to be thoroughly examined by ail who take pleasure in easy and lively French." — London Review, May 28, 1864.

" The original * Contes ' display a perfect acquaintance with the spirit of Oriental life, and a singular facility for its graphie delineation." — The Nation, Dublin, June n,

"We can recommend the Chevalier de Chatelain's new work to ail who delight in the style of a La Fontaine, or in the picturesque and energetic school of the younger French poets. Thèse ' Pearls ' are strung into a necklace of apologues, directed against tyrants and tyranny, and invariably inoculating the love of virtue and the hatred of vice." — Reynolds s Newspaper^June 12, 1864.

" The taies, of which Le Chevalier de Chatelain*s extensive reading in so many languages has enabled him to make a good sélection, are very interesting and amus ing, and rendered in an élégant and humorous style, making the book at once pleasant and not unprofitable reading. In the second part, the author gives some beautiful translations from the Hindostanee, the Persian, the Arabie, the Chaldean, the German, etc., etc., introducing his readers to some fine spécimens of the poetry of thèse languages. The volume well merits the title it bears — * Orient Pearls.' " — The Aberdem Free Press, /une 17, 1864.

" The vPerles d'Orient * are sélections from the Chevalier's original and translated poems. They are, for the most part, sparkling and pretty. Some of them are ambitions in tone and mètre, but ail are pleasing, and in the best possible taste." — Talli^s Theatrical, /une 18, 1864.

" J'ai pris plaisir à la lecture de ces contes écrits avec

esprit et verve, et auxquels le style de M. de ChatelMn se prête si bien.

"Je recommande les 'Perles d'Orient' comme un recueil de contes jolis et amusants, portant généralement en eux une saine moralité et racontés d'une façon fort agréable. Je signale surtout 'L'Histoire d'une Amitié ;' ' Une Soirée chez Pluton ;' ' In vino veritas ;' ' Laissezleur passer la rivière ,'' ' Le Conte du Cadi du Sultan d'Egypte Aqschil,' et le ' Chameau et le Meunier.'" — E. R., CourrUr de r Europe, Juillet ^, 1864.

" The Chevalier is a pleasant writer. His verse is easy and flowing, and he tells his stories well. . . . We recommend his Eastem taies and sketches as pleasant reading. The volume, too, is beautifully printed and got up." — "Du Reader, August 6, 1864.

1865. Epis et Bluets. i vol. pp. 354. Prix 4s. Londres : Rolandi, 30, Bemers Street, W.

" The whole collection of poems, fables, songs, legends,

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etc., forms a valuable addition to French literature, and will be found of inestimable worth in England in forwarding the éducation of youth in the French language, for there is warmth of feeling and pure moral sentiment running through every line of the book, that cannot fail to improve the health as well as the understanding." — Hu Observer, /an. 22, 1865.

"This, the latest production of the Chevalier de Châtelaines wonderfully fluent pen, is a very graceful and acceptable mélange, consisting of varions kinds of poetry in styles as varions, and ail marked with the attributes which we hâve been so often called upon to ascribe to the author^s productions— of care and taste in the sélection of his multifarious subjects, and talent in the exécution of them. In his table des matières are included 'Fables,* 'Chansons,* 'Légendes,' 'Poésies Diverses,' ' Revues Littéraires,* ' Feuilles Des Bois,' ' Une Guirlande de Sonnets à Shakespeare,' and ' Poésies Intimes,' many of which, and by far the greater number, hâve been charmingly finished and conceived. One would think that, like Miss Braddon, the Chevalier must live with the pen always in his hand, such is his marvellous fertility ; while, like our wonderful female fictionist, his Imaginative power and command of appropriate language are so great, that his readers never even apprehend a ' break down,' or fancy that what he heartily takes in hand could be better done. In his ' Légendes ' he has adopted a novel and very graceful way of remembering his particular friends, as each ' Légende ' is dedicated to one of them ; and amongst those so distinguished we find the names of St. John, S. N. E., Edward Morse, Gallico, Charles Deulin, and others, who hâve a right to feel complimented by the public notice of so talented and celebrated a man." — Saunder^s News Leiter, Dublin, Jan, 23, 1865.

"Again we congratulate the Chevalier de Châtelain

310 l'ISTE OÈNÊRALE DES OUVRAGES

upon the continuance of the skill of his accomplished hand, of the power of his melodious voice, of the mastery won for himself, by long practice, over every string of the lyre of Erato. Many of the stanzas in this little volume of his, entitled *Epis et Bluets/ are, if not exactly * musical as is Apollo's lute/ musical at least as are the warblings of an iEolian harp, upon a summer's evening, when Ae zéphyrs are out and about." — The Sun^ fan. 25, 1865.

" No one but a true poet could hâve translated ' Hamlet,' and many of the most remarkable of our own earlier and later poets, into such purely idiomatic French, as to hâve almost warranted the conclusion that they were written originally in that tongue, instead of sturdy Anglo- Saxon. That the Chevalier de Châtelain possessed the * spark of that divine fire ' no one could doubt, who follows his versions word by word and line by Une, and wondered, as he did so, how he had managed to conquer the difficulties of a language as unlike his own in every respect as could possibly be conceived; but until he published this charming little volume of 'Epis et Bluets,' he had not given proof of his pretensions to take a very high place amongst the most celebrated worthies of his own land. The assurance comes forth now under the most positive forms, and will be accepted on ail hands as one cause amongst many why Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Dryden, and a host of other English poets, are now known by their works almost as well in France as at home. It matters little what mètre the Chevalier de Châtelain employs, or what subject he treats. In ail he is equally félicitons. Whether sorrow or joy, doubts or fears, happy prospects or sorrowful results, come under his considération, he so deals with one and ail as again to verify to the very letter the often-repeated Latin proverb —

* Poeta nascitur non fit * "

BelPs Wèekly Messenger y Jan. 28, 1865.

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*Cora-ears and Com-flowers/ being the Chevalier de Châtelaines * Epis et Bluets ' translated into English verse by Denis Florence M'Carthy.

"Our notice of the Chevalier de Châtelaines last volume, a notice that appeared in thèse columns but a very few days since, may yet be in the remembrance of some of our readers. Already, the initial poem of that collection of graceful and varied effusions, has happily met with a rapid and most accomplished interpréter. An English version of * Epis et Bluets ' has, in other words, bLt just come into our hands, in manuscript — a version that has the double charm of presenting to us the thoughts and fancies of the Chevalier de Châtelain, in the language of Mr. D. F. M'Carthy. It is a gratification to us to be the médium of submitting to public view the subjoined facile, yet faithful translation of * Epis et Bluets ' : —

* At close of life, when shadows press

Round man — the wreck time scarcely spores —

And when the sunshine of success

Deserted leaves his thin white hairs,

He thinks upon his early mom —

The harvest of his later years, —

And thus amid life's mellow corn

He picks the Poppies and the Ears.

* He thinks on days when life was new, The golden dawn of Spring's sweet prime, When hope's resplendcnt plumes outflew The never-resting wings of Time; When he with fancy's fond untruth,

The glorious gift of girls and boys, Out-ran the slow approach of youth, And snatch'd the yet untasted joys.

* At twenty years, when youth is green, Complacently he eyes his face,

And thinks that every crinoline

Ënfolds a houri or a Grâce;

But when his heart*s tumultuous strife

Hath meshed him in their nets and snares,

He sighs that from the crop of life

He pluck*d but Poppies and wild Tares.

' And then to fill the void life sends When passion fails the heart to rouse, He tnisteth in perfidious friends, Believing ail their perjured vows.

And so to plunge in deeper glooms, Himself the onty Mentor near — He seeks the orgies' maddening fiimes, A prématuré ennui to cheer.

' How he regrets at life's décline, Those wasted days that flew so fast, That fascination so malign Whose real worth he sees at last; Poor flaunting Poppy, foolish flower, So prîzed ère pluck d, so worthless then ; Ah ! were this known in earlier hour, What errors had been saved him then !

* At length rings out his thirtieth ^ear, — Illusion, hence! The True invites; Now must he make a grand career, And scale Ambition's loftiest heights ; Now 'gainst the rushing robes of Fact He rubs, he wins ! for Will is power ; He girds his loins, he makes a pact With hdl, to say, * I hâve '— one hour I

' But thus, in reaching the brief bliss Of power, the sun goes down the west ; Thus oft, in sinking through the abyss, Night cornes ! and then *tis time to rest Too seldom is the harvest fuU, — He hopes to reap the golden Ears, And finds at last that ne can cull But Thoms and Thistles gemm*d with tears !

' But once, perhaps, may Fortune show Her care of man s poor efforts hère, He sees his funds increase and grow, Is honest — strange though it appear, — And when his fortieth year is pass'd, He finds his best of life is o*er, The compétence has been amass'd.

And now begins the toil for more !

' Thus, like an oyster in its shell, He dwells within a realm confined; To him no book its taie dotli tell, His State is dull as is his mind,

DU CHEVAUER DE CHATELAIN. 313

He never knew what nature meant, His feast days were when bills fell due; Swect scents to him are cent, per cent, — Oh 1 what a life for me and you !

' But e'en this man will change, a spoil Unsought will glad his moumful mood; A time will corne hell break from toil, As in warm April bursts the bud.

He feels, hb frozen breast below, A trembling heart b^;ins to beat, A woman's smile has pierced the snow, And he is at the dear one's feet

' Then naturels charms at once he sees, He views with joy the verdurous sod, The bright blue sky, the green-robed trees, Till ail his soûl aspires to God.

He leams refinement, courtesy, The way to please — ^that simple art, — For love*s delicious poesy Renews the freshness of his heart.

' And when at length the night draws near, He casts, unscared, a glance before, And sees the glorious realm appear, Wherein, when death's long sleep is o'er, Our happy fate may be to live Even in God's bosom ; oh, may He The frailties of our lives forgive, The Corn, but not the Poppies, see !'

" So easy is the flow ôf verse throughout the foregoing, that few would recognize in it a mère translation." —The Sun, Feb, 2, 1865.

" ' Com-ears and Com-flowers ' is the pretty and appropriate title under which the Chevalier de Châtelain intro duces a new volume of his admirable poetry to the public. Heretofore the greater part of the Chevalier's works were translations of English poetry into his native tongue, — translations so felicitously and beautifully eflfected, that the literary press of England, with one voice, referred to them as marvels of talent and ability, The volume before us consists of original poetry, and is proof, if proof were needed, of the true poetic genius possessed by the

distinguished writer. He is an interpréter of the poets, but he is also a poet himself, and one of the most facile and giacefiil of the order. Our countryman, Denis Florence M'Carthy, has made the foUowing faithful and harmonious translation of the opening poem of the work, the * Epis et Bluets.' It will give a good idea of the author's tum of thought and observation of life and nature.

" The volume is printed on toned paper, and is, in ail respects, very handsomely got up by the publisher." — T%e Nation, Feb, 25, 1865.

" * Epis et Bluets ' is the pleasing and fanciful title which the Chevalier de Châtelain has chosen for his last volume of poetic miscellanies. Often as we hâve encountered the Chevalier in the fields of literature, we hâve always a welcome for him, since apparently his freshness and verve are as inexhaustible as the fountain of verse which is within him, * welling forth alway/ The présent volume, unlike many of its predecessors, consists for the most part of original poems, and not of translations, and its varied contents include song, legend, fable, and sonnet. A noteworthy portion consists of a garland of sonnets to Shakespeare, composed on the occasion of the past and sadly neglected tercentenary. The songs, those especially of a festive nature, are particularly vivacious in spirit and easy in versification. The other poems hâve ail the usual characteristics of the Chevalier's verse, and are flowing, vigorous, and musical. This little volume is, as regards its merits, entitled to rank side by side with any of the Chevalier's previous productions, and, its claims to originality being taken into considération, may claim precedence over most** — Sunday Times, jFeâ. 26, 1865.

" The Chevalier de Châtelain, who long since won his spiu^ in the field of English poesy, by his remarkably faithful, intelligent, and spirited translation of Chaucer*s

DU CI^EVALIER DE CHATELAIN. 31 j

'Canterbury Taies/ several tragédies of Shakespeare, and has, in two subséquent volumes, 'Rayons et Reflets' and ' Le Fond du Sac,' well nigh exhausted the beauties of our Ënglish poets, ancient and modem, once again makes his welcome appearance in an elegantly printed volume, bearing the fanciful title of ' Com-ears and Cornflowers.'

"The four volumes of the 'Beauties of English Poetry' from the same facile pen hâve already passed into the standard literature of both countries. Of France — ^as the most faithful versions of the great writers of England, to most Frenchmen sealed books ; of England as admirable spécimens of the rendering of ihe idioms of our most difïicult language, and as a guide to those who would perfect themselves in the structure of French verse. The volume before us, ' Epis et Bluets,' consists of a variety of pièces, as its name indicates ; sonnets to Shakespeare on the Tercentenary (some with English translations) ; a number of fables of much grâce and humour ; several national legends, Irish, Scotd^, Breton, Flemish, Spanish, and English. There are also a number of pikes de circonstance and poetic trifles in the volume, which may amuse an idle hour, and a couple of literary reviews (in verse), one of Victor Hugo's Shakespeare, the other of Pierre Vinçard's work, * Les Ouvriers de Paris.* The volume will be found capital reading for advanced French scholars." — The Moming Advertiser, March 13, 1865.

" One of M. de Chatelain's prominent characteristics is a partiality for this country; he loves our solitary woods, among which some of the sweetest little poems in the présent collection hâve been composed. The compliment he pays to England we pay to France, since there is not a spot on this side the Channel in which we should like half as well to muse or write verses as in the woods of Montmorency, Chantilly, or Fontainebleau, where there is generally sunshine raining down to the grass between the leaves. But chacun a son goût, M.

3i6 LISTE GÉNÉRALE DES OUVRAGES

de Châtelain préfère the New Forest, the Malvem Hills, or the Grampians, and in the midst of thèse scènes is pleased, perhaps by way of contrast, to remember the glowing south. Yet he has never written a sonnet to a snow-flake, or to a foggy day, or to the east wind, though hère in London he has the pleasure of facing it half the year round, mixed up with the smoke from a million of chimnejrs. One of M. de Chatelain's most popular effusions is a song entitled 'J'ai de TArgent,' a pleasant thing to affirm, in France, no less than in England. People sang it universally in America as well as in Europe, exactly forty years ago, when the distinction was just as coveted as it is in thèse latter days. The verees to a coquet are likewise very graceful and lively, as are those caJled * Bug-Jargal to Maria.' Among the legends, one of the most curions is that entitled * The Seven Churches,' a trifle too long, perhaps, but replète with romantic interest The scène is laid in Ireland, amid lakes, bogs, saints, kings, and hermits. The author, by the way, is fond of Ireland and the Irish ; and one of the prettiest of his translations — ^the original of which our readers may perhaps know — is entitled * Les Moines de Kilcré':—

* Thrce monks sat by a logwood firel*

" From this the transition is rather violent to ' Touch not the little Birds,' one of the sweetest short poems we remember to hâve read — full of tendemess, full of delicacy, with a strong spice of humour interfused. Such of our readers as are acquainted with M, Michelet will doubtless recollect the curious passage in which he attacks the destroyers of small birds. A flight of thèse most harmless among our fellow-creatures, passing over the Channel from England to France, hold a colloquy in the sky; and the most philosophical among them exclaims, * Take care, my friends ! alight not on this land of murderers ! Diverge to the Alps — to the Pyrennées — in any direction, so you avoid the soil of France. Fly to the rock of victory — cross over into Africa ; there the

DU CHEVALIER DE CHATELAIN

Muslims will cherish yoii, and pay you with cnimbs for your songs. But in France — bsJi V Exactly in this spirit is M. de Chatelain's * Ne Touchez aux Petits Oiseaux,' which we would strongly recommend to the considération of that lady who boasted not long ago of having murdered five thousand sparrows. Let some one translate it and send it to her, and let her read it nightly before she lays her head on her pillow. It will do her good, if she has anything of the woman left in her. M. de Châtelain is not an imitator, yet he often reminds us of La Fontaine, more, perhaps, through the form of his verse, than from any resemblance in the thoughts. We are not a very translating people ; otherwise, there are numbers of poems in this volume which we should fancy would tell well in English. Yet they would be the least characteristic, since that which is French par excellence can only be relished in the French language." — The London Review, March 25, 1865.

" Dans ce temps de prose et d'émotions politiques, il faut une certaine aptitude pour pouvoir se désintéresser complètement des choses extérieures, et pour savoir s'isoler au milieu d'une société éprise des petits intérêts personnels ou émotionnée par les grands événements publics. Ces quelques littérateurs qui continuent de 'sacrificer à la Muse' quand tout est en ébuUition autour d'eux, me rappellent toujours Archimède cherchant son problème au moment oh Syracuse était emportée d'assaut, ou bien encore ces bénédictins qui, renfermés dans le silence du cloître, se livraient à leurs savants labeurs pendant que tout retentissait du bruit des armes.

" M. de Châtelain est un de ces bénédictins modernes — ^je l'ai déjà dit, mais je ne vois pas de raison pour ne pas le répéter, puisque le fait se perpétue, pour ainsi dire. Chez lui, un voliune est à peine terminé qu'un autre apparaît Et ce ne sont pas de minces volumes — le moindre des deux dont je m'occupe aujourd'hui, a plus de 300 pages, et le plus gros n'en a qu'un peu moins de 500. 'Ce serait de la prose, que la chose serait déjà surprenante.

3i8 LISTE GÉNÉRALE DES OUVRAGES

mais ce sont des vers ! Et alors on se demande quand M. de Châtelain peut trouver le temps de manger, de boire, et de dormir.

" * Le Foni du Sac ' est Tachèvement d'un édifice élevé par M. de Châtelain à la gloire de la poésie Anglaise, qu'il a eu le louable dessein de vouloir faire connaître de l'autre côté de la Manche. Les ' Beautés de la Poësie Anglaise,' en 2 volumes, et les * Rayons et Reflets,' en I volume, étaient les premières assises du travail qu'il vient d'achever. Ce sont donc quatre gros volumes qu'il a consacrés à cette tâche, et je pourrais me contenter aujourd'hui de ce que j'ai dit des trois premiers volumes. Et de fait, c'est toujours ce même travail herculéen exécuté avec le même courage et le même talent.

"Le Fond du Sac' ne contient pas moins de 337 pièces.

" Sous le titre d' * Epis et Bluets,' M. de Châtelain a réuni diverses pièces originales et qui appartiennent aux différentes époques de sa vie. Les imes remontent au * Caveau,' — ^trente ans en arrière — ^les autres datent d'Octobre 1864. Il y a de tout dans ce volume : des chansons, des fables, des sonnets, des revues littéraires, des légendes, etc. Celles-ci occupent la place la plus large et la plus importante et méritent qu'on s'y arrête. Le style de M. de Châtelain se prête plus particulièrement au conte, et on lira avec plaisir les légendes Esthonienne, Ecossaise, Irlandaise, Anglaise, Flamande, Bretonne, et Espagnole, contenues dans ce volume, — notamment la légende Ecossaise — * Un Tour de Cartes' — ^racontée avec beaucoup de verve et d'entrain." — Courrier de rEurope^ Avril 22^ 1865.

" ' Epis et Bluets ' est un charmant titre. Le contenu du livre, entièrement composé de pièces originales, et qui n'a pas moins de 354 pages magnifiquement imprimées, réunit à la fraîcheur du Printemps toutes les richesses de l'Eté. L'Hiver seul n'y est représenté qu'en passant, mais en revanche l'Automne y a ses coudées franches.

Sous le titre de * Feuilles des Bois ' le Chevalier de Châtelain a réuni en effet d'adorables efïusions. La première a pour titre, ' Les Bois,' et est dédiée à C. F. Denecourt que l'auteur appelle le Trouveur de la Forêt de Fontainebleau. * L'Eglise de Bramshaw,' ' Hier et Aujourd'hui,' * La Brise,' ' L'Oiseau Captif et les Enfants,* sont dédiés à quatre dames, parmi lesquelles Mademoiselle Clara Swain, probablement la fille du grand lyrique de Manchester, et Madame Maria Bojesen, si nous ne nous trompons, l'écrivain Danois; * L'Horloge des Oiseaux,' 'Au Vent,' *La Nature et ses Trois Fils,' sont dédiés à trois poètes irlandais, Messieurs J. N. Gannon, Edward Morse, et D. F. M*Carthy ; * La Mémoire,' le dernier de ces poèmes, et le plus original peut-être, est dédié à notre Emile Deschamps. On peut voir par cette nomenclature que le Chevalier de Châtelain a d'illustres amitiés. Ce livre qu'un heureux hasard a fait tomber entre nos mains, qui a été publié l'an dernier (1865), révèle à la France un poète de plus. Si l'on veut juger du cœur de l'homme et du style du poète qu'on écoute ces vers : —