This article is written in the most exquisite spirit of banter, and is irresistibly amusing. It commences with a sketch of the history, present state and literature of cookery! and concludes with a particular Notice of the books at the head of the article. "Mirabeau"—says the critic—"used to present Condorcet with voilà ma théorie, and the Abbé Maury with voilà ma pratique. We beg leave to present M. Brillat Savarin as our theory, M. Ude as our practice." A biographical account of Savarin is introduced—full of wit. Savarin was Judge of the Court of Cassation, Member of the Legion of Honor, and of most of the scientific and literary societies of France. His work consists of "a collection of aphorisms, a dialogue between the author and a friend as to the expediency of publication, a biographical notice of the friend, thirty meditations, and a concluding Miscellany of adventures, inventions, and anecdotes."
Article VII. 1. "Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensées, et Paysages pendant un Voyage en Orient, 1832, 1833. Par M. Alphonse de Lamartine, 4 vols. Paris: 1835."
2. "A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, &c. By Alphonse de Lamartine, 3 vols. London: 1835."
An English translation of Lamartine's Pilgrimage, and even a pirated Bruselles edition of the original, were read in London before the publication of the original itself. This is high evidence of the writer's popularity, at least, however prejudicial it may have proved to his literary and pecuniary interests. The Remarks in the Review under consideration are deduced from the English translation, which is from the pen of Miss Landon. With the exception of the French verses scattered throughout the work, and which are not very happily rendered (we should think it impossible to translate them) L. E. L. has executed her task with much ability—at least so says the Quarterly, and we believe it. Some singular misconceptions of the meaning of the original are, however, occasionally met with, and we are at a loss whether to attribute them to carelessness or an imperfect acquaintance with the French. The Review cites the following as an instance, and we have noted several others equally glaring.
| N'attends donc plus de moi ces vers où la pensée Comme d'un arc sonore avec grace élancée Et sur deux mots pareils vibrant à l'unisson Dansent complaisamment aux caprices du son! Ce froid écho des vers répugne à mon oreille. From me expect no more the verse where thought Glances in grace as from the sounding bow, When two words vibrating in unison Complacent dance to the caprice of sound. Now verse in its cold echo shocks my ear. |
The Review lavishes many compliments upon Lamartine, and enters into a compendious sketch of his Pilgrimage.
Article VIII. "Yarrow Revisited and other Poems. By Wm. Wordsworth. 12mo. pp. 349. London, 1835."
Here is one of those exceedingly rare cases in which a British critic confines himself strictly to his text—but this is nearly all that can be said in favor of the Article. A more partial, a more indiscriminate or fulsome panegyric we never wish to see, and surely "Yarrow Revisited" is worthy of a better fate. "There is," quoth the Reviewer, "a spirit of elegance in these poems more prominently and uniformly prevailing than in any equal portion of Mr. Wordsworth's former works. We mean an elegance such as Quinctillian ascribes to several of the Greek and Roman writers—a nobleness of thought and feeling made vocal in perfectly pure and appropriate language. It struck us, at first, as an odd remark of Coleridge's, that Goethe and Wordsworth were something alike, but &c. &c." Heaven save us from our friends!
Article IX.—1. "Rough Leaves from a Journal kept in Spain and Portugal. By Lieut. Col. Badcock, 8vo. London: 1835."
2. "Recollections of a few days spent with the Queen's Army in Spain, in September 1833, 12mo. (privately printed,) London: 1835."