as the frame, and truth as the picture within it. The result of this plan, aud this combination, is an historical drama, so that an addition is thus made on the score of interest, while nothing is lost in point of exactness." The character given of Louis XIV. is rather just than flattering. His life is divided into three grand epochs. His youth is represented as having been spent in follies of every kind, which, in general, were no less culpable than ridiculous. During the period of maturity, he is depicted as surrounded with all the splendour of power and of glory; while towards the end of his career, he is considered as having fallen into a degrading state of dotage and hypocrisy. At length, he is made to expire overwhelmed with misfortunes, bereaved of fame, a prey to sorrow, and subjected to the most terrible reverses of fortune. Christina, who is the first personage introduced upon the scene, immediately after her abdication, arrives in France, at a momentous period, that of the civil wars. She has an interview with Condé in the lines of Arras; there also she meets with the principal partisans of that prince during the troubles of the Fronde, and by means of them becomes acquainted with the most interesting events of so singular an epoch. This naturally produces the portraits of several of the most remarkable personages, as well as a variety of details relative to the manners and the opinions of that day. Christina does not appear to occupy a very modest part in these aunals, for she seems to throw open her arms to every handsome man she meets with. She, however, to do her justice, does not conine herself solely to the orgies of gallantry, but enters into the spirit of all the troubles that occurred during the regency, or, as it is here termed, the reign of Mazarine. On hearing the recital of those events, her ex-majesty exclaims, "What a court! what a mixture of frivolity and crime! It appears as if, during those unhappy times, every species of wickedness had been practised: it seems to me as if the poniard of Machiavel had been wreathed with garlands. It is a well known fact, and every one must own it, that the Prince, the Minister, the Coadjutor, conspired their reciprocal assassinations in succession. Blood has flowed more than once in the streets, amidst songs and music, and it has sometimes happened, that those who have unchained the populace, have themselves been in danger of becoming their victims: this was the case in respect both to the Co-adjutor, and even Condé himself. The last was on the point of being twice carried off, particularly during an affair of gal lantry; and he was indebted solely to the pity of Rochefoucault for his life on another occasion, as, but for him, he would have been assassinated in parliament." Her majesty, after this, addresses her audience relative to the memorable revolutions which, nearly at the same time, agitated the whole of Europe. She is also at some pains to reveal the powerful, but hitherto secret, motives, that had induced her to quit the throne. "Gentlemen (says she), during an interview with Boutteville and Coligny, when my own had the honour to be reckoned among the crowned heads, and particularly some time after having sent the Count de la Gardie in quality of an bassador into France, I began to enter tain not a few serious reflections. I con sidered, that like the volcanoes, the eruptions of which are felt in so many places at the same time, the states of Europe were then agitated by a revolutionary fe ver, that exhibited all the symptoms of contagion. In fact, it was nearly during the same period that the sanguinary Massaniello, seconded by your Duke de Guise, reigned at Naples by means of the most execrable terror; that the English cut off the head of Charles I. and that the French were not only eager in their endeavours to drive away their king, but actually burnt the efigy of his minister, for whose murder they had already offered a sum of mo ney." Coligny." The flame, in short, was universal; for at that very period the Turks massacred their Sultan Ibrahim; the Algerincs their Dey; the Moguls overwhelmed Hindostan by means of civil wars; the Chinese were conquered by the Tartars; and, to complete the whole, returning to Europe, a conspiracy was entered into against the life of the King of Spain." Christina." This proceeded entirely from the spirit of independence that had discovered itself during the preceding age. I myself recollect the moment when the train was set, the match was lighted, and the North was on the peint of being devoured by similar flames. It was then Coligny.-" "That you preferred a p vate condition to the perils of sove reignty." Christina Christina, on this, blushed, and concluded as follows: "I have always thought that this singular connection of events did not originate in chance alone, and I have been more than once tempted to believe in the existence of a tenebrous association, which sports at the same time with both governments and people, and which to a profound audacity unites unbounded means." It is well known that the Swedish queen possessed a taste for literature and the fine arts, and protected both while on the throne: nay, when she quitted it, it was under the pretext that her resignation arose solely from a wish to dedicate herself entirely to the study and cultivation of both. Accordingly, during her travels, her majesty did not confine her enquiries to war, and the art of government; she also went in search of men of learning, and artists. These well known facts furnished the author with the means of treating his readers with several chapters replete with in terest. Accordingly we are presented with the result of an interview with the celebrated painter Poussin, in the course of which Christina and the Cardinal Colonna admire and describe the principal works of that great master. We are next fur nished with a dialogue with Casimir, relative to the state of astronomy in France; then follows an account of Marseilles, recounted by the historian of that ancient city. In the workshop of Puget an interesting discussion takes place relative to ideal beauty in sculpture, and the rules observed by the ancient statuaries. "The Greeks (says this artist to Christina) have not created those fine proportions which you admire in their statues; and the ideal system was to them entirely unknown. It may be useful, I think, to remind you of the means afforded by the manners and institutions of that day, in respect to sublime models; it was in the exactitude of nature that they discovered those fine synimetrical connections, which established a perfect uniformity. Observe, that all their statues were of different proportions: those of Venus are not those of Diana. Apollo does not resemble Bacchus. It is evident that a man of agility has not the same form as a strong man; the one is pliable throughout, while the inferior part of his body is longer than the superior; the other is of a more square construction. The an cient athletes, who were daily exercising themselves, presented models which are no longer to be found, unless it be in those countries where they still retain the same games, &c. as the Greeks." Christina." But the fine male and female heads which those statues present, are, as I suppose, of their creation?" Pujet.-"No more than their bodies; they are mere portraits: and if they had invented, instead of imitating, they would not have been at this day our masters." "That Jupiter of Phidias, of which the ancients have boasted so much, would not have obtained the admiration of such a people if he had not resembled a being superior to mortals." Pujet." You have seen at Marseilles a considerable number of the countrymen of Phidias. You have, doubtless, perceived also, the difference that there is between them and us in respect to beauty and dignity. Very well! those very Greeks to whom I allude are simple merchants, subjugated by the Turks: imagine for a moment, what a fine character would be imprinted on the countenance of a Miltiades or a Pericles, a magistrate deciding in the tribunal of justice, after having vanquished at Marathon: conceive whatsoever of beauty the climate could confer; whatsoever dignity could arise out of bravery, independence, and eminent employments, and you will then be convinced that the Jupiter of Phidias was imitated after nature, in a country where the artist could be at no loss to find sublime models. "In addition to this (adds he), they always took care to make choice of the most favourable moment. Every living thing has its beginning, its middle, and its end. The beauty of a youth, of a full grown person, and of an old man, bath each its proper and peculiar period, and this was the precise epoch that the Grecian artists made choice of. Permit me also here to intimate to you the means that an able artist may recur to. Imagine to yourself a very well made man, for instance, one of whose limbs or features is inferior to the other parts of his body. This imperfection, which can never escape the prying eye of a skilful observer, is by him instantly corrected. I do not mean to say that he absolutely invents a fine part, which is wanting in his model, but that which is beautiful indicates how to amend whatsoever is defective; and he gives to his statue that conformity which composes the beautiful. 4 P 2 " I will "I will furnish you with an example of this. You have sometimes seen two portraits of the same person, the one very admirable, the other very inferior to the original, andyet both possessing a resemblance. It is the very same of a statue: that which constitutes superior talent is the faculty of being able to imitate whatever is supremely beautiful, and avoid whatever is imperfect. The Greeks were so imbued with this principle, that you will find the same impression even on those productions which do not rise above mediocrity. Be assured that if they had gone beyond the truth, they would have experienced the common destiny of falsehood. There are several Greek women in this country, but their style of beauty is entirely different from that of our females. Those you see at Marseilles, will convey a just idea of Juno, of Minerva, and of all the divinities of Homer: he, too, painted after nature. "We have several villages in the immediate neighbourhood of the city just alluded to, consisting of a single family. They are the descendants of its founders; visit them, and you will there find those fine heads which you have admired on Greek statues. But two years since, I could have enabled you to speak to the Venus of Medicis. The very agreeable smile which characterises that piece of sculpture, constituted her habitual expression. Her straight nose, small nostrils, &c. perfectly resembled the same features in the Venus; and it may not be amiss to remark here, that they are never found in any other statue. By becoming a mother, her features are altered, and an appearance of care has replaced that gaiety which conferred so many charms. During the time I resided at Rome, I often beheld a young man who, according to the judgment of all the world, resembled Apollo. I was desirous to behold him naked, and had the good fortune to see him one day on the banks of the Tiber: it was Apollo himself, whom I beheld both swimming and walking." With a view of instructing the queen and the reader, in respect to the state of French literature, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, as well as of the characters of writers of all kinds, who at that period enjoyed so high a reputation; several of those great men who were the contemporaries of Christina, are brought forward. Corneille, Pascal, Mezerai, Lingendes, Patru, appear on the stage as it were, while Pelisson exhibití a good specimen of the Parnassus of that day. It is well known, that Ménage was accustomed every Tuesday to have an assembly at his house, consisting of nearly all the men of letters in Paris. There they held academic sittings, which were denominated Mercuriales, and Ménage addresses the procés verbaux of them to the Queen of Sweden. The aged Colletet, during one of these meetings, is supposed to open the business of the evening with the eulogium of Balzac: bat the feebleness of his voice not perm ting him to finish the panegyric, a crowd of poets hasten to supply his place, by reading their respective works. The first who presents himself is the energetic Scudery, with his Alaric in his hand "It is thus," says he, "that Alaric expresses his passion for queen Amala He next in an elevated tone, recites the following epitaph on Radaguise, who had been killed during a combat in the Alps: "Ici git un guerrier qui trouva peu d'égaux, Car son cœur fut plus grand que ces mars ne sont hauts." The two following lines, of the same poem, were greatly applauded: "Est-il rien de plus doux, pour un cent plein de gloire; Que la paisible nuit qui suit une victoire ** The verses that follow, are by Patru, and they have often been imitated in Engine: "Je songeais, cette nuit, que de mans endsumé, Côte à côte d'un pauvre on m'avait inhumë. raître, Je vécu, dans la peine, attendant le bonheur, Et mourus sur un coffre en attendant mon maître." We shall conclude with four lines by Scudery, relative to Job, and an epigranimatic sonnet, by Sarrasin, on Eve: "Je vous le dis en vérité, Le destin de Job est étrange, Lorsqu'Adam vit cette jeune beauté Dont bien nous prit, ne lui fut pas cruelle. Cher Charleval, alors, en vérité, Je crois qu'il fut une femme fidelle; Mais, comme quoi ne l'aurait-elle été ? Elle n'avait qu'un seul homme avec elle. Or, en cela, nous nous trompons tous deux ; Car, bien qu'Adam fût jeune et vigoureux; Bien fait de corps, et d'esprit agréable; Elle aima mieux, pour s'en faire conter, Prêter l'oreille aux fleurettes du Diable, Que d'être femme et ne pas coqueter." "Histoire Générale de Belgique, depuis la Conquéte de César; par M. DEWEZ."-A general History of Belgium posterior to the Conquest of Cæsar; by M. Dewez, 4 vols. This work, is divided into epochs, under each of which we are presented with some interesting period of the Belgic history. It would afford the generality of our readers but little pleasure, to trace the uninteresting feuds of a barbarous people; we shall therefore recur to a portion of this work, when the nation in question began to exhibit the appearance of order and stability. The seventh epoch, comprehends the house of Louvain. Godefroy called le Barbu, the seventh in the general succes sion of the Dukes of Lower Lorraine, and the first in the dynasty of the Counts de Louvain, was a brave and generous chief. After being deprived of his dignity by the emperor Lothaire, he possessed sufficient courage to struggle against an unjust exertion of power, and he was enabled to his dominions, until Conrad had ascenpreserve his authority over a portion of ded the imperial throne. "That prince immediately restored him a title, which he ought never to have been deprived of. An anecdote of him is here quoted, that surpasses all eulogium, if we but recollect the barbarity of the age, during which this noble example occurred. "The wife of Henri de Limbourg, against whom he made war, had fallen into his hands. The magnanimous victor not only respected her misfortunes and her honor, but sent her back to the husband. What could be more noble, or of the first of the Scipios in Spain, or the more heroic, in the vaunted continence delicate attention of Alexander towards the consort and the daughters of Darius, at the period they were his captives? Alas, it is too true, that in the distribution of praise, history, like private individuals, sacrifices but too much to the splendour of conquests, and the captivation of renown." There was nothing remarkable, either in the administration of Godefroy II. or Godefroy III. We cannot however forbear to admire the ferocions firmness of the latter of these, when at the age of nineteen, being unable to persuade Thierri, Count of Flanders, of the injustice of his claim to superiority, he drew his sword, and after candidly allowing that his tutors had promised he should become his vassal, he placed the weapon in the hands of the latter, addressing him at the same time as follows: "I am ready and willing to permit you to pierce my heart with this sword; but I can never consent to pay homage to a count for so illustrious a Duchy!" Henry I. rendered himself "horribly famous," after the engagement at Neuville-sur-Mehaigne, where he was overcome by Baudouin count de Hainault and Flanders, by the sacking of Liege, which he abandoned during a whole day to all the miseries of pillage and of massacre. The people of Liege, in their turn, cut the Brabanters to pieces in the plaines de Steppes, and cruelly abused their victory by immolating all the fugitives that fell into their hands. Equally uncertain, and cowardly in his politics, the Duke forsook Philip Augustus, king of France, his father father-in-law, to embrace the party of the emperor Otho, with whom he was defeated at Bouvines, on the 7th of July 1214. Soon after this, he abandoned Otho also, to whom he had given his daughter in marriage, and then declared himself on the side of Frederick, his competitor for the empire: "Thus equally without benefit, and without glory, Henry 1. was prodigal of the blood and the wealth of his subjects; Henry II. on the other hand, was constantly occupied for their repose and their happiness. This prince, who suppressed the odious law of mortmain, for which his memory was long blessed; exhibited a singular instance of modesty, having actually refused the offer of the imperial crown. Henry III. was the first who assumed the title of Duke of Brabant, towards the year 1250. One part of his last will is very remarkable, as it thus becomes evident, that his mind was imbued with a singular portion of humanity towards a class of beings, but little regarded in that age. "By an express article in it, he enfranchised from extraordinary impositions, and every species of exaction, that numerous class of serfs, or bondmen, who were then, and still continue in some barbarous countries to be, attached to the soil, sequestered from civil society, and degraded from all the claims and privileges of men." Alice, the widow of Henry III. held the reins of government, during the minority of her children. The eldest of her sons, solemnly yielded the sovereignty of Lower Lorraine, to a younger brother, who became John I. At this period, we are informed of the pitiful grounds of a destructive war with the people of Liege: it originated in the theft of a domestic animal, not worth a guinea, and was attended with the destruction of thousands on both sides! The author seizes this opportunity to exclaim: "Quidquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi!" A little after this, the succession of Limbourg produced an important struggle between John and Renaud Count of Gueldres, who disputed his territories with him. The quarrel was terminated at Woringen; and the duchy of Limbourg, in consequence of the events of that day was reunited to Brabant. During the time of John II. Philip le Bel, king of France, in order to punish the temerity of Guy, Count of Flanders, who had formed an alliance against him, with Edward I. king of England, obtained possession of his territories under the pretext of confiscation. On this the Flemings took the field, beat the French at Courtray, and entered into a league with Duke John, who had made a common cause with them. Their efforts were at first sufficiently prosperous, but having been defeated at Mons-en-Puelle, Philip dictated the terms of the peace at Achiersur-Orange, in the month of June, 1805. John II. being desirous to reform the abuses which had crept into the administration, at least as far as was in his power, caused the lords and the depoties of the cities of Brabant to be assembled, about a month anterior to his death. It was this assembly that passed the celebrated regulations, called the laws of Cortenberg, because they had met in the town of that name. John III. was forced to take part in that long and disastrous contest, carried on by Edward IV, of England, against Philip de Valois. He was succeeded by his daughter Jean, and Wenceslaus, her husband. During the war that succeeded soon after, a battle was fought at Sansfliet, in the Marquisate of Antwerp, at which period, we are told, bombs were first brought into use. This occurred in 1356. The 8th epoch comprehends the house of Burgundy. The government of John IV. was sufficiently tempestuous, for he had not only to combat with his own subjects, but also with his own spouse, Jaqueline, Countess of Hainault, who had separated from him, and married another. It ought to be remembered to his honour, that he founded the University of Louvain in 1426: it was his intention to fix it at Brussels, and this would accordingly have taken place, had it not been for the folly of the magistrates. Under Philip, his brother and successor, the inhabitants of Ghent and Bruges were so powerful, that it was found dif ficult on the part of their sovereign to subject and punish them for their frequent revolts. His son Charles, Coast de Charolois, entered into the famous combination, known under the name of (ligue du bien public,) the league for the public good; having for a pretext the reformation of the state and the advan tage of the people. Soon after this we find, that the inhabitants of Dinant having revolted, Philip le Bon caused eight hundred of them to be precipitated into the Meuse, where |