mate connection with men of such wide-spread reputation as Montalembert and Lacordaire ; but this by no means constitutes his only or his truest claim on the respectful memory of posterity. His biographer is fully justified in observing that his character and individual experience form a study of deep interest, while by his noble work of Christian beneficence, in the foundation of the Society of St. Vincent of Paul, "he has left a golden mark on his generation." His life, like that of the "Dominican artist," Père Besson, may well be called "the life of a beautiful soul," but he challenges public notice chiefly by his literary achievements--which, but for his early death, would have been still more considerable-and by his permanent services to the cause of charitable organisation and relief. The state of society in France, and especially in Paris, at the period when Frederic made his first appearance there in 1831 as an unknown student just emerging from boyhood, was sufficiently perplexing, if not alarming, to an ardent and passionate believer who "had made it his ideal, in an unbelieving and money-loving age, to serve truth for truth's sake." When he entered the classes of the Ecole de Droit he and three others were the only Christian students who attended them, and so completely were "the atheists" still in the ascendant, that a fellow-student of Ozanam's, meeting him one day coming out of church, exclaimed, "What are you a Catholic? How glad I am! let us be friends ; I thought you were an atheist." Yet they had then attended the same classes for a year. On another occasion a young friend who had accompanied him to church, and was mistakenly supposed to be assuming a disrespectful attitude, was rebuked by the preacher. On his explaining himself afterwards, the curé replied, with many apologies, "We so seldom see a young man in our churches, except with a bad motive, that it never occurred to me you were an exception to the rule." Ozanam had begun very early to wage a literary warfare with unbelief, and had indeed sketched out in his mind an elaborate historical scheme, which his brief life did not enable him more than very partially to carry out. But he felt from the first that something more than literary energy was required. His opponents admitted that "in bygone days Christianity did indeed work wonders, but to-day it is dead. You, who boast of being Catholics, what work can you show to prove your faith and make us respect and acknowledge it?" The answer was given in the institution of the Society of St. Vincent of Paul for the service of the poor, which began with only eight members in May 1833, but was destined to spread in the course of the next twenty years, before its founder's death, over the greater part of Europe and even America. The "eight poor fellows," as Ozanam playfully remarked, had increased to 2,000 in Paris alone, visiting 5,000 poor families. There were 500 Conferences in France, and others in England, Belgium, Spain, America, and even at Jerusalem. Yet it was established under no ordinary difficulties, coming alike from friend and foe. Ozanam, who had, much against the grain, joined the Bar of Lyons, as the surest means of providing support for his family after his father's death, and accepted in 1839 the Chair of Commercial Law in that city, gladly availed himself in the following year of the offer of the Professorship of Foreign Literature in Paris. He had already at the close of 1838 taken his degree as Doctor of Literature, when Dante formed the thesis of his French essay, which proved, we are told, "more than a success, it was a revelation." In revealing the unsuspected beauties of the pathetic, mysterious figure, he rose to heights of inspiration which it is seldom given to human eloquence to reach, and never except when it is the inspired mes

senger of the soul. He evoked the spirit of the dead poet, and bid the living look upon him. As at the voice of a magician, the clouds rolled away, and the luminous figure stood revealed against the background of the thirteenth century, crowned with its triple halo of exile, poet, and theologian. . . This thesis, so long and laboriously prepared, was the kernel of a volume which Ozanam published later, under the title of "Dante et la Philosophie Catholique au Treizième Siècle." This book, in which it may fairly be said that Ozanam has thrown more light than any other modern critic on the complex meanings of the Divina Commedia, was not published till many years afterwards. It forms the conclusion, as the "Civilisation au Cinquième Siècle-which was crowned at the French Academy the year after his death-forms the commencement, of what was intended to be a literary history of the Middle Ages from the fifth century to the close of the thirteenth, of which, however, only a few fragments are left to us. It is curious at this distance of time, and in the light of all that has since occurred, to read the account of his visit to Rome in 1847, and his enthusiastic description of the reforming policy of Pius IX. There are several very interesting episodes in the biography on which we have no space to dwell here. Such is the story of the origin of Lacordaire's famous Conferences at Notre Dame, mainly through Ozanam's influence in overcoming the hesitation of the excellent, but somewhat timid, Mgr. Quélen, Archbishop of Paris, who, however, at the end of the first course, publicly thanked the "pious and eloquent" preacher, and named him on the spot Canon of the Cathedral. Such, again, is the part he took in suggesting to Mgr. Quélen's successor, Archbishop Affré, the courageous attempt at mediation which ended in what may justly be termed his martyrdom at the barricades on June 25, 1848.

6

In his "Lives of the Lords Strangford" Mr. de Fonblanque gives a sketch of the family through ten generations, beginning with one "John Smythe, yeoman," who "in the early part of the reign of Henry II. we find settled in the parish of Corsham, Wilts, upon a freehold farm, which descended in unbroken succession from father to son through the course of two centuries, gradually increasing in extent. John Smythe, who, by his will dated in 1496, left considerable sums to be expended in several parishes in masses for my sowle,' had not only materially added to the paternal acres, but had acquired a 'weeving mill,' which thenceforth became an heir-loom in the family; and we read in his will that 'John Smythe, clothier,' who died in 1538, leaves a life interest in the mill to his wife, the daughter of Robert Brouncker, with remainder to a younger son." His second son, Thomas Smythe, came to London to seek his fortune, and, as Mr. de Fonblanque tells us, "what is more rare, to find it," He became a wealthy citizen, married the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Andrew Judde, the Lord Mayor, and farmed the customs of the metropolitan port in the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. Under the former he paid an annual rent of 13,000l. for this privilege, but the latter raised the sum first to 42,000l. and subsequently to 50,000l., from which, as he retained the monopoly, some inference may be drawn as to his profits during the earlier period of his enjoyment of it. Customer Smythe, as he was called, at all events managed to establish himself as a large landed proprietor in the county of Kent, and on more than one occasion entertained the Queen at his house at Deptford and his seat at Ostenhanger, now called Westenhanger. He was succeeded by his son, Sir John Smythe, who again was succeeded by his son, Sir Thomas

Y

Smythe, created in 1628 Viscount Strangford in Ireland. He married Lady Barbara Sidney, one of the daughters of Robert, first Earl of Leicester, niece of Sir Philip Sidney, and aunt of Algernon Sidney. Through this marriage a very remarkable strain of blood was bequeathed to the Smythes; and it is to be noted that it is the only really eminent alliance, in the results of which they participated, which is recorded in their pedigree. In his notices of Percy, sixth Lord Strangford, and his two gifted sons and successors, George and Percy Smythe, Mr. de Fonblanque transcends the narrow limits of mere family history and enters upon a wider field. Lord Strangford commenced his career as a clerk in the Foreign Office, and, having displayed considerable familiarity with Portuguese in some translations from Camoens, he was appointed Secretary to the British Legation at Lisbon. He rapidly rose in the diplomatic service, and was successively Minister at Lisbon and Ambassador at Stockholm, Constantinople, and St. Petersburg. In 1825 he received an English barony as Lord Penshurst in addition to his Irish viscounty, and so gained a seat in the House of Lords. As a politician he distinguished himself among bigoted Tories as of all Tories the most bigoted. He died in 1855, and was succeeded by his son George, seventh Lord Strangford, who was in many ways one of the most remarkable men of his time, but who only survived him two years, being succeeded in his turn by his brother Percy, who had distinguished himself at Harrow and Oxford, and had gained an Oriental attachéship on account of his proficiency in Eastern languages. He joined the British Embassy at Constantinople in 1845, and there he remained for the next nine or ten years, acquiring the thorough knowledge of affairs in Eastern Europe which gave such importance to his views and anticipations. On his accession to the peerage in 1857, Lord Strangford left the public service, having for a few months held the Oriental secretaryship at Constantinople. As a peer, he never took any part in politics, and made his great stores of information available to the public only through occasional contributions to the Quarterly Review and the Saturday Review, the Athenæum, and to the Pall Mall Gazette. Probably many readers will find what is said of the last Lord Strangford, and what is preserved of what he said by Mr. de Fonblanque, the most profitable portion of this volume; but few will fail to lament, next to his untimely death, that, with the exception of some fragments gathered together by his widow, his " profound and varied knowledge" has died with him. Lord Strangford married, in 1862, the daughter of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, after an amusing literary courtship, of which Mr. de Fonblanque gives the particulars. On the sudden death in 1869 of this, the eighth lord, the title became extinct, and the male line of his house came to an end.

"Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner." By Edward L. Pierce. Two vols. Of all the distinguished Americans of our day the late Mr. Charles Sumner was best known to Englishmen. It would, perhaps, be only correct to add that in the latter years of Mr. Sumner's life his name was identified with a subject exceedingly distasteful to us, for he entertained strong opinions as to the "Alabama" and "the consequential damages" which formed so prominent a feature in the discussion that preceded the Geneva award. We are glad, therefore, to welcome a biography which puts the man before us from his birth to the period when he had attained a considerable position in his native State of Massachusetts, even before he entered the field of American politics, in which he was destined to hold the first place for a genera

tion. Mr. Pierce has judiciously followed the same plan as the biographers of Lord Macaulay and Charles Kingsley, and allowed Mr. Sumner to speak for himself. He was a letter writer, and his letters were fortunately preserved by his correspondents. We thus gain a knowledge of the man as complete as if he had left an autobiography, with the additional advantage that the letters that supply the materials were written without any view to publication. A large part of the volumes before us is taken up with the account of Mr. Sumner's experiences in England, where he seems to have met with most of the distinguished men of their time in our country, and a better specimen of the "intelligent foreigner" probably has seldom visited our shores. He was a keen observer, and he recorded his impressions as a lawyer and a man of culture, so that as a result the English people are informed of new facts as to men and women who filled the first place in English society forty years ago. The freshness of his letters and the pleasant keenness of his criticism make up delightful chapters for us. His sketch of Lord Brougham is just, discriminating, and impartial. Lord Brougham did not delude Charles Sumner. Of Mrs. Brougham Mr. Sumner draws a fine picture, but it is useless to extract the gems of description and anecdote that sparkle on every page. These volumes only bring us down to 1845, when Sumner was thirty-four years of age-to the time when he delivered his City Oration on "The True Grandeur of Nations."

"The Story of the Life of Pius IX." By T, A. Trollope.-Whatever may be the opinions as to the venerable subject of this book, it must be conceded that few men can claim a more prominent place in this generation, and it would not need the reputation of Mr. T. A. Trollope, to call attention to any work professing to be a "Story of the Life of Pius IX." It is, perhaps, a somewhat superfluous remark to make, that a work, purporting to be the life of a living person, must be always rather unsatisfactory, but it is, we think, an excusable remark in the present case, having regard to the extraordinary vitality shown by the subject of this biography. The unsettled state of the affairs and prospects of the Romish Church, and the possibility, if not probability, that the rule of the present Pope may yet be still further signalised by some important revolution in the policy and objects of that Church, the work of himself or his advisers, must infallibly give a colouring to the estimate of the "Life of Pius IX." Mr. Trollope's book may be recommended as one free from bias, and though it perhaps shows more trace of the novelist than the historian yet it is a useful and valuable work.

Among the works of historical interest of the year we may first select Mr. Ewald's "Life of Sir Robert Walpole," a book which, though marked by no especial brilliancy of style, is yet a faithful and valuable account of the life of a statesman who, whatever his faults, made no small mark on the page of English history.

The recoil of Puritanism reached its utmost excess of immorality in private life and of corruption in public life in the days of Charles II., but, in the time of Walpole, the intense aversion which the attempt of the Saints to dragoon Englishmen into piety had called forth in the public mind still continued to be one of the chief motives or influences determining the character of statesmen. At school and college Walpole had showed no turn for book-learning, but a strong talent for argumentation; and when his father associated him with himself in the management of the estate, he displayed the energy, method, and tact of a born man of business. His father died in

November, 1700, and the son succeeded him in possession of his fine Norfolk estate, and of his seat as Member for Castle Rising in the House of Commons. He was now twenty-four years old, had been married in the previous summer to Miss Catharine Shuter, "a beauty, an heiress, and gifted with great powers of fascination," and having held the reins at Houghton for years before his father's death, was prepared to throw the whole energy of his mind into politics. As to his appearance, "He looked,” writes Mr. Ewald, "like a man who had been taken from the farm. His figure was more remarkable for its breadth of chest and strength of limb, than for grace and elegance. His complexion was coarse, rude, and healthy. his features were commonplace and vulgar." At all points he was a contrast to Henry St. John, who entered Parliament at the same time, and who, under the more familiar name of Bolingbroke, was destined to become known to all the world as the indefatigable and virulent opponent of the great Whig Minister. But Walpole had that solidity which is dearly loved by Englishmen, that clearness and simplicity of speech and massive force of thought which excite no transports of emotion, but are potent to persuade. His qualities inspired trust rather than admiration, and he had none of that brilliancy which puts plain men on their guard. He pretended to no elevation of character, there was no sentiment in his politics; but his contemporaries sneered at elevation of character, and were cynically contemptuous of sentiment. Personally indifferent to religion, Walpole treated the Church as a sensible nurse treats an ill-tempered, refractory child that tries to get at some sweet poison and do itself a mischief. Walpole secured the Church by keeping out the Pretender, but silenced the clergy by suspending the sittings of Convocation and appointing only Whig bishops. His conception of the main duty of an English Government-to attend to the domestic administration, to favour the development of agriculture and commerce, to keep down taxes, to take almost no part in Continental affairs—had irresistible attractions for the bulk of the English population. It was a fundamental principle with him that the interest of England was not sufficiently engaged in Continental affairs to justify English statesmen in laying out much money upon them. The main strength of Walpole lay in finance. was not only the ablest financier of his time, but one of the greatest who has ever held power in England. His conduct of affairs amid the panic and consternation occasioned by the bursting of the great South Sea Bubble was consummately able and permanently beneficial to the country. Mr. Ewald repeats the usual charges of bribery and corruption against Walpole, but does not in any way add to the evidence against him. The committee appointed to inquire into the charges was not very successful, nor was their report received with any great amount of belief by the public. Walpole was by no means held a faultless man in an age more tolerant, perhaps, of faults than ours, but there is really no difficulty in accounting for Walpole's ascendency, without having recourse to the hypothesis of wholesale bribery. He was 66 out of sight" the ablest man for his place, and the House knew it.

He

"Despatches, Correspondence, and Memoranda of Field-Marshal Arthur, Duke of Wellington, K.G." Edited by his Son, the Duke of Wellington, K.G. (In continuation of the former series). Vol. VI.-There are few books more interesting and instructive than the despatches and memoranda of the Duke of Wellington, as illustrating not only the character of the author, but also the history of the period during which they were written.