ment engagée si elle ne réussit pas .. vous avez l'Angleterre avertie qu'elle ne peut pas compter sur la France dans une situation difficile, et avertie qu'elle n'a à songer qu'à ses propres intérêts."* Let it not be said that this is the speech of an exminister. It is adopted as the creed of an English diplomate, whose views of Spanish affairs are commended by our Foreign Minister. According to this writer the effect of the Quadruple Treaty upon the relations of France and England has not been friendship, but estrangement. He speaks loudly of the union of these two powers, and of its beneficial effect upon the world, until he treats of it in reference to Spain: and then, it has developed in our near ally an "inexplicable policy"—"a fast and loose policy"-" a Machiavelian policy;" and it is distinctly affirmed that France has turned her back upon England. Yet while these hard words are launched at Louis-Philippe, it cannot be said that he has violated the treaty; he is justified by its letter, and he has an equal right with Lord Palmerston to interpret its spirit. Yet we may say, either he has failed in his performance, or we failed egregiously in our stipulation. The author of the pamphlet does not hesitate to say, that if France had in June, 1835, made the movement beyond the frontier which England recommended, the object of the alliance would have been accomplished. The writer here speaks with a degree of confidence which no knowledge can justify; but surely, if so slight an effort on the part of France would pacify Spain, and that pacification has really the importance which our ministers ascribe to it, it is their duty to make greater effort to attain it. And if the favoured of Lord Palmerston is good authority, England could of herself an nihilate the Carlists. If this be so, which, however, we greatly doubt, the ministers are traitors to the interests which they acknowledge. Now what is the result of the policy of the Whigs? They made a treaty to pacify Spain, and to strengthen their intimacy with France. They have not pacified Spain; and they have created a cause of difference with France to last as long as their treaty. And though they do not advance one step towards their object, they are obliged, even now that the tragical episode of the legion is at an end, to feed at some expense an unfruitful warfare. France has found out her error, and her engagements, more cautiously framed than ours, permit her to withdraw without a breach of faith, leaving us alone in the scrape. * Speech of M. Thiers, January 14, 1837. † Page 107. Page 113. § Page 138. Our alliance, therefore, may be said to have been already dissolved, even as to its primary object. What right then have we to expect that it should be operative for those more indefinite and speculative purposes which Lord Palmerston had in view? We say, which Lord Palmerston had in view, for it is not the least remarkable part of this transaction, that its most interesting motives, and most considerable ends, have never been publicly acknowledged, save by one only of the parties. Surely, if there be any truth in the history, which, not for party purposes, but in the shape of a systematic treatise, we lately gave of our continental connections,* the Quadruple Treaty is obnoxious to every objection made upon principle, and illustrative, in its results, of the soundness of our doctrine. Viewed as a speculative scheme for making friends, to be useful in some unknown and unforeseen situation of affairs, it bears some resemblance to Mr. Pitt's Triple Alliance of 1788; but that alliance commenced with success, whereas this-we speak of the extended treaty of August-has had no result but controversial if not angry discussion between the principal allies, an unfruitful expedition, and an useless expense. In the former case, a war soon arose, out of causes altogether unforeseen, and under circumstances entirely new. Our ally has soon been numbered among our enemies. We will not deal in the speculation which our principles teach us to mistrust, by pointing at a quarter in which an enemy may appear; but we would ask Lord Palmerston to point out the possible enemy, formidable to our maritime, colonial, or commercial interests, against which our partners in the Quadruple Treaty would cordially assist us. But waving all these more general considerations, and looking only to the pacification of Spain, let us do one of two things. If the object is really important, and if it might (as we are told) be accomplished by one considerable exertion, let ministers go boldly to parliament for the means, and do that upon which, they say, the peace of the world depends. If not, let them disengage us from the Quadruple Treaty, by the payment of one sum of money to the Queen of Spain; and return to that "imperturbable neutrality" which Mr. Canning enforced and practised. Vol. xix. ART. VI.-1. Nederlandsche Legenden in Rijm gebracht (Netherland Legends versified), by M. J. van Lenuep. 6 Vols. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1832. 2. De Pleegzoon, een verhaal (The Adopted Son, a Tale), by M. J. van Lennep. 2 Vols. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1835, 22d edition. 3. Het Dorp over de Grenzen, eene Schets uit den laatsten Veldtocht (The Village beyond the Frontiers, a Sketch from the last Campaign), by M. J. van Lennep. Amsterdam, 1831. 4. Johanna Shore, Treurspel (Jane Shore, a Tragedy), by A. van der Hoop, jun., Dordrecht, 1834. 5. Poezij (Poetry), by A. van der Hoop, jun. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1836. 6. De Renegaat, een berijmed Verhaal (The Renegade, a poetic Tale), by A. van der Hoop, jun. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1838. At a very early period of our labours* we thought it incumbent to communicate to our readers the astounding fact, that the dykes, ditches, and marshes of Holland boast their Parnassus! Nor is it perhaps a fact less startingly inconsistent with our national opinion and ideal of a Dutchman, that those votaries of the muse who steal a few hours from money-making, or from needful recreation amongst tulips and tobacco, to climb the forked hill, are loved and honoured in that most trafficking of communities, instead of being hooted for pursuing an idle trade, as is the excellent and established practice of our own land. Yet so it is. Vondel and Cats amongst elder poets, Bilderdyk and Tollens amongst the living-i. e. when we last turned our eyes their way are assuredly not the names in which their countrymen take least pride. Since we thus wrote, the Dutch literary world has experienced changes; Bilderdyk, fondly denominated the Dutch Göthe, is, like his prototype, dead, and Tollens has ceased to publish. But, to supply their places, a new swarm of poets has appeared, inspired, it may be, in some measure by patriotic zeal to redeem their native language from the obloquy cast upon it by their former fellow-subjects, the Belgians, in the vanity of half Gallicism, at the time of separation; and as their German King Leopold has latterly discovered that Belgian independence must be a non-entity if not Teutonic, he is accordingly endeavouring to revive the old Flemish or Low German language in his dominions. But our business is with the literature of Holland, and to that p. 36. • See Foreign Quarterly Review, Vol. IV. we return. The writer now in activity, to borrow a French idiom, and who has most nearly succeeded to Bilderdyk's popularity, is Van Lennep, at this moment one of the chief law officers of the crown, and formerly mentioned as a promising poet, known by his translations. He has, however, long since discarded the literary go-cart of translation, and although apparently aspiring less to actual originality than to the title of a Dutch Walter Scott, has set forward independently in the various paths of the poet, the novelist, and the comic dramatist, following his great prototype both in the selection and treatment of his subjects. We shall speak of him in his several capacities, and first, in due order, as a poet. Van Lennep possesses considerable poetic powers, but he has not happily selected his model, however delightful that model in itself. Scott's excellences are of a kind to supersede the very highest strains of genius. His vivid graphic touches, the drama of his scenes, the strong individuality of his personages, and the living spirit of his verse, hurry the reader along, leaving him no leisure to miss the depth of thought or those loftiest powers of poetry which seem the native element of Shakspeare and Byron. In all his imitators we have invariably felt this want of a rich, high, and glowing tone; and Van Lennep, though far from deficient in general powers, though he describes faithfully, and brings the past strongly before us,-though his characters are well-conceived and individualized, and his verse spirited,-is no exception from the rule. The Netherland Legends are, as the name imports, all founded upon the early history of the Seven Provinces; we select Adegild, not as superior to the War with Flanders, but because the placing of the scene amongst the heathen Frisians, gives it more originality. The poem opens with the celebrated answer of the Frisian king to the missionary about to baptize him. The Monarch spake; and dread the words of fear No, priest-thy words are vain :-to Charles return : What boots, for me, your paradise divine, Here I remain, and with my people dwell, The Frisian spoke, and with indignant look Snatched from prompt hands the fur-lined mantle warm, The rite was o'er-the grateful choral strain, * "Returned so soon, blest Lord !---fulfilled each right?- Thus Grimwald, taunting, sought the royal ear, Two of the principal characters being thus introduced, the story of the poem may be briefly dispatched. It turns upon the necessity of King Radbod's atoning for his intended apostacy, by a human sacrifice. To procure victims, he sends out his son, Adegild, upon a Viking expedition, under the control of Grimwald. They capture a vessel, on board which are a Christian Prince and Princess of Northumberland, with a suite of ecclesiastics. Adegild and Grimwald quarrel about the treatment of their prisoners, and Grimwald throws the princess overboard; Adegild plunges into the sea to rescue her, when the savage Wilt, leaving them to their fate, returns home with his prize, and before the king imputes Adegild's loss to the sorcery of the Christian captives. One of the best passages in the poem is the following scene. The monarch is mourning in solitude for his lost son, when the bard forces his way in, to communicate his suspicion that Elegast, Charles Martel's envoy, is plotting the escape of the victims. The king, who was sitting as if turned to stone, rushes furiously upon the intruder with his drawn sword. Yet how the poet's face no terrors paint: Why fill'st thou, oh Wolf! all the valley with howling? |