FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.--"This biography cannot fail to attract the
deep attention of the public. We are bound to say, that as a political
biography we have rarely, if ever, met with a book more dexterously
handled, or more replete with interest. The exertions of Lord George
Bentinck in behalf of every assailed or depressed branch of British and
Colonial industry--the vast pains which he took in procuring authentic
information--and the enormous amount of private labour he underwent in
the preparation of those materials which have thrown a novel light upon
disputed doctrines of economy--are faithfully chronicled in this most
interesting volume. The history of the famous session of 1846, as
written by Disraeli in that brilliant and pointed style of which he is
so consummate a master, is deeply interesting. He has traced this
memorable struggle with a vivacity and power unequalled as yet in any
narrative of Parliamentary proceedings."
FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.--"A political biography of Lord
George Bentinck by Mr. Disraeli must needs be a work of interest and
importance. Either the subject or the writer would be sufficient to
invest it with both--the combination surrounds it with peculiar
attractions. In this most interesting volume Mr. Disraeli has produced a
memoir of his friend in which he has combined the warmest enthusiasm of
affectionate attachment with the calmness of the critic, and in which he
has not only added to his reputation, but we verily believe must
increase his influence even as a politician."
FROM THE MORNING HERALD--"Mr. Disraeli's tribute to the memory of his
departed friend is as graceful and as touching as it is accurate and
impartial. No one of Lord George Bentinck's colleagues could have been
selected, who, from his high literary attainments, his personal
intimacy, and party associations, would have done such complete justice
to the memory of a friend and Parliamentary associate. Mr. Disraeli has
here presented us with the very type and embodiment of what history
should be. His sketch of the condition of parties is seasoned with some
of those piquant personal episodes of party manoeuvres and private
intrigues, in the author's happiest and most captivating vein, which
convert the dry details of politics into a sparkling and agreeable
narrative. But the portrait which will stamp the book as one of the most
extraordinary productions of the time is that of Sir Robert Peel. It is
written with wonderful force and extraordinary impartiality."
THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS,
QUEEN OF FRANCE,
CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER LOUIS XIII.
BY MISS PARDOE.
Author of "Louis XIV. and the Court of France in the 17th Century," &c.
In 3 large vols. 8vo., with Fine Portraits, 42s. bound.
"A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful,
impulsive earnest, and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done
justice to by a female pen, impelled by all the sympathies of womanhood,
but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in every case
accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these
requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the
attractiveness of romance with the reliableness of history, and which,
taking a place midway between the 'frescoed galleries' of Thierry, and
the 'philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' has all the pictorial
brilliancy of the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the
other."--_Daily News._
"A valuable, well-written, and elaborate biography, displaying an
unusual amount of industry and research."--_Morning Chronicle._
"A careful and elaborate historical composition, rich in personal
anecdote. Nowhere can a more intimate acquaintance be obtained with the
principal events and leading personages of the first half of the 17th
century."--_Morning Post._
"A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange
vicissitudes of romance been more intimately blended with the facts of
real history than in the life of Marie de Medicis; nor has the difficult
problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the graphic power of
dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the
talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss
Pardoe's admirable biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly
sustained interest; as a historical record of the events of which it
treats, its merit is of no ordinary description."--_John Bull._
"A life more dramatic than that of Marie de Medicis has seldom been
written; one more imperially tragic, never. The period of French history
chosen by Miss Pardoe is rich in all manner of associations, and brings
together the loftiest names and most interesting events of a stirring
and dazzling epoch. She has been, moreover, exceedingly fortunate in her
materials. A manuscript of the Commandeur de Rambure, Gentleman of the
Bedchamber under the Kings Henry IV., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV.,
consisting of the memoirs of the writer, with all the most memorable
events which took place during the reigns of those three Majesties, from
the year 1594 to that of 1660, was placed at her disposal by M. de la
Plane, Member of the Institut Royal de la France. This valuable record
is very voluminous, and throws a flood of light on every transaction. Of
this important document ample use has been judiciously made by Miss
Pardoe; and her narrative, accordingly, has a fulness and particularity
possessed by none other, and which adds to the dramatic interest of the
subject. The work is very elegantly written, and will be read with
delight. It forms another monument to the worthiness of female intellect
in the age we live in."--_Illustrated News._
MEMOIRS OF THE
BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF
THE COURTS OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND GERMANY.
WRITTEN BY HERSELF,
And Edited by Her Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON.