Reviewing the Pages.
What a set these Emperors, Empresses, Kings, Queens, Princes and
Princesses, Dukes and Duchesses, &c., &c., and all such great people
everywhere seem to have been, according to the _Memoirs of Count Horace
de Viel Castel_ (published by Messrs. +Remington & Co.+), who was a kind
of small French +Pepys+, a great snob, and a Parisian _Sir Benjamin
Backbite_. Yet there is in this +Horace+ something of the Horatian
satirist, only without the poetry.
"But +Horace+, Sir, was delicate, was nice,"
which is not exactly the characteristic of the writings of +M. de Viel+
Castel, who tells us
"Of birth-nights, balls, and shows,
More than ten +Hollinsheds+, or +Halls+, or +Stowes+.
When the +Queen+ frowned, or smiled, he knows; and what
A subtle Minister may make of that:
Who sins with whom:"----
And such like tittle-tattle _ad nauseam_, not sparing his own father and
brother. Imagine the sort of man who, night after night, could sit down
and chuckle over the composition of this precious diary! "With the
exception of the President and the Princess" (+Mathilde+, at whose house
he was perpetually dining), he says, "all the (+Buonaparte+) family are
good for nothing."
Of the _bourgeois_ class he writes, "They are always the same stupid,
craven-hearted, vain race." He was shocked at the production of _La Dame
aux Camelias_, and considered it as a degradation of the French stage
and a disgrace to the Public that patronised the performance. To have
shocked M. +de Viel Castel+ was a feat indeed. +Fould+ "the foxy Jew"
got ten millions out of the Credit Foncier; so the public was fool'd
also. +D'Orsay+ was "a ridiculous old doll," and the Duke of +Brunswick+
"an old fool." He sneered at England, but considered at the moment that
an alliance with us was the best policy. The Empress at one time went in
for spirit-rapping, and consulted a table which told her a variety of
lies about the result and duration of the Crimean War. Such a table must
have been very black and supported by blacklegs, though it had
sufficient french polish about it to be silent in the presence of a
bishop. It is not until the last page of the _Memoirs_, 1864, that the
name of M. +de Bismarck+ appears. I suppose that "Society," high, low,
or middle-class, has always gone on in much the same way, more or less
openly, according to the spirit of the Court, since what is called
"Society" came into existence; and invariably with a +Viel Castel+, or a
+Greville+, or some one even less particular and more observant "among
them takin' notes" for future publication. Mr. Bousfield, the
translator, seems to have done his work with a judicious regard for a
certain section of English readers. It strikes me that he has had the
good taste to omit a few anecdotes about some of our own exalted
personages which would not have been received with unmixed satisfaction
in every quarter. This is only a surmise on my part, as I am
unacquainted with the original work.
Let me recommend everyone who values a powerful study of character more
than a merely cleverly-constructed story, to read _Marzio's Crucifix_,
by +Marion Crawford+. I do not know what special opportunities the
author had for the work, but the characters are individually,
masterpieces. The scene between _Marzio_ and _Don Paolo_, when the
latter is wrapt in devout contemplation of the artist's _chef
d'[oe]uvre_, is most striking, and would have been more so had _Marzio_
carried out his intention of knocking his brother down, and disposing of
him out of hand.
With Mr. +Saunders's+ _The Story of some Famous Books_ (+Elliot Stock+)
I was rather disappointed, in consequence of there not being enough
"famous books," and not much more story than the needy knife-grinder had
to tell. Still, I thank him for introducing me to a delightful
name--"+Theopompus+ of Chios"--whom, for this present, I will take as my
godfather, and sign myself,
Yours, +Theopompus, Baron de Book Worms+.
* * * * *
+Staff Appointments.+--The Specials.
* * * * *
[Illustration: AN EYE FOR "ELECTIVE AFFINITIES."
_Sir Edwin_. "+Hullo, Angy? Stew-pan? Apron? Tripe and Onions? What on
earth's up?+"
_The Lady Angelina_. "+Yes, Dearest! Since _you've_ become a _Special
Constable, I'm_ doing my little utmost to become a Special _Cook_! I
thought it might bind us still closer together!+"
_Sir Edwin_. "+My own _Love!!_!+"]
* * * * *