Another pamphlet in
Paris by La Guéronnière-i.e., by, or with the approval of, the Emperor has
appeared. It narrows the temporal power and estate of the Pope to nothing, but
keeps the French force in Rome for the safety of his person. Its title is
"France, Rome, and Italy."
The Duke of
Buckingham's historical notices of the reigns of William IV. and Victoria, and
the autobiography, letters, etc., of Mrs. Piozzi, have been my reading for some
days. The former is very superficial, a mere skimming of Hansard and the
newspapers; the latter, by A. Hayward, Esq., Q.C., is full and entertaining.
Both published since January 1, 1861. Hayward takes occasion to give a hit at
Macaulay's style of writing history, which is worthy of extraction, as
undoubtedly just: "Action, action, action, says the orator; effect,
effect, effect, says the historian. Give Archimedes a place to stand on, and he
would move the world. Give Talleyrand a line of a man's handwriting, and he
would engage to ruin him. Give Lord Macaulay a hint, a fancy, an insulated fact
or phrase, a scrap of a journal, or the tag-end of a song, and on it, by the
abused prerogative of genius, he would construct a theory of national or
personal character, which should confer undying glory or inflict indelible
disgrace."
SOURCE: George
Mifflin Dallas, Diary of George Mifflin Dallas, While United States
Minister to Russia 1837 to 1839, and to England 1856 to 1861, Volume 3, p.
435-6
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