MR. COC H RAN E'S HISTORIC STUDIES.*
THESE slight sketches of memorable characters, as Mr. Baillie Cochrane himself styles them, are in reality highly coloured but un- finished portraits of Francis I., Louis XVI., and Count Egmont, men about whose lives there has always clung a special interest, both from the prominent part they have played in modern European history, and the strange perils and vicissitudes that have beset them. Obstinacy, infatuation, and self-reliance were traits of cha- racter that belonged to them all and are evident in every stage of their chequered careers, but more especially are they noticeable of Francis I. and Egmont. There was many a day when the door of escape was open to them, the passage thereto being darkened solely by their own infatuation and folly ; undue confidence in others and a blind determination to go their own way proved suicidal in the end ; they scouted human fallibility and despised alike the dictates of reason and the counsel of friends. It was only when the French monarch was a close prisoner at Madrid in the hands of Charles V., and only when the great Flemish leader lay in the dungeons of Ghent guarded by the Council of Blood, that they began to regret their folly and open their eyes to the fatal truth ; the entreaties of the Queen Mother could not turn Francis from his dream of Italy, nor could the wondrous friendship of William of Orange rouse Egmont from his false sense of security. In spite of the praise and adulation that Mr. Cochrane lays on with such an unsparing hand, the darker characteristics of his models will crop • Francis I. and other Historic Studies. By A. Baillie Cochrane. London: Hurst and Blacken. 1870.
up to dim the glory of their golden deeds, and then partiality and a sense of justice have to find their level anew. He is so enthu- siastic in the treatment of his illustrious men, and has thrown so much warmth and will into the scale of their virtues, that it would be uncharitable to put much hostile weight into the other scale ; for, after all, these studies are not intended for authoritative but for recreative biography. For a moment, however, we would pause to question what the author considers the perfection of Francis I. Of his public and political life, his share in the famous Treaty of Madrid is too well known to be entered into here,—Mr.
Cochrane has told the story in plain, uugarnished words, but it was distasteful and he cut it short,—but of his private life we.
read, " These graceful natures (mother, sister, and wife) rendered his home refined and happy ; and he associated, as true natures ever will, the happiness of home with the influence of women." This of Francis I.! who formed a select company of the most beautiful ladies at Court—" la petite bande des dames de la Cour "—a company of which Mr. Cochrane remarks, " powerful were their charms over the heart of the young monarch." He says thus much and no more of the gayest of monarchs. Has he never heard the royal name coupled with that of Madame de Chateaubriand, of In Duchesse d'Etampes, of in belle Feroniere? or that the King is said to have owed his death to the vengeance of the husband of the last- named lady ? Surely it was in this reign that the foundation was laid for the profligate manners developed in succeeding reigns, for it was now for the first time that ladies became constant attendants at the French Court. But one would hardly expect all this of the domesticated young monarch, content, as Mr. Cochrane infers, to be at home in the society of his mother, wife, and sister, charming though history has represented them to be.
But to proceed. Of the three ' studies,' we should select the Council of Blood as the most interesting, the most impartial, and the most complete. In character and subject too it stands apart from the others. The lives of Francis I. and Louis XVI. have been written and rewritten by pens innumerable, and in every history of France long chapters have been devoted to them ; but Egmont'a claims on posterity and his cruel death have not been so often or so prominently brought forward. As a matter of fact, we hear nothing of the Council of Blood until we have read some sixscore pages de- scriptive of the events preceding it, and the personages who were to become its victims,—principally the career of Count Egmont, the hero of this study, is dwelt on, and the treacherous way in which he was lured to his ruin by the smiles of his potent rival, the Duke of Alva. The downfall of the haughty Cardinal Granvella, the persecutions in the Netherlands under the Inquisition, the mission of Egmont to Madrid and his enthusiastic reception, the revolt of Orange, and the excesses of the Gueux are the principal land- marks that guide the reader on through this brief narrative. The inauguration of the Gueux or Beggars' League is given as follows :- "That same evening there was a grand banquet at Bredorodo's. The popular cause was pledged in goblets of the choicest wines. The enthu- siasm and excitement rose to fever heat. In the midst of the revelry Brederode rose. The windows of the old hall had been thrown open, so that the crowd outside might hear the speeches of these patriotic carousers. Brederode stood up amid vociferous applause. lie recounted the insult which the nobles and the whole nation had received, the Regent not having expressed her disapprobation of the contemptuous expression. Then he exclaimed, ' Yes, wo are beggars! Let it be so. Beggars we will remain until we are free ! Here is a beggar's wallet ! ' He pulled forth one with which he had provided himself, and filled it with wino to the brim. 'Let us drink success to the Beggars !' he ex- claimed. ' Long live the Beggars ! Vivent les Gueux!' Then a cry arose that echoed through the old hall, was caught up by the excited crowd, carried through street and square to the palace, and borne 'onward from village to village, to the distant plains of the beloved Fatherland,—' Vivent les Gueux cry once raised never to die out, until their liberties were recovered on the battle- field, and after many a long-enduring siege.—a cry more powerful to raise the hearts of mon than the alarm-bell rung on the watch-tower,- than even the iron tongue of the famous Roland. The people wanted a watch-word,—a rallying cry. They had at last found ono. To the hearth of every class glowing with any national sentiment that watch- word appealed. They had long required some symbol of union, some outward sign of the sympathy that united every age ; and that symbol in a few days would be borne by all. Vivent les GueuxI Through the long night the whole city rang with the shout. The burghers opened their windows, and re-echoed it back again. A spell had been evoked which was to arouse the most cowardly ; and Vive le Roi!' was replaced by the war-cry of the people."
Most of our readers will remember the ghastly picture by Gallait in the Exhibition of 1862 touching the death of Counts Egmont and Horn. The hideous scene there represented was the first act of those twelve judges of the Tumults, who formed the Council of Blood. This iniquitous tribunal was instituted by Alva, as the only way of getting into his clutches such powerful and beloved men as Egmont and Horn ; they both belonged to the sacred order of the Golden Fleece, and as such, could only be tried by the brethren of the Order; Egmont too as a citizen of Brabant, had claimed the privilege of the joyeuse entree, and Horn, as Conned the Empire, demanded to be tried by the Electors ; but they were alike met by the reply, " Non curamos vostros privilegios." Neither could the intercession of the Emperor nor of the Sovereign Princes of Bavaria avail against the decrees of Alva and his Council. Even the King approved the infamous murders, and uttered the well- known remark, " I have caused these two heads to fall because the heads of such salmons are worth more than many thousand frogs." Mr. Cochrane attributes this saying to Philip in 1564, in reply to his minister Granvella, who had written to him, " We shall never be masters of these provinces until we take off half a dozen of the heads of these Seigniors," but we have always under- stood that he made the exclamation in 1568 on hearing of the execution of Egmont and Horn. Mr. Cochrane thus describes part of the closing scene in poor Egmont's life :-
" When he stepped forth to walk across the great square to the scaf- fold, his countenance seemed to rekindle with the memories of early days, of his great victories, of his youthful triumphs ; and he appeared loss the victim led to the scaffold than the conqueror of the armies of France in the hour of glory. The bands of guards that surrounded the scaffold formed a lane for the procession to pass ; and the gazers, as they crowded every housetop, could see his white and black plume as it waved in the morning breeze. The Grand Provost was on horseback at the foot of the scaffold, with a red wand in his hand ; and in front, at the corners, were two poles, with spikes for the heads of Alva's victims. When he stood on the scaffold, and that goodly countenance was seen for the last time, a deep wail of indignation and sorrow burst forth ; and so universal seemed the movement, that the three thousand Spanish infan- try closed their ranks, to prevent any attempt at a rescue. But the movement was unnecessary—the very intensity of the anguish led to despair. The Netherlanders had euffered much—they lay down at night and found no rest—they rose in the morning, but not to hope ; but no per- secution, no sorrow, no misery could realize to their mind a scene so absorbing as this spectacle of woe."
Mr. Cochrane often makes one fully realize the scenes he de- scribes, for the description is minute and vivid enough to have come from the pen of an. eye-witness. His choice of language when he has a distinct subject to describe is always discriminating and generally happy ; the writing, though picturesque, is unequal; it lacks power and is sketchy, but on the whole is bright and never tedious, attractive and full of incident. Now and then we meet with passages lacking definition and containing covert allusions
that are somewhat unintelligible. For instance : — " As the memory of Sir Philip Sidney is still dear to England, so that the highest praise which could be bestowed on one now living, who is
worthy of all praise for his blameless life, was to call him the Sir Philip Sidney of our generation—just so is the memory of Egtnont cherished in the Netherlands." Who is the ' one now living' ? It has been said in verse that the late Prince Consort wore the white flower of a blameless life,' but he is not now living. To whom, then, can Mr. Cochrane refer ? Again, when speaking
of the Duke of Alva,—" Few men have left a reputation for more heartless cruelty, few were more avaricious, few more vindictive, only one more treacherous." Who was this one more treacherous individual ? The name that rises most readily is that of .Judas Iscariot.
Although these studies do not reach the standard of perfect biography, they sparkle as the page of romance, and we think Mr. Cochrane has quite sustained the reputation he gained when be issued his Historic Pictures. The book is sure to be widely read, and in light-reading circles it will find a host of admirers.
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