RIENZI.
Tuouce by no means secure against rigorous criticism, and pos- sessing less completeness than several of Mr. BULWER'S former productions, Rienzi is without question a great step onward. The affected dandyism, the obtrusive egotism, the undue preten- sion, which more or less marred his earlier works, is gone; and in addition to his brilliant eloquence, literary qualities ofa higher order are displayed. He has very skilfully superadded romance to history ; vivifying facts without falsifying them ; and filling up the chasms which history leaves in the private lives of its actors, in a manner that interests the feelings without offending the reason. Though any attempt at dealing minutely with costume and manners is disclaimed, the latter are presented with suffi- cient general truth for the public, if they are not capable of fully satisfying the antiquary. But Rienzi exhibits merits of a higher order and of a more purely intellectual character. Written with a political object, the author of course has to bring prominently forward the four great parties which then divided, as they now and always will divide, mankind in times when public thought and great abuses bring on a transition state. There are first, the Roman nobles—the privileged order; swoln with insolence and pride, prompt in quarrelling and contending with each other, but always ready to combine to resist or oppress the people. Next come the representatives of the moderate party ; personally most amiable and chivalrous—Adrian di Castello is a favourite of Mr. Bus.- WER'S—but politically somewhat silly ; too virtuous actively to assist the order in its crimes, too powerless to resist them with • effect, too fine, and with too many prejudices of birth, to assist the people when they could guide their course, and countenancing them only when their aid can be dispensed with, and when their conduct has the equivocal appearance noted by the satirist—" Se- quitur fortunam, ut sniper, et edit danmatos." Rienzi himself personifies those enthusiastic reformers whose vanity and self-will, coupled with the unreasoning and brutal resistance they meet with, stimulates their rashness to outrun their prudence. The people, or rather the leaders of the people, form the fourth party ; for Mr. BULWER, somewhat improperly as it strikes us, presents the reader with demagogues instead of specimens of the masses, and paints them after the Jack Cade and Coriolanus fashion, though, withal, they come out as well as any—honest but limited in their views, not so vain as the Tribune and his wife, rather averse to bloodshed, and swayed (as who is not ?) by the circum- stances which affect them in their personal or business characters. A fifth sort—happily for the world its members are not a class—is the mere adventurer, who with more blood than means, with more ambition than industry, and without any fixed principles, is ready to prey upon society in a recognized manner. In the work before us, the tribe is represented by Walter de Montreal ; whose bravery, gayety and romance, cannot disguise his selfish- ness, dishonesty, and fearful indifference to human life. But though all these abstract principles are represented in Rienzi, they are not brought out as mere abstractions, nor are they always combined in single persons. The characters have all .a family likeness to the class to which they belong, but strong traits of individuality are superadded to each. This is more es- pecially the case with the aristocracy. The brutal licentiousness of Martino di Porto, the polished but heartless and gibing sar- casm of Luca di Savelli, the animal ferocity of Orsini, and the • combination of political insolence and private debauchery as indi- cated in Stefanello Colonna, are capitally sketched. But the best character amonst them, perhaps the best in the volumes, is Stephen Colonna—the beau ideal of a true Roman noble of that, or, in spirit, of a noble of any age. He is polite, politic, and placable to all kinds of conventional vice, more especially if perpetrated by his own order ; not bad-natured even to the rabble, when they do not offend .him ; of great age and experience, and so confiding in both that he cannot conceive the possibility of any thing happening which has not happened before ; and who is thus carelessly blind to the signs of the times even at the moment of revolution. Nor is Stephen without a redeeming virtue : his feudal or baronial spirit supports him with some degree of dignity throughout, but more especially in the night before he is condemned to death, whilst the rest of his companions are sunk in abject fear. Adrian di Castello, in despite of his political weakness, is finely con- ceived—perhaps too finely for his age. But no matter ; he represents in perfection the amiable qualities of opinion, action, and contemplation—a delightful union of aristocracy, chivalry,
Walter de Montreal, if Mr. Buiwzu does not rise to the universal comprehensiveness of epic and of tragio persons, he at least ap- proaches very near them.
It is observed by Mr. BULWER ill his preface, that " this fiction belongs, as a whole, rather to the epic than he dramatic school," —chiefly, it would seem, because the story "extends over a space of sonic years." But in strictness, the action of an epic is compres- sed into a moderate space of time, and proceeds with unbroken con- tinuity. Many events both past and future may inde. ed be intro- duced, to give variety to the fable ; but they are introdu,ned.episo- dically. Thus, the reader is acquainted with the destrue!tn of Troy, or with the war in heaven and the creation of the worlu, by the naratives of iEneas and Raphael ; the future greatness of Rome, and the destinies of the children of Adam, being in like manner unfolded by vision : by both of which contrivances, the story is suspended—not stopped, as in Rienzi, by chasms that are to be jumped. But though Mr. BULWER seems laxly to de- scribe his work, its extension over a number of years imparts in- terest and variety of a sort which, to parody the polite Frenchman, if not epic, deserves to be so. By opening with the youth of Rienzi, and the unpunished slaughter, in an aristocratical melee, of his boyish brother, a clue is at once given to the future Tribune's zeal for " equal justice," whilst it furnishes besides a very sweet picture of fraternal love, and a spirited one of a baronial skirmish. The next step shows Rienzi, after the lapse of years, an officer of the Pope the favourite of the Romans, and a secret conspirator : and the action proceeds nearly unbroken through his accession to the Tri- buneship, by the connivance of the Pope and the choice of the People ; describes the just severity of his earlier sway, and the effects it produces ; paints his ostentatious vanity and profuseness, and—as it seems to us—the follies which lead to his first fall. At this stage, too, Nina di Raselli, the wife of the Tribune, is introduced on the scene; as well as his sister Irene, and her lover Adrian di Castello, together with Walter de Montreal, a Knight of St. John, and leader of a band of free companions. The ensuing scene of the romance is Avignon; where Rienzi is confined as an excommu- nicate, and whence the exertions of his wife procure his release; and in this section both Adrian and Montreal again appear in strong contrast, but yet in keeping with their former characters. Adrian is saddened, and still more sobered, by pilgrimages under- taken in consequence of the supposed death of Irene : Montreal is hardened in consequence of the death of his mistress, his bouyant gayety evaporated, his lightness become levity, the once frank cavalier turned into the ambitious and grasping soldier of fortune, with little remaining of his former qualities save a reckless courage and a blind indifference to future danger : the two illustrating an important moral—that years and misfortunes refine an intellectual, but degrade a sensual nature, however brilliant the qualities of the latter may appear. The last stage is Rome; where Rienzi appears no longer as the Tribune of the People, but the nominal Senator of the Pope. And here the leading persons again mingle,— Adrian to escape with Irene, Montreal to intrigue for a crown and to perish on a scaffold, and Rienzi to be massacred in an in- surrection—not, however, spontaneous, as in history, but fostered by one Angelo Villani; a circumstance which slightly mars the moral Mr. BULWER would point. This, of course, is only the outline of the romance : there are many other incidents and circumstances which round or carry on the story, — a small tournament, too much like that in Ivanhoe ; descriptions of the plague of Florence and of the army of a condottiere ; besides the public events of Rienzi's career, and the private romance of the principal persons of the tale. In despite of all this, we agree with some of our contemporaries in thinking that Rienzi will not be the most popular of Mr. Bun- WER'S productions : not, however, because the characters have too much intellect, or that the work itself' is too high-toned. or too exquisitely finished in its texture, or even from the greatness of the subject ; but because the author has endeavoured to combine incompatibilities. Rigidly speaking, Rienzi contains the ele- ments of many distinct productions. The career of the hero is pure history, neither admitting the suspense nor the coherence of a fable ; whilst by an under-current of commentary historical narra- tive is frequently turned into historical disquisition. The love of Rienzi, the character of his wife, (Mr. BULWER, by the by, has dropped the barber-uncle of the Tribune altogether,) and many of the supplied incidents relative to public events, are of the nature of historical romance; and are apt to puzzle the reader as to their truth or falsehood. Irene and Adeline sink down to the mere love story. The writer having started with the view of pointing a great moral lesson to nations, from an action which does not, as we shall show presently, contain the conclusion he would draw, is often compelled to force the reader's attention, by commentary, to points that otherwise might have escaped him, as not arising naturally from the circumstances of the case. Hence, many parts are of the nature of a philosophical treatise, or a collection of reveries; which causes a suspension of the story while the author discusses or the characters retlect,—a suspension most trying to the patience of a novel-reader, and inducing a critical defect of this graver kind—that however excellent these reflections may be in themselves, they are untrue, as being out of place; neither adapted to the character nor to the age, but emanating from a reflecting intellect of the nineteenth century. From all which it follows. that Rienzi is liable to be unfairly depreciated if the attention be more fixed upon its form than its spirit; especially if no allow- ance be made for the circumstances which have caused its It is not, however, as at work of fiction only that Rienzi has to be considered. The vg.ilurnes have 1vnen written with the twofold view of defending the character of RieNzt—of tracing his fall, not to himself, but to the people he would fain have served—and impressing mpressing ur;kti mankind the moral, • • • • • " that to be great and free, a People must trust not to individuals bus themselves—that there is no sudden leap from servitude to liberty—that. it is to institutions. not to men, that they must look for reform,' that last lyaond ttiehour.—that their own passions are the teal despots they should subdue, th;•ir own reason the ti ne regenerator of abuses. With a calm and
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the individual ambit ion of a citizen can never elli!ct evil : to be !'v,patl'eaft of chains, is not to be worthy Of freedom—to massacre a magistrate 1 :',1t 'to ameliorate the laws. The people write their own condemnation when- ever they use characters of hinotl—and theiis alone the madness and the crime, 'if they crown a tyrant or butcher a victim."
Has the writer succeeded in both or either of the objects he pro- posed ? Has he cleared RIENZI ? Has he, from the facts advanced, impressed satisfactorily on the reader's mind the conclusions they have made upon his own?
We think not. In the historical facts of any importance we can trace but little difference between BuLyvica and GineoN: and in the truth of estimates awl conclusiow, it is a question of authority between GIBBON and SISMONDI, and the author of Pet- ham. But passing this, and taking his own statement, we must ;demur to the judgment he has passed. A people who could be • stimulated as touch by appeals to their ancient celebrity as by the pressure of tyranny to throw off the yoke of their oppressors, and who afterwards quietly submitted to the rule of the new leader so long as he ruled them prudently, exhibit prima facie a capacity for liberty, or at least for good government. The mere circum- stance of' a complete revolution being effected in the state without violence or bloodshed, is proof; in the absence of all evidence to the contrary, that the body politic was at a crisis when it was in the power of a skilful physician to effect a cure. Of the various characters and minute circumstances by which Mr. BULWER in the progress of his story biases the unreflecting reader against the people, the majority if not all are the necessary product of his invention; and of this we are sure, that from the letters of GEORGE WASHINGTON much stronger charges can be brought against the Americans than any that can be established from the pages of BULWER against the Romans. We are not going to institute any comparison between people so different in times and circumstances, or to speculate upon what might have been the fate of Rome; but most assuredly, had WASHINGTON conducted himself at all like RIENZI, the independence of the United States would never have been gained in 1782. A noble—we follow Mr. BULWER—iS most justly condemned to death : his pardon is solicited by his ancient enemy, the first patrician in Rome : Masai, very properly and politically, refuses it ; but he con- veys an insult in his refusal, and that with the manner of a mime. Instead of leaving the nobility to themselves, he compels their attendance upon his own person and his wife's; irritating their pride, and exciting their passions, without any public object what- ever. Had he lavished the treasures of the Pope in expenses conducive solely to public splendour, instead of things which ministered to his own vanity, Mr. B ULWER:S argument—that show was necessary to gratify the people—might be received as an ex- cuse, though not as a justification ; for a peculiar character, espe- cially when pretending, like Ittartrzt, to mysterious revelations, can always dispense with the accessories of show,—as we find the two most feared and venerated characters in an ignorant age, the saint and the conjuror, are generally persons of plain appearance. To offend the Pope whose officer he was, and to bid defence to the Emperor, saying nothing of the mummery by which the cere- monial of the Lateran was accompanied, were points as impolitic as presumptuous ; and equal to this was the affair of the conspiracy. If the Patricians really conspired against him, their treason should have either been passed over as if unknown, or they should have received the punishment of traitors. To arrest the Barons of the state, ignominiously to confine them during a night, to drag them publicly before a tribunal with circumstances of insult, and then, an opposition to the votes of his council and the demands of the people, to pardon them, in a set speech which conferred upom them new titles, was worse than a blunder—it was a madness. These latter circumstances, and not the faults of the people, caused the downfal of the Tribune. The Barons, as might have been expected, withdrew to their estates, and then marched upon Rome; they were repulsed by the citizens, but with considerable slaughter ; and our author represents them as grumbling,—as well they might, for Rome was mourning through the folly of her lender. in the mean time, the Patricians applied to the Pope; who never, per- haps, sympathizing with the projects of RIENZI, and now unable to comprehend them, excommunicated the Tribune. A band of soldiers marched into Rome ; the treasury was empty, and money was wanted to oppose mercenaries to mercenaries; an appeal was made to the people; but, either disgusted with RIENZI, or cowed by the excommunication, or influenced by both, they declined to act, and the reign of the Tribune was at an end.
History has passed more slightly over the events of RIENZI'S Senatorial career.; and though our author tells all that is to be told, the spirit and interest of the political reformer (we are not now speaking of the romance) was pretty well exhausted. The prestige of wisdom and success had vanished from his name; he came to an empty exchequer when money was essential ; he was invested by the Pope with the Patrician character of Senator, but it was not meant that he should exercise the office; and he
lag into engagements with Montreal, which he never intended to fulfil. The brief duration of his second sway was distracted by a baronial war, and (in the romance) by a conspiracy which he de. tected, and most certainly punished ; but the attempt to levy a tax excited an insurrection, and RIENZI was assassinated, or rather massacred.
Let us not be supposed as vindicating either the supineness or the last sad violence of the people ; or as blaming RIENZI for not restoring, what the knowledge of the nineteenth century slum's was obviously impossible, the good state* of old Rome. But in a philosophical romance, we must look closely to see that the phas. madly be correct, aid that false opinions favourable to the privi- leged few be not impressed upon the thoughtless many in the trui-e Of an exciting fiction. In a work, too, professing such objects, some redeeming point—a single character with some kind of worth, on the popular side—might have been drawn; and it would have been better, in painting the vices of the people, to have impressed upon the reader the tyranny and misgovernment in which they originated. Mr. BULWER holds that RIENZI S110111(1 ht: judged by the weakness of humanity and the circumstances of Lis age : it is not asking too much from a Reformer to concede the same justice to the People.
We had noted many passages for extract; but we find on re- ferring to them, that to separate them from the context would do injustice to the work. The notice besides has already occupied as great a space as we can spare. Let the romance-reader seek the volumes—and political readers too, with the lights we have given them.
• RIENZI.3 favourite expression.
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