A VISION OF SHAKSPEARE. BY NICHOLAS MICHELL. APRIL, with sun and shower, Chequered the meadows, and the lanes were gay She decked her brow with wreaths of freshest bloom, With lily brow and peachy cheek, And if we should resemblance seek, The eyes that told of thoughts unborn, The cheeks all dimples and all laughter, A cloud, and instant sunshine after. And opening sense, and thought revealing; More soul seemed, sun-like, o'er it stealing; As Spring calls forth earth's hidden flowers. Q favoured Mother of the embryo great! The Titan to o'ertop Mind's lesser throng, On whom, one day, all honours, slaves, would wait, The Drama's lord, the lofty king of songLittle she dreamt, while wont her watch to keep, Singing to soothe her cradled babe to sleep, The tiny object of her love and care, So sweetly frail, and innocently fair, Would from oblivion snatch her lowly name, And on his father's cast an envied fame, Weave round his own a halo brighter far Than circles kingly heads, or chiefs of war, Live in the hearts of millions yet unborn, Bringing to Drama's night refulgent morn, * Born the 23rd of April, 1564. Charm where'er Mind its standard hath unfurled, Mists rest on Shakspeare's boyhood, yet we know That turned to deathless song in after day, And thought Anne Hathaway's enthralling eyes With dreams of glory, made her gentle nest. Strength drawn from source sublime; An inward power to scale Fame's skyey height, He toiled 'mid crowds, caught life's most varied hues; His own, his own, the mighty world of Mind! There every land he trod, untrod before Each passion-wilderness, thought's shadowy dell, Of sadness, and each isle where pleasures dwell; All passions, feelings, unto mortals known, He grasped, portrayed, expounding life's great dream; Yes, the wide world of Mind was Shakspeare's own, O great procession, dazzling fancy's eye, Born of the Poet's teeming brain! Hamlet, the grave, deep thinker, wanders by, Mourning a father slain. Othello, jealous madness in his breast, Comes like a blast of terror, while he hears Sweet Desdemona praying midst her tears, *The "Midsummer Night's Dream." Ere his wrath sends her to eternal rest. Hers the ambition, daring, and stern will Rushes with blood-stained hand, and streaming hair. Thus Shakspeare, painting as with living beams, Thou Greece, where Sophocles could melt to tears! Mark fiery Calderon, and sweet Racine, And stern Corneille with pathos deep and keen, As the great sun of genius draweth nigh, How pale, how dim, their lessening orbs appear! His glory-flag unfurled; He charms, o'erpowers the intellectual sight, For subtile thought, for knowledge of mankind, Vainly around its base time's torrents roll, His wondrous works, that ne'er shall know decay, THE WOMEN OF THE BASTILLE. Ar the present day, the walls of a prison produce a soothing effect for they are erected between us and crime, and watchful justice stands sentinel at their gates. But the annals of the Bastille show us that intrigue and a generally unscrupulous wielding of arbitrary authority was the key which locked the hopeless cells upon the victims, whose names and fate have been partially preserved and handed down to us in a three volumed work which we accidentally came across the other day.* The unknown editor of the Memoirs introduces them with a bold preface, in which he describes the tortures of the prisoners in their narrow, dark, unhealthy cells, and expresses his delight" that the noblest nation on earth has annihilated these walls of tyranny, treachery, and despotism, which have demanded their victims for three centuries.' For all that, though, he expresses himself with extreme caution about the "prétendue religion reformée," whose noblest adherents pined in the Bastille. In the index of the work, which also gives the reason for imprisonment, thirty-six are indicated as pour religion," but in many other cases the Protestants were also charged with political intrigues. A lurid light is thrown on the administration of justice at that day by the noblest nation on earth by the fact, that of three hundred prisoners mentioned, there were no documents in existence about sixty-one : cause inconnue." What strange thoughts this produces! As under this section we find the most illustrious names of natives and foreigners included, it is possible that family reasons now and then caused the destruction of the documents connected with the trial; but we can only think with a shudder of the modest bourgeois men and women whom such cause inconnue" dragged from the bosoms of their families to bury them alive in the Bastille. The number of crimes such as murder, poisoning, forgery, rebellion, &c., is naturally small, because the Bastille was a state prison, but with a shudder we find attached to several hundred names the vaguest accusations. For instance : 66 Regardé comme suspect," "lettres supposées," "simples soupçons," "poisons," "magie,' a 66 &c., " pour avoir dit que la monarchie lui était insupportable," "pour la 29.66 fantaisie de vouloir empoisonner le Roi," "propos furieux contre le Roi," "tenu pour espion,' ouvrages contre les Jésuites," and so on. A certain Tournier was even imprisoned "pour trop d'humanité envers les prisonniers de la Bastille." "Pour satires," " pour libelles," frequently recur. The history of the Iron Mask is also largely discussed, though without any new dates or confirmation of the old ones, which have long become traditional. It is rather interesting to pass the female prisoners in review, for many notices throw a light upon the state of manners at that day which is really surprising. There are some thirty female names, and the majority are in the first volume, or in the olden time. Was greater indul * Mémoires Historiques et Authentiques sur la Bastille, dans une suite de près de trois Cent Emprisonnements, détaillés et constatés par des pieces, &c., trouvés dans cette Forteresse, et rangés par epoques depuis 1475, jusqu'à nos jours. A Londres et se trouve à Paris 1789. gence displayed afterwards? In later times, however, the cause inconnue of their arrest is found more frequently both with men and women, and their history was buried with them. Dame la Douze Lastours, an Italian, was condemned to death on September 27, 1603, on account of a conspiracy against France. This lady was confined in the Bastille, but we possess neither the order of arrest nor the decree discharging her: there is only a letter in French, which the lady wrote after the sentence of death was passed: "My child, my death has been announced to me. I find nothing terrible (fâcheux) in it, save the apprehension lest my death might entail yours. I have no words more but to bid you farewell. I am very unhappy that my lips cannot meet yours. Kiss these last lines, and you will thus kiss the hand that writes to you, the heart which speaks to you. Farewell for ever.” "In my prison, Friday, September 27, 1609." Papers must have been in existence about the lady, because other persons were accused and arrested with her. Dame Gobelin de Brinvilliers, of most notorious memory, executed on July 17, 1676, for poisoning. She was accused on January 27, 1662, and her trial was at once begun before parliament. She had first poisoned an intimate friend of hers of the name of Godin de Sainte-Croix, and was the first to teach the use of poison in France, and armed the hands of many criminals for a crime which offered so much convenience in its execution. From that date poisonings increased in Paris, and 'specially in the highest circles, to such a frightful extent, that the king appointed a special commission to investigate poisoning cases. Among others, the Duc de Luxembourg was banished from the capital for such an accusation. Several names have become celebrated through these poisonings, Le Sage, La Quibourg, La Vigoureux, La Bosse, and La Voisin. They were considered learned persons, and mixed poisons under the pretext of seeking treasures and prophesying. The Countess de Soissons was arrested on January 23, 1680. She was accused of having procured means from La Voisin, which were intended to liberate her from Mademoiselle de la Vallière. She was sought in the Tuileries, where she resided, but was not found, as she had taken to flight. We do not see what sentence was passed on the lady. The Countess du Roure. Her husband was Lieutenant-General of Languedoc, and she was thirty-five years of age. This lady was connected with La Voisin, and offered her considerable sums to put Mademoiselle de la Vallière out of the way. She had similar intentions against several persons, and gave the poison-mixer four pistoles. She was not arrested, only examined. The Countess de Polignac was also accused of having allowed La Voisin "to read her hand," and of wishing to poison Mademoiselle de la Vallière. Her sentence is not known. January 23, 1680. Marie Anne de Manichini, Duchesse de Bouillon, wife of the Duke, Peer and Grand-Chancellor of France, in her twentyninth year, born in Rome; accused of desiring to poison her husband, in order to marry the Duc de Vendôme after his death. She applied to Madame Vigoureux; La Voisin, who was also acquainted with the intentions of the duchess, is said, however, to have recommended her a man, who understood the matter better than Las Vigoureux. Madame de |