Eugénie, the young laundress of the Bastille

Front matter

EUGENIE, THE YOUNG. LAUN DEES S OF THE BASTILLE. EUGENIE, THE YOUNG LAUNDRESS or THE BASTILLE. EY MARIN DE LA VOYE, IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HOPE AND CO. 16, GREAT MARLBOROUGH -STRL-KT. 1851. MAROHANT SINGER AND CO., PRINTERS, 1 7« GRAM -COURT, FT, NC II UI.CH- STREET. TO JOHN SHAKESPEAK, AS AN ORIENTAL SCHOLAR AND A LEARNED MAN, BY NOXE EXCELLED, THIS ROMANCE Is insnitrH BY HIS ADMIRING AND SINCERELY ATTACHED OLD FRIEND, THE AU THOU. Notting Hill, 1851. APOLOGETIC

Introduction

. The writer may be imagined sitting in a state of extraordinary excitement in his study — That book - crowning dissyllable 4 Finis ' has just been triumphantly in scribed on the last page of a manuscript lying before him — Overcome by mental exertions; satisfied with his mo tives, but painfully agitated by rising fears, relative to the problematical ' success' of his labors, Eugenie's panegyrist falls asleep — A Phantom, arrayed in a motley garb, which partakes equally of

INTRODUCTION.

. VIII royal and republican insignia, stands be fore him — The sleeper dreams that, he him self, mentally and bodily cloven in twain, each a duumvir complete, addresses himself. Phantom, pointing to the manuscript: — C'est un bel exploit que tu viens d'accomplir ! Je t'en fais mon compliment, beau sire. Et ou crois-tu que tout ce galimatias-la va te mener ? The "Writer, seemingly not at his ease : — Where honest endeavours to do well generally lead those who make them. Phantom, laughing immoderately: — Sot que tu es, avec tes bons motifs ! Ne sais-tu pas que tous les jours le monde dit une infinite d'inepties, et fait des sottises plus nombreuses encore, tout en desirant bien dire et bien faire As-tu cette verve qu'il faut pour ecrire?— T'es-tu suffisamment prete

INTRODUCTION.

. IX a l'appetit devorant qu'ont les Anglais pour tout ce qui fait de leur pays un chef-d'œuvre de perfection nationale ? — Leur as-tu dit, sans cesse, que le plus grand peuple de la terre, c'est le peuple britannique; l'homme le plus digne d'etre envie, tant pour ses qualites intellectuelles que pour sa bravoure et sa force prodigieuse, c'est 1' Anglais? — Tremble, ecrivain t^meraire, si tu t'es permis de r£ voquer en doute par la plus faible remarque, le moindre persiflage, ce degre' de superiority que reclament egalenient la soutane, la robe, la lancette, et le comptoir anglais : tremble, te le dirai-je en un mot, malheureux, si tu n'es pas Anglomane. The Writer, still sleeping, yet evidently striving to assume an indignant attitude: — You malign, insolent French ghost, a noble character, with whom you appear to be totally unacquainted Well-educated X

INTRODUCTION.

. Englishmen, in every rank of society, are ever ready to acknowledge merit, wherever it exists: there is not, in fact, a country where foreign talent meets with greater en couragement; not a state on the wide earth where real genius is so munificently re warded; where genuine virtue is more applauded and fostered. But I recognize thee, prejudiced intruder; thou art my former self, nurtured and tutored in the fair land of France; thou speakest word for word as once I should have spoken, but that was before England had become my adopted, most hospitable home: experience has since taught me that, between a good and talented Frenchman and a Briton, equally good and gifted, there is scarcely any difference but that which arises from the physical effects of vins ordinaires, ome lettes, and fricandeaux, opposed to roast-

INTRODUCTION.

. XI beef, plum-pudding, and ale ... . Therefore I tell thee, self of other days, without dread ing an imaginary malevolence, which thou art anticipating on the part of readers and critics against me, I have written, tant bien que mal, what I thought might amuse, duly mixed up with what I hoped would instruct, correct, and improve : impartiality, my rule ; public approbation, the guerdon I humbly seek to obtain. Phantom, gradually vanishing : — Comme tu y vas, pauvre imbecille : l'approbation publique ! ! Mais c'est une fortune ; c'est une couronne; c'est ce que des mil- Here de grands hommes n'ont obtenu que longtemps apres leur mort — et toi, tu as l'audace de t'attendre a en jouir, meme de ton vivant scarcely visible, and his voice becoming fainter: — Tout le monde va se moquer de toi . . . . La presse,

INTRODUCTION.

. XII toute la gent litteraire anglaise, indign<_e de ce que tu oses te servir d'une langue qui lui appartient en propre, et que tu assassines, sans doute, eflroyablement, va te dechirer en lambeaux. Tlie Phantom by this time has entirely disappeared, but a whisper is heard hissing the last ivords : — Tu peins trop d'apres nature . . . . tu te laisses trop aller au gre de tes impressions . . . . tu fais trop peu de cas de G-are ! gare ! . . . . Gare a . . . . The Writer, suddenly awaking, and dread fully alarmed, seizes the manuscript, and is in the very act of committing it to the flames, when, — reader, forgive him! — prevailed upon by an insurmountable impulse, he recklessly sends it off for publication. E U G E N I E.

Chapter I

The young Lord of Harecourt Knoll — Proper estimate of a tutor — A word of advice to fathers — Portrait of a good clergyman — A banquet at ■ the Knoll' — Rational plan of tuition — Naval men, connaisseurs of wine — Capt. Topaway — The Rev. Mr. Lindsay's opinion respecting the priestly character — Lady d'Harecourt. Count Hubert, as a boy, (the hero of this story, by-the-bye, as well as his sister, bore various titles, by right of inheritance from uncles and aunts who had left them vast possessions in foreign lands,) — Count Hubert, as a boy, was perhaps the most en gaging and the handsomest little sprig of nobility who ever graced a titled mamma's drawing-room, gambolled over the lawn in the front of any man sion, or rode by the side of any aristocratic sire in Great Britain. His was not the delicate beauty of so many children, who fret away their existence within the halls of luxury, pampered and spoiled vol. i. B EUGENIE. by weak-minded parents : he stood with all his youthful strength about him ; his undaunted energies; his masculine comeliness; a vigorous, spirited, healthy English boy, such as Marlboroughs, Nel sons, and Wellingtons are made of.

His father, Lord Alfred d'Harecourt, of Hare court Knoll, was a man whose principles had been formed by the unsullied examples of a long line of illustrious ancestry. He had imbibed the solid notions of the old school : his motto, a most appropriate Latin dictum, ran thus — " Be your words and deeds unimpeachable proofs of your high birth." — " Verba et facta de genere nobili insignia certissima." In his boyhood, which had chiefly been spent at home, under the judicious guidance of a pains taking and well-informed tutor, Lord d'Harecourt the elder had acquired a taste for literature and the fine arts. His worthy parents both patronized warmly the learned men of their times. Hare court Knoll was consequently a well-frequented rendezvous for all the most scientific, the pro soundest, and the best characters of those days.

With such an excellent early training, it is easy to imagine that Count Hubert's sire would endeavour to lead his son through the self-same path which he had himself so advantageously followed. And so he did, and with all the care EUGENIE. 3 and perseverance which paternal love and pride could bestow. The young lord never transgressed in a single instance without being instantly repri manded : he never failed also to receive proper rebuke, whenever it was observed that his respect and deference for his tutor was not of the most unbounded kind. Fathers cannot impress too forcibly on their children's minds the necessity of being submissive and respectful in the presence of their instructors. Young people who feel the slightest dislike or con tempt for those who have the responsible charge of educating them, will never profit by their teach ing.

A tutor, therefore, to be really useful and influential, should have the art of making himself beloved as well as admired. It has been proved that the greatest talents of a master are insufficient, when the pupil discovers the slightest mental imperfection or physical blemish which rendeis his person or his manners either ridiculous or offensive. No one could be said to possess in a higher degree than Lord d'Harecourt the sense of what is due to a well-bred scholar; he was always the first to show marked attention to the dignified clergyman who presided over the young count's studies, treating him on all occasions perfectly in the light of an equal. Indeed, it would have b EUGENIE. been very difficult, away from Harecourt Knoll, to discover which of the two felt the greater deference for the other.

Lady d'Harecourt, on her side, never allowed an opportunity to escape her in which she could make, not only her beloved Hubert, but ber darling Alice, feel how much she valued the virtues and intellectual acquirements of the Rev. Mr. Lindsay, the much esteemed tutor of her dear children. Amongst the many well-qualified University men who had solicited the honor of being entrusted with the instruction of the young d'Harecourts, none had appeared so truly deserving the pre ference as the Rev. Henry Lindsay, of Brazen nose. Modest, although far excelling all his competitors; gentle in his manners, notwithstanding a certain sternness of physiognomy, which was, however, far from repulsive ; of a prepos sessing exterior, being fairly tall and becomingly commanding ; he had all the good qualities which should constitute the important character of a Men tor.

His religious principles were high church, but high church in every good sense of the word, that is, not permitting himself the slightest devia tion from the sacred duties which pure-minded and conscientious priests, of whatever persuasion they may be, should observe. On the day in which he was received as an EUGENIE. 5 inmate in the d'Harecourt family, Count Hubert's father thought it necessary to invite his relatives and the neighbouring gentry to a splendid banquet at the Knoll, in order, said he facetiously, to introduce in a suitable manner the new partner he had admitted in his firm. The Rev. Mr. Lindsay proved himself on this trying occasion in every respect worthy of the confidence of his noble patron. He made no ostentatious exhibition of his learning; in his replies to questions regarding various systems of education, you could not have detected any of those bombastic details of " infallible methods " for arriving at knowledge with the least possible amount of labor.

Progressive instruction ; well grounded rudimental teaching ; constant practical, combined with theoretical information, was the firm basis on which this truly wise instructor founded his hopes of future success. The dinner had been removed, and dessert was enlivening the guests with its inviting and lively display of fruit, flowers, and cunningly wrought sweet-meats of every color and shape, when a red-nosed gentleman, somewhat corpulent, some what rough, and certainly not a little familiar and noisy, addressed himself loudly to the newly elected tutor, his vis-a-vis : — " Excellent port ! Mr. Lindsay. I was present EUGENIE. at the purchase of that wine—his lordship is a connaisseur in his way ; but I believe he knuckles to me in this important matter, for I could tell at any time the age and quality of any sherry or port that ever was imported into this country, from vintages out of date to the last year's, which latter, by-the-bye, was supremely good.

You, no doubt, are a first-rate judge of what classical men call Vinum Bonum." " Excuse me, Sir ; my knowledge on such sub jects, I must confess it, is very limited indeed." " What ! my good friend, you, a parson, and pretend to be unacquainted with that omnipotent cheerer of our hearts, ' the talismanic juice of the grape ! ' You certainly must be joking. Why, Sir, I have never known in my hfe any clergyman who did not do honor to the bottle, and that in right good earnest too. Shiver my timbers ! not a few of them, good fellows to the back-bone, have I carried well soaked to their hammocks." " I sincerely pity you, Sir, for having had the misfortune of becoming intimate with individuals so unworthy of their office, so mindless of their great responsibility." This reply was made with an expression of disgust which could not be misunderstood.

Cap tain Topaway, the red-nosed judge aforesaid, for he had the honor of belonging to His Gracious EUGENIE. 7 Majesty's navy, you must know, eyeing, therefore, his opposite neighbour through tlie vacuum he had occasioned in his glass, tossed off" the rest of his bee's wing and turned to the right-hand guest, evidently meaning, though he did not speak it, " That tutor of the d'Harecourts is a sorry sort of a chap : how they'd laugh at him on board !" Captain Topaway was one of the many cousins, proudly claiming consanguinity with the d'Hare court family. He was a good-hearted, honest sailor, full of bravery and carelessness, fond of every kind of jollity and merriment, and conse quently forming an acquaintance only with those who, like himself, loved fighting, revelling, and wine. It happened, by a mere chance, that the rol licking harum-scarum Captain was at the Knoll, for he very seldom indulged in " land-cruises," as he called them, being the veriest sea-faring son of the sea that ever existed : tossed on the foaming billows he had been from January to December every year of his life.

Lady d'Harecourt having overheard the un guarded remarks of her scapegrace cousin, and fearful lest her son, catching, unprepared, the injurious signification of such dangerous speeches, should remain under a false impression, turned to her darling Hubert, who was fortunately sitting EUG13NIE. between her and Mr. Lindsay, observing that her friend Topaway's boon-companions were not characters who could with propriety be set up as clerical models of piety, temperance, or any other Christian virtue. " Indeed they are very far from it, my lady," observed Mr. Lindsay ; " at the same time, although it very frequently happens that the chaplains of ships are intemperate at their mess, I have had the happiness of knowing a few who were the very reverse of those whom Captain Topaway so much admires ; men, I may add, considerably superior to their brethren on land, for this reason, that they have insuperable difficulties to surmount, jeers and scorns often to endure, and a most lamentable want of occupation constantly to wrestle with.

Woe to that unfortunate ecclesiastic, after all, who, be the temptation what it may, succumbs in one sinote instance, and, regardless of the sacred laws which it is his duty to promulgate, sets the example of excess or immorality ! His communion with God having been, by the very nature of his profession, more intimate than that of all other men, what will be the account expected from him on the great day of universal reckoning ?" Who can doubt that, with such a guide as this, the young lord of Harecourt and his sister, the EUGENIE. 9 Lady Alice, reached a degree of perfection in moral rectitude, as well as sound knowledge of every kind, which is very seldom attained; and so they did, for both were held up as examples of correctness and proficiency by the admiring parents of all the young aristocracy about the Court. b EUGENIE.

Chapter II

The Lady Alice — Great modesty of the writer — The pride of an affectionate brother — Portrait of a " Love," not over-drawn — Profitable style of education — Lady Alice's singing-master — Italian canzonettas, &c. — Use of variations — Music and crackers and sky-rockets sometimes equally euphonious — When variations are worth hearing — Mr. Lindsay's system of instruction with respect to drawing — School recommended to Lady d'Harecourt — Lady Alice's governess— Proper treatment of such a governess — A little slap at some high ladies and gentlemen — Who was like a rose-bud. Reference has been made once or twice already to Lady Alice d'Harecourt; it becomes, therefore, necessary to introduce the reader to this young lady in the way which is usually adopted by historians and story-writers who have sincerely at heart a wish to please their friends ; not only the fair ones, but those also of the other sex, who have of course no possible pretension to beauty, i. e. when they are neither fops nor fools.

EUGENIE. 11 " By the Lord Harry ! be patient, young gen tlemen," shouted the proprietor of a ' show ' at a fair somewhere near town : he had told the bystanders that, for sixpence each — only six pence — they should see the most fascinating little Eve that ever was created; with flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and alabaster skin, and this and that, and everything in the world that's pretty and rare. We promise no such exhibition of loveliness; but, observing an eagerness rather unseemly in our present peruser to know what sweet Lady Alice looks like, we would warn the curious inquirer that our graphic powers, at all times very humble, are not here about to treat any body with a portrait in any respect worthy of that body's unbounded admiration ; and a very excellent reason we can give for it. Having anot.her Love in this story far more beautiful than this, we spare our powers of description to lavish them all on One whom you shall be made acquainted with in due time.

It is always prudent, besides, in matters of this kind to remember that what seems beauty to one, to another may look vastly the contrary : to wit: an African maiden, whose lips, like — egad ! there's no simile for such — whose skin, copper like, shines better than the brightest copper, would not succeed in rivetting our own, much EUGENIE. less any young European's adoring eyes ; and yet, to her black gallant, she is what Venus was to Adonis; Psyche to Cupid; Nell Gwyn to Charles ' the Connaisseur.' Count Hubert could never be said to seem really proud ; to appear wholly wrapped up in his own self-importance; to be outwardly contemptuous; difficult, in short, of access, before the best of com pany, but when his darling, beautiful sister Alice hung on his arm or stood by his side. You might see him then, with head erect; consciousness of superiority in his whole bearing; a challenge in his large dark eyes, boldly flung at each youth of his own age who happened to meet him, saying, clearly enough not to need audible words, " I defy thee to show me one half so fair !"

It certainly must be confessed that the young daughter of Lord d'Harecourt was a rare and convincing proof that nothing can ever have been said in praise of woman's beauty, — of the excellence and endearing qualities of her mind and heart, — too commendatory or too much approach ing to a picture of perfection. Her education, like that of Count Hubert, had been most carefully attended; it might be said, indeed, that her attainments were those of a per son who had reached the middle period of life, so profoundly she seemed versed in every thing she EUGENIE. 13 had learned. It was also remarked that, through the judicious guidance of her fond parents, the beautiful child was far from devoid of female ac complishments ; but hers were accomplishments of a cast more modest than brilliant, more heart stirring than fraught with startling and surprising powers.

" How can you think of bringing my daughter such senseless compositions as these?" said one day Lady d'Harecourt to a great teacher of the metropolis who superintended the Lady Alice's studies in vocal music ; " would you kindly oblige me by explaining the words of that song?" " Indeed, Miladi, it would be impossible," replied the gentleman whom her ladyship addressed. " The words of canzonettas, burlettas, and sub jects of that kind, are very seldom intended to mean any thing : they are iu fact simply strung together to suit the notes." " Well, Sir," proceeded Lady d'Harecourt, "you will greatly oblige me, for the future, by avoiding to select any of those rhapsodies for the instruction of Lady Alice. I particularly request that the words she sings may invariably contain, if not the soundest morality, at any rate, sentiments in which delicacy of feeling and good taste prevail.

You are, of course, not in the least to blame, Signor," added her ladyship, fearing lest she EUGENIE. should have wounded the Italian vocalist's pride. " Gentlemen in your profession are obliged to follow the fashion ; and, as every thing is sacrificed to music in these days of ours, you naturally care very little about the language or the sense." Another day, both Lord d'Harecourt and his Lady being present, a celebrated performer was playing before a young audience, convened ex pressly at their friend's, the Baroness Dashville's mansion, in Grosvenor-square, a number of brilliant pieces ; they were considered chefs-d'-œuvre of their sort; so they were rapturously denomi nated, at least, by the ladies and gentlemen of the party. The bravoes and encores had been the loudest which were ever heard at any concert ; every one appeared enraptured with the astonish ing feats of the player.

Now, it so chanced that Lord and Lady d'Harecourt's darling children were in the saloon at this entertainment; and being always anxious to destroy the least false impression that Count Hubert or his sister might form on such occasions as these, they beckoned the young people to come and sit by their side. " How do you like this music, my dear ? " observed Lady d'Harecourt to her daughter. " Not over much, my dear mamma ; it seems wonderfully grand, but I cannot single out one EUGENIE. 15 little passage that contains any thing which I could call pure harmony." " You are right, my darling," remarked Lord d'Harecourt ; " there is no symphony in such music as that; but you must know, my Alice, that it is now the custom to disfigure, to annihi late, as it were, all the beautiful compositions of the old masters with what they term ' variations ;' and those are all old airs with variations which have just been played.

No sooner does any musical character get patronised for having done fair justice during a few years of his professional career to the soul-stirring creations of Handel, Mozart, and such Napoleons of real harmony, than he sets about festooning with crotchets and quavers every thing of the kind that comes in his way. I cannot compare the music of the present day to objects more similar than suns, crackers, Roman candles, and sky-rockets : it is an endless and lavish scattering of noisy projectiles, which serve only to show the author's want of real taste, and above all, his total inability to create." Sweeping assertions, such as those which have just been emitted, however well meant, require certain restrictions. When variations are judiciously brought in, as light ringlets and garlanded flowers encircling a fair one's brow, to adorn, but not to overpower, EUGENIE. the symphonious tout-ensemble of a celebrated morceau, then indeed they may be received as agreeable accessions : repetitions, however, of the most euphonic embellishments ever composed, too frequently recurring, seldom fail to pall even the most enthusiastic of amateurs.

" I hate variations ! " cried a fashionable belle, one evening at a musical reunion. " Why so, my sweet friend?" whispered her neighbour. " Because I hate them," the pouting one replied. " That is scarcely an answer befitting a performer, so much an adept as you are, ma chere : try again ; for I cannot consider my enquiry fitly replied to. Come; tellmegoodnaturedly when yon particularly dislike music with variations?" . . . " You tiresome man ! . . . I dislike all variations, but more especially when their crashing notes, for example, their rumbling shakes, their handsful, as it were, of chords, are so ceaseless that nothing else can be heard .... Then, Sir, it is that I hate and abhor them most. And I am sure that, were Beethoven, Handel, or any such cognoscenti as those, to hear the noisy trash, they would infallibly stop their ears, run out, or go mad."

" Bravo! bravissimo! la bella Donna . . ." EUGENIE. 17 Both the Lady Alice and her brother were acquainted with the art of drawing and painting from nature; aye, from nature! is the word; for Mr. Lindsay, who was a master-hand in that most delectable of intellectual recreations, had con stantly habituated his pupils to make their selec tions of subjects exclusively from things which had a tangible body and a visible shape. He objected very pertinaciously to the practice of those teachers who never set any other models for their pupils to copy but their own, or prints of landscapes and figures, which it always more or less cramps a beginner's hand to imitate, every stroke having been necessarily reversed in the process of printing. Lady d'Harecourt had once been persuaded by an intimate friend, for whom she entertained a high degree of deference, to send her daughter to a first-rate boarding-school.

" It would serve," remarked this friend, " to develop many of Lady Alice's good qualities, inasmuch as the advance ment of her school companions would naturally create a vast degree of emulation in her breast, without which neither the mind nor heart can thoroughly evince what they contain." Her ladyship, fully persuaded that her friend, who had two of her daughters at that school, must have been well acquainted with the happy results of such an education, made arrangements EUGENIE. 18 for the purpose ; and for the first time, and much against her inclination as a tender-hearted mother, she permitted the darlingchild to live for a short time out of her sight. Nothing could apparently answer better than did this trial for the first month or two. It happened, however, that Lady d'Hare court's daughter, though still very young, had anticipated the age of clear discrimination; added to which, she had already deeply and largely im bibed the rigid moral principles, the refined taste and sound sense of her tutor : this had rendered her not an incompetent judge of what was going on in that boasted establishment.

She consequently soon found that every thing was secondary which had not display ; hollow show for motive. Languages were taught by . natives,' it is true, but natives who, themselves, had never received the least particle of good instruction ; no learned professor to direct ; no superintending examiner to answer for the compe tence of teachers and the progress and proficience of the learners. The mistress of the school was herself a most talented, lady-like, and upright woman. She provided, as she thought, but who is omniscient? all the best means of information that could be procured. Her own rearing up, seemingly very good, having been in a young ladies' seminary of somewhat the same description EUGENIE. 19 as that which she had herself established, she could not conceive that any thing was neglected in the training up of her charge, scrupulously mo delled as it was on so excellent a foretype.

Astronomy, geography, moral philosophy, some portions of which every young lady should be made acquainted with ; the grammatical know ledge of their own native tongue, of which school misses and school-boys, in general, are so lamen tably ignorant ; with other important branches of useful tuition, were in that school, as they are, alas ! in the great majority of schools, matters of small moment, compared with dancing, singing, and instrumental music. Many precious hours were also spent in embroidery, knitting and netting, riding, and dressing becomingly, accomplishments, all of them, which most certainly deserve some share of attention, but which all sensible parents, who have sincerely the permanent welfare of their offspring at heart, would seriously condemn as occupations unnecessarily absorbing three-fourths at least of their children's time.

The consequence of these observations, made within herself by Lady Alice, was, that she did not leave home after the ensuing vacation. Some readers may urge that strictures like these on the schooling and teaching of young people are far from interesting to grown-up persons who EUGENIE. purchase or hire books of this kind merely with a view to be entertained. To those it will be replied, without any form whatever of ceremony, that, if such inuendoes do not please them ; if subjects connected with the improvement of the rising generation, interesting as they should be to those who sincerely wish the happiness of posterity, seem out of place in works which should be, according to their notions, exclusively devoted to amusement ; they must give up the perusal of our present pages ; for wherever an opportunity has offered itself to furnish remarks arising from practical experience or from thought, they have scarcely ever been overlooked.

The object of these volumes is mainly that of removing, if possible, all erroneous notions which may perchance fall in our way; of exposing abuses ; and in short, of endeavouring to enlighten the old for the advantage of the young. Lady Alice d'Harecourt had her governess, just like all other young ladies in similar stations ; the only difference was that Miss Fielding, the lady who had assumed that responsible task, was not expected, for a comparatively insufficient yearly stipend, to know and to teach every science and art required in fashionable society. Her province was simply, proficient though she was in most branches of education as an accomplished and EUGENIE. 21 talented young person of good family, to assist in the study of lessons usually appointed by the Rev. Mr. Lindsay. She often too lent her aid to Count Hubert, when he appeared occasionally arrested by some insuperable difficulty in the translation of his classical authors, or in the English essays he had to compose on subjects connected with ancient or modern history.