The Moldavian HelenReviewed work(s):Source: The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 3, No. 17 (1854), pp. 350-351Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20538316 .Accessed: 31/10/2011 12:34

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

http://www.jstor.org

350 THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF ART.

Provence (afterwards Louis XVIII.); and the Dauphin (afterwards Louis XVI.). We have reproduced a well-ex ecuted etching (p.. 348) of z. fleur-de-Us garland, with a sym bolical trophy of a cock, arms, and objects of art, by the last of these princes.

The. landscape by the Duke de Chartres, which forms our third "illustration (p. 348), is the production of a genuine artist. This Duke de Chartres could be no other than Louis Philippe Egalit?, so familiar to those who have read of the first French

revolution; for on a leaf of the portfolio containing his

engravings it is stated that he was born in 1747. Besides the natural taste for art which distinguished his family, he had a good master in L. C. de Carmontelle, who was an agreeable and faithful attendant, and after whom he engraved a small

plate called " The Manoeuvre of St. Cloud," hi the year 1764.

His six landscape etchings are really masterly productions. It is not easy to determine the origin of the charming

landscape by the Baroness of Herlac, as she is termed in the

manuscript (p. 349). It is by some thought to have been

etched in 1756, from a drawing by Leprince, whose name

. appears on the margin of the plate. The pointed, lean, and

slender figure (p. 349), like that of a gentleman-usher or a

bailiff, was engraved some years later by Count Hessenstein, from an .original design by M. de Hamilton, who intended this to be accompanied by a huge, fat, thick personage, with immense paunch and perruque.

Our readers may, probably, feel more interest in the next

illustration (p. 349), which is a drawing by the Princess

Charlotte, whose premature and melancholy death threw such a gloom over the English nation, no less on account of the

singular private virtues which endeared her to the country, than the interest attaching to her position as heir-apparent to the throne. Eugene de Beauharnais, the former viceroy of

Italy, who enjoyed equal popularity, was the father of the amateur artist who drew the last figure on the preceding page.

The son, Eugene Napoleon, of Leuchtenberg, who was a cousin of the present Emperor of the French, married the late

Queen of Portugal, whom he left a widow. There is a series of seven small etchings by him, the first of which is repre sented in our engraving.

The collection from which the above illustrations are taken was founded in the year 1754, when the following announce

ment was put forth respecting its contents :?" France loves

the arts and cultivates them with success. This collection

will supply striking proofs of that attachment, which extends

from the sovereign to the peasant; and among the various

ranks pervaded by it, may be observed some persons whose .

pursuits would seem almost incompatible with this pure and

elevating study. It is divided into three parts : the first con

tains engravings by our kings, princes, and princesses ; the

second is composed of similar worries by ladies of rank, who

have amused themselves in this way ; and the third includes

the productions of lords and other persons of distinction,

arranged in alphabetical order." *

Such was the purpose contemplated in one of the most

curious portfolios in the French national collection of plates. At the time of its original formation it was intended to include

only engravings by amateurs ; but ten years afterwards draw?

^ ing8 were added.

Among other works deserving of notice is a small landscape

bearing the following inscription, Ludovica Maria, fecit, anno

1762, and presented by the royal artist to Countess de Baschi, at Parma: The lady mentioned in the above inscription is

Louisa Maria Theresa of Parma, second daughter of Don

Philip, Infant of Spain, and Louisa Elizabeth of France.

THE MOLDAVIAN HELEN.

Thb poet very properly asks, " What laid old Troy in ruins ?"

To this question but one answer can be given?a woman did

it all. . What mischief has the sex not done in its time!

To -please a woman Alexander set fire to his capitol, and

Anthony made war with the conqueror of the world. To

avenge the wrongs of a woman, monarchy was abolished in

Rome; and at a later day they usurped the wealth and power of Spain. Anne of Austria frowned on the libertine addresses of Buckingham, and the result was a war with France. The

Duchess of Marlborough ruled Queen Anne, and in con

sequence we won the laurels of Blenheim and Ramillies. Mrs.

Masham became Anne's favourite, and the protestant suc

cession was in such jeopardy, that if Anne had not suddenly

died, the Revolution would have been nullified, and James

III. would have ascended the throne from which his father

had been righteously expelled. Women^ then, have done con

siderable damage. The author of the " Frontier Land of the

Christian and the Turk "

has given us a new instance of this

old saw. "

Moldavia, "

writes a native historian, "

like the Troad, offered the spectacle of a bloody war fought for a princess ; she was as beautiful as Helen, and more innocent." The

lady thus referred to was Roxandra, the daughter of Basil

Luper, Prince of Moldavia about the middle of the seven

teenth century, and of a Mahoinmetan slave of Circassia, whose marvellous beauty had captivated the Christian prince. The daughter was still more beautiful, and five kings and

sovereign princes of Eastern Europe disputed her hand. The

father preferred the great warrior, Prince Coributh of Roland ; but the daughter declared she would consent to no matrimo

nial arrangement till she had first seen and spoken with her

betrothed. Soon after, she was at the church of the Three

Saints on Palm Sunday, when it is the practice for every one

to carry the branch of a tree. A youth of noble mien, in the

disguise of a humble merchant, approached her and gave her the

branch he. held in his hand, at the same time gallantly saying, what every polite young man would under the circumstances, that the fatigues of his long journey were amply repaid by a

glance of her bright eyes. The lady, of course, after such a

flattering speech, took the branch?it was the least she could

do?and on looking at it, she found on it a piece of paper

bearing these words : " He, who burns to win thee, swears

to succeed or die." The fair Roxandra concluded this burn

ing youth could be no other than Prince Coributh, and gave him a smile which sent him away happy. Poland was then

at war with the Cossacks, and being beaten, was compelled to sue for peace ; but the Cossacks required, as the first con

dition for treating, the delivery of Prince Coributh into their

hands. The young prince escaped into Moldavia, where he

assumed the name of Argyrius. Here, under this assumed

name, he became known to Prince Luper, who took him into

great favour, and became known to the beautiful Roxandra, to whom he made love without declaring his real name, and

by whom he was rejected on the ground that she would never

marry any one but Prince Coributh. Meanwhile the Cossack

hetm?n, after humbling the pride of Poland, returned to the

Ukraine to consolidate his power, and to demand the hand

of Roxandra for his son Timush. The young lady would

not hear of a Cossack husband. The hetm?n grew furious, and invaded Moldavia : Luper was compelled to yield. But

now the scene again changes. The war broke out again; Coributh returned to his country, and by his presence gave new courage to his troops. Fortune was unfavourable to the

Cossacks, who were driven back to the Ukraine. The Prince

of Moldavia then considered himself at liberty to retract his

promise to marry his daughter to the hetman's son, Timush, which she implored him to do ; and he now offered her hand to

the victorious Coributh, whom she professed to love. The

Polish suitor advanced with a numerous and warlike retinue to

claim his bride. Timush armed his Cossacks to avenge the breach

of faith of the Moldavian prince. The rivals met on their way to Jassy ; a long and bloody battle ensued, and Coributh was

killed. Bitter were the tears Roxandra shed, and still more

bitterly did they flow when Timush summoned Luper to keep his word and to give him his daughter's hand. Roxandra, on

her knees, besought him not to do so. Her heart was in the

grave'with Coributh ; she never, never, could be another's

On the other hand, the boyards, fearing the country would be

ravaged by the Cossacks, called on her father to save his

country by sacrificing his child. The prince was in a terrible

THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF, ART. 35?

dilemma?he knew not what to do. He wished his country

well, but he loved bis child. At length, however, the crisis

terminated, and he resolved to sink the father in the prince. Palm Sunday again came round, and the reluctant bride again went to the church of the Three Saints in procession, and

prayed for a miracle to come to her assistance. As she

reached the church, she was shocked by seeing those horrid

Cossacks again?the very men that had slain the loved one of

her heart. Timush advanced from amongst them, and pre sented the branch he held to the princess, who was considered a patriotic, broken-hearted victim, and who did not dare to

raise her eyes from the ground. He said, "I have won thee, and I claim thy hand."

It was the voice of Coributh, of her brave, and beautiful, and lost one. She looked up and saw, instead of a fierce and

savage Cossack, the handsome youth on whom she had

bestowed her heart a year ago, who, in the humble guise of a

merchant, had made so lasting an impression upon her sus

ceptible bosom.

*" You are Coributh," she exclaimed. " I am Timush," was the reply.

Timush or Coributh, she married him. It seemed that all

along it was with Timush she had been in love. Coributh she

had never known, not, even when he was at her father's

court; for he had kept his name secret, in the hope that he

would soon return victorious in his real character. The story goes on to say, that when the reiriains of the Polish prince lay in state before interment, and the features ofArgyrius were .

recognised, she wept for her friend thus suddenly cut down, but less bitterly than she had done for her lover. It is to be

hoped that she had no reason to regret his loss. It is to be'

hoped that Timush made her a good Cossack husband, and

that she made him a good wife. If Moldavia had had its

Homer, the world would have been familiar with her charms. As it- is, her name has long been buried in the forgotten past. All that we know of her is, that she was beautiful ; and that

for that beauty men fought and died. Nor is it necessary that

we know more ; imagination will do all the rest.

THE HON. FRANCIS HINCKS, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA.

This gentleman, to whose enlightened mind and patriotic

spirit Canada is so deeply indebted, is the fifth and youngest son of Dr. Hincks, of the family of Hincks, of Breckenbrough, in Yorkshire, which traces its origin to William Hincks, an alderman of Chester, in 1641. Dr. Hincks, who settled

in Cork in 1791, was an active member of the. various

benevolent societies in that city. He was minister of the

Princes-street Presbyterian Congregation, and secretary of

the Cork Institution ; and was also distinguished for his

success in the instruction of youth, several educational works

that he published having had a large circulation, and many of his pupils having risen to eminence in their respective

professions. In addition to the ordinary branches of school

education, he gave lectures on natural philosophy, chemistry, and natural history, which were open to others as well as his

immediate pupils, and which led to the establishment of the

Cork Institution, of which he may be regarded as the founder.

In January, 1815, he removed to Fermoy, in consequence of

obtaining the mastership of the classical school there, founded

by John Anderson, Esq. ; and in July, 1821, to Belfast, having been elected head classical master and professor of Hebrew in

the Royal Institution of that city. .

Edward, the eldest son of Dr. Hincks, obtained a fellowship in Trinity College, Dublin, in 1813, and is now rector of

Killyleagh, a college living, which was formerly of consider

able value. He is the author of several papers in the Trans

actions of the Royal Irish Academy, on subjects connected

with Egyptian, Persian, and Assyrian archaeology. In the

two latter his discoveries have attracted much attention, in

connexion with those of Colonel Rawlinson, the same results

having, in several instances, been obtained almost simulta

neously, by the one at Killyleagh, and by. the other at

Bagdad. He was the first to determine the forms and values

of the Assyrian numerals, from an examination of ancient

inscriptions at Van, an account of which was published in the

Journal of the Asiatic Society. The second son, William, is distinguished as a naturalist ;

he was the first professor of natural history in Queen's Col

lege, Cork, and has lately obtained a similar appointment in

Toronto, Upper Canada. The third son, Thomas, has been

curate of Belfast, and is the prebendary of Cairne Castle ; he

has the character of being one of the most active and efficient

clergymen of the established church in Ireland.

Francis, the subject of the present notice, commenced his

education under his father, at Fermoy, and continued it in the

classical and mathematical school of the Belfast Institution, then presided over by Dr. James Thomson, afterwards

professor, of mathematics in the University of Glasgow. In the month of November, 1822, he entered the collegiate

department of the institution, and attended the Logic and

Belles Lettres, and the Greek and Latin classes during the winter session. But in May, 1823, he expressed a

desire to be a merchant, and it was finally arranged that he should be articled for five years to the house of John

Martin and Co., previously to which, however, he had three or four months' initiation into business habits in the office of his father's friend, Samuel Bruce, Esq., notary public and agentu The period for which he was articled termi

nated in October, 1828, but he continued with the firm until the beginning of 1830, when he sailed to the West Indies as supercargo of one of Messrs. Martin and Co.'s vessels. He

visited Jamaica, Barbadoes, Trinidad, and Dem er ara, but not

meeting with an inducement to settle in any^f these colonies, he agreed to accompany a Canadian gentleman, whom he met at Barbadoes, to Canada, and proceeded to Montreal and

Toronto, his object being to ascertain the nature of Canadian commerce and business. Having gleaned the information he

desired, he returned to Belfast in 1831. In the following summer, having determined to settle in Canada, he married

the second daughter of Alexander Stewart, Esq., linen mer

chant of Belfast ; and soon after sailed to New York, and

proceeded to Toronto, where he became the tenant of a

house and store belonging to and adjoining the office and residence of Mr. Baldwin, who had emigrated from Cork several years previously. From him Mr. and Mrs. Hincks and their youthful family received attentions and services, of which Mr. Hincks often speaks with grateful recollection.

He soon obtained a high reputation for knowledge of business, and when Mr. Mackenzie attacked Mr. Merritt and others, re

specting the Weiland canal, and obtained a parliamentary in- '

vestigation, he was chosen, with another merchant, to examine

the accounts. He was also appointed secretary to a MutuaL

Insurance Company, and cashier to a new Banking Company. On the appointment of Lord Durham to the government of.

Canada, Mr. Hincks commenced the Examiner newspaper, in

the editorship of which he displayed such remarkable vigour and talent, that he was invited to become a candidate for the

representation of the county of Oxford in the first parliament held after the union of the Upper and Lower provinces. The

'

election was held in March, 1841, when Mr. Hincks was

returned by a majority of thirty-one over his opponent, a

gentleman named Carroll. Shortly after his election, .he was

appointed by Sir Charles Bagot, Inspector-General of Fi

nances, and was obliged in consequence to vacate his seat, and