Eric Sutherland Robertson

“ Delavigne wrote but for the hour; he was too little the retired, contemplative poet, and too much the busy man of the world. In the region of politics alone does he shine; when he quits this sphere it is to descend to the level of utter common-place.
But as a writer Delavigne had many excellencies. He is never at a loss for language, yet expresses himself in a terse and vigorous style. The poet of reason rather than of imagination, he recognizes his own province, and is rarely tempted to flights of fancy beyond his powers. ”

“ But the poet had reached the acme of his reputation, and was now on the decline. In 1843 he quitted Paris to seek in Italy the health his labours had cost him. At Lyons his strength altogether gave way, and on the 11th of December, while listening to his wife, who read aloud one of Scott's novels, he gently expired, murmuring some verses.
By many of his own time Delavigne was looked upon as unsurpassed and unsurpassable. Every one bought his works; nay more, every one read them. ”

“ This long-desired event was hailed with the utmost satisfaction; congratulations reached Napoleon from every quarter of Europe, and fifty millions of human beings did homage to their future sovereign. ”