The Sun. — London, England, 1830-01-01 00:00:00

SHIPPING INTELLIGIiNCE.-(THIS DAY.) FROM LLOYD'S. PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 31.—Wind E.—Arrived his Majesty's ship Espiegle, from Plymouth. FALMOUTH, Dsc. 30.—Wind E.—Arrived the Portena, London, from Buenos Ayres; Flora, Wal ton, from Smyrna ; and Industry, Selles, from Seville. DOVER, DEC. 31.—Arrived the Rising Sun, Bibcoe, from New Brunswick. PLYstount, DEC. 30.—Off Port, the Apparence Pesci, Mark, from Malaga. CoRK, Dye. 29.—Arrived the Swift, Newton, from Newfoundland. LEITH, DEC. 22.—The Mary, Miles, from Go thenburg to London, is arrived in these roads ; she sailed the 19th inst. in company with the following vessels, after being cut two miles through the ice, viz. :—The Bedford, Cadenhead ; Industry, Wood ; Celerity, Horn—all for London ; Anne, Hutchinson, of Shields; Fenwick, Vernon, of Sun derland ; Providentia, Dunlin, for Gibraltar ; and Trade, Wood, for Wincasset. RAMSGATE, DEC. 31.—A large brig, the part above water, painted red, with a black nozzle, a white 0 in the head, and a cross of two small at chors, cut in the wood, has been picked up, and brought here. Off Holyhead, the Rover, from the Brazils. The following has been received at Lloyds : Admiralty Office, December 31. Sir,—ln return to your letter of this date, lam commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, for the information of the Committee managing the affairs of Lloyd's, that their Lordships have directed the Admirals of Plymouth and Cork, to send out any vessels that may be disposable to the Chops of the Channel, to afford supplies to the trade which may be kept out by the easterly winds. (Signed) - JOHN BARROW. To Ur. Bennett, Lloyd's. THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY). CORN .EXCHANGF. The supplies of Grain are short, and the frost conti nuing, there is no business doing in Corn on board of ship. The demand for Corn in granary is very limited, and the trade for Flour is net brisk.: ARRIVALS. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Flour. &Wish . 1,040 qrs. 2,150 qrs. 1,550 qrs. 3,250 sacks. Irish —l 1840 I ()reign CITY MARKETS.—(TWO O'CLOCK ) Suczu.—There has been an increase of business in plantation Sugars this week, and good Sugars, of which there are now very few remaining in the market, obtain advanced prices, while inferior sorts are without any alteration The total amount of sales this week may be stated from 1600 to 1700 'Aids. In Foreign Sugars few bargains have been made ; there is some enquiry for yellow Havannah ; of Mauritius some parcels have changed bands at former prices; Bengal Sugars maintain the late advance, Is. a 2s. per cwt. ; a quantity of Manilla has been sold at an advance of 6d. a Is. on the last sale prices ; in Refined Sugars a few purchasers have been in the market, and have taken common packing lumps at former prices ; ordinary large at 705., and fair small at 725. per cwt. A few contracts have been entered into for future delivery from 721. a '73s. per cwt. The stock of Plantation Sugars is now rather above what it was at this period last year. COFFEC-There have been no pudic sales of Planta tion Coffees. Some ordinary St Domingo by private contract realised 31s. 6d., and good ordinary Brazil, 325. 6d. per cwt. Ruat.—The market for Jamaica is heavy, and where sales pressed the former quotations could net be maintained. The same observation will apply to Leeward.; prices are nominal. SHAKSPEARE'S TRAGEDY of MACBETH. Every body is acquainted with the story of the witches in the tragedy of Macbeth ; and those who know any thing of the localities of the North of Scotland are aware that the spot at which Macbeth met with the witches is almost univer sally supposed to have been on the estate of Brodie, between three and four miles on the other or west side of Forres. Such is undoubt edly the place at which Shakspeare himself sup poses the celebrated interview to have occurred. There are the strongest grounds, however, for believing that the immortal poet, and Boethius, the celebrated historian, who is his authority on the subject, were both in error in regard to the locality of the meeting in question. Macbeth is represented by Shakspeare as asking the ques tion, when he met the witches, " How far is't called to Forres r and was on his way at the time from Fife to Inverness. It necessarily fol lows, therefore, that the spot referred to could not have been the place of the meeting between Macbeth and the witches, for in that case the murderer of King Duncan must have passed through Forres, and been several miles on the other side of it, and consequently could never have asked the above question. There is every probability in the supposition, that as it is dis tinctly stated, that the interview in question oc curred on a moor, that moor is the one in the vicinity of Gateside, about eight miles from .Elgin, and four on this side of Forres. Such, at all events, was the route which Macbeth must have taken in going from Fife, to Inverness through the town of Forres, and on this hypo thesis, and on no other, can we perceive the propriety of his putting the above question of " How far is't called to Forres ?" Since on this subject it is worthy of observa tion, that no distinctive character seems to be ascribed by the overwhelming majority of Shak- speare's readers, to the three weird sisters or witches, whom Macbeth met on his way to Forres. They had, however, peculiar offices assigned to them. " They were," says Pennant, the tourist, " the Fates, the Valkyrie of the nor thern nations, Gunna, Rota, and Skulda, the handmaids of Odin, the arctic Mars, and styled the Chusers of the Slain, it being their office in battle to mark those devoted to death." It would appear from several ancient and veritable authorities, that besides singling out those that were to be slain in battle it was the special office of these three witches to conduct their spirits to Valhalla, the paradise of the brave, the hall of Odin. Shakspeare seems to have been aware of this ; hence the lines : We the reins to slaughter give, Ours to kill, and ours to spare : Spite of danger he shall live, Weave the crimson web of war. Though these witches are described by Shak speare as having been when his hero met them " withered and wild in their attire, it would ap pear from several historians, that " they fre quently presented themselves as very beautiful in their appearance, covered with the feathers ol swans, and armed with spear and helmet."— Elgin Courier. HUNTING INTELLIGENCE. ♦TTOINTMENTS FOR THE PRESENT WERE. (In consequence of the frost, the Appointments for several Fox Hounds have not been made as usual.) The Conbclc Harriers, on Monday, at Ell Barrow ; and Friday, at Haskings's Penning—at Eleven. The Crai•en Hounds, on Monday, at Foxfield-gate ; Wednesday, at Sandleford-house ; Friday, at Catmore ; and Saturday, at An'vil Farm—at Half-past Ten. Sir Richard Sutton's Hounds, on Monday, at Kettle thorpe ; Thurs r day; at Branton Wood ; and Saturday, at Skellingthorpe—Otleven. The Hambtedon Hounds, on Wednesday, at Basing,- park"; and FrOsy, at Botley-gate....at Half-put Ten. DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. rxICKs OF STOCKS THIS Rank Stock '•' 216 1 per Cent. Red. 94 1,414 1 per Cent. Cons. - shut 1% per Cent. lOO% >itto Red. 100( 1 per Cent. Ann. Ditto, 1126 Ditto Scrip — R,rik 1.. Ann. Ditto 30 years 'ndia Stock shut litto Bonds — pm. - South Sea Stock shut 1 Old Annuities — New Ditto shut Ex. Bills, Xl,OOO 2d. 77 '7B pm. Ditto lid. 76 pm. Ditto ....AM 2d. 77 '7ll pm. Ditto.. , ....... lid. '76 pm. Ditto Small 2/1. 77 78 pm. Ditto lid. '76 —pm. Bank for Account — India for Account — Cons. for January ..., 95 1 A, 5 % PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAT AT ONE O'CLOCK. Austrian Bonds Brazilian Bonds 72% 3% . 3 Peruvian Bonds l B l/4 Buenos Ayres Bonds ...... ....„, , Portuguese Bonds Chilian Bonds Prussian, Old Colombian Bonds — Ditto, New — Ditto, 1824 Danish Greek Bonds —..----... 1823 — Ditto, 1825 3O French Rentes, sp. c. —l. —c. Guatimala i --- Exchange —C —r. Mexican Bonds ,-- 3 per cent. —t —c. Ditto, 1825 — Exchange —f. ---• PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AY ONE O'CLOCK. Paid. Per Share. Anglo Mex. Min. Co. (iss. at 5/. pm.) £lOO 43 Brazilian Imp. Min. Co. (iss. at 51. pm.) £2O ni Mexican Mining Co. £3s Real del Monte Mining Co. £4oo United Mex. Min. Co. (iss. at 2/. pm.) £39% , Protector Insurance Comp 75 73 18% 1 4 £1 12 PRICES OF IRISH STOCKS, DUBLIN, DEC. 29. Bank Stock —;St. Patrick lnsur. (per sh.) Consols, 3 per cent. Gov. Stock, 3% per cent. RN !National Ditto — Ditto, New — 'Patriotic 'itto — 4 per Cent lOl4 Hibernian Bank 19% Gov. Deb. 354 per cent.... 99'4 Provincial Ditto — Royal Canal Stock 45 Royal Irish Mine — Grand Canal Stock — , Imperial Mine — City Deb. 4 per cent. —' Mining Co, of Ireland — Ballast Ofßee Deb. 4 p. c. --' Commercial Buildings — occur again in each successive year, with a melancholy regularity, which ,can leave no doubt of the inefficacy. of the sanguinary ex amples that have been made. We are, therefore, sacrificing human life uselessly—wantonly— and, it may be added, wickedly ; and we do, moreover, what no society has a right to do— we commit an act of cruelty equally barbarous and unjustifiable with the massacres of their pri soners of war by savage nations. Necessity is the only excuse for putting men to death ; and, as Sir JAMES MACINTOSH once observed in his place in Parliament, the burthen of proving the existence of that necessity must fall upon the Legislature which sanctions the system ; and heavy indeed is the responsibility of a Govern- ment which, from ignorance or prejudice, takes for granted that no other means of repressing crime, besides capital punishment, can be found. Our criminal code is framed in the spirit of vengeance or vindictiveness, rather than with the simple view of repressing crime. All that society can reasonably hope to do, or has any right to do, is to preserve themselves from the commission of offences against persons and pro perty. This is to be done—first, by the pre vention ; and secondly, by the repression of crime; but vengeance belongs to GOD alone, who knows men's motives, and is able to punish them justly according to their deserts. This society can never do ; for it cannot read men's hearts, and can, therefore, never determine the degree of their moral guilt. Exertions are making all over the continent to procure the total abolition of capital punish ments, and to substitute for them a well regulated plenipotentiary system. The prize essay of M. LUCAS, lately crowned at Paris and Geneva, has excited a sensation of horror, which bids fair to pave the way to an amelioration of Criminal Codes in general. In many of the Swiss cantons, in Hanover, in Louisiana, and in the Duchy of Oldenbourg, the penalty of death has been effaced from the statute-book ; the Emperor of RUSSIA has intimated his intention of shortly proposing its cessation throughout the rest of his dominions ; the Swedish Diet are at this moment occupied with the same considera- tion ; and in every European state, except Eng land and France, executions for crimes against property are becoming less and less frequent. Yet Great Britain, to her shame and scandal, has executed in the last five years the following number of her subjects, which has steadily in creased in each succeeding year, viz. : In 1824..+ 1825 1826 1827 1828 . 49 . 50 ~ 57 ~ 70 ~ 79 ....mil..•• Total 305 Surely it is time that we should pause to con sider the wisdom and justice of this sanguinary career. People are shocked at executions, and feel that humanity is outraged, but why do they not do more ? Why do they not petition Par liament to spare the lives of their countrymen, and to mitigate the civil severity of the laws— which are as impolitic -in themselves, as they are inconsistent with the precepts of that religion " which would not seek the death of a sinner, but " rather that he should turn from his wickedness " and live." THE FUNDS.-(THIS DAY.) • Et t * to* ' :4.4 11111111.' , vy IA -Pv7-0-. • LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 1, 1830. The French Papers of Tuesday have been received, but they contain no political news of interest, and we have no room for extracts. The e )1d is very in'e Ise on the Continent : PARIS, DEC. 28. The English Journals have not arrived for these two days. The German mails are also in arrear. The letters from the departments uniformly announce a delay of 12, 24, and 48 hours in the arrival of the mails and diligences, caused by the snow with which the roads are covered. FRENCH FUNDS.—PARIS, DEC. 29.—Five per Cents. 108 f. 15c. 10c. ; Three per Cents. SSE '7oc. 55c. ; Bank Stock, 1.887 f. 50e. ; Naples Stock, 91f. 20c. ; Royal Spanish Loan, SOf. ; Rente Perpetuelles d'Espagne,Js9. Exchange on London,—one month, 25f. 60c. ; three months, 25f.145c.—fours Authentique. The following are extracts from German Papers, received this morning : BERLIN. It is known here that the health of the Emperor Nicholas daily improves, though private letters say that he had not yet quitted his chamber, which is, however, conformable to the natural course of his convalescence. It is said that General Von Muffling, before he assumes the command of the fortress of Mayence, will take a journey to St. Petersburgh, in attendance on one of our Princes. It is affirmed in some of the circles here, in contradiction to other accounts, that it is the Prince of Coburg who is to ascend the throne of Greece. The inconceivable attack on our former Minister, the Baron Von Stein, which is contained in the memoirs of Bou rienne, and was .not known to the public in general till Von Stein himself replied to it, has excited the indignation of every honest mind. On the 7th of this month it was fifty years since his Majesty the King, then nine years of age, entered the Guards, in the reign of Frederick the Great. In conformity with the unaffected senti ments of our beloved Monarch, this jubilee was kept without any ostentation, but with the more cordiality in the bosom of the Royal Family. M. C. A. G. Pleschel, a merchant, who died in London, in 1821, induced by attachment to his native city, Magdeburg, left a legacy of 35,0001. sterling, to found a school there for poor children of both sexes, and to maintain it by the interest : all the formalities in England being complied with, the sum for the foundation ready from the accumulation of the interest, and the Royal permission obtained, this charitable institution will be founded at Burg, near Magdeburg ; eighty children will be received into it, and brought up as artisans or domestics, and thus the memory of the generous founder be remem bered with gratitude by the latest posterity. BUCHAREST, DEC. 4. General Kisseleff, the new President of the Prin cipalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, has arrived here. The day after his arrival he assembled the Executive Divan, and addresed it in a speech, of which the following is the substance :—" The Em peror has confided to me the administration of these provinces; I am sensible of the importance of the duties imposed on me, and shall be happy to justify the choice of my Sovereign, your powerful protector, who has strengthened the protection which his an cestors granted to you. It is for you;gentlemen, to complete the work. When the war commenced it was his Majesty's intention to make it as little bur densome as possible to the principalities, and its burdens would certainly have been light if the authorities of the country had been penetrated with the idea that difficulties thrown in the way would be injurious to the general interest. A new organiza tion is preparing by a committee, whose members chosen from among yourselves, are distinguished by their perfect knowledge of the laws and customs of the country. I inform you, gentlemen, that the present mode of administration will be wholly retained till it shall be satisfactorily proved that changes are necessary or useful. Lastly, I ven ture to hope that we, guarded by the wisdom of the brave commander of the army, shall fulfil the gene rous intention of your august protector, and that the memory of this time will be transmitted by a happy people to the remotest posterity." Manuel Argiro Paulos, one of the members of the Divan, made a suitable reply to this speech. EXCHANGE ON LONDON. FRANKFORT. Dzc. 24.—Two months, 1514. CITY, TWELVE O'CL OCK We have only ship letters from Smyrna, and a French mail. By the latter we have accounts that four contractors have appeared as bidders for the French Loan of 80,000,000 francs, which bidding takes place on the 12th inst., as follows :—M. Aguado has made the first offer, the Receiver- General the second, M. Delessert the third, and a Company the fourth. The offer of the Receiver- General is said to be 106 f. for the Four per Cents. It was reported on the 'Change at Paris that in the Syndical Chamber the Exchange Brokers de cided, after a spirited discussion, that the measures previously adopted, of giving a deposit of 15 per cent. on the purchase of the Royal Spanish Rentes, is to be postponed for a month. Accounts from Tiflis state that part of the Russian army has passed the above town to go into winter quarters. Private letters have been received from Berlin of the 24th December, which are silent in regard to the relapse of the Emperor of Russia. The Consol Market, which left off yesterday ' very heavy at 9.5 i i for the Account, opened in the same state this morning at 95i, and soon after were done for the opening of Consols at 95 ; but at present may be quoted at 951. . This decline is ut ile late Executions at the Old Ba ile y su g - tributed to the French Rentes having come I per gest not only the question put by the Times— cent. lower, owing to the near approach for the contract of the French Loan. why so long time should have elapsed between In the Foreign Market little or nothing doing as the conviction and execution of these unfortunate yet. This moment a re-action has taken place in Consols, which are 951 i for the Account. men ? but the still more importan t one, of the ENGLISH FUNDS. justice and utility of such a spectacle at all. Two Bank Stock, 216 17 3i per Cent. 100 i t / t India Stock, New 4 per Cent., shu of the criminals had offended against property 3 per Cent. Cons. shut 4 per Cent. 1826 105i1 only ; yet they suffered in the same manner as Do., for Account, 951 i India Bonds, 71 72 Ditto Reduced, 941 S Exchequer Bills, '77 8 the other two, who had been convicted o f bur- FOREIGN FUNDS. Brazilian, '731 1 Greek, 29 1 30 / Buenos Ayres, 27 29 glary and an attempt to murder a watchman. Mexican, 26 7 The law therefore has in this , a mon g continual Chilian, 26 28 Peruvian, 18 Colombian 251 61 Portuguese, 60 61 instances, punished the violation of life exactly Prussian, Danish, 741 751 the same as forgery and sheep-stealing—thereby Russi an, 109 1 French, 5 per Cent. 1 08 i . 4 Ditto, 8 per Cent. 831 4 Spanish, 10i 11 allowing, that it makes no distinction in the guilt TWO O'CLOCK. of him who fraudulently obtains the Government Theaccount in the French Papers of the Receiver; General having bid 106 francs for the 4 per Cents money, or his neighbour's mutton, and him who for the new French Lean is incorrect, as we under attempts to shed his neighbour's blood, stand from good authority that there are five Lists, It is hi g h time that something should b e done amongst which is that of Messrs. Rothschild, and the prices of the different biddings cannot be ascertained for the abolition of capital punishments for until the 12th January. offences against property at least, if not altoge- The Consol Market continues in the same state of inactivity as in the early part ofthe morning, at they. Experience has sho wn that executions do i 951- i 1 for the Account. Nothing s yet known as not answer the end 0 f deterring from crime ; positive whether the Bank will extend their dis that the great uncertainty of their taking place counts beyond the limited time. , prevents the fear of d eath from operating as it I In the Foreign Market no speculations of come tiwas intended ; and that forge r y , sheep-stealing, qt prices 'enee are going :ouc h am at e p a r s e y se e n st t, er a d n ay d . mast of the and other offences, for which so many of our 7' RR Vli 0' CL 0 cr. fellow•creatures are annually lint to death', Consols for Account, 541. MAGAZINE DAY. BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. This is a very excellent number, with less of nationality or egotism, and consequently with more of general interest than usual. We have no frantic Scotticisms from James Hogg, no high Tory diatribes from Christopher, and for this we are grateful. As regards our reprieve from the last, we unhesitatingly exclaim with old Paoli, " esto perpetua." The first article, on the " Education of the People," is truly an excellent one. It is penned in a philosophical and lofty tone of thought, by one who knows how to combine a shrewd knowledge of mankind, in all its most enlarged sense, with a habit of deep and enlightened reflection. We will not mar the completeness of this essay by any garbled extract, but will prefer recom mending it strongly to the reader's most earnest attention. " On the recent Architectural Improvements of London" is clever, but some what prosy, like one of Sir James Scarlett's best speeches; in point of style, however, it has con siderably the advantage of his Majesty's ♦ttor ney-General. " Political Economy" is one of .hose hacknied subjects which not even the ver- satile pen of a Scott can render interesting. It is here discussed spiritedly and with acumen, but will meet, we apprehend, with very few readers. " Desultory Reminiscences of Miss O'Neill" is an ekquent, forcible, and compre hensive specimen of theatrical criticism. Indeed we have no hesitation in saying it is the finest thing of the sort we have ever read. But the leader shall judge for himself:— "Miss O'Neill was a woman—a confiding, tender, pas sionate, love-inspiring woman ; yet not without dignity and grandeur too, and a proudly humble sense of what was . due to her feminine majesty. It is not my intention to go through her performance of that disagreeable play, the Fatal Marriage, which her performance alone could have rendered bearable,—or indeed to give any of her cha- racters a regular and critical consideration. I rather wish to impart to my reader some general notion of her merits, if he has been so fortunate as never to have seen her,—or if he has, to recall them to his remembrance. Miss O'Neill, in face and figure, might he characterized by the epithet lovely. There was a harmony in her features, and in the proportions of her form, which was music to the mind.— Had she been taller, she might have been a tragedy Queen —but she would ,not have been Miss O'Neill: Had she pssessed a dark eye and beetling brow, she might have frowned and scowled to the delight of the distant galleries ; but what would have become of her smile—of all the just gradations of feeling which dawned and melted away upon her fair cheek? " I have always thought it a favourable circumstance ;hat her countenance, when at rest, was not fixed and frozen into any marked expression. This allowed of its taking the impress of all. Some faces seem petrified into fierceness by a glance at the Gorgon ; others appear always striving to repress a simper. Any malformation of the mouth, more especially, will give an unfortunate eternity to Lome one, and that, generally, not very agreeable ex . .. pression. But Miss face was wholly devoid of any professional or pertinacious look. Her countenance was the sleep of feeling. When awakened, it was but the instrument of the internal agency, Passion moulded her delicate features to its own purposes, and Genius hallowed it as the interpreter of his meaning. The mouth—the wonderful organ of intelligence, thatdistinguishing charac teristic of humanity—which requires not the aid of words to confer upon it the gift of speech—that marvellous fea ture, whose mutable vitality baffles the painter's skill even more than the eye, common to all animated beings—the mouth of Miss O'Neill was exceedingly beautiful. The lower lip just protruded enough to rescue it from that symptom of fatuity—its retreat—' Some bee had stung it newly.' Her brow, as I said before, was not marked enough for the beau-ideal of a tragic empress--and I am glad it was not. The manner in which her head was set upon her bust might have challenged the art of Pkidias. Nothing could possibly be more devoid of fault than the line from the back of her head to her shoulder, when her face was turned in profile. Her hand was beautiful, and her foot worthy of such a hand. From this exquisite conformation, and from the mind which dwelt within so fair a shrine, resulted a presiding grace, which modelled every gesture, and swayed every movement. Never, in the course of my long life, have I seen a being so graceful as Miss O'Neill—and I never expect to see one. Our actresses are, in general, sadly deficient in this particular. I remember, after being on the Continent for some time, that, when I returned, the women on our stage seemed to toss their arms like so many windmills in full sail. Miss O'Neill never displayed such starts and flings. Ido not think that it was possible she could• Even had she been obliged to perform a saraband over the kitchen poker, she would have done it gracefully—she was grace even to the very tips of her fingers. I used to remark that she never grasped the arm of a lover or husband, as some ladies, whom I have seen give a gripe like a blacksmith's vice, but tenderly and delicately. She laid her white fingers upon the arm of hint whom she addressed in love or in sup plication." " Her Mrs. Haller, and, indeed, all her charac ters, in general, possessed the rare merit of an un broken unity of design. As, in a perfect picture, every accessory is harmonized by the master's hand so as to pro duce one great result—as every part tends towards the effect of the whole—so, in Miss O'Neill's acting, every ray of genius was but a component part of one refulgent orb. She did not strain after insulated graces, or surprising exhibitions of momentary power—neither was any portion of her part hurried over, or even carelessly touched, as if is were insignificant. She did not appear to be husband ing her strength for one ranting speech, or a few starts and screams. From the beginning to the end she was the being she represented. Not sometimes only, but conti nually, she was agitated by the same fears, awakened by the same hopes, impelled by the same motives of action— as might be supposed to influence the character which she delineated. This continuity of feeling was marvellously evident in the expression of her countenance. I remember being particularly struck with this. in her representation of Mrs. Qakley in the Jealous Wife. While conversing on indifferent subjects—while apparently rambling from the main plot of the piece—there was always an air of anx iety—a wandering of the eye—a slight abstraction—which indicated that there was an under-current of more im portant thought. In society, as well as in solitude, she was still the uneasy, jealous wife. Miss O'Neill's per formance of this very character sufficiently refuted the in vidious assertion that she did not succeed in comedy.— When I speak of comedy, I must be understood to mean the drama of real and every-day life, in distinction to the drama of ideal and heroic life." " The Effects of Variations on the Currency" is a perplexed, elaborate subject, treated in an elaborate manner. Its chief defect is the absence of powerful or original thinking. " The Pawn broker's Daughter" is a quaint and lively farce from the pen of that subtle metaphysician, Elia. It is not equal to his Mr. H—, the minute but brilliant splendour of whose wit was lost in the broad, coarse glare of the lamp-lights at Drury-lane—but is still worthy of Charles Lambe. " The First Grey Hair," a serious thing with most ladies, whether married or single, is treated with befitting gravity, and a pleasing moral wrought out of it. Mr. Haynes Bailey is the fabricator of this pretty poetic play thing. " The Age" is a truculent review, in Blackwood's most envenomed style, of a poem of that name. We have no iflace for extracts. MONTHLY MAGAZINE. Having partially laid aside its former tone of sarcasm and political bigotry, this periodical is proportionately improved. The " Annus Mi rabilis," which heads the number, is a sprightly satire on the events of the last year ; tinged here and there with a spice of bitterness and irony that reminds us not a little of Churchill in his genteelii mood. gg The British Embassies": is a smart invective on the extravagancies attached to many of our leading and subordinate em bassies. On the whole, we are not disposed to quarrel with the writer's notions on the subject, though we think that for the sake of point he has pushed them too far. " The Club Room" is a versatile and facetious dialogue on some two or three of the reigning follies of the day. In parts it displays a master-hand. " A Night on Dartmoor" is a description of a night spent on the borders of that truly desolate region. " Notes of the Month" ere pungent and full of variety. These are very amusing additions to the " Monthly," and form a pertinent digest or chronicle of the passing and past occurrences of the four weeks. The remarks on the late increase in Churches are characterized by sound strong sense, as the following extract will show : " We have no objection to the late increase in the num ber of churches. But we are perfectly convinced that in a large variety of instances they were totally unnecessary. If we look into any of the large churches of London or of the country, in the afternoon or evening, we find almost a solitude. The fifty London churches do not average fifty persons a piece. The country churches, except in the instance of some peculiarly popular preacher, or some sin gularly zealous clergyman, have seldom in the evening any beyond a few paupers and a charity school. In point of exterior, too, the new churches are generally among the very worst specimens of the arts. As to patronage, they are generally turned into snug sinecures for the sons, or nephews, or daughter.' husbands, or nieces' husbands, or some still lower dependant, of the rector. Of course a good deal of canvassingis employed to have them built wherever the rector is plagued with those dependants; and the parishes, already uverwhelmed with poor-rates and taxes, are burthened to make a provision for the hangers-on. This, we could pledge ourselves, has been the secret history of the transaction in a crowd of instances ; and all this waste, jobbery, and sinecurism, might have been avoided by the obvious method of inducing the morn ing congregation to divide itself, and find the evening ser vice as accurately and attentively performed as the morn ing. Thus the overflow which excites the complaint of want of room, and which has been so zealously laid bold of by those whose patronage it extended, would never have existed. The beggars and brats would not be the sole tenants of a church capable of holding thousands ; and though we might have no new monsters of brick and plaster flaring and staring at us in every corner, we should have had the old churches attended as they ought, end the hangers on serving their country in the fitter employments of the navy, the army, and the plough." NEW MONTHLY AND LONDON MAGAZINE. This Magazine begins the year well, with vigour, with intelligence, with variety. '• Re __ ... marks on the Present Administrat i on " are dis- tinguished by their temper and good sense, of _ _ both which qualities the following is a favourable specimen : " Tbere are yet other reasons for hope. When people once know a man's character, they are able to give a value to his words as well as his Rations ; and when we look through the whole history of the last session, and find in almost every motion on which the Prime Minister spoke an avowed tendency towards the removal of abuses—ra_ thsr than, as in old times, an absolute assertion, either that abuses did not exist, or were desirable necessaries—and when we remember that this allowance comes from one plain in speech and decisive in conduct, we confess that we do not attribute it to an idle flourish of words, nor con ceive that it will be unsecoaded by actions. " We have said that it would be well could we secure in an Administration safer and more valuable pledges than we have hitherto received. We believe that we have ob tained these from the Duke of Wellington, and we be lieve that they exceed all which could be bestowed by any other individual. The one is the recent memory of a great and salutary measure, not talked about, but carried ; the other is the pledge of a name which no one who bore could be mad enough to sully by any species of falsehood, or truckling, or ecfuieocatio;,. We do not wish t. dwell upon the Duke of Wellington's fame, because a word is sufficient to recall it, and because we think it has, on both sides, been the subject of much wearisome and superfluous declamation. We do not agree with one politician, that great captains must necessarily be bad statesmen ; but we dissent with a greater repugnance from the doctrine of another, that soldiers are the persons best fitted for the administration of public affairs. All we would say upon the high name of the Duke of Wellington is this : it must be acknowledged that the temptations which assail most powerfully other men in office, are to him but nugatory decoys. Place and emolument, and patronage, weighed by a worldly wisdom, may be worth the forfeit of honesty, and an honest name to the ordinary herd of po liticians ; but what are these to one whose name, if it be brighter than the names of all living men, is therefore far more easily sullied; to whom negative praise would almost be reproach, and on whom even common circumspec tion, and the decent and customary regard for character, im pose, of necessity, the desire of benefiting the State beyond all other possible considerations. The Duke of Wellington is exactly in that condition in which we should realise the ideal of government, could we place all men ; when to be dishonest is to he foolish, and to disregard the interests of the community is to be a traitor to one's own. " There is yet another reason why we support the Duke of Wellington, and to the earnest consideration of this rea son we invite all whose ears the soft hope of office for them selves has not lulled into unheeding languor. Grant that you oppose him—that you break up his Administration-- that he resigns—who is to succeed him ? Allowed, that you differ from him in some points—that one of you dis sented from him on the Catholic Question—that another would have carried the measure on different grounds, and in a different shape—that one of you, pleased with a rattle,' would rather be robbed under the nocturnal guardianship of ancient men, than protected by young men with a piece of silver lace on their collars; that an other (we are of this sort) look with distaste or the irn policy that would defend a character by prosecutions, which could find at once a more eloquent counsel, and a more triumphant verdict in public opinion ;—Granted all this : wise men do not quarrel with isolated imperfections till they have found what is perfect." " Recollections of a Gottingen Student" is a readable paper ; and the poem, entitled " News of the New Year," abounds in point, whim, sarcasm, and even elegance. The diction is particularly happy. " The LastgDays of Men zikoff," which remind us not a little of the last days of Wolsey, cannot be perused without emo tion. It is deeply affecting, and Is simply and naturally told, without parade or attempt at display. " Childhood" evinces some tenderness and a habit of just and natural reflection, though the author dwells rather too mawkishly, we conceive, on the recollections and happiness of childhood. Doubtless this age is agreeable, so far as it is divested of responsibility, but if its cares are few and feeble, so also are its enjoyments. The pleasure of childhood is nearly, if not wholly, animal, it has no intellect, and unconnected and unsanctioned by this, there can be no true fe licity. Gibbon, in his posthumous memoirs. remarks very happily on this subject ; though perhaps, after all, it is a mere matter of feeling, and reducible to no standard of argument ; the historian of Rome was a sickly and squeamish child, his recollections therefore savoured of physic, the nursery, and the hebdomadal visits of the village apothecary ; whereas others whose boyhood has been passed in the open air, beside hills, lakes, and m ountains, inhaling pleasure with the pure air they breathe, necessarily, when in after years they are " ca bined, cribbed, confined," for hours together, within that pestilential Pandemonium, a hot, smoky, city counting-house, look back on such past enjoyments with a sigh. " Characteristics of Rossini's Compositions," is elaborate, and shows much knowledge of its subject. NS':; mai say of it what Horne Tooke said of Altittlit that " materiem superat opus." " Opinions 1830," is a diverting, and " Sketches and IL collections" a strikingly descriptive article. THE EDINBURGH LITERARY JOURNAL. An intelligent, well-conducted, miscellany containing, among several other able articles A spirited and characteristic poem - on " Tin Frosty Day;' a smart, well-told tale, entitle( Noralt Clary's Wise Thought," and an " in cantation Scene," hitherto unpublished, from di, pen of that strange, unsettled, but high-minder enthusiast, the late Percy Bysshe Shelley. Unfortu nately, our very contracted limits will not alloy of our giving extracts, so we must Content our selves with this general praise of thi. E3inburgl Literary Journal. THE ASIATIC JOURN&L. A new and very promising seriea of an oh established periodical, which has clearly beet drawn forth by the increasing intelligence of th age, and the spirit of ardent inquiry no, abroad respecting our East Indian posies sions, and all directly or indirectly connecte with them. The proprietors, it is trie, hal not come forward to satisfy this curiosity till th eleventh hour, but better late than never. Th Number, we may add, is altogether a Ter creditable one. The e U r t N I e I I T e E s D in SE t Rh the I p C r E e e J e O n t U R n N u A u L. i b e r art a usual, anim ated ' and full of inciodweenrt.. gut o w n the best, we may mention " The Sk e t c h o f t h Battles of the Pyrenees," whi c h i s d rawn i parts with no light graphic v will confess that the perpetual repetitions battles and sieges, month after month, first ' battle, then a siege, and vice verso—at on period an engagement by land—at another a engagement by sea—we will confess that th repetition of such descriptions, of which ti , animal rather than the man is the hero, begin t pall upon our attention. The Editor shout learn to vary his matter, or he will find too let that the public are heccniing as sick as ourselvt of his naval and military commentaries. As favourable specimen, however, of his beta sketches, we give the following description of tl close of an engagement among the Pyrenees 4, As soon as the second brigade came up, we aga ascended the heights of Santa Barbara, where we Land French corporal, with a broken leg, his head resting on hairy knapsack, and supported in the arms of 2 ccuwat who generously remained behind to protect the life of friend from the suchillo of the Spaniards. As soon u had delivered him to the care of the English soldiers, embraced the corporal, saying, Au revoir, bon earn. rade Anglais,' and throwing his musket over his should( with his butt-end en ruin he descended the mountain rejoin the French army on the opposite range of height Of course, no one offered to molest this simple sade who easily effected his escape. As our picket:. could n enter the valley until our right was cleated. encl enemy pushed from the mountain of Eschalar, as tam another division attacked those heights, the first Rig moved on and clambered the mountain of St. Berner supported by five companies of our regiment. Th e se diens had been for two days without any sustenance, a were as weak that they could hardly stand ; however, excellent commissary had managed to ovrr'ske us, a. hastily served out half-a - pound of himutt to each inc vidual, which the soldiery devoured in the act of primit and loading as they moved on to the attack. The summit of the mountain was wrapped in a den fog; an invisible firing commenced; it was i m p oss ibl e ascertain which party was getting the best of the figh the combatants were literally contending in the close When half-way up the side of the mountain, ws found man of the Rifles lying on his face, and ;)leedick so c piously that his haversack was dyed in blood : we turn him over, and being somewhat recovered before lie carried off, be told us, in broken monosyllables, that tiu Frenchmen had taken him for a Portuguese, :aid hold him, thrust a bayonet through his thigh, minashed t stock of his rifle, and then pushed him from a t ledge of the precipice under which we d:seovered hit The second French light infantry were dit.lodged befs twilight from the top of this mountain ; but the spar ling flashes of s mall-arms continued after dark to w en with Eci acro:ia. 'thus,n r of fire the fte h a e ra eries o summits offffi c thedivnairt ar io m asr c oe about hi amongst a chaotic jumble of sterile mountain!, the mum were totally discomfited, with an enormous loss, by series of the most extraordinary and hrilliape ar c during the Peninsular war. For three days the Fren had the vantage ground, owing to their superiority numbers at a given point ; but on the fourth day, t , sane divisions who had so heroically fought while falli back, sustained, with their backs to a hostile fo e tr e (whence the enemy sortied during the battle,) a mos t ( 3, perate assault made by the Duke of Dalmatia, one who the Duke of Wellington gained a memorable victory, a i ceased not in turn to pursue the French Marshal, until was glad to seek shelter from whence he gam e . T standards of Britain again waved aloft an.; 14ped iy t gentle breese over the fertile fields of F ur " . .. " Arnold and Andre," (the latter the we known Major Andre, whose execution a spy in the American camp excited cut general commiseration at the time, at Whose fate has been lamented in the strait of the young—the gifted—and the beaut ful), is an article, which, from the natu r of its materials, could scarcely fa il to be interee ing. It is here worked up with m uch ski The short biographical sketch of Admiral Byn from " The Journal of an Officer engaged i n t i curious Action a it d instructiv e M i norca in l narrative, 5 Admiral's conduct would a pp ear to have bet 6 is , fo if authentic, which t i the result of infatuation—coward lie certain wa s not, though c ondemne d and shot sue A Popular View of Fortification and Gui nery," is a scientific, though, to peace ful men lit ourselves, a dull and superfluous I.i-title. Ti remaining ones are of the usual culibre in poi , of excellence. THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE OF FASHIOI The embellishments to this Magazine a such as would satisfy even that fastidious print of coxcombs, the u ltra-marine Beau Brumnte . The chequered silk stockings of the long gel tleman in the military cloak are .faultless ; coat is of the true Stultz cut ; his neckclot starched to " a turn ;" his shoes enviable, at as n eatly turned as one of Sam Rogers ep grams. Equally admirable are the accoutre ments of the fat Dandy in the Turkish dres who, however, wields his scimitar as if he we wielding a yard behind a linen-draper's counti Op the literary merits of this repertory of dre and dandyism, we cannot speak in such hit terms of praise. The articles are bold certainl if an utter and lofty disdain for all grammatie particularities—those vile degrading tramrm which fetter the intellects of so many strugglit young tyros in our modern literature--cOnst tutes boldness or energy. Certes 2'.-30, they pot mo c! Bri