The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-02 00:00:00

THE MAGAZINES.

1535,'

—The firA article i 3 ai3 "The Baltic

atid is from the p,AI of the s.,Lme writer

wile lately de.crii.);.d to us the position of
and its inhabitants, and the general aspect of the
Baltic in 1854. Tile picture he draws of the natu-
ral aspect of the country is not very encouraging.
If there was exaggeration in the dangers, he tells
us there was none in the unpicturesque and unro-
mantic character of the Baltic cruises. If it be
true, as some have asserted, that the national cha-
racter is affected by its scenery, the traveller can
easily understand how the love of enterprise and
daring of the bold Norwegian rocks dies away along
the dreary Baltic shores. The writer takes a
minute and interesting survey of Cronstadt, which
he justly terms a grand and• interesting study.
" As a military system of defence," lie says, " it
must command our unbounded admiration. As
we trace the wonderful and skilful appliances of
science then in ; as we see how every means have
been enlisted, every resource employed, every sacri-
fice made, every power and invention brou . lit into
action in its construction—we are compelled to
recognise and appreciate the skill, the foresight and
forethought, the patience, the resolution, the per-
severance and labour, which have effected such re-
sults. Baffled as we must feel ourselves to be,
when to our longing and searching scrutiny it
presents no opening, no weakness, no opportunity—
when everywhere we detect the prevailing prin-
ciple that no point should be left to a single de-
fence, but that each should be covered, backed, or
flanked by some other—still we must feel, also,
mingled with our bitterness, a sort of triumph in
such perfection of professional art. As a military
defence it is indeed a grand effort." " Zaidee" is
continued, and this number brings us to a more
living interest and a fairer promise of one of our
authoress's charming heart-romances than auy we
have yet seen. There has hitherto been something
dreamy and unreal about Zaidee and her sur-
roundings; but now both she and Mary step forth,
and assume their proper places as recognised hero-
ines, by the river Thames, and the reader awakes
to the charm of a story of domestic life. The
" Notes on Canada and the North-west States of
America" are continued with interest. The details
of canoe travelling are curious. When the Missis-
sippi is high, the rapidity with which they descend
from Crow Wing to St. Paul's is surprising. A
hundred miles in eight hours is said to have been
accomplished in these waters ; and though the
water was unusually low, the traveller's perform-
ance in one day was eighty miles. The second
part of the essay on " The Imperial Policy of
Russia " continues the review of the Sovereigns of
Russia, and traces the development of their un-
princ:ipled and aggressive policy to the latter
part of the reign of Catherine the Second,
an epoch when the intentions of Peter's
successors of "sapping the foundations of the civi-
lised world" were first discovered. The writer
promises us another paper on the same subject to
bring it to the present era. Mr. 'Warren's edition
of " Blackstone's Commentaries" affords a subject
for some observations on legal reform and recent
alterations. The following paper bears the some-
what contradictory title of " Modern Light Litera-
ture—Science." We are in an age of learning, in-
deed, when science is called light literature. Some
.very sensible remarks are made in this article,
which also criticises some recent works, among
others, Mr. Kingsley's new work of " Glaucus,"
Mr. Gosse's " Aquarium," Acheta's " Episodes of
Insect Life," and other similar works. An article
entitled " The War, the Cabinet, and the Confe-
rences," cannot of course be anything but a vigorous
denunciation of the conduct of the Government,
and an expression of astonishment and indignation
at Lord John Russell's ambassadorial perform-
ances. " The Story of the Campaign," by the
faithful correspondent " in a tent in the Crimea,"
gives us a graphic description of the conferences
and debates, and the unsuccessful attacks on the
Malakhoff and Redan.

Dublin University.—A great variety is to met
with in this number. " Alherico Porro " is con-
tinued, the events become more striking as the
enthusiastic young hero is presented to the " Yen-
gatori," as the conspirators called themselves, as
their future leader.. Many dangers are in store
for the daring and impetuous chief. The police and
government spies found out his havinc, formed an
alliance with the disaffected, and a pretended friend
was employed to discover his secrets, and thence to
lead on to his ultimate betrayal and ruin. A
vivid description is given of the scene in which the
Archbishop Romilli entered Milan. Too soon,
however, were the rejoicings reversed, and the
place of mirth was turned to a scene of carnage.
The fierce Austrian soldiers charged upon the peo-
ple and the sight of their brutality and injustice
rendered still more indignant the already excited
Porro. " The Fortunes of Glencore "is a strange
story, in which a nobleman, owing to some caprice,
retired to a lonely ruin, which was all that re-
mained of the castle of Glencore. Here he fell
and an old servant could get no one to send for a
doctor or assist him in procuring a conveyance to
go himself ; accordingly, he was induced to accept
the services of an old hunchback whom he met
with. The lordly recluse did not approve of this
arrangement, but, beingc, faint, the improviso doc-
tor had his own way. He succeeded, however, in
restoring the patient, and there seemed some truth
is his wsertion that "he had a knowledge of disease,
as of nature, by observation." "Oar Sea Songs "
contain some interesting remarks on the subject of
nasal poetry. It is observed that the king of the
sea poets is Dibdin. Herman Melville said that his
songs "breathe the very poetry of ocean." El-
tracts are given of some of his pieces—" The sweet
little cherub that sits up aloft," "The Ship-
wreck" is presented in an entire form, and it is truly
prefaced of it that it is a fine production. A very
meritorious composition is brought before the
reader's notice at the conclusion of the article, en-
titled "The Sailor Boy's Grave." It is written in
a free and unaffected style, and it displays genuine
feeling, expressed in appropriate language

" THE SAILOR•BOT'S GRAVE.
_ _ _

" Bright, bright were the sailor-boy's dreams in life's
morning,
When hope with its fairy-forms gilded the way,
And a thousand sweet visions of happiness dawning,
Were spreading their shadows throughout the long

day. -
Quick, quick beat his heart at the buoyant bark's motion,
For his childhood's first dream—his first love—
Were the foam-crested waves of the wide-spreading
ocean,
With the sun and the sea-bird above.
" Soon, soon were his hopes and his fairy-dreams banish'd ;
Not long did they gladden his sight;
For be sickened, and quickly the light of life vanish'd,
Till it wan'd into death's gloomy night.
They buried him then in the shroud they had made him,
'Neath his childhood's first dream—his first love—
And sea shells are scattered around where they laid him,
With the sun and the sea-bird above.

" No flowers bloom in beauty; no stone tells his story;
No dirge, save the wind and the wave ;
No tablet of fame, and no emblem of glory,
Are found near the sailor-boy's grave.
Yet his head rests iu peace on his coral-rock pillow,
'Neath his childhood's first dream—his first love—
And the sun, and the sea-bird, and foam-crested billow,
All sparkle in splendour above."

" The Dramatic Writers of Ireland" form the sub-
ject of a seventh sketch, but no notabilities are
made mention of in this portion. " Papers on
Poetry," of Spanish, romantic, and chivalrous
ballads is continued, and a long account is given of
the " celebrated ballad of Count Alarcos, which
the critics of all countries have agreed in pronounc-
ing one of the most beautiful and affecting that can
be found in any language." " The Bath of the
Streams" is a pleasing poem, by Denis Florence
M'Carthy. " Mid-day with the Muses" enters
in detail on the subject of several new poems
that have lately appeared, and there appears great
truth in the remark that, among these songs, there
have not been any lyrics that are likely to be im-
mortal in our literature, and to be handed down
to our children's children, like " Hohenlinden,"
" The Battle of the Baltic," and the old sea songs.
"Forest Trees" is an article that imparts useful and
interesting information on its peculiar subject, and
it is made pleasing by illustrations in verse.

Bentley's Miscellany.—The first article relates
the progress of the war, and the siege operations of
the last month. A similar paper, entitled " A
Russian Romance," gives us a Russian account of
the Battle of Inkerman. It is curious to compare
the narrations. The Russian chronicler's chief ob-
ject, next to exalting the national character, ap-
pears to be to excite jealousy between the Allies.
This pamphlet consists of a series of mis- statements,
but as the writer justly observed, " facts are stub-
born things, and the succession of atrocities of
which the Russians have been guilty, commencing
at Odessa and terminating at Hango, speak more
to their natural character than all the studied
apologies they put forth to the world." The first
part of a tale by Dudley Costello, entitled " The
Prison Van" is not of unusual merit. The inci-
dent from A which
i derives its title, though some-
what improbable, is sufficiently ludicrous. A
very pert young foreigner mistakes a prison van
for an omnibus, and insists on his admission. The
readers of Mr. Harrison Ainsworth's last English
story will be interested in the description of the
revival of the time-honoured " Custom of Dun-
mo,,,, the bestowal of the Flitch of Bacon, which
of late years has fallen into desuetude. A passage
in the life of the late
Czar describes the narrow
escape he once had of his life in journeying from
Rome, attended by a Polish guard of honour. A
Pole was suddenly left alone in a deserted spot by
the side of the Emperor, who as beeping in an