The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-05 00:00:00

' MAGAZINES, &c. (CONTINUED).
BLACKWOOD.
Attractive, perhaps, beyond almost any other sub-
ject that could be just now selected as the theme of
a magazine contribution, gold is the subject of the
first article in Blackwood for May—" Gold : its Na-
tural and Civil History." Evidently written through-
out with much reflection and after very considerable
research, the paper will eminently repay perusal.
Scarcely less interesting, and, in a literary sense, im-
measurably more valuable is the second essay in the
number, an appropriate review of the " Life of
Niebuhr," the most adventurous of all phi-
lologists. Full justice is done by the writer
to Niebuhr'a profound and various erudition, and
what is yet more—to his ardent and comprehensive
imagination. A rather superficial but genial biography
of " Thomas Moore" startles us by commending
what to our thinking is, of all his works, the one of
most questionablemerit, his "Life of Byron," but
in the writer's final opinion upon the position as-
sumed by the bard of Ireland in literature we most
cordially egree, en opinion d ;el lring that " Moore's
future fame will doperyi on his National Melodies."
Sir Balwar Lytton's "Nov a" par excellence so
called, sts it rpproaches its close, becomes
more than ever enthralling. There is a
wisdom worthy a La Bru) ere in that "Initial
Chapter" in which the latent operation of Hate is no-
ticed as among the m rst paculiar characteristics of
" Eoglish Life " now-a-days. Almost admirable as
this chapter is the lament pronounced over the glory
of Bond-street, long since departed. Our friend
Squire Hazledean, accompanied by Parson Dale,
arrives in town, and his arrival portends ill fortune
to his fine-hearted scapegrace of a son, Frank. Dr.
Morgan, the benevolent homceopathist, " turns up"
again as in gratuitous attendance on the Squire's
cousin, Captain Higginbotham. Poor Burley—big
John Burley—the strong man of genius ruined by the
very robustness of his vitality, the creation
which of all others in the fiction does most
honour to the head and heart of. Bulwer—(verifying
his assertion in the explanatory epilogue to Net so
Bad as we Seem, that he is "proud of his order")—
JOHN BURLEY, henceforth the companion picture to
DAVID FALLEN—dies. There is a noble pathos in
the description. Leonard, who has discovered Burley
through the charitable medium of Dr. Morgan, is, of
course, at the death-bed ; and with the demise of poor
Burley the present instalment terminates. Audley
Egerton, by the way, stern man of business though
he is, living even in the iron moil of public life,
wins upon us strangely in these later chapters, being
only less loveable than that most gentle -and
chivalric of all the characters penned by Bulwer—
Harley L'Estrange. The bad genius of the story,
Randal Leslie, becomes, we feel convinced by premo-
nitory sensations, more and more involved in the web
of his own spinning. One glimpse of him, obtained
in ch. 10, b. xi., is in the streets of London at mid-
night, when the author exclaims, in accents pecu-
liarly his own, in their touching and almost solemn
beauty—" Solitary amidst the vast city, and on
through the machinery of Civilization, went the still
spirit of Intellectual Evil." Leonard, in the end, we
feel assured, will gain, as his wife, Helen, and Har-
ley, Violante. "Our London Commissioner" is scarcely
as amusing in his second as in his first contribution
—doing justice and (although it is expressed in
the language of absolute panegyric) only justice to
Charles Mathews, the most consummate artist and the
most perfect of all actors, as a light comedian. Be-
sides some graceful verses, entitled " The Gold-
Finder," Maga contains a pleasant notice of Mr.
Angus B. Reach's last book, under the heading of
" The Vineyards of Bordeaux." In this contribu-
tion we revel in the condemnation of that most
loathsome of all fruit the olive. Speaking of
such titles for books as " Claret and Olives,"
" Wine and Walnuts" (a capital old gossipping
work by the way, and not as the , reviewer
in Blackwood supposes, with " the wine corked and
the walnuts wofully shrivelled"), as "Nuts and Nut-
crackers," as " Grog and Biscuits," " Sherry and
Cheroots," " Alcohol and Anchovies," " Tumblers
and Talk," " Ale and Esthetics," or " Beer and
'Batty"—we wonder no mention was made of " Cakes
and Ale," a production better known than all together,
and written moreover by one of Maga's own contri-
butors. The number closes with a political argument
upon what is called " The Democratic Confederacy:,

AINSWORTH.
After the customary chapters of " The Lancashire
Witches," by the editor, we have some exquisite and
heart-born verses, from E. E. M. K., entitled " The
Birthday." Among the continuations are additionai
instalments of the " Florence Hamilton" of Min
Julia Addison, as well as of " Velthinaa" and "The
Confederates." A rather wordy, but still graceful
contribution, is the " Page from the Domestic Life of
Pompey the Great," by Mrs. Edward Thomas. "The
Fatal Phial," or what is absurdly entitled a tale
of horror of Haverstock Hill—calling disagreeably
to mind Rocker's horrible murder of Delarue—is a
sheer extravagance. Tom Hood might hue made
the incident laughable in the " telling," but Charles
Vernet seems not to understand even the signitiance
of his mother tongue, calling a neglec(ei field " a
mausoleum" for dead cats and dogs ; as well call a ditch
a cenotaph, as a field a sepulchral building or mauso-
leum. S. W. Thornbury has a rude but spirited
metrical piece, called " The Jockey's Sang." The
rest of the number is of average merit, and, in some
instances, of more than average mediocrity.

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.
This number seems peculiarly dedicated to flowers,
a suitable offering indeed for the "queen of months."
" The heirs of Randolph Abbey" is continued ; the
two chapters are very awful—" a murder is planned
which the law cannot reach," and " the record of a
madness which is not insanity." The following verses
are very beautiful
A COINA FOR MOORE.
"Another Genius is not slow
To paler home her jewels now,
Nor might she spare the opal rare,
That shone on Erin's brow.
That caught from every changing light
A flush, a sparkle, or a hue
That trembled 'twist them both—but ob!
'Divas beautiful all through.
" Moore, at the watchword of his name,
What witching scenes before us smile,
The sunny landscapes of the East,
The old mysterious Nile.
Bright fancies glistening while they weep,
Or glowing till those tears depart,
In sw'et uncertain strains that hang
Like rainbows round the heart.

" My mother sang them by the fire,
Her voice was true and soft of tone,
It was my childish thought that Moore
And melody were one.
My love to thee, my country's bud,
Thy praise is a familiar theme,
My very cradle has been rocked
Unto the y oung man's dream.'
" Oh, fain would we our minstrel's grave
Wer3 wept upon by Erin's showers,
But still, though England holds his dust,
His fame—himself—is ours.
And I, that I should write of him
As one who all for love would come,
To plant a wild forget-me-not
Beside a marble tomb.
" Farewell, farewell, I love to think
Thy minute of eternity'
Made earth look dim when angels moved
The crystal bar for thee.
The sparkling garland thou bast dropped,
Unlike the pert s, fadeth never,
'Tis bound about thy country's brow
For ever and for ever."

M/SCELLANEOUS.
commences with a "History
• ve,
The Eclectic Busy
ez
which the writer strongly
of Maynooth Comeafn,e"Din
t ance. 'WhigT rticles on Lord
objects to
3.lUellloiri of the Party," and
Holland's
d Mary Howitt's " Literature of
William
and
are the most striking.
Northern
The
Sportsman contains its usual variety of
subjects. Anecdotes of foxes will be found entertain.. The engraving, entitled " Holiday Time," re-
resents
ing. hound and three beautiful little spaniels,
P a o
are playing in a field. Two articles on the
Nwhatirs are found in the Colonial Magazine. No. XL
of " British Possessions atd Colonies" is descriptive of
the island of Ceylon. The " Verses on an Aged
Emigrant " are pleasing and well written. The
Farmer s Magazine is devoted entirely to agricul-
ture, presenting much information on this subject.
Tait's commences with No. 2 of " The Governments
of Continental Europe." It consists of France and
Rome. " The Working Man's Way in the
World" has reached the fifteenth section. The
plates of Le Follet are, as usual, the
chief attraction. A sheet of patterns for embroidery
is, however, added. The Ladies' Companion contains
the Story of Angelique, by the talented Miss Jews-
bury, Mrs. Ogilvy's Autobiography of Laura Stud-
legh, is continued; the " Fate of a Flirt in the Olden
'rime" may perhaps prove a lesson to young ladies of
the present day. The Church of England Magazine is
illustrated by an engraving cf Trinity Church, Cam-
bridge, and several instructive sermons. Tie Illus-
trated Exhibitor has a porta ait of J. Turner, ALA.,
and eight pictures of the History of Pegasus. The
British Journal and The Biographical Magazine are
continued in their accustomed style. In the latter
may be found a history of Thomas Moore. The Po-
pular Educator is a new serial, which conveys instruc-
tion in the rudiments of all the usual branches of
education. So much information, at a very low price,
is rarely to be obtained.

Thu.—Since Time is not a p him with mirjerson we can over-
take when he is Vand
cheerfuln past, let us honour
Journal."§ Of buart while he is U('"