The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-02 00:00:00

a very little stuffing under his waistcoat would ar:sw;t:
,
The chief
all the requirements ofthe
justice charges him with an increasing bE.Uy,2
but with 4 a decreasing leg' (Henry IV,
Parc 11., act 1, sc. 2)—and there can be no reason
for that padding of the limbs by which our stage Falstaff
becomes unwieldy. Mackenzie and other critics have
called attention to the resemblances between Falstaff on
the one hand and Richard and lago on the other ; and
there is no doubt that there is much truth in the com-
parison. But, although our best actors are employed to
exhibit the refined sarcasm and pointed wit of the latter,
we seldom find a tragedian, or first comedian, willing to
lend his talents to the proper exhibition of Falstaff.
With the exception of Charles Kemble we know no in-
stance in which Falstaff' has been rescued from the
conveationalities of actors who carry into the part the
boisterous humour of the stage old man, and who think
that if their representation is not gross enough, they will
grossly misrepresent him, May we hope some day to wit-
ness a true performance of Falstaff by some good and
refined actor, who can dissociate wit from vulgarity, and
can appreciate the comical without allowing it to sink
into buffoonery and farce."
As to the aspect and courage of Falstaff, the reviewer
happily observes :
" A weak man could not have taken on his back the
dead body of Percy, in full armour; a little man would
not have been singled out for hand-to-hand combat by
the Scots' champion, Douglas; a mean-looking man would
not have induced such a famous rebel as Colville of the
Dale to yield himself prisoner, merely on the strength of
his personal appearance; and a genuine coward would
not, in a fierce fray, like the battle of Shrewsbury, have
led his 150 raggamuffins into such danger, that but three
of them were left alive, and they for the town's end
to,:beg during life. Even when he is set upon by the
Priace and Poins, he does not abscond until after ex-
changing blows with them. What he wanted was not
disregard of danger, and coolness in the hour of peril,
but chivalry and a sense of honour."

BENTLEY.
There is a great quantity of interesting reading in
Bentley for October. A just as well as a favourable
notice of the new Commander-in-Chief will be perused
with pleasure by all who appreciate his distinguished
worth and there is a short parallel between Camillus
and Wellington, from which we have only space to
make the following excerpt :
"Historians often ()ensure Camillus respecting the exe-
cution of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, and some writers
have cast blame upon Wellington on account of the death
of Marshal Ney. In esoh case a very brave soldier was put
to death, in pursuance of the sentence of a competent
tribunal, on a charge of treason. It is probable
that the interposition of Camillus with the Roman Assem-
bly might have saved Manlius and that of Wellington
with the Bourbon King of France might have obtained
a pardon for Ney. In neither case can we see anyobli-
gation, legal or moral, wherefore that interposition
should have been volunteered, We may observe, how-
ever, that the guilt of Ney was far clearer than that of
Manlius; and that there is not the slightest ground for
suspecting the English Duke of having investigated the
proceedings against him. It is not equally clear that
Camillus took no part in bringing Manlius to trial."
"The Princess Orsini," " The Saddlebags, or, the
Bridle Roads of Spain," "An Irish Pattern," and
"Reminiscences of a Man of the World," are among
the best of the remaining papers. In the latter we
find the following paragraph :
" The genius of Napoleon and the genius of Welling-
!cm are the counterparts, ono of the other. Napoleon
invented a new science of offensive war, before which all
Europe trembled. Wellington invented the science of
defensive war, by which Europe saved itself. Wellington
never fought an offensive battle; he was always on the
defensive, even in advancing and besieging, the capture
of towns by storm, and rout of armies by a gallant
charge, being so many finales, for which everything had
ofbeen prepared. Torres Vedras is the great monument
his military genius, great as Austerlitz, as Para-
dise Lost: as ' Faust,' or Tancrecii.' It! was original
as grand. Few Comprehend it yet, which is one of the
greatest attributes of genius, but it saved an empire."

AINSWORTH.
The number for the current month is mainly made
up of continuations—viz., " The Lancashire Witches,"
" The Midnight Meeting," " The Bridge of Ben-
dery," "The Confederates" "Florence Hamilton,"
" Old Jack," and " Velthinas." Some recent novels
are criticised in a favourable spirit.

COLBURN'S NEW MONTHLY.
"Ballooning in its Infancy" is an attractive title
for a magazine paper, considering the great amount
of public interest excited by the singular feats of
aerostation presented of late at Cremorne Gardens.
Dudley Costello supplies a paper of interest, entitled
" The Legends of Chilton Hall." " Literary Leaflets"
devotes its first number to the Humour of Thomas de
Quincey ; and the sixth on the roll of "Female
Novelists" is the author of " Margaret Maitland."
The story of " The Old House of Tregolph" is of
thrilling and mysterious interest, one of those extra-
ordinary events that seem too wonderful to be believed.
" Woodthorpe" is continued. " The Witch Cats in
Schleswig-Holstein" is contributed by John Oxen-
ford. Young Torn Hall's " Heart-aches and
Horses" progresses favourably ; and Doctor
Thompson ' s work on "Tibet and the Himalaya"
supplies the material of an instructive paper. In the
former the tete- a-tete between Lord Heartycheer and
the fair Angelena is inexpressibly rich.

COLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE.
A memoir of the illustrious Duke whose lamented
death has excited so deep a sensation throughout the
entire nation constitutes, as might be expected,
the chief feature of the present month, in a serial
devoted to the interests of the naval and mill •
tart' services. The doubt as to the time and place
of his birth is stated. We believe, however, that
we have given them correctly in stating the 29th
of April, 1769, at Mornington House, Upper
Meirion•street, Dublin. The fact of the certificate
of his baptism at St. Peter's Church, on the 30Th
April, proves that he must have been born before
the Ist of May. And, the accouchement of the
Countess of Mornington, the notice of which appeared
in a journal then published in the Irish metropolis,
distinctly establishes the scene where the hero first
saw the light. Several extracts are given from
the daily journals under the head of "judgment
of the Press," and poor Maxwell's exceed-
iingly interesting life of the great Duke
s largely referred to for his opinions on
general subjects. There are also many interesting
professional papers, among which we would particu-
larly notice " The Column of Attack," and " The
Campaign in the Hills," by Surgeon Dartnell, of the
53c1 Regiment. The " Treatise on Small Arms "
also appears to be exceedingly carefully prepared.
" Sand and Shells ; or, the Fortunes of F,
promises excee(lingly well. " Jamaica before th"
e
Emancipation"
is also well worthy of perusal. On
the whole the present number well sustains the
established reputation of this excellent periodical.

TUE NEW CHANCERY ORDERS.--In the new
Chancery rules, in lieu of the present fees allowed to solici-
tors for instructions for bills (which from the commence-
ment of next term are to be printed), the following charges
are to be allowed :-- For instructions for bill, 11. 14s.
; for
making a copy of a bill or claim for the printer, per felio 4d.;
for correcting the proof sheet, per folio 2(1. (the ;printer's bill
to be paid and allowed); for amending each copy of a bill
or claim to serve where there is no reprint, 13s. 4d.; in-
struct ions for brief (in several matters) to be charged only
once in the progress of a cause, 11. Is. ; for amending each
for perusing and considering the bill on behalf of each de-
fendant, or set of defendants appearing by the same solicitor,
1/. is.

DEATH OF THE KING OF THE BEGGING•LETTER
IlkiPOSTEßS.—Yesterday an inquest was taken by Mr.
Stoneham'Lan in the Millbank Prison, on the body of Henry
, aged 40, the most successful of the begging-letter
impostors, of whom he was chief. He was well known
about London, and, having lost one leg. walked on crutches.
He had been once before transported for this offence; and
in April of this year he was committed again for a similar
fraud, convicted at the Middlesex sessions, and sentenced
to seven years' transportation. Soon after he entered Mill-
bank prison, Dr. Baly discovered that he was suffering
from pultnonry consumption, and on the 26th of August
he wassput in the infirmary, when everything was done tor
him that his complaint admitted of, but he died on Tues-
day evening. Verdict—Natural Death, from pulmonary
consumption.
ROYAL COLLEGE or PIITSICIANS.—At the quar-
terly meeting of the Comitia Majora, held on Thursday,
Sept. 30, the following entlemen, aving undergone the necessary examinations for h
diploma, were admitted members
of the College :—Dr. Gibbon, St. Bartholomew's Hospital;
Dr. Druitt, Curzon-street, May-fair; also, Dr. Ottley, Pau,
Lower Pyrenees ; Dr. Hill, Bath ; and Dr. Penton, Turriff,
N. 8., were admitted extra-licentiates.
SUBLIMELY RIDICULOUS.—A " Far Western"
reporter gives the following description of a conflagration :
" Ths devastating element, unsatisfied with floods of water,
belched forth its crimson tints, and spread the fiery flag of
devastation over entire squares, unchecked by the super-
human exertions of the firetner, who seemed like lost spirits
n the halls o f Pandemonium, as they flocked around the ter-
fie spectacle."

THE MAGAZINES,
FILI SEE,.
The present number opens with a brief and well-
written article on the late Duke of Wellington.
" Hypatia," the " Autobiography of Captain
Digby Grand," and " Sketches of Rome under the
Pope and the Republic," the latter recounting the
murder of Count Rossi, and the flight of Pius the
Ninth, are continued. Among the other papers are
two especially worthy of perusal. The one is de-
voted to the character of the great historian of the
" Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;" the other
to that of our old familiar friend, Sir John Falstaff.
From the hitter we extract the following sensible re-
marks on the stage representation of the knightly
debauchee :
" The conventional representations on the stage have
given a very erroneous impression of the manners and
person of.the knight as they were conceived by Soaks-
pere. Our actors exhibit to us, in most cases, an over-
grown mass of flash covering a cowardly soul; they
degrade Flastaff's wit into buffoonery, and make him
put on the manners of a low and vulgar publican.
Shakspere intended Falstaff's outward appearance to
be comical—a caricature of debauched manhood; but