The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-01 00:00:00

AINSWORTH.

Another chapter of the reprint of " The Lanca-
shire Witches," from the pen of the editor, opens the
number of Ainsworth for September. Among the
poetical contributors to the magazine two have ren-
dered themselves conspicuous, "E. E. M. K." and
" Nicholas Michell"—the latter by some touching
verses on " The Death of Wolfe," and the former by
some yet more pathetic verses on " The Early Dead."
One expression in Mr. Michell's contribution we like
not—that of " warmed pity drops a tear"—rather too
matter-of-fact a method of telling us that the heart
of Pity was " melted." The companion poem by
" E. E. M. K." runs as follows :
" 0 life in youth, fair offspring cf the sky!
Almost we geze and dream such should not die.
Stoop hoary age! aye, stoop, thy doom is known;
The grave awaits thee, earth but seeks her own.;
No gentle love, no tender pity may
Thy fated footstep on the journey stay ;
Swiftly for thee the harvest reaper nears,
Death claims the ripeness of thy mortal years,
But youth, glad youth! not thus we part with thee !
Hope's holy rainbow spans thy destiny.
Albeit the roses from thy soft cheek fade,
Albeit the shadow on thy brow be laid,
'Tis but the mist that shrouds the mountain's crown,
'Tis but the shower that weighs the blossom down.
When o'er the roses of our Mayday spring
Swept the chill winter with despoiling wing ?
When, 'mid the blushes of the early morn,
Of sultry day, was sudden midnight born ?
When the green wheat with harvest sickles fell'd ?
The flower-drankt fill in icy bondage held ?
Yet ah to oft, vvhile'summer blooms around,
Death's wintry frost-work at our hearth is found ;
The same false breeze that rocks a ruffled flower,
Oft blights our Irautiful in youth's strong hour;
The same false ray that tints the bud with bloom,
May crowd our hearth with shadows of the tomb.
Not so with us as with the bearded grain,
One measured sum of heat, of light, of rain;
Not so with us as with the vintage fruits,
The ruddy ripeness mounting from the roots,
One fated aspect for the final breath,
One certain season for the certain death.
Heaven's laws are wonders to our mortal ken--
' Be ready always, for ye know not when.'
'Tis not the surface that our fate bespeaks,
Ripeness may lie in infant eyes and cheeks;
Celestial hands, that gather for the skies,
Wait not the coming of autumnal dyes,
But oft will garner from the budding spring
Sweet fruit and riper than late seasons bring;
For, ab, alas! with man, the boon of time
May breed a poison o'er his manhood's prime;
• Time,' that perfection to earth's produce brings,
May steal the glory from an angel's wings."
Besides these effusions, the magazine contains a
variety of prose articles, 'nog of them amusing,
and one, " The Haunted Well," very attractive in
character.

TAIT.
The foreign relations of England almost entirely
monopolize the attention of Tait for September. First
of all, in the additional instalment of the series of
papers relating to " The Governments of Continental
Europe," Russia is shown to have advanced during
the last hundred and fifty years to a degree of
power and magnitude by no means justifying the
contemptuous phrases of Mr. Cobden. Since the
accession of Peter I. in 1689, the number of inhabi-
tants has increased from 15,000,000 at that early
period to 58,000,000 on the death (in 1825) of Alex-
ander. Then, under the suggestive title of " Lord
Palmerston, Austria and Italy," another writer gives
his views in reference to the political prospects of the
Roman peninsula. Mr. Macgregor's remarkable
letter to the Prime Minister in regard to the
" thited States and the British American
Fisheries" is reprinted elsewhere in the ma-
gazine. Added to these somewhat important
papers, Tait comprises a number of lighter articles—
one a description of " A Day with a Lion," and ano-
ther furnishing additional particulars in reference to
" The Loves of an Apothecary." Several of the
criticisms on recent works—according to the wont
of the magazine under consideration—are searching
and impartial, besides being copiously illustrated by
well-chosen quotations.