The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-02 00:00:00

MAGAZINE RAY.

In then ci BLACKW OOD.
ance at the State and Prospects of Ire-
"' we see those absurd suggestions enforced which
the Tor'
tinaci,..'es have bean recently urging with such per-
On election
matters. The article, however,
Contains one sound remark, which accordingly we
quote <<i
et British Protestants learn to show more
ltttcr I in the affairs of Ireland ; let them buy pro-
petty
le and let them thus identify themselves
ttore
"164/voe' " Strange History and Confessions of Ma-
it a ibel le Gautier," is a narrative perfectly authentic,
PPeara, of the adventures of a French actress, who
W4B one of the
of the 18th century. " Her bodily strength,"
ittys the biographer, "was prodigious. With the delicate
ocking Ilan which seemed fit only for the graceful
exercise of the fan, she could roll up a plate of mas-
Site silver, as if it were a wafer." The vicissitudes
which this fair Amazon encountered in the course of
all anxious, chequered life, nre related with much
aainution. " Pandemus Volvglott" contains an in-
genious Greek and Latin translation, in sapphies, of
Canning's famous ode to the knife-grinder. We
SUPpose Father Prout is the author of this sportive
Jeux desprit. " Thuddy Jones, the Clever Young
la▪
n," is an imitation of Jerrold's manner. Parts of
tt are amusing, but the whole wants terseness and
energy. " Legendary Lore" is a very graceful freak
of the fancy. D Whoever conceived the first narra-
tive, for the article consists of two, is a poet,
tll°ugh LO may no: be aware of it. The " Bri-
tish, Institution" is A shrewd piece of criti-
cism, from the pen of one who is clearly well ac-
924inted with, and has a true 'dish for, the Fine Arts.
The " World we Live In" is desultory, as usual.
Some •
of its paragraphs are extremely amusing, for any
°,ne can see that the writer keeps a sharp look-out on
theh. sayings and doings of the every-day world about
" Political Pastorals" is a pointed squib, and
reminds us of one of the mock pastorals of Swift.
Our Two Vases" is the best article in the Number.
entiment and humour are most gracefully mingled up
1n it, and here and there, there arc touches of such pro-
found pathos as convince us they must have come
warm from the heart. We quote the opening pas-
sage, which is both eloquent and imaginative :
" Pericles, we believe it was—as usual we forget the
Iv
of?tds---who likened the state of the land, on the extinction
You know how—the Athenian youth, to a year without
a .BPring. Such a year has been this of ours ; for leafless
Ziel.,° April and May, and birds'-nests were visible in hedge,
.1,931 Q, and tree well nigh on to the very. middle of June.
et the birds sang away among the buds as vernally as we
~
I
member them ever to have done in shadowiest covert hid
In earliest season ; and, fearless in their familiarity with
I:.‘ces, so clothed the bare boughs with the music,
Summer
nothing was seen or felt of winter in the jocund groves.
"liner cane one night from Heaven to earth ; and Torn-
beheld her all at once, in all her glory, seeming as if she
11"1 not miss her sister, or remember that such a creature
been heen wont to hail her descent, and linger with her
bile delighted in their common bowers. Alas ! we fear,
at though heaut ;ful exceedingly,' Summer has no heart.
Na
heart-' oh ! say it not—with those still smiles asleep on
e woods—those tender shadows as of grief and pity on
the mountains—that gloom over yon abyss, solemn and
sicced as the ..rave. She loveth our earth and us—and
how reluctantly has she been preparing—for a whole month
_
to take without utterance her last farewell. Gone ! nor
A'aPly may our eyes ever see her more. So seems to say
F:dui tumn with the first melancholy rustle of her yet un-
en leaves embrowning all the cliffs from Roslin Chapel to
the Caves of Hawthornden. The sere and yellow leaf'
,
love not now to look on as we did of yore—for age
beauty
from sights that youth rejoiced in—and the sense of
Nor
then ares not to delight in emblems of decay.
tior shrink we from them in a mere selfish fear ; for love,
though stronger than death. seeks net to gaze on images
°t death even in insensate things, and shuts its eyes with a
budder on what was once so lovely in the splendour—
better able to endure the utter lifelessness of the winter
Nods! Yet October cannot justly be called a winter
'IP t —and we acknowledge it is often the merriest month
alt the year. We are almost sorry that we have come
Tio town—and purpose for several Saturdays and Satur-
days to ruralize—nay, in our own pea-jacket we shall not
"read to beard November himself—and we need not tell
Auneient of the Glen that, if we be spared, we shall
hear Christmas fire go roaring up his chimney wide,'
e
ett4ke our part in the Christmas carols. Since, then,
th Ober is a pleasant month, let Maga too be merry—and
e readers of Maga ; nor shall we be sad but glad to
now,
chi.. that with shout and hollow all younkers whom old
Istupher loveth out-or-in-doors are making roof or
nelkiu ring We shall listen arnong the solitary mountains
ofour soul to the softened echoes—still ourselves as a
stone but like a dodder'd oak quick not dead—and the,,
P°Wer,cl though not the joy of life, yet strong in its heart.

THE NEW MONTHLY.
The
portrait of the author of " Ion," which is
a'nxed to this Number, though it may be recognised,
i
8 by no means a good one. The face and the figure
ate both on too large a scale. As an engraving, how-
ever, it deserves praise. The Memoir is written in a
rier,Al
q ~ly cordial spirit ; but the biographer is mistaken
. ne supposes that Greek plays were performed trien-
nially at Reading school. For seven years together
nothing ' GI the sort was ever attempted ; but public
th4tninationo were substituted instead, before some of
e heads of ,7olleges in Oxford, who attended the
400
thl theatre fat. that express purpose. Such being
case, it is clearclearthat Mr. Talfourd could have
Written
neither prolocues nor epilogues triennially.
ea w@ cannot sit, becatm,
1 we have no seats." He
osuld not write, because he had nothing to write
puliOut. But these are venial errors, though in biogra-
tle 'cal matters it is as well to be correct wben correct-
thsrs is attainable. The style of the Memoir is
ti:ughout.elouent, and frequently shrewd in its opi-
pi nB. The L Lord of " Peiresc" is an agreeable
jee of literary gossip by Jerrold. But why does he
aLBquote Cowper, and so turn a caustic sarcasm into
Pointless common- place ? The line
ait... " Who having writ a prologue with much pains,"
,rqttld be,
" Who having whelped a prologue," &c.
fitt'e Word g, whelped" is worthy of Pope. " Writ" is
eo °nly to be used by such an ass as Hayley. The
QuPlet. may be found in " Table-Talk"—one of
A°,lPer's best, but least-known productions, " A
Tia: k near Town" is harmless and unsophisticated.
getletiwriter bleats his prettinesses with all the innocent
betteeness of a young lamb. As we know he can do
ii-r7"he has shown it in this very Magazine—we
figir give him no quarter. " The Phantom Ship" bids
yet fit° be Captain Marryaes best work. It has not
Portinagged in one single instance. The supernatural
attior-11_s are : 1 with
caital, but great good taste made
tr'owdinate top the leading incidents. " The Lives of
Isle to'; Jones, and Robinson," and the 4‘ Tale of the
e 'Wight," are both ably written. From the
, Onfes •
low_ long of Ralph Restless," we quote ti k,". f 01,,,
,,, diverting anecdote :--•
AI, ,51aregand rabbits are also very
.affectionate. One of
in' tie girls had the I_4 one of the latter, which she brought up
iiitill:_t lilt:
into deg,
grew very large, and was domesticated
herd up into
the bedroom
you everTwhere,. in the parlour
; in the winter lying on the rug
111 ulnae..th.,e fire on his side, and stretching out his four legs
Yoe u. nerned as possible, even refusing to go away if
hitn.PuLhed him. As for the cat, she dare not go near
strong. He thrsticd her unmercifully, for he was very
kiteC ; and the , ,
onsequenee was that she retir_esdheto
wastlie
41 bleb' where he w(Pild often go down, and if
for the dee; drive
her out. The bare and. rabbit,. as well
'lie-Paws tripe defend themselves by striking with their
an en' land the blow which they can
l'reserv'P'e would isgive is more forcible
presumes' leanin 9pose. One.day when
.I was in the
1 ~Lo for
__ : against a tree, with a gun in my hand, I
time. I must have been in deepthou ht
Zteljdleruihdto le;h:eaerd a rustling and then a squeak on thought,
Th a, eti7iou tree ; I looked round the trunk, and e-
b.t." hares
vv..: combat between two hares and a stoat.
Tween the w' 're. IT. isle and female, and had their leveret
he Stoet re..wi;:'ob latter was not above six weeks old.
obonuotse to atilleittle dei9, with all its hair, tom the tip of
touo_, two yards of its tail, standing on end--was at
10,_? to ba"vrota distance from them, working wind and
"'‘:11 vb.- the n .oPportunity to spring upon the leveret,
.. object of 't k 4
1 i att . 4s itv went /It"- °Q

did the hares face him, pivoting on a centre, with the young
one between them. They were, like Byron's dogs, too busy
to look at me : at last the stoat made a spring upon the
leveret. He was received by the hares, who struck him
with their forefeet such blows as I could not have believed
possible ; they actually resounded, and ha was rolled over
and over until he got out of distance, when he shook him-
self and renewed his attacks. These continued about ten
minutes, and every time be was beaten off ; but, as at
every spring his teeth went into the poor little leveret,
at last it gave its last squeak, turned over on its side, and
died, the father and mother atill holding their relative
situations, and facing the stoat. The latter showed as
much prudence as courage ; for so soon as he perceived
that the lereret was dead, he also walked off. The hares
turned round to their young one, smelt at it apparently,
pushed it with their noses, and shortly after, tis if aware
that it was past all defence, bopped slowly away ; they
were hardly out of sight in the bushes when back came
the stoat, threw the leveret, twice as big as himself, over
his shoulders, and went off with his prize at a hard gal-
lop, reminding me, in miniature, of the I3engal tiger car-
rying off !1, bullock. All the actors in the drama having
gone off, I walked off, and shortly after both barrels of
my gun went off ; so the whole party disappeared, and
there's an end of my story.l