The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-06 00:00:00

LITERATURE

ENCYCLOPiEDIA BRITANNICA.
Black, Edinburgh, 1837.
There are several elaborate dissertations in this Number,
particularly one on " Mechanics," which would appear from
its length, and the multitude of facts it adduces, to have
well nigh exhausted the subject—if such a subject were not
inexhaustible. The article is illustrated by a variety of
small wood-cuts, which wear a very perplexing mathemati-
cal aspect. We have looked on them with a shudder,
heightened by a school-boy recollection pf the Pons Asino-
rum, or fifth proposition, of Euclid. The treatise on Me-
dals—a theme which Addison and Pinkerton have rendered
so attractive--contains many curious historical anecdotes.
We subjoin one :
" In the time of the Roman Emperor Gallenus, gold was
ao common that be vied in magnificence with Nero and Heti°.
gabalus. Aurelian who plundered the rich city of Palmyra,
and thus became master of the treasures of the East, obtained
such a profusion of gold that he looked upon it as being pro-
duced by nature in greater plenty than silver. It is remarkable
that during this Emperor's reign, there was a rebellion amongst
the money coiners, which could only be quelled by the destruc-
tion of several thousands."

Vol. 14

Medals, it seems, like every other article of vertu, are
turned to purposes of trickery and imposture, many of the
rogues who profess to warrant them genuine, knowing well
that there is no gull so egregious as an Antiquary. Jona-
than Oldbuck was one of the shrewdest of the class ; yet
even he—vide that inimitable novel, the " Antiquary"—
mistook an old Scotch fish-kettle for a Roman sacrificial
Vessel. " The counterfeits," observes the Encyclopaedist,
" In medals are astonishing, and a connoisseur is the less
apt to suspect them, because the coins themselves are, in fact,
ancient. The acute minds of the Italian artists exerted them-
selves in this way when the other forgeries became common
and known. With graving tools they alter the pot traits, the re-
verses and the inscriptions themselves, in a surprizing manner.
Of a Claudius struck at Antioch, they make an Otho ; of a
Faustina, a Titiana; of a Julia Severa, a Didia Clara : of a
Marcinus, a Pescennius, &c. Give them a Marcus Aurelius,
Le starts up a Pertinax, by thickening the beard a little, and
enlarging the nose. In short, wherever there is the least re-
semblance in persons, reverses or legends, an artist may, from
a trivial medal, generate a most scarce and valuable one. This
fraud is distinguished by the false varnish which sometimes
/narks it ; but above all, by the letters of the legend which are
always altered. Though this be sometimes done with an arti-
11ce almost miraculous, yet most commonly the characters strag-
gle, are disunited, and not in a line."
We trust the above extract will convey a useful lesson to
those of our fashionable tourists, who having more wealth
than wit, hurry over to the " Eternal City," and there, in
the phrenzy of a false enthusiasm, make large purchases of
unquestionable" memorials of the days of the empire,
'herewith, on their return home, to astonish their untra-
'yelled countrymen. Of the essay entitled " Medical Juris-
.Prudence," we can give no opinion, as we are wholly unac-
quainted with the subject. We have however perused
Portions of it with pleasure, those more especially which
treat of the nature and properties of metallic poisons. In
the course of his essay, the writer, we perceive, states that
' literary men are a long-lived race." Surely this is a mis-
take. Where one reaches the age of seventy, ten drop off
ere they are fifty. We have the authority of Goldsmith
'Peaking in the person of Beau Tibbs, for saying that a
Windy garret and a cold mutton-bone arc by no means con-
ducive to longevity. We have given but a very faint idea
13f the contents of this Number, which is full of sound and
Yell-digested information.

,ARDNER'S CABINET CYCLOPIEDIA. No. 88.
Longman, London, 1837.

The present Number of this Cyclopeedia forms the fourth
'volume of Mr. Thirlwall's History of Greece, and treats of
'the eventful period between the rise of Alcibiades and the
'death of Thrasybulus. The most elaborate chapter is that
dedicated to a " retrospective survey of the internal condi-
tion of Athens during the Peloponnesian war," in the
course of which the historian enters into several curious and
instructive details respecting the rise and progress of the
Sophists, and of the rancorous animosity borne by the
great comic dramatist Aristophanes towards that fraternity.
'he volume is embellished with an engraving of the death
,of Socrates.

THE DIVORCED. Two Vols.
Colburn, London, 1837.

The " Divorced" is the production of an accomplished
; is gracefully written, especially the dialogue portion,
'Which is easy and fluent to a degree ; but is deficient in
`originality, and somewhat lackadaisical in its sentiment.
We dislike drawing-room and watering-place pathos, which
;Is to real feeling what French tinsel is to sterling gold.
'There are many redeeming passages, however, in the
1/4 Divorced," but these will not be the pet ones with its
-West-end readers, for there is nothing hysterical about
them ; they are the mere unassuming transcripts of a kindly
:and thoughtful nature.

HE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF AGRICUL-
TURE. No. XXXVI.
Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.
This excellent periodical, which is conducted under the
auspices of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scot-
lancl, contains in its March Number lists both of the mem-
Thers of that patriotic institution, and of the various pre-
-Thiums offered by it in 1837. It affords us great pleasure
to be able to record the thriving state of a Society, which
las conferred such advantages upon the industrious popula-
tion of North Britain. When the Highland and Agricul-
tural Society of Scotland was instituted in 1784, it contem-
;Plated only the improvement of the Highland wastes—
lhe draining of marshes, then impassable—the clearing of
(18--and the laying down of good roads. But so well were
'lts efforts seconded by the Scottish nobility and gentry, that
fin a few years it found itself in the possession of funds suffi-
'eient to enable it to extend its encouragement of industry
to every part of Scotland. All discoveries in the animal,
Mineral, and vegetable kingdoms, which can be shown to be
'ln any way calculated to promote the welfare of mankind,
receive the fostering protection of this Society.
We are surprised that the great success of this Society
aks not led the nobility and gentry connected with Ireland
to -forget their fatal party and religious dissensions, and form
aonie such institution as this for the improvement of their
native country. Their resources are ample, and their op-
'Portunities for effecting good continual. The state of
Ireland in 1784 was not more disturbed nor more wretched
than was that of the Highlands of Scotland—the soil was
liineo rnparably better, and the labour of reclamation much
:leas ; and yet what a startling contrast do we not now find
:in the contrasted condition of the population of the two
countries ? Due allowances being made for the national
Tleculiarities of the Scotch and Irish—balancing the advan-
"(ages of soil on the one side, against the more persevering
,!'instrY and the greater domestic economy on the other—
nPPears to us, that under the management of so patriotic
am institution as the Highland Agricultural Society, Ire-
land would now be as far advanced in domestic happiness
and civilization as Scotland.
The articles in this Number are not so heavy as we
:sometimes find them. On the " Past and Present State of
Horses," and another on the " Agricultural Condition of
Western Australia" will be read with pleasure, even by per-
:2tons unacquainted with agricultural pursuits.
fteIENTIFIC ENGAGEMENTS FOR THE WEEK
(From the Gardener's Gazette and Journal of Science.)
Tins DAY.—Entomological Society • Phrenological Society ;
and London Medical Society, at Eight.TO-MORROW.—Horticultural Society, at Three • Linmen So-
eiVety, at Eight; Metropolitan Societyof Florists,at' Seven ; and
Ina titution of Civil Engineers, at Eight. WEDNESDAY.—Society of Arts,
at Eight • Genealogical So-
ciety Society, at Half-past Eight; Medicalb Botanical Society and
Craphic Society, at Eight.
'4:‘‘ltuitsDAY.—Royal Society of Literature, at Four; Royal So-
ciety Society, at Half-past Eight ; Society' of Antiquaries and
otanica,l Society, at Eight.
Fatoxy. —Royal Institution, at Nine ; and Royal Astronomical
Society, at Eight.
SATuRDAT,--Westminster Medical Society, at Eight.
The Earl of Carlisle, it is expected, will be invested
Wit 6 the Garter on the 17th inst., at St. James's.
MR. AINSWORTH'S NEW ROMANCE, "
CRICii-
Crichton ' assuredly is a work of high pretension,"
ohcler,,et: the Atheneum, "whether as regards the choice of its
subject, or the manner in which that subject is treated. A
Iner field' for the romancer's uses could hardly have been se-
ected than the Court of Henry Trois ; in the foreground its
masquerade Of figures, gorgeous and mysterious—tho volup-
toils. Marguerite of Valois, and the inscrutable Catherine de
dogged by her creature Ruggieri—and Brantome
and Ronsara, and the Crew of lively courtiers and Court beau-
tieshardly less liberal ; and in the background the Huguenots
."-"a stern and pale group, whose miscries and endurances fur-
bish a fine contrast to the
artilicial and corrupt scenes of
ppoint revel and intrigue; a better field could hardly have
ueen selected, even had the novelist not chosen to make this
vivid phantasmagoria revolve round one central figure of sur-
Phasing brilliancy and interest that figure being one as prompt
111 the lists as he was popular in hall and bower—one as deeply
i...4_1-ned as he was courteous and as richly endowed with per-
A"'m beauty as with lcarning—no less a personage than Eu-
le: °ne perfect fcentleroan, Crichton the Admirable. 4! . genius manifest vy9n in R in on such a subject.