The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-04 00:00:00

no better than "a pi:, of lead," Mr. Colman looks
on as a very cna•;vfAii,us occurrence, forgetting
that the satr.e thing cect:rs to at least seven out
of every ten boys who have been educated at
Eton, Westminster, heading, or any other public
school in the - neighbourhood of an accessible
river. His next impot tent disaster was in horse-
manship. Powell, the actor, had, it seems,
presented him with a poney, on mounting which
fbr the first time, he changed abruptly from the
perpendicular to the horizontal, and tumbled
down upon " the stones at the stable door."
How strange ! To think that a young lad on
mounting a horse for the first time should not
only be unable to keep his seat, but even be com-
pelled to coniess an extempore acquaintance
+•ith the stable-door ! Can any thing be more
miraculous? We are next favoured, in words of
suitable dignity, with Mr. Colman's opinion of
the sea, and it. gratifies us to add, that he has a
high idea of this element. " Its broad bulky
waves," says he, " impressed me with a fearful
conception of their grandeur when vexed, and of
their fury when driven by a tempest." This is
the age of discoveries, but amid all its stupendous
discoveries, we know of none snore profound—
more original—more singularly and emphatically
instructive, than the fact that the sea is fearfully
grand when vexed by a gale, or driven by a
tempest !

But we will not part with the author in ill-
humour, and as we have pointed out his ani-
lities, it is but right to say that his volumes have
many redeeming traits of wit, liveliness, and
quaint original anecdote. They are also oc-
casionally eloquent, in proof of which we pre-
sent the reader with a character of Gibbon and
Johnson, with which we must conclude our
notice:—

" The learned Gibbon was a curious counterbalance to
the learned (may I not say Ices learned?) Johnson.
Their manners and taste, both in writing and conversa-
tion, were as different as their habiliments. On the day
I first sat down with J )linson, in his lusty brown, and
his black worsteads, Gibbon was placed opposite to me in
a suit of flower'd velvet, with a bag and sword. Each
had his measured phraseology; and Johnson's famous
parallel, between Dryden and Pope, might be loosely
parodied, in reference to himself and Gibbon. Johnson's
style was grand, and Gibbon's elegant; the stateliness of
the former was sometimes pedantic, and the polish cf
the latter was occasionally finical. Johnson marclid to
kettle-drums and trumpels; Gibbon moved to flutes and
haut boys ;—Johnson hew'd passages through the Alps,
while Gibbon levell'd walks through parks and gardens.
Mann] as I bad been by Johnson, Gibbon pour'd balm
upon my bruises-, by condescending, once or twice, in the
c,nirse of the evening, to talk with me;—the great his-
torian was light and playful, suiting his *natter to the
capacity of the boy ;—but it was done more suo :—still
his mannerism prevA'd—still he tapp'd his snuff-box,—
still he smirk'd, and smiled; and rounded his petiods with
the same air of good-breeding, as if he were conversing
with men. His mouth, mellifluous as Plato's, was a
round hole, nearly in the centre of his visage."