The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

MEMOIRS OF C. MATHEWS. Vols. 3, 4.
Bentley, London, 1830.
The Memoir of the best mimic of his day—if
indeed he ever had a superior on the English stage
—is here brought to a close ; and we think it would
have been more generally attractive had it been
comprised in two volumes, instead of being spun
out into four. We find, no other fault with Mrs.
Mathews' life of her clever husband, than that she
has given us too much of it. Her diffuseness is
really quite afflicting. Every scrap of long-forgot-
ten newspaper criticism on the subject of Mathews'
earlier performances, no matter how trashily it
might be written, is pressed into the service of the
Memoir ; and letters after letters are introduced,
many of which have not the slightest public in-
terest, with no other view, apparently, than to swell
the bulk of the volumes. Yet, notwithstanding
these obvious blemishes, the work will be read
with pleasure, for it is " heaped up, and running
over,' with anecdotes, many of them of the most
singular and diverting nature ; and furnishes us
with racy personal sketches of several eminent
literary, political, and theatrical characters, now
passed from the stage of life, Among the best of
these sketches is one of Sir Walter Scott, to whom
Mathews paid a visit at Abbotsford, and of whose
manners he gives some pleasant details, all of which
redound greatly to the credit of the celebrated novelist.
Of the well-known dwarf, Count Borulauski, too, and
his interview with George the Fourth at Carlton
House, whither Mathews accompanied him, we
have a highly diverting record—diverting, if only
as it exhibits the sort of gracious flummery which
monarchs can so often make to appear as real good-
ness of heart. Had we space, just at present, we
would quote this lengthy extract ; but being some-
what circumscribed, we subjoin, in preference, an
anecdote illustrative of Mathews' unrivalled powers

of mimicry :
Mr. Plunket, and about forty other gentlemen, after
dinner one day, at the time when Queen Caroline
formed so frequent a topic of discussion, had grown
rather warm upon it, when Mr. Shehan, since editor
of a Dublin paper, wishing to turn the channel of the
conversation, and longing to draw out Mr. Matthews,
proposed the health of John Philpot Curran ! " Pooh,
pooh," said Mr. Plunket, who was at this moment
rather matter-of•fact in his perceptions, " the man's
dead! what do you mean by proposing his health ?"
" I differ with you entirely," replied Mr. Shehan, " and
I return to my toast." " Then," said Mr. Plunket,
" maybe you'll back your assertion with a bet ?''—
" With all my heart," replied Mr. Sheehan ; " how
much are you inclined to bet ?"—" I'll bet you five
pounds," answered Mr. Plunket, " that John Philpot
Curran is dead."—Done!" added Mr. Shehan, " I'll
bet five pounds that he is not! So, gentlemen, I re-
peat my toast." The " health of Mr. Curran" was ac-
cordingly drunk with cheers, which were reiterated on
the rising of Mr. Mathews, who happened to be disposed
to humour the joke agaiast Mr. Plunket. He began
by returning thanks, in the tone, look, and manner of
Ali.. Curran, and his phraseo!ogy, " for the honour done
him ;" and afterwards delivered a most eloquent speech
on a subject which Curran could never have spoken,
the trial of Queen Caroline—taking the bias of Cur-
ran's politics, and presenting altogether such a fine spe-
cimen of his style of oratory, and such a personification
of Ireland's celebrated wit, that he completely impressed
his hearers with the actual presence of the man, and
induced Mr. Plunket (albeit not fond of parting with
his money on such occasions), in an enthusiasm of won-
der and delight, to push over the bank notes to Mr.
Shehan, exclaiming, " I've lost, fairly lost ; Curran is
not dead, and can never die while Mathews lives 1" '
The following particulars respecting Charles
Lamb, are interesting. Elia and his sister had, it
appears, been invited to meet Mathews at dinner,
at Highgate, Coleridge being particularly anxious
that " Elia" should be introduced to the celebrated
actor, and be thought well of by him. Unfortunately,
however, Lamb suspected that it was intended to
make a lion of him, so he resolved on being re-
venged on his friend Coleridge, by playing at cross
purposes the whole evening :
" My husband, who was punctuality itself, and all
the little party, except the " Elia" and his sister, were
assembled. At last, Mr. and Miss Lamb appeared,
and Mr. Coleridge led his friend up to my husband
with a look that seemed to say, " I pray you, like this
fellow." Mr. Lamb's first approach was not prepossess-
ing.
His figure was small and mean.; and no man cer-
tainly was ever less beholden to his tailor. His " bran"
new suit of black cloth (in which he affected several
times during the day to take great pride, and to cherish
as a novelty that he had long looked for and wanted),
was drolly contrasted with his very rusty silk stockings,
shown. from his knees, and his much too large thick
shoes, without polish. His shirt rejoiced in a wide ill-
plaited frill, and his very small, tight, white neckcloth
was hemmed to a fine point at the ends that formed
part of the little bow. His hair was black and sleek,
but not formal, and his face the gravest I ever saw,
but indicating great intellect, and resembling very much
the portraits of King Charles I, Mr. Coleridge was
very anxious about his pet Lamb's first impression
upon my husband, which I believe his friend saw,
and guessing that he had been erolled, he mischie-
vously resolved to thwart his panegyrist, disappoint the
strangers, and altogether to upset the suspected plan
of showing him off. Tile lamb, in fact, would not
consent to be made a lion of; and'it followed that be
became puerile and annoying all the day, to Mr. Cole-
ridge's visible mortification. Before dinner he was sus-
picious and silent, as if he was taking measure of the
man he came to meet, and about whom he seemed very
curious. Dinner, however, opened his lips for more
than one purpose ; and the first glass of wine (enough
at all times, as we afterwards found, to touch if not
shake his brain) set his spirit free, and he became quite
impracticable. He made the most absurd puns and
ridiculous jokes, and almost harrassed Coleridge out of
his self-complacency, though he managed to maintain
a tolerable degree of evenness with his tormentor, now
and then only rebuking him mildly for what he termed
" such unworthy trifling." This only served to exas-
perate the perverse humour of him it was intended to
subdue ; and once Mr. Coleridge exclaimed meekly,
after some very bad joke : " Charles Lamb, I'm ashamed
of you !"—a reproof which produced only an impatient
" You be hanged !" from the reproved ; and another
jest, " more potent than the former," was superadded
to his punning enormities.
" Mr. Lamb's last firv,liowever, was at length expended,
and Mr. Coleridge took advantage of a pause to introduce
some topic that might divert the party from his friend's
determined foolery. He chose a subject which he
deemed unlikely, if not impossible, for Lamb to inter-
rupt with a jest. Mr. Coleridge stated that he had
originally been intended for the pulpit, and had taken
orders ; nay, had actually preached several times. At
this moment fancying he saw something in Lamb's
face that denoted a lucid interval, and wishing
to turn him back from the nonsense which bad so
" spoiled the pleasure of the time," with a desire also
to conciliate the " pouting boy," as he seemed, (who,
to our observation, was only waiting for an opportunity
to revenge himself upon his fiiend for all the grave
checks he had given to his jocular vein during dinner),
Coleridge turned benignly towards him, and observed—
oifoecofonociztroantdingwliitiisl pleensst. uopi rheissewntomoteendt
" Charles Lamb, I believe you never heard me
into one preachandpiq::
hesitation, Lamb replied, with great emphasis, " I
ne,ever heard you do anything else!"
The volumes are embellished with several plates,
exhibiting Mathews in many of his most popular
characters. We repeat, we think it very likely
that they will be generally read and liked—quite as
much so as the former volumes—but they are too
much spun out, and the style of the original por-
tion of the work is negligent and diffuse in no or
dinary degree.

SIX YEARS IN THE ALSTRALIAN PRO.
MINCES,
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF NEW ZEALAND.

BY N. MANN, ESQ.
London, Smith, Elder, and Co 0839.

The account of New Zealand appended to this
work is extracted from some recent publications on
that interesting country ; and as the author had
not visited these islands himself, and we have
already given lengthened details from the works
of Mr. Polack and Dr. Lang, who, from per-
sonal observation, are much better authorities, we
pass by without further notice this part of the book.
Dr. Lang, too, in his interesting account of New
South Wales, has anticipated many of Mr. Mann's
descriptions and remarks, and not a few, also, of
the severe strictures directed against Land Compa-
nies, land sharks, and the various classes almost
at open hostility to each other in these distant co-
lonies. Against the late Governor of Van Die-
men's Land, and also against the Colonial Depart-
ment, Mr. Mann has made the most severe attacks,
so much so, that, if true only to half the extent,
these must be the worst governed colonies be-
longing to the British Crown. One extract will
suffice as a specimen of the charges brought against
Colonel Arthur and the Colonial Secretary. After
quoting at length an affidavit testifying that the
Lieutenant-Governor employed Crown prisoners
on one of his farms, he thus proceed.3.:—
The foregoing affidavit was made by Jocelyn Thomas,
Esq., a member of a most respectable family, and late
Treasurer in Van Diemen's Land. It is admitted on
all hands that the Colonel was a poor man when he
went out to the colony, where he was imprudently per-
mitted to remain for twelve years, during which he