The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE

EXCURSIONS IN DENMARK, NORWAY,
AND SWEDEN, 2 Vats.
Co'burn, London, 1839.
Mr. Bremner, theauthor of these volumes, started
on his Tour through the northern countries of Eu-
rope, in the spring of 1836, from the city of Ham-
burg, which he describes as " the most industrious,
and at the same time the most licentious, in some
places the dirtiest, and in others the most splendid,
of continental cities." His first excursion was
through the Danish province of Holstein, of which
he gives a very favourable account, especially as
regards the fertility of the soil. From Kiel, the
principal town of this province, he took the steam-
boat to Copenhagen, passing on his route several of
the most beautiful of the Danish islands. During
the voyage, one of the passengers told him a curious
story of an Englishman who happening to fall in
love with, and be rejected by, a pretty girl of Ham-
burg, endeavoured to cure his infatuation by tra-
velling several hundred miles to fish among the
streams of Norway. Finding, however, this recipe
unavailing, he took a strong dose of Africa, but
this being attended with no better effect, he has
ever since been a restless wanderer over the broad
face of Europe ! Our author was much struck
with the first appearance of Copenhagen which, he
tells us, is " among the finest in the world." The
city, however, has " no mob"—a most unaccount-
able peculiarity in a great capital, but which at
once explains the secret of its perfect still-life.
Speaking of the feelings of the Danes towards us,
Mr. Bremner states that there is still a lurking
Court prejudice against Englishmen, originating,
of course, in our bombardment of Copenhagen, and
the seizure of the Danish fleet during the late war.
" An instance of this feeling," he adds, " is exhi-
bited by the King himself, in his refusal to see Eng-
lish naval officers at Court. At least, if he does not
expressly forbid, it is well known that lie does not
encourage their attendance." - The following pas-
sage is worth notice, more particularly as`Mr. Brem-
ner styles himself Conservative ••• '
" Regarding the state of public:opinion among the
Danes, one fact struck us very remarkably—viz. that in
reference to the two parties which divide English society,
their sympathy is exclusively with the Liberal one. Let
his own political leanings be what they may, every can-
did traveller will attest that this partiality prevails here
more strongly even than in other foreign countries. It
would not perhaps be difficult to account for this leaning,
now universal on the Continent ; but we are at present
neither reasoning on it, nor inquiring whether it portend
a wholesome state of public feeling abroad ; all that we
now seek to do is, to record the fact that—whatever he
the reason, or whatever the consequences it may lead to
—universally, even under the most monarchical govern,
menu:, there is no fellow feeling with the strictly Con-
servative party in Great Britain. The names of Peel
and Stanley are known only to the few ; while those of
Brougham acrd Russell are familiar as household words
all over the Continent."
Of course, when travelling in the neighbour-
hood, our author did not omit paying a visit to
" thy wild and stormy steep, Elsinore"—to quote a
fine line from Campbell's noble " Battle of the Bal-
tic"—where he saw Hamlet's tomb, and wandered
through a garden which still goes by his name.
Who shall say, after this, that imagination has not
all the weight and impressiveness of reality ? Here
we see it operating on men's minds like a matter-of-
fact—a substantial incident of history. We need
not say that Shakspeare's Hamlet is a purely ficti-
tious creation, yet such is the impression which the
character has made on the Danish mind—for our
dramatist is a great favourite with the Danes—that
they cannot conceive of him as other than a veri-
table historical personage. To be sure there was a
Prince of Denmark named Hamlet ; but it is not of
him that his countrymen think—for he was merely
one dull item in a common-place Royal catalogue ;
but of the moralizer over Yorick's skull, the would-
be avenger of a deed of blood—in a word, of Shak-
speare's Hamlet. But to return. Mr. Bremner
was much pleased with the orderly and intelligent
character of the Danes, and particularly with the
women, whom he pronounces to be frank, agreeable,
and good-looking. He thus closes his account of
Denmark: —" There is no other country we have
ever been in, of which we could say, that during
the whole of our stay, we saw neither a beggar
nor a cripple in any part of it ; nor did we meet a
drunken person at any hour of the day or night !"
From Elsinore, our author took the post-office
boat across the Sound to the Swedish town of
Helsingborg, which is the place where Bernadotte
first landed when called to the throne. This re-
markable man, whose whole life is a romance—who
was originally a private soldier, then a sergeant,
then a General of Division, then a Marshal of
France and Prince of the Empire, next Crown
Prince, and, lastly, King of Sweden ; at one time
fighting at the head of the French troops for Bona-
, parte, and at another with the Allied forces against
him—this extraordinary personage is almost the
only substantial record left of the once paramount
influence of Napoleon. All his other kings, princes,
" pouips and powers," have passed away ; Prussia
has risen greater than ever from her fall ; the Con-
federation of the Rhine has become a mere faint re-
collection ; the King of Spain has degenerated into
the Count de Survilliers ; the King of Rome died
an Austrian Duke ; Murat the death of a traitor ;
all are gone, ambition's idle game is played out ;
and, we repeat, were it not for Bernadotte, not a
vestige would remain, save in history, to show that
Napoleon was once a king-maker ! We quote Mr.
Bremner's sketch of the Swedish monarch :
" Though now in his seventy-second year, Bernadotte
looks as hale and vigorous as most men at sixty five.
His face is round, full, and good-humoured ; the centre
somewhat prominent, but not nearly to such an extent
as to injure the expression. His smile is extremely
fascinating, and has nothing of the constrained grin,
which Monarchs and great men are often forced to ac-
quire. In person he is large and well-built, with a
figure still full and manly, which appeared to great ad-
vantage in a plain hussar uniform, with the broad green
sash of the Seraphim across his breast. He galloped
about with all the ease of a youth proud of his first
steed : but it is only reasonable to suppose that the
loyal shouts of the troops and the people made him more
than usually animated on this occasion. Always as he
came to a new division of the troops, a loud, long, and
honest hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah I rang from end to end
of the file. It was evidently no purchased homage—it
came from the heart ; and the same was evident in the
shouts of the crowd. All doffed their hats when he was
in front of them. At times the multitude, in their
eagerness to be near him, pressed so closely on his
cortege that there was great danger of accident,
especially as he rode very fast the whole time of the
review. Bernadotte has retained the affection of the
people simply by keeping his word. He vowed that
their rights should in his hands be sacred ; and
that this was no empty pledge, his whole conduct has
proved. Under him, the country has been raised to a
degree of influence and prosperity to which she had long
been a stranger ; a shrewd, observant Englishman, who
has been many years in Sweden, and has mixed freely
with all classes, from the highest to the lowest, assured
me that there cannot be the smallest doubt of the sta-
bility of the reigning family. No Royal family in Eu-
rope, he said, is more firmly settled on the throne, Ber-
nadotte is said to be very wealthy : but he makes a no-
ble use of his large fortune. In all parts of his domi-
nions—and he makes a rule of visiting their remotest
corners—he has sought out, and relieved distress. His
private habits are reported to be, at times, sufficiently
amusing. Though always attentive to public business,
he indulges in most admired' disorder regarding. all
domestic matters. He dines to-day at one hour—to-
nmootr rt oillv
ma ti
danni ogthlite, ra—n
ds osizteitmimesesin:ohtecavt gall, t,osometimes
great
discomfiture of cooks and scullions. Night he literally
often
have
rosy
yns
dinatwondatyo. Thoseght
them
ewmh o
tor their chamber.
him,
His
manners, however, are so kind to all about him,
that every varying humour is cheerfully complied
with. An interview between him and some honest
Swedish peasant is said to be exceedingly amusing.
The gallant King, with the light-hearted aversion to
drudgery characteristic of his countrymen, has never
acquired the Swedish language ,
but what he wants in
words, he makes up by good-humour and readiness to
join in the laugh at his own blunders ; and as the
honest Swede never doubts that the French he has
heard, is all very much to the purpose, the parties sepa-
rate, delighted with each other's amiability. It is one
of Bernadotte's best qualities that he is most, accessible
to all who have wrongs to be redressed. Nor is it a
bad sign that he is extremely sensitive under popular
censure. We do not insinuate that he is afraid of it,
but it is well-known that any expressions of dissatis-
faction—and they have been very rare—annoy him ex-
ceedingly. There was an instance of this when the
Crown Prince named one of his sons:after the Emperor
Nicholas ; the people who,
as we had many opportu-
nities of learning, most cordially hate the Rassians,
were so indignant at this harmless compliment to the
autocrat, that it was long before they could be brought
to forget it."
Washington Irving, if we remember rightly,
alludes in his amusing History of New York, to
the " wind-dried, water-drinking Swedes" ; now,
our author found few water-drinkers among them ;
but a great many tipplers, with whom corn-brandy
I was in hourly request, being taken in the shape of a

drain, before every meal, by way of invigorating
the appetite. Of the beauty of the Swedish women,
he does not think very highly. They are sinewy
and masculine ; and in point of height, bear too
close a resemblance to a lamp-post. Of the Swedish

money, we have this curious account :
" We were greatly puzzled on meeting several gen-
tlemen with neat bags, of green leather, dangling from
their neck or wrist, much in the same way as ladies carry
clasp reticules with us. What effeminate wretches !
thought we ; but we were soon reconciled to them,
when told that these were travellers, and that the ob-
noxious ornaments were those most necessary appen-
dages to travelling—their purses For money in this
country, being nearly all in paper, is so bulky that, to
mike a sum of three or four shillings, you need a whole
handful of greasy, ragged notes, some of which represent
only fourpence sterling 1 These fourpenny notes arc as
large as a ten-pound note with us, and are composed of abit
of bad printing, with as ocean of margin about it, on paper
so thick and coarse, that the bulk, without reckoning

the filth which paper of such texture soon drinks up,
comes to be a serious evil to the traveller. The notes
for a large value, however, are very handsome, and each
different value is conveniently distinguished by paper of
a different colour. Besides these handsome notes, there
is a new coinage, both of silver and copper, of great
beauty."
At Gottenburg, which is the second town in
Sweden, Mr. Bremner met with capital London
porter. It is pleasant to find such a striking proof
of civilization In a distant clime, as the traveller said
when he unexpectedly came in sight of a gibbet,
in a remote nook of Arabia I With Stockholm
our author was delighted, and no wonder, for in
point of site, it is one of the most picturesque cities
in Europe. After a short stay in Sweden, he
passed into Norway, whose mountain and forest
scenery must, by his account, be the finest in the
world. Christiania, however, which is its ca-
pital, somewhat disappointed him, being inferior,
as regards appearance, to Lerwick, the principal
town of the Shetland islands. While at Chris-
tianiape attended a meeting of the Storthing, or
Norwegian Parliament, and was struck with the
calm, dignified, business-like air of the proceedings.
There was no declamation—no cock-crowing—no
sneaking against time—the Members went through
their duties quickly, methodically, and in compara-
tive silence. We should not be sorry were our own
House of Commons to take a lesson from the Nor-
wegian Storthing. Considering the great extent of
the country, the population of Norway is ex-
ceedingly scanty.
" There are only," says Mr. Bremner, " 1,098,291
semis to a surface of 71,400 square miles ; in other
words, the single county of York contains nearly 200,000
inhabitants more than the whole of Norway, or 1,173,187
souls on an area of only 6,000 square miles ! The con-
trast might be made more striking were we to descend
to the particulars of the revenue, &c. ; but taking only
one head, we shall find that the sum raised for the poor-
rate and county-rate alone, in a single year, within the
three Ridings, was actually double the whole Customs'
duties drawn in Norway in the same space of time."
There are abundance of newspapers, it seems, in
Norway, for the press is perfectly free, and no tax
of any kind is levied on it. Christiania alone boasts
not less than eight journals, "which are very im-
partially conducted, and, it is said, much read."
Nevertheless, adds Mr. Bremner, " in the country
districts, and in the provincial towns, wherein we
travelled, you might as well ask for a bunch of
fresh grapes, as for the last newspaper ; and all the
time we were in Christiania, we did not see a
journal in anybody's hand at the hotel, or in any
other public place." There appears to be a strange
contradiction here. Abundance of newspapers,
yet no one to read them I— Not to be met with in
provincial towns, yet not less than twenty-one
published in the kingdom! We cannot understand
this incongruity. Our author has no very inordi-
nate opinion of the Norwegians. He found them
rude, over-reaching, and not a little licentious in
their habits, more particularly the lower classes,
who, he tells us,;" live in the most lawless manner,
as is well proved by the statistical returns, which
show that of every five children born, one is illegiti-
mate." Of the grandeur and beauty of the Nor-
wegian scenery Mr. Bremner speaks in the most
enthusiastic terms. He has been a traveller through
Europe, yet never has he seen anything approaching
to what he saw in this remote northern kingdom.
We subjoin his account of the grand Falls of
Riukan-Fos :
" But, hark we are:still far away from the Fills, and
yet their roar is already heard. We had been climbing
without intermission for several miles, and there is
another terrible bill before we dismount ; at its foot
several large and dangerous torrents are to be crossed.
As we rise, houses even at this remote and elevated
point of the valley, are seen nestling among the copse,
or completely overshadowed by some trees of nobler
growth. The track rises higher and higher, so steeply
that it seems impossible for our wearied horses to reach
the top. At last the path seems to terminate—a huge
precipice bars all advance. Leaving the horses in a de-
serted hut, we get round the interposing rock—climb
on our hands and knees—turn a soft green point—and
in another moment the Fall bursts upon us in all its
beauty and sublimity. Above the Fall, the river is seen
slanting through a naked ravine in a long inclined bed,
where it flows smoothly and swiftly, without a pool to
rest in, or a rock to break on, till in one moment, from
clear and foamless water, it vanishes in white clouds
of spray ; with a single plunge it has fallen four
hundred and fifty feet into a vast gulph scooped from
the solid marble ! So tremendous is the shock, that
even at this distance the mountain trembles. From the
immense height of the fall, the body of the water is lost
sight of long before it reaches the bottom ; instantly it
recovers itself, however, and rises back to the very sum-
mit in light vapoury clouds, bounding and curling up-
wards, till the whole basin and the retreating hollows
are full of wreaths upon wreaths of fantastic beauty. A
matchless sight! The floating masses are ever varying
their forms ; now they are like the rich foliage of lofty
trees waving in the summer gale, now like the gilded
clouds at even. Their beauty is singularly heightened
by the blackness of the surrounding rocks, and the deep
green of the sward above. Lofty as the Fall itself is
there are yet loftier mountains round it, whose imposing
masses greatly increase the effect of the impressive
scene. The sound of the cataract is at times
louder than the loudest thunder, filling the air for miles
with peals of terrible distinctness. On listening to it
for awhile, the head begins to turn. Altogether, the
height—the mass of water—the ebon darkness of the
surrounding rocks—the silence of the green spot we
cling to in viewing it, backed by a huge triangle of
swarthy basalt—the streaks of snow on the heights—
tbe small hut creeping near the brink—the river rush-
ing triumphantly out of the caldron it has escaped
from in despite of so fierce a trial—every adjunct re-
quired by taste unite to make this scene one of the
most magnificent that nature presents."
From the extracts we have given above, our
readers will be able to glean a tolerably correct idea
of the nature of Mr. Bremner's book. It is amusing,
but superficial. The author is a quick, but by no
means a deep, observer ; and writes with ease, but too
frequently in a slovenly, slip-shod style. We lay
little stress on his accounts of the Norwegian pea-
santry, for they are at variance with those of M r.Laing,
who was intimately acquainted with the character of
the lower classes of Norway, having resided among
them upwards of three years, whereas Mr. Brem-
ner merely paid them a flying visit, and rattled
through the country at quite a railway speed.
The best portions of his volumes are those which
relate to Sweden.

LARDNER' S CY CLOP./ EDIA.—Voz, CXIX.
Longman, London, 1839.
. . .

In this volume we have Memoirs of not less than
fifty English poets who flourished during the last
three centuries, and the majority of whom have long
since been forgotten. In the collection of materials
for these biographies—some of which, of course,
are mere outlines—the author has shown unusual
diligence ; and where no prejudice interferes to
cloud his better judgment, his criticisms may be
relied on, for they are characterized by a certain
staid good sense, which the reader must accept in
lieu of higher qualifications. The first Memoir is
that of Dryden. It is written in a manly, inge-
nuous spirit, but might have displayed less evident
partiality for the man—the poet it is impossible to
praise too highly—without at all injuring its effect.
The chief incidents in Dryden's chequered career
are well known. His was the lot of most poets—
to know no repose of mind or body, but to be kept
in a cons tant state of feverish excitement ; now to be
raised to the highest pinnacle of popularity, now to be
thrust rudely from his lofty pedestal, and find a dull
blockhead—as in the case of that miserable scribbler
Elkailah Settle—elevated to his niche in the Tem-
ple of Fame. The present biographer, in noticing
Dryden's rhymed plays, which are now generally
given up, speaks of them in just and fitting terms ;
but why does he say so little about the noble tran-
slation of Virgil ? All the criticism he condes-
cends to favour us with on the subject, amounts to
no more than this:—"The work requited the
universal curiosity ; even the most bitter of Dry-,
den's enemies acknowledged its great merits.
Meagre comment this ! The translation is first-
rate throughout, but the sixth book, in particular,is
the finest specimen of free, energetic, and harnioni-

nious versification in the lanp,uage. It is not
often that a translator surpasses his original, yet in
the desciiption of lEneas's descent to the Shades
with the Sibyl, where Dry&n—we quote from

memory—says—
" With slow and stately steps they tread
Along the waste dominion of the dead,"
he is far superior to Virgil. The remark that the
celebrated " Ode on St. Cecilia's Day" is one
grand conception, sudden and complete, and could
hardly have been composed piecemeal," is perfectly
correct. Such a spirited lyrical out-burst could
never have been painfully elaborated. 'We are
pleased also with the comments on Dryden's Satires,
but should have been glad to have read more about
his " Fables," especially that wild and impressive
tale, " Theodore and Honoria." Of the Memoirs
of the minor poets, the most entertaining is the one
of Corbet, who was the jolliest priest that ever
laughed and grew fat on the Episcopal bench ; and
is the author of a sprightly bagatelle, " Farewell to
the Fairies," of which Percy has made honourable
mention in his " Relics." Prior, like Dryden, is a
favourite with our author, who accordingly does
every justice to the arch and laughing graces of his
lighter works of fancy. His Muse, indeed, was an
incorrigible flirt, cold and heartless, but full of
brilliant witchery. His free translations from Fon-
taine are as good as anything of the sort that was
ever penned.
We come now to Pope. Of this great poet the
biographer speaks in terms of ill-concealed dislike.
His Memoir is jaundiced throughout. For instance,
alluding to the poet's forbearance under Wycher-
lty's anger, we are told, " there is more real good-
ness in this than the world has generally given Pope
credit for, and certainly more than the predominant
character and tenor of his works would justify any
one in attributing to him." Now what right has
the biographer to assume that the world does not
give Pope credit for a good heart? The world is
guilty of no such ungenerous severity ; but on the
contrary, highly respects his manly sense of inde-
pendence, his kindness as a friend, his exemplary
conduct as a scn. As for the " tenor of his works,"

in what respect are they deficient ? Are they
immoral ? Are their ethics mere sophistry ?
Do they confound the distinctions between
vice and virtue, or pay to mere rank and wealth
the homage due only to honest worth ? Nothing
of the sort. Taken as a whole—without reference

to one or two particular passages, where his irrita-
bility, the result of constant ill health, overpowered
him—Pope's works inculcate a plain, healthy,
practical system of morality. They arc not
crotchetty ; they are not fantastic in their notions
of virtue ; but address the world as the world should
always be addressed—that is to say, in the spirit of
uniform good sense. He who runs may read them,
which is more than can be said for some of our high-
flown moral teachers in verse. The biographer goes
on to remark, " throughout the whole of Pope's
works we do not find a single specimen of what
Mr. Roscoe designates love poems.' " What,
then, is the " Eloisa ?" If this be not a love-poem,
and of the most pathetic, eloquent, and impassioned
character, we know not the meaning of the term.
Again, we are assured that the sketch of Atticus is
'°a vindictive satire." Now, to our thinking, it is
one of the most affecting and dignified passages in
all Pope, betraying, in every line, a heart wounded
indeed, but certainly not rendered " vindictive," by
the coldness of a once loved friend. Speaking of
the well-known character of " Atossa," the bio-
grapher rakes up the exploded calumny that
Pope accepted a thousand pounds from the
Duchess of Buckingham for suppressing it, yet
hints immediately afterwards that he does not be-
lieve the story. Why, then, does he repeat it ?
If—to use his own words—" none of the bio-
graphers believe the circumstance to be true"—
surely common sense, to say nothing of justice or
izenerosity, should have induced him to suppress it'.
Pope as a poet, does not seem to be less in favour
with the author, than as a man. We have little or
no criticism on his works—and what little there is,
is of the coldest character—no allusions to his in-
comparable melody of versification ; his sparkling,
tranchant, epigrammatic satire, and occasionally
lofty outbreaks of indignation ; his grave moral
pathos ; his unrivalled felicity of epithet ; his wit,
his shrewdness, and his unerring knowledge of the
world about him ;—we have nothing of all this ;
though when the author speaks of Dryden,
be can be copious and panegyrical enough.
The spirit that pervades the Memoir of Young, is
not much better than that of Pope. The critical
portion, in particular, is about as common-place as
it is possible to be. Conceive a writer talking of
the " hollow pomp " of the Night Thoughts—of
that extraordinary production which contains pas-
sage after passage of more weighty, profound re-
flection, more unleavened sublimity, more vigour of
fancy, and nervous description, than is to be
found in any one of our poets, with the single ex-
ception, perhaps, of Milton I We close our notice
of this volume, by observing that it displays much
reading, and more prejudice, some just and occa-
sionally subtle criticism, but not one atom of
the feeling, the fancy, the enthusiasm, or quick,
intuitive appreciation of the more recondite beauties
of poetry, that characterize a critic of the higher
order.

LONDON AND EDINBURGH PHILOSO-
PHICAL MAGAZINE.
R. and J. E. Taylor, Red Lion-court.

The first article in this Number, which is en-
titled "On the Combination of Carbon with Si-
licon and Iron and other Metals, forming the dif-
ferent species of Cast-iron, Steel, and Malleable
Iron," is from the pen of Dr. C. Schafhaenth, of
Munich. The learned author details the result of
experiments made with the view of discovering the
qualities of different kinds of iron and steel, which
cannot fail to be of great importance to those who
are practically engaged in the various arts in which
those metals are used. "On the Stratified Rocks
in the neighbourhood of Killarney and Dublin," by
C. W. Hamilton, Esq., is interesting to the geolo-
oical. student. The author points out what he con-
ceives to be the erroneous conclusions of Mr. Grif-
fith, who has lately published a map of Ireland.
The paper
is accompanied with a plate, repre-
senting, sectionally, the relative position of the dif-
ferent rocks of which the district under discussion is
composed. Mr. J. 0. Halliwell has a curious
paper " On the Connection between the Boeotian
and the Middle-age Arabic Numerical Forms."
The learned author has come to the conclusion
that Europe is not indebted to the Arabians of
the middle ages for the decimal system of numera-
tion, but derived it from the East, through the La-
tins, at an earlier period. "On Lightning Con-
ductors," is an examination, by Mr. Snow Harris,
of certain electrical doctrines broached by Mr.
Sturgeon, in a paper addressed to the British As-
sociation. The question at issue between these
gentlemen, who are both inventors of lightning con-
ductors, is whether or not conductors let off lateral
explosions. Mr. Sturgeon supports the affirma-
tive of the proposition, Mr. Harris the negative.
As this is a subject of no small moment, we shall
look with interest for the further details, which Mr.
Harris promises in order to establish his views.
In addition to several other able papers, purely
scientific, which the present number contains, the
proceedings of various learned societies are given at
considerable length.

THE CITIZEN.—.No.
A ❑ew monthly Journal, devoted to politics,
literature, and arts. So far as it has yet proceeded,
we incline to think favourably of it, for the articles
are written with tact, and show skill in the choice
of subject.