The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-01 00:00:00

MAGAZINE DAY.

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

" Mexican Banditti"—as its title imports—
is interesting, and will amply reward the reader's
attention. The same may be said of the gos-
siping and too brief article, entitled " Parlia-
mentary Anecdotes," from which we select the
following anecdotes:—

" The late Mr. William Woodfall may he regarded as
the father of newspaper Parliamentary reporting in a full
and satisfactory manner. Mr. Woodall did not take a
note. He relied entirely upon memory, the retentive
' power of which, as evinced by the fidelity of his reports,
obtained fur him the character of a very extraordinary
man. So jealous was the House at that time of a prac-
tice now not merely tolerated but encouraged, Mr.
"Wiwi/Ilan, when lie•visited.the.gallery, was obliged rto study
concealment, under the apprehension of being turned out
if seen by the Speaker, or any Member particularly adverse
to his purpose, and zealous to maintain the rules of the
House. It was his practice, upon such occasions, to
smuggle himself into the gallery, under cover of one or
two friends, and to take his station on the front row, im-
mediately behind the clock, whete he remained out of
the sight of the body of the House. The newspaper re-
ports of Parliamentary debate since Mr. Woodfal!'s time,
afford a tolerably fair account of what has been spoken in
'Parliament ; indeed, at the present time, that portion of
a daily journal is executed with surprising fidelity, but the
.representation is imperfect in a very important point :
the great variety of matter taken in at the eye is wanting;
the drapery, the embellishment, the action of the &Tile,
so interesting a feature in oratory, are absent from the re-
port. We hear the thunder, but see not the lightning,.
whether it plans in a lambent, harmless flame. or, flashiY;l4
furiously, marks its fiery course with destruction. ',AG.'
deficiency will be explained in ti scenes laetKrta;inkirle
scribed, in which a few of the light autValmitile:patia are
represented with the respective pesfotPaelistf but rejecting
all grave and serious matter.
• ," Of alt tile orators in tbst, s..f Commons within
the interval mentioned id:tit-most excelled in ex-
citing merriment, and'thus felieving the sombre character of
grave and *serious Vt:h.tre..., He sought to amuse with as
snitch avidity as tis co./Nina; he never rose in the House
without produCing laughter by some stroke of wit before
he sat don it and the audience would have been disap-
pointed i.t is, speech; however eloquent, had he. concluded
wititotit making the attempt. With all the resources a
fruitful genius and brilliant-fancy could supply, he did not
disdain to resort to even a practical joke to effect this pur-
pose. An instance of this kind °centred in a debate upon'
.he Dog Tax, in which he either had, or made oecasiont.t'
pass on the floor between Mr. Pitt and the table. rtli.
Pitt was sitting in his usual seat on the Treasury-liettch,
and in his usual attitude, with his head thrown heel
his hgs projecting, which not being withdrawn, Me. f;iihe_
ridau, as he approached, stooped down, 'With iistsist as it
were to nip theni,, accompanying the action With the ap.
propriate canine bark of ' bow, wow, wow of.tuols
imitated, and loud enough to be lieSrd in Pvlitv,part-of the
House. This sally, so aptly a4ociateti with the
debate, had the desised etfeut. The House way convulsed
with laughter. Mr. Sheridan's wit, lo,never, both in and
out of the House, Lao been so commonasto.ject of conver-
satiou,at,tnae beanecess4suto p sus it -by without farther
atoticeotpd p•tactqttittitaxter of inferior merit and quality,
but ,;birds us sv beattoreraecttptable, as being less known to
vir V4A3et4kelient and the Bedouins," from the pen
“ipe'-gilitioso 'Of Mr. Came, abounds in all the
•. ,
7iiteliness of detail, and richness and force of
colouring, for which this eminent traveller is
remarkable. We much regret that we, cannot
gratify our readers with a specimen or two:
" Letters from New York" are characteristic and
amusing : the subject, however, is becoming,
somewhat " stale," and what is worse, " un-
profitable." " Recollections of a Gottingen
Student" is an improvement on the style and
quality of the former papers on this subject.
The remaining articles we must dismiss with the
remark that they are light and pleasant reading.