The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-01 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

The " Widow Barnaby" exhibits
.to the utmost
advantage this month. She is no longer at Brigh-
ton, " creating a sensation" there by her sleek,
black tresses, her awful West country laugh, aii
her amazing circumference, which sweeps the whole
breadth of the pavement ; but has returned to Lon-:'
don, accompanied by her fac-simile, Patty, who
needs only time to enable her to expand into a
Barnaby. The incidents in the present chapters
are few in number, but we do not feel their paucity,
for the family conversations between the O'Do-
nagoughs—alias Barnabys—are excellent substi-
tutes. Indeed, Mrs. Trollope's characters gene-
rally talk far more effectively than they act. " Hav-
ing One's own Way" is an arch, graceful essay,
written—as we are sure it will be read—with faci-
lity, and thereby falsifying Sheridan's pungent re-
mark, that " your easy writing is d—d hard read-
ing." The " Life and Times of Peter P.' •
iggins
flags in places. But even Homer sometimes nods;
how, then, can a Priggins be always expected to
be wide awake ? " Insanity " is an intelligent
paper, in which may be found many valuable sug-
gestions. The following anecdote, related by the
late Dr. Baillie, is curious :—" I am just come,"
said the Doctor, " from Windsor ; and I ceuld
not avoid being struck on observing the singular
combination of persons which constituted the
Queen's Council, before which I appeared to-day,
to give my evidence respecting the state of mind of
the King. There was not one individual who was
not hereditarily predisposed to the disease ; or who
had not a brother, or a son, or a daughter, or a wife,
actually labouring under the malady of the person-
age, upon whose case they were consulting."
Alas, for aristocratic life, if such be the evils en-
tailed on it ! Imagine an entire Council of Minis-
ters hereditarily predisposed to madness! The
writer observes that pride is one of the most fre-
quent causes of insanity, but adds that it is so in
one class of society only, namely, the highest ;
that which is most exposed to the adulation of flat
tery, consequently feels most severely the wounds
which neglect or adversity inflict." The story en-
titled " Matrimony" is from the pen of the Coun-
tess of Blessington. It is lightly and pleasantly
sketched off. " A Precious Family" is too low,.
Some of its passages, however, are divertirt'ig
'enough. The " Falls of the Cauvary" are want-
ing in interest to the generality of readers. " Going
out of Town" reads like one of Mrs. Gore's fash-

ionable

he close of a London season

is thus described :

Long before the arrival of this decisive moment, the
2°'ieonity of crossing from St. James's to Albemarle-
stieet, has given tVilin whdt Is 6otiie I sooui after-
eiar•cts) eh odd !lay withoet its dinner-card " casts its
shadow before." 'The coniing in of' oystets, too, is a
bad simptom, nlaking d sap fail Of horrors. Picnics
to Riehtni3nd next begin to multiply, as if preluding to
a deeper plunge into the horrors of rurality. ThC talk
grows stronger of steam-boats and travelling chariots :
Newman's postboys cock their white hats more neatly ;
straw lies unswept from doors where the return-waggon
has been packed ; and " last scene of all in this eveetful
history," the very link (or rather lantern) boys, in be-
sieging you as you jump into the chariot from an as-
sembly, as they hang on the carriage, for " a little
sixpence," tell you, by Way of plea, that " they are
going into the country." When such things occur,
then is the breaking up of the season at hand ;
and it is high time to prepare for another, though
alas ! not for a better world. Not among the least of
the evils incident to this fatal contingency, is the ne-
cessity of making up our minds to where we shall go.
We look hack upon the shadows of departed joys, and
that's bad enough ; but what is it to an anticipation
of the miseries to come—the looking steadily in the
face a choice of evils. Whatever may be a man's sta-
tion in life, the determination is a matter of no small
import, though the points of consideration differ in
each. The lawyer consults the length of his vacation ;
the merchant the state of trade ; Members of Parlia-
ment calculate the probability of a general election ;
and all, more or less, cast an anxious eye on the finan-
ces. Now is the time for affected enthusiasm and the
hypocrisy of taste:; for when we can no longer sacrifice
to pleasure, we strive to make the most of circum-
stances, and sacrifice to vanity. For the higher walks
of life, etiquette divides the long and dreary period
between the adjourning and meeting of Parliament into
distinct epochs, which must be all observed, whether it
suits the disposition or no. The younger scions of
noble houses betake themselves, as we hare hinted, to
Scotland ; a place is hired where genie is plenty, where
whiskey is of the first quality, and innocent of excise.
Infernal hard wdrk it is, that same grouse-shooting,
with the roughing it in cabins, and sleeping on heather !
to say nothing of every now and then sticking in a bog,
or being obstinately short-sighted, and never touching a
feather. Nevertheless linquenda domus ct placens uxur,
you must pair off from the house, leave an ianocent but
amusing flirtation with another man's wife, which is very
different from leaving your own ; and what is worse still,
you must make believe to like it, and pretend that you
never enjoyed anything half so much in your life !