The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-01 00:00:00

MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

The present Number of this octagenarian periodi-
cal contains two engravings, from designs furnished by
Alfred Crowquill, illustrative of the travels of Mr.
Pickwick and his valet, Sam Weller. To these are
attached a series of papers, entitled 4‘ Pickwick abroad,
or the Tour in France," which are evidently intended
as a continuation of Boz's well known sketches. No
one will mistake them for the production of Mr.
Dickens; for, like all imitations, they imitate the de-
fects, rather than the excellencies of the original, to
which they bear about the same resemblance that Mr.
Croker's battle of " Talavera," bore to Scott's battle
of " Flodden Field." Here and there the writer gives
us a sprightly, amusing sketch ; but, as a whole, his
descriptions want life and spirit. Crowquill's illustra-
tive plates, however, are by no means deficient in
humour. " The Life of Talleyrand" acquaints us
with some curious anecdotes respecting the early career
of one of the most successful diplomatists, and despe-
rate intriguers of the age. Talleyrand, in his more
bustling days, was the very incarnation of intrigue—a
IVlachiavel in action. It was his favourite maxim--
that 44 speech was intended to conceal one's thoughts,"
a maxim thoroughly characteristic of the man.. We
believe he has been in at the death of at least a dozen
political systems and dynasties, and digested oaths that
might have choked an ostrich. " Portraits from the
Peerage" is an agreeable biographical sketch, rather too

honied in its complimenti, of the present Earl of
Munster. " The Sisters" is a tale written in an easy,
unaffected style. But the most lively article in the
Number is that entitled " On the Inconveniences o.
a Good Appetite." We have no space for extracts,
as will be seen by the crowded state of our columns.

HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL.
This work, justly esteemed for its beautifully
coloured plates of florists' flowers, and its originality of
style, is much the same as usual. Speaking of the
Royal Society and Central School of Horticulture
and Agriculture, the Editor says''''''
44 Upon the whole, the exhibition was highly gratifying,
and manifested such an advance in the state of the Society,
which has hardly been established two months, that we are
prepared to Ecc it the rallying point for all the County Asso-

c'ationa for the promotion of horticulture and agriculture. '
Instead of meeting, and arguing, and planning, and doing,
and undoing, like some of the Associations have done and are
doing, without arriving at any really useful conclusions,—in-
stead of becoming the arena for political discussion and angry
debate, the Royal Society goes home to the undo standing of
the practical man, hails the improvement of any branch of
practice with its approbation, and honours the result of in-
dustry with its rewards. We are glad to learn that, among
other measures, the advantages of which are manifest to the
meanest capacity, it is intended to distribute its medals among
other Associations, whenever the Committee think proper to
recommend any particular object for its notice. Is it too much
then to hope that the landed gentry will generally approve of
it ? We think not. There are exceptions—we were going
to say, but it would be unfair—there is one exception, for a
' distinguished Nobleman who was applied to for his patronage,
not his money, for of that there is no need, and he is the only
one who has declined to sanction it, and this, on the ground
that he already belongs to two other Societies. If there were
an inclination to follow this example, we should like to know
what Nobleman there is who could not refuse his sanction on
the same ground ? What man of the least pretension to libe-
rality or property is there who could not find a similar excuse?
We confess that having had the opportunity of seeing the letter
containing the extraordinary excuse, we felt something border-
ing on disgust; something which, in our mind, accounts for
half the disloyalty and the dislike of the Aristocracy which
prevails ; and we deplore more than we can describe, the
enemies which the inconsider,te refusal of some of the higher
classes to promote objects which are calculated to do immea-
surable good, and which cannot by possibility do harm,—
whatever may be said in defence of such by the worshippers of
the golden calf,—we can trace one half of the antipathy which
is entertained by many people to the Aristocracy, to the re-
pulse of reasonable applicants for their countenance and sup-
port, to objects calculated to benefit the mass. But this is
an unpleasant subject, and we leave it for the brighter side of
the picture. The Society boasts of Royal favour, and jt is in
contemplation to build a conservatory, exhibition-room,
librarb and museum, upon a plan which has been honoured
by her Majesty's gracious patronage, signified in the most con-
descending manner by the Royal signature to an approval.
We have reason to know, also, that the Queen Dowager's
best wishes for the Institution, arc manifested in a way not to
be mistaken. The Duchess of Kent has condescended to give
her unqualified sanction ; that the Dukes of Bedford, Beau-
fort, Marlborough, Sunderland, the Earls Brownlow and Bur-
lington, Lord and Lady Gordon, Lady Cooper, Baroness Du
Rolle, Baron and Baroness Dimsdale, Sir Edward Antrobus,
Lord Howe, the Hon. William and Mrs. Ashley, and many
ethers, whose judgment and taste are proverbial, were ameng
the earliest who lent the sanction of their names to the laud-
able undertaking."
Whatever foundation there may be for this reason-
ing, there is no ;
disputing
it and it is of a piece with
the general mode of dealing with whatever the Editor
of the Journal disapproves.

THE DUBLIN uNz.VERSITY MAGAZINE.
Simpkin and Morahan.
Did this Number contain no article worth reading
save the " Authologia Germanica," we should hail it as
equal to most of its Contemporaries, solely on account
of the superior merit of this one paper. In presenting
us with the gems of German poetry in an English
dress, the author suffers no part of the rich spirit of the
original to evaporate. We select as an example a
drinking song, by Sim-Aber :
Lank, look this wine is Get man,
Therefore streams it fuL and flo.ving,
Therefore beams it bold and gloving,
Therefore, like a thirsty merman,
Quaff the brilli.mt cup divine,
Brother, this is German wine I
Fill, fill, a bumper goblet !
Fill it high, and toast our olden
Fatherland, and them, the golden
Maids and men who aye ennoble it !
Fill the purple cup divine,
Brother, this is German wine !
Drink, drink, to Ancient page!
May their memory greenly flourish
Who of yore were first to nourish
Flesh and soul, with this and grew sage,
Quaffing such immortal wine ;
Drink the Fathers of the Vine ;
Toast, toast, the resurrection
Of our country from her torpor !
We have spurned the French Usurper :
Freedom binds us and Affection,
Me with thee and mine with thine:
Toast our triumph here in wine !
German worth and German wine,
German speech and German manners
Be the motto on our banners !
None can tremble—none can pine,
While he drinks of German wine !
A fragment of another, still more thoroughly
German, follows, for which we regret we cannot make
room in the present crowded state of our columns.
The "Convicts of Lisnatnona" by William Carleton is
continued. Many of the incidents are highly dra-
matic, and the general interest is admirably sustained
throughout. The " Confessions of Harry Lorrequer"
are likewise continued ; but we do not think the pre-
sent chapters by any means happy. He does not give
us life in a Dublin boarding house, though his per-
formance is not quite a caricature neither. There is
an article on the " State of the Irish Clergy," which
demonstrates the truth of a proposition which the
writer labours with might and main to controvert—
namely, that there will never be lasting tranquillity in
Ireland while Catholics are taxed to support a Protes-
tant priesthood.

THE SPORTSMAN.-19, Old Boswell-court.
The embellishments for this number are Action,
from an engraving by Beckwith, and the Returning
Gamekeeper—" a fine jolly-looking, weather-beaten,
grey-headed old fellow, his face lit up with good hu-
mour and the setting sun, on his favourite grey poney,
with his faithful spaniels at his side, his saddle well
loaded with the spoils he has collected in his evening
tour—altogether a most picturesque subject for the
pencil." We may add that it is creditably executed,
and that the articles are well suited to the tastes
of practised sportsmen.

THE RAIL WAY MAGAZINE. —Wylde.
This very useful publication continues to be con-
ducted with much care and ability. To extend its
utility a number of subjects begin to be introduced not
immediately connected with the science of steam loco-
motion. The articles by the editor are remarkably
well written. The following extract from the Rail-
way notices for the month is the only one for which
we can find space in our columns:—

GREENWICH RAILWAY.—Before the publication of our
present number, we believe Mr. Macintosh will have com-
menced operations for the arches between the Raverisborne
awl Greenwich; so that all doubt will be removed as to its
completion into Greenwich. Should the weather remain
open during the winter, the works are expected to be finished
in the spring. It appears that the Croydon railway will com-
mence running in May next, which must greatly benefit the
Greenwich line.

The traffic on this line, notwithstanding the shortness of
of the days, the advanced period of the year, and other disad-
vantages, continues to average about 3,700 passengers daily ;
the average daily receipts exceed 841., or 590/. per week.
The present length of this railway is 31 miles, which distance
it daily traversed by three locomotive engines, making 56 trips
between London Bridge to Deptford, and 56 more from Dept-
ford to London. Each of these engines daily makes 38
journeys, (in this number are included the journey up to
Loudon at a quarter to eight in the morning, to take down
the first train to Deptford, and the last or return journey from
London to Deptford, after ten o'clock at night, without a
train,) and consequently runs over 120 miles of rails each
day. There has passed along this railway, from the 14th of
December, 1836, to the 23d November, 1837, a total of
1,376,589 passengers, and the number of miles travelled by
the engines, between the same dates, exceeds 214,400 (no
account being here taken of the extra hours of running.) It
is a remarkable fact, that not one serious accident has oc-
curred to any of the passengers during the whole time, now
upwards of a year and three-quarters (the carriages first ran
for hire on the Bth of February, 1836) that the railway has
been open to the public, and during which time but two lives
have been lost by accident. Can as much be said of coach
travelling ?

LOUDON'S GARDENERS' MAGAZINE.
A double Number ; and some of the papers are
va?uable, especially that by Mr. Thompson—" A
Report on the Hardy Fruits of 1837." In the
editor's summary view of the progress of gardening,
he says :

" Every year appears to add to the interest which is taken
in gardening pursuits in this
.country ; an'l for some depart-
ments, particularly that of floriculture, the public at present
may be said to hive a doeided Fasston. The culture of the
dahlia. though it has not attained so extravagant a pitch in
England as that to which the tolip is said to have arrived in
Hol!and, is yet now engaged in, in Britain, by a much greater
number of persons than ever were possessed by the tulipo-
,mania. The excitement produced by the premiums offered
by Societies for excellence ill this flower has been one of the
thief sources of income to nurserymen and florists throughout
the country for s-mne years past ; and is rather on the increase
than otherwise. It it satisfactory to find that it has not alto-

gether absorbed the attention and the energies of country
gentlemen ; and that the planting of the more choice kinds of
trees and shrubs, and the forming of pinetums and arboretums,
though not yet so general as the culture of dahlias, and the
laying out of flower-gardens, is making considerable progress.
We should not wish to see the ardour for the dahlia and other
flowers in the slightest degree diminished ; and, with respect
to flower-gardens, they cannot be too numerous, though
we wish we could see them laid out and planted in
better taste; but, combined with this ardour for flori-
culture, we certainly do wish to see country gentlemen
and their gardeners more alive to the beauty and interest
created by trees and shrubs. To the comparative permanence
of that beauty and interest, we have to add the fact of the
trees and shrubs requirity, less annual care, in every future
stage of their growth, than any description of herbaceous
plants. We must refer our readers to what Du Hamel says
on the subject. (See vol. xi. p. 614.) A single year's neglect
in a collection of dahlias, or of a flower garden, will be at-
tended with the certain loss of the finer varieties in the one
case, and with confusion and disorder in the other; but trees
and shrubs, if not planted too closely together, will maintain
their beauty and interest for several years, with no other at-
tention than that of excluding cattle, or other animals that
are injurious to them. This may be considered as proved by
the collection of trees and shrubs at White Knights, on which
no expense has been bestowed in procuring new kinds for
the last twelve years, while those remaining are still the
admiration of every one. Again, therefore, we recommend
the formation of collections of trees and shrubs, of pinetums,
of quercetums, salicetums, ulmetums, thornerics, and hardy
heatherics, to the possessors of country residences ; and the
giving honorary prizes for such collections to horticultural
societies."

JV
" As the influence of societies and of publications is as
great in gardening as it is in other human pursuits, the esta-
blishment of the Gardener's Gazette, in January last, and
the commencement of the Central School of Horticulture
and Agriculture more rectintly, may be recorded as the most
conspicuous features of the gardening history of the year
1837. For both the public appear to be indebted to the acti-
vity and zeal of N!r. George Glenny."
The editor also snakes honourable mention of a
contemporary labourer, who spares him not occasion-
ally in notices of his voluminous writings. It is
creditable, that notwithstanding the occasional jangling
of literary rivals, there is no desire to underrate the
services that both have rendered in their vocations.

THE ASIATIC JOURNAL.
All,n and Co.

The " Anecdotes of the War with Mysore," affords
us some curious glimpses of life in India towards the
close of the eighteenth century. But for us they
possess not the charm of novelty, though well calcu-
lated to stimulate the curiosity of the general reader.
A good history of India remains to be written, and we
know of only one author capable of executing it in a
manner worthy of the subject—namely, Mr. Alison,
whose History of Europe is now in progress of publi-
cation. The article on " Steam Communication with
India" is clever, but the subject is well nigh ex-
hausted. It undertakes to demonstrate much that is
now self-evident. The " Life of the Fatimit.:
Caliph Moezz-Li-Din- Allah," is continued ia
this Number, and will be concluded in the next.
The st.)le is too dry and matter-of-fact to
suit the tastes of genuine lovers of Oriental
literature. The " Literary Notices" are very well
written, and the mass of " Alonthly Oriental Intelli-
gence" selected with much care. But upon the whole
this Periodical is capable of much improvement. It
door not reflect with sufficient truth and power the
manners and customs of the inhabitants of Asia ; nor
does it analyse with adequate care the causes, religious
and philosophical, of those of which it favours us with
an outline. It is too English. We point out this
defect, because it is one which the conductor may re-
medy without difficulty. A series of articles descrip-
tive of India, its population, laws, religions, antiqui-
ties, towns, with short biographical notices of its
native chiefs, would add greatly to the deserved popu-
larity of this Periodical.

TAIT' $ MAGAZINE.
Simphin and Marshall.

Our friend Tait's politics are as violent this month
as last month they were moderate—as hopeless now as
they then were sanguine—as Ultra-Radical as they
were Ultra-loyally Whiggish. In this we neither see
change, nor symptoms of change, in the opinions of
our Northern Contemporary. Tait disavowed the au-
thorship of the article in the November Number, but
says not a word of the one which has just appeared—
a fact which proves at, once that our Contemporary's
confidence in the Whigs is, if possible, less than it
ever was. We cannot, however, perceive that the
Radicals, as a party, would gain any thing just now
by the adoption of the policy which he recommends—
the more especially as he would appear to exclude
Mr. O'Connell and the Irish Liberal Members from
all communion with them. They might form them-
selves into a knot of demagogues, and make indignant
appeals to the patriotism of the nation ; but then
comes the question—would the nation respond to
such appeals ? In its present temper, we think
not. The Whigs must damage themselves more
in public opinion than they have yet done before
the Radicals can have any chance of making a sus
cessful appeal to the majority of the people of Eng-
land and Scotland. The Review of " Ethel Churchill"
gives us, condensed in a few pages, the substance, and
almost the spirit of Miss Landon's charming volumes.
We find no periodical that can compete with Tait's
Magazine in the art of book condensation. " Tytler's
History of Scotland" is another Review, written with
equal ability as the foregoing. The idea of the work-
ing man's song beginning with—

" I am no gentleman—not I,"

is evidently taken from &ranger's celebrated song,
the burden of which is—
" An arrant plebeian am I."
" Justice to Ireland" is a good subject cleverly hand-
led. A lecture on the principle that " poetry is self-
communion," written by Ebenezer Elliot for the Hull
Mechanics' Institute, is given entire in this Number.
It will well repay the trouble of an attentive perusal
--even by those who, like ourselves, dispute the prin-
ciple at the outset. Were Mr. Elliott's principle
adopted, Thomas el. Kempis would take precedence of
Homer and Milton as a poet—now only known as a
writer of French devotional exercises. Taken all in
all, Tait is excellent this month both as regards se-
lection and talent.