The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-25 00:00:00

LITEtt AT U K.E.

TIIE EDINBURGH RE VE CXLyka
18t8.
W e have .lu,rt I•eatved a copy of the last published Num,
ber tot this Review, which contains a great& Vatiety br
cles than usual. Some of there=—sncli, for instance, as the
" Education Pill," and the " Church Rues," are put forth at
a ralst seasonable period, for there is no doubt that both these
important questions will engage the A.ttent;on of Parliament
during the present ScAsiOn. The first article in the Number
is a review of Mr. Herbert's epic poem, entitled " Attila,
King of the Huns"—a poem which, 'till now, we never hap-
pened to have even hoard of, much less read. From the
copious oitracti selected by the Reviewer, we should say
Mr. Herbert shows great powers of fancy, and force
of style, though some of his, ablest passages are occasion-
ally too closely modelled on Paradise Lost. His subject is
evidently well digested, and all that care and patient
thought, and a ready command of language can effect, he
has effected for his theme. But we miss, as was to
have been expected, the arena dirinior that shines so
brightly, and is never for any length of time eclipsed, in
the great epics of Greece and Rome, and their equal—and
in some passages, more than equal—the Paradise Lost of
our blind old schoolmaster. The introductory portion of
this criticism is written with considerable spirit ; it is,
indeed, the best part of it, though we object to the Reviewer's
sneer at what he is pleased to call, the " rank luxuriance of
Ovid," whose metamorphoses, taken as a while, display
more exuberant fancy, quick feeling, and easy, graceful flow
of versification, than any poem in the Latin language.
The subjoined remarks are replete with good sense :

The Epic poet must view the past through the medium of the pre-
sent, if he would maintain his hold on his own times, or secure an influ-
ence over the future. He must lay a firm basis on the feelings and ha-
bits of thought, which are common to his own age, befere he can bespeak
attention to his pictures of a former. Now, in all this, when performed
with due discretion, need there be any violation of the essential truth
of character. " Poetry," as Bacon says, in a sentence full of wisdom;
" is the accommodation of the show of things to the desires of the
mind;" it implies the exercise of a plastic power, by which they
lose, to some extent, their real shapes, and are moulded into
a part of ourselves, instead standing aloof as separate exis.
tences. Such and such a being, may not in his habit, as
he lived have appeared exactly in the form under which he is
poetically represented ; he may have spoken a ruder language;
the feelings we ascribe to him may have been but dimly felt
by him, if at all ; but assuming the main features of his mind to have
been such as described, and the course of events to which he is subjected
to remain the same, thus he would have thought, and felt, and spoken
in a later period, had an inspired Poet lent him imagery and words ;
an -

id thus the result is something, which, though it may not have existed
n any one point of time or space, has yet a permanent reality for all
:ountries and all ages, and is at once a fiction and an inspired Poetical
;ruth.

" Church Revenues and Church Rates" is an elaborate
disquisition on the origin of ecclesiastical possessions and
imposts. The essay exhibits throughout much minute and
curious research ; but will not, we fear, be very agreeable
to clerical readers, whose favourite notion of an " inherent
divine right in the possessions they enjoy," it treats with
little or no ceremony. The Reviewer, however, who ap-
pears to have exhausted his subject—already sufficiently
hackneyed—hazards no assertions for which he has not
sound historical authority. The article, as we said before,
is well timed ; for just now, the Church and her imposts oc-
cupy the attention of most Englishmen. " Laird and Old-
field's Expedition into Africa" is a review of an interesting
book of travels, which we noticed some months since
at considerable length in The Sun. The article com-
mences with a brief sketch of the rise and progress
of African discovery, in the course of which the
writer observes, " the interior of Africa still remains un-
discovered ; and we, forgetting what man can do, and has
done, indolently conclude that it is undiscoverable." The
charge of indolence certainly cannot be urged against the
present times ; for seldom does a year pass but intrepid
travellers quit England, for the purpose of exploring the
more unknown wastes of Africa, braving every fatigue and
every danger, for the sole purpose of making their country-
men better acquainted with the geography of this quarter
of the globe. In no age has the thirst of African dis-
covery been so great as it is in the present day. " Police
of the Metropolis" is a sensible paper, of a wholly practical
character. Among other wholesome Reforms, it advocates
a reduction in the number of our Police Magistrates, and
a different site for some of the offices. The review of
" Lord Mulgrave's Speech on the State of Ireland," which,
it may be remembered, was made in the House of Peers at
the commencement of the present session, is clever ; but
the question is in a great degree shorn of its interest, for
all, or nearly all, that was to be said upon it, has already
been said by the Noble Viceroy. " Test and Toleration" is
a brief, pithy essay, advocating the introduction of Jews into
the Legislature. It is written in a generous and enlightened
spirit. The criticism on Sir F. Palgrave's " Merchant and
Friar" is chiefly interesting from the copious extracts it
makes from one of the most learned and amusing works of
the day. The " Negro Apprenticeship System" takes the
favourable view of the question, in opposition to the spirit
displayed at the late Birmingham Meeting on the subject.
The Reviewer observes—and we fancy we can trace the
pen of Lord Brougham in this luminous and satisfactory
treatise—that since the great change was set on foot, and
the conduct of it placed in willing and trustworthy hands,
ho has been content to watch its progress in silence ; and
though he has seen many things to deplore, and some
things to disapprove, yet that on the whole he is bound to
confess that his predominant feeling has been " one of
triumphant satisfaction." We would recommend the
perusal of this Review to those who are still in a state of
doubt respecting the working of the new Negro system.
Altogether, the Number is an excellent one.

THE MISERIES and BEAUTIES of IRELAND

Br JONATIAN BINNS.

energies to the accomplishment of the projected end. The nuns take
four vows—viz., poverty, charity, obedience, and instruction of poor
female children. The children are admitted ci the Ake of eight, s's,
number of from font to six hundred, and irrespectively Of religious dis
tinctions—and Continue under the vigilant and virtuous care of the sis-
teihisild, until lit tia enter upon tita active qtYlgenir"t, Pr fire. They
are educated ("gratuitously Of course). With reference to the situations of
governesses, nursery,maide; latlierrialdS; and confidential servants, and
art sought by families in every nart Of IrOttritt Oise hundred and eighty
of OW pupils IlaVe a breakfast given to them every day, and ti,VO hundred
are clothed yearly. The funds arise from the subscriptions of the lime-
volen4 and the salt of needlework of the girls, to which is added a
grant of 301. ftron th,.! BoM*d ttf EfidcWhil. Motite tit the pupils are en.
I,'TgOel ill making lace and tambour.work, the proceeds of which they re-
ceive, and it not only provides them with clothing, but greatly assists
their parents in the payment of their rents. The children were busily
engaged as we passed through the apartments, and appeared clean and
healthy. The majority were from eight to twelve years old.
We were presented to the Mother, a venerable lady of eighty years
of age. She very kindly accompanied us to some of the apartments.
and also to the retired garden of the nunnery ; and directed our atten-
Con to the burial ground—a small plot, four yards square, and contain-
ing only one solitary grave—as a sort of negative argument in favour of
the salubrity of the situation, and the regularity of the mode of living
pursued in the establishment. This interesting lady appeared religiously
devoted to the self-appointed duties she had incurred—was no less eager
in soliciting, than frank and prompt in supplying, information—anti cx.
pressel her anxiety to adopt any improvements that could be suggested
in the practical management of the institution. The dress of the nuns
was neat and unassuming. During the two or three years of probation,
a white veil thrown over the head, and somewhat resembling a muslin
handkerchief, is worn ; at the end of this period, the novice either as-
sumes the black veil, and pledges herself to perpetual residence within
the walls of the nunnery, or abandons it for the busy world from which
she separated herself on first joining the secluded community. From
the waist of each of the sisters a large black cross and beads were sus.
pended, and this was the only distinctive symbol of their connexion with
the Roman Catholic religion. On entering the institution, the sum of
600/. is required to be paid ; but if the individual paying it does not re-
main beyond the period of probation, 301. or 401. arc detained, in con.
sideration of the term of her residence, and the balance of the original
sum is returned to her. I must not conclude my notice of the Presen-
tation Nunnery without remarking, that there are no private rules affect-
ing the children, except such as refer to thedomestic concerns of the esta-
blishment ; and that no attempt is ever made to instil the principles of
Catholicism into the minds of the Protestant pupils.

My visit to this nunnery was a profitable One: It taught me to con-
demn myself for having entertained harsh and uncharitable opinions of
the monastic life ; it afforded me a practical proof that seclusion does not
necessarily imply inactivity, but that an entire withdrawal from what is
called the world, is compatible with a diligent and extensive exercise of
the spirit of philanthrophy.

Several of the descriptive scenes in this work are very
beautifully and chastely written. In his ardent admiration
of gardens, green meadows, waving corn, and the healthy
pursuits of agricultural life, Mr. Binns is a true disciple
of Cowley. The illustrations of these volumes reflect great
credit upon the artists by whom they were executed.

LIFE AND TIMES OF LOUIS IV.—Two Vols.
Bentley, London, 1838.

Mr. James, the author of the work before us, is one of
the most agreeable of modern historians and biographers.
If he do not go very deep into his subject, or take any
very philosophical or comprehensive views of it, he at any
rate treats it in an attractive and popular manner : is in-
variably accurate in his details of facts, and well versed in
the periods which he undertakes to discuss. His Memoir
of Cardinal Richelieu, and still more, that of the famous
Finance Minister, Colbert, both of which he contributed
to Lardner's Cyclopamlia, displayed Mr. James's qualifica-
tions as a popular biographer in a most favourable light.
In these entertaining productions, which were just of a
fitting length, he skimmed the surface of history in a very
pleasant, graceful, and rapid manner ; nor does he ex-
hibit his powers to less advantage in the more important
work before us, which, however, is not so much a history
—if by this phrase is meant a profound, or elaborate, or
argumentative production, such as Gibbon's Rome, or Tur-
ner's Anglo-Saxons, or Hallam's Middle Ages—as a lively
collection of details, plentifully interspersed with charac-
teristic anecdote, illustrative of the habits and position of
France during the earlier period of the reign of Louis XIV.
The materials for such a work are abundant, nor are they
very difficult of access, and Mr. James has gleaned from
all sources, and shared no pains to make his work as com-
plete as possible. It has evidently been a labour of lose
to him ; and no wonder, for the French memoir-writers are
in general most fascinating gossips ; and consequently he
has fully succeeded in his task. In fact, he may be said,
to a certain extent, to have broken new ground ; for his
volumes have not the grave and formal dignity of regular
history, nor have they the mere light domestic character of
the personal biography ; but hold a mean between the two
—that is to say, occupy a sort of neutral ground. The
present volumes merely come down to the period of
the coronation of the young King Louis, when the
disturbances of the Trondes had been subdued, Cardinal
Mazarin restored to power, and the Royal authority
fully re-established, so that the more showy and stir-
ring portions of the Monarch's reign, when he waged war
with all Europe, and placed France for a season at the
head of European States, is yet to be discussed. We
have not the slightest doubt that the work will be popular—
eminently so—for, in the first place, the subject is as
felicitously chosen as Robertson's Charles the Fifth ; and
secondly, it is treated in a spirited dramatic form, as is ge-
nerally the case when a successful novelist undertakes a
publication of the sort ; though we must do Mr. James the
Justice to say, that in no one instance that we have been able
to detect, on a cursory perusal of his volumes, has he made
feet subordinate to the purposes of fiction. We have unfor-
tunately no space for extracts, or we should give some spe-
cimens of his manner, when treating of those two famous
personages—De Retz and Turenne.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE OF SARAH,
DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH, 2 vols.
Colburn, London, 1838.

Those who have read Archdeacon Coxe's Life of the
Duke of Marlborough, will, no doubt, be anxious to road
the present work, which clears up many matters that were
there but imperfectly glanced at, or left in some degree of
obscurity. The publication is, in every respect, a valuable
one ; for the times, to which the extensive correspondence
contained in it has reference, were among the most stirring
of any recorded in English history ; when party spirit was
inflamed to a degree bordering upon madness ; when the
whole continent was in a most excited, inflammable con-
dition, owing to the all-grasping ambition of Louis the
Fourteenth ; and when England had not yet settled down
from the fierce social and political ferments brought about
by the revolution, and the restless incessant intrigues of the
fallen dynasty of the Stuarts. The Duchess of Marlbo-
rough was no inactive spectator of those troublous times ;
her influence was great ; she was acquainted with almost
all the leading statesmen of the day ; was quick-witted, am-
bitious, and intriguing in her nature ; and tasked all her
faculties to further the views of her party. For some
time her political influence was unbounded ; but she out-
lived it, and spent hrr old age, as we see by the volumes
before us, a prey to spleen, melancholy, and disappoint-
ments of all sorts. It is curious,•indeed, to see by her own
revelations, what an utter contempt she felt and expressed
for the world, when she was no longer an active public cha-
racter. Everything she appeared to think was going vvrong,
merely because she herself had ceased to be the influential
politician that she once was. She had toleration for no-
body, but allowed feelings of moroseness and disappoint-
ment to cloud a naturally clear and vigorous understanding.
" I think," she observes, in one of her journals, dated is
the year 1737, " I think one ca'nt leave the world at la
better time than now, when there is no such thing as real
friendship, truth, justice, honour, or indeed anything that
is agreeable in life. I am so weary of life, that I don't
care how soon the stroke is given me, which I only wisl,
may be with as little pain as possible. As to my own par.
titular, I have nothing to reproach myself with ; and I think
it very improbable that I should live to suffer what others
will do, who have contributed to the ruin of their country ;
and when I am dead I shall hear nothing of it, nor have
the uneasiness when I die of parting with anything that
gives me much pleasure. There is such a change in the
world since I knew it first, that though one's natural plea-
sure is to love people, the generality of the world are in
something or other so disagreeable, that it is impossible to do
se." This is the language of sour spleen and disappoint-
ment, and not of a philosophical conviction of the hollow-
ness and inefficiency to create happiness, of all ivordly pur-
suits. We see by its very bitterness, that the spirit of am-
bition is not dead, and that had occasion offered, the
Duchess, despite her age and affected indifference to 11.!'n,
would fain have again returned to that sphere in which she
played so conspicuous a part. The letters of her cele-
brated husband, the conqueror of the Generals of' Louis the
Fourteenth, and in which, according to the cautious spirit
of those times, numerals are used in speaking of political
characters, are some of them very curious ; they form, in-
deed, the most entertaining portion of the volumes, being as
remarkable for their strong sense and judgment, as for their
barbarous diction and indifferent orthography. Next in in-
terest to the Duke of Marlborough's letters—which we
should observe, show throughout great deference to his wife
—are the Duchess's sketches of some of the most eminent
political characters of her day. The best is that of Qua ea

Assistant Agricultural Commissioner on the late Irish Poor
Inquiry, in 2 vols.
London, Longman and Co., 1838.
This is decidedly the best work that has yet appeared
on the state of the poor in Ireland. To read it and not
arrive at the conclusion, that its author is a man of gene-
rous and enlightened views, of rare simplicity and goodness
of heart, and as divested of prejudice as it is possible for
a person to be who is stedfast in the maintenance of his
religious and political principles, is, to our thinking, impos-
sible. That it is a faithful transcript of Mr. Binns' im-
pressions, thoughts, and feelings, presented to the public
without artifice, and solely with a view to make the actual
condition of the poor of that country better understood,
is as unquestionable as the manner is creditable to his
shrewdness as an inquirer, and his sense of justice as an
Englishman. Mr. Binns arrived in Dublin in the Summer
of 1835, and from his route—described on a map of Ire-
land prefixed to the first volume—his survey of the country
was sufficiently extensive, and his intercourse with all
classes of the people was varied and prolonged enough, to
enable him to judge impartially of what bad been before
advanced of the " Miseries and Beauties" of Ireland, as
well as to suggest for the removal of the former several im-
portant remedies. To the far-famed hospitality of the
people of Ireland, Mr. Binns bears the following testimony:—
Many of the Irish consider it a religious duty to keep the door open
when at meals, that the passing stranger may enter and partake. lam
happy to add my testimony to that of other travellers in favour of the
hospitality and kindness of the Irish in all parts of the country through
which I have had an opportunity of travelling, but it is the most re-
markable among the poor. In the hundreds of miserable cabins which
I entered, a seat, if there was one, was always at my service, and if
the inmates did not invite me to share the best they possessed, it was
from diffidence alone, for they
always seemed gratified if I took a po.
tatoe from the bowl uninvited. Indeed, I invariably experienced the
utmost civility, accompanied with a courtesy of manner which would
have done honour to a higher rank of life.
And in another place :
Their misery is borne with cheerfulness; they are uniformly polite
and hospitable, and ever ready to communicate any information which
it may be in their power to supply. Although I have travelled through
most of the counties in Ireland, I never yet met with an instance of in-
civility on entering their cabins, however abruptly; on the contrary,
a hearty welcome was always given ; my can seemed to excite their grati-
tude; and good wishes,. warmly expressed, constantly attended my de.
parture. The submission of these poor creatures to the hard destiny
entailed upon them is remarkable. Upon one occasion a woman ob-
served to me that " they had hard" fare and disappointments, but God
prepared the back for the burthen." By way of giving them some
little comfort, I frequently remarked that they and their children were
far more healthy than the rich ; they would reply—" God so ordered it
for the poor."
Want of space prevents us from entering at any length
into the opinions of the author respecting the remedies to
be adapted for removing the evils that oppress Ireland.
We shall, however, take a fitting opportunity to cite then:
in a form not less complimentary to him. In the mean
time we beg to introduce our readers of the fair sex to the
interior of an establishment, which must ever be to them
an object of lively curiosity—a Catholic Nunnery :
From these novel and interesting scenes I hastened to take ad•
vantage of the kind offer of a lady in Galway, to accompany me to the
Presentation Nunnery. On knocking at the door we were immediately
admitted, and politely conducted by one of the Sisters to-the several
rooms in which the pupils were prosecuting their studies. This ad-
mirablestablishment consists of twenty nuns and a superintendent,
oundto;ether by the benevolent desire of promoting the comfort and
the happiness of their fellow beings, and successfully devoting their best

liE SUS, LONDON, ritiliSnAy, .1-.ANltiAttAt 1838,

rune, which is jdElf, id the mpirt, though deformed here and
• here by spleen and party spirit.

THE E 3 VoLs.
ilen 2:
T,
Lontion, lett.
Lae Uy
The greatest fault of this novel i« that there is too much
pretension about it. The author is cunstantly indulging
'n reflections, Midst 6f which are irreievailt, for no other
purpose, as it siienid teeth; than of showing, of what a
leeply meditative character he Mdreoter, he is much
addicted to putting forth set aphorisms, wttiela i a pity, for
ae is anything but a ,llorThefoueault, or a Swift. When,
however, dispensing with these little affectations, he comes
to deal with incident, he is by no means unsuccessful ; his
third volume, in particular, contains some passages full of
fire and energy, and which might redeem a far more indiffe-
rent novel than the Elopement.

TRIFLES FOR LEISURE HOURS.
Si;npkin and Marshall, London, 1838.
A pleasant enough collection of prose tales, essays, and
sketches, the production apparently of a lady. The best
tale is the one entitled " A Voice from the Grave."