The Sun.
London, England, 1838-06-14 00:00:00

WINDSOR-WEDNESDAY.

The Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Kent, Lady Mulgrave, Lady Digby, Hon. Col.
Cavendish, &c., drove in the Park this afternoon, and visited
Virginia Water.
The following have taken their departure : —The Duchess
of Gloucester, the Duke of Argyll, the Duke of Grafton,
Lady Laura Fitzroy, the Duke and Duchess of Richmond,
Lady Caroline Lennox, Sir F. Stavin, and Col. Cornewall.
Prince George of Cambridge has left fur Frogmore. His
Royal Highness will dine with the officers of the Life Guards
this evening.
The following have arrived :—The Marquis of Anglesea,
Lord A. Paget, Lord Falkland, Lord Torrington, Lord and
Lady Surrey, the Ladies Mary and Adelaid Paget, Lord
Melbourne, Sir Henry Wheatley, and Mr. Brand.
The Royal dinner party of this evening will include the fol-
lowing personages:—Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent, Lady Mulgrave, Lady Flora Hastings, Hon. Misses
Paget and Dillon, Baroness Lehzen, Marquis of Conyngham,
Marquis of Anglesea, Earl of Erroll, the Ladies Mary and
Adelaide Paget, Earl and Countess of Albemarle, Earl ard
Countess of Surrey, Lord Alfred Paget, Hon. Colonel and
Mrs. and Miss Cavendish, Viscount Falkland, Mr Brand,
Viscount Melbourne, Viscount Torrington, Lord Lilford, Sir
Robert ()may, Hon. Colonel Murray.
To-morrow (this day) her Majesty hill honour Ascot Races
with her presence.
The Court will leave for town on Friday.
Most of the Royal suite drove to the course this afternoon.

FINE ARTS.

PORTRAIT OF MEDI-IKE OF WELLINGTON.

Boys, London, 1838:
Th's is about the twentieth portrait we have seen, withi❑
the last two or th.ee a as, of his Grace, and we may add,
that it is one of most successful as a likeness, and
equally so as an engraving. If we have any objection to
urge, it is that the figure of the Duke is rather on too
large a scale ; the features, however, are admirably defined,
and may be recognized on the very first glance. The
portrait is a full length, and is vividly brought out by a
dark and striking back-ground.

LITERATURE.

MEMOIRS OF COLONEL MACERONI. 2 vas.

Marrone, London, 1838.

These are two very pleasant, rambling volumes, the
production of a man of the world, and of an active and
scholar-like mind. We can scarcely call them a biography,
for they have neither beginning, middle, nor end ; they are
rather an oinniuni gatherum, in which every thing is treated
of, but nothing at any length. We have anecdotes illus-
trative of natural history ; short, pertinent disquisitions on
scientific subjects ; impressive accounts of Sicilian earth-
quakes ; and curious facts relating to Murat's last days,
and to the occupation of Paris by the Duke of Wellington,
and the intrigues of Poncho after the decisive battle of
Waterloo. The author is Colonel Maceroni, for some
time aide-de-camp to King Joachim. He has penned his
various reminiscences for the most part in a cheerful spirit,
without one particle of spleen, though be appears to have
met with many bitter disappointments in the course of his
chequered career ; and when be comes to treat of scientific
matters, puts forth all the vivacity of an enthusiast.

PEDESTRIAN TOUR THROUGH NORTH
WALES.
Colburn, London, 1538.

We are indebted for this amusing volume to the
pen of Mr. Bennett, the actor, whom we remem-
ber to have seen with pleasure on the boards of
Covent Garden Theatre, one or two seasons since,
where he played, and with some skill, the second parts
in tragedy. He here comes before us in a new form,
as an author, and on the whole, acquits himself cleverly.
His pedestrian ramble through North North 'Wales con-
tains many choice descriptive passages, and is inter-
spersed with some small poesy, of which, however, the less
said, the better. Mr. Bennett entered 'Wales, it seems,
by way of Shrewsbury, passed through the picturesque
vale of Langollen, of which we have a glowing account ;
rambled on to Snowden ; scrambled through the wild,
craggy, difficult pass of Llanberris ; explored the Bala
lake ; and evinced the requisite quantity of astonishment
and enthusiasm—like little Bob Keeley at the Niagara
Falls—at sight of Telford's master-piece, the Menai bridge.
Of all these various sublime and beautiful objects in nature
and art, our author speaks in terms that evidence an intel-
ligent and cultivated mind ; and, what will specially recom-
mend his volume to readers of a matter-of-fact turn of tem-
perament, he gives full particulars respecting the best Inns
to be met with in North Wales, and the nature of the ac-
commodation to be expected. Those who may be tempted
in the approaching summer—should we be lucky enough to
have a summer, for hitherto the season has been but a mi-

tigated winter—to 'mike the tour of the northern districts
of Wales, will do well to furnish themselves with Mr. Ben-
nett's volume, which will form a capital guide book, the
more especially as it is embellished with a variety of hand-
some engravings, illustrative of the most romantic scenes
in the Principality. Should a reprint :of the volume be
called for, we would strongly advise the author to cut out
the poetical portions of it, or at any rate not to make
" Penis" weep over deceased Welch maidens, for the Peri
is an Oriental spirit ; and still less to plant " Brownies.'
among the Welch glens and mountains, for these goblins
arc, exclusively we believe, of Scottish growth.

THE LANCET—MESMERISM.
The last number of the " Lancet" (Saturday, June the
9th), contains the usual quantity and variety of matter,

connected with the departments of science to which this
valuable Periodical is devoted. But, whilst the greater

portion of the contents can be interesting only to students
and to the medical and surgical professions generally, there

are two articles, which have reference to a subject now oc-

cupyin4 the attention of the whole scientific world, and
which possess so much of popular interest, as to deserve
especial notice in the columns of a newspaper. The first

of these is a report of the meeting of the Medico-Botanical
Society, at which the chair was filled by Earl Stanhope, the
President. A communication from Dr. Hancock to

the Noble Chairman, on the subject of the mystery,
still perversely called " Animal Magnetism," was read,
and gave rise to a conversation both interesting- and
important. Amongst the Author's observations, there
is one which is well worthy of deep consideration.

He says, " It is to be regretted that false conceits, and the

cant of science, have but too often been employed to ridi-
cule important truths, which an affected infallible philoso•
phy is found inadequate to explain." He ha 3 never been a
convert to the doctrines of Messner, but he has seen
enough to convince him that they are not wholly without
foundation ; and he seems to think that certain feats,

which he has seen performed by the Indian jugglers o.

South America, were effected by the agency of " Animal

Magnetism." What he means by saying that he has never
been a convert to the doctrines of Mesmer, we cannot un-
derstand, when in this communication he admits or assumes
all that was important in the assertions of that strange
mixture of philosopher and impostor. He even hazards
conjectures as to the nature of the influence, and
suggests modes of increasing or modifying it. He
suggests an hypothesis of its analogy to magnetism
and electricity, and supposes the existence of an
aura, or electric, or electro-magnetic fluid, which is trans-
mitted from the operator to the brain and nerves of the
patient. Surely it is far from philosophical thus to attempt
to frame a theory for the explanation of phenomena, of
which so little is as yet ascertained—which are so variable,
so ambiguous, and so much opposed to all ordinary pheno-
mena of the material world. He thinks that the subject
should at first be discussed most impartially, without re-
ference to its therapeutic powers." In this we agree with

him, except that we should say let it be observed, first, tha
we may have sufficient data indisputably established before
we enter on the discussion. Let us observe the subject
also, purely and by itself, without confusing and embar-
rassing it by the introduction of active and ascertained
agencies. The question to be solved is this—Does
one animal really exercise an influence upon ano-
ther, without contact or visible communication, and
without the will or consciousness of the individual affected ;
and if so, vs hat is the nature of that influence ? By ob-
serving simply the operation of one animal upon another,
we must arrive at length at a certainty as to the existence
or non-existence of the alleged Mesmeric influence. If we
employ along with it, so powerful and palpable an agent as
electricity, our observation will be obscured and perplexed,
and we shall be unable to determine by which agency
the
phenomena are elicited. Whether they arc produced by
magnetism or electricity, or by both combined, nothing is
at present known, and it can only betray us into a coafus:on
of ideas, if we persist in designating them by any term de-
rived from the name of either of those two pow-
ers. Dr. Elliotson very sensibly prefers to call the
animal influence Mesmerism, after the name of its
supposed discoverer, and as that is sufficient for a distin-
guishing appellation it would be well to adopt it universally,
until experience enables us to invent a more expressive term.
In observing upon this part of Dr. Hancock's suggestion, the
Noble President (Earl Stanhope) very properly observed
that " there was no analogy between Mesmerism and elec-
tricity; none of the phenomena, which are constantly re-
sulting from the latter, ever following the use of the
former." But in fact, Dr. Hancock
goes back into the
errors of the early Mesmerism, and to our e,reat surprise
talks of " the agent (whatever it is) being conveyed along
a metal rod or wire, from a person freely magnetised to
another in a separate apartment, or that, a chain formed
by several persons might be made to convey the im-
pressions." It is surprising, that in the present days of
cautious and laborious induction, a man of science and
learning should sit down to write a formal essay addressed
to a learned body, and even to attempt the construction
of a theory, respecting phenomena, which he has so little
observed. The rods and the chains, metallic and
animal, had sufficient trial in the days of Mesmer
himself, and it is now clearly ascertained, that
they do just nothing towards " conveying the