The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-02 00:00:00

MAGAZINE DAY.

BLACKWOOD' S MAGAZINE.
The opening article in the present Number is devoted to
the consideration of the " Discontents of the Working
ellsses," which the writer indirectly attributes to the po-
licy of the Whle., Ministers, with which they have about
as much connection as they have with Murphy's Almanack.
The article is written in a very dismal strain, and with a
singular affe station of calmness and impartiality. The
horrors of' the French Revolution" are of course altfided
to, for wher was there ever a political dissertation in Maga,
Without a reference being made to this Godsend, by way
of ringing :an alarm-bell in the ears of the Tories ?" An
Introductic n to the Philosophy of Consciousness" is a meta-
PWe hysical ,as say, deserving a more attentive criticism than
can afro rd-to bestow on it in this slight, cursory notice.
The essay -is very skilfully and gracefully written, and em-1
bodies ,ny subtle and ingenious reflections. " The WorlG
Live In" is resumed again ; and we are glad of it, for
tols a liV el y article, though the humour occasionally is apt
be
m' ach spun out. The remarks on Hogarth are the
°est por tic ns of it, and accordingly we subjoin them
The tow est caricaturist is he who contents himself with the bar,-
;Nue of fee tture, an offensive and ill.naturecl style. The next higher
the cork :aturist of character; but the highest is the caricaturist of
'nought. 'This was Hogarth's superiority. He threw on the canvass
representat• ions of all the eccentricities of mind. Sometimes tragic, as
in his Vie wof Bedlam ; sometimes comic, as in the Election Print,
Where he exhibits popular folly, under the image of a man cutting down
t!)e lamp. post on which he himself is sitting. Sometimes gravely,sesib-
t,!'ic, as ;in the country Church, where he exhibits the
spider's
tthickly drawn
over the aperture of the parish poor-box ; or in the pic -
nre ef t! le Nobleman's Marriage with the rich Citizen's Daughter,
where th e gouty Peer has the coronet upon his crotches, and the citi-
zorder en's he use is seen building, in defiance of all taste, with the Tuscan
~b
aye the Corinthian. But Hogarth's touches of nature and sa-
stric.de cterity are as numerous as his pictures. He loved common life,.
, vulgarity
but Its
Iloro• is forgotten, because his pencil was the most graphic,
al, and true. One of his sources of superiority is the constant
fumes as'
of his background. Other artists have been eentent with the
rnoin, action, thus leaving their performances naked, feeble, easily looked
over, and easily forgotten. But Hogarth crowded Isis canvass with an-
cessaries.•
" Sketches of Modern Greece" furnish us with some
vivid ideas of the try under present state of this long-distracted coun-
the reign of King Otho. The account of the
arrival of his Majesty and his young ueen at Athens i
iiven with considerable liveliness of' manner. In the ar-
ticle
entitled " Court and Cabinet Gossip of a New Reign"
the author is exceedingly severe, and surely unjust, in his
strictures on Sir John Conroy, of
much minuteness whom he speaks with as
and self-confidene as if he had once been
his personal acquaintance.
Durham, whom he representslessto—in the teeth of well-known
Nicho
facts
as during his late embassy to St. Petersburgh. In
the " Latin Anthology" Christopher lays his crutch stoutly
on the shoulders of Mr. Dunlop for the numerous blunders
contained in his volume poets. The article is QC. translations from the minor Latin arc too man written with great spirit, but there
y specim,,ns of translation from the same passage.
The presBenEJ',7TLEY'S/1/SCELLANY.
thapters of " Oliver Twist" are better, be-
cause more y aried, than usual, and introduce us, among
other new c,haracters, to a lovely youne. girl of seventeen,
who bids fair to be all that a heroine should be. As yet
we have 'nut a brief,
6Penin' bud imperfect glimpse of her, but from the
'" we may judge of the full-blown flower. Mr. iles, the fat, easy butler, is also a clever sketch, not
drawn from the fancy, but evidently from the life, which is
the main secret of Boz's success as a moralist. " A Mo-
dem Eclogue" •
'e is a humorous dialogue in rhyme, which
her'
ever might have been curtailed with advantage. A
eve Story in Three Chapters" requires at least as many
TlnorL chapters to bring it to a fitting conclusion, though
it is apparently concluded already. We have no great taste
for these crude fragments of tales. A story should either be
"
worked out eZeclly, or not commenced at all. The
Snuff-box" is an anecdote told in an arch, good-humoured
spirit. The " Narrative of John Ward Gibson" is a tale
of a stern caste, displaying great vigour of execution. We
have -read it with considerable interest. " Nights at Sea"
are Troin the practiced pen of the Old Sailor. One or two
of the " yarns," such, for instance, as Jack's account
'of his being present at an exhibition of the battle of the
Nile, where the English ships were represented as defeated,
instead of the French, are related with true nautical
humour. The engraving, by Cruikshank, illustrative of
this " yarn," is in George's most comic style. As a speci-
men of the power of this Number, we quote some lively
stanzas, entitled "Be quiet--do : I'll call my mother !"
As I was sitting in a wood,
Under an oak-tree's leafy cover,
Musing in pleasant solitude,
Who should come by but John, my lover!
He pressed my hand, and kissed my check ;
Then warmer growing, kissed the other;
While I exclaimed, and strove to shriek,
" Be quiet—do! I'll call my mother!"

He saw my anger was sincere,
And lovingly began to chide me;
And, wiping from my cheek the tear,
He sat him on the grass beside me.
He feigned such pretty, amorous woe,
Breathed such sweet vows one after other,
I could but smile while whispering low,
" Be quiet—do ! I'll call my mother !"
He talked so long, and talked so well,
And swore he meant not to deceive me;
I felt more grief than I can tell,
When with a kiss he rose to leave me.
" Oh, John !" said I, " and must thou go!
I love the better than all other !
There is no need to hurry so,
I never meant to call my mother!"

TAITS
T '
The notices of new books,MAGAZINE
in which Tait shows to so
zut..ch advantage, are more than ususally copious and in-
teresting this month. We have some pleasant extracts
from Mr. Bulwor's last novel ; from Miss Martineau's
" Retrospect of Western Travel ;" and Miss Lawrance's
" Historical Memoirs of the Queens of England," which
Ire accompanied by very temperate and impartial cri-
ticisms on these different works. It is greatly to Tait's
credit that, as a literary censor, he offends neither by
anttue praise nor undue condemnation, but preserves the
a tifanal and equitable mean. Hence his critical verdicts
_re always received with respect. The " English Opium
ta.ter " continues his reminiscences, which in the number
&Are us are wholly devoted to Charles Lamb. They
isontain one or two lively personal anecdotes, but on the
iNhole are far too wordy. Mr. De Quincey actually de-
votes not less than one entire column to a description of
how Charles Lamb got down from a high stool, on which
he chanced to be seated at the India House, when the
Opium Eater called in there to pay him his first visit.
surely all this is very trifling ! There is one anecdote,
however, too good to be omitted, as it exhibits Lamb's
horror of all cant and hypocrisy in a very marked manner :
" The case of insincerity above all others which moved Elia's bile, was
where out of some pretended homage to public decorum, an individual
Was run down on account of any moral infirmities such as we all have
or have bad. In such a case, and in this only almost, Lamb could be
l'a•age in his manner. I remember an instance, where many of the
leading authors of our age were assembled, Coleridge, Wordsworth,
Southey, &c. Lamb was amongst them ; and when was denounced
a, a man careless in the education of his children, and generally re-
Puted to lead a licentious life, Pretty fellows, we are,' said Lamb, 'to
abuse him on that last scere, when every one of us, I suppose, on going
out this night, into the Strand, will make up to the first pretty girl he
sees.' Some laughed—some looked grim—some looked grand—but
Wordsworth smiling, and yet with solemnity, said, I
hope, I trust, Mr.
_.‘y
t
b, you are mistaken, or at least that you de not include us all in
knows sweePing judgment ?" Oh, as to that,' replied Lamb, who
? There's no telling; sad Josephs ars some of us in this very
UPon which everybody laughed, and Lamb among them ; but
crifice
rhoeoinl had ' been indignant and sincere re in this rebuke of the hypocritical ea.
to decorum."
" useful The London Peripatetic" contains some amusing and
hints to bachelors and lodging-house keepers.
Lord Brougham's
Speeches on Slavery" does no more
than
justice to the recent distinguished efforts of this great
Statesman on behalf of the oppressed negroes. " The
Storming of Badajoz" is a spirited ballad from the pen
of Ebenezer Elliott—the most vigorous lyrist of the day.

FRA ZER' S MAGAZINE.
a The Yellovvplush Correspondence is continued with great
pint this month
ma' , and abounds with incidents, of which the
n characteristic is broad humour. Nothing can be more
gaPhin than Yellow lush's description of the voyage from
over .‘ Balong-sir-licare,” except the very clever sketch
of the passengers on board the packet, in which the "woes
t,nutterable" of sea-sickness are revealed at a single glance.
seek the dismal look owpe of Y 11 lusl as he begins to feel " very
indeed," contrasts admirably with the blank despair of
the female passenger whose knee he makes free with, as if
to quiet the qualms of his stomach ; while the half-terrified,
ealf-deprecating glance of the prostrate Israelite de-
m° aces how apprehensive he is that in his hurry Yel-
Inv/plush will be more liberal to him than is consistent with
!!..sfas.t,
fastidious regard to personal cleanliness. " Our Club at
Paris" is an extravaganza in which there is little invention,
Dourness wit. The interest would be much improved by
alizing the proceedings of certain literary coteries
nearer home ; for in solemn trifling we have authors who
dare compete with those of any nation in either hemisphere.
" Ensign'O'Donohue's Packet from Belgium" is well worth
hao postage, as an antidote against lowness of spirits. We
e proved its efficacy in the case of a friend whom we
discovered suffering under a severe fit 9f the dumps this
very morning, " The Fabulists" is rather an elaborate
medley of extracts, than a critical disquisition ; but the
extracts are selected with judgment, introduced naturally,
And the observations with which they are accompanied are
those of a person of much reading, and great familiarity
with the subject of which he writes. The " Homeric Bal-
lads," by Dr. Maginn, are continued in this Number, but
having already twice noticed them, and our space being
very limited, we must for once pass them over in silence.
If we are imitated in our silence by scholars, theirs will be
the effect of intense intellectual enjoyment. In politics
Fraser is most impartial this month. The preponderance
is rather in favour of Radicalism ; for the extracts from

" Peter Plymley's Letters" more than counterbalance the
" Hundred Months of Liberalism." The " Gallery of Li-
torary Characters" is adorned with the portly representation
of the Reverend Sydney Smith, who looks every inch a
Canon-residentiary, or the fortunate Rector of some half-
a-score Parishes in the South of Ireland, where, if or-
thodoxy save the fleeca, the Devil is welcome to take the
flock. The Number, as a whole is a good one, though we
have seen many better.