The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-04 00:00:00

E MONTH,

Blackwood's.—Weiss'sHistory of the French
Protestant Refugees is the subject of the first article
of Blackwood. The tragic account of the persecu-
tions and sufferings endured by that numerous
class are indeed sufficient to incline the reader to
coincide in the opinion expressed, that the deepest
stain on the memory of the grand monarque was
that mistaken cruelty. " Lady Lee's Widowhood,"
though not of the class of fiction which we are
accustomed to meet in these pages, is lively and
attractive. An article on Paris Theatricals rejects
the idea so generally entertained in this country of
the questionable morality of the French drama,
and gives some entertaining sketches of recent
productions. A chapter on Life Assurance vigor-
ously upholds the benefits of the system, and much
justice and reason are apparent in the observations
on the acquisition of money. The Fine Arts and
the Public Taste in 1853 is by a vehement opponent
of Pre-Raphaelites, who attacks Mr. Millais's
pictures with the most uncompromising severity.
The writer asks, on asserting that he saw
many pictures sold at high prices, which he would
not have accepted at a gift, " What is the mean-
ing of this ? Whence -this wondrous diversity of
*pi —nay,
nion of feeling ? Am I dead to merits ?
or does fancy fashion, or absurdity invent merits
which the painter never conceived ?" Those who
read his protest against Mr. Landseer's pictures,
on the plea that they aro "subjects of cruelty,"
will most probably reply, that the critic, if not
"dead to merits," is not an unprejudiced or judi-
cious observer. According to the rule that all such
scenes are obnoxious, we should bedeprived of many
noble pictures, and our paintings would be con-
fined to tame and indifferent subjects, if all painful
associations must be removed. Perhaps the most
interesting article is that on the correspondence and
dispatches of the late Marquis of Londonderry,re-
cently published. The following extract fors the
commencement of an animated sketch of his
politi-
cal career :
" The memory of her great men is the noblest treasure
of a great country ; to preserve it is an act of justice,
and to vindicate it is an act of virtue. But the memory
of her statesmen demands the exertion of those honour-
able impulses in a more vivid and vigilant degree than
those of any other class of eminence. The monument of
a poet is in his works ; all the world has there the living
evidence of his claims on posterity. The soldier has
precluded all doubt by the brilliancy of achievements
which speak to the universal conviction. The orator,
like the poet, is to be judged by the triumphs of his
appeals to the hearts and heads of mankind. But the
leader of a national council has a peculiar ordeal to
undergo. His career must be through the ordinary cir-
cumstance of life, not, like the man of imagination, above
them ; his materials must be the common influences of
mankind, not the nobler faculties of exclusive genius,
dazzling courage, or profound philosophy ; his renown
must grow out off a long struggle against the difficulties
of public events, the opposition of ignorance, the stub-
bornness of popular prejudice, the selfishness of indivi-
dual feelings, and the thousand commonplace casual-
ties of all things subject to the cap:ice, frivolity, or
vices of man. He must be content to be mis-
understood, and, of course, maligned, for a time ;
to have his most honourable motives arraigned,
his clearest views pronounced to be problematic, and his
profoundest policy ridiculed even in proportion as it is
profound ; for few men will praise that which they can-
not penetrate. The general result being, that the
greatest statesmen in our annals have been compelled to
await the tardy vindication of the tomb. Examples of
this moral injustice, yet almost natural necessity, will
recur to every reader of English history. In proof of
both the partial judgment and the slow vindication, for
nearly his whole administration, Pitt was assailed with
every outcry of popular hostility. That stately tree, the
noblest product of the intellectual soil of England, was
stripped of branch and leaf, for year after year, by the
blast of popular indignation. His fame now flourishes in
a verdure which gives the promise of an imperishable
luxuriance. The severest names of faction were flung on
Burke—pensioner, partisan, tool, and knave. The nation
now approaches his monument only to bow down to the
majesty of his wisdom. We shall not quarrel with this
law of public life, however we may regret its injuries to
society, but we feel that it forms a stronger obligation to
do justice to those to whom we can do no more than lay
our tribute on the grave."
F

_ raser's.—An article on " Table Turning," the
great wonder of the day, asserts that we must no
longer use the words " our utilitarian age," but we
must style •urselves the " credulous nineteenth
century." The author, however, is not sceptical
as to the rotation of tables, but believes that there
is truth at its foundation. He explains it on me-
chanical principles. To the scientific reader this
account presents great attraction. " Wanted an
Owner" is a curious account of certain bones found
in a vault beneath Rothwell Church, Northampton.
Thirty thousand skeletons are there to be seen.
How they came there, or whose remains they can
be, are questions to which no satisfactory answer
can be returned. It has been suggested that the
battle of Naseby affords a solution. But as the
author of this paper observes—it is very improbable
that the dead would be collected and carried ten
miles for interment, and a far stronger objection,
he doubts if there were thirty thousand living com-
batants at Naseby, much more incredible is it there-
fore
that there should be that number of dead. It
has also been thought that the vault has been the
sepulchre of a monastery, but the marks of violence
the bones exhibit do not accord with the quiet of
monastic life. This singular account is followed by
a tale entitled " Bertha's Love," which is written
in a very superior style, and shows great powers of
description, whether of the beauties of nature or
the stormy feelings of the human heart. " The
History of the Prussian Court, Aristocracy, and
Diplomacy," is founded on a German work by Dr.
Edward. H. Felix. " Carpiana" is another of the
series of articles on fish which has recently appeared.
Another tale is entitled " Emily Orford, but it
is inferior in interest to that already mentioned.
An article on Holland and Belgium conclu.:43 the
number.

.• • •
Colburn's United Service.--There is a long ac-
count of " The Chobham Carnp" given here, in
which it is observed that the idea of forming it was
a good One, as by this means many irregularities
and imperfections now *existing in the army may
be brought to light, and thus afford a chance to
those in authority of improving the general state
of things. It is regretted that no more general
officers are attached to the camp. " A camp of
evolutions is a school for'all ranks. Are we going
to have any commanding officers taught how to
manoeuvre troops ? With the exception of the
Duke of Cambridge, there is not a general present
of any age to fit him for active service duties, how-
ever willing he may be. It would be no harm
were some rising men attached to the camp, and
every now and then made to manoeuvre. Yet have
we any on our list of general officers who answer
toe at description. Some commanders-in-chief
old school is disappearing,
have, subordinates we know of but few. The
placed. In t•
who have Fi and they are not re-
honue of trouble we should look to those
victory ; but 7 how able they are to lead men to
thoans other war takes place we trust
that, besides
ea (f).ed veterans who have justly
earned their
,of the younger and more
active may beep'proor
_with them. ' There ar
articles on " Fergoasonecl-8
"On the Action of the6Y,tera of Fortification" .
Coast," SEC., which are
„,,tee..,_a
.11Pon the lientisl
desire information on such iall
elleti:g to those who
is a pleasing story . ~. .- The Cruise
' " IS concluded this 1
of the Ida"
month.

Colburn's New MonthlY.,--,EThe
urst subject .
;his periodical is entitled,.
amusing
of the Chow'_
hie of Chiapa." It is an. mg.sketch of the
ladies of Chlart
and h.
manner in which the
rawly-appointed bishop contested about thee, a(!lti:
constituted privilege of regaling
his sermons.B chocolate during the delivery of The
sec,uel to the struggle does not yet appear ; but
the leader of the rebellion has already turned
traitor to her friends, and relinquished the cause
of " chocolate." In the remarks made on
" Thackeray's Lectures on the English
Humor-
ists" great praise is awarded to him for the way in
which he has acquitted himself of the task. It is
said that " none will put down the book without_
a sense of growing respect for the head and heart of
its author, and a glad.pride in him as one of the
representative men of England's current literature."
" The Preacher's Daughter" is a strange story con-
cerning an episode of the time of Frederick the
Great. It exemplifies his iron justice, and although
painful to dwell on in detail, it has for its basis
the restitution of the wronged. " American
Authorship" for this month has its subject in " Her-
man Melville," who does not appear to be a great
favourite with the critic, especially as regards his
late productions. He is thus addressed at the con-
clusion Oh author of Typee and °moo Iwe
admire so cordially.tke proven capacity of your pen,
that Nre
qaen6 yolvta doff the non-natural sense
of Your late incubations, to put off your worser
self; and to do your better real self that justice
which its potentiality deserves." In the
" Reminiscences of Paris," the greatest praise
is
female virtue ever presented by her con-
duct—a conduct, it is remarked, which was
ever emulated by the young princesses, who
must have been surrounded by many temptations,
and ever encircled by flatterers. The princes also
were never wild or extravagant. It is • averred,
however, that the society of France was very bad
during the life of Louis Philippe ; and whether
from want of power, or from ignorance, many
czimes were glossed over, or altogether too slightly
punished. " Georgina Yereker" is a singular yet
interesting story, with the origin of a mother
idea
dreaming the futurep£ din IA ? whom she is