The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-22 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

EDINBURGH REVIEW. No. CXXIX'
Longman, London, 1836.
ber—
Incomparably the finest article in this ,---
and tile finest that has appeared for many a month:D
the irotie of" Sir Thomas Browne's Works, n
which the Reviewer rescues the learned and imaginative
physician from the charges which Johnson, Coleridg,eo
and Hazlitt have heaped upon lihat
0. If this criticisms
be not the production of Mr. Macauley, knovv
to whose pen to ascribe it ; it has all his freshness 1;
observation, warmth of fancy-, and glow of feeling, la.'ke
that spaikling but somewhat patchy style,
full,Harlequin's dress, of gay gold and silver spacf'lesi'.n,
i
►
which Mr. Macaulev so loves to luxuriate.
for granted, therefore, that the article in question
0f
his, we have no hesitation in saying
that it is one is
the ablest, if not the ablest, he ever produced. It
.t,
written in the most cheerful, flowing con amore spi e
and analyses Browne's intellectual character in
.nt,
most subtle and discriminating spirit. The qua
pedantic conceits of which Coleridge accuses Ilinloe
and who so full of cloudy, metaphysic Conceits as el i
author of the " Friend" himself ?—are here attribut.;
to their right cause, the character of the age in wlufor
he lived. How eloquent is the following apology
the fantasies that the reader encounters at every stet)
the " Religio Medici" and the " Urn Burial f"
.1-2 the earlier stages of the literature of a nation,. "1,
demarcatio,;o between prose and poetry are comp
the
dulous errors, from w;_lich men emerge into the daw.o.oo:
faint and confus,:d. The prodigal superstitions, the et
truth, still linger round tht; footsteps of the hardiest adsthe
turers. They enter the domain:
imagination, and carry not only the
perament, of poetry into the severest
lnguage, but the
of reason, guided byt,ro.
Whoever looks into our own early litera/.:n.V,111 fresh
strong illustration of this general truth. r."enile tof
from the giant impulse of the Reformation, the Ni!:„c„ses
England broke forth under Elizabeth, a variety or e—defi,
combined to quicken and exalt the imagination. l'„"„ts of
ante of Rome—the discovery of America—the`,,ur:e'reek,
i:rovinces of prose'
the Press—the almost simultaneous burst of l
the Roman, the Italian poetry, upon the wonder an(-I",,ss
lation of men, born precisely a't an age when though' ",.os
most broadly and deeply agitated by political circurastan:hr
—were not events that tended to divide the poet from l
reb,
2
philosopher. On the contrary, no channel of re'ea,,hof
however guarded and fenced about, could resist the rnAnto
the great deeps, so universally broken up. Poetry ilevie,um. oa
every course, and sparkled upon every wave, in whie` of
could launch what Bacon has so nobly called the shlP'
the
time.' The Greek and Italian authors exercised t°,i,te
utmost the strength of the language to find aclerq-,
r;0
translations for their unfamiliar beauties a r
o
of new words and new combinations was th e
cult of the new ideas—the nervous and concise S3l°o
style became gorgeous with foreign riches, vvbilewjed
periods grew long and stately to the swell of a bOrr ea
music, and oppressed with their own triumphs, 08,Arre'hice
laden and encumbered, amid the spoils of nations. " -the
ever turns from Chaucer and his earlier successors toLbr
literature of Elizabeth and James, will see how eomPle''
the revolution, produced in great' measure by translatioeto
had changed the genius of th language from the single '-
the splendid. The wonderful translation of the
liarised the ear to, and coloured the language with, th,e;e:
pressions of the East. The Reformation was our ;
tratus, the translation of the Bible was our HOW' he
new inspiration and a new audience were produced; ibrettry
most popular book in England was the most glorious 73"
in the world."
This is eloquent rhetorical writing, and net iesige
happy is the Reviewer's brief allusion to the "Pillss
eloquence" of Jeremy Taylor, which expressive Pl°
shows how thoroughly he has appreciated the Pe„c:1;
liarities of that great writer. In the following f
from Sir T. Browne, who knows whether the best
more iv
men be known, or whether there be none Bible foal,
markable persons forgot than any that stand realer; e
bered in the known account of time," we find t
origin of the finest line in that remarkable drart!ai
Phillip Van Artevelde :
" The world knows nothing of its greatest meil'" • e
" Rich's Residence in Koordistan" contains „otinnt;
worthy of comment ; it is an agreeable notice, rePlei.
with well selected extracts, of a very agreeable pub,
e.
cation, which has deservedly attracted some nn/j:
" Poggio's Epistles" is a review of the works '3`!
once well known Italian writer, one of whose Late
compositions compositions quoted with applause by Gibbon, gave°
unequalled historian, the first idea of his Decline all
,31
Fall of the Roman Empire. " Pillans, on Classa
Education," contains some judicious observations, his
the subject is hacknied, and the mode of treating it
er
not such as to lessen its primary defect. Jushtices
however, is done to the merits of one of the au-f
classical scholars of his day—we mean, the Master °f
the High School, Edinburgh. In the notice 0)y
" Walsh's Residence at Constantinople"—a
the bye, which has, if we mistake not, been publls-e
full four years--the Reviewer is somewhat heterode%
the subject of Sultan Mahmoud's claim to be clisst
dered the regenerator of his country. He hints t
his Reforms have been projected and conducted
rn
is
erroneous spirit ; that he has changed without elev3".l),
the character of his subjects ; and by his premature,!l,o
troduction of the European system of diselPhis
" cowed and debased " the national energies of he
iIL
troops. In his capacity of religious reformer, $5
Reviewer thinks that his Highness's policy
nd
been equally injudicious ; for ,;fiat on the one ha
,;fiateo
lie irritates the fanatical portion of bis people bYafiltecl
violations of the laws of the Koran, aod by n'fon
boastful imitation of Christian observances. ; the
the other, his public proclamations are all couched '11.4
most orthodox dialect of the Koran. How this
are
be, we know not ; but if, as Lord Byron says, ale,
are to—

" Try the Ctesar or the Catalineyo

Sultan
has
seli-stone o.cidetsert
be desert—success'
on 6.s
one of the ablest Reformers of orfighlis
sweeping innovations, he still possesses the esteeol -tie,
tdoay. looker`
siira
confidence of his subjects ; and years after the destr.eg,
Lion of those Turkish Praetorian guards, theJanissarithe
was enabled to get together an army modelled enjoy
European system of tactics and discipline, which etea
sia was scarcely able to subdue, even in two pretrhat of,
campaigns.
These
are facts not to be lost iir'd as
in discussing the claims of Sultan Mallmel',„ -4011
a Reformer. Reared in the effeminate Seal- bas
of the Seraglio, it is not wonderful that he,
es
se'se'To done so little, but that he has done so much„ aks
cent Publications on the War in Spaill,',' sPll';
favourably, and deservedly so, of Mr. Pen-
tiele
Carlos." a
" Camp and Court of Don ln the ar
liberal,
on the " Reform of the Lords," we trace wer
but not a decided, turn of thought. The Revie
hether
seems not yet to have made up his mind as to ";f
any.
Peerage Reform is needed or not ; though, 1
one of
thing, he inclines to the opinion that it must ays)
these days take place. " Their Lordships (he se' of
may be assured that if the present anomalous sta‘frno
the Legislature has not yet called forth petiti°ns lo
e peeP
every part of the empire, it is not because
th}louses'
are indifferent to the discord between the two ,
as to
min"ste the
but because they have not made up theismto adie° , Will
the fittest and most effectual remedy
evil. The present state of the empire, huweverieis-
not admit of a long continued suspension of the fre,
lative power." Certainly not—unless it Is pr
• betw
pared to consent to a repeal of the union
riay
h
England and Ireland. The Reviewer does DOt
assertsb '
when be to
estimate the feelings of the people,
that they have not 'made up their minds as. slice
fittest remedy for putting an end to the collislleadc 01)
tween the Lords and Commons. They have I'
steady de'
ste°,.ni o_,
their minds, and have come to a tranquil,
termination—not the less resolute for being trang,,„ular
either that the Lords shall succumb to the Mods
A rr
will, or that their institution shall he reform"' aoifest
of this determination are becoming more 01
every day.