The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-29 00:00:00

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no higher rank, nor can the most entnusiastic.his
admirers justly demand it for him.
The character of Lord Bolingbroke is ilithfully
pourtrayed in an essay devoted to this somewhat :rite,
but still interesting, theme, and which, besides, is %Noll
worth reading, from the minuteness and accuracy of its
biographical details ; and the success with which the
reviewer defends Swift from the charges of avarice,
hypocrisy, and irreligion, brought against him by Mr.
Cooke, St. John's biographer. Without entering into
the nature of this defence, we need only refer our
readers to Hawkesworth's Memoirs of Swift, where h 3
will find the calumny respecting the Dean's " irreli-
ligion" triumphantly refuted. Mr. Cooke has acted
unwisely in reviving these exploded slanders. Had he
been a man of strict research, he could not but have
seen that there was not the slightest foundation for
them. Throughout his life, Swift, like Pope, was a
man far more sinned against than sinning, as must
ever be the case with great satirists ; for nothing so
acutely feels, or so malignantly reseLits, an affront to
its vanity as common-place, and it is of common-place
that the bulk of society is made up.
The " Lord Chancellorship" discusses Sr Edward
Sugden's recently published pamphlet on the appel-
late jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, in terms,
temperate indeed, and guarded, but by no means it-tat-
tering to the self-love of the learned author. "
Hin-
dostan" is a notice of Miss Roberts's late gossipping
volumes on life and manners in the East ; and the
article on " French Diplomacy" speaks out in g
manly and straight-forward spirit on the prolific sub-
ject of the " irresolute and double-sided policy Of
Louis Phillippe," as respects the difficulties which
" arose out of the Polish revolution."

THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION-
ANNUAL.
Effingham Wilson.

There is a world of difference between a punster
and a humourist, as every reader of this Annual will
not fail to perceive. In the hands of such a writer as
Theodore Hook a report of the proceedings aria
speeches delivered at the several Wardmotes of the
City of London on St. Thomas's day, would have
supplied materials for one of the most amusing volumes
in the language. No such meed of praise is due to
the lumbering contrivance which is here passed off as a
vehicle of wit and drollery.

TALES OF THE GLENS ; WITH BALLADS
AND SONGS.
BY THE LATE JOSEPH GRANT.
Edinburgh. Fraser and Co. 1836.
There is something divinely healing in the influence
of that sorrow which is awakened by the perusal of the
literary remains of genius consigned to an early grave-
We are staggered at the idea of such a cessation of the
labours of a mind filled with " light from Heaven
and intuitively, as it were, follow the disembodied
spirit to its habitation in regions of never-ending hap-
piness. We shall not attempt to criticise the con-
tents of this little posthumous volume—the production
of an unknown and neglected child of genius. Those
who will look to us for criticism on these simple Tales
and Ballads, after reading the following affecting
memoir of the life of the rural Bard by a kindred
spirit, Robert Nicoll, must read it with feelings far
different from those which we experienced on conclud-
ing its perusal :

" Joseph Grant, the author of this little volume, wag
born on the 26th of May, 1805. His parents were pf the
rank of small farmers ; and as soon as he was able to ur
dergo the labour, Joseph was employed in tending his
ther's cattle, or other light labours, during the surnote'r
season, while in the winter he was allowed to pick up,
best he could, the rudiments of learning at the school 0'
the parish. The real knowledge which is attained at even
the best conducted educational institutions, is of very strap
amount—it relates to words, not things ; but Joseph Gran..
needed only the key from others—needed only to be set is
the right path—he was able and willing to open the door---
to pursue the journey himself. From his earliest years he
was a keen reader,—a devourer of every book which he
could lay his hands upon. Even during his meals he etr
ployed himself in adding to his stores of knowledge ; 121'k
,11'
his access to books must, from the situation of his home,
the wilds of Kincardineshire, have been limited ; and he
often lamented his want of good books in his early days t°,
the writer of this Sketch, and to that want may be traced
the roughness which his prose style sometimes exhibit!.
But Joseph Grant was not a man whose talents lay. In
one direction only, His mind was ardent, imaginative,
and romantic ; but above all, he had a fund of comity°
sense, and good and upright principle, which made bim
great as a man as well as a poet. Keen as was hig
appetite for books, for knowledge, for enlightenment, he
never for one moment allowed his love of literature t°
deter him from his labour, or from the duties which 1
station rendered incumbent on him, He did not think the
power of expressing lofty and noble thoughts—the appreeiv
tion of mental and material beauty, though possessed bY
man, excused him from fulfilling the duties of life ; and in
this Joseph Grant was an example to many who think that
poetry should be not only enjoyment and happiness to the
mind, but food and clothes for the body. He often I°-
mented the cold-heartedness of the world in not cncourar
ing the struggling, but he had more manly feeling than to
think that the world should support him like a beggar. En'
couragement was all he asked—aught else he would have
scorned as a man should who has a head and hands.
,c A few sentences will suffice to tell the story of Joseph
Grant's life. It was a long struggle for knowledge au.
fame. From childhood, upwards, he continued fulfilling lus
part as a son from year to year, and gathering knowledo
as lie grew. His great enjoyment was to ramble antet
the hills of Kincardine and Aberdeenshires, and feast r
eyes with the beauty of the material world he loved so
and in latter years enthusiastic were his descriptions of tL'e
scenes and places he thus visited, and of the happiness i.
,:„
thus enjoyed. From his earlier years it had been hit, wish'"
" That he, for pair auld Scotland's sake,
Some usefu' plan or book might make ;
Or sing a sang at least !"
and from the age of 14 he composed verses. In 1828 he
published " Juvenile Lays," a collection of verses ; and
1830 a small volume, entitled, " Kincardineshire Trawci
tions." In these volumes there are beautiful thoughts alls
images, but both their author wished forgotton. At -
later period of his life the author contributed several
%slu beau'
tiful Tales and Sketches to " Chambers's Journal," e--
elicited the marked and public approbation of these genes
tlemen.
" In the year 1831, Joseph Grant engaged as an ter
sistant to a merchant in Stonehaven ; but his mat,
giving up business in a few months, he returned to his
ther's farm of Affrusk. Subsequently he came to Dundee
;
and was at first employed as a clerk in a newspaper offe
(the Dundee Guardian), and latterly in that of Mr. Alex
ander Miller, writer, by whom he was much esteemed, to
use Mr. Miller's own words, " no less for the zeal and fide'
lity with which he devoted himself to his new and irksoat,e
employment, than for his amiable and attractive dispose
sition." It was whilst in this gentleman's employment that'
by the solicitation of his friends, he was prevailed upon t°
send to press the present volume, which he never lived t°
finish.
" In Dundee, Joseph Grant found many friends—mil
who COULD and DID appreciate him as he deserved. There
was little to attract notice in his outward appearance, a e
his peculiar large fine soft dark eye ; but it may be: stated`
that Joseph Grant was never an hour in a man's corliPe°,
b
without making him a friend ; and of him it truly may a
said—he never lost a friend nor made an enemy: Inste°l
of diminishing, his attachment to study seemed to increo,
after he came to Dundee ; and his friends, while tbeiYa
saw that from perseverence such as his greatness w°?,,b
arise, feared that the spirit would soon kill the body whil,
it inhabited. Their forebodings, alas! proved too tr°
He was seized with a cold, which, falling on his luegS;
soon reduced him to a weak state. Acting on the %is
vice of his Dundee friends, he returned to breathe rg
native air, and they fondly expected to see him in a sb°cl
time again among them invigorated and refreshed, e„"ii,
ready to follow the path of literary glory which seemed ori,eho
ing up for him. But such was never to be the case.
bowl was to be broken by the fountain—the sun was t° gb
down at noon—a treasure was to be taken from the earb.s
ere men had discovered its value. After his return t°
father's house, he gradually grew weaker and weaker, 'l%.
death became certain. He met it as a man and a Chrtly
tian—as one who had used his talent of gold, as not abirit
ing it. Even when delirium came over his weakened 51)0,s
—when the soul spread its hidden mysteries before °cs,
eyes—its imageries were of love, and light, and haPPi°,,,o
and joy. On the 14th of April, 1835, his mother, wTof
he loved tenderly, and who had never left the sick be u to
her noble son, told him he was dying. He desired bar r,
Come near, and referring her to the words of the Sao'