The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-03 00:00:00

TAIT'S MAGAZINE.

The " Durham Panic" is written in a manly, and, as it
seems to us, an impartial spirit, in a tone of regret as re-
gards Lord Durham, and of something more than regret
as regards Ministers. The passing allusion to Lord
Brougham is not less just than generous, and defends his
conduct during the last Session of Parliament on the Ca-
nada question. In the " Annuals for 1839" we find many
amusing extracts, selected with great skill and care, from
the pages of these showy tomes. But we have no need to
dwell on the merits of the critical notices in Tait, for
they are always well and effectively done, and appreciated
accordingly. " A Promising Young Man" is a clever
ironical sketch. " Interviews with Mehemet Ali"—the
subject is rather a trite one—contain a graphic personal
sketch of that remarkable man who now sways the destinies
of Egypt. In the course of an animated conversation
which he held with the writer, Ali, it seems, gave vent to
some witticism—or what he thought was a witticism--on
Napoleon ; upon which, observes the former, " as he
chuckled over this sally, the white beard, laughing but
sensual mouth, portly round-shouldered trunk, and the
twinkling yet vicious.looking eyes of the person beside me,
called instantly to my recollection Falstaff and his men
in buckram." In the " Chapter from the Chronicles of
Enelish Queens" Mrs.
Gore shows to much advantage.
" Alexander's Discoveries in the Interior of Africa" is a
skilful digest of a recently published volume of travels, full
of incident and strange vicissitudes.

HOOD'S OWN. No. X.
Bailey, London, 1838.

The literary contents, and the pictorial contents, of this
Number are in excellent keeping with each other. To Mr.
Hood's versatile genius we are, we understand, indebted for
both, which combined, are irresistible. One of the most
grotesque of the plates is " Jack's as good as his Master,"
which represents a man angling for a large pike or jack,
which, by a sudden dart towards some rushes, has thrown
Piscator off his balance, and toppled him headlong into the
water. This laughable engraving would seem to be an
illustration of one of Peter Pindar's quaintest poems, the
last stanza of which, irwe remember rightly, runs as follows
Enjoy thy stream, oh harmless fish,
And should an angler for his dish,
Through gluttony's vile sin,
Attempt, the wretch 1 to pull thee out,
God give thee grace, oh gentle trout, •
To pull the rascal in I" - _

" Oh, What a Palling-off is There !" is a sketch of an
old sow is the last stage of atrophy. Her bones are peeping
through her skin, her belly looks as shrivelled as a parched
scroll, and one of her infant porkers is making efforts to
reach her teats ; but being weakly, he cannot jump so high.
The calm and resigned expression of the sow's countenance
is full of rich drollery. " A Piping Bullfinch" is another
matchless specimen of the fantastic—the very ne plus ultra
of ingenious conceits. The bullfinch sits perched upon the
branch of an ash, smoking his pipe with all the gravity and
composure imaginable. To complete the picture, a pot of
porter stands beside him upon the stump of another branch !
The bird does not look absolutely drunk, but merely
" lushy," which, we understand, designates the first stage.of
quiet inebriety. The poems and prose sketches of these
Illustrations are in every respect worthy of them.