The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-26 00:00:00

LODGE'S PORTRAITS. Vol. 1.

The enterprising Mr. Bohn has commenced the
publication in his " Illustrated Library" of the cele-
brated work of Edmund Lodge, "The Portraits of
illustrious Personages of Great Britain"—portraits
both pictorial and descriptive, portraying both their
persons and their character. " The history of the various
editions of this celebrated work," says the publisher of
this edition, "is curious, as illustrative of the great
change which a few years, and the rise of a new
generation, has introduced into the system of publi-
cation. The first edition wns commenced in 1814,
and completed in forty parts in folio, at 2/. 2s. each.
In 1821 an edition, in imperial octavo, was issued,
in eighty parts, at 7s. Gd• each part, amounting to 30/.
for the whole work, a price which was afterwards
reduced to 2s. 6d. each part, or 101. for the whole. In
the present form the work will be completed for forty
shi!lings." And to judge from this specimen it will be
completed in a most excellent manner for that sum.
The portraits are beautiful specimens of engraving,
and the letter-press and " getting up" of the volume
renders it almost superior in appearance to the vo-
lumes of Mr. Bohn's excellent " Standard Library."
The individuals whose portraits and biographies form
the subject of this first volume are no fewer in num-
ber than thirty. Among those are Sir Thomas More,
Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII., and several of his
Queens, Edward VI., Lady Jane Grey, John Russell
first Earl of Bedford, Ridley, Crammer, Cardinal
Pole, &c. Speaking of the vast mass of information
collected in Mr. Lodge's biographies, Sir W. Scott
has said that he very frequently consulted it, and
almost always not only found the information re-
quired, but collected a great deal more as he went in
search of it. Mr. Bohn deserves commendation and
encouragement for his continued endeavour to put
excellent works, hitherto confined to the few, within
reach of the many.

POEMS by the late Sir William Ashburnham, Bart.
The poems contained in this volume are of a very
miscellaneous kind, consisting of sonnets, songs, epi-
grams, fables, and religious pieces. Without being
possessed of any great poetical merit, the versification
and the style generally are smooth and pleasing, and the
spirit with which the whole collection is suffused is the
genuine Christian philosophy. The sonnet upon "La-
bour " is full of truthful wisdom and those upon
" Sympathy," " Good Humour," " Cheerfulness," and
others of a similar kind, are likely to be as beneficial
to the reader as they are honourable to the writer.
Without pretending to any great acquaintance with
the genealogy of the passions, we hardly think, how-
ever, that it is correct to describe Cheerfulness as the
child of Joy. Joy is undoubtedly the parent of
Gaiety, but Cheerfulness, we imagine, has a diviner
origin. It is certain that cheerfulness may be the
accompaniment of pain and suffering, and to preserve
a cheerful demeanour is a social duty, whereas joy is
essentially rare and evanescent. The fables in this
volume are narrated in a very interesting manner,
and the moral la3sons which they teach are happily
enforced.

L' ACADIE ; or, Seven Years' Explorations in
British America. By Sir James Alexander.
2 Vols.

All who have travelled tele ci-tetc can tell how much
of the pleasure and comfort even of a journey de-
pends upon the character of a companion. According
to the old saying,—" A merry heart goes all the
way, a sad one tires a mile a' !" and so it is with the
voyager who has a dull or a pleasant friend, or
cicerone at his elbow. Very much the same is it
with books ; and more especially with books of
travels. Often and often are we hurried on, unre-
sistingly, over otherwise uninteresting lands and
places of which we care to know nothing, fascinated
by the magic of some stranger's pen. Such a pen is
held by Sir James Alexander. " L'Acadia'' possesses,
moreover, the attraction of treating of topics of ge-
neral interest, and describing scenes of considerable
importance ; but were it not so, were British Ame-
rica wh;)11y destitute of attractions, the agreeable
style and lively conversation of Sir James would
wile away the time, and reader and writer would be
loathe to part company half way. " L'Acadie," of the
French in North America, was understood to com-
prehend Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and part of.
Canada; " it has been adopted as the title of this
work," says its author,' "as in the American Acadia,'
were made the surveys and explorations, in which
the author assisted, for the proposed great military
road to connect the British North American pro
winces."

TELE.4IACIIUS VERSIFIED. By the Author
of "The Pilgrim's Progress Versified."
"The following pages," says their author, "are
submitted to the public with the mingled sensations
of confidence and fear." The "confidence" is solely
occasioned by " the acknowledged merits of Arch
bishop Fenelon's great and immortal work, which
assuredly affords a firmer basis for any expectation of
success on the part of the translator than any merits
of his own." This opinion is perfectly correct,
as a translation of Fenelon's masterpiece, " Tele-
machus Versified" is of course interesting, but
we cannot conscientiously say that it is possessed
of any great poetic merit. The volume is adorned
with a beautiful portrait of Fenelon, taken from a
picture by Vivier in the Louvre.

VIENNA IN 1848. By the Hon. 11. J. 6)4.
With Illustrations by Weld Taylor.
We hardly know whether to give the preference to
the excellent lithographs of Mr. Taylor, or the smart
narrative of Mr. Coke. Taken together, they give
an amusing glimpse of Vienna in 1848, at the mo-
ment of the Viennese revolution. To our thinking
the subject is of too serious a character to be a fit
theme for jocularity. But (saving this objection) the
narrative is certainly full of interest and matter of
entertainment. Mr. Coke's objection to being pressed
into the revolutionary cohorts—an objection so strong
that to avoid a recruiting party he actually took
refuge (he tells us) beneath some tablecloths in a
corner of the coffee-room—is amusing, but it hardly
redounds to the credit of the narrator, who in other
parts of the narrative appears by no means deficient
in courage and spirit. Mr. Coke's sympathies are
apparently with the Imperialists. Among the Dim
trations the best is a portrait of Jellachieh in the
saddle, and armed capa-pie.

DUSTIAATA ; or the Evening Adventures of a
Weaver and a Chimney-sweep. By Henry Dier,
A. M.
The frontispiece of this volume, a finely coloured
engraving, represents the heroes of the tale in a gaily
painted curricle, drawn by two spirited horses at a
smart pace. The volume records their evening ad-
ventures, which, Booth to say, we have not had the
curiosity to follow. Those adventures should be in-
teresting, indeed, to induce many readers to peruse a
volume written in the following poetic vein:--
"The clock had struck the hour of five
When Mr. Tibbs sat out to drive
uis curricle and spicy pair
O tits, and breathe the evening air.
The wheels were red, the body blue."

11UMBOLDT'S ASPECTS of NATURE. 2 vols.
Baron Humboldt's very interesting and highly in-
structive work " On the Aspects of Nature in .Dif•
ferent Lands and Different Climates; with Scientific
Elucidations," has been rendered into English by
Mrs. Sabine, the successful translator of "Cosines,"