The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

MAGAZINES—CONTINUED.
THE RENFREWSI-11RE MAGAZINE. Ifia.
1.,11.,111,apd1V.
A new aspirant for public patronage, published at
Paisley, and issued at a trifling amount monthly, is
lying upon our table. The contents are singularly
varied, singularly-well written, and singularly Intel-
ligent. We are glad to observe throughout, the
breathings of a gentle and philanthropic spirit. Many
of the contributions are brimming over with an inno-
cent and agreeable humour, such as the " Passages in
the Life of Oliver Nappe," and the "Nights at the
Peesweep," a feeble imitation of the glorious" Noctes
Ambrosianae." Several of the contributions—such
for example as "Dr. Nichol's System of the World,"
" The Province of Intellect," and others, though
brief, are of superior merit. "My Old Arm-chair"
is an unsatisfactory copy from the ballad composed
by Henry Russell. On the average the periodical
h gins admirably.

SIMMONDS'B COLONIAL MAGAZINE.
It is melancholy to observe the lamentable manner
in w hieh the rhythmial contributions of the Colonial
for 1847 are commenced. Such puerility was
scarcely ever perpetrated by the disciples of Bayes as
the lines entitled the " Bell Buoy." Neither Swift
nor Pope could have discovered among the lucu-
brations of Catnach a more startling specimen of true
Lathos—

" Far famed Dalhousie, the great god of war,
Lieuterant- Colonel to the L arl of Mar!"
was nothing to it. The writer kindly inform us in
a foot-note that the production was coMposed after
reading the account of the perilous voyage of the
Great Western. With the opening of the first stanza
the sun is described as having legs; for the author
says, that luminary " strode on toward the west."
Two lovers are on the deck, looking upon vacancy,
and thinking about the same, when they hear the
sound of the bell-buoy:--
" 'Tis a voice like a conscience that warms solemnly—
'Tis the toll of the bell-buoy that rings out at sea."
Then the bell-buoy is described as having something
or other to Po with a " shroudless corse" which it
dandles about—

" On its many-Lacked courser, the ocean tides."
A courser with many backs ! why it must be a
kind of equine polygon! This same course is de-
picted as " tuggling and tussling the white foaming
main." Shortly after comes an account of the par-
tial catastrophe of the Great Western—which is con-
densed in one charming graphic line—
" A rock, and a roll, then mad shrieks of despair!";47
and afterwards comes the very acme of absurdity,
when

" Her captain is heard, still undaunted, to shout—
Mind the helm, boys Steady ! Look out lads—
look out!" ,
Surely this is the art of sinking in poetry with a ven-
geance ! Besides which, it conveys to the mind a
detestable levity in connexion with a spectacle of real
sublimity. One of the most monstrous specimens of
this kind of levity is in Tom Ingoldsby's " Old Wo-
man clothed in grey :" where the soul of the old lady
is refused admission into Paradise by St. Peter—" so
she tucked up her shroud," and said, " here goes for
a fly !" Hardly a jot less monstrous is the tone of
this poem on the Belt-buoy. Otherwise the magazine
is of its usual merit.
GILB ER

T's DICTIONARY OF THE ENG-

LISH LANGUAGE. Parts XIL and XIIL
This extraordinary and laborious work is still con-
ducted with ardour and intelligence. A few blunders
among such thousands of explanations are inevitable,
and certain omissions are also at intervals almost un-
avoidable. Making every allowance, however, for the
difficulties of the task imposed upon the editor, he is
compiling a work which will, when completed, be
altogether invaluable.

THE PLoUGH7
As a beginning to the first month of the second year
of this excellent publication, the January Number for
1847, is full of promise. Both in the selection of the
contributions, and the arrangement of the contents,
the editorial duties are fulfilled with much discrimi-
nation. The principle characteristic of each number
of the Plough is seasonableness, and in the promotion
of agriculture, the different writers are fully con-
versant with the latest data derived from chemical
analysis.

THE SONGS C'HA LES DIBDIN,
Chronologically arranged, and the Music of the best and
most popular of the Melodies, with Pianoforte accompa-
niments. Arranged under the Editorship of George
liogarth, Esg. Parts I, aad 11.
Mr. Davidson is doing good service by the publi-
cation of this cheap, yet most accurate and beautiful
edition of the works of Dibdin. It is a truly na-
tional work, and should find a place not only in every
musical, but also in every Naval Library.

PICTORIAL GALLERY OF ARTS. Part XXIV.
The miscellaneous collection of wood engravings
published under this comprehensive title seems month
after month to be fairly inexhaustible. As a serial,
the contents are more varied, and sometimes more
excellent than those of any similar periodical hitherto
issued. In some instances, as in the figure from the
House of the Female Dancers, the drawing is admir-
able, and the engraving accurate.