The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-19 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

'STORY OF EUROPE.

Vols. 11., 111., and IV.

-
By Archibald Alison.
As this admirable reprint of Alison's Europan His-
tory proceeds, we cannot discern any abatement whatever
iu the carefulness of its revision. The indices continue
to be of the same elaborate completeness, the typography
of the same beauty and precision, and the general app. ar-
ance of the volumes of the same compact and elegant cha-
racter. The narrative is brought down to the grand crisis
of the French Revolution, when Democracy not only gained
the supreme predominance, but began to illustrate the
extasy of its jubilations by the commission of crimes
more awful and ruthless than we could otherwise have
conceived humanity to be capable of perpetrating. From
the execution of the vaccillating and unfortunate Louis
Sixitne to the establishment of the Directorial Govern-
ment and the close of the National Convention, the dema-
• gegtteg whether Girondists or Mountaineers, gradually
extended their power, until it merged into a disguised des-
potism, and became unindurable to the populace, from
whose credulity it had imbibed its vitality. During that
interval of bloodshed and legalised sensuality, the palaces
of Paris became the lairs of men more akin to the demons
of Gehana than to the Adam of the Asiatic Parade'.-
In the person of Murat the spirit of a cruel insaray
seemed to be embodied ; in Hebert, that of despicable
blasphemy ; in " the Incorruptible," that of a relentless
egotism ; in SL Just, that of a barbarous audacity ; in
Couthon, that of an execrable heartlessness; in Henriot,
that of a drunken domination ; and so on, through the
hideous catalogue of murderers. It is upon this terrible
but enthralling epoch that Mr. Alison is entering
when the third volume closes, leaving the reader
solicitous for the publication of the succeed-
ing chapters. Even to those who are familiarly
acquainted With this extraordinary composition, the
styi- as well as the subject will possess an undiminished
fascination. Every successive perusal only convinces
one the more that Mr. Alison has contributed a splendid
work to the literature of his country, aisd that if he
cannot divest himself of certain preposterous prejudices,
he still enables us, by the very ardour of the passages in
which they are contained, to avoid the warps of his in-
tellect and judgment. Upon the opening of the fourth
volume we find the whole of the internal crimes and
sufferings of France detailed with scrupulous accuracy
and impartiality up to the memorable campaign of 1794,
when the Republic had to withstand the assault of the
banded sovereigns of Europe. Among the most beauti-
ful descriptions in this portion of Alison's history must
be particularly mentioned the executions of Malesherbes,
of Chenier, and of the sister of Louis XVI. ; among the
most impassioned is the account of Tallien's eloquence
in impeaching the Terrorists, and the horrible deaths of
Robespierre and his accornolicPs.

THE CABINET HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
Vols. XXIII and XXIV.
As brilliantly written as heretofore, the present volumes
of Mr. Macfarlane's national history possess a peculiar
and almost paramount interest, seeing that they are the
condensed record of perhaps the grandest epoch in the
whole existence of man. But the work is flawed, is blurred,
is miserably warped in spirit. Its offence is Toryism,
and its

"Offence is rank, it smells to Heaven!"
We never read volumes so small crammed with so
many errors, so many monstrous misstatements, such
inveterate and abhorrent bigotry. The historian is a
worshipper of legitimacy ; he resembles Lord Nelson
too, in one particular, for he seems actually " to have
imbibed a hatred for the French with his mother's
milk." Whatever the English do is noble, and true,
and glorious. Whatever the French do is bad, execrably
and irredeemably bad. Is that the disposition for a his-
torian ? A party man should never presume to take up
the pea of history.

TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD. A Romance. 3 Vols.
By Elizabeth Thornton.
Seeing that we have noticed the piecemeal publication
of this clever fiction on its commencement in Tait's Ma-
gazine, it is unnecessary to give either an analysis
of its merits, or an epitome of its plot. From the hur-
ried production of Mrs. Gore's last work, " Temptation
and Atonement," in the pages of the periodical just
mentioned, the romance by Mrs. Thornton was suddenly
discontinued, and the authoress here receives ample
compensation for this (probably unavoidable and unin-
tentional)
injury by the publication of the entire work
in the customary three volumes. We are induced to say
that Mrs. Thornton thereby receives ample compensa-
tion, from a conviction that the amusing narrative here
presented to the public cannot but add to the reputation
already acquired by that lady as a romancist from the
composition of " The Marchioness." Sparkling and
interesting as that story was, it is eclipsed both in the
interest of its incidents and the sparkle of its style, by
" Truth and Fals'-hood." Mrs. Thornton has no ambi-
tion in this book to acquire either the sickly fame of a
depictor of fashionable life as it is now-a-days, nor the
preposterous notoriety struggled for by the cultivators of
the " virtuous indignation" line. The three volumes
are pure romance, and the tale is situated in the fittest
land for the romantic, the land of Gil Blas and
Rozinant.e. Spanish scenery, Spanish character, Spanish
crime, and Spanish passion, are among the most appro-
priate adjuncts of the romantic, whether it relate to love
or to adventure ; aria these adjuncts Mrs. Thornton has
most skilfully employed.
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KNIGHT'S MONTHLY VOLUME. No. XL—
Rambles by Rivers: The Thames. Vol. I. By James
Thorne.
Another pleasant series is here commenced, and a
series which is calculated to diversify the character of
the general publication. After rambling in imagination
down the biographical course of some remarkable per-
sonage, or along the broad stream of the events recorded
of a country, it is agreeable enough to follow the track
of our beautiful island.rivers. Among them, of course,
the 'names—old Father Tnames—the silent Highway
—is paramount. And Father Thames is accordingly
first selected for description by Mr. Thorne. With a
variety of clever woodcUts, beginning with the source of
lmt
ihtiett
,ra. it
volumevi
ne rg avititt hhveraeS,e,rleeptnsr
representation
spemrni
otnasgttsi
oanntetaroraf Cheltenham, and ter-
t%iVT Windsor dsor
appearance. Castle, thelt
is rendered instructive by a multiplicity of historical and
antiquarian facts elicited by the associations of the
different venerable localities traversed by the monarch of
English rivers. •

KNIGHT'S WEEKLY VuLUME, No. CXIV.
Canterbury Tales from Chaucer, Vol. 11. By John
Saunders.

It has been recently and justly remarks(' by Mr.
Charles Knight that Mr. John Saunders has conferred
a great boon upon the future students of old Geoffrey
Chaucer by the composition of these volumes. A greater
boon we regard it than the " Tales from Shakspere." by
Charles Lamb and his congenial sister ; fur whereas the
latter are only suited to..the innocent tastes of children,
the former have a vigour and boldness about them most
suitable to the theme, and such as must impart the fullest
pleasure to the hearts of the adult lovers of true poesy.
The stories are daintily told, partially in prose and par-
tially in quotations, giving us the very marrow and core
of the original.

ESSAYS ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THEIR
POLITICAL GUARANTEES. By E. P.

Hurlbut.
An American writer, but especially an American
political writer, never had a more flattering introduction
to the readers of Great Britain than the one here
hfforded to Mr. Hurlbut by the brief but suggestive pre-
face of George Combe. The simple announcement, "A
Preface and Notes by George Combe," was a thing pre-
cisely calculated to attract the attention of the very many
thousands of admirers of that philosophic and argumen-
tative mind. Mr. Hurlbut, therefore, comes before
us with the prestige. of being a friend of George
Combe, and as such we welcome him cordially ;
and the more so, let it b. said, from finding,
on inspection, that neither the manner nor the
thoughts of this E. P. Hurlbut are unworthy of one who
has communed with George Combe. As the annotator
observes in his introductory remarks, " the aim of the
work is to determine the foundation and objects of Go-
vernment, and the powers with which the Legislature
and the executive should be invested, to enable them to
perform their functions to the best advantage to the
State." The object of the work is, in other words, a
comprehensive inquiry into the problems, " Whence
Government 2" and " How shall we ensure good
comesTGovernmentThe
author
ut o
t?re"a—tspbro,,thlemquserioefs
wuintuhtttehreabskleilliomfptantance
prac-
tised " counsellor at law" (which he is, in New York),
and his essays are printed of the form and at the price f
the popular edition of the "Constitution of Man:" ')Alto-
gether it forms a sort of sequel to the "Constitution o
Man," sceieg that it relates to the "Constitution of So-
ciety," society being, as it were, the noun multiple "to the
word man.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—The spectacle of The
Desert, at the very moment it is drawing all play goers to
this theatre, is to be unexpectedly cut short in its career. it
having been found impossible to obtain a renewal of Mr.
Hughes's engagement. His entire establishment leaves town
the end of next week.
ACCIDENTS ON THB SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.
—SALISBURY, APRIL 17.—During this week two accidents
occurred on the branch of this line running to this city,
which, but for the skill and great care evinced by the en-
gineers, might have proved very disastrous; as it was, both
occurred without any serious accident, the passengers being
"frightened, not hurt." The first was the half-past eight
A.M. train for London, from Salisbury, on Monday morning
last, which ran off the rails approaching " Clay Cutting,"
about two miles and a half from the city; after a delay of an
hour only all was set right again, the train arriving within
less than an hour of its usual time at Nine Elms, London.
This clay cutting is one of the most troublesome parts of this
branch to work through and render safe, costing the con-
tractors some thousands of pounds more than they antici-
pated, yet they persevere, men working early and late in
great gangs to make the line safe and firm. The second ac-
cident was to the half-past three P.M. train from London.
The man at the Kimbridge Gates, about three miles from
Ramsey, which are kept closed over the line at that spot,
opening only fifteen minutes before a train is due, neglected
to perform that duty ; on this train approaching the engine
took the gate, dashing it into many pieces, carrying bars,
posts, and every piece of timber away, scattering the same
in every direction, but providentially the wood was forced
from the carriages instead of i%to them, or some dreadful
accident might have been the consequence ; the engine-
driver perceived the danger, caused the shrill whistle to be
'maid, and the speed to be slackened, stopping the train
entirely after within fifty yards of the disaster, when it was
found that no one was hurt, and but very little injury done
to the engine or carriages; this occurred about eight o'clock
' in the evening of Friday, the 16th instant, and, to prevent
accidents on this branch, the engineers have an extra
quarter of an hour allowed them to go over the branch from
Bishopstoke to Salisbury, a distance of twenty -two miles
only.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, APRIL 16.—The market
continues exceedingly dull, and although importers here
show a disposition to meet the buyers by a further con-
cession in prices, it has not led to business of moment.
The assortment of West India sugar is very indifferent,
particularly of anything suitable for scale purposes,—
Nr4ici AffreurY.