The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-01 00:00:00

MAGAZINE DAY.

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

td ;The present chapters of the story of
"Fathers and Sons " is full of delicate: .per-
-111,-,., plexities and entanglements regarding the billing
and cooing of the hero and heroine, which will
"'. Freatly edify the lover of sentimentality. There
is also a diverting dialogue between the fashion-
able baronet, Sir George Grindle, and his second
8013, Francis, who, though meant to be n..pattern
of propriety, is, to our thinking, exceedingly in-
sipid, like stale soda-water. " Beethoven ". is a
brief biographical sketch of this emincof. must-
- Eg composer, who died a few years since at
.-,. Vienna, utterly neglected by his countrymen,
though, immediately after his death, they dis-
played the most hypocritical grief for. his loss,
gave him a splendid public funeral, while his
ashes were followed to their last home by up-
-wards of twenty thousand individualSy•scareely
one of whom would have given hirnitfarthing
to save him from starvation ! The biographer
-thus describes him in his latter year 7.--.
" Beethoven is lost to society in consequence of his
extreme deafness. The neglect of his per4on which he
exhibits, gives him a somewhat wild appearance, His
features are strong and prominent ; his face is full of
rude energy ; his hair, which neither comb nor scissors
R. tieeni to have visited for years, overshadows his broad
brow in a quantity and confusion to which only the
snakes round a Gorgon's head Offer a parallel. His
general behaviour does not ill accord with the unpromis-
ing exterior. Except when he is among his chosen
friends, kindness or affability are not his characteristics.
The total loss of hearing has dePrived him of all the
Pleasure which society can give, and perhaps soured his
!_ealper. He used to frequent a particular cellar, where
!e spent the evening in a corner, beyond the reach of all
the chattering and disputation •of a public
• 11)m, drinkin; wine and beer, eating cheese,
tid -red herrings, and studying the newspapers.
ne evening person took a seat near him whose coun-
tenance did not pleaSe him. He looked • hard at the
' a.tranger, and spat on the floor, as if he had seen a toad ;
then glanced at the _newspaper, then again at the intruder,
and Spat again : his hair bristling gradually into more
and staring,
• 'lnaggy ferocity, till he closed the alternation of spitting
by fairly exclaiming, What a scoundrelly
face 1' and rushing out of the room. Even among his
• oldest friends he must be* him:toured like a wayward
ehikL He has alwdys a small paper-book with him, and
what conversation takes place is carried on in writing.
In this, too, though it is not lined, he instantly jots clown
!I'S' musical idea that strikes Whim. These notes would
e utterly unintelligible even to another musician, for
they have thus no comparative value ; he alone has in
his
lab •
own mind the thread by which he brings out of this
yrmth of dots and circles the richest and most as-
:t4),unding harmonies. The moment he is seated at the
1a41.1.10; he is evidently unconscious that there is anything
emstence but himself and his instrument ; and, consi-
dering-how very deaf he in, it seems impossible he should
!tear all he plays. Accordingly, when playing very piano,
be often doesnot bring out a single note. He hears it him-
self in the mind's ear.' While his eye, and the almost
,imperceptible motion of his fingers, show that he is fol-
-JOlrlpg out the strain through all its dying gradations,
the instrument is actually as dumb as the musician is
deaf."
"A Word to the Schoolmaster" is a dry, tame
"essaY• " Foreign Sporting" is by Nimrod. It
is not unamusing, but we have too much of it.
The best portion of the article is that which
'efers to Arabian horses:- " Ephraim Rue, the
Victim of Society," is a story which inculcates a
'useful moral, through the medium of that apt and
teommodating agent, the Devil, The story ex-
hibits much of that grave caustic satire for which
Mr. Jerrold is so remarkable. There is far too
lunch- of the laudatory in the Memoir of the
drench Royalist lawyer and statesman, Ber-
By the writer's account, it would seem
Ana this clever man monopolized all the
tisdom all the- patriotism—all the political
St 'gad. ty Of modern France. Now, Ber-
r3l er, from all -that we have heard and read of
1141, is simply a shrewd, practised lawyer, and
• eon sistent politician, nothing more. His powers
are by no means of a first-rate order, and
it is party only that has raised him to his
Prese .1t celebrity. " Berryer," says his eulo-
gist,. ." will not undertake every cause : he
Will' not defend vice, he will not quibble
about ilaws in an indictment, he will not conde-
`rend to small and paltry tricks to insure a ver-
dict of acquittal for a real criminal. He begins,
Mien he undertakes a case, by examining its
Ina rality." It is not often that an English
law,ver is thus particular about the morality of
the came he advocates. " Wanted a Neigh-
bours, is a light, readable sketch of character,
• whose sole defect is, that it is rather too much
in outii.w.-- As a specimen of the poetry of the
number, we quote some gracefully versified
stanzas suggested by " Hearing the Wind
Whistle through Lincoln Cathedral" :
When Night her sable curtain draws
Around the drowsy earth,
Shrouding in that solemn pause,
The whole creation's birth ;
I love by yon cathedral pile,
To hear the low wind sigh,
-And echo through the cloister'd aisle
.Eolian harmony !
Round every pinnacle and tower,
Through every curve and line,
Glides on a gentlybreathing power,
. That seems inspired—divine !
"Sweet music from a brighter sphere,
• On ebon wing to fly—
Evlewing the enchanted'ear
\rith liquid melody I
`4l-: SOft du . icet notes that whisper peace
To the soul's longing rest ;
"Where trocbles of the weary cease,
And all wi,.o seek are blest.
Anon, those thrilling accents change
To the low moornful cry,
That through the Fast and vaulted range,
Chants nature's lullaby
List to the aerial song awhile—
,
• Mark how each varied tone
Quivers through the fretted pile,
So musical and lone !
And sure 'tis good to wander now
Where sounds so sweet are nigh,
And deeply quaff the copious flow
Of heavenly psalmody !
Not long those plaintive dove-notes course
1. Their way with gentle wail ;
• A loftier strain—a wilder force-7
Soon swells the rushing gale ;
And tuneful in its richness there,
The winged breeze sweeps by,
Yhile silence lingers in despair-
- h.:muting sovereignty ?
As beings of the world of light
Hover in b:.lestial bliss,—
So in a flood of I:yre delight
Many mortals joy in this ;
Mad while those 5y.4111-strung lutes shall peal
O'er hill and tower and tree,
Sweetly will o'er remembr:oce steal
The Night Wind's Monody.