The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-08 00:00:00

EVEN ING

EDITION.
LITERATURE. "d
GRATTAN'S LIFE AND TIMES' V`
Colburn, London, 1841. •
This volume commences with G-rattan's mar=
riage w th Miss Fitzgerald, in the year 178'2, and
closes with his return for the City of Dublin at
the general election in 1790. It is not so gene-
rally entertaining as its predecessors, being taken
up, in a great measure, with details respecting
the business proceedings of the Irish Parliament,
many of which—with the exception of the de-'
bates on the Regency question—have now little
public interest, and are valuable only as furnish-
ing materials for some futur4historian of Ireland.
Notwithstanding, however, the frequent heavi-
ness, and, we fear we must add, prolixity of the
details, the volume is worth an attentive perusal,
if only for the insight it gives us into the-public
and private character of Grattan, who appears
to have been as irreproachable in the one capa-
city • as be confessedly was in the other.
There are also several graphic sketches of
eminent men who figured daring this period,
which relieve the tediousness of the volume,
and reconcile the reader to the task of
wading through it. Here is a portrait of Cur-
ran, which is drawn with great accuracy and in
a very spirited manner :—" Mr. Curran was a
very extraordinary man. From nothing he be-
came everything. Without family' friends, or
fortune, he raised himself to one of'the first judi-
cial offices in the State, and, despite his love o.
liberty and attachment to Ireland, he succeeded.
He was a man of surprising natural tail&t. In
this respect there was no one in Ireland*Zqual to
him, and certainly none in England. His mindwas a perfect prism, and cast the colours of the
rainbow on whatever passed through it. He was
never at a loss—he was never puzzled.- His vo-
cabulary was rich to overflowing, and never
failed him,, whether in description or in argu-
ment. His understanding was not correct, and
he •was sometimes deficient in statement. He
loved, magination better than close reasoning.
In private life, Curran's conversation was sin-
gularly entertaining, full of vivacity and:Aumour,
and sometimes instructive, tinged, howeier, in a
degree, with affectation. His powers of ridicule
were astonishing. It was not possible t? resist
the drollery of his descriptions. He kb. 4. not
read very profoundly ; he wanted the buirit of
application, and was too easily satisfied: with
superficial knowledge. In the House r ',Com-
mons he did not succeed so well as - , • bar.
He was an ardent lover of liberty; ssed
great public spirit; and felt a strong - ation
against all abuses. He was, however,...ko fond
of applause, and possessed too much vanity, so
that the ends of justice and the interests of his
client did not always seem his. favourite. objects.
He possessed great courage, personal as well as
political, and did what few men would do, and
what no other man did—he defended tliftinited
Irishmen. When the Whigs came into' power,
in 1806, Curran was not well us.ol. They
paid him with reluctant hon'esty, and
treated him with marked neglect, and
he felt it deeply. Justice here compels
one to say, that in his subsequent condnet Cur-
ran committed a great mistake. He allowed
Poiisonby to pay 800/. a year for him, the salary
of the clerk of his Court. Thus he became a
pensioner of the.party, and placed himself com-
pletely in the wrong, as any man would -*di# who
would suffer another to pay a penny fbil
Sheridan, Curran, and Fox are striking intztinces
how necessary it is for eminent public men-to be
good private characters. Curran was not suffi-
ciently select as to his company, nor was he fund
of the best society ; neither was he a very happy
man. In private he was unfbrtunate, and full of
sores. His griefs too were frenzies. He had
moments of rapture, but few of repose—none of
content. Towards the close of his career he grew
restless and dissatisfied. His brilliant imagination
saw everything through a distorted medium."

HALL'S IRELAND. PART • VII.
How and Parsons, London, 1811.
We are glad to learn that this intelligent and
entertainilig work is rapidly increasing in popu-
larity. It is, beyond all cimparison, the most
amusing and comprehensive account of Ireland
we have yet met with, and preserves a generalraN
tone of calmness and impartiality that will make
it acceptable to all classes of readers. The Part
before us contains two highly-finished ezig
ings, one representing the Quay at 'Waterford,
a:id the other Lismore Castle, a noble pile,
embosomed in woods, and rising abruptly from
the river's bank. The literary department- com-
bines useful statistic information, with piquant
sketches of Irish peasant character, hit off in
Mrs. Hall's most felicitous style. Referring cur-
sorily in a note to the question of the Repeal of
the Union, this lady relates the following anec-
dote, which shows how detrimental to the best
interests of Ireland is the agitation of this im-
practicable question:—
We are compelled to admit that while this " Repeal Agita
tation" continues, capitalists generally will he reluctant to in-
troduce manufactures into Ireland, notwithstanding the pros-
pect held out for their own advantage, as well as for the be-
nefit of the country. On this subject, one fact is worth a
thousand arguments. A few months ago, we voyaged from
Dublin to Liverricol in company with one of the most exten-
sive of the Manchester manufacturers—a genileman of im-
mense wealth, who holds nsarly the highest position among
the wealthy cotton-spinners of that town, asid is a " Liberal '
in politics. He informed u', that his main object in visiting
Ireland was, to ascertainwhat prospect existed there, that nfght
induce certain indi‘iduals to remove their mils from the neigh-
bourhood of Manchester to some parts of Ireland— in order to in-
troduce among the people of that country a new mode of employ-
merit. The result of his inquiries via., he said, in all respects
satisfactory ; and he should, undoubtedly, have recommended the
parties, who had faith in hi: judgment, to establish cotton
works there, with a view, especially, to the export trade with
America—but for the repeal agitation, which so unsettled
men's minds, a, to create strong doubts whether such ureter-
takings were justifiable; or, at all events, convinced him, that
to postpone their introduction for a time was the surest way cf
rendering them permanent. He could net, therefore, ad-
vise the experiment, until 'the repeal agitation ' was aban-
doned."

TALES OF A GRANDFATHER. PART L
Cadet!, London, 1841.
Another of those cheap and elegant reprints
of Walter Scott's Works, for which we are in-
debted to the taste and enterprise of Mr. Cadell.
For the comparatively insignificant sum of four
shillings we have here the first part of the
Tales of a Grandfather, comprising the History
of Scotland from the earliest recorded period
down to the accession of James the First to the
throne of England. The Number is got up in
a style of singular beauty, and cannot fail to ob-
tain an extensive circulation.