The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-02 00:00:00

BENTLEY.

This is an excellent number of Bentley. The open-
ing paper, " The Wandering Fiddler," by Abraham
Elder, Esq., is the best magazine article we have
read for many a long day. We do not remember to have
met before with any of the productions of this gen-
tleman, but we hope frequently to have the pleasure
of meeting with them for the future.ln order to
give our readers a taste of his quality we select the
following:—
" The ball was now drawing to a close, and the last
quadrille was abont to be danced, when the fiddler,
having finished his flourish, thus addressed the circle
that surrounded him Ladies and gentlemen, I feel so
grateful to you for your kindness and liberality to me
this evening, that I will attempt to play you a piece
of music that I never attempted before in public. It is
the tune that Patrick O'Howlegan played on the pipes
when he made the table dance. The story goes, that he
was engaged to play at a ball, but, arriving a long time
before his company, his fingers itched to begin his tunes.
So he determined to play to the table. At first, the
table took no notice of him or his music; then it seemed
to get a little fidgetty or ricketty, as they call it in a
table; then it kicked out its right foot like this (giving
a jerk out with his own foot), repeating the kick at re-
gular periods in tune to the music; then the left foot
kicked out, and it went right, left, right, left; then the
third leg kicked out, and it went one, two, three, one,
two, three; then the fourth leg, one, two, :three, four,
one, two, three, four; and it waltzed round the room at
a terrible pace, till it tripped over the coalscuttle, and
smashed itself to pieces against the fire-place. The
landlord brought a❑ action against Paddy, and got da-
mages; and it is said, that the Irish Chancellor granted
an injunction against Patrick Howlegan, to restrain him
from ever playing that tune again in a furnished apart-
ment.' Loud cheers, and cries of Bravo, fiddler.'
" The gentlemen in the orchestra are tired; and with
your permission, ladies and gentlemen, I will endeavour
to twist the tune into a quadrille.'
" You must bring your fiddle into the middle of the
room,' cried several voices.

_
" The musician declined producing his worsted stock.
ings and hobnailed shoes to the broad lamplight.
"' You must, you must!' and several of the young
people of both sexes took him by the arms and by the
coat, and fairly pulled him off his chair, and led him to
to the middle of the room, and there they seated him
again.
" I am getting quite nervous,' said he; I really
cannot do it; Patrick O'l-lowlegan was the prince of
pipers, and I am but a poor tramper.'
" After a little pressing he consented, on condition
that nobody should dance that was not merry, and that
they would humour the music as far as they could.

"The dance commenced; it was rather a funny,
quaint air, but nothing extraordinarily merry in it. At
length there popped in a little jerking note; most of
the dancers took the hint and gave a kick; the second
time they kicked all well together—they kicked in the
grand rond—they kicked in the pastoral—the kicks grew
double and treble and fourfold, and on the last grand
rond' they all fairly kicked themselves out of breath, and
sank down exhausted on the benches, when the notes of
the fiddle were fairly drowned by the merriment and
laughter of both dancers and spectators."
Cooper gives us the 12th chapter of " Captain Spike,"
which is full of interest. The Swash arrives at the
Dry Tortugas, and Spike goes to the lighthouse and
lights the lamps ; Rose and Mulford who are in the
lighthouse escape discovery in the most marvellous
manner ; and Jack Tier takes the opportunity of
again getting on board the Swash. Having recovered
the anchor and cable of the schooner, Spike sails for
the wreck, intending to weigh her if possible. The
Poughskeep arrives at the island, and Mulford and
Rose are married by the chaplain of the frigate.
Bentley this month is rich in tales of travel. Mr.
John Duncan, the African traveller, gives an inte-
resting account of the last expedition to the Niger.
Mr. J. Marvel, under the title of "A Gallop through
Southern Austria," gives an animated description of
a visit to the caves of Adelsberg ; while the author of
~ A
Sketch of Personal Adventures during a Trip
overland from Sydney to Port Philip" furnishes us
with much valuable information as to the topography
of one of our most important colonies. The " Senti-
mental
Journey through Normandy" is continued ;
but this is interesting rather to the antiquarian reader
than to the reader of voyages and travels. The
" Coffin-maker is a translation from the Russian of
Pushkin—of one of a quaint, half horrible, half bur-
lesque, and gravely. humorous ghost dream ; anti the
lover of horrors will find yet another treat in Alfred
Crowquill's " Demon Bowler." The lovers of fun
are catered for by Albert Smith, who takes Mr.
Straggles out shooting. There is more variety
in this month's Bentley than in any of its contem-
poraries, and every article is, without exception,
good of its sort. The portrait of Mr. John Duncan,
with which the account of the Niger expedition is
illustrated, is admirably engraved, and is one of those
I characteristic portraits that
you feel must be a
likeness.