The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-13 00:00:00

LECTURES ON _HEROES.

Fraser, London, 1841.
accomplished and distinguished, the
tlit,ytiful, the wise, something of. what is best in
' wj,land, have listened patiently to my rude
411,--`,,s,>" observes Mr. Carlyle, with modest pride,
we'l'ung to the present series of Lectures which
vere delivered some five or six months since, if
w Mistake not, at one of our public institutions.
wile. are not surprised at the favourable reception
ateich the Lecturer's discourses met with, for they
04-bin;'lrked by a vein of strong original thinking
hie'uts' of vital interest to the social cornmu-
thi' "nd are calculated to excite attention by
as itTY eccentricity of their style, possessing,
oftei thinks w(ii,
ine,;,l"s--and this, we fear, is its chief recom-
lyrtatlon—all the charm of novelty. Mr. Car-
and thinks deeply too, on many
ciet,„ie iSreat questions that are now agitating so-_
ext;') but he has such a strange, uncouth way of
tit',eB,sing himself, and involves his thoughts at
in such a cloud of quaint, hazy, half-
pern'lL(Ted metaphors, that he becomes not merely
dian,r.exing, but absolutely unintelligible. His
iy N;"nlids are of the first water, but the setting
k pierir.Y. inferior. He scorns to express things in
""moanner, bat seems purposely to hunt about
ex the
n, most startling and enigmatical forms of
tlicn,."B,l°n• There are hundreds, no doubt, who
tnis a convincing proof of his genius, and
off, ',.requent his Lectures for the sole purpose
th...ie'tig excited by something—careless what
s'nlething may be—that wears the aspect
earTvelty; but we are not of this class of Mr.
all dYle':4 admirers; and therefore while we pay
it
the
homage to his manly and original powers
the "134'1.d, we most earnestly protest against
tho manner in which he enunciates those
g.naugbits. We are quite satisfied with our lan-
.fitee as it stands, and have no desire to see it
tion ", ennanized. Thus much by way of o:)jec-
If ' hive Proceed now to a more pleasing theme.
Whi rebe one thing more than another for
earn e- Mr. Carlyle deserves praise, it is for the
titt,:estness and sincerity, and, above all, the
quel;absence of cant, with which he discusses
titaZtnB Which many people would handle with
trutlCY and hesitation. He sees and feels the
13 4010,11 speaks out boldly, like a man. There
-Lpi"loching—no shilly-shallyin about him.,
eurees no quarter to prejudice; laughs at the
teittrinr,on..place and conventional in thought and
an ttn—lent; and, like Wordsworth, writes with
Tho.-Parent indifference to the world's opinion..
a stern and searching observer, yet
s
hula,riece has not taught him to
off nity ; on the contrary, he is full
rhe,:,,,lith in its capabilities; and holds the
doctrine that it is fast advancing
htit,,7lPite the stumbling-blocks that are con-
of 'Y thrown in its way—along the road
To sueial, moral, and political improvement.
Lira certain extent, therefore, he is a Perfecta-
NlitY man, and deriveS hope from the very cir-
-lo:stances that would induce. others, less 5an-
(1,,,1,4) to despair. He has many stranp crot-
vui", however, which detract greatly trona his
ttuill as a moral teacher; and one of them is, an
64eniration of Rousseau, whom he alludes to as
the leading spirits of his age, ranking him
fittu:c,:l with Johnson and Burns. Was ever in-
ktre-","on greater than this! The most heartless,
aid-l'e.(l, and egotistical of men, placed by the
Vof the most kindly, sincere, and unaffected !
e,),:l`) but Mr. Carlyle, would ever dream of
th'l3,,linc,, Johnson with tous;eau—the paint with
4:1 `Lwa.rf—the man of strong common sense,
kt.:,41 the crazy, maudlin,. sentimentalist—the
fil;v(') majestic teacher of moral wisdom, with
th- advocate of licentiousness disguised • under
le,l
'i'lngY mask of philanthropy ? "We name
" says our author, cc because, with all
het amid
and they are many; he has the
chief characteristics of a hero—he is
tern- -„.,`;IY in earnest." In his admiration of ex-
, nature, Rousseau—as he shows throughout
'lest ,Confessions"—was unquestionably in ear-
111 1 'nit in no other instance. He had no faith
tilt t'lls fellow-men; and wanting this, he wanted
theeleMents that constitute the true heroic
•
intellectual character.

- THE ENGAGEMENT. z VoLs. ••
CoMorn, London, 1841.
th6v„ e. most novels, whose chief personages
th,e"_. the higher walks of
„society, the " En-
1414nent• abounds in scenes of love and senti-
l'elid admirably calculated to recommend it to
Tiweirs of the gentler and more susceptible sex..
"eiro is Lord Halsingham—a tall, romantic,
Volsb,ter'"us Peer, who stalks through the three
letitirC" like a phantom, appearing and
.disa.p.-
eii.4 '4`4 with all the fbrmal gravity and signifi-f
t4,,,1"11\1r. Cooper when playing the part.to
erwbuost in Hamlet. This remarkable arils 0.-
40a, WTI" of course is as handsome as an .1 nti-
Nisn' 'llcounters, on his return from Vienna, a
11110,-;' girl by name Horatio -2.4ornington, to
aditi-2,:with her father's permission, lie pays his
c:(11'-e.'ises' and by whom he is favourably re::
ti° itle is soon, however, summoned back
el,
but previous to his departure,
1114 -oirts front Horatio a promise that she will
rY aim the instant he returns to England.
"fort
1414 unattay, the girl repents her rage-
tarn and scarcely has her affianced Lord
lelaae.„4 "is back, when she meets with a
or his, one Captain Coniagsby, at,
d, a,.
house in the country, whom she fa
`llll- -atelY love•with ;
_:and the passion being
l'aiiY•iree'Procated, a very pretty scene of einbar-
ent. ensues; both parties become perfectly.
liorZ;ble ; the Captain can think only of Horana ;
eess,,-`l4 can think only of the Captain, the ne-
ll'ICIrY"---indeed, inevitable consequence of
.i'.-64;"1. is, that one fine morning the enamoured
.§t4'l'l,(' are caught kissing each other at an awfuli
as a 1" an officious fellow, one Chadwick,
hesttal.-el-4 of Lord Walsingliam, takes the ear-
14ail;PPortunity of his Lordship's return,
lulu with Isis untoward discovery.
Mad-
ariiis with rage, the Peer vows yeill,ce
Coningsbv, but on an explanation taking
,b(Aween previous to a resort to
ta, m finds
Walsinglia nds out that the Cap-
rim -as after all not so much to blame, for lie
Itiade every honourable effort to struggle
da, 11.,8t his
weakness., and had, besides, been m-
-414(1' to believe that Horatia was not in heart
retiftled to his Lordship, but was anxious to
the
engagement between them. On furtheri
111 ion, it traasnires that though Miss 1\ .orn-
it I has' noau far him, a Miss Belly-
. tinlif [Led nel',-111;.our—liits,whicli.-;n:.aq
~14t ulf,l',ile Peer, who had always suspected
L'er, Lilulgsby had supplanted him in that guar-
-4114' Ultimately, it turns out that the Cap-
-1344 1111. from being his enemy, had always
Malt uts best and most di interested friend, and
1,4,) the
cause of the estrangement which had
111„ ,e„).(,,istcd between them, was owing to the
ealkt:;fres of Chadwick, whose projects of poli-
hia,; b"o-vaucement Coningsby had on one occa-
art(r tits
the means of thwarting. Of course,
,Itice 'Luis explanation, a reconciliation takes
. `Jetween the parties, who are both, in the
tivet%s of time, made happy with their respec-
-1()r so I Illelat,us. Such is a slight, hasty sketch
of. the chief incidents in the " Engag,e-
th
sere' which is a clever, animated story, though
foreibil no great novelty in its construction ;
gty.le•Y' and even eloquently written, as regards
rat4.a"(l not deficient in its delineation of cha-

DUBLIN REVIE .—No. 19.
Wt. Dolman London, 1841.
et 1.1 44-14" the same fault to find with this Num-
!4et,,...a4. we have found with so many of its pre-
Jurit-s3rnainelv, that the subjects of the ma
411(1 3;1(4. its articles are but indifferently chosen,
Vel'ho 141 they are, with hardly
Veadate and
r•
; ea isome. The lightest and most
an exceptioisi,
'Which ir to re e' one entitled " Recent Poetry,"
a review of some late poems by Sir
•