The Sun.
London, England, 1823-04-02 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICE.

THE RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW, No. XIII.
T tail' is on-e,orthe best Numbers eve have Yet-seen
of this popular work.; :the articles, are, all of them,.

-on subjects highly interesting, and they are treat-,
,ed in an able manner. We have derived both'
pleasure and profit from the perusal ; it has oc.
casioned UR to revert to days long gone 'by, and'
to scenes " of former years," the remembrance
of which is almost passed away. The retrospect
has been of advantage, and we feel obliged to
those who have been the cause of our taking it.
We regret that we have only room for one or two

short extracts.
Article 11. on the
." Mcnioirs of Philip oleo)
mines," that honest old Chronicler, is 'very late
resting. We 'are carried
.back to the days of
chivalry, and introducpd to. Charles the Bold of
Burgandy, Edward IV. of England, Francis of
Bretagne, Louis XI. of France, and other choice
spirits of that age. We, quote, as appropriate to
all times and places, the ReOewer'S abstract of
,Comines's account of the motives that actuated
Most of the Nobles, who, under the command of
the Duke of Burgundy, formed the league against
Louis, in 1464, called " La Guerre taro Bien
Public."
Comines was witness to those conversations
between him and other great Lords of France,
which ended in the declaration of war against
LLOuis, under pretence of the public good. Our
Author candidly informs us, that the great per-
sonages who assumed this character of philan-
thropic warriors had each some private object ;
some near family connection to oblige, some in-
sult to revenge, some town to regain, or some
debt to insist upon, which Were, at the bottom,
very prompting principles of action, in addition
to the professed and glorious principle of com-
pelling a tyrannical despot to do his duty."
We are afraid, that, if the secret motives of ac-
lion of most of those who figure on the, page of
history, as the bold assentors of a people's rights,
could be thus developed, they would not be foetid
.much more honourable than those of the adhe-
rents of Charles the Bold. The Reformers in
-our own country, either of the present or of a
former age, could not, we are certain, stand the
lest.
Art. V. is a very playful and humorous article,
on the prolongation of life. The w.riter says—" We
do not know how it may be with our readers, but
for our parts we confess that we are very willing
to be—that is, to remains to exist, as long as cir-
cumstances and the fates will permit. We should
'have no objection to bargain for some five hundred
-years (we don't like to be unreasonable), pro-
vided we might, during that time, write--and be
.read. This may seem a little derogatory—a little
Like .an admission 'of mere common human in-
.firmity, which we, of editorial nature, should not
.be too forward to allow. For an editor, as he is
,in numerals more than a mho so ought he to be
superior in a freedom from the ordinary infirmi-
ties—pre;udice, ignorance, haste, death, and the
like. The only excuse we have to otter for con-
:testing this position is, that it, is—true. Like
other people of great pretensions, kings, poets,
warriors, philosophers, popular preachers, and
inventors of patent medicines—so editors of re-
viPws and magazines (and newspapers) die' of
and decay. The brief candles of their lives
(from a farthing upwards) shed for a time a little
light, and show a good deal of vupouring—they
' are puffed—they struggle—and at last, like all
others, go out. Of course, they leave the world
in darkness." We think our worthy contem-
porary is very " reasonable" in fixing the term
of his duration at " five hundred years. ," For
our own particular part," we shall have no ob-
jection to realize the Spaniards' wish of Senhor,
may ,tjou live a thousand years, provided we may
continue to be blessed with so many kind readers
and friends as now honour our hebdomadal
-labours with their notice and approbation. The
~following instances of longevity are collected by
the revivers :
" The longest animal life on record is that of
a Swabian fish, a carp, of a prodigious size, that
was found in the year 1497 in a fish-pond, and
had in its ear a ring of copper, with these words
In Latin---' I am, the first fish that was put into
this pond, by the hands of Frederick the Second,
,governor of the world, the sth October, 1230."
.So that this carp must have lived 267 years.
The most famous physicians were fatuous livers:
—flipocrates lived to the age of 104,-'-*Ascle-
..piades, the Persian, 150,—Galen, in complete
health, to 104. Besides these, there are instances
far more extraordinary, which are tolerably welt
authenticated. It is recorded, that in Bengal
there was a certain peasant who reached the age
of 335! In America (beyond the British Settle-
ments in Florida) there died some years ago an
.1 Winn Prince, who had the full use of his facul-
ties and limbs to the last, who remembered the
coming of the
.Spaniards into those parts ; -he con,
sequently must have been upwards of 200 years
-old. There is alio• an account of a man called
'Francis Secardi llongo, who, after marrying sac-
, cessively five wive, and having fifteen or twenty
concubines, arrived at the age of 115 years ; and
Another of some Hungarians who attained', respec.
. tively, the extraordinary ages of 172, 185, and
187 years.-, Old. Parr died, in 1635, aged 152
years ; Lawrence !Jutland died in the Orkneys
when he was 170 ; and the famous Countess of
. • Desmond, was known' to be more than 140 at the
time orber death."

, .
We are indebted to a respectable Correspondent for the
foregoing artich,-, and havo ourselves often intended to notice
710 E RETROSPECTIVE REvtrw u a Publication that re.
:cats attention to many works which should not be buried in
oblivion, and places in a new point of view many others on
.which the general opinion has not been decided. It therefore
kilns a body of useful criticism that may correct the general
taste. We may, On this occasion, properly introduce an anec-
dote respecting the late Mr. SUERIDAIi, as it exactly coincides
with thi ilentiments'of the 'Editor of TUE RETROSPECTIVE
REVIEW. kr. SWERIDAN once observed to the writer of this
note that " he would readily take a lease for life of five hundred
years, provided that he could enjoy gig same health and poisess
a circle of friends similar to that of his present connexions."