The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-01 00:00:00

BENTLEY'S MISELLANY.

" Guy Fawkes," like Pope's wounded snake,
" drags its slow length along" this month in a
very wearisome manner. The dialogues are stiff
and cold as usual—for Mr. Ainsworth has no no-

tion of making his personages talk naturally—
and the incidents are in keeping with the dia-
logues. Nor is Cruikshank's illustration much
better. Guy Fawkes looks all legs, like a gi-
raffe, and the man who is presenting a pistol at
him, is as rigid and unbending in figure as if he
had been hewn out, of a granite block. George
should never attempt either the heroic or the
melodramatic, but stick to the humorous, the
hmiliar, and the fantastic, where he has no
" An Irish Love Adventure" is a whimsical

rival.

story well told, except as regards the denoue-
ment, which is lame and impotent. " Merrie
England in the Olden Time" trips on at a brisk,
ambling pace, and is interspersed with some
lively rhymed conceits, which enliven and vary
the article. " Hone Ofileanre" is a series of
reminiscences connected with Offley's once cele-
brated—we say, once celebrated, for we be-
lieve its popularity is now on the wane—
supper-rooms near Covent-garden. The most
interesting portion of these reminiscences
is that which refers to the late Captain Simon
Fairfield, who, it seems, was in his day a
great frequenter of Ofiley's, and was remarkable
for his musical and conversational powers—ac-
complishments always to be regretted, except
when they are under the control of a strong,
well-regulated mind; for in nine out of ten cases
they drive their popular possessor headlong to
the devil. It is astonishing how many men have
been utterly ruined by a fine voice, and a power
of sprightly repartee ! For steering safely
through the quicksands and breakers of life,
commend us to good-humoured common-place.
" Diary of a Dining-out Man" has one or two
smart, piquant paragraphs. The progress of
conversation at a large dinner party, from the
formal to the familiar, is described with much
truth and happiness of expression. " A Classical
Ode, with a Free Translation," is a coarse, un-
meaning version of an exquisitely beautiful
Latin epigram by Dr. Jortin, of which the trans-
lator does not seem to have been aware, for he

has evidently mistaken it for the produCtion of
one of the classical poets of old Rome. In addi-
tion to its pot-house vulgarity, the translation is
not a translation at all, but simply a loose para-
phrase. " Modern English Dramatists" is a
criticism on Sergeant Talfourd's tragedies. It
is penned in a temperate manner, and speaks
with becoming respect of a dramatist whose
works are models of their sort, strongly con-
ceived, chastely and forcibly expressed, and con-
sistently maintained throughout. Mr. Talfourd
is an author who has studied deeply in the best
and most enduring school ; he is impassioned
without being exaggerated, and even in his
tenderest scenes, never degenerates into maud-
lin sentimentality. His notions of the dignity of
his art, however, are somewhat too severe, and
we think at times he might relax with advan-
tage. " Ho-Fi of the Yellow Girdle," is, an
amusing Story, embellished with a still more
amusing plate by Leech, a very promising illus-
trator of books. " Wanted—a Widow," is from
the pen of Mr. Whitehead. It is a tale ingeni-
ously conceived, and worked out with proportion-
ate dexterity. " Epistle to Fanny Elssler at
New York, from the ' Omnibus' in London," is a
lively piece of familiar verse, defaced, however,
by one or two desperate Cockney rhymes. As it
is of a reasonable length, we quote it entire :
.4 Sweet Fanny I the Bus is half frantic
To find you so long in a fix •
By demurring to cross the Atlantic,
You make us as cross as two sticks.
No more of this silly delaying—
The Western is now under way ;
The Yankees grow wild with your staying,
And we with your staying away.
Each step seems as light as a feather
That Congress has taken of late ;
Since you and DAN WEBSTER together
Concocted the airy debate.
But grant us the slightest concession,
And our English M.P.-rical fops
Shall bring in a bill by neat session •
For increasing the duty on hops.
Oh ! FANNY, just listen to reason,
And stick to LAPORTE for the future;
Or who 's to enchant, us next season?
Or who 's to attempt the Cachucha?
Or whom at her benefit bobbing,
Shall our bouquets in thunder-showers cover,
Like the Ba' es in the Wood, by Cock-Robin,
With leaves smothered over and over.
In the Bus, grown as dull as a hearse,
We sit, like a legion of mopers,
Applauding, for better, for worse,
Those terrible long legs of COPERE'S I
While we gaze at the steps of Miss Hughes, it's
To show us how wilful an elf ye are,
• Fou pretend to prefer Massachusetts,
And fill with your fame Philadelphia.
But beware, lest, when bent on returning,
The BUS should oppose its dread veto I •
Certain traitors, our motley concern in,
Hold up their white kids for CERITO
At present, the ladies and lords
Are as patient as sawyers at top e'er are ;
But in este !--on board for our boards !
Or prepare to be hissed from the orzst