The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-08 00:00:00

THE

of the copies of the poems you sent has precisely the
same pleasant blending of a sheet of second volume
with a sheet of first. I think it was page 245 ; but I
sent it and had it rectified. It gave me in the first
impetus of cutting the leaves, just such a cold squelch
as going down a p'ausible turning and suddenly
reading No thoroughfare.' " Or again, where
he closes the epistle with the preposterously odd
ejaculation—" Rot the very firs of the forest, that look
so romantic alive, and die into desks !" Such was the
gentle but lion-hearted essayist as he is revealed to us
in those beautiful and captivating volumes. Peace be
with thee, Charles Lamb ! wherever thou art—and
the love and reverence of posterity.

* * To Mr. Moxon the readers of these " Final
Memorials" are not only indebted for several grace-
ful sonnets, but for MSS., which otherwise would
never have met the public eye ; and by so doing
he has associated his name yet more intimately with
that of the friend of his wife, once Miss Emma Isola.
Apart from those portions of the work having exclu-
sive reference to Lamb, there are several graphic por-
traitures of his companions and contemporaries, such,
for instance, as Ilazlitt, Coleridge, Godwin, Dyer,
Haydon, _Barnes, and Thomas Griffiths Wainwright,
who we remember is introduced in Bulwer's "Lu-
cretia" as Gabriel Varney. In speaking of Thomas
Barnes, Sergeant Talfourd quotes a magnificent
panegyric on Edmund Kean, which, as a specimen of
the style of the compositions of the great journalist,
we gladly transfer to our columns:—
" As the Essays of Mr. Barnes have never been col-
lected," sa,) a Talfourd, " I take leave to present to the
reader the conclusion of his article in the Examiner of
February 27, 1814, on the first appearance of Mr. Kean
in Richard
" In the heroic parts, he animated every spectator
with his own feelings; when he exclaimed " that a thou-
sand hearts were swelling in his bosom," the house
shouted to express their accordance to a truth so nobly
exemplified by the energy of his voice, by the grandeur
of his mien. His death-scene was the grandest concep-
tion, and executed in the most impressive manner; it
was a piece of noble poetry, expressed by,action instead
of language. He fights desperately: he is disarmed
and exhausted of all bodily strength: he disdains to
fall, and his strong volition keeps him standing: he fixes
that head, full of intellectual and heroic power, directly
on the enemy: he bears up his chest with an expansion
which seems swelling with more than human spirit: he
holds his uplifted arm in calm but dreadful defiance of
his conqueror. But he is but man, and he falls after
this sublime effort senseless to the ground. We have
felt our eyes gush on reading a passage of exquisite
poetry. We have been ready to leap at sight of a noble
picture, but we never felt stronger emotion, more over-
powering sensations, than were kindled by the novel
sublimity of this catastrophe. In matters of mere taste,
there will be a difference of opinion; but here there was
no room to doubt, no reason could be imprudent enough
to hesitate. Every heart heat an echo responsive to
this call of elevated nature, and yearned with fondness
towards the man who, while he excited admiration for
himself, made also his admirers glow with a warmth of
conscious superiority, because they were able to appre-
ciate such an exalted degree of excellence.' "

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.
If the promise contained in the first sheets of the
" Lights and Shadows of German Student Life," with
which the present number of our Irish contemporary
opens, be fully carried out, we venture to predict a
rich fund of entertainment for its readers. The
German student is an animal sui generis. In all nations
some degree of wildness and eccentricity must be
looked for among young men just emanci-
pated from paternal control. They are but
too likely to plunge with all their energies
into amusements newly opened. Moderation is
unknown, the chief object is to acquire distinction
among their associates, and to attain that the more
important pursuits are comparatively neglected. The
parent may fondly hope that his son is devoting his
entire time to the acquirement of knowledge such as
may lead to his future advancement, and that his health
is endangered by the closeness of his studies. Alas !
if he could see that son among his boon companions,
and really knew the causes that led to the fading
of the roses on the student's cheek, the
surprise would by no means be an agreeable
one. The case is the same revery where, whether
the newly initiated youth be termed a fox,
a freshman, or a gib—whether the scene be laid in
Germany, in England, or in Ireland, we see similar
instances of the frailty of human nature. The Ger-
man student, however, carries matters to an extent
wholly unknown in these countries—smoking, drink-
ing, and courting are matters of daily occurrence, and
a taste for fighting is acquired, that too often leads to
the early termination of his reckless career. Indeed,
a reputation as a duellist is one eagerly sought for,
and no Burschen acquires any degree of reputation
until he has distinguished himself with sword and
pistol. Felix Karl Herman Rappelkopf, the hero of
the present tale, is a young gentleman who has all
the taste for practical jokes, skill in athletic exercises,
and utter carelessness of everything save to amuse
himself in the best manner practicable, which are the
necessary qualifications for a popular leader among
students. " Pythonic and Demoniac Possession in
India and Judea," of which the first part
is given, is an attempt to show " that the
cases of demoniac possession recorded in the Gos-
pel were simply cases of physical disease, now com-
monly met among Christians, in fact, mere varieties
of lunacy or mania, or forms of epilepsy, hysteria,
chorea, or anomalous consequences of nervous derange-
ment, or functional irregularity." The inquiry is
carried on with much ability, and in a perfectly
reverential spirit. "China and the Chinese is con-
tinued, and the manners and customs of the inhabi-
tants of the Celestial Empire set forth with con-
siderable skill and judgment. There is less poetry
than usual. J. C. M. is wanting on the present
occasion. There are, however, some pleasing poetical
sketches-- one to the memory of the late lamented
Professor Butler, another " The Stranger's Parting,"
from the Romaic, and the third, " The Picture,"
which exhibits considerable taste and feeling. The
reviews fully maintain the well-established reputation
of the Dublin University in that department of litera-
ture. " Harold," by Sir E. B. Lytton, is the subject
of the first notice ; " Goldsmith and his Bio-
graphers" the second ; and also the ".Life and Time
b s
of O'Connell," which, of course, is tinctured y
the strong political bias of our contemporary.
We could scarcely expect that full justice would
be done to the memory of that great man in the
columns of one of his most strenuous opponents.
Some very entertaining anecdotes are extracted,
which will excite a hearty laugh. "Irish Proprie-
torship," the concluding article, enters into the great
question which must be solved before Ireland can hope
for permanent or lasting prosperity—the social rela-
tionship between landlord and tenant. There is one
suggestion of our contemporary in which we heartily
concur, and which we shall perhaps allude to on some
future opportunity in another part of our columns,
viz., " The propriety of selling estates in small lots,
as might readily be done in sales under the courts,
and thus laying the foundation for a small proprietary
of the middle class, who would thereby be enlisted
by their interests and their sympathies in the cause of
order and Conservatism:'

AIRD'S SELF-INSTRUCTING LATIN
GRAMMAR.

Incited by the distinguished success of his previous
labours as a grammarian, Mr. D. M. Aird has ex-
tended the influence of his learning and ingenuity.
His " Self-Instructing Latin Grammar " is a worthy
companion to his " Self-Instructing French Gram-
mar." The little volume is a golden key to the trea-
sures of classic knowledge.

THE ROYAL WESTMINSTER OPHTHALMIC HOSPI.
TAL.—Yesterday afternoon a !meeting of governors o
the above charity was held in the board-room of the in-
stitution, in Agar-street, West Strand, L. Powell, Esq.,
in the chair. The report stated that great numbers of
applications, both as in and out-patients, were being
daily made, more than the funds of the hospital war-
ranted. During the past year 184 had been in, and
3,684 out-patients. There are two wards closed for want
of funds. The hospital is open to all individual persons.
Since its establishment in 1817, nearly 70,000 persons
have been relieved, of whom 3,500 have been greatly
improved by the operation for the removal of squinting.
The expenditure leaves a considerable balance over the
the Queen is patron
pastan4 an year'san n
annual
c sour nb es
c.
ANOTHER FATAL ACCIDENT ON BOARD TEE EARL
ribieirer. Majesty
OF I LIVERPOOL STEAMER.—Yesterday afternoon another
of the crew of this vessel, one of the General Steam
Nalvigation Company's
fleet, lost his life in consequence
of some defect in her machinery. The steamer was
lyipg alongside London-bridge Wharf, taking in goods
forl Yarmouth (the damage she had sustained by the
breaking of the side-rod and steam-wheel, a week since,
Off Lowestoffe, when two men were scalded to death,
haying been repaired). The engineer being unable for
some purpose to turn the larboard paddle-wheel, one of
the apprentices, a fine young man 18 years of age, got
into the paddle-box, and with a handspike attempted
to move the wheel. Unfortunately, while so engaged,
the handspike slipped from under the paddle, and he
was thrown back into the river. Life-saving apparatus,
and many other available articles, were at hand on deck,
which would have saved him, but in the fright they
we 6 not thought of, consequently the poor fellow was
IoA. His body, up to nine o'clock last evening, had not
been found.
DARING ROBBERY.--Last evening, between five
an six o'clock, a countryman, from Whetstone, after
lodding his cart at the wharf of Mr. Burrows, corn•
dealer, Upper Ground-street, Blaekfriars, was proceed-
ing over Blackfriars• bridge, one of the:sacks fell off, to
replace which a passer by assisted him, and accompa-
nied him over the bridge, when another man accosted
WM (supposed to be an accomplice), and said he had got
the wrong note for his corn, which, he believing, left his
horse, &c., in the care of the former, and returned to the
wharf, when, it is needless to say, he found he had been
third, and on going back his cart, &c., had been stolen.
We believe no clue has yet been discovered. It is
a 4ommon occurrence to watch people with trucks, &c„
from where they obtain goods, and tell them some mis-
take has occurred, thus inducing them to le'ate their
goods, with which they generally decamp.