The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-04 00:00:00

AINSWORTH.

There is a reallymourizful poverty in the present
number of Ainsworth, the print;; al portion of its pages,
consisting of twenty three chapters, translated from third-
rate French romances, another section of a long-pub-
lished fiction, and only three original contributions.
Alexander Dumas and Eugene Scribe are very
clever, showy writers, without question, init surely we
hive scribes of our own equally good,• if not
immeasurably superior, and as surely their eintsions
would more appropriately distend an English maga.-7.ine
than the second-hand lucubrations of our neighbours,
" Piquillo Alliaga" and the " Count of Monte Christo"
are not decidedly of such transcendant excellence but
that they might give way to wholesome pieces of our
indigenous 2cribblers. Such an anomaly as the one we
have just mentioned is too glaring to allow us to pass it
over in silence. Ainsworth must " awake! arise!" or
verycm a wish , rapidlhy
tod sswinidtnleesaswg
,resuscitationinpopulaity.frolVea say this
state of torpor. Mr. Wright's article about an alchemist
is the only attractive one in the number, and it is suffi-
ciently strange to excite the curiosity of the most indif-
ferent. " Bassora" carries in every line the impress of
Mr. W. Francis Ainsworth's pen, and consequently,
while it betokens the industrious and observant traveller,
it is tedious withal. " Irish Legends," by Mr. Forrest,
may possibly be read, because they are the only rhyth-
mical effusions in the magazine; which altogether affords
good opportunity- for improvement.

Guided by experienDceO, LthtlerAneNw.
editor proceeds upon
his missi
on with even increased ability; the articles are
generally selected with discrimination, they are attrac-
tive in their theme, and have a very singular and pleas-
ing diversity of style. In this latter respect one might
almost identify the writer of each without the assistance
of their signatures: the galloping, hedge-and-ditch pre-
cipitation of John Keegan, the earnest, though some-
what crude beauties of the compositions of Mr. Price,
the lucid precision of Mr. Jerningham, the sonorous bat
rather elaborated mannerisms of the author of the
"Analysis of Wit," and especially the scholarly, yet
natural eloquence of Mr. Keon. All these may be de-
tected without much trouble, and their great dissimilarity,
together with their different amount of merit, impart to
this magazine the charm of discursiveness, We pre-
sume we may now regard Dolman as numbering amongst
the prominent miscellanies. It has proceeded with an un-
usual appearance of vigour for fifteen months, and
instead of dwindling away to the average tenuity of new
publications, it has ripened in merit as time has elapsed.
The opening paper for May has considerable interest,
being a narration of the
_persecutions inflicted upon
" The Catholics of England." It extends in point of
time to the reign of the boy king, Edward V-L The
compilation reflects much credit upon the industry and
impartiality of Mr. Jerningham. " A Tale of the
Falls," by the Rev. E. Price, has a dual attraction, see-
ing that it recounts a perilous escape from a cataract,
and hinges mainly upon the conversion of the writer to
Catholicity. " Gleanings in the Green Isle" displays
the same animation as ever, but, unfortunately, the
same want of concentration. It is aptly followed by a
metrical tribute to the "Lakes of Killarney," by Mr.
James Silk Buckingham. " Vicissitudes of Illustrious
Men" has no little novelty in the subject selected for the
present number—namely, the romantic history of Na-
poleon's Paladin, Murat. We remember no separate
narrative of this extraordinary man—indeed, we believe
this to be the first memoir of his life which has ever ap-
peared, at least in the English language. The editor
has restricted himself to a critical notice of a remarkable
work, published not long since, and called " Rome as it
was under Paganism, and as it became under the Popes."
On the whole, we admire the panegyrics lavished on the
author, because we conceive them to be honest and dis-
criminating. In one particular, however, we think the
reviewer has displayed an undue leniency—he lauds the
book in its entirety. Now, here we seriously think him
to be at fault. The two volumes are undoubtedly superb in
their imaginativeness, in their erudition, and in their
artistic excellence; but we regard them as decidedly de-
ficient in symmetry of construction—they are void of
that sequential perspicacity of narration, without which
a literary work cannot be regarded as faultless. It is a
glorious assemblage of fragments, but they are discon-
nected and confused in arrangement. As a specimen of
the poetry in Dolman's Magazine, we transcribe several
verses from an exquisite contribution addressed to the
subject of " Spring," and subscribed by the initials
E. E. M. K.:—

A beam and a gush of tears—bless'd tears!
From relenting spheres,
Have pierced my dungeon's gloom ;
And now uprisen from chains, from prison,
I float on clouds of bloom!

A zone, and a kirtle green—tender green,
With the trickling sheen
Of molten diamonds spread,
These have lured, from its cell immured,
The snowdrop's virgin head !

I smile and the stirring mould—miser mould,
Of its hoarded gold,
A boon is forced to yield;
As it up-creeps in dazzling heaps,
The crocus gilds the field.

I weep, and the violets bloom—purple bloom,
In a leafy gloom,
(Like sweet thoughts born of sorrow)
Than which no gem my diadem
Of rarer worth might borrow.

My feet as the meads they skim—deftly skim,
From the mountain's rim,
A trail of lustre bear ;
Emerald gloss for the sprouting moss,
Sheen for the piping air.

And see, in my wild-wood bowers—happy bowers,
The white may-flowers,
As saints immaculate,
Whose starry eyes look up to the skies
With beam-light saturate I

FRASER.

Fraser contains a number of very readable articles
this month, but scarcely any of them refer to subjects
requiring discussion, or that can give rise to any
lengthened observations. " Past and Present Condition
of British Poetry" gives a succinct and on the whole an
impartial account of the poets that came in with King
George 111., and those that flourished during his reign.
And it may be mentioned as a curious fact, that all the
great, celebrated poets of the age closed their labours
with the close of his reign. Byron died four years after
that period, Campbell, and Scott, and Crabbe, and Moore
may be said to have then finished their poetical labours,
and not one has sprung up since that is really entitled
to the name, and we can therefore hardly see how the
writer will be able to find materials, as he promises, for
another paper on the present condition of our poetry.
" The Principal Campaigns in the Rise of Napoleon"
are continued, and the present article is entirely devoted
_._.e
to the campaign of Marengo. In that we
_finel.o
novelty, for the history of the remarkable b•mstoierdein
re-
markable for its results, as well as for the
ac-
cident to which BonaptFte's genius an
did the woe
rk,
but and lidleyman
known. It
clot Ilwas ancon-which it was gained, is generally kno.
nt was the old, incapable Austrian
con-
tributed utthed noritinhienga.ge
I General, 31-Was, who, in place of following up the most
complete victory ever gained, went to sleep at one
o'clock in the day, and when he awoke found his army
utterly ruined. " Something more about Victor Hugo"
gives a very fair opinion respecting the works of the
the
his u
French poet and peer, and will enable the reader to
judge for himself, for there are long extracts given
f
There is a well arranged summary of the campaign on
h
withtheay we e descriptionfoughotf
sbeaxt ttlreesmaenlyd
im-
partial. prooaeum r
country
itarl. y Sutlej,
where All works,d e with a free translation in English.
It
praise is given to Sir Hugh Gough for
his resolution, daring courage, and ultimate success, but
doubts are occasionally thrown on his mode of command-
ing an army, and some blame is attached to him for
trusting more to English bayonets and English bravery
than to judicious arrangements and manoeuvring, by
which the writer thinks many lives might have been
spared. The charge is not unfounded, and possibly
Gough would have had less reason to boast, nay, might
have been defeated, if he had commanded. any other
troops. The writer thus sums up his remarks:—
"The Seikhs have been punished by the privation of all
that fertile district which lies between the Sutlej and the
Hyphasis or Beass. The whole of the protected states, as
they used to be called, are absorbed and become an integral
portion of the British empire. One million and a half ster-
ling is demanded as compensation for the expenses of the
war, and military occupation of the whole of the Punjaub is
to be held till the full amount shall be paid. And a re-
arrangement of the Seikh army is to take place, on
plan as the Governor-General shall judge best for the preser-
vation of peace both at home and abroad. Finally, Sir
Henry Hardinge has been created Viscount Hardin
hneenr
Hugh Gough, Baron Gough ; Sir Harry Smith ed
earn ; and
rewarded with a baronetcy, which he has nobly such a
have bean
on all the other officers and men engaged h
funsw of the recepients.
but can add nothing to the high Houses of Parliament ;
They have been thanked by both
heaped, which may gratify the country ach°bestows them,
who mourn over the fall of
of kin find comfort n the thought that they
their nearest i
they are thanked by every man, woman, and child through-
out the empire; and even they
died nobly, and in a righteous cause."

At
ut rr
dDal: ry L,
aE
littleN T
FLrOenVeEhßw..—inanA,
oft
interestl -
I
somlicaiecoinurat'famlly living in Gloucester-place, applied to the
apparently not more than twenty years of age, 101
AND
onFSRa
magistrate, under the following circumstances :—She stated that
some months ago she became acquainted with a young man named
Chandler, to whom the had every reason, from the vows of loy
A FALSE
which ho had constantly made, to believe that she would have been
shortly united. On the 14th of last month he expressed a wish that
is
o_slr oui
appearance,a
dghyi
the marriage should take place as soon as possible, when, confiding
in his honour, she was induced to draw 301. from the savings' bank.
and give it to him towards purchasing furniture. On the following
day be said he had expended the 301. at Dent's furnitureshop;caSince
that day she had seen nothing of the man, and she had dr-ered
that his story about having purchased fitrniture at Dent's
was false.
v
The magistrate expressed his regret that he was unable to give her
any assistance.

Dou - STEALING. -- COURT - MARTIAL. COrpOlll
Blewes, of the id battalion of the Grenadier Guards, stationed at
Windsor, found guilty of stealing a valuable dog belonging to Mr.
Smith, chemist, of that town, has been sentenced to two months' im-
prisonment at Chatham Military Prison, and to be reduced to the
ranks. The dog had been sold by the corporal, within a few hours
after ha had stolen it, tg @French gentleman residing at 81014 b, fbi
a 'ruling rum.