The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-03 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

SIR WALTER SCOTT'S POETRY.
Cadell, London, 1841
The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott have
been hitherto inaccessible to a numerous class of
readers, in consequence of their being published
in not fewer than twelve volumes; we here find
them, however, comprised for the first time in
one octavo volume, which contains, besides, all
the author's latest prefaces and introductions, to-
gether with a variety of useful notes which were
appended by the Editor, Mr. Lockhart, to the
edition of 1832. The volume, consid^-, no.
the
uncommon el td

,egance an
-ness of its type,
and the very superiov
up—apparent' ;
=manner in which it is got
expense -
-r, without the slightest regard to
---Can scarcely fail to drive all its prede-
...css2rs out of the market, and reimburse Mr,
Oado for the heavy outlay to which it must
have- subjected him. Twenty years ago the
poem of " Marmion." alone could not have been
procured foes less sum than twelve shillings;
but now, the entire poetry of Sir Walter Scott,
tnchttling even his minor poems, and those beau-
tiful little gems which are scattered throughout
his unrivalled novels, may be purchased for one
guinea! Verily, if this be not cheap literature,
'e know not the meaning of the term ! The vo-
lume is embellished, by way of frontispiece, with
Raeburn's celebrated full-length portrait of the
illustrious Baronet, and also with a picturesque
'view of his favourite country-seat, Abbotsford.,
admirably engraved by Miller, from one of Tur-
ner's masterly designs.

SELECTION.STFROM7IIE DESPATCHES
AND GENERAL ORDERS OF 7'HE DUAE
OF WELLINGTON.
Murray, London, 1841.
The Despatches of the Duke of Wellington,"
says Colonel Gurwood, in his preface to this vos
lame, " have been published ; but the expense
of the work has placed it beyond the reach of
many persons anxious to possess it. The tom-
piler has, in consequence, made a
them, that may extend t !,-ciection from
a larger sphere of
readers." This selel:,#:lon, as far as we can judge,
has been made
his Cl.raef **
with* tact and judirment none' of
Despatchess
on affairs a moment
have "men omitted, but those only have been
c'...-ftailed—or, rather, left out—which possessed
little or no decided public interest or value. As
the volume contains an immense mass of miscel-
laneous
matter, a copious index has been pre-
fixed
to it, so that the reader may turn at once,
without being compelled to wade through the
Whole contents, to whatever particular fact he
May be anxious to know, on the subject of his
grace's numerous campaigns. The wok, inde-
pendently of its value as an authentic record of
great national achievements, possesses exceeding
interest as giving us some insight into the pecu-
liar structure of the Duke of Wellington's mind.
We read the leading traits of his character as dis-
tinctly in his Despatches, as we read those'of
Napoleon in his Bulletins. Throughout them
his Grace shows himself a man of calm, far-
sighted sagacity ; of strict, methodical business
habits; confident—but not unduly so—in his
own mental resources: patient under reverses ;
quick to profit by ol'iportunity ; a judicious, rather
than a brilliafit, commander; severe in his no-
tions of discipline ; and never depressed or
daunted by whatever difficulties may oppose
themselves to his projects. Napoleon, in his
.bulletins, appears in many respects quite the re-
verse. Instead of a calm, business-like state-
ment of facts, he indulges in gross fictions; be-
trays frequent spleen and irritability ; vaunts
and swaggers to a most ridiculous extent ; and
indulges in such bombastic rhetoric, as the so-
berer judgment of his illustrious rival would re-
pet with disdain. The equable tenour of the
Duke of Wellington's mind, which never allows
itself to be warmed into enthusiasm, is no where
more conspicuous than in his Despatches dated
the morning after the battle of Waterloo.
Though he had achieved, but a few short hours
before, the greatest and most decisive victory re-
corded in modern history, and over the most re-
nowned warrior of the age—or indeed of any
age—he betrays nothing like exultation, but
shows himself as cool and collected in his state-
ments as if he were detailing the merest com-
mon-place exploit. Occasionally he exhibits
something like sensibility, as when writing to the
Duke of Beaufort to acquaint him that his
brother has been severely wounded in the con-
flict, he says—" The losses I have sustained have
quite broken me down, and I have no feeling for
the advantages we have gained ;" but, generally
speaking, his Despatches on this glorious occa-
sion, are remarkab!e for nothing so much as
their cold, laconic, and methodical character.
Nevertheless, we have read them throughout
with the deepest interest, and so will all who
know how to set 'a proper value on the produc-
tions of a mind of a high and rare order.

LIFE OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
P.enr XII. Bailey, London. 1841.
With this Part Mr. Maxwell closes his Life
of the Duke of Wellington, which—as we have
more than once taken occasion to observe—is the
fullest, and apparently the most authentic that
has yet issued from the press. The Part com-
mences with an account of the battle of Tou-
louse—a conflict as useless as it was sanguinary,
since Napoleon had abdicated the throne of
France, some days previously to its having been
fought; and closes with the crowning victory at
Waterloo, which the biographer—who has him-
self been a soldier—describes with infinite gra-
phic vigour. The Part is illustrated with two
plans of the battle-field; an engraving, from a
spirited design by Cooper, of the last grand
charge of the Guards upon the dispirited French
troops ; and a full-length portrait of the Duke of
*Wellington, in the attire of a private gentleman,
who is represented as just entering, the House of
Lords. This portrait is a good likeness—that is
to say, the features can at once be recognised;
but the expression of the countenance is much
too grim. We suppose it was taken at that pe-
riod so disheartening to the Tories, when the Re-
form Bill was under discussion in Parliament;
and if so, the dismal cut of the Ducal phiz is at
once to tie accounted for. Mr. Maxwell termi-
nates his biography with a comparison between
Napoleon and Wellington, which we subjoin, for
it is nenned in a discriminating and impartial
EPir'.t :
in estimating the military talents of Napoleon and Welling..
ton—for to compare either with any other commander of the
age would be absurd—to the former, a superiority has been
generally conceded for the decision with which he followed up
a defeat, and the important consequences which always were
attendant on his victories. Both were admitted to have pos-
sessed an inimitable skill in handling masses of men, with the
same facility that ordinary commanders directed the move-
ments of a brigade. Their combination, were beautiful—
their conceptions grand—they were not the laboured efforts
of military art, but the outbreakings of military genius—
formed in a moment—executed as rapidly—changed, should
circumstances require, and adapted to mset the emergency that
might arise. If Wellington did not push his victories to grand
results, let us inquire the causes; and when Napoleon's mili-
tary improvisation is declared unequalled, let us see how far
'Wellington's was behind.
The circumstances under which these two great com-
manders conducted their campaigns, were different ; for Na-
foleon had never Wellington's difficulties to contend with. The
ormer was a free agent. His battles were delivered to clear
away obstacles that impeded an advance, while Wellington's
were generally received to enable him to maintain a position in
the country. Napoleon, when victorious, had always the
means in hand to push his success, and secure the fruits of
conquest. Wellington's battles were frequently defensive ;
And the heavy repulses which masterly combinations enabled
him to inflict, were unadorned with the trophies which accom-
pany a bold advance ; and often his most br'lliant fields were
oiluwed regre-sive movements, which always follow a de-
feat and rarely attend on victory.
That Wellington possessed within himself the rapid re-
sources and daring confidence which mark a great commander,
This conduct when placed in dangerous positions, or at the crisis
Hof a doubtful day, will best establish. What operations could
be more masterly than his retreat across the Tagus, or his ad-
vance across the !)ouro? What act more daring than to hold
the height of Guinaldo with two weak divisions, within can-
'non-shut of an a-my strong enough not to defeat, but to anni-
hilate him? Look at the sudden ruin inflicted on Marmont at
,Salamanca—the seizure of Arinez—the counter-stroke at Sau-
roren. Follow the foctsteps of the peninsular army from Rolica
°to Toulouse. Commence his history at Assaye, and close it on
the night at Waterloo. Test his military character by his acts—
let him then dispute the palm with Napoleon—and who will
pronounce him second to any General of the age?

JOAN OF ARC. 3 VoLs.

CoUrn, London, 1841.
We have read this tale—for which we are in-
fdebted to the pen of Mr. Serle, the dramatist-
-with as much avidity as some years ago we read
Dr. Southey's poem on the same exciting sub-
ject. Like that highly-wrought work of genius,
it abounds in impassioned scenes ; local descrip-
tions characterised by infinite truth of detail;
and incidents which, startling and romantic as
they are, all wear the impress of probability.
Mr. Serle has shown great good sense and judg-
r.ient in adhering, as far as was in accordance
with the purposes of fiction, to historical truth in
its narrative ; his outline is scrupulously founded
.on fact; it is in the filling up. only, and that not
often, that he has availe himself of the privi-
leges of the novelist. Nothing can be jester, or
in better historical keeping, than his full-length
portrait of the enthusiastic, " Maid
of Orleans." He pourtrays her just as she has
been handed down to us by the traditions of the
time—patriotic, imaginative, religious almost to
fanaticism, and overcoming formidable obstacles
by sheer.iorce of will, and unbounded confi-
dence in• her own mer,tal and physical energies.
The scene where Joan. is first Introduced to the
King of France; ',ler behaviour at the san-
f4uinary conflict before the city of Orleans ; her
youthful fancies- Droribet4; reveries ; and her
final capture, trial, and -death, by order of the
English coraulander, under the persuasion that