The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-07 00:00:00

HOOD'S MAGAZINE.

Now that " Ignez de Castro" is completed, it is
pleasant to have revived before us a tragedy whose
excellence has been repeatedly evidenced on the
stage, but the poetry of which has never before been
submitted to the more serious ordeal of the closet—
we mean " The Avenger." It is being published
now for the first time, and it is suitable that it should
appear in this Magazine, seeing that its author, well
known as the author of " The Provost of Bruges,"
and the latest of whose dramatic productions, " Look
before you Leap," is now being successfully per-
formed at the Haymarket Theatre, has been some
time numbered among the many excellent contri-
butors to this periodical. It would be almost supe-
rerogatory to comment upon the various beauties of
" The Avenger," they are so generally acknowledged.
And supposing them to have been less familiar, we
should have abstained from passing any opinion upon
the tragedy at this moment, as only the first act is here
introduced to our attention. The nervous terseness of
the language, and the effective glibness of the dialogue,
should however be remarked, as they are among the
principal fine qualities of the writer's style of com-
position. " Nell Gwynne" is pursued with the same
blemishes as hitherto; it is one of those numerous
pieces constructed out of the mere tinsel and
spangles of romance. " Blanche Neville " deserves
less notice than the foregoing. Quite a multitude of
scraps, odds-and-ends of prose and metre, compose
the remainder of the Magazine. There is a " Con-
cise Description of Hong-Kong"—a very concise one,
by the way—occupying merely two pages and a
quarter; there is an article on " The Incorporation of
the Scholastic Profession;" and beyond these a swarm
of facetious fragments, sentimental stanzas, sonnets,
proverbs and opinions, de omnibus rebus et quibusdam
aliis. " A Lecture on Authorship" would permit of
a very considerable extension, and no very incon-
siderable improvement, before it would absolutely
deserve the magnificent eulogium of the editor.

THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE REVIEW.
Many very charming contributions are in this
number—paramount amongst which is the one upon
" L'Entente Cordiale." From the lengthy paper
entitled " The Whigs and the Church," the views of
the Young England party upon the present Govern-
ment, particularly in their relation to the Established
Church, may be gleaned. Lord John Manners con-
tinues his historical ballads ; the present, being the
fifth of the series, is upon the demise of Prince
Henry Plantagenet. " A Flower from Jean Paul's
Autumn Garden," is a fantastic chapter which makes
us feel inexpressibly grateful that Richter was ever
in existence. In the review of the " Revelations of
Austria" we find this pithy and most suggestive
sentence :—" After the revolution of July, suspici
was aroused against the Duke of Richstadt, the grand-
son of Kaiser, Francis the First, and that grandson
died immediately." Never did career dawn amid
such supernal promises as that of Napoleon the
Second ; never did career close more prematurely or
desolately. Born King of Rome, he perished a pri-
soner of his phlegmatic grandfather, and perished
mysteriously. It may be interesting to many to
know that " according to an organical statuts of the
family of Habsburg, all the Archdukes are obliged to
learn a trade ;" and, in consequence of this eccentric
custom, it would appear that the late Kaiser, Francis
the First, was a sealing-wax maker, while the present
Kaiser, Ferdinand the First, is a turner. We
transcribe the following because of its singularity.
The perfidy and heartlessness of the Emperor Francis
is amongst the most execrable circumstances of the
late war. While he "served their turn" like a
sceptered lacquey, the English looked with scorn
upon a man who crushed his son-in-law merely to
consolidate his own despotism, or bartered his daughter
for purposes of state policy :
" The friendship of German Princes had always been
found more dangerous and disastrous to France and its
sovereigns, than their enmity.
" After a thousand combats lost, the vanquished and
humbled Kaiser changed,his policy.
" From the most implacable enemy, which he was, he
all at once became, in appearance, the stanchest friend,
the nearest relative of Napoleon,
" As it has been said, amongst the baggage taken
by assault from the capital of Vienna, Napoleon found
the Archduchess Maria Louisa,' daughter of the Kaiser;
he repudiated Josephine, his guardian angel, and mar-
ried the Archduchess, the devoted political instrument of
Austria, and the cause of his degradation, and of the
humiliation of France.

" It would be wholly to misunderstand the nature of
man, to suppose that a vanquished enemy could so
readily become the sincere friend of his conqueror.
" It was self-deception to imagine that the Habs-
burgs were not seeking the means of revenging their
humiliation, or that they sincerely gave up their alliance
with England.

" In Paris there was a great rejoicing over this mar-
riage, which was looked upon ns the ultimate and con-
solidating result of the victories obtained, and as estab-
lishing French supremacy on an unshakeable basis.
There was rejoicing also in Vienna over this 'fliesalliance,'
which was looked upon as a necessary sacrifice, as a po-
litical embryo, which was only engendered with the view
of undermining the power of France, of bringing about
her fall, and of raising Austria, and with her despotism,
" Germans were heard, immediately after this mar-
riage, to predict the downfal of Napoleon, and the ruin
of France, so fully were they convinced that this marriage
was only a snare on the part of their Kaiser. Those who
were immediately about the person of the Emperor
Napoleon, and took part in public affairs between 1810
and 1815, must agree that without this marriage, and
without the inspirations, and encouraging influences,
direct and indirect of the Germans, the chivalrous ad
venture of the Russian campaign of 1812 would never
have been undertaken. Buonaparte, as a simple French
citizen, representative and chief or the generous French
nation, wss the first captain in the world, the first French
citizen, and in some measure the defender of all the op-
pressed. In his enterprises he consulted only his own
intelligence and the welfare of France—his country ; he
distrusted all the princes crowned by the grace of God;
and was ever on his guard.
" ' As son-in-law to the Kaiser, ennobled, metamor-
phosed, and received within the pale of German aristo-
cracy, he consulted aristocratic appearances, consulted
his own interests, personal and dynastic ; consented to
restrain France within its former boundaries under Louis
the Sixteenth', provided he was left upon his Imperial
throne. He became the mere paladin of his wife, and
sank into the position of the last of legitimate princes.
To obtain their simulated confidence, he was obliged to
accord his own sincere confidence ; to render himself
worthy of being their chief, or even their equal, he was
obliged to become the champion of sovereigns, to sur-
round himself with clergy, and be the faithful companion
and zealous defender of all despots.

" After this marriage he appeared no more the van-
quisher of Jena, of Austerlitz, and of Wagram.' "
It is afterwards asserted by the writer that Maria
Louisa sent an act of divorce to Napoleon, when
that great man was reigning in Elba. We doubt it.
The ardent affection with which the Emperor al-
ways spoke of the Arch-Duchess of Parma to the
companions of his exile at St. Helena is a tolerable
evidence that she had never insulted her imperial
husband in the manner intimated. " The Ills of
Ireland "contain a singular quantity of information
upon the most important of all political topics.

THE KNIGHT OF GWYIVNE. No. XL By
Charles Lever.
Our frequently repeated commendations upon this
serial story are only corroborated with the publica-
tion of each additional number. The complacency of
the Darcys under their reverse of fortune is most hap-
pily conceived, and the absurdity of the individuals
with whom they are consequently compelled to asso-
ciate decreases the melancholy tone of the narration
by a very happy contrivance. We subjoin a most
humourous description of a little priggish wine-mer-
chant, calling himself by the name of his firm, " Dodd
and Dempsey." The anecdote is told by his grand- '
son, and is descriptive of this said D. and D. en-
deavouring to attract the observation of the , Lord-
Lieutenant, by attending a review on horseback. And
such a horse !—" he held his head so high at one end,
and-his tail at the other," says Mr. Lever, " that he'd
have frightened the stoutest fox-hunter to look at
him." Beyond this, "he went with his knees in his
mouth when he trotted, and gave a skelp of his hind
legs at every stride, that it wasn't safe to be within
four yards of him." Here is the result:—
" Well, eleven o'clock came, and the whole of Abbey-
street was on foot to see my grandfather • there wasn't
a window hadn't five or six faces in it, anireiiiiibla,k-
guard in the town was there to see him go off, just as if
it was a show.
" Bad luck to them,' says my grandfather; • I wish
they had brought the horse round to the stable-yard,
and let me get up in peace.' _

" And he was right there; for the stirrup, when my
grandfather stood teside the horse, was exactly even
with his chin; but somehow, with the help of the two
clerks and the book•keeper, and the office stool, he got
up on his back with as merry a cheer as ever rung out
to welcome him, while a dirty blackguard, with two old
pocket-handkerchiefs for a pair of breeches, shouted
out, Old Dempsey's going to get an appetite for the
oysters!'

" Considering every thing, 176 behaved very well; he
didn't plunge, and he didn't kick, and my grandfather
said, ' Providence was kind enough not to let him rear!'
but somehow, he wouldn't go straight, but sideways;
and kept lashing his long tail on my grandfather's legs,
and sometimes round his body, in a way that terrified
him greatly, till he became used to it.

" ' Well, if riding be a pleasure,' says my grandfather,
' people must be made different from me.'
" For, saving your favour, ma'am, he was as raw as a
griskin, and there wasn't a bit of him the size of a half-
crown he could sit on without a cry out; and no other
pace would the beast go but this little jig, jig, from side
to side, while he was tossing his head and flinging his
mane about, just as if to say, ' Couldn't I pitch you sky-
high, if I liked ? Couldn't I make a Congreve-rocket of
you, Dodd and Dempsey ?'
" When he got on the ' Fifteen Acres,' it was only the
position he found himself in, that destroyed the grandeur
of the scene ; for there was fifty thousand people assem-
bled at least, and there was a line of infantry of two
miles long, and the artillery was drawn up at one end,
and the cavalry stood beyond them, stretching away to-
wards Knockmaroon.

" My grandfather was now getting accustomed to his
sufferings, and he felt that, if 176 did no more, with
God's help, he could bear it for one day, and so he rode
on quietly outside the crowd, attracting, of course, a fair
share of observation, for he wasn't always in the saddle,
but sometimes a little behind or before it. Well, at last
there came a cloud of dust, rising at the far end of the
field, and it got thicker and thicker, and then it broke,
and there were white plumes dancing, and gold glitter-
ing, and horses all shaking their gorgeous trappings,
for it was the Staff was galloping up, and then there
burst out a great cheer, so loud that nothing seemed
possible to be louder, until bang—bang—bang, eighteen
large guns went thundering together, and the whole line
of infantry let off a clattering volley, till you'd think
the earth was crashing open.
" ' Devil's luck to ye all—couldn't you be quiet a
little longer?' says D. and D., for he was trying to get
an easy posture to sit in, but just at this moment 176
pricked up his ears, made three bounds in the air, as it
something lifted him up, shook his head like a fish, and
away he went : wasn't it wonderful that my grandfather
kept his seat ? He remembers, he says, that at each
bound he was a yard over his back, but as he was a
heavy man, and kept his legs open, he had the luck to
come down in the same place, and a sore place it must
have been ; for he let a screech out of him each time
that would have pierced the heart of a stone. He knew
very little more what happened, except that he was gal-
loping away somewhere, until at last he found himself in
a crowd of people, half dead with fatigue and fright, and
the horse thick with foam.
" Where am I?' says my grandfather.
" ' You're in Lucan, sir,' says a man.
" ' And where's the review?' says my grandfather.
" ' Five miles behind you, sir.'
"'Blessed Heaven!' says he ; and where's the Duke?'
" God knows,' said the man, giving a wink to the
crowd, for they thought he was mad.
" ' Won't you get off and take some refresemant ?'
says the man, for he was the owner of a little public.
" Get off I' says my grandfather; 'it's easy talking!
I found it hard enough to get on—bring me a pint of
porter where I am;' and so he drained off the liquor, and
he wiped his face, and he turned the beast's head once
more towards town.

" When my grandfather reached the Park again he
was, as you may well believe, a tired and a weary man ;
and, indeed, for that matter, the beast didn't seem
mach fresher than himself, for he lashed his sides more
rarely, and he condescended to go straight, and he didn't
carry his head higher than his rider's. At last they
wound their way up through the fir copse at the
end of the field, and caught sight of the review,
and, to be sure, if poor D. and D. left the ground before
under a grand salute of artillery and small arms;
another of the same kind welcomed him back again.
It was an honour he'd have been right glad to have
dispensed with, for when 176 heard it, he looked about
him to see which way he'd take, gave a loud neigh, and
with a shake, that my grandfather said he'd never forget,
he plunged forward and went straight at the thick of the
crowd: it must have baen a cruel sight to have seen the
people running for their lives. The soldiers that kept
the lines laughed heartily at the mob, but they hadn't
the joke long to themselves, for my grandfather went
slap at them into the middle of the field; and he did
that day what I hear has been very seldom done by
cavalry, he broke a square of the 79th Highlanders, and
scattered them over the field. In truth, the beast must
have been the devil himself, for wherever he saw most
people, it was there he always went. There were, at
this time, three heavy dragoons and four of the horse-
police, with drawn swords, in pursuit of my grandfather;
and, if he was the enemy of the human race, the cries of
the multitude could not have been louder, as one
universal shout arose, of Cut him down! Cleave him
in two!' And do you know, he said afterwards, he'd
have taken it as a mercy of Providence if they had.
Well, my dear, when he had broken through the High-
landers, scattered the mob, dispersed the band, and left
a hole in the big drum you could have put your head
through, 176 made for the Staff, who, I may remark,
were all this time enjoying the confusion immensely,
when, however, they saw my grandfather heading
towards them, there was a general cry of " Here he
comes fihere he comes! take care, your Grace!' and there
arose among the group around the Duke, a scene
of plunging, kicking, and rearing, in the midst
of which, in dashed my grandfather. Down went
an aid-de-camp at one side, 176 plunged, and off
went the town-major at the other, while a stroke
of a sabre, kindly intended for my grandfather's skull,
came down on the horse's back and made him give
plunge the third, which shot his rider out of the saddle,
and sent him flying through the air like a shell, till he
alighted under the leaders of a carriage, where the
Duchess and the Ladies of Honour were seated.

"Twenty people jumped from their horses now to
finish him ; if they were hunting a rat, they couldn't
have been more venomous.

" ' Stop ! stop !' said the Duke, ' he's a capital fellow,
don't hurt him : who are you, my brave little man ? you
ride like Chifney for the Derby.'
" ' God knows who I am ?' says my grandfather.
creeping out, and wiping his face. ' I was Dodd and
Dempsey when I left home this morning ; but I am be-
witched, devil a lie in it.'

" Dempsey, my Lord Duke,' said M'Claverty, com-
ing up at the moment ; don't you know him ?' and he
whispered a few words in his Grace's ear.
" Oh, yes, to be sure,' said the Viceroy. They tell
me you have a capital pack of hounds, Dempsey ; what
do you hunt ?'
" Horse, foot, and dragoons, my Lord,' said my
grandfather ; and, to be sure, there was a jolly roar of
laughter after the words, for poor D. and D. was just
telling his mind without meaning anything more.
" Well, then,' said the Duke, 'if you've always as
good sport as to-day, you've capital fun of it.
" Oh ! delightful, indeed !' said my grandfather ;
'never enjoyed myself more in my life'
"' Where's his horse ?' said his Grace.
" Ho jumped down into the sand•quarry and broke
his neck, my Lord Duke.'
" 'The heavens be praised !' said my grandfather, if
it's true ; I am as glad as if I got fifty pounds.' "

The embellishments by Phiz are rich in drollery.

THE SPORTING MAGAZINE.

Sir Tatton Sykes, formerly called Tibthorpe, the
winner of thy St. Leger for 1846, forms the princi-
pal illustration to the November number of the Nport_
ing Magazme. "I'm looking at you" (after Han-
cock) is the companion plate, and is an engraving of
some merit. To the sporting world we commend
the paper upon
~" The Resources of a Country Gen-
.

~r I~~L~~

tleman." The Resources, as here enumerated, would
somewhat astonish the country gentleman of a hun-
dred and fifty years ago. Scribble's continuation of
the " Adventures of a Hunter," is a great improvement
upon the preceding chapters. Most complete and
accurate is the " Turf Register," with which the
number terminates.