The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-01 00:00:00

FINE ATtTS.

THE TA.KING" OF SIDON.—THE BOMBARD-
MENT AND CAPTURE OF ACRE.
' Colnaghi, London, 1841.
The prints representing these late glorious
naval actions, on the Syrian coast, are three in.
number, and are executed from original designs,
furnished by Lieutenant War.-e, who was pre-
sent both at Acre and Sidon, on. "board the Prin-
cess Charlotte. The first print represents the
taking of Sidon by the Marines and Blue jackets
on the twenty-sixth of September last; and the
two others, the bombardment of Acre, on the
i . the third of November following, including the
, al, 'Cul spectacle of the explosion a f the powder
I
•azine. This last incident is poet rtrayed with
`truly
graphic ability; and. by th..e vivid and
vastly light of the explosion is seen the Power-
a
1, ~, ,omodo.~e Napier, firing bro. idside after
(broadsic
aat the devoted fortress.,w Pith all the
ipromptitu e amid energy that Briti.th seamen
.never fail to 1, rill
prints teem wit. with them into actiop. These
Til, ife andanimation; are crowded,
but not to much so, with incidents; a."e care-
fully engraved; an'd being
published " by sub-
scription for the be.
iefit of the families of the
killed in the Allied Fi'eet , during the late opera-
lions on the Coast of 13y.
informs us-will no doubt-1
ria"—as the prospectus
neet with all the suc-
I cess to which they are entnt, 'ed.

MAGAZINE 1 )AY.

7-AZINE.
BLACKWOOD'S MAt
As usual, there are some aintoing inconsisten-
cies in Moga's political article this month. In
•" Lessons from the Past," after assuring us that
the " English Constitution, the boast of the
patriot and the pride of the historian during so
many ages, sunk to the dust" at the i'-riocl when
the Reform Bill was carried, the wri,ter goes on
to assure us that this defunct Constitutie It is just
0.5 well as ever, and as strong au& hea, •ty as if
nothing had ever ailed it ! Never was the."e such
a phenomena as this same Constitution! It has
actually as many lives as a cat. The Tories •con-
fess to its having been put to Cieath not less :than
three times within the last twelve or fourte en
years, yet now they tell us with all the gravity
imaginable that it is in the enjoyrnent of excel-
lent ! Though we differ from the majo-
rity of th; opinions put forth in " Lslssons from
the Past," ii.4-=re isrone the'spirit of w:iich we
Cordially agree ;---" The Conservatives," -.says the
writer,' "have inaLv lessons of wisdom to learn."
fitey have indeed, fir hitherto they have shown
themselves but indifferently furnished with poli-
tical sagacity. Every great national question
brought forward Once the memorable year 1529
has tended only to bewilder, instead o. t to en-
lighten, their understanding. They bat e been
standing in a state ot.' stupid perplexity, while
the wortd was in active:. thrward motion about
them. Henceforth, they must either nia“e up
their minds to accommodate their ideas of legisla-
tion to those of the day, or else consent to be
shuffled aside as so much )worthless lumber.
There is no longer time for hesitation. They must
decide -at once b for, while they a."e conside ring,
the golden opportunity is passing, ne yer to ret urn.
The "World of London" is a lively, shrewd essay.
I-low just is this remark !—" There is no fowx i's
talk in London; your provincial lion. is here .a
Very tame beast, and let him roar ever so loud,
not a soul will think more of his roaring than of
the rumbling of a cart." London is indeed the
best of all places to cure a man's self-conceit
Here, he is sure to rise or fall to his proper
level. The metropolis is no respecter of persons.
It thinks no more of a duke than a dustman.
We quote some amusing thoughts on suicide
from this entertaining essay :
" When Sam Scott, the Amegican, hanged himself,
by way of a lark, upon Waterloo-bridge, (by the way,
what, may we ask, became of the inquiry, whether or no
the Directors sanctioned that disgusting exhibition ?)
'lye happened to have occasion to walk up the Waterloo-
road about ten minutes after the untoward event ; the
crowd had already dispersed, but some stray sentences
dropped by the passers-by induced us to imagine some-
thing interesting might have occurred. Laying down
Sixpence to pay our toll, while waiting the change, we
took occasion to inquire of the gate-keeper what was the
matter. " Only a Yankee diver hanged hisself on the
bridge, Sir—all right !" replied the functionary ; whe-
ther the " all right" referred to the propriety of Sam
Scott acting as his own hangman upon this occasion, or
to the correctness of the change tendered me by the
gate-keeper, I cannot say ; however that may be, I could
not help censuring the folly of Sam Scott in executing
himsen in London, where, not merely the manner of his
death, but his previous existence, was forgotten in some
seconds less than five minutes ; whereas, had he onl3
taken the trout;
le to strangulate himself in Edin-
burgh or Dublin, he would have been talked
of for a week, and remembered for a fortnight.
Songs would have been sung, and sermons made,
about him ; public meetings would have been called to
petition Parliament against capital punishments. Scott
would have• become a household word, and his effigy
would have been seen in every shop hanging in mezzo-
tint° ; we would have had the Saut Scott quadrilles, and
the Sam Scott magic strop, and the Sam Scott cravats ;
in short, if Sam had any sense, he might have been not
Only notorious in himself; but the came of notoriety in
others. It is, therefore, sheer folly in inteud.7.ng sui-
cides to think of creating a sensation by performing their
antics in London. Ithadamanthus Wakley, sitting in,
judgment on half a score corpses a day, or thereabouts,
Cannot confer upon all an immortality : tumbling " from
the monument" even has lost its novelty, and is now
considered by the, town a very "slow" way of cutting
• one's self off. No suicide, therefore, who cannot strike
out a new line of bold, dashing, and original fel° de se
has the chance even of seeing his inquest headed " Sui-
cide Extraordinary." We therefore recommend all
daring spirits, ambitious of immortality by hanging or
otherwise, to take themselves off to the country, where
a sensation is worth any money, and where they will
have twelve columns of inquest in the county papers."
The " Picture of Danae." is a translation from
;
a German drama by Deinhordstein. We cannot
vouch for the accuracy of the
version, as we are
1 unacquainted with the origira;
play ; but the
blank verse is spirited and meloa,:ous, and some
of the imagery is far above emomon place.
" Royal Academy, &c.," is a notice pf some of
exhibi-
tion. The criticism. on the whole is just—so
the more prominent pictures in the late .exhibi-
far
at least as our recollection serves us—but it is
somewhat out of date. Instead of thinking of the
past, the public is now looking forward to the
next exhibition. " Biwa and the Bastille " is
an instructive historiette, enlivened with sketches
of character. The " POwler " is a poem -by
Delta. It is in his pleasantest manner. In the
article entitled " Sir Robert Peel's Position on
next Resuming Power," we have an elaborately-
drawn character of the Right Hon. Baronet,
which is not a little at variance with the account
given- of him in this very Magazine, immediately
after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation.
He was then a rat—an apostate. He is now a
firm, upright statesman ; the very one to whom,
of all others, may be most fitly entrusted the
destinies of the empire. " Good Bye to the
Whigs" is a smart, satirical farewell to the dis-
placed Ministry.

BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY.

Not the least interesting article in the Number
before us is a brief biographical sketch of the
late Theodore Hook, whose sudden and unex-
pected death has left a blank in the social circle
that will not easily be filled up. We had no
idea, till we read this memoir, that Hook pos-
sessed so much versatility of talent. We all
know that he was a passable dramatist, a clever
novelist, and a wit of very considerable powers;
but we here learn that he was also an excellent
musician, and a caricaturist of no ordinary preten-
sions. No wonder that, aided by these recom-
mendations, together with a handsome. person,
and mild, gentleman-like address, he was a
favourite with all classes. "He wrote," says
his biographer, " not fewer than eleven dramatic
compositions in three years ;" but they are all
long since forgotten, being the merest ephemera,
intended only for the passing hour. We are
assured that in his youth he was very good-
looking, but the portrait prefixed to this Me-
moir is by no means remarkable for comeliness
of feature ; the forehead indeed is broad and in-
tellectual, but the rest of the countenance is
rather ordinary than otherwise. We are glad
to learn that the poetical squibs an 4 " Rams-
bottom Letters," which he contributed from time
to time in the John Bull, are about to be
collected and republished, fdr they abound
in humour, and deserve—like the Anti-Jacobin
poetry—So be remembered beyond their day.
Richard Savage" keeps up with undiminished
spirit. The dialogues are neat and forcible, and
frequently evince dramatic point. " Merrie
England in the Olden Time" is a quaint, racy
melange of humour and antiquities. The bal-
lads interspersed throughout it are lightly and
easily versified. " Ode to Taglioni" is a very
se-so affair. It is thickly studded with italics, in
order, we presume, that the jokes may not escape
the notice of the reader. Without the help of
these italics, we must honestly confess we should
never have detected , the drollery of .the poem.
" Seven Years" is a tale' from the prolific pen of
the author of " Stephen Dugard, It contains
some vigorous bits of description.. In the " Old
Ledger" there is a humorous parody of the clas-
sic story of " Pyramus and Thisbe," which Ovid
has immortalized in his Metamorphoses. " Death
of the Red Man" is an episode from Mr. Coo-
per's forthcoming romance of " The Deerslayer."
It is graphically, and in places, pathetically,
written. - The " Smuggler's Leap" is another of
Ingoldsby's richly comic legends.. As usual, it has
some touches of the supernatural, for the author's
fancy is quite as remarkable as his powers of