The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-13 00:00:00

4 „,
JAN UAR 4 13, 1848.

MAGAZINES, &c.—(CONTINUED).

THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.
We had occasion to notice in laudatory terms the
. able manner in which this excellent periodical con-
cluded the past year. It commences the new one
With equal ability, and the present number affords a
favourable augury of what its readers may hope for in
the forthcoming volume. The first article is a review
of a work well worthy of so high a compliment—
" Madden's Revelations of Ireland." The reviewer
enters con amore into the feelings of the talented
author, and several spirited extracts are given from
the volume. "The Irish Bar" necessarily come in
for an abundant share of notice—who, indeed, could
attempt to depict the manners, the incidents of the
sister kingdom in the beginning of the present cen-
tury, and overlook the many remarkable persons
belonging to that distinguished body—a body still
deserving of the high consideration which was so
universally accorded to it in bygone days. " Keller,"
" Grady" (author of " The Nosegay"), "Pleasant
Ned Lysaght," "Unfortunate Norcott," " Peter
Burrowee," and Frank M.`Carthy, whose ready
wit and convivial powers rendered him so
much sought for, and afforded so high a pro-
mise of future distinction, a promise which was not
realised owing to his untimely and lamented death,
are the parties referred to in the present paper; and
the very names will be sufficient to indicate how
great a treat is served up to the reader. _We had
almost omitted the greatest name 'of all, " O'Connell,"
but we• regret to say that full justice is not done to
the " Irish Liberator." Neither is the Church for-
gotten. Dean Kirwan, the celebrated pulpit orator
of the Established Church, and his surviving relative,
Drii4Ew,an,...thss.Ronzan--Catkolier.,Pitelkitinv *Mal
Galway College, 'are both introduced to the reader.
We cannot refrain from transcribing a short anecdote
of the now extinct Popery laws :—" The Macmahon
estates in the county of Clare, now held by Mr.
Coppinger, of Barry's Court, were once in great
jeopardy—as the Macmahons had reason to fear a
discoverer. A very spirited, though ancient, spinster,
a Miss Macmehon, resolved to extricate her family
by becoming a Protestant. Before doing so, she
consulted a friar upon the propriety of her inten-
tions. He very frankly told her, that if, for the sake
of lucre, she changed her creed, she would
peril her soul. " Here goes then,' she cried,
`better at any time that the soul of an
old maid should go to the devil, than the property of
the Macmahons of Clare should go to the Protestants.'
She conformed, and saved the property." And these
were the good old times, and such were the restric-
tions imposed on the liberty of conscience, the
penalties to which those who worshipped their Creator
in the manner which they conceived most fitting were,
subjected, when the Atheist was tolerated, but the
Reinari-eatholic persecuted with the most stringent
enactments. " Gunhild, or the Phantom Ship," a
very beautiful translation from the Danish,'by Ed ward
Kenealy, follows. Indeed the number is unusually
rich in poetical contributions, for we have, in addition
to that to which we have just alluded, the •fourth
number of " Lays of Many Lands," in which Man-
gan maintains his well-established reputation ; and
" The Voyage of St. Brendan," in which one of the
legends of that saint is narrated in a very agreeable
manner. " The Fatal :Bride," a second contribution
from the reminiscences of a Bachelor, although it
merely relates to natural events, and has not
the wild and supernatural interest which the
former paper • possessed, is` a touching narrative
of earthly passion, and 'of the fatal results that
.too often.attend a departure from principle. ." The
Apothecary's Wife," the first part of a Russian story,
by Count Sallagur, is also veryi pleasingly written,
and-well worthy of perusal.. " New Books on Rome"
conducts us to the Eternal City, under the auspices
of- a Protestant clergynian and a Benedictine 'monk,
and the lights and shadows of Roman life, as depicted
by the, Rev. Mr. Vicary and Don Jeremy Savano-
zala, our own highly-prized and well-beloved Father
Prout. There is a good dissertation on the seventh
and concluding volume of Southey's last work, "The
Doctor." On opening the 67th Number of " Our
Portrait Gallery," we are startled by a speaking
likeness of the independent, the honest, the talented,
and the unpurchaseable Robert Holmes. No one
who had ever seen that intellectual countenance
could for a moment be mistaken, although
the fao-simile of his autograph had not been at-
tache(' to the plate ; and we are bound to say that as fair
and iMpartial *Memoir-of the distinguished subject is
attached, notwithstanding the wide line of demarca-
tion that exists between the political principles advo-
cated in the pages of the Dublin University Magazine
and those which have been so consistently maintained
r for the greater portion of a century by that learned
gentleman. His features are not more accurately
depicted in the engraving than are his mental qualities
the letter-press accompaniment. There is no Irish-
, man, of any class or creed, whether he is so fortunate
as to have the honour of Mr. Holmes's acquaintance
or has merely heard or read of some of the incidents
of his honoured and eventful career, who will not
heartily join in the aspiration of the writer, and de-
sire " that there may be repeated opportunities of
drinking to the health of Father Holmes of the
North-East Bar." The political article, which con-
cludes the number, touches on many topics of deep
and stirring interest in the present critical posi-
tion of Ireland. A paper relating to such ques-
t tions as the tenant-right, repeal, the poor-
laws, and the dangers and duties of the '
Conservative party, and landed interest in Ireland, from
so influential a quarter must excite considerable
attention. Although we do not agree with the writer
in many of his conclusions, we cannot deny him the
credit to which he is entitled for the zeal and ability
with which he has put forward his views on these
momentous questions. We heartily wish our Con-
temporary a long continuance of that success which
the energy and talent with which it is conducted so
richly deserves.

is also a variety of valuable information respecting
the suspended houses and mercantile affairs gene-
rally, and a good article on the law and practice of
foreign attachment in the city of London. The
" Supplement" contains an accurate and copious re-
port of the recent debate on the Bank Charter Act,
and the discussion on the appointment of the Corn-
mittee to inquire into the causes of the recent com-
mercial distress.

THE PATRICIAN.
Under the title of " The Fiends of Poetry" we
have a critical disquisition on Milton's Satan,
Shakspere's lago, Goethe's Mephistopheles, and
Lord Byron's Lucifer; the writer is of opinion that
lago comes nearer to the beau ideal a perfect fiend
than either Satan, Mephistopheles, or Lucifer.
" lago," he says, " has all the qualifications of a
demon; he is deep, daring, sarcastic, malignant, and
unmerciful—not alone his acts but his every thought
is wicked ; he has no human feeling beyond hate and
malice." " The trial of Philip Stansfield, at Edin-
burgh, in February, 168 S, for Paricide," is a curious
illustration of the dark crimes and darker superstitions
of the period. The fact that the body of the supposed
muidred man, Sir James Stansfield, bled when
touched by the prisoner, was not only given in evi
dence on the part of the prosecution, but was insisted
on as affording incontrovertible proof of his guilt.
Under the head of " Fragments of Family History"
we have an amusing account of the career of the
celebrated fighting Fitzgerald, and under that of
" The Lands of England,' we have some interesting
legends of Whitby Abbey—Dugueselin and Spinola,
are the romantic heroes of history of this one of the
most readable numbers that has yet appeared-of the
Patrician. •

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