The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-03 00:00:00

BENTLEY.

We are delighted to meet with our old friends Mr.
Ledbury and Jack Johnson in the present number.
" Mr. Ledbury revisits Paris and is ignominiously ex-
pelled from his Lodgings." We have not the actual
ignominious expulsion in the present number, although
the following escapade of the wine-warmed Ledbury at
the Cha.umiere seems very likely to lead to his expulsion
from the good city of Paris altogether. Mr. Ledbury
determines to play the jeu de Bague, a game in which
the player , seated on a wooden-horse in a roundabout,
tilts with a small spear at some small rings. On one
of these horses Mr. Ledbury mounts:—
" For the first few rounds Mr. Ledbury simply smiled at
the company, politely bowing to them every time he came
near them, like the little man at the evening party on the
top of the organ, and then he kissed his hand, and waved his
pocket-handkerchief, and finally, with the flourish of his
spear, began to play, imitating martial music on a cornet.
By some good luck or another, he carried off a ring or two,
at which the students and grisettes who were looking at him,
cheered. This was quite enough to drive him into any act
of wildness: and, after a few more turns which did not im-
prove his steadiness, coining on the champagne, he formed a
project of unequalled boldness. One of the garde was stand-
ing near the game, looking with folded arms and frowning
brow, upon the players. As Titus came near him, he seized
his helmet, and lifted it forcibly from his head, directly after-
wards putting it upon his own, to the intense astonishment of
the soldier.
" Any insult offered to the authorities is sure to be
hailed with acclamation by the frequenters of the ChaumiieT
and a roar of delight burst forth. At this Mr. Ledbury was
so excited, that by some marvellous exertions, he contrived
to stand up in his stirrups, and would have got upon the
horse itself, to have thrown himself into a tableau, had not
the enraged functionary stopped the machine, and pulled the
offender from his charger. The crowd pressed round, and
tried to hustle him away, by pushing the grisettes, all in a
heap against the guard; knowing that he would not attack
them. Jack had sprung from his perch like lightning, and
seeing their object, caught Ledbury by the collar, and
dragged him actually through a party of gendarmes, who
were coming to the scene of the row."
This paper is illustrated with great spirit by Leech ;
the other
.illustrations of the number are illustrative to
the continuation of Brian O'Linn (this tale increases
in interest as it proceeds, and promises to be the chef
d'ceuvre of Maxwell); and a beautiful little vignette of the
caves of Dahra, and which serves as a headpiece to an
article of Everard Clive, on military atrocities. Among
the papers of permanent interest, we have a translation,
by the Archbishop of Dublin, of a review of Dr. Nean-
der of the Memoirs of Dr. Arnold, which is full of
deep theological learning, and a paper by E. V. Rip-
pingille on poor Hayden, which should be studied by all
who are endeavouring to create a taste in this
country for works of high art. Of light and
amusing articles, we have an abundance. " The
Lioness," for instance, is a capital story, capitally
told ; and Paul Prendergast's "Last Days of a Bachelor,"
in the merriest manner imaginable, inculcates an ex-
'talent moral. 'llia Mrs. tvlathows, La her Tea Table.

talk, tells piquant anecdotes of the late Justice Parke,
and of Miss Mellon, and of Theodore Hooke, and an
anu.onymous contribution in "A First Evening in Na-
ples, and "La Festa di Santa Brigida"—(weimagine both
pai.ers proceed from the same pen)—gives us some
pleasant off-hand sketches of Neapolitan scenery and
Neapolitan society. For some time past we have ob-
served a marked improvement in this periodical, and the
present number more, than sustains the character of its
predecessors.

FRASER'S.
We are glad to perceive, from the commencement of
the "political" article of Fraser for the present month,
the more sensible of the protectionists—in fact the
great majority of the party—accept, like sensible per-
sons, the establishment of free trade as "un fait
accompli."
" There is no employment more profitle3s, in public as well
as in private life, that" to look back upon misfortunes that
are beyond remedy, and to complain of their occurrence.
Peel's Corn Bill, whether for good or for evil, has become the
law of the land. The great principle of free trade is estab •
lished as that on which the commercial policy of this country
must henceforth be conducted, and let its remote conse-
quences be what they may, there is no power in any quarter
to avert them. We have taken a step in politics which does
not admit of recall. Lovers of the Arcadian state of exist-
ence may mourn over this, hankerers aster feudalism com-
plain or threaten, and men of soberer jugdment than either
doubt the wisdom of measures which bid fair to convert
England, at no distant date, into a huge manufactory. But
the impulse having been fairly given, we may no more hope
to stay the progress of events than to arrest the speed of the
railway carriage, or the descent of the loosened rock into the
lake. We are in the beginning of changes, of which it would
puzzle the sharpest-sighted to foretell the end, and there is
positively no help for it.
"Entertaining these opinions, and heartily subscribing to
the doctrine that the brave never repent,' we purpose for
the future, as often as the projects of politicians make a de-
mand upon our attention, to look at them with a forward
rather than with a backward glance, forgetting, as far as we
are able, party feelings that have been engendered of old as-
sociations, and delivering our sentiments on men and things
more with reference to the effects which they seem calculated
to produce upon society hereafter, than in the idle purpose of
trying them by the test of bygone arrangements."
Of course, then, there will be some few impracticables
who will repudiate the doctrine of Fraser, but we be-
lieve that he speaks the sentiments of all, but the most
minute fraction of his party; and, believing that, we re-
joice at the determination here expressed, to look for the
future at political matters rather with a forward than a
back-n. 41,1 glance. The paper is entitled " Will the Whig
Government stand?" and the writer answers the ques-
tion in the negative. The fact, however, that the ex-
pectations of the writer have already been falsified
would seem to show that the writer has been somewhat
hasty in making his calculations. The writer of the
series of " Contemporary Orators," takes as his subjects.
Mr. C. Wood, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Hawse, Mr. Wyse,
and Mr. Ward. His sketches of Milner Gibson and Ward
are highly graphic. He does ample justice to the talents
of Mr. Hawes, who has always been, in our opinion, an
under-rated man ; and he passes a high, but most de-
served, eulogium on Mr. Wyse. With regard to Mr.
Charles Wood, the writer considers that he will turn out
the least efficient Member of the Administration, and
that he will prove a foil even to Mr. Goulburn. There
a another political article in this month's Fraser, de-
voted to the praise of the aristocracy, in which the
writer sets about gravely to argue that the aristocracy of
rank in England is also the arisctocracy of talent. Of
the manner in which the writer makes out his case, take
the following as a specimen :
"It was a review, in fact, of the late struggle against the
corn-laws that suggested this article; for it proved most in-
contestably that, with the exception of those two remarkable
men, Richard Cobden and Robert Peel, the overwhelming
superiority of talent lay, on either side of the question, with
members of the aristocratic body."
The writer should have carried his exceptions to a
much greater extent to make out his case, for unless
he includes among his exceptions such men as Sir James
Graham, Mr. Milner Gibson, and Mr. Disraeli, he will
not have a leg to stand upon; and once admit exceptions
to be made in this manner, there is no propo-
sition, however absurd, which may not be
demonstrated. The literary contents of this number
are excellent. We have an admirable philosophical
analysis of the life and writings of John Foster, the
essayist—a continuation of the series on the " Manners,
Traditions, and Superstitions of the Shetlanders "—a
Celtic story entitled, "Red Finlay of the Deer "—a plea-
sant gossiping paper about Hampton Court—a most
amusing jeu d'esprit, entitled, "Proposals for a continua-
tion of Ivanhoe," in a letter to Alexandre Dumas, by
Mon. Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and a variety of other
amusing articles.

TAIT'S.
Unusual merit characterises ithis magazine—a ma-
gazine, by the way, always meritorious in some degree or
other. The principal feature, perhaps, in this number
is, the amount of sterling information conveyed in a
most popular and agreeable manner. Elizabeth Thorn-
ton continues her excellent romance of "Truth and
Falsehood ;" and, if the succeeding chapters are only
equal to the elventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth,
her present fiction will unquestionably obtain a much
larger circulation than either the " Marchioness " or
"Lady Alice." This authoress succeeds best, we con-
ceive, in her delineation of the emotions of her fic-
titious characters in situations of excitement ; here her
writings are invested with a very charming, and some-
times a very touching delicacy ; in evidence of which
we would adduce the description of the scene between
Herman and Lady Felsenburg, when the former dis-
covers that Betta is his sister. " The Catholic Doctrine
of Music" is an admirable paper, and will afford gratifi-
cation to all truthful lovers of the " divine art." Some
of the reflections are remarkable for their sagacity. The
notice of " Mary, Queen of Scots," and the continuation
of the anal3.sis of Ulrici's recent criticism upon
the dramatic art of Shakspere, are both of
them elaborate compositions. It is a singular
fact that while a Frenchman was the first
to attract the attention of the learned to the supreme
genius of our wonderful countryman, the Germans have
displayed the most peculiar capacity for analysing his
productions. Indeed the commentaries of William Au-
gustus Schlegel may be regarded as the noblest tribute
ever paid to the glory of this divine teacher of humanity.
There is more subtlety in his elucidations, more ardour
in his panygerics, more appositeness in his illustrations,
more indications of capacity in his "Lectures," than in
all the commentaries upon the same poet that have ever
proceeded from the press of any nation—from Voltaire
to Ayscough, from Malone to Collier. We say this,
moreover, not in depreciation of the latter, but in all
justice and candour towards the renowned German. In
the disquisitions which he has produced upon the
dramatic genius of Sophocles, lEschylus, Aristophanes,
Calderon, Racine, Cervantes, Corneille, Moliere, and
especially of Shakspere, Schlegel has displayed a
noble affinity in his intellect for theirs; in crowning
others with, what we may be allowed to term, the
chaplet of eulogistic criticism, he has enduedhis own name
with a reflex of their glory. It is frivolous to imagine
that too many books can be written in exposition of such
works as those of him who wrote "not for an age, but for
all time." Every perusal of such works discloses some
hitherto unrecognised beauty ; every mind, especially if
remarkable for astuteness, appreciates some meaning
which would never have presented itself to another dif-
ferently constituted, and hence the interchange of
thoughts between such minds; and the collation of those
innumerable perusals cannot but tend to divulge more
excellencies than could otherwise superficially present
themselves. The advantage of commentaries on a by-
gone author is tantamount to the dissections made upon
a corpse. The veins and nerves, which are concealed
under the surface, are then displayed by the skilful
touches of the dissector's knife. The veins and ramifica-
tions of thought in literature are disclosed in a precisely,
analogous manner by the penetrant survey of the com-
mentator; with this advantage, however, that the dissec-
tions of the latter cannot mutilate or injure. For these
reasons, we are always prepared to welcome any fresh
illustrations upon the plays of Shakspere, provided they
possess the characteristic of novelty. If collected
together, the folios, and quartos, and essays and
pamphlets, directly or indirectly relating to Shakspere
would form a gigantic and splendid library : Ul-
rici has just added another volume to the
collection ; and still there is room for more.
A perfect edition, and a perfect biography of this
poet have yet to appear, and this despite the industry of
Mr. Payne Collier, the costly labours of Mr. Blondell,
and the enthusiasm of Mr. Charles Knight "An Even-
ing's Adventure at a Country Inn," is a comical conceit,
and the pourtraiture of the resurrectionist with a, nose
" much resembling the toe of a crab in formation ; the
colour rich, rare, burnished red," and with a complexion
which appeared " as if the outer skin had been peeled off,
and the under cuticle suddenly frozen, so red was it;—
not the redness of health, but an unearthly, dark, crim-
son hue, like a stain of blood on a towel," is ludicrous
though extravagant. We are greatly pleased to observe,
that while Tait acknowledges the real talent of M.
Michelet, the bigotry of his recent productions on the
People aed Jesuits, meets with a severe and deserved
castigation. As usual the literary notices in this Maga-
zine are copious and discriminating : the one on
poor Haydon's last performance " Lectures on Painting
and Design" will be perused with singular interest.
Among several choice pieces of verse, scattered between
the prose contributions, the translation of Freiligrath's
" Revenge of the Flowers" must be particularised for its
fantastic notion and its dainty imageries. The emerging
of the elfin phantoms from the petals of the different
blossoms is beautifully described :
"From the flower-bells, gently sweeping,
Come three spirits robed in air;
Shields they bear with light emblazoned,
Crowns amid their flowing hair.
Starts a tall and graceful maiden
From the rose's purple lap ;
Pearls upon her forehead glisten,
Waving curls her bosom wrap.
From the ' Iron-Casque' up-springeth,
Girt with sword, a valiant knight;
From his helm, a heron's feather
Pending, long and silver bright.
From the' Turkish turban,' stalking
Proudly comes a Moorish king;
With the half-moon's golden crescent
On his turban glistening."
In reviewing the " Politics of the Month," Tait evinces
its general impartiality, though we cannot but regard its
strictures upon the new Administration as rather super-
cilious and unflattering. Its indignant remonstrances at
the injustice of the Irish Church Establishment are
likely to impress the public mind forcibly, and to drive
the popular opinion in the right direction. They, there-
fore afford us very considerable pleasure. Time and
events will place Lord John Russell and his colleagues
in their true light. Till the policy of their government
be further developed by acts, we shall continue, like Tait,
expectant and sanguine.