The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-01 00:00:00

BENTLEY'S MISELLANY.

" Guy Fawkes,7 like Pope's wounded snake,
" drags its slow length along" this month in a
very wearisome manner. The dialogues are stiff
and cold as usual—for Mr. Ainsworth has no no-
tion of making his personages talk naturally—
and the incidents are in keeping with the dia-
logues. Nor is Cruikshank's illustration much
better. Guy Fawkes looks all legs, like a gi-
raffe, and the man who is presenting a pistol at
him, is as rigid and unbending in figure as if he
had been hewn out of a granite block. George
should never attempt either the heroic or the
melodramatic, but stick to the humorous, the
familiar, and the fantastic, where he has no
rival. "An Irish Love Adventure" is a whimsical
story well told, except as regards the denoue-
ment, which is lame and impotent. " Merrie
England in the Olden Time" trips on at a brisk,
ambling pace, and is interspersed with some
lively rhymed conceits, which enliven and vary
the article. " Hone Offleanm" is a series of
reminiscences connected with Offley's once cele-
brated—we say, once celebrated, for we be-
lieve its popularity is now on the wane—
supper-rooms near Covent-garden. The most
interesting portion of these reminiscences
is that which refers to the. late Captain Simon
Fairfield, who, it seems, was in his day a
great frequenter of Offley's, and was remarkable
for his musical and conversational powers—ac-
complishments always
...to be regretted, except
when they are under the control of a strong,
well-regulated mind; for in nine out of ten cases
they drive their popular possessor headlong to
the devil. It is astonishing how many men have
been utterly ruined by a fine voice, and a power
of sprightly repartee ! For steering safely
through the quicksands and breakers of life,
commend us to good-humoured common-place.
" Diary of a Dining-out Man" has one or two
smart, piquant paragraphs. The progress of
conversation at a large dinner party, from the
formal to the familiar, is described with, much
truth and happiness of expression. " A Classical
Ode, with a Free Translation," is a coarse, un-
meaning version of an exquisitely beautiful
Latin epigram by Dr. Jortin, of which the trans-
lator does not seem to have been aware, for he
has evidently mistaken it for the production of
one of the classical poets of old Rome. In addi-
tion to its pot-house vulgarity, the translation is
not a translation at all, but simply a loose para-
phrase. " Modern English Dramatists" is a
criticism on Sergeant Talfourd's tragedies. It
is penned in a temperate manner, and speaks
with becoming respect of a dramatist whose
works are models of their sort, strongly con-
ceived, chastely and forcibly expressed, and con-
sistently maintained throughout. Mr. Talfourd
is an7author who has studied deeply in the best
and most enduring school; he is impassioned
without being exaggerated, and even in his
tenderest scenes, never degenerates into maud-
lin sentimentality. His notions of the dignity of
his art, however, are somewhat too severe, ana
we think at times he might relax with advan-
tage. " Ho-Fi of the Yellow Girdle," is an
amusing story, embellished with a still more
amusing plate by Leech, a very promising illus-
trator of books. " Wanted—a Widow," is from
the pen of Mr. Whitehead. It is a tale ingeni-
ously conceived, and worked out with proportion-
ate dexterity. " Epistle to Fanny Elssler at
New York, from the Omnibus' in London," is a
lively piece of familiar verse, defaced, however,
=by one or two desperate Cockney rhymes. As it
is of a reasonable length, we quote it entire :-
1 " Sweet Fanny the 'Bus is half frantic

To find you so long in a fix;
By demurring to cross the Atantic,
You make us as cross as two sticks.
No more of this silly delaying
The Western is now under way ;
The Yankees grow wild with your staying,
And we with your staying away.
Each step seems as light as a feather
That Congress has taken of late ;
Since you and DAN WEBSTER together
Concocted the airy debate.
But grant us the slightest concession,
And our English Al. P.-rical fops
Shall bring in a bill by next session
For increasing the duty on hops.
Oh ! FANNY, just listen to reason,
And stick to LAPORTE for the future;
Or who 's to enchant us next season ?
Or who 'a to attempt the Caehucha?
Or whom at her benefit bobbing,
Shall our bouquets in thunder-showers cover,
Like the Ba es in the Wood, by Cock-Robin,
With leaves smothered over and over.
In the Bus, grown as dull as a hearse,
We sit, like a legion of mopers,
Applauding, for better, for worse,
Those terrible long legs of Corzait's 1
While we gaze at the steps of Miss Hughes, it's
To show us how wilful an elf ye ate,
You pretend to prefer Massachusetts,
And fill with your fame Philadelphia.
But beware, lest, when bent on returning,
The Bits should oppose its dread veto !
Certain traitors, our motley concern in,
Hold up their white kids for CEarro !
At present, the ladies and lords
Are as patient as sawyers at top e'er are ;
But p. este !—on board for our boards !
Or prepare to be hissed from the OPERA I

FBASERS' MAGAZINE.

The " Non-Intrusion" question is resumed in
this Number, but we cannot say that it is very
luminously treated, nor is there any force or
novelty in the arguments, which are merely
such as have been repeated a hundred times
within the last twelve months. The allusion to
Dr. Chalmers is the most readable part of the
paper, and it is perfectly true, that this able
but crotchetty Divine, whenever he sets hold of
a hobby invariably makes a point of riding it to
death. He is aptly enough described as " jog-
ging on at a ricketty trot, whipping up his worn-
out Rozinante, and fancying that wind-mills are
Church principles, arid the echoes of their thun-
der solid argument." " A Chapter about Faustus
and the Devil"—as may be surmised from its
title—enters into some particulars respecting the
famous old German printer, and the legend of
which he is the hero. There islittle interest in the
subject, for we are all familiarly acquainted with
it, thanks to Marlowe and Gcethe. In " Eminent
Soldiers of the Eighteenth Century" we have a
memoir of the Duke of Marlborough ; but it does
not evince any very accurate knowledge of the
times, for in the first place, the writer doubts
whether Anne's desertion of her father, James
the Second, was brought about by the insidious
influence of the Duchess, which is a fact esta-
blished beyond a question ; and secondly, he as-
serts of the Duke, that "his great qualities were
not of a nature to have led him successfully
through difficulties in a subordinate rank," which
argues but an imperfect acquaintance with his
character, which was subtle, wily, and dexterous,
as it was ambitious, and decided, when decision
was necessary. Marlborough was a man who
would have distinguished himself, no matter how
subordinate the situation from which he sprang.
He had all the qualities necessary to achieve re-
nown, had he even sprung from the lowest class
of peasantry. The Duke's military talents are
praised no more than is their due, but it is curious
to see a high Tory Journal endeavouring to prove
that the Whig Marlborough was a greater com-
mander than the Tory Wellington. The sub-
joined anecdotes may perhaps be new to some of
our readers :

We must conclude our present sketch with two anecdotes
relating both to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and
which we think highly characteristic of this singular and
highly-gifted couple. None of the Duchess's charms, when
they were at their proudest height, had been so fondly prized
by the poor Duke, her husband, as her splendid head of hair.
Therefore one day, upon his offending her, by some act of dis-
obedience to her " sovereign will," the bright thought oc-
curred, as she sat considering how she could plague him most,
hat it would be a hearty vexation to see his favourite tresses
cut off. Instantly the deed was done ; she cropped them short,
and laid them in an ante-chamber he must pass through to
enter her apartment ; but, to her cruel disappointment, he
passed, entered, and repassed, calm enough to provoke a saint,
neither angry nor sorrowful, seemingly quite unconscious both
cf his crime and his punishment. Conclud ng he must Faye
overlooked the hair, she ran to secure it. Lo ! it had va-
nished, and she remained in perplexity the rest of the day.
The next, as he continued silent, and her looking-glass spoke
the change—a rueful one—she began to think she had for once
done a foolish thing. Nothing more ever transpired upon the
subject until after the Duke's death, when she found her beau-
tiful ringlets carefully laid up in a cabinet, where he kept
whatever he held most precious. We deem this almost affect-
ing. What an adorable vixen she must have been 1 The
Duchess suruivedber illustrious husband not less than twenty-
two years, dying at the age of eighty-four, in 1744. The love
she had for the Duke may in no small degree be imagined
from the following anecdote :—Though in her sixty-second
year, she still possessed some attractions, insomuch that she
was sought in marriage by Lord Coningsby and the Duke of
Somerset. What her answer was to the former is, we be-
lieve, nowhere upon record. That to the Duke of Somerset is highly characteristic, and greatly to be admired I Marriage

is very unsuitable at n y ego but. were I only thirty, that"°ui
;-.,--;
hmeatipteirlicthevhenastibleeeetlin,raelrlormoyf
life,tlie world t o
devoted John 17uke‘ o •
tosueceeel in
f
INlaribmough." ut int°
Those who would desire to got an insight •
the character of this extraordinary lvoinan--
" Old Sal," as she was call /1 'll fi d much t°
called—will n ,s Ile-
answer their purpose in Horace Walpole ,I g
miniscences. " Macbeth, Satan, and Sylla,
an attempt—not very successful—to
parallel between these three characters. SPert )
ing of Milton's Satan, the writer tells us trh
cc there is nothing low, mean, base, or sel ire
about him." This is not correct. Satan is d :
voured by envy, which is one of the lowest en
most grovelling of the passions; and cuts a vertY:
instittite„,
sorry figure indeed, when represented as bul,
ing with hate and envious spleen, at sight of the
.5
beauty and happiness of Evc. We have alwo,,Y
thought this a defect in Milton's otherwise niatf` -t
less delineation of the fiend, flir it disturbs tilt
lofty notion, which he sought to impress" oa
ill ncset
of the magnificet but fallen archangel, ,'
face deep scarsn of thunder had entrenche
The cc Condemned Cells" is a Newgate anecdote,
related with simple energy. From the inernoirse
of that unprincipled courtier, Lord illelcoMb, we
.-
quote this ludicrous incident :
King George 111., as before observed, made WO *Lord's
after which exaltation he exhibited himself at the Queen,'
drawing-room at St. James's Palace. lie was most superb!! •
attired ; but, at the same time, so trussed in his court seloli
that he apreared all prompt to burst ; when, wheeling. rt,d
to perform his newly-studied, best lordly bow, the wela'r,., •
of his tights, which the tailor by order had rendered Vet.
naturally scanty, in bending forward, the whole fabrie Pi"
denly became ruptured, when, as the witnesses of his OD:
fusion worse founded," relate, he stood like the luckless plof
°
losopher who was inflated by swallowing too copious a (113'..,,e
laughing gas, and retired with his chapeau-bras as eiiii
before, and his hinder parts turned towards the throne, .
;„1,,, the
Majesty, whose memory was ever retentive a a .r....7' 4111
next time he saw my Lord Melcomb Regis after the unt°ll:i ,
accident, kindly advised the sufferer to bring his action for e
wages against h.s tailor. •

MONTHLY CHIiONICLE.
it care_
We are glad to meet with, in the
Word," a tale far superior to the general runeulf‘
Magazine fictions. It is told simply and
ite-
ingly, and turns upon a hasty,
mark let drop by a young girl, just before 1,1:
union with a jealous and sensitive youth/110
taking her random observation seriously, br°lce
thoughtless .
off the match, and, as a natural consequ4e,l!
breaks her heart, which, according to Saul 50,
is- the most difficult thing in the world India,
ladies' hearts being generally as tough as e
rubber. The tale may be considered as .anj
tration of Moore's well-known couplet,

" Alas, how slight a cause may Move „
Dissension between hearts that love. , ,n.thp
In the " Hungarian Daughter" we find 0,17500 •
notice of a recently published tragek°, 001
name, in which the author's defects are (6.1.4
pointed out, and his merits as diligently 11;iion
on. We hope the following sanguine prefut `ye
of the Reviewer may soon be realised, u_enti-
must acknowledge that we are somewhat s:;, that
cal on the point. "We feel," he saysc,„n the
there is a great dramatic era before us, wi"- as it
monopoly shall have been broken dowyProissid
must be soon. New poets will then crowubrigbt
new theatres, and the age of all the with
galaxy that filled the reign of Elizabeth in
,a
glory--of all but one—will be revived.olvi
younger life." There is unquestionably went to
taste for dramatic poems, as must be evlu,..but
those who watch the literary signs of the tinsees:4ol
as yet, there are but few indications of
faeraiwstlgoe:
of the stirring genius of the Elizabetban_aed
" National Education" is a shrewdly
essay. How just is this observation It is to
from the diffusion of knowledge that danger..be
be apprehended, but from the higher Orciej 1t
ing left behind in the race of improvenletiof
is not by supercilious looks or by an ail% pole
sumption that the deference of the v ulgar 5
too;
a-days to be attained. It is intellect and o.ctquaitis.
ment, the precious fruits of time and ePP°I; sae'
which fix upon individuals the stamp a col'
riority." " Fragments from Richter" are, tastie
lection of aphorisms in which sense and Jana Ore,
absurdity are strangely jumbled together• sole
pheus" is a poem by Mr. Horne. There arefar tee.
impressive thoughts in it, but there is also ogy,
much cant about the old Greek 111Y11,14boli
which we had hoped had expired with J° for
--hi
Keats. " Sketches of Spanish Generals here
hoe
the most entertaining series of papers thttipd
yet appeared in this periodical—arc deveLaere'
month to the famous Spanish Guerilla "fii,- vont'
Mina, whose character is fairly enotlP f
nt 0
trayed. We quote an animated acpoll-: ri; be
ambuscade into which he and his Folk% viere
trayed a large body of French soldiers, 1"
on their road from Madrid :
..„ji tor
" They halted at the entrance of the defile, as ", „urolif,
purpose of breathing the horses as to take a carere' P
the formidable ground on which they were about to entieded th
ter a short delay in this spot, the officer who comp': poll
,esovrt, discovering no apparent cause for alarm, en" Ate be ott
,nothing of the movements of Mina, who was 'suPPuse.olll
that moment in the nt iglibcurhood of Los Areos, (LI;
Ebro, gave orders that. the culumn should move i"'losl.ton-
lently, steadily, and cautiously. 'I hey advanced clel,„itearAl-
gorge ; yet not a s'gn nor a sound betra3ed the pre;rtata.vpi„
hidden foe. Not until they had penetrated into that ft
itere
four men could scarcely walk abretst, and whera the/A sileurio
most concealed from each other's sight, was that tend
broken. When the last man of the rear-guard had t
mouth of that abyss, then indeed did the echoes of tilistlel7,
fain solitude leap into life. But one short shrill I",__„it
heard, when a discharge of more than 3,0.00 nnoketsg
D the 6icta
hi:ls as if with an earthquake, and suddenly flunaverin ; fe°,l
the darkness of midnight. Again,--and again—nds/31 vait
every fissure of the rock, from every crevice, death lotsr ey'd
amongst the bewildered French, who knew not,
the enemy that destroyed them. The veterans Of t"ed Ito
Italy were astounded ; and the hearts of those Wit° "" -A"
death in a thousand shapes now failed them for a .ce "
r0P"..4
were armed—but what could arms do against lin; :„7-4
Three hundred men lay dead after the first disewlrritel7tte
nearly double that number, mortally wounded, Wereof
in anguish, like crushed serpents, beneath the mas'es.bialt,
which, hurled from their frail resting-places, came e#l-0017,,
thundering into that valley of death. Waggons en,t 0110
'
of all descriptions were shivered to atoms, or Drigiere,43l tl.
tangled amongst the rocks and brushwood. The 11-their,ail
musketry—the screams of the women as they hehe,,--f feeble
dren slaughtered in their arms—the low moan' g •
rV.- 00
age—the frantic cries of equally h••Iple s youth—t - of
of the wounded, the ,iek, and the dying—the sheteltliersooe
tent rage, and the load execrations uttered by yid 4
Napoleon, who wrre thus massacred by a foe thef cube tlaa'—sh
—the darkness of the gorge itself, relieved only DY !de of 'I I
of the muskets, from which streamed the ceaseless tideooll7o,
—all flung over this spot the terrors of hell. The the 89111
character of the scene was deepened still more wheneffectato,
rilleros, seeing that the work of carnage was thus -defile', of
begun, leaped forth from their hiding-places into thet, toy Ott
tering those yells which vengeance throws forth moldl bar d,
maddest intoxication. They continued with the u„get ;
that which had been so well commenced with the "„'"ritotter to
in their blind fury, did not even spare the unhaPPl reeetul
their own countrymen—who, confounded with t'Pe
this terrible melee, called in vain for mercy !"
TA ITS' MAGAZINE. tasj01111„,1
In his leading article—to speak "fluicilie
—on the " Present State of Parties," prone; at 't it
friend Tait delivers it as his conviction T4ertesf
Administration is verging to its fall." coil) e't•
is not in the most flourishing condition t)'rity
but as things now are, even its poor nitliworl'illa
five, may be considered as a tolerablew
co s majority.npr e 1
them have seTgidovl_iiebei
gone
cttlttitahiloyee.
sseaotia.feocblt,poiecarrsolsvtulolgieibl.iirrnrn ;at
orlidt
owe
siiet
ever,
ajoritl,,
used to delight the hearts of 3113iiinli3srtlerc5Onl".jeet
writer's observations on the political.-
of Sir Robert Peel are founded iniustloo.'
agree with bins that " all the Right 0, e get!:
russet's delays have for their object .1,1.2 #6.
rid of the assistance of the Orange raesiev.esiesio
faction are a perfect drag-chain on his iii
.they toe be
They will not advance themselves, that of
slot let him advance ; what. wosader th,,e--raeinregile
should be anxiously- lookisigabout for tii.eps ? "+he
extricating himself from their clutc"-oen
time, we apprehend, is not far distant ;.s
Right Hon. Baronet will fling off 11• red
shackles, and start up, an unenculn'-bsi 70f
former. This is the only alternative 11.heioelr.ai
him, and if he do not hasten to avail .rn-fiaeehtill
it, he will be extinguished as an,
statesman, as surely as to-morrow:s
su anon .g
rise. " Violet Hamilton," is the contill t't
a story commenced several montl4.ls, troy
gidllolo
Magazine. There is one piquant p-akt P°.-Aft•
of the provincial manager of a gr.-- tbe ot
Joint Stock Company. 4,A "Visit t;ire cantor
mastery of La Trappe," is passable.'
"Jeretib.
give it higher praise. " Memoirs ._es of P
plaYe
stage of fetid Illieentilam'
have long since passed from .the
characters,are rwephloe,teiwlailthingreminiseentcheir
aHere c
contemporary
tee
ms sketch of 3, o Lord
Burke, S 1 elb urne, . pea
and•
of his political career:— Tell me d do
Lord Shelburne used frequently to say, woul ott#
right and proper—tell me what a man of vinlipKor,ell,ore
this matter.' I I told him that Balak, the son of the
_O4l
66 Thatwhit the sn'i
Balsam to prophesy, who answexed, ea
puts into my mouth will I prophesy and thetfwci screPeutii.
1 made. Be caught hold of the most iluPel: eta entre fed
idea, and filled it up in his own mind—somettin_ripef, of
sometimes erroneously. His manner was very. IP: Hot _
dignified, and he talked his vague generalities in at
tra`ofteet;e4tei
Lords in a very emphatic way, as if something• wt be
the bottom, in the eat
at
its
when, in fact, there was nothing aotaii.o,__a
boot
me what he could do for me—l told hie], 0;. thDee about
fow d this so different to the universal spir.it.
of to, aci.ed itt
him, as to endear me to him. - He was afraid
as occur!, be
was not much intimate communication. .Intler,
writing and reading between breakfast and `" ARO. P;
took walks with the eldest Miss Vernon (nper„ere then ,f to
Smith). I seldom saw him except at dinner,:te"took ray dap f
mostly company. Supper I never took, but ru
to hilt' hymt~
my room. I was of more-importance, hoss'eve .s.rest
jo,
wed by 1% • t-
could bring myself to believe. I was co ad
liation. —I felt like an ;outcast in the worlit...4icesectileti
afenwe e
T tolerablehat pa! omp lueo,
sohnoeuai
dt aht Ina
boree ,bu
uno t
g 1 etine,...stdp !tll
ee b.
cu tonr a:
" abroad," was a sufficient recommendation. NIL opt
had a wildness about him, and conceived grou, 00. wit.%,
about nothing at all. I remember going_ tf ratanslaTari
of his servants, and being accosted! by. -9!",„dit,...,0,7'
spoke to out of pure civility; and, °ix' meats°2ls7•

I vow.
in that
Duke of

-lit into
onalk"
ouch to
e,s.
lia," is
itute a
Speak"
us that
selfish
is de-
,est and
a verY
s burst'
it of the
always
triat6
rbs that
sous'
cc WllOE.°
tidied."
ACCdote,
nemoirs
)lb, we

a Lord,
al
Queen
st superb. 1
court suitci
ling round
ai
ban
cd Tre"r-
abrio tod-
coo-
his
icklese pbovf
s a do'' a screen
as pis
roneito the
jos.e, d
e uno?
0'
Lion for

Careles
al ran n,
Lnd feel-
tless
fare her
Ali,
breaks
nee,
eqtle"
n' SliSkof
Ed to
US Indiu-
all illus'

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