The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-21 00:00:00

I tide in the Westminster Review. The splendid edi-
tion ”Peertly prtNished of " Lord N.l4on's
patches" is briefly reviewed; and there is also a very
pleasant essay upon " Animal Instincts" in a previous
portion of this Quarterly. By way of a supplemental
continuation of the Foreign Quarterly (No. LXXX.)—
amalgamated some time since with the Westminster—
we have a notice of the satirical romance of Iduna
Grafin, called " Diogena" (a sparkling pasquinade
upon the fictions of the Countess of Hahn Hahn) ;
another upon the " Ruckkehr" of Prince Puckler
Muskau ; another upon " La Russie et les:Russes,"
by N. Tourgueneff; and another upon the " Reise
Erinnerungen" of Theodore Mugge. Besides these
there area variety of " Miscellaneous Notices." From
the " Correspondence," which is appended to the
review of Foreign Literature, we find in a letter from
Rome allusions to the changes made of late in the
form of the Pontifical Government, by which
changes laymen as well as ecclesiastics are per
mitted to participate in the labours of
the Roman Legislature. "It required an
enlarged mind," says the writer," "and a generous
heart to conceive the idea, for which eternal praise
and gratitude to the immortal Pontiff." Unfortu-
nately the recent reorganization of the Roman
Cabinet has for the moment disappointed these
expectations : still—we shall see The arrival
of Lord Minto in the Eternal City is described as
having caused much enthusiasm; public dinners were
preparing for him in the Circolo Romano, and in the
Casino of Merchants. Some considerable time has
elapsed since the Dublin Review has been submitted
to our consideration, it is therefore with peculiar
pleasure that we welcome the new number, as bring-
ing to us the face of an old acquaintance, and as
reminding us of the sentiment of true Christian
brotherhood, which is every day being strengthened
between our Protestant England and our Roman
Catholic fellow-countrymen. The first article is, so
to speak, clever and appetising; it is a critical paper
of unusual merit upon " Spanish Novelists." As
affording a glimpse into a region of literature only
hinted at by a cursory allusion of Schlegel, it will be
singularly acceptable, and affords a fair notion of
the story-tellers of the Peninsula. " Vestiges of the
Catholic Faith in Scandinavia," is one of those odd
chapters which are interesting to us all, but will prove
singularly so to the Roman Catholic subscribers to
this quarterly. We can by no means whatever co-
iecide in the estimate formed of the historical abili-
ties of Mr. Prescott, the author of the " Reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella," and of the "Conquest of
Mexico." In a criticism upon his " Conquest of
Peru," the Dublin Reviewer says that the author has
no pretension " to depth or profundity, to manliness
or vigour, to accurate delineation of character, to
originality of thought, or classic elegance of idea, to
statesmanlike reflection, or philosophical observation."
Has the reviewer really read the " Reign of Ferdi-
nand and Isabella ?" We doubt it. If he had, and
read it, too, with dispassionate intelligence, he must
have recognised the manliness of style, the vigour of
description, the depth and profundity of its intended
moral, the classic elegance of its imageries (as where
the historian is speaking of the navigation to the Ba-
hamas), the statesmanlike reflections and philosophical
observations upon the policy of the great Queen, and
the frequent originality of thought which marks the
development and play of her ambition. As to the
accuracy with which Mr. Prescott can delineate a
character, witness his portraiture of Ximines, or of
Ferdinand himself! In a subsequent notice of Her-
man Melville's " Omoo," there is a capital diatribe
against the " cheap and nasty" system which is pre-
valent just now not only in groceries and steam-
boats, but even in books and newspapers. After a
very eulogistic mention of an historical manual by
one of the professors of Oscott, there is a bitter but
dashing response to " Mr. Brownson on Develop-
ments." These contributions are followed by an ac-
count of " The Russo-Greek and Oriental Churches,"
a paper of singular length and completeness; by a
chapter on the "History and Antiquities of Ireland ;"
and by a decidedly Roman Catholic comment on the
" Present Position of the High Church Theory." In
addition, there are several supplemental " Notices of
Books." As far as general talent is concerned, the
Dublin Review may rank with its contemporaries;
but it is exclusively, professedly, and intensely the
exponent of the opinions entertained by those reli-
gionists who are subservient to the Papacy.