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

ERASERS' 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 gets 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, and 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 lea. him successfully
through difficulties in a subordinate rank," which
argues but an imperfect acquaintance with his
character,which was as 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
suboidinate 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
~f his crime and his punishment. Concluding he must have
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! The
Duchess suruivednher 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 adrAired;,:..." Marriage