The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-01 00:00:00

MAGAZINE DAY.
/
BLACKWOOD. . 'When lovers quarrel, and a vii-lent separation
asues they for a time vow with inflexible firmness
Fat no event whatever—no contrition shall produce
rgiveness,--and they shall remain enemies for lite.
tut in their cool moments, when the fit of passion
egins to abate, when the sympathies which bound
lem together recover their wonted force from ab-
Ince, and above all, when a rival is seen approaching
to threshold of either, then all the former tenderness
bturns with redoubled force—inestimable qualities,
!hich for the moment were slighted, appear in meg-
ified yroportions, and excite the bitterest reflections.
oit is with political love, if we are to judge from
le sympathies of old North. For many a dreary
tenth he has hardly ventured to mention the name
f Peel; he has been afraid to speak, lest his anger
ad passion should get the better of his reason, and
then he did speak he mourned over the backsliding
r friends, and foresaw nothing but ruin, desolation,
ad misery, to his country. No sooner, however, is
,ord John Russell summoned from Aul i Reikie to
le Isle of Wight, and the "strong Ministry" is
eeome weak as a broken reed, than enmities are
gotten, the recollection of old friendships re-
am with overpowering effect, and the in-
Citable set vices of Peel are extolled to the
tries. When he was in office, he did everything
tat was great and good, and Providence blessed his
tbours. During his administration, " agriculture
is flourished and agricultural improvements advanced
an unprecedented degree. Commerce has plumed
IT wings anew, and added other regions to her
amain. Public credit has been supported and ad-
Weed, and the revenue raised from an alarming and
'creasing depression. Peace has been universally
aintained abroad,
in
and agitation rendered powerless
el contemptible at home." There is no bound
wart to the panegyrics on the modern Judas, for all
We confessed in their hearts, whatever they may
the said, that however they may have been offended
ith minor blemishes " the great purposes of gove
d.srn.
int have been achieved by the Ministry now •
ived, and they will frankly acknowledge with our-
Ives that we shall not soon look upon its like
lin." Now all this appears as contemptible and
fleeting as the puny quarrels of lovers. A man
ho puts himself forward as a political writer should
I able to weigh contending interests, see the
ffieulties that surround every Minister, make
kwances for the adoption of measures which
/ssiblY through ignorance he cannot account
12. and strengthen, not weaken, the arm in
'lOl only he can trust for safety. But these
goted Tories cannot act so. They will have
'erything their own way, and when thwarted, they
eeon?e more virulent against their friends than their
We are glad to find, however, that they
'nor oft fright,
and begin to see the
their
nought them ways. Peel, by deserting them, has
t 0
their senses, and they are now
tilling to behave better for the future. Blackwood
as led the way, and looks forward with calm com-
esure to an event which but e denounced a few years ago
as little less than sacrilege. He is
repared to let the corn-laws die a natural death,
troivsidised only they are not killed outright at once.
_n an Important conversion, and we therefore
? is
him on the returning good sense dis-
layed in the following extract :
" We should, at the same time, act with a want of
,Inwdour and frankness towards our agricultural friends,
e did not direct their attention to another aspect of
c.ase. If it be true, contrary to our own hopes and
:evictions, that repeal is inevitable, every thing d!-
S son the time and manner of effecting it. There is
estimable value attending every year of continued
roitn t
,ection that can yet be gained. Even a compart-
VmelY Short period might be of infinite importance in
,
Pleting those great improveratnts now in progress,
inch will raise the available fertility of so large a por-
on of our soil, but which must instantly stop, if pro..
letion be suddenly withdrawn. It is not in our power
see far into futurity, but every delay is precious, as
4bliog us better to meet the demands of public neces-
tY, and to stand a competitien with foreign soils,
that competition must ultimately be entered upon
ithout legislative aid."
The other articles in this number are generally
'ell written. Among ethers, we may mention a
itorical sketch of Sir Wiliam Follett, though now
ither out of date. The Greek and Romantic
/11111 a ;" "A Campaign in Texas," and "Military
°stunie." In the latter we like the English tone
at prevails throughout, and especially the denun-
Ittion against the introduction of German and other
Feign frivolities into the British army. The Albert
ti is thus graphically described, and doomed to de-
tuction _ _

since the day when men first armed their
s fur the fight, has there been seen such a paltry,
tIY, useless, bastard kind of a thing as the last cap
trued cut for the British army. With its poke before
Id behind, its conical top and low elevation, it is a de
raded cross between a Germa.T.o Tyrolese cap and a
bLieeman's hat—a bad mixture of both. May it be
alt back to Germany, where the idea came from, and
!_ll3' it be stuffed into a barrel of sour trout, not to come
at till it is thoroughly rotted."

FRASER.
There is much information, with not a little amuse-
!lent ttoo, in the article on "Public patronage of Men of
.4etters." The author has evidently studied the his-
try of the race well, and furnishes many particulars
4 the principal writers from Chaucer to Byron,
Ind Scott and Southey, new to many readers, ar-
anged, with much skill, and some of them not a little
I,lBgraceful to the Government and the age in which
'bey lived. When in these days we find pensions
wanted to literary men and literary women of very
ordinary abilities, some of whom too are neither in
pant nor have much claim on the civil list, and look
Sack to the past, and find that not a few of extraordi-
ZrtYf merit, not only for the beauty of their writings,
lor the services they rendered their country, were
klo,vyed to pine in want, the contrast is distressing,
In. lowers in public estimation the sovereign and the
talts.nister who could suffer such neglect. Some of
Lue.l.Tl absolutely died of want, others were compelled
roelive in exile, and when rewards came, they came too
ate,, or were of such a contemptible character that the
r Y act of conferring the paltry favour only showed the
tmean and ungrateful spirit of the distributor of patron-
ge• Goldsmith, for his very existence, was compelled to
come a mere literary hack ; Smollett was allowed
j'eiled. his *lays in exile, pinched in his means and
bled
Nvritin fin his body, fr-sim the incessant labour of
old gor bread ; Burns was employed to " guage
emfirkins, and support a wife and family on the poor
oluments of an Exciseman's office." This reflects
u :Pal disgrace on Pitt, for he was aware of the fact.
Addington,,, says the writer, " reminded that
Vat statesman of the poet's genius, and the poor
-,„t,ll4ti°n it was his lot to fill. Mr. Pitt promised to
something for him, pushed the bottle on, and re-
'-'erubered his promise—if he remembered it at all—
hen
,the fine-hearted poet of genuine nature was no
131:111°'e This was consistent with Pitt's character.
a,-,-rris was an ardent lover of liberty—many of his
a;nig breathe the principles which the heaven-born
mister" once professed, but when he found it c!m-
dt
°ln...lent.. to disown- them, he delighted in hunting
wni all those who remained
.faithful to the creed.
ut what is to be said of Dibtim? Never did
years
writer render such services to his country or _
he he was unrewarded, and got something at last when
1-I,a'as old and unable to enjoy it. Even George
who wished to tread in the footsteps of Au-
tlistas, offered something to Sheridan on his death-
ids and to " poor old O'Keefe," as his Majesty called
death-
•}
when he was ninety years of age. The letter
the
the King wrote to Sir William Knighton on
I,`"e subject, is so characteristic of the man, and shows
"ow concisely and elegantly a King could write, that
We give it entire. It was written in 1826 :
"Dear Friend.—A little charitable impulse induces
me to desire you to, inquire into the distressed circum-
',stances of poor old O'Keefe, now ninety years of age
and stone-blind, whom I knew a little of formerly,
having occasionally met him at parties of my juvenile
recreation and hilarity, to which he then contributed not
a little. Should you really find him so low in the world,
and so divested of all comfort as he is represented to be,
then I do conceive that there can be no objection to your
offering him from me such immediate relief, or such a
as willaraanbyle him to close his
moderate annual stipend,
rate, free from
hitherto long life in comfort,
want and absolute beggary, which I greatly fear, at pre-
sent, is but too truly his actual condition and situation.
Perhaps, on many accounts and reasons, which I am
pure I need not mention to you, this had best be ffec-
tuated by an immediate application, throughhyou
to our
lively little friend, G. Colman, whose good heart will, I
am certain, lead him to give us all the assistance he can
especially as it is for the preservation of one of hi'
oldest invAded brothers and worshippers oftGlie
Plan Muse.
R.
Fraser hag a long article on what he calls "Mys-
teries of the Cobinet," but he throws no new light on
the mysteries, ond also leaves his own opinions very
doubtful, if we exnept one part of it, when he calls
4. Pon the agricultur.ssts to raise their standard, and
inscribe on it "no surrender." Mr. Macaulay
figures among " Contemporary Orators," and obtains
justice ; his character, as a speaker and writer, is
fairly drawn, and creditable to the impartiality of the
writer. The The number altogether contains a fair pro-
ftrie of good articles, but we regret to find our
nd Morgan Rattler still wasting his time and his
alents on railways, in place of devoting them to those
t
lassical disquisitions and illustrations for which he is
justly celebrated.

-Maxwell o BENTLEY.
pens the pr number of entl with
a continuation of " Brianesent O'Linn,"b and in B
theseey chap-
ters the hero relates the adventures of his 633 hood. Of
his birth and parentage he knows nothing, as he is a
toundling, who - was committed when only an infant
six tnonths old for the care of a priest, residing on a
rocky island on tke west-coast of Ireland. The priest
had been sent for to a lugger in the offing, to confess a
Penitent in artieulonzo.rtis. He arrrives just as the peni-
ilt) a lady Apparently of rank, is dying, receives from