The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-11 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
P4IPY'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. VoL. VII.
the London, 1834.
the chaPters relating to the struggles between Charles
Pirst and his Parliament, and the Protectorate of
uhver
Cromwell, have always been considered the most
ihtual and unsatisfactory in Hume's History of England.
'lll turt
eBe chapters are contained in the volume before us, and
fin
four gto them, a second time, after the lapse of some
Ili, °I. five years, we find no cause to change the opi-
de; we originally formed of them. Still it cannot be
perigted • that as models of composition they are all but
Qie ect Hume was a cold, phlegmatic metaphysician, but
,11 ht,°rY of Charles's sufferings took an extraordinary hold
he,2B sYmpathies, and supplied him with all that he
hi;jeci-ssensibility. Few people who have read his history
porte,titertain a vivid recollection of this subtle and dangerous
411°11 of it ; wherefore we cannot but rejoice that
vie;itwi,ll, in his late admirable history of the Common-
mr has been induced to do his best to right the balance
It4lties, and see fair play between Cavaliers and
"'UteadS
Hi Is!
attract4l.s republication of Hume, in its present cheap and
tad a 7e form, Mr. Valpy has acted with his usual tact
kapv-;agaeitY• It is a history that, notwithstanding its
of rose seeuracies, and the singular negligence in matters
14y1.61 Which it betrays in its earlier portions, will al-
of its ne a favourite with the public, if only for the charms
style, $ easy, unadorned, and beautifully idiomatic
RI:. 13" the present is not merely a republication of
iott:cie ; it is of a far more comprehensive character, being
tikess_seg to continue English history down to the present
gentle a difficult task, but which has been assigned to a
'key .nnlan capable of doingit every justice—we mean the
r,
nu,hes.

THE STANDARD NOVELS.

tlirt AX ainAnzAN L, BY W. BECKFORD, ESQ• I
4'4.8 OF orRANTO TA
, BYE THE EARL OF ORFORD ; AA vp
'l/419 ;" BRAVO OF VENICE, BY H. G. LEWIS, ESQ.
e 41st Number of the Standard Novels. R. BENTLEY.
1114 • London, 1834.
to the 11; °lle of the most delightful volumes -er presented
Vet; "'era fiction. Neither " Vathek" nor The Bravo of
onoeh has ever before appeared in a cheap form, and the
oat combined in one volume with the Earl ofO rfofortdh'yes
kith:B nntance, enriched by an exquisite portrait
h Elba a ltford,memoir from the pen of Lord Dover.- Mr.
114 e ids a Vathek" is illustratedby two copper plates. We
thisati arrived at the age of cheap literature, when all
cat he .
The . "ended for six shillings !
dated Appearance, in its present form, of" Vathek" has in-
tettilt again to read that very remarkable work, and the
our been, that the impressions derived from the tale
aftta 11
.ns43'°llth are more than confirmed. This does not
of 13.1)eu, and can only be brought about by the hand
bettni• It is not that in our present perusal we haveo.
ikide:tre 'charmed than before with the chain ofasruerptrisasteinr,d
1,41141 8 teening through the story, but we h
more t,,,nre Perfect relish the subtle flavour of the wit have
teea 14)- Perceived the significance of the allusions:have
nitutZahled to view, as with an enlarged visio.n, the
ng grandeur and luxury of the descriptions
"cvel
-..‘0401 ...ore at large in the poetical beauty of the
ttiLts and the felicity of the language, and, what
e is
tOtithir, as necessary in reading a story where "more
the
4ot meets the ear," have unequivocally seen,
spite
q the tAbe writer, and, therefore, do not hesitate,
which he
Review,
be the fever,, •to say, that his purposel.nisone
ewe ,st moralist must approve.. He is, it must
teinPt •ssclx betrayed into an occasional licence by the
ahoas " •h' h ill not be sup-
-4aq; but
ex an ever-ready wit w lc w
(111%le b ' his design is lofty and good. That the " Faust"
tp-e' and the mystical and allegorical romances of La
r
vit“;,kicia6, should be praised by saintly persons
Chop. he tendency, is proper enough ; but how such
:feree:°44l fail to detect the same intention in the st.ory
aPPears unaccountable. Vathek, from his birth
;444eht alevre°,lnisiltearY, and, like Faustus, a cultivator of for-
_ tempted by
.supernatural agents,. falls into
41(4.014.'4' elthe evil one, and, having committed all sorts of
IlitY °II earth, is condemned "to wander in an eter-
haiing anguish." This is an awful picture of the
l'cre he— awaiting sinful indulgence.
%lei) ha at'e alluded to the fictions of La Motte Fouque,
btt ve been so celebrated over Europe ; and we have
the
Nip;:t"elk that they would never have been written had
her not studied and copied " Vathek." This is not so
ttliertenait at first on account of the dazzling wit which every ganeinates the pages of the Englishman, and which
lin.e,rP,ae was utterly unable to imitate ; but in them.
.41:4 half allegorical parts, in the eccentric
in excursions
1/4)1(1iu imagination, in the lavish fancy, the
Neeiiearnations of abstract things, and in giving an
48
if tll.Bignificance to every adjunct, however mean,
feet world, animate and inanimate, had conspired to
°Pillion "le grand object, La Motte Fouque has, in our
Nirap e' taken his cue from Mr. Beckford . Look, for
at tb at part of " Sintram and his companions"
;.escrihes the journey of the knight through the
ae"colla~heY 0t- V" 11l and terrors, and then at the magnificent.
their °L the nocturnal procession of Vathek and his train
Nash,: IvaY towards Istakhar. In both cases the gaunt,
:ern et,"its, the wild beasts, the birds, and the reptiles,if
04Y 10ik-aVe a character over and above their own, as
caps the conscious agents of some fearful. power.d
*etrihi Zees of the imagination can be more striking an
4atho e,f4a4 thiS ; but the merit of the idea rests with the
ktii;;* Vathek," whose book appeared before Fouque
this The conclusion of Mr. Beckford's romance,s
Lita, or- awful vision of the Hall of Eblis, is the most oh
1,014 411 b the creations of fiction.
ttefixe? °ver's memoir of the " Life of Horace Walpole,"le
.4.1 t 4. to the Castle of Otranto," in the present vo um ,
Neee ttY
interesting, instructive, and, no doubt, authentic,d
44(4 blograw
Y• We have no room for extract, an
attl ;in(' eP our brief notice of this number of the Sta”nd.-
kk Novels hY stating, that " The Bravo of Venice
No-e- uY a Life of the Author, and by some critical
as of the tale
2%(-Jr
;-.RR IN WALES. Br TmomAs MEDWIN,
tllB4 the-Q. 2 Vas. Bvo. BENTLEY, 1834.
itee WithaPhic powers of Captain Medw. in at all kept
411 aderit • Ina experience of life, he had obtained at least a
re..3llllrriert_Mity,—that is to say, his work would have
t'ltupy' kid admired through a moderate segment of a
Lltit'rint jle has seen much, and heard more, amidst the
-94,net --`af etY in which his lot has been cast ; but either he
,vehlft ~e't strongly, or he wants the peculiar gift of
.con-
°tit 4111 44 impressions to others. The result is a slight,
11,1'6 ited4B*lng work ; half fiction, half reality, on trout-fish-
°holt „titer-hunting, Wales and India, Walton and Lord
4 141,4,'Ce whol hoearing a tolerably close resemblance to
r.eti,er'S p, and leaving the reader not a little
13
,t this juxta-position of names.and subjects, which
hr voetiied
nt the nature of things to be for ever separated.
itho rat Captain is one of those pleasant companions
ttle
stetsas ens captain
on all topics, never checked by any mis-
.Btilii t° eetnPetency, and as ready to leap at a gate as
R'ulleet.; Yet in defiance of his absurdities, or it may be in
:ehlok-21? (f them, he is almost Uniformly entertaining.
itX 4.1 e dull but when attempting to be sentimental,
Itith
h: character of a certain Mr. Julian, who is troubled
l,NtitbKtil°dical fits of melancholy, and dies in the very com-
"ave uelief that " death and life are mere names, and
rher identity than what our very limited senses
tat colours give them, being mere creations of the brain,.
gave th-", are °f the eye." After this, no one, surely, will
kota;h7rdbood to deny that Bedlam has its school of
111
ta' ea' vol
ter, L Limes are supposed to be the journal of an
Inatue Who, with the aforesaid Julian. and a friend. of the
of Charters, sets out on a fishing-excursion through
bekos.t,ensiedearotrY
Caantde_learned are their disquisitions. on the
tiotlthe eic4inst hing trout—fly-fishing agaist
.trolling,
c 3 of salnion-paste. But the most amusing por-
-044 • the work are • ,
xioo „ precisely those which have the least
4%1 it. For instance, there is a story about a
eller °ear-hunt
tip.ll,;hilvre teere_atsal tsapkoertu, Pthnoutghhenise "Ixnable extent of morasses, k
finallylves to play the hunters,
denfoe:toedh.y
the
et
nwasomieniA ,
„(k.a, where numbers
of hogs are turned out to fatten
4,0 fti
,114 leaf, and become so savage that none but
suds
were
approach them.
}Amidst desolation
e surprised by a wild host drawn up in battle