The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-03 00:00:00

THE SUNS LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING,

the complete hiqtrry of " Sir Rog Pr de Coverloy"
fr..rn Steelo's ai d Addison's, Spectator. These, mole
o•er, with Mr. Wills's ver) at:cep-able and sen...-ntrow
notes by way of illustration. Twent, •six chapters
complete th., whole trirrativ, of toe life and death of'
dear old Sir Roger de Cuverley, and the twenty-
six chapters are here given in their entirety with
every desirable information ab,ut (heir uuthurehip.

LIT ERATURE.
POETICAL LITER iTURE of the P iST
HALF-CEATURE By D. M. Moir. Black
wood and Suns.
Delta Pas bleu associate d so long and so favourably
with the brilliant epoch here celebrated that his ap
pearance in his present. charscter as critic is scarcely less
agreeable than that which he has uninterruptedly oc-
cupied as contemporary. He ce it is that we el-
come the beautiful volume lying before us with a most
genuine and earnest curcliaiity. From his prefatory
remarks it becomes apparent that the work just pub-

lisher' by the Messrs. Blackwood originated in cer-
tain 1.. c, urea delivered during the past session before
the E finburgh Philosophical Institution. The fact
might have been safely conjectured without any such
announcement, from the synopsis prefixed to the va-
rious peril...Ds of the composition, partaking less of
the nature of an ordinary index than of a singularly
attractive and comprehensive sy Ilabus. Besides which
the circuttistence is yet more brilliantly rmblezoned
on the pages by the popular and genial spirit diffused
over the whole effusion. Delta adventures
upon the inquiry here marked out for inves-
h is scrupulous attention to x-
actituie, together with a most delicate appre-
ciation of the really true end beautiful, as well us a
strangely eclectic perceptivity in regard to the in st
multiform and m irtifuld excelleeces. All t
th, ugh requisite in the reviewer, is nothing less than
noble and magnanimous in the competitor. No petty
jealousies, no despicable prejudices, no shallow or
egotistical predilections are visible on the p.,rt of Mr.
Moir in his treatment of the subject selected for the
display of his powers as a critic, but, on the contrary,
there ale everywhere manifest throughout a generous
enthusiasm for the merits of writers whom he consi-
ders not in the narrow aspect of rivals, but in a large
minded and large-hearted mood as his brethren and
associates. We like this. It is befeting his position
in letters and consonant with every phase of his repu-
tation. It cannot fail, moreover, to endear him to
the reuder, while it elicits our very warmest expres-
sions of admiration. Introducing his disquisition by
a sketch of the state of peetical li.erature as
was in this country ar the commencement
the nineteenth century, Delta comments very
judiciously on the long mastery maintained by the
school of Pope and Dryden, a mastery which was
ultimately modified by Thomson, Cowper, Burns, and
Goldsmith. The et/alit-St ent successes, achieved shortly
atterwarde by Hay ley, Darwin, and the Daila
Cruhcana are shown to hive evidenced in a remark-
able manner the tact that literary tastes are it:fluenced
by social trahstormaions. Reference is then, of
course, made to the tendencies of the supernatural
*alma under the conduct of its undisputed chieftain,
Matthew Gregory Lewis, and illustrations are given of
its fantastic la- culiarities and 1113 sterious characteristics.
After an allusion to the pensive muse ef Kit ke White
and to the religious enthusiasm of JAnes Grahame,
come soma capital delis ikons of the merit to be dis-
covered in the satirical and humorous poetry of
Canning. Frere, Gifford, Mathias, and George Col-
man the Younger. SO joined to these are charming
sketches of Leyden and Bloomfield, with remarks on
the female writers of the period, Charlotte Smith,
Amelia Opie, Mrs. Hunter (not the Airs. Leo Hunter
of "Pickwick," hut the authoress of the death song
of the " Cherokee"), Airs. Grant, and Mrs. Tighe:the
gifted celehr .nt of " Psyche." Various poets and
translators of the same generation, in nest instances
long since forgotten, are recalled to p .pular retnent-
brance, in order that a general estimate of their merits
may be given by the poet- lecturer. A warm eulo-
gium upon the homely pathos of Crabbe is indulged
in immediately afterwards, especial regard being had
to his unquestionable title to originality. Commen-
dations are next pronounced on the elegant and ar-
tistic effusions of Lisle Bowles, and yet more so on
those of the veteran Samuel Rogers. Hereupon we
arrive at a consideration of the peculiarities of the
lake school cultivated by Lloyd, Lamb, and Lovell,
but led by such powerful minds as those of the inde-
fatigable Southey, the indolent and dreaming Cole-
- ridge, and the severe but sometimes puling Words-
worth. Under this same comprehensive survey we
find Judicious commentaries on the productions of
Walter Savage Lendor, James Hogg and Allan
Cunningham. Ballad poetry introduces us to the re-
vival of the romantic school, as was evidenced most
especially in the advent of Sir Walter Scott.
The classical elegance of Campbell, the ori-
ental splendour of Professor Wilson, and the
hutnanising suavity of James Montgomery are next
particularised. Then, likewi,e, we rejoice to arrive
with our author at the period rendered memorable by
the succession of Lord Byron to the poetical supre-
macy. Having celebrated with due emphasis the
remarkable energies of that splendid and transcendent
genius, Mr. Muir directs the attention of his hearers,
or we st.ould now more pros erly call them his read-
ers, to the "Palestine" of Bishop Heber, the " Samar" int
Dean Milmau, and the "Sebastian" of Dr. Croly, toge-
ther with supplementary allusions to the Icelandic
translations of the Honourable W. Herbert, to
the "Austin Fair" of William Tennant, to the
" Whistlecreft" of Frere, the "Ingoldsby Le-
gends" of Barham, and the " Rejected Addresses"
of James and Horace Smith, not forgetting
the improvisatorial 'sewers if Theodore Hook, the
mingled wit and passion of Thomas Hood, and the
exquisite skill of Moore in amatory compositions.
Another phase of the poetic mind is then delineated,
that gorgeous phase which was at first indicated by
Leigh Hunt, but rapidly verfected by its illustrious
masters John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Thereupon Procter obtains his deserved share of at-
tention, under his more cerebrated pseudonym of
Birry Cornwall. The criticism then extends sue
eessively to Hobert Pollak, to Thomas Aird,
tc
Williaw Kennedy, Enehrzer Elliott, and Williams;
Motherwell. Under the sigt.ificaut designation of
Female Constellations, we next come upon a de-
lightful catalogue of names, such as thee of Joanne
Billie, Felicia HeNtans, Caroline Bowles, Marta
Jewshury, Mary Howitt, Caroline Norton, Harriet
Drury, Camilla Toultniti, Lady Flora Hastings,
Mary Bussell Elie sbeth Barrett Browning,
and Letitia Ei,z.beth Landon, cursory reterenve
being subs. 'pettily made to the verses of Professor
R. C. Trench, Thomas Priegle, John Clare, Brrnsr'
Barton, Altaic A. Watts, T. K. Hervey, Charles
v% one , Jane Taylor, and Thomas Hynes Bayley.
Comprised in the final lecture, also, we ton,
couuter passages of very trenchant criticism on
the poetic effusions of Lockhart, on the Roman
Lays of Macaulay and the Scottish Lays of Aytoun,
with minor commentaries on Mrs. Stuart Monteith,
Mrs Ogilvy, Rev. John Moultrie, Mrs. Downing,
and Mess Agnes Strickland. The observations on Si,
Edward Bulvver Lytton we cannot but regard as the
least effective and meritorious portion of the volume,
the preference given in it to his translations of Schil-
ler being particularly ungraceful when it is remem-
bered by what firm that work of his was published
Finally the book closes with particular reference to
the last poetic school, which is here designated not
Inaptly the Metaphysic Romantic. Alfred 'Tenny-
son is naturally recognised at once as its leader,
Robert Browning as its high priest, and the " Festus"
of Philip J..tnes Bailey as its crowning exaggeration
Delta takes occasion at this stage of his inquiry into
the state of recent poetry to protest against myritt-
clam and obscurity as its supreme and pervading
blemishes. Together with the names of their
coutemporaries he blends allusions to those
of Charles Mackay, of John Sterling, of
Henry Ts)lor, and of Richard (not Robert, as be
calls bun) Monckton Milnes, not forgetting an inci
dental mention of the dramatists' Maturin, Sheridan
Knowles, Westland Marston, White, Horne, Samuel
, Smith, and Thomas
BNrooownn le,,l,Lifoouvredlle Bedoes
dßesides these, moreover, we find
our young aspirants in the
erenaulminesra(l,fte.pdoteh,; names of
West-
wood, Bennet', rm, bi
adtigde, Ac
to which we
would add those of Sydney Yendy
aurznsgebis a, Clough,
m,
8, of Richard Selous,
of George Meredith, of Henry Inglis, of Charles
Kingsley, of Denis Macarthy, and
of Viscount
Maidstone. Altogether, the work before us is entitled
to a large share of approbation from the reviewers,
and from the public at large en extension of the au-
thor's already wide spree I popularity.

Fr ERASER.
%, f4er this month opens with a laudatory review of
Eft
rancis Pdlgrave's " thstory of Normandy and
-.gland," in which we find much curious information
latt
the thg to the life and times of Charlemagne. Under
liar,l:le "A Jungle Recoll,ctton," by Capt. Hard.
in ftillnl we hare a spirited narrative of a tiger hunt
Ivith ,„' 1 and in a review of certain "Little F.Siks
-
,t4rit„44,:lrg.. Aims," the writer administers a well- ________. , ,
iieh,'''', castigation to the whole race of pub- DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF Arl RAINING MASTER
1gh..118, hoAtiellers, and circulating library keepers, AT THE LEEDS PAL PER IsnusTufAnScnoon.—Tnheir,embool,
tc) "z, r their own pecuniary arivanti,ge force authors built by the Leeds Yoor.law Guardians, was ope . the
elPind •
vt,111,,,_ their woks into the regular urhcdox three educating and training of orphan children; but since its
eeslahisliment the want of harmonious co-oyeration amongst
The ii", wii hour regard to Huy! hing but quantity. the oh: sera has been a source of cunst .nt trouble to the
tor'e I "• CT •S. Snil!he, MP , contributes a "tilS• gu ,rdiants. Irregularities, from flume cause r.r.• other, have.
euu, ancY," the 6` Witte of the Franks," and'` A continued, and on Al..nday evel,ing the Bcod. . tit
1mi:1%11-Place Man" nisk,s s.)tne aniu-ing 6. Retie- Guardians assembled at the establishment to inve,ngami..
/11„ i'• ' Colonel Corneiius 0 aniog hue continues them.blit It'iUs'etilitlest rtetnigi i
awi
ihmilchof oaccluortreerd
(oifn
ttehsei bouatridoirs,
Lou'
Ilt Nant:lll'ing narrativ, of a t:rtitni)le among the Mr. Alfred Leggett, the second tiainirg tigia"-ter of fil,
Of p,) rm• We have also an in'ereiting biography school. Some rd the guardians expressed their surprise al
tora..tU'4llh,r, the celehrat..ti French robber, wh. se this, and haw g beard some rum& urs tit 11116Colltalel Olt till
part of Mr. L. ggett, they determintd to investigate them.
hitnatic atrocit i', a surpassed even those of Cartouche
rat: II; and the magazine concludes with au elaho- rue result was the.,niost sstisfactory pout that the second
'master had been gutty of the most grossly unmoral conduct,
Willirtvl"v of the recently published Memoirs of aod that he had col, opted the mind ot one of the pauper
'ter- :tll_ Wordsworth. 'filter' as a whole, this is a children, a girl of 1:.) years of age. It came out in the course
Y iLellent number of Fraser. of the investigation that he had filen her with him to
21-/D various places of resort in the neighbourhood of Leeds, and
--' TRAVELLEIeS LIBRARY. ivo ~ 7/ . had had tiequent interviews with her. At first Mr. Leggett
''' ' • denied the troth of the must grave part of the charges, but
A r_ . Messrs. Longmans and Co. afterwards, through the chaplain, made a lull coLiestioli 01
recen
o,l3rint of the literary poi twit of the. work ' his guilt. The guardia s, after hearing all the circum-
With LI.YI brought out in a more expen-ive form, Stances ot the ease, determined not to accept the resignation
Vcr ~..1114etrations, under the editorship of Al of the party impl.cated, but to apply to the Poor-law Board
• tio
the T 1 tanrY Wills, has been here given to to order his dismissal forthwith; and in the meantime sus-
pended hita from office, ordering him to leave the establish-
inig, public by these distinguiehed and --
nt r is• ment the same night.
Their 113,ubliNbers. As a specimen numbereePi Of
ftuti."/ Periodical, this fourth instalment is really IR. EGISTRATION OF ASSURANCES BlLL.—This Bill,
' - tiO which was brought from the House of-Lords 26th Juno last,
--- -- ev_ft7 00.142101400121 giving 115 i As it 4POPI 1 140 Igo priatocl, by cc* pf Ur; amp of Comma&
...

FINE A IeTS.

THE PICTURE OF THt: 1-XHIBITION.'
By George Cruikshank.
Numerous as nerve been the repres,etaions of the
interior and exterior of the Crystal P.lace, scarcely
one ef them has, hitherto prived really satisfactory.
There have been woodcuts, and steel engravings, awl
engravings on copp,r and in un zzotitito,—woiks of
all sizes, and t,•ken front every inoliorible paint of
view, the productions in some instances of unmis-
tileehle talent, and in others of unmistakeable
mediocrity. Yet, varied as these endeavours have
been, we have found them, with little
more than one or " two exceptions, unde-
serving of any very high commendation. The
exquisitely coloured plates produced from the draw-
ings of Mr. Nash, drawings made in obedience to a
royal command, and now in her Majesty's possession,
must, of course, be particularised as those which
have mainly extorted our ulogium. Yet something
was still left to be accomplished after even the most
successful of those adventurous attempts at an ac-
curate delineation of one of the most memorable, as
it was also one of the most beautiful, incidents
in the reign of our beloved Sovereign. There was
wanting an engraving which, in addition to the merits
of architectural detail and of artistic execution,
should preserve about it in every particular a
verisimilitude. Such an engraving is the one here
published by David Bogue, from the ii imitable and
glorious George Cruikshank. Altogether, to speak
briefly and emphatically of the merits of the picture
before us, we may say with the strictest truth aat
in it we see the Ist of May daguerreotyped. The
view is taken from the south-west gallery at
the moment when the Archbishop of Canter.
bury is invoking the Divine blessing upon the
objects of the Great Exhibition. Under the pendant
canopy, sanding by the throne, upon the elevated
dais erected in the northern division of the transept,
are the Queen,'the Prince, and the two eldest of the
royal children. Immediately on the left of her
Majesty is the Primate of all England, and further
back, among a crowd of courtiers, may be dis-
tinguished the Prime Minister, the Marquis of
Anglesey, aid the Duke of Wellington. Pourtraying
with the utmost minuteness every feature in that
most gorgeous pageant, the beialds in their ta-
bards, the line of gentlemen-at-arms, the ladies in
waiting, the heeteaters iii the` background, and the
vast and compact body of spectators, the artist has
nevertheless at the same time imparted to the spec-
tacle an air of ease in the flawing outlines of the
a hole, such as might scarcely be expected in a work
so microscopically elaborated. When coloured the
engraving cannot but be an exquisite transcript from
that brilliant and superb original which, among its
varied hues, gave the green of the elm boughs, the
scarlet of the drapery, the blue. and amber of
the iron-work edifice, added to the chequered
tints of the costumes worn by the different bebuiders.
Conspicuous among the latter may be recognised
several of the representatives of 'the various nations
of Christendom, pencilled off with that humorous ap-
preciation of character for which Getirge Crtokshaele
Liss been so long and egreeably rental Toe re-
doubtable Mandarin, known among our eight-seers as
the Commander of the Chinese Junk, is readily per
ceived near the Crystal Fountain, and other notabi-
lities may be detected almost as easily by a little re-
search among the motley groups depicted. Aa a
memento of the inauguration of this unprecedented
exposition of art and industry, the plate here submitted
to our criticism must be regarded as really iuesti-
citable in every particular. It will be gratefully wel-
comed by every individual interested in the under-
taking, from the illustrious originator himself down to
he most obscure visitor of the Crystal Palace, en-
dearing yet more to the p ipulter heart the old familiar
name of George Cruikshaek.

WHAT IS POETICY?
(From Eliza Cook's Journal.)
A very short question u,t►y require a very long answer
to do justice to the subject which it opens up. What is
religion? What is truth? What is poetry ? To answer
either of these queries satisfactory would require, not a
brief note only, nor an article. nor a year's articles; but
it would demand a life-time of articles, and even at the
end of that life-time it were just possible that we might
MI in answering ciearly and satisfactorily either of these
qusstions. Wordsworth, Coleridge, fluut, Jeffrey, El-
liott, and Southey, with many other great minds, have
occupied themselves with the solution of the question
" What is poetry?" We do not know that they have
succeeded. Perhaps poetry, like many other subtle
things, eludes definition. Who can define life—the com-
mon daily life,we carry about with us. We live, and that
is all we know of the cause of life. Poetry is—we
feel it—how shall we define it? It is not a form but an
essence: it is not a substance, but a spirit—the spirit of
beauty. Its utterance is the utterance of passionate and
intense trutb. Elliott says it is " philosophy in its es-
sence—the pirit of that •bright consummate flower'
whose root is in our bosoms." Leigh Hunt says it is a
passion for truth, beauty, and power, embodying and
illustrating its impressions by the imagination, in order
that it may enjoy and impart the feelings of their truth
in its utmost conviction and affluence. In a word, it is
imaginative passion ; and " he who has thought, feeling,
expression, imagination, action, character, and con-
tinuity, all i❑ the largest amount and highest degree, is
the greatest poet." Philip James Baily, in that grand
poem of his, " Festus," say is—
" Poets are all who love—who feel great truths,
Aud tell them ; mid the truth of truths is love."

Again he says that poetry is " the bright precipitate
of truth," and that the poet's mission is to sort out many
glorious likenesse3 in the world, and string them into
music—the poet's pens being
" The true divining rod
Which trembles tow'rds the inner founts of feeling;
Bringing to light and use, else hid from all,
The many sweet clear sources wh ch we have
Of good and beauty in our own deep bosoms."
Poetry begins where matter of fact ends. It is fact
and feeling idealized and unrolled in beauty and power.
Shelley says of it, that it "lifts the veil from the hidden
beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if
they were not familiar." Keats says it is "a drainless
shower of light

'Tis the supreme of power;
'Tis might half slumbering on its own right arm;
And that the great end of poetry is
That it should be a friend
To soothe the cares and lift the thoughts of man."
Its language is musical, and assumes the measure of
verse. But as poetry is ideal, and depends not on its
clothing for its power, verse is not indispensable to it.
Jeremy Taylor's writings contain passages of the noblest
poetry, conveyed in grand and solemn prose. Bunyan's
fine and truly poetical all•: gory is not written in verse.
Some of Milton's grandest imagery is contained in his
prose writings. Carlyle is a great poet, though despising
the artifice of verse. Ossian's poetry is not couched in
verse, and yet Napoleon held him (whoever he was) to be
the grt atest of poets. Nor was Napoleon himself with-
out poetry. Pointing to the Pyramids he said to his
army, "Forty centuries look down upon us." Surely
that was no mean stroke of poetry—one which his
nephew of the tame eagle gives no ht,pes of equalling.
But true poetry may assume many other forms besides
the spoken. In painting it reaches great heights: witness
the grandeur of Martin's conceptions, nor are Dauby and
Turner far behind him. Even Landeeer has treated
animal subjects with the true feeling of poetry, witness
•' The Stain Fallow Deer," exhibited by him at the
Royal Academy some two years ago, " The Dead Dam"
lies on the snow, which is died with its trickling blood,
while the fawn, after long pattering round its mother,
vainly tries to suck the ineffectual teat. Bailey and
Calder Marshall are poets in sculpture; they embody a
poetic idea in the marble, which lives enduringly,
Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Meyerbeer are great poets
in music, and perhaps greater and sublimer than all is
Handel. Poetry is a grr at ennobler of life; it is purify-
ing, refining, and elevating. Many can say of it what
Coleridge did—" Poetry has been to me its own exceed-
ing great reward. It has soothed my afflictions, it has
multiplied and refined my enjoyments, it has endeared
solitude; and it has given me the habit of wishing to
Idiscover the good and the beautiful in all that meets and
surrounds me."