The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

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EDINBURGH REVIEW. No. CXXI.
It., -Longman and Co. 1834.
Altel:e4,ll, 8 sincere pleasure to find that " Philip Van
inowitue,ain. e
Which we noticed at some length about a
tiated, is' beginning to be properly appre-
ittt of " " Quarterly" has already made it the sub-
'New eulogistic criticism ; and the " Edinburgh"
llherefs it
it' a similar spirit in the present number ;
a sko Mr. Taylor may reasonably look forward to
athisend edition of his drama ; in which case we would
q)ekks him to omit that portion of his preface which
'BParagingly of Lord Byron, for whatever the
tlllNE`hnh'i'g critic may say to the contrary, the sneers
dorlat °tit by one great poet against another, are sel-
triotipettibuted by the public to other than an unworthy
14; cultivated as his own intellect may
coPtetti. Taylor has not yet earned the right to speak
aileh hPtuously of that of Byron ; we scarcely tolerate
Poetic terest' even in Wordsworth, who, as respects
ter of
itebilhies, is unquestionably the most original
say
ago. " The House of Lords" is a clever
°ugh its comments have too much of a see-
hiecaoter about them. One moment the . House
41ow,111) in the writer's estimation, the next it just
and 40) now he asserts that it is a valuable institution,
howev: that it is just the reverse. He is correct,
e9uivt° the letter, when he states, broadly and un-
""l°Y, that their Lordships' dominant authority
for are 'lever to return. They are indeed impotent
bePtnNses of active mischief, though they may
tett %serviceable as the Reviewer suggests—to cor-
Tha ere • °eeasional crude measures of the Commons.
'he much justice in the following remarks, which
efik,,.electly the present condition of the major part
4,4-.,stocracy
'4)4.1,N' declension of the Lords in wealth is irremediable,
I th increasing every day. Their position in. society.
th Qv ra trom adding to their fortunes by their Indus-
tnY at, erY succeeding generation must lessen the means
tit4ies!learvr:sethtl_t Possess. - The economical reforms in the state
tteo,l:he trine children urdens on the heirs to their
, . n
eis gone by whenannuity,a father could bequeath to
N7iobrodie°ru
could
rldsons an
him to determine when his
leftollfrorn procure for an equivalent place or
whietllleti to th,sue Government. Few fields of adventure are
was the younger sons of. the nobility. The Church,
ha,e tQad navirarnechhest
rharvest,e is about to be reformed. The
lLthoi:te,ll educated oinnaabl
tpoyfessions ; but to those who
luxury k afford a slender resource
of(ltne other means of subsistence. Diplomacy creates
fort%,PY vieti:ense and indulgence,. and then leaves
.tfheuo...
to ,iate t° vegetate on some miserable pension,. he
11 butrugh to obtain one. The law indeed. is accessiblewo
le,!sehc/w few are the children of the aristocracy.h
tf,t°gatliki 41eminence at the bar. Some splendid exceptionse_
taighteeid be cited, and several instances of moderate
o_
ee adduced • but, compared with the number_ f
Itriet d-gte,, they are 'not any. Sundry attempts we have
itlttottt:Or- 'at liliirnately failed of success, not from
.defeett
oo _
reeys application in the iiarties, but from the distruhs.
nf
4serzlittbi/le diligence of persons.who frequented fas -
10144ar :40,1.:%,;eabs,Ouorr from want of patience and perseversantoebeef
y,Ntagellen themselves in what they found for years
The only resource left for aristocratic
ctrae mercenary marriage with a city heiress, whoseii
eqfhollie willing to exchange their wealth for. the app.
hter,,°4rable, or the title of my lady, obtained for their
04 th
e subject of Creating peers for life the Reviewer
which, out unreservedly. He is friendly to the project,
aad de weeping as may be the innovation it proposes,
the
prirne+;
, 'e, as it cannot fail to be eventually, to
445, t-e'Ple of hereditary legislation, has yet common
I,ave 41° reconunend it. Let those be ennobled who
'`tY exl:rited such honour, but let their patent of nobi-
,lNcla;ifte with them. To continue it to their de-
'4l4 si:; is to burlesque the principle on which all
the i.°41(1 be conferred—that of national gratitude to
qt,etn.vidual „ho
has earned them. The question
he Pliblic
Peers for life has not yet come fully before
:1100k but When it does, we have no doubt they
.tteuctri2.-:: 't with an eye of favour. The advantages
to pi
~are homediate, for in the first place it goes
he tp; r-I.7nue the possibility of a collision between
of trey 'uses, and secondly, it lays the foundation
Yi efficient reform in the Upper House. Let the
lerie'e be once adopted, and adieu to hereditary
ilere,44,tien---adieu to hereditary wisdom—adieu to all
t*krY Privileges I They will not survive the shock
the NYears. In the notice of " Godwin's Lives of
4ecli:crornancers," the Reviewer, we think, goes very
whis3,lY out of his way to condemn a work, thedrift
1/41 ',ell he does not seem clearly to comprehend. .He
en on Mr. Godwin the charge of infidelity,
ttkt:2`eavours to substantiate his charge by an ex-
-ICols, h'ch is onlyplausible when torn from the context.
kte4t.we have perused Mr. Godwin's book with some
kiott°ll' and can find nothing in it that at all Militates
N,1,111. the interests of true piety. The author is a
that ts enquirer after truth, but we are yet to learn
rbuth is inimical to religion ; indeed we have
,:ij„.sea led to suppose that it is its most efficient
pPe,t4ne Lives of the Necromancers" is in every
1, 84 able production ; and as regards philoso-
!' yet4acitY is not inferior to anything Mr. Godwin
`4l'ol''aned. It is amusing to see the Reviewer
attemri g
un to throw discredit on the sorceries
c:4etitell to Cornelius Agrippa ; and asserting ex
as the that the legends about his black dog, whichf
P'ls %devil in disguise, and his famous book o
fa,6ss 21 incantations, are " arrant and ground-
-'4°°lllB 1" We subjoin one sagacious re-
(.)111
this, otherwise feeble and puerile, re-
Ay: The charlatans, whether they be moral
'"ey ItTeal) form a race which is never extinct.
.4tl h-grate to the different zones of the social system ;
they. change their place, and their object,
des rem vicunas, yet their character and their mo-
" 51111 %4'. the same." " Conolly's Journey to the
Nblf Ildia" is chiefly remarkable from the unan-
\:;hiqi waY. in which it disposes of the question—
* 'OIA,,
01:" for ki many years the bug-bear of the Bri-
DNN inet•---of an invasion of India by Russia. The
Pashows that such an invasion is all but im-
ttlN 71 even under the most favourable circum-
mil 4, It that the present position of the Rus-
elire • in
disjointed, and enfeebled by
k 4141 s -) impoverished,
• thing-1-4'e extent, it is absurd even to dream of such
to
44ert. Were Nicholas. ever to be. mad enough
Pt an invasion of our Indian provinces,
te4, tist of
necessity give up all his projects
Po, and'' Constantinople, and this he would not
ille%s' could not, if he would ; for the
tiaelishis3(l4 ofl the Turkish capital, has been the one
ohtit°hby of the Russian Noblesse from the
Vetiltert fronl'4i.ztaheth and Catherine, and is now, as we
vi ts, in the concurrent testimony of our latest tra-
k:wer's rc)re PoPular with them than ever. The
aßhoe_-
st,lt`taelltl doiYoTsatiaersks on the present state of the
sense :
are replete with
that at this goodmoment the Mahommedan
:Itttt: :is seem
1144 Perio,l!he world, are in a worse condition than at any
hoe and not only worse, but more hopeless. They
ItIR Cy? given ° Prospect. of any favourable internal change,
°P all expectation of it.
ia t4ed and rapid decd They are ill-governed Moslem
viib withiny.They are allsuffaenrd-
iy onhin, and weak without. -The starofthaet
tetroe~sis. Turk Lue descent. They are now arrived a great
tale toreY, so long the strop hold of the Faith, and the
The
tikht!):l3.ll3:,,inPed,laerxgheibits every symptom of imbecility.
'nnl)e 41.3', Egypt, Syria, Greece, the countryhbeyond
thstat
a'rea.ll provinces on the Black Sea, ave been
Y wrested from her. The other Mahomme-
-1"ey! Paith e,,in a similar condition. India, anotherp bsuliawiasrka
Pike division no longer yield it any p
kad,u: near s_nB, and if it ever was as weak before, nerever was
ta th.t .dangerous a foe. The proress stands
.Europe has
tltece Pry Bslble for Asia and Africa to still and existt
footin,. This truth, urged on them
the
Dassiq tlro "roPeali artists and adventurers, and. sill.-
sity e arms, has forced its way even into the s
tho refo,_s of their rulers • and a conviction of the nem, 7
rifiC2tlrts oT,bY foreigners by foreign arts, has reached
to
itri 1,
do its religion,
41,4; igo44,3lditas 43?..agior? and Constantinople. To change the laws
ed on . ',eminent of a people, especially where they
is always a difficult and dangerous
Nfressiblei.s° successfully in the face of an enemy, is next
8 6` Corn Law Rhymes " are canvassed,