The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1834

Sunday, for whether matrimony be a plague or a plea-
sure, a labour or an amusement,—and it must come
under one of these categories,—it is equally unfitted
to be retained in the bead-roll of Sabbath avocations.
No, no, Sir Andrew—no roast-beef, no matrimony--
the logic of the thing is absolutely incontrovertible.
To be serious, though it is hardly worth while talking
reason to such blockheads, the line of interference may

be drawn both easily and certainly. The law should
so far interpose its authority as to secure to piety the
uninterrupted enjoyment of its sabbath ; anything
beyond this is downright tyranny, and, like all other
despotic acts must eventually defeat its object. We
do not, however, believe that the better part of the
Dissenters, a high-minded and virtuous body, have, or
ever had, any wish to fix the yoke of their opinions on
the necks of others ; these attempts have emanated
from a few sour, ignorant bigots, who are divided between
God and Mammon, and who cannot bear that others
should enjoy the advantages their fanaticism has made
them deny to themselves. These pseudo-saints ima-
gine they best fulfil their obligations to Heaven, not
by the practice of good, not by the active discharge
of any moral duties, but by the observance of
certain outward forms, and a hatred of all pleasurable

indulgence, as if enjoyment were a crime, and a sour
face the most acceptable offering to the divinity. The
wisdom which enjoined the seventh day for a day of
rest, can not be disputed, but in the earlier, and cer-
tainly not the least pure, era of Christianity, neither
presbyter nor proselyte ever entertained the idea of
compelling its observance ; that piece of absurd tyranny
was reserved for Constantine the Great, a semi-pagan
in his conversion, who, while he published one edict
forbidding labour on a Sunday, sent forth a second
law that made it a duty to consult the aruspices.
The act was well worthy of the man.

But we would ask whether reason,—and religion is
reason in its best and most perfect form,—we would
ask whether reason does not point out the propriety of
making Sunday a day of quiet recreation to the over-
toiled labourer, who has known neither rest nor enjoy-
ment through the whole of the weary week ? There
is a time, says the inspired volume, for everything ; even
prayer itself is a part only of our many duties, and
valuable as its observance may be in the fitting time
and place, it must not be protracted to the neglect of
other obligations. But the fanatics of all religions
have ever been more inclined to pay homage to
Arimanes than to worship the principle of good ;
drawing from their own gloomy and diseased imagina-
tions, they have flung over benevolence itself a robe of
darkness, at one time staining the altar with blood,
and, when the spreading light of faith and reason
would no longer tolerate these enormities, they have
been fain, instead, to offer up a sacrifice of tears.
To call another cause—" The Nights in the Gal-
ley," though less lively than usual, are not without
amusement. The following anecdote, whether true or
false, and most probably it is only
.imagined, is yet
highly characteristic of Jack's way of proceeding when.
his money is in question

" One morning, just after they had tacked ship, and made
sail, to stand in as usual for the day, the man at the mast-head
saw something to windward, bearing down under all sail for
the port. Directly they saw this, they clapped every stitch of
sail on her—' Man the royal haulyards--topmen, aloft; shake
out all reefs—keep her clean full, quarter-master,' says the
skipper. Ay lay ! Sir.' She was getting close to them
now, and directly she saw them, she shortened sail, and tried
to escape, by coming to the wind ; but it was no go. After
chasing her for about half an hour, they got within gun-shot,
and fired at her. She saw she had no chance of escape, and
afraid the frigate would take a better aim next time, she
hauled her colours down, and squared her main-yard. Di-
rectly they seed that, down went the cutter, and a luff, a
reefer, and the bat's crew went to take possession ; when they
got on board, they found she was one o' them Spanish gal-
loons (galleons) as every body wanted to grab in the war-
time. Well, they put twenty hands a-board, with a luff, to
take charge of her; and-the next day she sailed in company
with the frigate for Plymouth ; where they arrived, and got
their prize-money paid. They were all well up for money ;
and as they did not know what to do with it, they determined
that every man should have a gold laced hat, like the skip-
per's ; and when they went on shore, on leave, they bought
each of them one, and the next day they all appeared on deck
in their gold-laced fore-and afters ; and just before dinner, as
they were almost on deck, a shore-boat comes alongside, with
one o' the foretopmen in it, and some o' the fellers looking
overboard, saw that he had'nt a gold lacer, but only a silver
one ; so they all said it was a shame, and agreed to go aft to
the first-leaftenant, and ask him not to let the feller come on
board; but, just as they were going aft, the feller tried to
come up the side, but he was soon stopped, and asked why he
had'nt a gold-laced hat on like the rest on 'em. They
wouln't hear what he had to say at first, but went on abusing
him for a stingy son of a gun ; at last they consented to hear
him, and then he told them he had tried everywhere to get
one with gold-lace, but he couln't, as there wasn't one left in
the town, so he took a silver one, but made the land-crab take
the same money as for a gold one. When they heard this,
they were all satisfied, and allowed him to come on board,
which was nothing but right, 'cause you know, it wasn't the
poor fellor's fault that he couldn't find a gold-laced hat, and if
he paid for one, that was all that he could do—don't you think
so, lads ?'

" Why, yes,' said Jack Murray, who had returned from
the quarter-deck some time, and who now gave his opinion on
this important question with the look of an oracle---." why,
yes, sartainly, if so be as how he paid the same number of
yellow boys for the silver one as the others did for their gold
ones, he could not do more, so they ought to have let him come
on board ; but if he hadn't, I'll be -if he should, if I'd
had any thing to do with it. What do you say, Will ? '
" Sartainly he shouldn't," said Will ; a man has his prize_
money to spend, and he's no right to keep it scrowed up in
his pocket like old Nibcheese.' "

The " Goings on at Bramsby Hall," are not such
goings on as we can bring ourselves to approve of.
To argue matters in the fashion of honest Dogberry,—
first, they are old as the hills ; fourthly, they are dull ;
lastly, the style of them is but so so ; thirdly, their
humour is without point ; and, to conclude, we don't
like them.

The " Black Caribs" is a very black business
indeed. 'We don't like this either ; ditto of " Things
Theatrical." As, however, we are in general huge
friends to the Monthly, we must e'en sweeten this
monstrous quantity. of dislike with a whole ha'penny
worth of praise, much as Falstaff proportioned his
bread to his sack ; we may just point out, then,
that " Greece and Rome" is a clever article,
somewhat indebted to Niebuhr, and that the no-
tice of " Vines and Vineyards" will be pleasant
reading to the amateurs of hock and claret, and the
thousand and one wines brewed by foreign honesty for
the benefit of the English epicure.

of the shrouds—the sullen growl of the distant thun-
der—the commingling, in storm and tempest, of the
mighty elements of air and water. His sketch of a
sudden squall comes on the reader, as it did on the
" schooner," quite like a surprise ; but we give in pre-
ference his night-scene on a dim, spectre-haunted moor,
which is finely felt :

" The setting moon seemed to linger on the hill, and shed
a long sickly wake on the midnight tarn, that sleeped in the
hollow of the mountain, bright and smooth as if the brown
moss had been inlaid with polished steel, except where a wild
duck sailed over the shining surface, or the wing of the slow
sailing owl flitted winnowingly across, dimming it for a mo-
ment, like a mirror breathed upon. I was sitting on the small
moss-grown cairn, at the eastern end. The shadow of the
black hills was cast so clearly in the water, that you could not
trace the shore of the small lake, nor define the water line be-
neath the hazel bushes, and the stars were reflected in another
heaven scarcely less pure than their own. I heard the rush-
ing of the burn over its rugged channel, as it blended with the
loch, and the melancholy bleating of the sheep on the hill-
side, and the low bark of the colleys, and the distant shout of
the herds watching the circular folds, high up on the moor,
when I felt a touch on my shoulder, and, glancing down, I
saw a long pale female hand resting on it, as if a person was
standing behind me. It was thin and wasted, and semitran-
sparent as alabaster, or a white cornelian stone, with the blue
veins twining amongst the prominent sinews, and on the mar-
riage finger there was a broken ring—l saw it as clearly as I
see my own hand now, for the ends of the small gold wire of
which it was composed, stood up and out from the finger.
kenned weel who was there, but I had no power to speak.
The sigh was repeated, and I heard a low still voice, like a
distant echo from the hill-side, although I had a fearful con-
viction that it was uttered close behind rue, inarticulate at first,
but presently it assumed a composed but most melancholy tone
—yes, Mr. Brail, so sure as there is a God above us, Jessy
Miller—yea, the dead spoke--in that awful moment—to the
living."

" My Cousin Nicholas" is a nouvellette better sus-
tained in point of style than incident. " Mrs. Sid-
dons" reviews Campbell's late life of this magnifi-
cent actress in a just and generous spirit. The criti-
cism is penned in that half serious, half comic spirit
in which Professor Wilson stands unrivalled among the
reviewers of the day. We have been much diverted by
his speculations-occasioned by Mrs. Siddons' strange
notion of the face and figure of 'Lady Macbeth—on
the style of feature that is most " frequently seen grac-
ing the gallows." He opines that for one sallow
criminal that swings, a dozen " delicate and blonde
beauties" are placed, in that unenviable predica-
ment. The question is a subtle one, and full
of delicate embarrassments, so we shall leave it
to be sifted at leisure by those of our readers
who are fond of speculating on such matters.
" Narrative of a Visit to the seat of War in Greece,"
by the anecdotes it relates, convinces us—did we need
such additional testimony—that the seat of Lord By-
ron's misanthropy was not in his heart, but in his sto-
mach. Indigestion was the source of all his affected
scorn and hatred of humanity. When in good health,
he was social, forbearing, and philanthropical to a de-
gree ; but what man can be a Howard, with his gas-
tric juice in a state of active, undisguised warfare
against the best interests of his epigastrum ? We
subjoin an amusing anecdote, just premising that Lord
Byron had agreed to visit a fat, pompous old Abbot,
at his convent in Cephalonia, but his digestion being
somewhat impaired at the time, the spleen took the
opportunity of laying the iron hand of possession on
his temper :

" The peaceful dwellers in the convent were astounded by
his very rude behaviour; but altogether there was something
rather ridiculous in the scene, because the good abbot had
taken the pains to prepare a turgid, congratulatory address,
which—environed by an array of priests in canonicals—he stood
ready to inflict on his Lordship. After conferring on the party
his benediction, with great solemnity he entered upon his
discourse, but he might have spared the exordium, for Byron
would not listen to him for a moment, but snatching a lamp,
like one possessed, he cried out, " my head is burning—will
no one relieve me from the presence of this pestilential mad-
man?" meaning the abbot, of course, and at once darted into
the first room he could find, calling out with great vehemence
for Fletcher, his valet, to follow him. The man of God was
not, however, to be baulked so easily, and would have pursued
his game, had we not informed him that his Lordship was la-
bouring under severe indisposition. So choice a production as
the address was not to be consigned to utter oblivion ; so, for
lack of more distinguished listeners, with much self-compla-
cency he thundered it with stentorian lungs in the unwilling
ears of Count Gamba, Dr. Bruno, and the rest of the party ;
Trelawny, " regis ad exemplar," having also made his exit.
We were, also, unlucky in having alluded to Byron's illness,
for the peroration was no sooner terminated, than the officious
but well-meaning abbot insisted on visiting the sick chamber
of his guest, despite all our persuasions. We immediately
distinguished Byron's voice loud in anger, and, I suspect, the
good man, in return for his toil and anxious solicitude, got
abruptly ejected from his apartment, because, on his egress,
he very earnestly enquired at me if the great man was not sub-
ject to occasional fits of insanity."

But this was not the only wrong Lord Byron sus-
tained at the hands of the Greek ecclesiastics. On

his way to the convent, he was met by a dirty old
Epirote Bishop, with mouth redolent of garlic, and
chin lavishly embellished with a " dingy beard," of
which a goat might be envious. This ghostly man
not only laid fast hold of his Lordship, but actually
kissed him, till, what with the garlic, the bristles, and
the bear-like tenacity of the bug, he was within an ace
of suffocation. We know of nothing more calculated to
make a man turn misanthropist on the spot than a
calamity like this. One's blood might naturally be
expected to run vinegar for a year afterwards.
4, Spenser" is a noble criticism, where wit, fancy, and
philosophy move familiarly hand in hand together, like
a band of Graces.

BUCKINGHAM'S PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW.
(New SEIIIiS.) London, 7 884.

Mr. Buckingham's address to his Sheffield consti-
tuents, which heads the Review before us, and in
which he gives them a detailed and, as it seems to us,
a faithful account of his stewardship during the long
and tedious Parliamentary Session that has just closed,
exhibits the honourable member in a very creditable
light ; first, as a man of ability, secondly, as a man of
unwearied diligence. He says of himself, and in no
boasting spirit,
" In the second session, as in the first, I was present on the
first day at the opening of Parliament, and present on the last
day at its close. I have never asked or had a single week's
leave of absence. I have attended the morning sittings as
well as the evening. I have been half-a-dozen times one of
the small band at our posts when the House could either not
be formed, or was counted out because forty Members could
not be got to attend out of 658, though much pressing business
demanded their presence. I have rarely or ever quitted the
House before midnight, though sitting from twelve at noon
either in Committees or in the House itself ; and I have often
been at the House till three o'clock in the morning, and
walked home by the opening daylight. In addition to all this,
I have presided at the Committee of Inquiry, of which I was
elected Chairman, at 36 sittings—from twelve till three, and
sometimes till four or five—and taken the lead in the examina-
tion of all the witnesses--never having been absent from the
chair even one day out of all the sittings. I attended the
Committee on Steam Navigation to India, both as a Member
and a witness, having been twice to India by the two routes of
the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, on which my personal tes-
timony was required. I attended the Committee of Inquiry
into the condition of the Hand-loom Weavers, of which I was
a Member, and took part in the discussion on the considera-
tion of their report. And I conducted my own case against
the East India Company, without the Slightest assistance, be-
fore the Select Committee appointed to inquire into my
claims, and got up the whole body of evidence to substantiate
my case, as well as to reply to the statements of my opponent.
When I add to this that I wrote nearly all the original matter
furnished to my Review—upon the average at least 20 pages
per week—which was never an hour behind its usual time of
publication—without the assistance of a person even to correct
the press ; that a day has never passed in which I have not re-
ceived from ten to twenty letters, and had to send off at least
an equal number in reply, besides the reading necessary for the
liam,entthaant
s
current business of the day ; when I still further add to this,
that no person ever sent me a memorial or petition that did
not receive a speedy answer—that no one ever waited upon
me either alone or in a deputation that did not obtain ready
admission and a patient hearing—it will be admitted that I
have been an industrious and hard-working-Member of Par-
health, and a visit to .the country handsomely paid for, instead of being, as they are, gratuitous,
ix leastan;d
oafntdn
er thatt: my
AfterrnY station. as a repreAe
never occupied
can
more than half an hour at any meal, nor slept
no one could accuse me of holding a sinecure. In truth, I have
services had been ever so
m2re
ne or two interruptions of
session began ; and except in t:
niative. single day at a time to
().r
recruit, I have been for • absorbed in the du-
ties of six months .whplly
foi;ur I:ours a night since the
a display of ,in m OD.
- • himself being
the most finis>. e"
Longer plume • . The
in the three kingdops.
prodigy of diligence
the Tattling p
like this, r.O ‘‘bet.t

only portion of Mr. Buckingham's address with which
we feel the slightest inclination to find fault, is where
he talks about the opposition that his Report of the
Committee on Drunkenness has met with at the hands
of the liberal press. His remarks here are too strongly
tinctured with spleen to be just. He writes with the
loud laughter of his opponents still ringing in his ear
and rankling at his heart. Yet he says in an affected
strain of equanimity, " I have already outlived the
sarcasms of the London newspapers." To be sure he
has I 'Who ever expected that a man of the world
like Mr. Buckingham, who has weathered so many a
tough gale, and borne up against so many vicissitudes,
would sink under the visitation of a newspaper joke ?
Just as soon should we expect to find him " die of a
rose in aromatic pain I" Yet though he has stood,
unconvulsed, the sneers of the Age, and survived even
the killing humour of the John Bull, it is plain to see
that they have left their marks on his temper. As
sincere well-wishers to Mr. Buckingham, we would
advise him in future to desist from any officious inter-
meddling with men's private habits and predilections ;
Or, if he cannot wholly break himself of an itch for
legislating on matters which no legislation can amend
or even reach, at least to change the mode of his in-
terference, and begin at the right instead of at the
wrong end. Verbum sap.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GARDENING--.GAR-

DENER'S MAGAZINE.

These works, especially the former, are filled with
some of the most tasty little wood-cuts we have ever
met with. They are worthy even of old Bewick, the
Prince of wood-cutters. In addition to this,.they have
the advantage of Mr. Loudon's express superintend-
ence—a gentleman whose name on all horticultural
matters is a " tower of strength."

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND.

No. 111.

The number before us is exclusively confined to de-
tails, agricultural, botanical, geographical, and what
not, of the two counties of Pe;.‘bles and Lanark.
Among a variety of other curious particulars respect-
ing the latter county, we find the following
" Close to the House of Lee are two trees which deserve
particular mention. The first is an oak of prodigious zize•
According to a late measurement, it was found to be 60 fee:
of perpenicular height, and 30 in circumference, and to con-
tain 1,460 cubic feet of wood. It is called the Pease tree ;is
understood to be a relic of the ancient Caledonian forest, and
still continues to vegetate, although its huge trunk is hollowed
to such a degree that ten persons have been crammed into the
excavation. The other is a magnificent larch, said to have
been one of the first brought into this country ; it is 100 feet
in height and 18 in girth, containing 320 cubic feet of timber."
Had Dr. Johnson had the good fortune to meet
with either of these magnificent specimens of vegeta-
tion, he would not have exclaimed to Boswell when
he lost his favourite walking-stick, " Consider, Sir, the
value of such a piece of timber as this in Scotland."

We shall give the remainder of the Magazines to-

morrow.

A Mr. John Duncan, advocate, of Perth, has re-
quested us to contradict a statement that appeared in The Sun
a few days since, to the effect that he had drowned himself
while under a fit of mental aberration. His letter to us on
the subject informs us, that he is in the full enjoyment of ex-
cellent health and practice.
-

RYDE, AUG. 30.—The island was never known
to be fuller of fashionable company than at the present mo-
ment, particularly Ryde and the village of Shanklin. At the
latter romantic spot it has been for some time past difficult to
procure a lodging, all the best houses having been engaged
for longer periods than usual.
TUNBRIDGE-WELLS, AUG. 29.—Amongst the re-
cent fashionable arrivals, are—The Earl of Ripon, Viscount
Strangford, the Dowager Lady Ellenborough and the Misses
Law, Captain and the Hon. Mrs. Ryder Burton, the Hon.
Mr. and Mrs. Leveson Gower, Sir Sandford and Lady Gra-
ham, Sir George Talbot and the Misses Talbot, Lord and
Lady William Russel, Sir Walter Stirling, Sir Robert and
Lady Wilmot, Lady Fraser, Lady and Miss Hobhouse, Sir
Robert and Lady Mills, Lord Somerville, and Mi. Mas-
terton Ure.

COWES, AUG. 30.—0 n Saturday last the sailing
match (time race) took place for the Ladies' Cup, which was
won by the Pet, Captain Corry, R. N. The Regatta Ball
in the evening was numerously attended. AMOIT,St the com-
pany we noticed—His Grace the Duke of Norfolk; the Earl
and Countess of Belfast, Viscount and Viscountess Corry, the
Countesses of Listowell and Cavan, Lord and Lady Paget,
the Earl and Countess Cadogan, Lady de Horsey, Admirals
Hamond and Wollaston, General Johnstone, Captains G.
Pechell, Fuller, and Corry, &c. Dancing was kept up with
great spirit till a late hour. The betting at Brighton and in
London is going on in favour of the Water Witch ; she is
now the decided favourite, her opponent, the Galatea, not
being considered by any means equal to contend with her in
so long a race.
NEWPORT, AUG. 30.—The Royal Carisbrook
Archers held their Grand Meeting for prizes on Tuesday last
at the Castle, when the propitious state of the weather drew
together a very large assemblage of the rank, beauty, and
fashion of our Island. Her Grace the Duchess of St. Alban's
was expected. The shooting was particularly good throughout
the day. The Duchess of St. Alban's very kindly sent two
prizes, a pair of massive-gold ear-drops and an elegant gold
chain bracelet, which were awarded to Miss J. Simpson and
Miss Blachford. At the conclusion of the shooting about
eighty ladies and gentlemen sat down to a most sumptuous
cold collation, provided at the Castle, consisting of every de-
licacy that could be procured. After several speeches and
toasts appropriate to the occasion, and the Stewards had been
chosen for the ensuing year, dancing commenced, which was
kept up with great spirit for several hours. The Archery
Ball and Supper at the Guildhall on Wednesday evening were
most fashionably attended ; the Lady Patroness was Lady
Isabella Blachford.

HARROGATE.—Harrogate is very full of company ;
never more so. The King's birthday was kept as usual by
the Well-women, and all sorts of sports took place on the
Common. The Ball at the Dragon last Monday evening was
very numerously attended. The company made a most splen-
did appearance, and the dancing. to the strains of an admira-
ble band, was kept up with the most lively interest to an early
hour. On Wednesday a Public Lecture was delivered at the
Promenade Room, Low Harrogate, by Dr. Crook, on the fa-
cility of acquiring education. On Thursday morning, at the
same place, a Morning Concert was given by Miss Laidlaw,
the celebrated pianist, which was attended by a fashionable
company. The following noble and distinguished families are
at present sojourning here :--The Marquis of Queensberry,
Lord and Lady Carberry, the Countess of Hopetotin, Sir
Hugh Stewart, M. P. and family, Lord and Lady Hawks,
Lord Broughton, Lord Hope, Hon. Mr. and Miss Butler, the
Bishop of Kilmore, Sir G. and Lady Cox, Sir J. and Lady
Hall, Mr. Hudson, M. P., Sir W. and Miss Maxwell, Hon.
Dudley M'Donald, Lady Wedderburn, Admiral and Mrs.
Worsley, Colonel and Mrs. Rowan, Major-general and Mrs.
Beevor and family, Rev. Dr. Procter, General and Mrs.
Hall, Colonel and Mrs. Ince, Captain Jebb, Major and Mrs.
Mason, Captain Kelly, R. N., Major Uppleby, Colonel and
Mrs. Shadworth, Major Wadlow, Captain and Mrs. Rear- ,
man, Colonel and Mrs. Pitman, Captain and Mrs. Grant-
ham, Mr. Hardy, M. P., and family, &c.
Sir Francis Burdett has arrived at his seat, Fore-
mark, in this county, where the Hon. Baronet is entertaining
a select circle of Friends.—Derby Reporter.
MR. JUSTICE JEBB.—It is announced that Mr.
Justice Jebb has terminated his mortal career suddenly at Ros-
trevor, having been numbered with the many victims of cho-
lera in that quarter. As a judge his talents were respectable.
As a politician he was, according to Mr. Swain, "of the sort
that was much wanted :" the meaning of which was, that he
was of the faction to which Ireland owes all her distractions
and misery. As a private individual, we believe he was not
only free from censure, but entitled to praise. The death of
this gentleman may lead to consequences of greater moment
than usually result from changes on the judicial bench. If the
Government be wise, his successor will not be giddily ap-
pointed. A precipitate or injudicious choice may help the
public to an exceedingly indifferent judge, without adding to
their friends, or lessening their difficulties in managing the
affairs of Ireland. The event occurred at Rostrevor, where
the judge was with his family, spending a portion of the sum.
mer months. We understand he had eaten a considerable
quantity of fruit in the evening, particularly peaches. Judge
Jebb was called to the bar in 1787, and was raised to the bench
in 1817. Though advanced in years, he looked young and
active as a man of forty.—Dublin Morning Register.
" Rookwood," observes the New Monthly Maga-
zine, "is one of the most spirited and romantic of the season's.
productions. Full of life and fire, it excites the reader, and
carries' him onwards—much as" the true heroine of the tale
the mare Black Bess, does the true hero of it, Turpin—with
mingled sensations of terror and delight. It is a wild story
told with exceeding skill, and wrought up to the highest
pitch of which so singular and rare a subject is capable. The
interest of the work is kept thrillingly alive from the outset to
the end ; there is no time to pause till the volumes are
finished. It is an excellent book, and the author may take a
high station among the romance writers of our time. A new
edition has, we perceive, already appeared."
OPENING GP .TILE LEEDS AND SELBY
tthhee
RAIL-
WAY.--This work, we are informed, will be opened to
public on Monday, the 22d of September, til:, day
commencement of the Hull Musical Festival, but without
ceremony.