The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1834

Buonaparte's egotism was of a comprehensive, nay,
of a sublime character ; that of Byron was made up of
pettiness. The former could trample on every passion,
save that of ambition ; the other was a slave to all in
turn. The author's sketch of Lucien Buonaparte,
though slight, is accurate, and will be read with inte-
rest :

" Lucien Buonaparte was below his brother only in genius
and ambition ; he was his equal in strength of mind, his supe-
rior in clearness of intellect and rectitude of principle. In
the earlier part of Napoleon's career, Lucien was his assistant,
his companion • and on the 18th Brumaire saved his life from
the rage of the Council of Five Hundred. But at a later
period, when Napoleon's power became absolute, he received
none of the honours, accepted none of the kingdoms which
were bestowed upon the rest of his family. His principles
were originally republican, and they remained so to the last.
Napoleon is known to have made him many offers of power,
which were all steadily rejected; but the latest of these propo-
sals gave rise to a scene thus described to us by an officer of
the Imperial Army, as currently believed in Italy. In No-
vember, 1807, Napoleon sent for Lucien to meet him at
Mantau, and there, after a conference with some of his general
officers on his future operations, they were dismissed, and the.
brothers remained alone. The Conqueror grasped the hand
of -the hitherto inflexible patriot, and tracing on the map which
lay before him the wide extent of his dominions, he said,
" Now choose—any part shall be yours—we will share them
all." Lucien replied that his principles were unaltered, and
would remain so; he could not therefore accept of his bro-
ther's proposal." Eh bien, rejoined the Emperor, "we shall
meet again at dinner, when, perhaps —" He left the room
by one door ; Lucien at the same instant quitted it at another,
and entering the carriage he had only just left, was, before the
dinner hour arrived, when temptation was again to be thrown
in his way, some leagues on the road to the retirement from
which he did not again emerge till Napoleon became Em-
peror."

" My Hobby"—why it should have this title, we
know not l—is a tale of a painful, almost of a repulsive
nature ; the hero is a lunatic who can never endure the
sight of the full moon ; yet for some reason that is not
very clearly explained, he selects as the day of his
bridal, that on which the moon is at the full ;- and
death by an uncontrollable paroxysm of madness is the
consequence. " Theodore Hook's Gilbert Gurney,"
has not one spark, however faint, of this agreeable
writer's usual liveliness. The dialogues are prolix and
prosy, and are just such as might be spoken at any
time, by any people, on any subject. " The Judg-
ment of Paris" is a graceful fiction, whose style is
polished as ivory, founded evidently on Ovid's beautiful
epistle of" (Enone to Paris," the two first lines of which,
" Perlegis ? An conjux prohibet nova ? Perlege, non est
Ista Mycence3 litera scripta manu,"
have always struck us as a sufficient refutation of the
sneers of those critics—and they are numerous--who
assert that Ovid has no feeling. " The Crimes of
Prize-fighters" is an admirable paper, for which the
Editor deserves the thanks of the community. He ex-
poses the crimes, and horrors, and knaveries of the
Ring in an intrepid and straight-forward spirit.
" Irish Beggars" is a tale full of racy touches of cha-
racter, from the pen of Mrs. Hall.

THE ASIATIC JOURNAL.
Parbury, Allen, and Co.

We advise all lawyers who think of practising at the
Bar in India to read the first article in this number,
before they make any further preparations for a voyage
to Calcutta. We care nothing for the writer's argu-
ments, nor his querulousness ; but we lay considerable
stress on his facts—if they indeed merit such an appel-
lation. " Sacred History of Mahomedans" being an
acknowledged abridgment of M. Reinaud's work on the
same subject, leaves us nothing to remark respecting its
want of originality. At the same time, we do the
abridger the justice to observe, that he has shown as
much judgment in the way in which he executed his
task, as he did good taste, and right Oriental feeling, in
selecting it. May we expect he will continue to enrich
the pages of English literature with the gorgeous le-
gends of the East ? That, indeed, would be doing a
scrvice to us of the Western world, for which we would
not be wanting in gratitude. But to the class of per-
sons to whom this Magazine is more particularly ad-
dressed, the best paper in this number is " Oude,"
containing a vivid description of the Court of that once
powerful kingdom. Altogether this number is neither
wanting in freshness nor variety, and the literary no-
tices are not without considerable merit.

THE HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL.
Chapman and Hall.

This number will be more than usually interesting
to the class of persons who are in the habit of reading
this periodical, as quarrels seldom fail to excite an inte-
rest among those who may happen to be spectators of
them. The individual whose fraud on the Horticultural
Society was lately discovered, labours hard to vindi-
cate himself and vituperate his antagonists ; but he has
evidently got the worst of it ; facts are too stubborn
for him, and his best policy would be to let the matter
rest, and say as little about it as possible.
The " Descriptive Catalogue of Roses," is an
amusing paper, though we dare say the writer did not
mean it as such. However, we found it so, in remark-
ing the singular agglomeration of names bestowed upon
the varieties of this beautiful flower. We have the
Victor Hugo rose, and the Duke of Wellington rose,
and the Lord Brougham rose, and some hundred other
roses ; and then there is the King of Holland rose,
and the King of Belgium rose—by the bye can these
flowers possibly live happily together and grow in the
same garden ?

AN ENCYCLOP2EDIA OF GEOGRAPHY.
Longman and Co.

The highest praise we can bestow on this number,
of this most excellent publication, is, that it is equal
to those which preceded it ; and of its predecessors we
have already given our conscientious opinion. The
subjects of the present number are China, Thibet,
Japan, and the countries thereto adjacent. The en-
gravingS are numerous and well executed. It is without
question the cheapest and most useful work now
published.

THE SPORTING MAGAZINE.
Pittman.

A good Number, embellished with a portrait of
Joseph Gilliver carrying a game cock just trimmed
for the pit, engraved by Roberts, from a painting by
Webb ; and a portrait of Bran, by Parr, from a pic-
ture by Dalby. The veteran sportsman looks proud
of his cock, which is of the right breed, and seems
ready to fly out of his hand. The lower part of the
engraving is, however, very indifferently executed.
That of Bran is much better in every respect. There
is an expressiveness amounting to intelligence in the
eye of the noble animal, which we like very much.
The articles are in general full of life, and of the right
sporting character.

THE NEW SPORTING MAGAZINE.
Ackermann.

A full length portrait of the Member for Pontefract
adorns the present number, and we may truly say that
the features of Mr. Gully are the only redeeming fea-
tures which the Magazine can this month boast of.
Our old, friend is more than usually barren of enter-
tainment ; we miss the animation and the fire which
sometimes render him so delightful a companion. The
best article in the number is that entitled ic Field
Sports of Southern India," and even. that is but so-so.
As for the poetry it is far below even the Magazine
standard—and Heaven knows that in general is low.
enough.

has been taken, is by Sir Thomas Lawrence, who never
had a worthier subject for his pencil. The Landscape
Illustration, is the old Castle of Penshurst, near Tun-
bridge Wells, still the family seat of the Sidneys, and
once the favourite resort of the chivalrous author of
the " Arcadia." The literary contents are well se-
lected, and diversified in their nature.