The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-01 00:00:00

MAGAZINE DAY.

FRASER'S MAGAZINE.
i:f he " Book of Enoch" sets out with a pro-
ious flourish of trumpets respecting the in-
gisable discovery of this long-lost apochryphal
lolls by Bruce, in Abyssinia. The author
eils us, however, little or nothing to justify his
notes, but indulges instead in some crazy,
:earning, metaphysical speculations, more wmg-
-1
thatteal than the riddle of the Sphynx. Never-
eless, the essay must be a " magnificent" one,
t
its author tells us so ; and, surely, he is a
huge ! To us, however, the profuse extracts
t,°°l Byron, Coleridge, and Southey, are its main
itseetnmendations. " The Doctor Bewitched"
a a tolerable ghost story, showing us how,
,Ige other day, an Irish M.D. was all but
to'lghtened to death by an old ugly Irish witch,
Whose long yarns he refused to listen. The
death of his patients, however, which the hob-
goblin; predicted, may be referred to natural,
tncnit having recourse to supernatural, causes.
talitelY there needs no witch to kill an apothe-
tl.q 8 Patients ! His own drugs are quite suffi-
4ent• The origin of this tale may be found in
1:: Theodore Hook's clever piece of diablerie
Who' if
the Gipsey"—an elderly gentlewoman'
°' if we remember rightly, grinned an old
bie.rehant and his two daughters into fits, and
titnately into their coffins, because the father,with
Shrewd eye to business, refused to tip her half-a-
-°"1,11 one dark night in Bedford square. " Boa-
tee 8 Memoirs of Mrs. Inchbald" is an interesting
n
iiektoir of one of the brightest stars in English
ht:rature. By all accounts Mrs. Inchbald must
v:e been a most fascinating creature ; lovely,
47,eeirni, sensitive ; a piquant compound of
de"111' energy and feminine weakness. No won-
ehe turned the heads of all who approached
iher I Had she lived in the days of Cleopatra,
II: Tight have, made or marred an empire. Old
-4,4 en has striven hard to destroy our interest
tietlna lady, but in vain. He has made myste-
t4 sof the plainest facts, and turned the plainest
atetB Into mystery ; shaking his head ominously
la the most common-place anecdotes, and
inching a truism with as much noise and
bop, as if he were a God launching a thunder-
°' We know no biographer of this or any
ser day, who brings forth his matters-of-fact
keSuch a show of writhing and convulsion.
0: seems astonished at every thing, even at his
wiII sagacity. In this last respect his readers
h' no doubt, sympathize with his surprize.
lhe following anecdote of Mrs. Inchbald is
!IllY characteristic :
At YVhile she was dispensing her liberal contributions to
44 lick and aged of her family and friends, by five and
Pounds at a time, she would refuse to part with a
pence, even under the most pressing circumstances.
140 instances of this peculiarity have come to our know-
* te, which, as they have never before appeared in print,
• °,:hall here lay before our readers.
%11l It was her habit, for a length of time, to dine every
oeth(l,Y with Mr. and Mrs. Kemble. On one of these
her-4°,48, in the winter season, with snow upon the ground,
11/11,4"4 Were earnestly solicited by the poor old man
age 'Wept the crossing in Great Russell.street. The
pier. tottered habiliments of the suppliant, and the
%awl" of the day, from which they were mutually.
fat/mil-1." Were advocates that pleaded strongly in his
,omens. _I
u° touched her compassion, though they were not
'et•en enough to subdue her settled habit of minute
4 d °Eby ; she suppressed her pity, walked on, and turned
4„eaf ear to his entreaties. She had hardly passed
it-4:131 the hearing of his fluent supplications, when her
tratt4Ped on a piece of frozen snow, and she fell pros-
half Q 4 the pavement. As rapidly as his years and his
hert(Nlid limbs would allow, the aged sweeper ran to
th,(l4istance. Still her avarice was untouched ; she
estred him, and pursued her course. But as she pro-
teih-ed On her way, the touch of natural compassion, her
sq„-e 5f the man's generosity, and the upbraidtngs of her
14; heart, striving against the habitual control of a
leg ''gr spirit of calculation, produced such an. overpower-
', efliet of opposing feelings, that, on arriving at the
(Thies', she fainted away.
slip The second instance is of a less tragic descriptio9.
44Wilkinson and Miss Siddons had, one summer's
likt:ingt driven out in a pony-chaise, to visit Mrs. Inch-
reeLi,t Kensington. The day closed in upon them more
tur."l than they bad anticipated, and they were anxious
ti,treturn
„ home to Westbourn by a shorter route than
OA' had taken on the way out. But to accomplish this
tee
Ise W 44 a turnpike to be passed, and both the ladies
BoutleZwit money. They entreated and implored Mrs.
ttee:•,4l4 lend them two pence, on this really serious
tat 41; but no! all their solicitations and most touch-
her rePreoentations were in vain—nothing could move
heiiih(4e persisted in her refusal, saying, with her usual
You V" on the last words of the sentence, " I'll lend
kit en pounds, because you'll remember to pa-ay that ;
146,:ion't lend you two pence, for that you will never
again..
it Gallery of Literary Characters," gives an
outrageous caricature of Miss Martineau, who
seated before a fire, with a cat, like a familiar,
her shoulder. From the expression of the
TdY's countenance, we should take her to be
hehobgoblin that bewitched the Irish Doctor.
b explanatory memoir is satirical and pointed,
ttlt too wilfully exaggerated- " On National
late.°4(nny" contains some useful, practical eaten-
/I'4°lle. " The " Loss of the Amphitrite" gives
letY anti-Gallician version of this frightful
"t4Btrophe.

TAIT'S MAGAZINE.
xrlihough ever in extremes—verging on the
orth Pole of Radicalism, yet there is no deny-
IA the stubborn consistency, talent, and un-
r'ehing perseverance of our friend Tait. He
also to be held in respect for his incessant
assaults on all expediency systems. He has no
4°tion of truckling or vacillation in politics—of
o!atesman competent to discern the right track,
lie,ing too timid or too lazy to follow it up. In
it: 'State and Prospects of the Radical Party"
vir, Paints, '• in glowing colours, the increasing
tiour and influence of the sect, and flings into
ePer shadow than ever Rembrandt painted, the
ils°,sPeets of Toryism and Whiggery. Still he
tail 110 means blind to the errors of the Radi-
s' and laments their disunion and tendency to
act
rather as individuals than in masses. " Win-
orsor the Curse of God," is a noble poem,
ite a thousand blemishes. Mr. Elliott, like
°4lsinith, in his Traveller, seats himself on a
Trin
untain-steep, whence he moralizes on the scenes
below and around him, but unlike his chaster and
foie kindly prototype, permits the jaundiced
e"lts of the Radical to mar the harmony of
ths„feelings• This is bad taste, and shows that
tieTugh much of a poet, he is still more of a poli-
ita'L We believe Mr. Elliott is the first man
14: ever penned a philippic against the corn
Ai 8 On the summit of the loftiest of the Derby
srPs' His own blacksmith's shop would be a
utter place for such an effusion. These are the