The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-03 00:00:00

THE MAGAZINES--CONTINUED•

THE ASIATIC JOURNAL.
Parbury, Allen, and Co.
We have only a faint recollection of how we felt,
in our boyish years, at the near prospect of the holi-
days ; but we perfectly well recollect the radiant face
of the Speaker of the House of Commons when the
last session was at its close. The Honourable Gen-
tleman had exhausted—and no wonder I—the im-
mense stock of patience he had set out with ; it was
visible that he could hardly keep his seat for the
fidgets, and, with all his Tory predilections, he
seemed ready to snap his fingers in the face of his
friend, Sit Robert. Just so it is with us—pace tanti
viri—in coming to the last of the periodicals. We
have all possible regard for the Asiatic, but, never-
theless and notwithstanding, we too shall snap our
fingers, and make as short work with him as may be.
" On the Oriental Phraseology of the New Testa-
ment," is an article much more learned than useful.
" Madras, Seringapatam, and Bangalore," is a plea-
sant sketch upon anything and everything, of which
the following extract is no bad specimen :
" The Madras jugglers are famous all over the world ; the
exploits of Ramo Samee are still fresh in the recollection of
the inhabitants of London, and though the exhibition of simi-
lar acts of dexterity is often more extraordinary than pleasing,
the display of legerdemain in India would almost induce the
belief that the age of necromancy had not passed away. A
man who, in 1828, seated himself in the air without any appa-
rent support, excited as much interest and curiosity as the auto-
maton chess-player who astonished all Europe a few years
ago ; drawings were exhibited in all the Indian papers, and
various conjectures formed respecting the secret of his art, but
no very satisfactory discovery was made of the means by which
he effected an apparent impossibility. The bodies of the Ma-
dras jugglers are so lithe and supple, as to resemble those of
serpents rather than men. An artist of this kind will place a
ladder upright on the ground, and wind himself in and out
through the rings until he reaches the top, descending in the
same manner, keeping the ladder, which has no support what-
ever, in a perpendicular position. Some of the most accom-
plished tumblers will spring over an enormous elephant, or five
camels placed abreast ; and in rope-dancing they arc not to be
outdone by any of the wonders of Sadler's Wells. Swallowing
the sword is a common operation, even by those who are not
considered to be the most expert ; and they have various other
exploits with naked weapons of a most frightful nature. A
woman,—for the females are quite equal to the men in this
kind of feats,—will dip the point of a sword in some black pig-
ment, the hilt is then fixed firmly in the ground, and after a few
whirls in the air, the artiste takes off a portion of the pigment
with her eye-lid. A sword and four daggers are placed in the
ground, with their edges and points upwards, at such a dis-
tance from each other as to admit of a man's head between
them ; the operator then plants a scymetar firmly in the ground,
sits down behind it, and at a bound throws himself over the
scymetar, pitching his head exactly in the centre between the
daggers, and, turning over, clears them and the sword. Walk-
ing over the naked edges of sabres seems to be perfectly easy ;
and some of these people will stick a sword in the ground,
and step upon the point in crossing over it. A more agreeable
display of the lightness and activity, which would enable the
performers to tread over flowers without bending them, is
shown upon a piece of thin linen cloth stretched out slightly in
the hands of four persons, which is traversed without ruffling
it, or forcing it from the grasp of the holders. The lifting of
heavy weights with the eyelids is another very disgusting ex-
hibition. Some of the optical deceptions are exceedingly cu-'
rious, and inquirers are to this day puzzled to guess how plants
and flowers can be instantaneously produced from seeds."
" Kiernander, the Missionary," no fictitious per-
sonage, by-the-bye, is to the full as amusing as any
'of his brother jugglers recorded in the above extract.
It is impossible, however, to bear him malice, for—
poor fellow I—he was twice married. It must be a
heart of stone that would, or could, deal roughly with
him after this infliction. He actually died of a se-
cond wife. " The Sword of Antar" extends, says
the Editor, to twenty-six volumes, whether folio or
quarto he has omitted to state. After such an an-
nouncement, we dare not lay hands even upon the
episode, given in the magazine, lest we should pull
down a whole library upon our luckless heads. " Go-
vernment House, Calcutta," is a delightful piece of
travelled gossip ; and with one brief extract from it
we conclude :

" The principal entrances are approached by noble flights of
steps ; but these, being without shelter, are never used except
upon state occasions, when a native durbar is held, and the
nobles of Hindostan come in all their barbaric pomp to pay
their respect at the vice-regal court : a circumstance of rare
occurrence in the present day. The carriages of the Euro-
pean visitants drive under these steps, and the company enter
through the lower regions.
" The effect upon a stranger, who has not been previously
made acquainted with the cause of the arrangement, is very
singular. It is scarcely pcissible for a lively imagination to
escape the notion that, instead of being the guest of a palace,
he is on the point of being conducted to some hideous dun-
geon as a prisoner of state. The hall, which opens upon the
dark cloister formed by the arch of the steps above, is large,
low, and dimly lighted, completely realizing the beau ideal of
the interior of the inquisition. A good deal of rubbish of va-
rious kinds, piled confusedly and put out of the way behind
rows of pillars, traversing the length of the hall, favours the
supposition that it is a place of punishment, for in their shape-
less obscurity, these fire-engines, or printing-presses, or what-
ever they may be, have very much the appearance of instru-
ments of torture. Upon the floor, the spectator, who has im-
bibed the apprehension that he has been entrapped into some
pandemonium of horror, may see the dead bodies of the vic-
tims to a tyrannical government thickly strewed around--
human forms apparently wrapped in winding-sheets, and
stretched out without sense or motion upon the bare pavement,
add to the ghastly effect of the scene. These are the palan-
quin-bearers, who, wrapped up from head to foot in long
coarse cloths, are enjoying the sweets of repose, little dream-
ing of the appalling spectacle they present to unaccustomed
eyes. Many dusky figures move about with noiseless tread,
and were it not for one redeeming circumstance, the whole pa-
norama would be calculated to inspire horror and alarm. In
the midst of these dreary catacombs, gay parties of visitors,
ladies in ball-dresses, and gentlemen in full uniform, are pass-
ing along, not in the least discomposed by appearances so fa-
miliar to them, even when there is the additional agremen of a
fog, which in the cold season usually casts a mystic veil over
these subterraneous apartments."

THE ANALYST. Simpkin and Marshall.
This new magazine is the natural growth of a pro-
vincial town, and it would, therefore, be hardly just to
scrutinize it too narrowly. We may, however, recom-
mend the editor to be more liberal of his local infor-
mation, where, it is natural to suppose, he would be
strongest ; it would prove equally acceptable, though
from different motives, to his town and country
readers. Besides, this would give a peculiar feature
to his work, a something on which to ground a spe-
cific claim to the public notice, while it would spare
him all comparison with his powerful rivals, who,
having the talent of the two capitals at command, are
not likely to be beaten on their own topics. Does
not Worcester, or do not any of the neighbouring
counties, supply subjects of antiquarian or other inte-
rest in sufficient abundance to make the mine worth
working ?

THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF AGRICUL-

TURE. Blackwood.

There will be some difficulty, we suspect, in per-
suading those, who are not devoted to agriculture, to
take up this useful and amusing journal. The novel
readers, a class whose name is legion,,will be scared
away by the very title, like so many sparrows at the
sound of a cherry-clapper ; the professional of all
kinds will hardly stoop from their proper pedestals to
meddle with such humble matters ; the blue-stockings,
while they turn up their noses and uncork their scent-
bottles,
will protest that manure is a thing totally un-
heard of in Arcadia ; and the citizen, having heard at
some time of his life that hot rolls were made of the
Bread-fruit tree, will not deem it necessary to push his
agricultural inquiries any farther. Yet all these
classes may derive both pleasure and profit from the
study of this admirable pamphlet. It does something
more than teach how corn is to be grown or cattle to
be fed, though a man will not be the worse for the
knowledge of such things either ; it shows science in

its practical application to one of the most essential
pursuits of human industry, and dignifies it by the

connection.

Amongst a multitude of valuable papers, though
most of them are too long for notice, is an account of
Mr. Kemp's work " On decomposed Salt as a
Manure." An erroneous notion at one time pre-
vailed amongst our farmers, that muriate of soda was
beneficial to the land, and added considerably to its
productive powers. It seems strange such a fancy