The Sun.
London, England, 1833-03-09 00:00:00

LITERATURE

WA VERLEY ANECDOTES, 2 VOLS.
LONDON, 1833.

These volumes form a very suitable accom-
paniment to the " Waverley Tales." They are
full of anecdotes, odd sayings, quaint aphorisms,
and little out-of-the-way scraps of 'border his-
tory, illustrative of the incidents, descriptions,
personages, and so forth of Sir Walter Scott.
Considerable research is evident, and much of
the genuine (but to us inexplicable gusto) of the
antiquary. As for order or arrangement, there
is none ; the volumes are merely an agreeable
omnium-gatherum, full of little novel points in
border history, that of themselves may form
capital ground-works of fiction.

MILTON'S WORKS. LONDON, 1833.

This poem forms the four first parts of a
Penny Edition of the British Poets, which
makes its appearance in weekly numbers, and is
afterwards bound up in monthly parts. Consi-
dering the price, this edition is really quite a
gem. It is beautifully printed, on the best paper,
and is of a convenient, portable size.

LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
EDINBURGH, 1833.

This volume forins- the eleventh number of
the Edinburgh Cabinet Library. It is the
biography of one of the most variously gifted
men that ever lent lustre to the pages of English
history—of the statesman—the soldier—the
poet—the courtier—the navigator—the wit—the
historian—in a word, of Sir Walter Raleigh.
Mr. Tytler has done justice to his subject, and
tasked all his powers of research to bring out
the character of his hero in full relief. A more
interesting volume we have not lately met with.

THE PARLIAMENTARY POCKET
COMPANION.

This is a pracical work upon what we should
have thought an impracticable subject, and
affords us a striking instance of what may be
accomplished by perseverance. The main fea-
ture in the book is the description it gives of
every Member of the House of Commons, his
residence, profession, family, and political his-
tory, and must have occupied vast time and
labour to have brought it to the all but per-
fect state in which we now find it. The reasons
given in the preface, as moving the compilers to
undertake the task they did, are thus stated :
" A conviction that the public, and even the
Members of the new Parliament themselves,
would he but little acquainted with the station,
family connections, pursuit, and political prin-
ciples of the House of Commons returned under
the Reform Acts ; and that even with respect to
future Parliaments, the memorable change in the
constitution of the Legislature, effected in 1832,
imparts such ascendancy to local influence, that
it becomes a matter of importance, and at the
same time of difficulty, to acquire clear, correct,
and 101 l inforMarion respecting the character of
the repre•entative budv."
We have little hesitation in saying that as far
as our examination has gone, and it has not
been a slight one, the whole, of those objects

his office.
t Aglionhy, Henry Aglionby, 5, Birch-court, Temple ;
Ne rhinen Hall, Cumber! mrl. (Cockermouth)

A Barrister of the Northern Circuit, and who has for some
years practised at the Cumberland, Westmoreland, Man-

chester, and Lancashire Sessions. Generally speaking, a
supporter of Ministers ; an advocate of the ballot, triennial
Parliaments, and a commutation of tithes. Is an advocate

of free trade ; but with respect to corn, thinks that the bur-
dens on land require a fixed duty on foreign grain. Is op-
posed to unrestricted paper currency; to the Bishops being

_ .
in the house of Lords, and having large revenues ; to the
taxes on knowledge, the assessed taxes generally, and the
monopoly of the East India Company. Mr. A. undertook to
resign his seat on any considerable body of his constituents
being dissatisfied with his Parliamentary conduct.

Agnew, Sir Andrew. Bart., 16, M tach..ster-huililings ;
Lnefin aw Castle, S•ranr en. Wig.nn. ( Wietnnshi re )
Born in 1793; married in 1916, Madalene, daughter of Sir David
Carnegie, Bart., of Southesk ; of Whig principles, inclining
to Conservatism ; he supported the Reform Act; was the

mover of the Sabbath Observance Committee, appointed
towards the close of the Session 1832 ; was first elected for
the county in 1830.

We shall often have occasion to refer to the
work, and hope the compilers will excuse our
being rather free in our extracts ; but out of
658 miniature biographies they can well spare
us a few. At present we shall content our-
selves with taking the accounts given of one of
the new Members for the city, and one of the
old ones for the county, who is we believe the
father of the House; we mean Mr. BYNG and
Mr. GROTE :--
fly ng, George, 5, St. James's-square ; Wrotham Park,
B irnet, Middlesex (Alidd'eaex)

Great grandson of Admiral Lord Byng and Viscount Toning.
ton, and grand nephew of the unfortunate Admiral Byng,
executed in 1757. Mr. Byng is brother to the Member for
Poole, and, of course, cousin to Lord Torrington ; he mar-
ried Harriet, eighth daughter of the late Sir William Mont
gomery, Bart. Of Whig principles; has sat for Middlesex
ever since 1786, when he was elected, in conjunction with
Wilkes, during the coalition Administration ; this makes his
thirteenth Parliament.

t Gro,e. Georg-, 62. Threadneedle-street. (London.)
A banker and merchant. We may mention as a matter of
curiosity, that Mr. Grote is said to be descended from Hugo
Grotius, one of whose sons, a merchant, came over from
Amsterdam, and settled in London ; since which some one
or other member of the family has been a distinguished mer-
chant of the city. A Radical Reformer ; in favour of tree_
trade, vote by ballot, triennial Parliaments, the immediate
abolition of slavery, the repeal of the corn laws, a reduction
of expenditure down to the scale of 1792, the repeal of the
assessed taxes and the taxes on knoweldge, and Church re.
form. Mr. Grote has put forth publications on the Bank
Charter, Greek History, Reform, &c. &c.

Campbell, Sir John, Knt., 9, New-street, Spring-gardens;
14, Paper-buildings. Temple. (Dudley.)
_

, . .. .
Son.in-law of Sir James Scarlett, the Member for Norwich. Sir
John was appointed Solicitor-General on the elevation of Sir

William Horne to the Attorney-Generalship, vacant by the
promotion of Sir Thomas Denman to the Bench. He is a
native of Scotland. When studying for the Bar in London,
he was connected with the Morning Chronicle newspaper,
and otherwise with the periodical press. Sat for Stafford in
the Parliaments of 1830 and 1831.

Having said so much in the way of praise,
we may be allowed to point out two errors into
which we think the compilers have fallen. The
first regards the contested elections. It was
perfectly unnecessary to make a separate divi-
sion of them, and much space would have
been saved it the names of the unsuccessful
candidates, and the numbers who voted for
them, had been incorporated in the division we
see styled the " House of Commons' Consti-
tuency." The second is a miscalculation perhaps
a misprint of the estimated nu tuber of facts
in the book. According to the data of the
compilers, they amount to 21,000 odd only—
not to 22,000 odd. We may mention as a
proof of the merit of the book; that several of
nearly the same title are advertised ; indeed, we
have seen one bearing exactly the same title, but
it Is nothing more than a sixpenny list of the
Members' names. We should suppose that an
application to the Court of Chancery would
protect the authors against this kind of piracy.

REFLECTIONS on the DOMESTIC attd
•RETGN POLICY of GREAT BRITAIN.
DY 0. BRITISH MERCHANT LONG RESIDENT ♦BROAD.

The British merchant long resident abroad,
we would venture a good round sum, is a Bri-
tish booby who has never stirred from home.
All his arguments smell more of the clod, than
of commerce, of narrow monopoly instead of
free mercantile dealings, of all that is ignorant
and selfish instead of the liberal and enlightened
spirit which would be manifested by nine out of
ten British merchants in handling the subjects
treated of in this volume. We are not inclined
to lead our readers through the wordy labyrinth
which the writer has spun out to between two and
three hundred pages, no slight proof of ingenuity,
by the way, when all that is into-vied to be deve-
loped is one single idea, viz., that people should
not be left to take care of themselves. As little
shall we think it necessary at this time of day to
answer his usual subjects of complaint against

past and present Governments ; it will he suffi-
cient to state one or two of them. Ist complaint
(page 7), " The rate of interest on the national
debt was reduced, and consequently, the general
interest on all practical undertakings!" A pretty
specimen of mercantile knowledge ; but the rea-
son our friend assigns is richer still. (Page 8)
s' In order to dissipate the general wealth in
foreign countries." By all means let us pay
ten per cent. on the national debt, " in order
to accumulate the general wealth in this country,"
as the merchant would say. 2dly (page 8),
"Our policy having made the people pay for many
years double the rate for produce to the pro-
prietors of the soil, that the wealth of the
country warranted, we have, since the war, re-
fused to pay that price any longer. Oh rare
British merchant! 3diy (page 9), " The at-
tempts made to emancipate the slaves are unjust,
and manifest great ignorance of human nature."
We marvel what the lesson on human nature ma)
be which is taught the writer by the periodical
risings of the slaves, the burnings, murders,
rapes, and desolation they occasion. 4thly
(page 16), " The possessors of land are un-
justly dealt by, if they are not insured four
or fine per cent. on the capital invested in it by
them." Oh, profound merchant ! Oh, wise
Statesman ! great young Judge, why art thou
not in thy proper sphere, sitting by the side of
my Lords Noodle and Doodle, devising mea-
sures to make buyers pay the prices sellers
choose to demand, or calculating what precise
degree of starvation human beings will bear with-
out annihilating the considerate regulators of
their appetites ? 'We can go no further, and
we dare say that our readers have had enough of
the British Merchant's reflections as well as
ourselves.