The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-05 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

A Story about le7nen and _kilos. By Neyland
Thornton. London : Whittaker and Co.

At a time when the independence of Switzerland
is threatened by the aggressive policy of the French
Emperor, a history of the struggle for freedom in
the Tyrol at the beginning of the present century
cannot but be acceptable to the public. This little
work treats exclusively of the events of that time,
and much information respecting the history of the
Swiss patriots Hofer, Spechbacherolnd Haspinger,
is to be gathered from its pages. The accounts of
the engagements are well written, and the geogra-
phical knowledge of the writer enables him to de-
scribe the marches; manoeuvres, and positions of
the troops and patriots succinctly and clearly.

Colburn's New Monthly_
Magazine.—A compari-
son of the relative capabilities of the French and
the Austrian armies is the first subject that meets
the reader. It is justly observed that one great
evil in the Austrian army is the variety of nation-
alities and tongues. The German phrases required
for drill are learnt by rote, and the officers are
bound to speak the Imperial language. But it is
easy to imagine what confusion must result from
the difference of language in the course of a cam-
paign, and most especially on the day of battle
where sudden commands or changes in the plan of
action may be necessary. Still greater must be the
disadvantage of the antagonistic spirit existing in
many of the races, and the want of vitality and
energy in their warfare is readily accounted for by
the lack of a common purpose and the absence of a
uniting sympathy. The French, besides being ani-
mated by a national feeling and common cause, do not
labour under the same disadvantage with respect to
language. " The language is the same throughout
the army, and though the Basque peasant may not
understand the Alsatian or the Breton, their sons
all speak the same written French more or less
correctly, and can impart their views and supposi-
tions to each other." Mrs. Bushby, who appears
to be well acquainted with colonial life, gives us the
first part of a West Indian sketch, with the agreeable
title of "The Belles of the Island." The interesting
story of " East Lynne" is, however, the chief
attraction in fiction. It continues at some length,
and, in accordance with the author's love of the hor-
rible, the corpse of the Earl of Mount Severn is
arrested a day or two after his death by some un-
scrupulous creditors. Poor Lady Isabel is left
absolutely penniless, reduced to accepting a home
and pecuniary aid from her cousins, one of whom at
least is not much inclined to bestow it. Mr.
Carlyle proves himself a true and faithful friend,
and we may anticipate some interesting chapters, as
the mystery connected with Richard Hare is not yet
unravelled. We suspect the military admirer of
Lady Isabel will be proved to have been implicated
in the murder. The Emperor Frederick the
Second occupies the twenty-eighth number of Sir
Nathaniel's Notes on Note-Worthies. His character
being little known to the general reader invests the
essay with some interest. Cyrus Redding, the
veteran contributor to the pages of the New
Monthly, furnishes an article on Pope and Boling-
broke. It is a brief sketch of the two illustrious
friends, and chiefly relates to some passages in Mr.
Rose's Diaries. The Wine Question is discussed at
length, and the qualities and prices of wines
in the different European States are cited. W. C.
Kent contributes a graceful adaptation of a poem
by Victor Hugo, and papers on Lord Dundonald's
Autobiography and Marine Artillery will attract
the naval reader.

.11facmillan's Magazine.

This comparatively new magazine continues with
spirit. The Rev. F. D. Maurice is the author of
the opening paper, which is a lengthened essay on
the " Revision of the Prayer Book." The opinions
of the writer on this subject do not seem to be very
clear, but he strongly objects to the maintenance of
the Act of Uniformity. " Some Recollections of
an Old Street," is the title of a graphic descrip-
tion of a quaint old-fashioned thoroughfare, with
its pump and its haunted house and other charac•
teristic peculiarities. The author of " John Hali-
fax " contributes an essay on " A Hedge-side
Poet," one James Withers, a Cambridgeshire
labouring man, whose poems have been published
by subscription. Many of the verses here quoted
show taste and talent, and are highly creditable to
the author considering his circumsttnces ; but we
wonder that the critic should have selected for
especial commendation the " Song of the Butter-
fly," which bears such a striking likeness to Ten-
nyson's " Brook." A prominent feature in the
magazine is, of course, the continuation of " Tom
Brown at Oxford." It is a satisfaction to find
when you begin to read a university story that it
is written by an author well acquainted with college
life, and not by one who having, during some part of
his existence, spoken to a few under-graduates, and
perhaps visited Oxford or Cambridge, considers
himself competent to enter into detail on matters of
which he is ignorant. The author of " Tom Brown
at Oxford" is at home in his subject. His description
of a boat-race is excellent, the anxiety of the cap-
tain, and the discontent of the crew after a failure,
the resignation of a rated member, the watchful-
ness of the university coxswain to pick out the best
oars in the leading boats, are all depicted to the
life. The final struggle between the St. Ambrose
and Oriel boats for the head of the river is thus
described :—" Another fifty yards and Oriel is safe,
but the look on the captain's face is so ominous
that their coxswain glances over his shoulder.
The bow of St. Ambrose is within two
feet of their rudder. It is a moment
for desperate expedients. He pulls his left tiller-
rope suddenly, thereby carrying the stern of his
own boat out of the line of the St. Ambrose, and
calls on her crew once more ; they respond gallantly
yet, but the rudder is against them for a moment,
and the boat drags. St. Ambrose overlaps. " A
bump, a bump," shout the St. Ambrosians on the
shore. "Row on, row on," screams Miller. He
has not yet felt the electric shock, and knows he
will miss his bump if the young ones slacken for
a moment. A young coxswain would have gone on
making shuts at the stern of the Oriel boat, and so
have lost. A bump now, and no mistake ; the bow
of the St. Ambrose boat joins the oar of the Oriel
stroke, and the two boats pass the winning-post
with the way that was on them when the bump was
made, so near a shave was it." The succeeding
chapters relating to Tom's illicit love-making, and
Hardy's motherly watchfulness over him, are very
well in their way, particularly our hero's reflec—
tions in the privacy of his own rooms when the
Devil and his good Angel dispute command; and
in the end, when (as of course is the case) virtue
triumphs, the satisfaction expressed by the libertine
Drysdale at his resolution to behave honourably,
Well, old fellow, now you've
made
where u
ph he suary
ms ,
mind, I tell you I am devillish glad
of it." But there is more romance than reality
about them, and although they look well on paper,
one may travel far to find their prototypes in real
life. Two poems appear in this number. The first
is by Mr. Monckton Milnes, and displays many of
the most pleasing qualities of his verses. The second
is the first instalment of a poem of somewhat for-
midable extent, both as regards subject and
length, by the late Dr. George Wilson of Edin-
burgh. It is founded on an interesting inci-
dent which peculiarly attracted the author as a
mfari he of
m
of an Egyptian princess, grew When
u m sciencem y A bulbous root found in . the hand
planted. This singular fact is the subject of the
[ of
Egyptian poem before us, which contains some
fine thoughts. A brief paper on " Readers in
1760 and 1460," quotes Bacon's decision that
" some books are to be tasted, others
to be swal-
lowed, and some few chewed and digested ;" and
expresses a fear that the first class will soon absorb
the other two. An essay on "An English Painter's
Tomb," reminds us that one, of our great pictorial
teachers, William Hogarth, bias neither a grave in
Westminster Abbey nor a monument in any part of
London. Thomas Hughes gives us an article on
" Italy resurgent and Britain looking on," written
in a bold, frank, straightforward spirit that we wish
he could impart to some high in authority and
power.

g‘graapglaiyzinoef. the Duke of
.Daily's Monthlyan dbio
An engraving
Bedford constitutes the second
of the series of
English sportsmen, which is the intention of the
proprietors of this magazine to publish. " The
Experiences of Sydney Godolphin Yahoo" improve
as they advance. The description ofsetlhf
ridiculousetalented
and good-hearted hero making
by attempting to come the " heavy swell" in the
north of Scotland is good, and the perplexity of
Ethel Cameron at the conflicting characters per-
sonated by her admirer is amusing. The best ar-
ticle, however, is that on " The English Race-
horse," by Admiral H. T. Rous :
"There are not many men in England who can train horses
scientifically, although every head groom brought up in a
racing stable flatters himself he is fully qualified f'or the
task. The cleverest trainer in England said to me last
year, ' I have trained horses twenty years, and every year
I discover a weak point, and that I have a great deal to
learn.' No three horses require the same work, the same
food, and the same physic ; their wants and requirements
ought to be the serious study of t.he trainer. How often
we see a heavy WI on a hard pulling tsyo-year 9ld, and a
light weight on a lazy old horse, galloping a mile and. a
mile and a half together, without any calculation being
made as to the natural result. The cleverest trainer ought
not to take charge of above twenty-two horses :
t is impos-
sible that ho can do justice to a greater number, consider-
ing that every horse's legs and feet ought to be well in-
spected twice a day, with an eye th the manger every time
they are fed. Therefore, in the great public stables, where
sixty or seventy horses are kept, the great man pays espe-
cial attention to the six or seven most promising or noto-
riously good horses, like a head schoolmaster, who take
poams With the clever boys who may tarn out a credit to