The Sun.
London, England, 1832-03-01 00:00:00

FRASER'S MAGAZINE

isClimmaoxnthof Cmeornreetertiheasn" s uaanl
otyn.tain,,s
Theth
variety.
amusing paper, displaying no little information
and sterling humour. It •is a quiz upon the
new Cemetery Company lately started, or in the
act of starting, we do not exactly know which.
" The Stock-Exchange" is a ponderous affair,
which should have been considerably shorn of
its dimensions. " The Proposed General Fast"
is a rambling species of lyric, containing some
good lines and striking imagery. " Life and
Times of Wicklif," is a staid and sensible
essay, the production of a gentleman and a
scholar. It is one of those choice magazine
articles which may be read with advantage.
" Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts" is a de-
fence of the unknown tongues, by no less a
personage than the Rev. Edward Irving him-
self, the great prop and pillar (its only one, we
believe) of the imposture. The following is
the Rev, Rhapsodist's account of the musq of

the tongues, when in full play at the CaledoP
Chapel :

.11

" But no one heating and observing the utterance
for a moment doubt it, inasmuch as the whole utteral
from the beginning to the ending of it, is with a pof'
and strength and fulness, and sometimes rapidity of von
altogether different from that of the person's ordinal 11
terance in any mood ; and I would say, both in its fort
and in its effects upon a simple mind, quite superliatorai
There is a power in the voice to thrill the heart and ole'
awe the spirit after a manner which I have never Pic
There is a march, and a majesty, and a sustained paadet
in the voice, especially of those who prophesy, whi
have never heard even a resemblance to, except now
then in the sublimest and most impassioned mood,'
Mrs. Siddons and Miss O'Neil. It is a mere abandv
ment of all truth to call it screaming or cryinci: it is tl
most majestic and divine utterance which I havelo
heard, some parts of which I never heard equalled, and 0
part of it surpassed, by the finest execution of genius sI
of art exhibited at the oratorios in the concerts of anciei
music. And when the speech utters itself in the
a psalm or spiritual song, it is the likest to some of lb,
most simple and ancient chants in the cathedral service)

insomuch that I have been often led to think th it tbei
chants, of which some can be traced up as high as 0
day of Ambrose, are recollections and transmissions of fht
inspired utterances in the primitive Church. Most ffe;
quently the silence is broke by utterance in a tongue, sO"
this continues for a longer or a shorter period, sometiot
occupying only a few words, as it were filling the 0
gush of sound, sometimes extending to five minutes„t
even more, of earnest and deeply.felt discourse, wf
which the heart and the soul of the speaker is manifest
much moved, to tears and sighs and unutterable gm/
ings, to joy and mirth and exultation, and even laugh(
of the heart. So far from being unmeaning gibberish,t!
the thoughtless and heedless sons of Belial hive said, jell
regularly formed, well pronounced, deeply-felt discout'
which evidently wanteth only the ear of him whose nat
tongue it is, to make it a very masterpiece of power
speech."

- As melody, after all, is a matter of taste, at
one man has as much right to an opinion
another, we shall beg leave to enter our mos,
earnest and unqualified protest against the justi
of Mr. Irving's criticisms. It has been our fa
to hear more than one " Fair Unknown" gil
tongue at the Caledonian Chapel, and a moi
barbarous dissonance ear never yet heard, imag'
nation never Net conceived. It as neither a bra",
nor a howl, nor a scream, but a strange combintri
tion of all three. Grimaldi made the nearest,
proach to it when he indulged in those inimitablij
chuckles at Sadler's Wells, which never faild
to throw box after box full of schoolboys into
hysterics. Mr. Irving must surely have been
indulging in a sly, grave joke, when he coal'
pared the unknown tongues to the chauno
of the Cathedral service ! The " Galleol
of Literary Characters" contains what tl
termed, a strong likeness to Goethe, which
with every respect to that eminent individual
be it said, looks very like an old clothesmati
But the line of wisdom is seldom the line o
beauty. The three ugliest dogs that ever existed
were Socrates, Gibbon, and Johnson. As t(
the former he was a finished fright. Yet wha
mind lay hid within those rugged exteriors ! Thi
remaking articles are of the usual calibre.