The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-06 00:00:00

A FEW REMARKS ON THE PRESENT LAWS

MARRIAGE, ADULTERY, AND SEDUCTION,
IN ENGLAND,
TO LORD BROUGHAM AND VAUX,
Member of the Institute of France.

Dr P. 4NICHINI.
A Briton by Act of a Reformed Parliament.
London. Marchant, Fcnchurch-street. 1835.
It was not every one that could bend the bow of
Ulysses, nor is it every one that can grapple with
marriage, adultery, and seduction. So thinks not
Signor Anichini. He flatters himself that he is able
to instruct Lord Brougham on those grave and thorny
subjects, and has resolved to let the public know how
well qualified he is for the task he has undertaken.
This resolution he has carried into effect by the publi-
cation of his views and opinions in the work which is
now before us, and on which we propose to make a
few observations—not pledging ourselves, however, to
follow them closely through the very considerable
variety of topics which he has deemed it expedient to
touch upon. Signor Anichini has an exuberant ima-
gination, and a mind richly stored with the treasures
of ancient and modern literature. He is, therefore,
tempted into a wide field of illustration, seeing analo-
gies perceptible only by the eye of genius, and adduc-
ing examples which, to men less gifted than himself,
do not appear to bear upon the matter in hand. All
that our limits will permit us to do, therefore, is to
cull a few of the choicest of those choice flowers, which
are scattered in great profusion through the work.
The moment we cast a glance on M. Anichini's
book, we were impressed with a highly favourable
opinion of his talents. This, said we to ourselves, is
no ordinary man ; what a glorious title page he has
achieved ! Now this may seem to some a very odd
ground of prepossession ; but the title page is really a
very important part of a book, perhaps we might safely
say the most important part. Who that is in the
habit of attending the sale-rooms of Hodgson, or
Evans, has not remarked the ineffable contempt with
which the bibliomaniacs turn up their noses at the
rarest productions of the press, if but a portion of the
title-page be wanting ? This was once a great mystery
to us, but having ourselves had some experience in
author-craft, it is so no longer. Little, indeed, do the
readers of books know the anxiety and the labour
which the parturition of the title-pages cost their
authors. No shopkeeper bestows more pains on the
arrangement of the wares in his shop window—no fair
nymph at her toilette is more puzzled in selecting and
adjusting the various charms best calculated to set off
the " human face divine," and to fascinate all behol-
ders—than is he who has written a book, in displaying
on that eventful page which first greets the reader's
eye, a captivating epitome of its contents. Great, we
know, is the difficulty of such a task, but when once
successfully accomplished, glorious is the reward.
Fame and " something mom," are the sure and certain
results. The eye of the passer-by is irresistibly
attracted, and orders with out number pour in from
book societies and from country gentlemen stocking
,heir libraries.

Reviewers are also saved a world of :labour. We
do not assert that a review er is able, from the bare in-
spection of a title page, to write an elaborate critique,
though we have heard theLt some few first rate hands
have attained this high degree of eminence in their
art ; but what we mean to fay is, that what the features
of the face are to the phys iognomist, or the bumps on
the " top crust of the hun- Lan pye" to the phrenologist,
such is the title-page of a book to the reviewer. From
the " manifestations" theoein presented, he is enabled
to judge whether it is w urth his while to proceed
farther.

We might give numerolus examples of the success
attending the happy selectiion of a " title." One shall
suffice. When Effingham Pi ilson published that broad
sheet which lately occasioned so great a sensation in
town and country, had be, headed it " Extracts from
the Times," it would have fallen still-born from the
Press. But Wilson knew -better. He was up to his
business, and the magic w( mds " Times Extraordinary"
blazed on the publication. What was the consequence ?
He sold tens of thousands: of copies ! His shop was
literally besieged. Crowds Of eager purchasers, Whig,
Radical, and Tory, rushed 'to possess themselves of the
precious curiosity. We a r(, not sure that the new po-
lice was not called in to keep order. The. first two
classes of politicians were mightily gratified : we can-
not say so much for the tihird. We have been told
that there were sundry in.:(!rnal twistings, and consi-
derable elongation of cotrailenance among the Tories,
when they came to digest ti le contents, and found their
new friend with his old fa c 4!.
But to return from this, we trust not unpardonable
digression, to the merits of the work before us. The
author, after displaying inim citable skill in the disposi-
tion of Roman Capitals a.G(I German Text, spews no
less tact in the choice of a- motto—a matter of no in-
considerable perplexity to authors of ordinary capacity.
Keeping a steady eye to the tripartite division of his
subject, he selects for this 'purpose three passages from
three different poets, and iin three different languages
—Greek, Latin, and English ; thereby proving his
learning, his judgment, ant .I his taste. As these pas-
sages are well worth transcribing, here they are :
Fau...os- yap- xv;:pctl7:6lo-1V XIX.%OV.
Frog. Vet Poet.
" Non, mihi si linguine peutum sint, oraque centum,
Ferrea vox, omnes s,:elerum comprendere formas,
Omnia poznarum percurrere nomina possim."
Virg. £n. lib. ri. ver. 625.
" Coming events cast their shadows before."
Lochiel, by J. Campbell.
There are many of our readers we know who stand
in need of no assistance from us in interpreting these
lines. But, for the sa.ke of those who may not be
quite conversant with GTeek and Latin, we think it