The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-09 00:00:00

nation ; and vehemently wroth with M'Pherson for having
assigned a Scottish origin—in his spurious poems of Ossian—
to certain well-known Milesian songs and legends. The
volume forms the sixty-fifth number of Lardner's Cabinet
Cyclopcedia, and is embellished with an engraving, by
Finden, from a spirited design, by Corbould.

TALES OF THE WARS OF MONTROSE.
IN 3 VOLS. BY JAMES HOGG, Esq.
London : Cochrane and Co.

The Wars of Montrose ! What surprising scenes of
deadly feud, religious rancour, blind bigotry, stoical firm-
ness, and indomitable resolution, rise before the mind's eye
as we pause after reading these four little words ! It reali-
zes in us all the fabled effects of a magical incantation.
In a moment we find ourselves in the midst of some
wild glen, surrounded by a body of brave Cameronians
resting on their matchlocks in the act of listening to the
sublime outpourings of some " God-fearing" apostle of a per-
secuted faith, whilst in the distance is seen, rapidly ad-
vancing, a band of well mounted troopers, headed by the
bloody Claverhouse. And yet in the midst of these
scenes of awe and terror, the Shepherd has exorcised
visions of beauty, gentleness, and love. It is true that
his work is not faultless, but the faults are so pecu-
liarly the author's that we question if the public would
think so highly of it, were it totally divested of them. The
occasional coarseness that occurs never belongs to the sen-
timent ; the idea is most correct, but the mode of expressing
it is sometimes not well chosen. There are several tales in
these volumes, and all have the merit of being very inte-
resting. That the work will be popular we can have no
doubt, although we cannot say that we regard it as quite
equal to some of the Shepherd's earlier productions. It
ought to be remembered, however, that he had to
contend with great disadvantages in writing the pre-
sent series of Tales. Sir Walter Scott was before him
in the field, and but little remained to be known of
the habits of the Scottish people, during the reigns of
Charles the Second and his immediate predecessors on
the Throne of England. The following extract from the
Life of an Edinburgh Baillie, details a Highland mode of
feasting a Lord very different from any which appears in
the Waverley Novels. The personages entertained are the
great Marquis of Huntley, his family and retainers. The
feast is given at the Castle of ono. of the Marquis' friends,
who receives him, a guest, on his return to the Highlands,
after suffering a long imprisonment in the Tolbooth of
Edinburgh, for professing the Catholic religion :

"To return to the dinner. The two officers with white
sticks havireg returned back to our host, he inquired at them if
all was ready, and then a chaplain arose, and said a homily in
Latin. Still nothing was presented save a few platters set
before the nobility, and David Peterkin being placed within
my view, I looked at him, and never beheld a face of such
hungry and ghastly astonishment. Presently, two strong men,
with broad blue bonnets on their heads, come in, bearing an
immense roasted side of an ox on a wooden server, like a bar-
ter's board, and this they placed across the table at the head.
Then there was such slashing and cutting and jingling of gul-
lies, helping this and the other.
" From the moment the side of beef made its appearance,
David Peterkin's tongue began to wag. I looked to him
again, and his countenance was changed from a cadaverous
white into a healthy yellow, and he was speaking first to the
one side and then the other, and following every observation
of his own with a hearty laugh. The two men and the broad
bonnets kept always heaving the board downward until it came
by the broad part of the table, and then there were no more
wooden plates or knives. At first I thought our board was
sanded over, as I had seen the floors in Edinburgh, which I
thought would be very inconvenient, but on observing again, I
found that it was strewed thickly over with coarse salt. Then
a carver-general supplied every man with his piece, with a
dispatch that was almost inconceivable, and he always looked
at every one before he cut off his -morsel. When he eyed
Peterkin, he cut him a half-kidney, fat and all, with a joint of
the back. How I saw him kneading it on the salted board !
After the carver and beef, came one with a bent knife two feet
in length, and cut every man's piece across, dividing it into
four, -then leaving him to make the best of it he could. A
board of wedders, cut into quarters, was the next service, and
the third course was one of venison and fowls, but that passed
not by the broad table. After the first service, strong drink
was handed round in large wooden dishes with two handles,
and every man was allowed as much as he could take at a
draught, but not to, renew it ; the same the next service, and
thus ended our dinner. The party was uncommonly facetious,
owing, I was sure, to the Marquis's good humour, which never
for an instant forsook him, and convinced me that he had often
been in similar situations. I enjoyed it exceedingly ; but every
thing came on me by surprise, and the last was the most dis-
agreeable of all. No sooner had we taken our last sup above-
mentioned, than the two imperious constables with the long
white staves came and turned us out with as little ceremony as
they set us down, hitting such as were unmindful of their warn-
ing a yerk with their sticks. They actually drove us out be-
fore them like a herd of highland cattle ; and then the nobility
and gentry closed around the broad table for an evenings'
enjoyment."

THE .RESOURCES AND STATISTICS OF
NATIONS. PART IV.
Bailey and Co., Cornhill.

The present Number of this work contains two ca-
pital articles on the Laws and Constitutions of France
and the United States of America ; explaining, in the
simplest form, the whole machinery of the Legislative
and Executive branches of the two Governments. This
work is extremely useful, comparatively cheap in
price, and highly deserving of becoming popular.

BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON.—VoI. IL
J. Murray, London. 1835.

The present volume commences with the publication of
Johnson's Dictionary, and carries down his biography to
the period of his introduction to the family of the Thrales,
to whose unwearied friendship, continued for many years,
and broken only by the marriage of Mrs. Thrale to Piozzi,
the Italian dancing-master, the great lexicographer owed
some of the happiest moments of his life. The volume is
embellished with two admirable engravings—one of Pem-
broke College, of which Johnson was a student ; and the
other, of Lichfield Cathedral, in which city he was born.
Both engravings are by Finden, and as clever as any in
Crabbe or Byron.

CRITICAL, and PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY.
PARTS 3, 4.

This useful and elaborate production is by James
Knowles, Esq., the father, as he himself states with honest
pride on his title-page, of the author of " Virginius." It
needs no such recommendation, for it is a careful, well-
digested compilation, the result ofvears of incessant labour.
It is dedicated, we perceive, by permission, to the King.

PROVINCIAL SKETCHES.
BY THE AUTHOR OF THE USURER'S DAUGITZR,
Churton, Holles-street, 1835.

This is a light, pleasant, and amusing volume. The
satire is abundant and obvious, but, at the same time,
so harmless, that none will laugh More heartily at it
than its especial objects. The sketch on country
newspapers is inimitable ; and those on itinerant lec-
turers, artists, and amateur concerts are scarcely infe-
rior to it. The author possesses an inexhaustible fund
of humour, with great powers of observation. He
has opened a mine which may be worked to great
advantage.

THE SKETCH BOOK OF THE SOUTH.
Churton, Holies Street, 1885.

The contents of this volume are expressed in the
title page. It is a sketch book, but not of the Geoffrey
Crayon School. The scenes are principally laid in
Italy, but the object of the work is rather to throw a
light upon certain traditionary legends connected with
the decayed convents, churches, and such relics of past
ages, than to dwell upon either the actual appearance
of the country, or the passions of the people. The
descriptions are vivid and eloquent, although not suf-
ficiently brought home to the bosoms of ordinary
readers.

The hole and corner address to his Majesty in
favour of his Majesty's Ministers, said to have been signed in
Lewes and its vicinity, was presented at the last levee by the
rejected anti-reforming Member, Sir John Shelley, Bart.,
father of Mr. Adolphus Shelley, who so lately declared that
he was sure " the army would shoot every radical." This ad-
dress may have come from Lewes; but as it was not publicly
exhibited, and as no one that we can learn ever saw it, we arc
rather inclined to doubt the fact.—Brighton Guardian.

A subscription was raised among the inhabitants of
Llanfyllin and its neighbourhood, on the occasion of the
marriage of Mr. Hugh Bibby, of Llanfyllin, surgeon, and
Miss Margaret Broughton. A fine ox and sheep were pur-
chased with the subscription, and the beef and mutton, as
well as a considerable quantity of bread, were distributed in
Llanfyllin on Friday last, among the poor of the town and
parish, this being considered by the subscribers a reasonable
and beneficial mode of showing their respect to the worthy
coople.—Courier of Wales.