The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

St. Patrick's Eve in My Own Parlour ; with Tales
and Thoughts in Prose and Verse. By Jonathan 1
Freke Slingsby. Dublin : M'Glashan and Gill.
We are glad to see that the brilliant and viva-
cious Slingsby has made this agreeable and judicious
selection from his contributions to periodical litera-
ture. He has joyousness for the light-hearted, and
ideality for the fanciful ; and his thoughts, whether
in verse or prose, are always imbedded in a rich
vein of sentiment. His speciality amongst con-
temporary literateurs consists in the facility with
which he can ultimately exhibit his powers in
prose and poetry. Of the two, if we must make a
choice, we prefer his poetical effusions. He is a
master of the curious metres of rhythm, and there
is the nerve in his lyrical effusions that can only
evince the springing energy of a scholarly mind,
supported and quickened by the temperament of
genius.
"Slingsby" has long been known in the literary
world to be the nom de plume of John Francis
Waller, an accomplished member of the /Irish bar.
He has a singularly versatile intellect, and some-
times we could wish that he concentrated all his
faculties in one particular direction ; but variety is
a charm in itself; and these tales before us are like
a literary bazaar, in which we meet with all kinds
of ingenious intellectual fabrics, worked up with
rare taste and skill.
In his Anacreontic vein Slingsby is very happy—

Take this cup, my friend, and fill it
With the glowing wine,
Lot no sign of sorrow chill it—
Chill the draught divine.
Beauty's eye may beam more bright
To the lover's cheated sight,
And Beauty's lip have balmier dew
Than the goblet's brim for you
Yet take this cup of mine.

Raise the wine-cup high and drain it
With devotion deep,
Though joy. has fled, 'twill soon regain it,
And brighten eyes that weep.
Beauty's joys are quickly past,
Ours will flow while wine shall last ;
When Beauty frowns we sigh in vain—
The vine bunch pressed, soon foams again ;
Then drain the wine-cup deep.
The following words have been set to music, and
the song is a favourite one :
I LOVE TRH GROUND YOU TREAD ON.

I love the c,round you tread on,
As flowers'the dew they're fed on ;
I deem the shade
Your form has made
Bright as where sunbeams spread on.
Your voice brings deeper pleasure
Than music's softest measure,
Yet still untold,
Like miser's gold,
My hopeless love I treasure.

As lamps within the tomb, love,
Unseen 'mid damps and gloom, love,
With faithful light,
Through endless night
The worshipped dead illume, love ;
So in my heart for thee, love,
Though lone and dark it be, love,
The flame burns on,
Still turned to one
That 's as the dead to me, love 1"

In this collection of Slingsby's papers there are
several capital illustrations of social life in Ireland ;
and tourists in the sister country will find this
little volume a pleasant railway companion, with
its happy mixture of frolic and pathos. We are
happy to learn that Slingsby is shortly to appear
before the imperial public in a more extensive and
important work, in which the full range of his fine
powers will be recognised by all.

Bentley's Quarterly Review. No. 11.
The second number of Bentley's Quarterly has
just made its appearance on the literary stage, and
fully maintains the reputation acquired by the first.
The articles include a wide range of subjects cal-
culated to attract readers of very varying tastes. It
opens with a lengthened and somewhat uninteresting
paper on " The Faction Fights," which leaves the
reader in some doubt as to the views of the writer.
We come subsequently to an article on Lord Corn-
wallis, which gives a succinct account of his career,
and arrives at the conclusion that his public ser-
vices have hitherto been insufficiently estimated.
In common opinion, observes the writer, his repu-
tation as a general has been associated with the
disastrous issue of the American war, and the merit
of his campaign against Tippoo Saib has been for-
gotten in the fall of Serin gapatam. The volumes now
published will, his critic thinks, restore him to a
higher position in public estimation. Many of his
readers may differ from these sentiments, but
the article is well worthy of perusal as a summary
of the career of one whose fortune or misfortune it
was to be placed in positions of the highest respon-
sibility at the most stormy times. There is a very
attractive article on recent novels, which places fore-
most in the category the eminently successful story
of " Adam Bede." There are some discriminative
criticisms and just observations on the tendencies
and characteristics of the modern school of litera-
ture. " Popular Preaching " is the title of an essay
which contains much truth, though somewhat flip-
pant in its tone. It discusses the qualifications and
abilities necessary for a good preacher. The writer
observes, doubtless with truth, that many men who
have all the high intellectual qualities necessary
for a good preacher are commonly tempted to try
their fortunes at the bar; and he regrets that men
of ability should enter a profession already over-
crowded, instead of following one which has much
need of gifted and eloquent recruits. The sermons
of the Rev. J. C. Bellew, and those of Mr. Spur-
geon are criticised and compared. Some favourable
specimens of the latter gentleman's style are given,
and the critic commends their simplicity and force,