The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-04 00:00:00

with that of a worn-out pimp or discharged serving man, it
'he meed of those who have been the lights of humanity, the
forlorn hope of human happiness, the pioneers of civilization
to enslaved and benighted man."
• * *

" In some points there is an analogy between the career of
the lawyer and that of the man of letters. Unto both it is de-
creed to forego the pleasures of society for the labour of
thought ; and to waste their youth and the best years of their
early manhood in study and In solitude. But here the simili-
tude ends. The lawyer begins to reap some reward for bib
labour and self-denial in growing professional reputation and
flowing fees.' Not so the man of letters. Onward—onward
—into old age, and even unto death, depressed by penury,
Weakened by disease, he continues his unrequited toil, which is
calling into being the germ of the future happiness of millions ;
and his prophetic eye must read in the long-withheld honour
and approbation cf after ages all that is to cheer the gloom of
solitude in which his earthly existence hath passed away. Thus
have lived, thus have died some of the world's greatest bene-
factors, men of whom it was not worthy. No wonder that Sa-
muel Johnson, ' albeit unused to the melting mood,' burst into
tears on reading in his old age his own description of the hard-
ships he had himself endured. They were almost enough to
break any spirit ; and his was neither a soft nor an humble one.
It is well known that many men continue to make a consider-
able figure in both Houses of Parliament on the strength of
the prompting of some peripatetic whose finances do not en-
able him to sit in the Honourable House ; and thus have their
names blazoned iu large letters all over the country; while he
whose spirit animated all that had intellectual life in their ha-
rangues, remains unknown and unhonoured."

We had nearly forgotten to observe, that " Plan-
tagenet" is a talc of the present time. The hero of
the story is a scion of the Aristocracy, who is disin-
herited in early life by a bastard brother. He falls in
love, as early as boys usually do, and here again he is
superseded by his brother, for whom, in consequence,
he entertains a mortal hatred, which the said brother
returns with a fervor equal to his own. He enters the
army, and distinguishes himself during the late war in
Spain, under the Duke of Wellington. Subsequently
he gets embarrassed in his circumstances, and plays the
part of a private secretary to some illustrious personages
in Paris and London, under a feigned name. Meanwhile
he discovers his right to the estates of his ancestors,
which right is allowed by his brother, on condition
that the whole affair shall be kept secret for the honour
of the family, and that, during his own life, he shall
continue to enjoy the title, and an income suitable to
its support. This compact the brothers mutually ob-
serve, until the death of the eldest's wife destroys the
last ligature that bound them together. A duel is the
consequence, in which the one is killed on the spot,
and other mortally wounded.
It will be readily perceived that worse materials, out
of which to weave a web of fiction, could not have
been chosen. There is a want of taste, and an ab-
sence of critical discernment throughout ; and yet the
volumes abound in sensible observations, and acute
reflections.