The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-11 00:00:00

Hunt.- Hurst andßraciett.

The name which this volume bears upon its title
page is an honoured one in English literature, and
secures a cordial welcome 'from the public. The
contents do not of course appear for the first time,
although they will probably be new to many, as it is
many years since they appeared in a periodical to
which their author lent the aid of his ever fresh
and pleasant contributions. All who have explored
" The Town" in such good company, and wandered
with him about "The Old Court Suburb," will not
need to be reminded of the rich store of local asso-
ci.qtions of incident, comment, or reflection, which
Leigh Hunt brought to the task of studying Lon-
don streets ; or how he raises them from mere high-
wzys and byeways of traffic, to galleries in which
are stored the varied recollections of the past,
and how if he does rot exactly find " sermons
in stones," he certainly discovers anecdote,
humour, and entertainment in bricks and
c
mortar. His "saunter" begins at Hyde._pari
Corner, and proceeds from thence along one of the
pleasantest streets in London, Piccadilly, somewhat
changed since the days when trees and country road
filled up the gap between old Pevonshire House
Piccadilly whiph gave its name to the r9tadl
and which stood on the site of the present Backvilie-

street. This curious cognomen was derived, our
author tell us, from the word pickadils or peccadillas,
peaked ruffs for the neck, worn in the time of Eliza-
beth and James, and the hall in question was so
styled either from the sale of those articles, or from
its having been built by a tradesman enriched by
their means. So our able cicerone conducts
us eastward, telling us many pleasant tales
as we go concerning the great houses and
their present and former inmates. In
passing Burlington house, he tells us a laughable
incident fresh in his own recollection, though it
took place fifty years before the time he wrote.
When the author formed one of the St. James's
volunteers who assembled at the time " when
Buonaparte was coming to devour us all, but
thought better of his breakfast," the regiment, a
thousand strong, used to muster in the court yard
of Burlington house. They possessed a Major who
was also an undertaker in Piccadilly, and very fat,
with a joyful, youthful countenance, and conse-
quently "our pretensions," says the writer, " were
altogether of the biggest, liveliest, and at he same
time most mortal description." A Colonel was
however wanted, and great was the rejoicing when
Lord Amherst, nephew of the conqueror of Mon
treal, was appointed. The corps assembled in state to
receive him. "The time arrives; the gates are thrown
open ; a glimpse is caught of a gallant figure on a
charger, the band strikes up ; the regiment presents
arms ; enters the noble colonel, and in the act of
answering our salutation, is pitched right over his
horse's head in the most beautiful of summersets."
As no harm whatever resulted from the inoppor-
tune display of agility it is not surprising that the
solemn assembly found it difficult to restrain their
hilarity. To the remembrance of this laughable
incident, the author attributes Lord Amherst's
refusal to perform the ko-tou, when in the capacity
of ambassador to China, he declined to knock his
head on the Imperial floor. Further on we come
to the Egyptian Hall, the absurdity of whose archi-
tecture constitutes, says Leigh Hunt, a good ad-
vertisement. "There is no missing its great
lumpish face as you go along. It gives a blow to
the mind like a heavy practical joke."
We pass Dover-street, with its associations of
Evelyn and Arbuthnot; Albemarle-street, where
once stood the palatial residence of Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon ; Sackville-street, full of pleasant recol-
lections of Mrs. Inchbald, on to Regent-street and
the Quadrant, the Haymarket, its theatres and its
surrounding byeways, St. James's-street and Square,
Pall-mall and its clubs, ending with Suffolk-street
and the statue of George the Third. That is to say
the regular peregrinations end here, although there
is another chapter or two on more personal
matters. The attack on the American book-
sellers is penned con amore by one who
was well aware of the large profits they had de-
rived from the sale of his works. "An English
man of letters " says Leigh Hunt in a fit of humor-
ous indignation, " certainly passes the doors of
American booksellers in London with very Angular
feelings. He knows they will snatch hold of his
book the moment it is published, sell thousands of
copies of it on the other side of the Atlantic, with-
out giving him the benefit of a stiver, and perhaps
have the pleasure of seeing him go by their London
windows in the rain, while they are flourishing in
a big house over his head. We suppose it is all
right, and proper, and consistent, and free-born,
and independent, and respectable, and slaveholding,
and lovely, and going-a-head. It is certainly going
another man's head though, with a considerable
quantity of their own face beneath it. Yet, after
all " how they can do it," as the man said when he
saw the New Zealand young gentlemen eating their
benefactor, is to us inconceivable." The civil perse-
cution of which the author was at one time the
victim is also the subject of a few pages, sufficient to
recall the claim which the name of Leigh Hunt has
to be held in honoured estimation by the friends of
our social liberties. We have no doubt that the
work before us will receive a cordial reception both
from the regard due to the memory of the delight-
ful writer whose graphic and genial pen will
furnish us with no more pleasant volumes, and from
the easy and entertaining style with which it will
attract and fascinate the reader.

The Medical Student. By Albert Smith. Cheap
. . _ _

Edition. Routledge.
The public are too well acquainted with the
amusing style of Albert Smith for it to require any
commendation from us. This little volume is illus-
trated on the outside with an inviting bottle of
physic, and contains many amusing stories of the
young aspirants to medical honours, together with
serio-comic advice, half in earnest, half in jest, to
young men going in for their examination at
Apothecaries' Hall. He advises them not to take
too much stout before going in, with the idea that
it will give them pluck ; after the first half hour it
only muddles the brain. Likewise that it is advis-
able to have the hair cut, and to take some pills the
day previous ; the one improves the appearance,
the other clears the faculties. The author's expe-
rience as a medical student, of course, renders these
sketches the more acceptable, from the knowledge
that they are genuine; and the reader will often
doubt whether many of the episodes, which he
describes as relating to others, may not, in reality,
be but an autobiography of early days.

The Isle of Man. By the Rev. T. G. Cumming,
_ _

F.G.S. Edward Stanford.

This out of the way figment of the British isles still
retains some features of olden times. As yet no
railways mar the romance of its scenery ;. but steam
boats convey visitors to its shores at a very cheap
rate, Mr. Cumming's intention has been not only to
furnish a guide book to the most remarkable sights,
&c., that the tourist may desire to see, but also to
give every information which may be of service to
the intending resident, together with an interest-
ing history of the island from an early
period, going back to the days of the
Old Norse Sea Kings, and their occupation
of the island. The arrangement of the book is
simple and satisfactory. The first chapter fur-
nishes the would-be tourist with the various means
and cost of reaching the island from the different
ports of Great Britain. Then follows a description
of the island, its situation, extent, population, lan-
guage, and climate, the cost of living, hotel charges,
and various other incidental expenses. The prices
of most things are far cheaper there than in England,
for the country is not burdened with the heavy taxes
which we pay, nor yet the same restrictive duties.
Thus the Manx people pay no income tax,
property or house tax, and there are no
toll gates. The zoology of the isle is described, the
Manx cat taking, of course, a prominent place