The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-25 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

HARRISON AIA SWORTH S WORKS. Vol. V.
Cheap Edition.
Another volume of this beautiful edition of Mr.
Ainsworth's romances gives the subscribers the first
portion cf his very popular work called " The Touter
of London." Having on several previous occasions
commented upon the singular excellence and remark-
able cheapness of this publication, we find only addi-
tional reason to reiterate our commendations with the
appearance of each successive portion. Nor can we
refrain from applauding an improvement recently
perceptible in the undertaking, namely, an extension
of some of the longer stories into two volumes, instead
of compressing the letter-press into a smaller compass
by means of smaller type. The advantage of such an
alteration as this must be perceptible to every one,
seeing that the diamoed type required in miniature
editions is rather estimable in books of reference,
such as in Maunder's invaluable " Treasuries of
Knowledge," than in productions designed merely for
amusement. The eyesight of the reader becomes less
wearied in the former than in the latter instance,
from the circumstance of the gaze not being so con-
tinuously applied to the perusal. Another improve-
ment also worthy of notice is that of binding the
volumes of this cheap edition in cloth at, what Men-
tague Tigg would call the ridiculously small amount
of six?ence. By this arrangement the series is ren-
dered much more capable of preservation, besides
being benefited in regard to compactness of size and
beauty of appearance. Within a day or two, we be-
lieve, the second volume of the " Tower of London"
will appear, when the number of the readers of that
clever historical fiction will doubtless be materially
increased. Those who, like ourselves, have
watched with interest the rise of Harrison Ains-
worth's reputation, need not this opportu-
nity to become familiar with the renowned
personages introduced in its pages,those beings whose
life-like aspect in the narrative displays very con-
spicuously the novelist's power to create life anew
under the ribs of history. Besides these, it will be
remembered that there are a crowd of other characters
more purely imaginary, such as the subtle and diabo-
lical Simon Renard, Maugre the Headsman, a sort of
elder " Dennis," Xit the dwarf, and the three
portly giants Night Og, Gog, and Magog. We
observe, with pleasure, from the announcement made
by way of advertisement, that the next volumes ap-
pearing, in the course of April, will comprise the
whole of " Saint James's" and " Auriol."'When are we
to see the new edition of "Jack Sheppard ?" We look
eagerly for its appearance, it only by way of spite to the
mawkish sentimentalism upon which we have already
animadverted.

THE BYE-LANES AND DOWNS OF
ENGLAND. By Sylvanus,
To the sporting world in general, but more parti-
cularly to those who in any degree admire and culti-
vate the turf, this book recommends itself from many
causes, and we feel disposes to add our testimony to
its own internal evidence, that while treating of and
descanting upon subjects which may be deemed ob-
jectionable by many, its aim is clearly to work good,
prospectively at least, out of existing evil, and to
effect, through the means of a thorough reform, a
radical cure in a noble pastime and national branch of
industry too deeply rooted in the hearts of all, to be
given up on account of even the many and sad abuses
it has given a scope for. But for this truly philoso-
phical view taken of the subject by the author, we
might have been less inclined to dwell, as we now do,
upon a work which treats wholly, or at least chiefly,
upon the turf. We are aware that this a topic
liable to be very differently viewed and commented
upon, and we must admit that we do not wonder at its
being the theme of much controversy, considering
the harm which has accrued to many from over-in-
dulgence in its allurements and fascinations; but
of this the author of the " Bye-Lanes and Downs
of England" is so well aware, that he never
loses the opportunity of applying the lash
of his indignant censure to those excesses
which disgrace the turf, nor palliates the error
committed by its votaries, nor fails to speak in high
and honourable terms of those of its patrons who,
actuated by the purest motives, look upon the turf as
a great means to a great end, and act in accordance,
discarding all base motives, and endeavouring only to
do good. Were it on no other ground than that of
moral courage, we would praise the author for having
made known many of the malpractices which make
the turf dangerous to the unwary, and for having
conveyed to the minds of all, in forcible and elegant
language, the lesson which the turf as at present con-
stituted can and does offer. But we must not forget
that we have to deal with him in a literary point of
view, and it gratifies us much to say that the " Bye-
Lanes and Downs of England" is not only a good
book, but also an interesting book; and whether we
consider its gallery of portraits, all evidently taken
from the lite, or its style, uninterruptedly pleasing
and humorous, when not strictly moralising, its
quaint anecdotes and stirring insight into the man-
tiers of a class of men, most of whom, from their
station in society, education, connexion with the soil,
&c., claim our best sympathies (of course we speak
only of the true lovers and patrons of the turf, and
leave to the vituperation of the author and execration
of the world those who, like the harpies of old, only
defile what they touch), its occasional bursts of feeling
as regards the beauties of nature, evinced in the title, and
never lost sight of throughout the book, and the many
proofs of sincere patriotism, occasionally even carried
to the verge of prejudice, he gives us throughout the
work. We are glad to see talent enlisted in the ad-
vocacy of what we deem a good cause, for, after all,
we must return to the assumption, that inasmuch as,
of the many enjoyments or pursuits called sports, the
turf has now become so identified with the habits Of
the inhabitants of this country, that to entertain the
question of its utility or expediency were the work
of supererogation, so we may consider as entitled to
the highest and most unqualified praise all attempts to
restore it to its pristine simplicity and honesty of pur-
pose, and to free it from foul impurities and prurient
excrescences, and such a desideratum may and we
trust will be effected by the "Bye-Lanes and Downs
of England."

SKETCHES OF CANTABS. By John Smith,
of Smith Ball, Gent. 2d Edition.
We are always glad to see an old friend, and the
more so if he come with a new face, and in the present
instance we are disposed to give our waggish friend a
double welcome ; first, because in spite of the old
saying about twice-told tales, we positively enjoyed a
second reading of his little book, and, secondly, be-
cause we believe it is calculated to do much good in
certain quarters. Let us ask our friend the author
why be, John Smith, of Smith Hall, is now (as he
professes to be) abroad ? Let him be candid in this
respect as he is in others, and he will doubtless tell
us, which we engage to believe, as we did his former
communications, cairn grano salis, that his goings on at
and about his Alma Mater have had no small share
in inducing him to desert the ball of his fore-
fathers and visit the continent ! Be _ that as

it may, we return to his book, which, as
we hinted before, we are glad to find has reached a
second edition. There are many people into whose
hands we would put the " Sketches of Cantabs :" to
young men about to repair to the universities we
would say read it, you will not only derive amuse-
ment but profit from a perusal of its pages—(we do
not recommend it to those at present at the university,
because we feel certain that it is on the table of by
far the majority of the young men there, not doubting
that most of them act on the principle of the model
man in the sketches before us, page 212)—and will
at least learn what to avoid. To parents and guar-
dian, we would say, read it, you may find in it many
a valuable hint. as for instance, pages 57, 58, &c. ; but
we would chiefly call upon the dignified and vener-
able heads of our universities to read it, if only to
cull from its good-natured, yet justly satirical, pages
bo much information as would induce them to attempt
all necessary reforms ; for society, looking upon Ox-
ford and Cambridge as making the very heart which
draws to itself the best blood of the country, has a
right to expect that it, or rather, to drop the meta-
phor, they shall return it free from all impurities, the
work of time.

FINE ARTS.
PORTRAIT OF MAJOR EDWARDES.
On Saturday we were favoured t,
Henry Moseley.
red by Messrs. H.
Squire and CPoa.in(teladtebyc
olnaghi and I uckle), with a
private view of a most exquisite and inimitable por-
trait, now exhibiting in their gallery, in Cockspur-
street ; painted by Henry Moseley, and representing
Major Herbert Edwardes, C. 8., the illustrious soldier,
whose heroic deeds in .Hindostan have rendered him
the Rising Star of our Eastern Empire, and whose
recent arrival in England has made him the Lion of
the present London Season. A more interesting pro-
duction of art we have not, for a long time, bad the
gratification of witnessing, and we doubt not the public
will eagerly scan the features of the young hero, as
they are here pourtrayed, with such graphic
power and life-like accuracy by the gifted brush of
Mr. Moseley. Brief as the period is, which has
elapsed since the return homewards of? Major Ed-
wardes, our distinguished artist ha', nevertheless, found
sufficient time to transfer to canvass the appearance
of the youthful but already renowned warrior. It
must be a matter of interest in fact to the multitude
to know, that the portrait now under consideration,
although produced with such extraordinary rapidity,
is an exact arid authentic copy, taken from the living
original—Mr. Moseley having completed his work on
Saturday, the 16th instant, when he we; honoured
by Major Edwardes with the seventh and final sit-
ting. Those, however, who are familiar with the
features of the illustrious young soldier, will require
no such assurance of the authenticity of this splendid
picture, from the marvellous felicity of the resem •
blance. The likeness, in truth, is altogether a
triumph of artistic skill, a miracle of pictorial art—

the vraisernblance being, in fact, perfect. Net one
among,t us but must feel deep gratification in be-
! holding FO real and felicitous a representation of the
Icountenance of a man destined, as all England is
convinced, to play a grand part in the history of hig
country. Every one recognises in young Herbert
Edwardes the germ of a great career, his previous
actions containing evidence of all those character-
istics of genius, valour, and promptitude which
make up the requisites of a great sol-
dier. And Major Edwardes, as was observed,
by the present Commander-in-Chief of the British
Indian army, shortly before his leaving this island
for India, has already shown himself not only a great
soldier, but a great financier, and in his way, toe, a
great statesmen. It requires not us to mention all
the marvels achieved by nim in the Punjaub, his acts
of a gallantry never surpassed, and of a daring rising
to the height of rashness. Those acts are even now
inscribed in golden characters in the pages of our
history, and their remembrance is cherished in the
heart of England. Hence it is that we ale certain
the portrait of Major Edwardes, by Mr. Moseley, will
be examined with peculiar pleasure by the public, and
it is gratifying► also to know that a copy from the
original painting may very speedily be obtained, in
the corm of a very beautiful engraving now on the
eve of publication. When these engravings are
issued we feel assured that thousands will be eager to
possess theinselves of an impression, and to adorn their
walls with an effigy that may remind their children
how the sons of old England should serve their
country and their Queen with the strong arm, and the
brave heart, and the genius, and the heroism, of the
young and gallant Edwardes.

EXHIBITION OF THE SOCIETY
OF BRITISH ARTISTS.
Saturday being the day fixed for the private view
of the gallery of this excellent and distinguished so-
ciety, we had then the gratification of examining this
its twenty-seventh annual exhibition.
Each of the members and associates of the institu-
tion appear to have exerted themselves during the
past twelve months, and to have applied themselves to
the decoration of the walls of the different apartments
ith unusual assiduity. Among artists, as among
other classes of the community, competition seems in
this respect to have exercised a wholesome and bene-
ficial influence, exciting those who have hitherto
proved successful to maintain their reputation, and
arousing in others previously unknown or unnoticed
an ambition that might otherwise have remained
dormant. It must be remembered, moreover, that
the Society of British Artists is enabled in several
particulars to compete for popularity with the more
favoured among similar and contemporary associations.
If, for example, the Royal Academy has its Landseer,
this academy has its Herring, if the one has its Tur-
ner the other, has its Pyne, and so on through the
different departments of art. Herring, in the present
exhibition, has no less than ten ; Pyne, no less than
five; Woolmer, no less than eight; Tennant, no less
than ten ; Hill, no less than seven ; Hurlstone,
thirteen, Boddington eleven, Allen eight, Cbirt six,
Shayer eleven, and Hassell seven productions of va-
rious, and, in some instances, of superior ability.
Josi, we observe, has nothing this season ; Latilla only
one, Lewis only one, Noble three, Gill four, Bax-
ter two,
_and the other members in different propor-
tions. No. 19, " Interior of a Stable," represents
the animals and fowls in such a building with that
animation and naturalness which are pre-eminently the
characteristics of J. F. Herring. No. 3, " Rustic
Courtship," by J. J. Hill, is a charming picture of
rural simplicity, the beauty of the sketch being con-
centrated principally in the rustic countenances. No.
31, " Erhinbrightstein on the Rhine," by Pyne, has
all that sparkling delicacy of finish, and all that dim
and liquid charm of atmospheric perspective which
impart so much individuality to the pictures emanat-
ing from the same master hand. No 48, "At Co-
logne, on the Rhine," is a companion painting, circu-
lar in form, from the easle of Mr. Pyne. No. 43.
" The Minstrel," by Woolmer, but for the quota-
tion in the catalogue, we should have imagined to be
a sketch, suggested by the exquisite " Genevieve" of
Coleridge. No. 55, "At Upgang, near Whitby,
coast of Yorkshire," by Hurlstone, forms an appro-
priate specimen of the manner of this charming pain-
ter. No. 60, " Railway by Moonlight," by Ten-
nant, is a wonderful illusion, almost bewitching one
into the belief of its reality. No. 94, a capital
realization of one of the incidents mentioned in the
" Diary" of the inimitable Pepys. It speaks well
for the fancy of the artist, Mr. Noble. No. 104,
" Evening Bath, from the Italian," by Woolmer, is
one of those delicious pictures of voluptuous garden
scenery which seem to point out Mr. Woolmer as
the fittest illustrator of " Boccaccio." No. 108,
" Toe Young Shepherd," by Hill, forms an excel-
lent illustration of the peculiar style in which this
gifted artist is wholly and altogether unapproach-
able. Other productions, too numerous to particu.
!arise, attracted our attention, and fully compen-
sated us for the time occupied in the inspection of
the present brilliant and most successful exhibition.

KID D'S NEW PROCESS FOR -ILLUMI-
NATING, SILVERING, DECORATING,
AND EMBROIDERING ORNAMENTAL

GLASS, 6-c., 4-C.
That the present is a stirring, inventing, improving
age, is an axiom so nearly approximating to a truism,
that in spite of our admiration fur " old times," we
must needs pay some tribute of approbation to the
efforts unceasingly made in our own to remove the
bounds of science and art, and dispute with ages by-
gone the palm which some would still award to re-
mote periods ; for our own part, we gladly welcome
whatever appears to us highly meritorious, either as
likely to confer a benefit upon the community, or cal-
culated to raise the standard ofgood taste, and diffuse
its influence widely ; and such a result, when fairly
attained, we deem not only a novelty, but a benefit
.which entitles to our best thanks, and to the patronage
of all classes, but particularly of those gifted by for-
tune, the man who has devoted his beat energies to
the pursuit of so desirable an end. Such seems to
us the, position in which Mr. Kidd stands, and we
sincerely hope.the public at large, and the nobility and
gentry in particular, will visit (and we doubt not
that the result will be such as he may expect, and as
we think he deserves,) a small but very beautiful collec-
tion of specimens of illuminated, silvered, and, as he
himself aptly terms it, embroidered glass, applicable to
a variety of purposes, but intended by him to he
adapted in the first instance to the decoration of
objects which have hitherto been used with plain
surfaces, such as mirrors, dressing-glasses, and gene-
rally to all fancy and artistical ornaments for the
drawing-room or the boudoir. That this collection
of specimens is not an extensive one is not to be
wondered at, considering that, as Mr. Kidd mo-
destly says, the art which he has long cultivated
is in its infancy, and it will require time to
enable him to provide for what we deem
will be the inevitable demand, but we question
if the man of taste, and lover of the art, will not pre-
fer seeing these specimens as they now are, and f)r
our own part, we deem Mr. Kidd's success to have
been such as to warrant us in saying that he will
find it very difficult to surpass himself. But this
time will show. AVe were favoured with the view of
a work of ancient time, from which it would seem
certain that the art of silvering and illuminating
glass was not unknown to the Romans, and wonder-
ful indeed and curious is that antique specimen of
early art. But if in this, as in many other branches
of artistical industry, the ancients had the start of us,
it is equally evident that we have over them the great
and important advantage, that owing to the great
strides of science, particularly of chemistry, we can
obtain a degree of durability and permanency which
they could not impart to certain things; and it was,
for instance, with considerable satisfaction that we
ascertained that the combination of substances em-
ployed by Mr. Kidd, in silvering his glass, was such
as to resist the effect of time; in other words, not to
lose its polish and brilliancy. But much as we were
pleased with the singularly beautiful novelty which
Mr. Kidd is about to introduce, we must say that
we were still more delighted to find, that taking a
truly liberal and artistic view of the application of
his new process (albeit adapted to manufacturing
purposes), Air. Kidd seems in one respect to make
this a secondary consideration, and from the exqui-
site grace displayed in the forms he gives to all ob-
jects made by him. From the consummate judgment
evinced in the selection of those who assist him in his
arduous labours, among whom we should mention
Mr A. Conne, a most intelligent and first-rate artist
in his peculiar line (engraving on glass), to whose
abilities Mr. Kidd liberally ascribes a part of his
success, and whose name he in the same fair spirit
associates with his enterprise, from the sound taste
evinced by :him in avoiding all semblance
of mystery, and trusting rather to his un-
tiring efforts and natural abilities than to

the protection of the law of patents (except in one
case, in which he claims, and very fairly too, its
support). It is clear we are to view him as an artist,
and if we add that we found him as straightforward
and explicit in the view he takes of his present enter-
prise as modest in his conception of its merits, we only
anticipate the opinion of all who are likely to come in
contact with him, or his works, and think we can
predict for both the patronage of the public. We
should be guilty of an injustice if we omitted to any
that Mr. Kidd's claim to the sympathy of all liberal
supporters of the arts rests not upon his new process
alone, or even the efforts made by him to bring this to
ideal perfection—as an engraver on glass, Mr. Kidd
may be equalled by a few, but surpassed by none, and
all lovers of cut-glass will derive considerable gratifi•
cation from an inspection of the exquisitely beautiful
specimens exhibited by Mr.' Kidd in that branch of
art. If we expect, are long, to see the gentlemen's
and ladies' mirrors reflecting, and eliciting at one and
the same time, the admiration of many a noble
countenance and many a bright eye. if we fully