The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-11 00:00:00

CHATSWORTH. 3 Vols. CoThum, London, 1844.

If we except some descriptive passages which occur
here and there in the course of a long and somewhat
prosy introduction, there is not much in this work
that is calculated to attract public attention, notwith-
standingc that it is ushered into the world under the
auspices iof the author of " Tremaine," who is an-
nounced in the title-page as its editor. The work is
called "Chatsworth" simply from the circumstance
that it consists of a collection of short tales which are
supposect to be written by,a party of talented—to
;-quote o of the favourite cant terms of the day—and
gristocr is guests assembled beneath the root of this
'princely late, by way of passing away a few hours
Ipa
4greeab y. The writing of these tales may possibly
have proved a very agreeable occupation to their
authors, but the perusal of them by their readers will
prove, we fear, quite a different matter, for they
contain little that is novel in conception, and the
execution scarcely, if ever, rises above common place.
Their chief
.recVmendations are their brevity, and
the easy, unpreTtnding spirit in which they are
Penned. The first, which is entitled " The Three
Vows,"
.is the best of the series, and one or two of
the inciflen - .coimected with the heroine Lady
Pori., "1I f. cite lively lively interest On the whole,
#44 .! ~' '171!
.ei oduction is thebest part of the
work, .1
!'"T...ifeiits length and the frequent languor
4f its *ai a ~,,,,. 4,fjaf character, we find in it some
graphic : any iilifs-. like descriptions of the romantic
scenery in the immediate neighbourhood of Chats-
worth. The following, in our judgment, is the
most effective passage in the whole three volumes. It
is a sketch of a picturesque landscape about a stone's
throw from Mattock-bath ; and the author, with
some show of justice, prefers it to all the vaunted
scenery of the Rhine and the still more bepraised
German Spas :
" Every step we advance up the valley of the Derwent
grows more and more redolent of the atmosphere of that
spot which is now evidently near at hand—like the
fabled tree, within a certain distance of whose shadow no
unclean thing would harbour. Chatsworth spreads its
beatifying influence on all things within that circle, at
the extremity of one of whose radii an approach to it has
commenced. On the southern side of Mattock-bath, the
scenery, with infinite natural lovelinesstis deformed every
here and there by one of those enormities with which the
pestilent demon of commerce has desecrated a land that
had otherwise rivalled in beauty the most beautiful of
those in fable. Here stands midway up the side of
some fair forest-clothed hill, everlastingly overlooking
the vale for miles around with its innumerable eyes—a
vast cotton mill. There, down by the soft sweet margin
of the river, just where a gentle declivity in its course
has broken its serene face into sparkling dimples—lo ! a
never ceasing noise of innumerable hammers issue from
low blackened walls, that day and night, in sunshine and
in moonlight, vomit forth volleys of poisonous smoke,
that blast the trees all around till no bird will sing in
them. Not much less offensive to the eye of taste—see
the bepillared and bepedimented castle of some cotton
lord or iron master hangingheavily against the brow of
yonder upland, like a loathsome goitre on the neck of
some mountain maid that were else fair as her own hills.
Once passed the threshold of that circle of which Chats-
worth is the centre, we have not only no more of these
painful and offensive anomalies, but every thing seems to
take a tone and colour from those of the presiding di-
vinity of the district Every dwelling bespeaks
the precise station of its owner, and that he is content
will' station; neither shrinking painfully from the one
below him, nor straining awkwardly towards that which
is above him. The pleasant homestead of the substan-
tial yeoman stands soberly in the midst of its subject
fields, aiming at nothing higher than to mark the dwell •
ing-place of their simple-minded owner. The modest
domicile of the village pastor looks blandly from out its
sheltering trees—the emblem of that holy and happy
calm, which it is the blessed office of its inmate to spread
around him, but which never yet emanated from the
paltry prettiness of a dandy parsonage."

SELECTIONS FROM WORDSWORTH.
Burns, London, 1844.
____ _

With one or two exceptions, these selections from
the poetical works of Mr. Wordsworth are made
with taste and judgment. We miss, however, his
noble poem on the "Ruins of Kilchoram Castle," one
of the most characteristic he ever penned, and could
readily have dispensed with the " Pet Lamb" and
" Foresight," in which not his strength, but his
weakness, isliade manifest. In a brief introductory
notice the editor of this neat little duodecimo, after
commenting on the thoughtful and elevated nature
of Wordsworth's genius, goes on to observe—" In
his works the English tongue is seen almost in its
perfection ; its powers of delicate expression, its
flexible idioms, its vast compass, the rich variety of
its rhythms, being all displayed in the attrac-
tive garb of verse, and yet with a most
rigorous conformity to the laws of its own syntax."
This is justly said. To say nothing of his other re-
commendations, Mr. Wordsworth is perhaps the most
scrupulously grammatical writer of his age ; while
Pope, whom it has so long been the fashion to
praise for his invariable correctness, abounds
in instances of slovenly and defective grammar.
Those who would desire to see Mr. Wordsworth's
genius and power of felicitous expression in their full
force, cannot do better than peruse attentively the
poem of " Laodamia"— a poem which is as polished
as Parian marble, and is informed by a philosophic
spirit, austere even to absolute stoicism in its cha-
racter. The "Banks of the Wye" is another remark-
able production, bearing, in every line the impress of
its author's genius ; and both these striking poems—
the one cold, and pure, and passionless, as one of
Canova's sculptures, the other full of fervent emotion
—are included in the selection before us.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
WARWICK SPRING MEETING, 1844.
Acceptances for the Warwick Handicap.
Vibration, 5 yrs, Bst 131b—Mosque, 6 yrs, Bst 81b—Ajax,
B,yrs. Bst lib—lsaac, aged, 7st 81b—Naworth, aged, 7st 51b
—Jack, 5 yrs, 7st 41b—Nylghau. 4 yrs, 7st 41b—Irony,
5 yrs, 7st 41b—The Curate, 4 yrs, 7st—Pickmick(h b), aged,
7st--Aurungzebe, 4 yrs, 6st 71b—Mechanic, 4 yrs, 6st
71b—Father Mathew, 3 yrs, sst 71b. The rest pay 5 sous.
each.