The Sun.
London, England, 1828-06-02 00:00:00

LONDON MAGAZINE.

" Reforms in the Law : History of a Suit," en-
ters with much spirit into a somewhat uninviting
and complex subject. 'I he writer has a fair enough
acquaintance with the nature of Mr. Brougham's
alterations—of which the article is a judicious ana-
lysis—he points out the defects of our legal institu-
tions, as instanced in the conduct of a suit, from the
Alpha to the Omega of its process, enforces the
necessity of deep and extensive amendments, yet
leaves us in the dark as to the nature of thew. He
finds fault with a system; but hesitates to point out
remedy. For this reason we must qualify our
praise of an otherwise able article. " Mr. Hunt in
Paris" is a sensible and dispassionate comment oil
Mr. Hunt's late letter (inserted in the Morning
Herald) respecting the superiority of France—espe-
cially of Paris—to London. It detects his fallacies,
exposes his sophisms, and dwells justly, but not
acrimoniously,.on his unfair and superficial observa-
tions. His praises in particular of the Paris hotels
are proved to be wholly undeserved. The London
coffee-houses; Says the commentator, are a hundred
times superior. In the course of this brief article a
few good remarks, respecting English travellers, arc

put forth, which we here quote; they are ingenious,
if not novel

There are two classes Of English travellers, whoth, for
want of better, I may call the John Bull Allegro, and the
John Bull Penseroso. The latter is our natural habit. We
love to growl—it is in vain to deny it. We travel froth
Dan to Beersheba, and, find every thing barren. The
journey stirs our bile, and we pour it forth on our return in
a most Smelfungtis fashion. (Jilr insularity, and the coin-
fortable state of war with our neighbours in which we have
contrived to keep ourselves for nearly two-thirds of every
century, have given us no very favourable idea of foreigners;
and, let us conceal itas we can—let us laugh at it as a pre-
judice of the lower classes--a thing quite unworthy of the
attention of gentlemen and philosophers.--the persuasion
that an Englishman can beat any three foreigners (I beg
pardon, any three d----d foreigners, for that is the classic
phrase) is believed, in a degree, by the whole nation.
But action and re-action, say the Newtonians, are equal
and contrary; and, accordingly, the John Bull Allegro
goes to the Continent determined to see nu blemish. It
is vulgar—it is low—it is prejudice—it is illiberal to
imagine that any thing English is better than its corres-
ponding article in France. In his face you see legibly
written, " Depend upon it, my dear Sir, all you have
• heard about these matters, is a mistake—all wrong, Sir—/
beg to explain," &c. &c. Even, here, however, the na-
tional humour breaks out, and praise cannot be accorded to
a foreign country without indulging in a grumble upon
our own. Hunt is evidently of the Allegro class—and on
being let loose in France for the first time slims himself
superior to prejudice, by panegyrising every thing he finds
t‘uare.

" A Visit to an Abbey of La Trappe" contains
much that is new, and more still that is entertain-
ing. Every one knows or has heard of the auste-
rities practised at this famous convent; but few we
believe ase aware of the extent to which) even in
this tolerant and enlightened age, they are carried.
Our author went some time since (he does not say
exactly when) to pay the Monks a visit, and de-
scribes with admirable fidelity the impression made
on him by their absurd and saintly austerities. They
rise, it seems, at one in the morning, winter and
summer, to pray, which is performed kneeling on a
deal board; they seldom or never indulge in the
carnal luxuries of clean linen ; even Suwarrow him-
self never clung to a dirty shirt with half the affec-
tionate tenacity of these devotees. With respect to
food, any thing beyond cold water or mouldy bread
is unknown, a rump-steak would be looked on
as the most confirmed symptom of carnality; and
as for wine, it would be neither more nor
less than a bursting forth of original sin. We re-
commend the article to all who are fond of speculat-
ing on the strange diversities of human character;
it will furnish them with abundant food both for mirth
and melancholy, or, to use the classic language !of
Gibbon,when alluding to the invention of gunpowder
" enable them according to their temperament to
weep or smile at the inveterate follies of mankind."
" The German Gibbet" is a diverting piece of
diablerie, full of the Radcliffe school of horrors,
grafted on the wilder romance of " La Motte Fon-
que." It regards a man who was hanged, but was
saved by the kind interposition of the devil, on the
condition that he should procure some one to accept
the loan of a cloak which he always carried about
with him ; and which acceptance was to be consi-
dered as a surrender of the acceptor's soul and body.
The legend, or dream rather, is, we repeat, amusing.
State and Prospects of Portugal" describes the
distracted condition of that country; it gives an ac-
count of its different factions, their origin, progress,
general character, and particular influence, and con-
cludes with the following pertinent remarks :
What, then, is likely to be the immediate result of the
conduct of the usurper, and what its more distant conse-
quences? He has cut himself off from all diplomatic re-
lations with the rest of Europe, whose sovereigns, being
the allies of Don Pedro, cannot wink at the overthrow of
•his rights.- The commerce of the country. must be still
farther r•educed--the finances of the state still farther em-
barrassed: He will, in consequence, be unable to sup-
port his army, or to gratify his greedy followers—the
number of the discontented must thus increase, by acces-
sions of those whose rapacity be will be unable to gratify;
and if his brother recals his commission, or denounces war,
he will be deserted by a great portion of kis troops, who
even now exhibit a threatening aspect of revolt. He will
then find that he is only the governor of a faction, and not
the sovereign of a kingdom—that the friendship of. monks
and friars is a poor compensation for the loss of public con-
fideoce---and that the shouts and bonfires of convents
cannot protect hini.from the execrations arising from the
marts of trade, and the haunts }of industry. His conduct
has given such general disgust to the majority of the troops
—even to staunch royalists, that it Don Pedro were. to de-
nounce him as a usurper—send his daughter to the Azores,
or to Madeira—create a regency there in her same, coin-
pcsed of Portuguese nobles—and call upon all the faithful
Portuguese to join her standard, there is every probability
that the dissolute and contemptible creature, who assumes
and disgraces the name of king, would be unable to main-
tain his ground for three months. Such, we think, may
probably be the result.