The Sun.
London, England, 1826-10-07 00:00:00

CERTIFICATES—OcT. 27.

J. Tyrrell, Stamford-street, dyer—T. H. Humphey, Mile-end-
road, Middlesex, stone-mason—S. Lafone, Toxeth-park, Walton-
ou-the4lill, Liverpool, tanner—J. Clarge, Great Bell-alley, Cole-
man-street, warehousernan—S. J. J. and W. Midgley, Aldmond-
bury, Yorkshire, fancy cloth-manufacturers--W. and 11. Hart,
Holborn-hill, linen-drapers—J. Cartledge, Brow-bridge, Halifax,
Yorkshire, merchant--T. Munday, Great Marlborough-street,
Carnaby-market, Middlesex, cheesemonger—J. B. Broomfield,
Walwortb, St. Mary, Newington, Surrey, builder—R. Ford,
Regent's-terrace, City-road, merchant—T. Cooper, Redditch,
Worcestershire, needle-manufacturerW. Travis, Audenshaw,
Lancashire, hat-manufacturer.
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.

M. Hassel and. W. Williams, Bristol, ciemiTits— J. White and
Howell, Threadneedle,street, auctioneers—A. E. and A. Ha•
aelar, Ware, Hertfordshire, surgeons—J. Skrine and C. Hum-
phrey, Cambridge, hankers—A. Schnuech and W. C. Smith,
Bury-court, St. Mary Axe, merchants...W. Wilson and J. Ro-
b,mi,, Salford, Lancashire, common brewers—J. Waddle and J.
Stewart, Stafford-street, Bond-street, purveyors of
Towurado Luddenden, Yorkshire, and T. Foulds, Midgley,York-
shire, worsted-manufacturers—Z. Senier and C. Denbigh,
Skiptou, Yorkshire, ironmongers—John Rodmell and E.
Aldersay, Strood, Kent, corn-factors—J. S. Hooke, T. Under-
down, and H. Wilkinson, Sheffield, silver-platers—W. Bestow
and G. Thorpe, Nottingham, lace-improvas..zi. C. Swift
and
W. li. swift, linundsditch, woollen-drapers—E. Lemur and F.
Lemm, Monmouth-street, tailors---W. Oldham, London, and It.
Ravenhill, London, merchants—C. Garrett and C.
Bishopsgate-street Within, merchants-3k.. I.,,a‘mmtek
41. aw-
son, T. Starkie, ”4 tipring Akin, SpWand, 11731,_
iiaie• Lancashire, ma tsters—P. Legge,. Gloucester, J. Wall, J.
Hood,'aritl 1 Russell, Worcester, dealers—E. Ogden, R. Pagan,
cud R. Ogden, Rochdale, Lancashire, woollen..manqacti,secl_
W. Hardwick and J. Warnri, PutiolOon, Ploliteestershire,
C.oo,llts---.1. Gandy and H. Sherrington, Manchester, cOmmission.
aget"---T. L. Blundell and J: Ward, Epsom and Ewell, Surrey,
surgeone—C. Robinson, J. T. Ford, and M. Smith,

11 QUEBTRATIONS, ,
Du' CPTP, SE builder, at the Town Hall,
. Weatherheail, ,olilstrearOi . nn, codstwain, Nov.
se, Nov. 9, at one
.; and at Young -
23, at any,
ra he chambers of Mr.
hI. and J. Anderson, paisley, gT°"'-' at 4
Andrerf Aft.oroc-e
a CilaarOW Oct 25, at two,. .
a, Mr.
J. AVAlpine, olugow" „' •ti at the chaol4l4 •I
pperstm I,
4 Si
lip":' GiallgOVrt NOV 1 aUll .0 At AiVi
Heisnie- a:erti:ll4,lBg!i'oliAg.)it tlktellitAnnt; at the
A. and J. Ilertram r:dl i; ."--* • Royal
ture-ilcalers, at the
Exatnge corrve.hu4sa
Edinburgh,
plc
0ct.... and Nov. 14,
i Edinburgh, LI /
at two. _ i chambers of Mr. Robt.

A. Buchanan and Son, St. Ninizin's brevxera, at O'e v-
hairiber6
of Mr. Robt. Haldane, Stm;
7- -P,13) Oc t. 2'4, at twelve.
...
R, 6,1,e1 a
hy ~ !' Co kirka I d y, ironmongers, at Mrs. Mac
Glashanß cilini, trkakly, Om 31 and Nov.l 4, at one.", at tjie George C. and J. Archer, Perth, found, lan, Perth,
Oct. 26, at one.
T. Maggot, Edinburgh, merchant, at Gibson's sale-room,
Nov. 4 and IS, at two.
D. Petrie Arbroath, shipowner at the chambers of Mr. Jolla
S, Sands, i '
Arbroath, Oct, 28, arttlNov. 18, at one,

LITERATURE.

DEATH'S DOINGS.

The well-known Dance of Death, by Hans Holbein,
which has been lately illustrated with wood-cuts, by
Bewick (one of the most spirited engravers of his
day) has afforded a few striking hints, of which Mr.
Dagley, in his present volume, has ably availed him-
self. The idea, however, of making death (the skele-
ton) a subject for ridicule, is not original even with
Holbein, for some of the Greek epigrams turn espe-
cially upon this subject. But Holbein first collected
the scattered whims of Lucian and Rabelais—both of
whom are replete with humour, on the prolific topic of
man's mortality ;—and formed them into a series of
sketches, which, for startling contrasts, severe morality,
,end expert caricature, have .never
',et been equalled.
Mr. Dagley, therefore, has fearful (Ads to contend
with, but this, instead of cowing, has evidently in-
flamed, his emulation ; and lie has accordingly ac-
quitted himself with success, if not as an equal, at
least as an imitator of ids great master. Among the
various etchings in the present volume '(twenty-four
in number) we would first particularise the Scroll, which
is really very impressive, for the figure of death has a
sublimity about him that we cannot look on with-
out awe: the attitude of the lady at his feet is
graceful and easy, and placed in fins relief to the
bony phantom. " The Cricketers" we think puerile,
both in conception and execution ; but 4‘ The Captive,"
which immediately follows, is far above caricature ; it
rises almost to the grandeur of historical painting. The
appearance of the prisoner in his dungeon, his emaci-
ated yet still unsubdued look, together with the skeleton
who stands before him, majestic in, his, very repose,
are contrasts which could only have been rendered ef-
ficient by first-rate ability. But even these, startlk
thobgh they be, are nothing to the etching entitle&
" The Mother," where Death, as a nurse, sits feeding
an infant, while the mother lolls beside a pianoforte.
The bare idea of this is terrible : the cradle and the
grave ; the smile of childhood and the grin of death,
thus brought into unnatural conjunction with each
other, possess a dreadful impressiveness, whose truth
we cannot admit without a shudder. " The Hypo-
choudriac" is remarkable rather for its outrageous
caricature than for any pointed contrast it pos-
sesses. It is, in fact, no ccrntrast at all ; for
disease is mixed up in the mind with death, and the
plate being surrounded with emblems of mortality
(physic) makes the grave anything but unexpected.—
The " Antiquary" lies under a similar imputation ; for
the.past itself is . death--the tomb to most of us of
buried hopes and friendships--so the skeleton
is superfluous. The " Champion" is a good idea,
and, what is better, universally intelligible, the Phan-
tom being represented as standing victor in a prise-
ring, with a squad of pugilists lying floor'd at his feet
—" a consummation devoutly to be wished." The
44 Apoplectic, " (or death officiating as waiter to a fat
elderly gentleman at a turtle feast,) will edify the
na-
tives of Guildhall ; it is, in short, an instructive coni-

mentar7 on a Lord Mayor's dinner. The Las
Bottle will, no doubt, tell well at both the Univer-
sities, and as we-are in the humour, we will beg leave
to illustrate it ourselves. In the Anuary of 1819, six
friends (two of Reading school) dined together at
Downing College, Cambridge ;'and afterthe usual allow-
ance of wine, left the room at ten o'clock for Barnwell.
The night was piercing cold, and whether it was that the
contrast between a heat, dining-room and a January
frost, brought on an unconquerable drowsiness, we
cannot say, but certain it is that one of the party
(highly intoxicated) separated from his friends as they
were all merandertng, together over Parker's Piece,
laid himself down in a ditch, first taking off his clothes
and placing his watch under his head, or, as he sup-
posed, his pillow, and then deliberately- slept to death.
Sic transit gloria ?nundi ! The " Academic Ho-
nours" is a striking sketch, fate is visibly pourtrayed
in the wan countenance of the senior wrangler, who
waits to receive his laurel crown from Death, Vice-
Chancellor of the grave; while numberless scientific
treatises lie like memento marl's at his feet. The
" Empiric" is good, and furnishes a hint for Dr. Eady,
who, we hope, will one day be induced, as a warning
to other Quacks, to take his own physic by mistake.
The " Lawyer" is admirably satirical, but both Death
and the Attorney are so much like each others that
we know not which is which ; perhaps in point of
beaut Death has got the advamage. An " Epi-
logue(' closes the series, wherein our thin • victor
is supposed to address the various trades and profea-
sions ; advising the attorney (a difficult matter) to
become honest ; the physician (impossible) to cure
instead of kill ; the epicure to eat a ton less ; the soldier
to be humane—the mechanic, industrious, and so forth
.—.4n which case, adds the bony phantom, all classes
will aillce hail mu as a friend.
So much for Mr. Dagley's share in this volume ;
his prose and poetic contributors are equally stlocessiul.
The tale illustrative of the liyphoq4udriac, though
insipid, is good—sok also, is the last bottle, in which
Mr, ,leragi writes himself down a Lon vivant, And
quotes Rabelais ; an author with whom, we doubt his
acquaintance. The song, entitled khe " Baccbanalians,"
is as good as such wch songs are apt to be—that is,
marvellously stupid, and makes us almost wish for
death to come and.relieve tie frfau the infliction, The
essay, baptised ‘4 Pia* vitee," should rather be
called, Sonini," for reasons that will be evi,
dent to the reader. It has bQWever one rood song
entitled '4 The Shades," which we quote entire.

THE SHADES,
I sing not of SUADII whit ihey tell of
Where 'Huta and PrOlierPi,ne "ig4
644 of She *tants wnere wine-oinners go,
Where a stream of Oporto loth constantly
A Lethe to wash sway pain.
The Leths of Tartarus, poets declare,
Oblivious virtues pommeled ;
But the Lethe we mean in.clan\c`A*4"
It inspire kka Oa lova and tf) chtritih the fair,
Anti warms seen the Anchoret's breast.
Oh, haste to the Snap's, then) where wine-hilill;* 104°4
Oh, hasty to that fav'rite resort,
Where, in wet or dry weather, itt cold in heat,
All care is forgot in a VAIN co.w.it,
\yin of via,* yon have drank a full quart. 111.

The The Poet," illustrative of
- opening stanzas, "
death, putting an extinguisher on an author's midnight
lamp, are expressive and spirited. 'We only wish the
grisly phantom would perform the slope kind office to

some other literary lamps,and the world., we conceive,
would be benefited. re subjoin the poem for our
reader's amusement.

THE POET.
Thou art vanish's:l ! Like the blast
Bursting from the midnight ',loud ;
Like the lightning thou art past,—
Earth has seen no nobler shroud !
Now is queuch'd the flashing eye,
Now, is chillid the burning brow,
• All the poet that can die •
Homer's self is but as thou.
-Thou but drunk life's richest draught,
Glory, tempter of the soul !
Wild and deep thy spirit quaff 'd,
There was poison in the bowl.
Then the haunting visions rose,
Spectres round thy bosom's throne.
Poet! what shall paint thy woes,
But a pencil like thine own ?
Thou art vanisled ! Earthly Fame,
See of what thy pomps are made !
Genius! stoop thine eye of flame !
Byron's self is but a shade.

ALFRED.

The following extract from a poem by Mr. Penny,
entitled « The Artist," is any thing but catch penny
it is, indeed, fraught with rich luxuriant description,
and as such demands insertion.
What joy is his,
Amid the forest depths to wander on,
O'er flower-output-pled path, and list the tones
Of the deep waterfall at silent noon,
Drowning the woodlark's song; and, then, to view
Its angry flood, headlong from rock to rock,
Leaping in tliund'rous rush, with silvery arch,--
Melodiously sublime! while o'er its mists,
That to the sun a mimic rainbow spread,
The guardian oaks bend lovingly their arms,
And drink the pearly moisture : in their shade
The lily blossoms on ►ts mossy bank,
And through their boughs wildly the sutnn►er breeze,
An ever-wand'ring harper sings unheard.
And, oh ! how sweet to him the sunset hour,
When, high amid the evening's glowing pumps
That light the west, the mountain lifts iss
A rich empurplsd pillow for the God
Of day to rest on, as he, like a king
In coronation 'splendour, gaily bids
Ilia worshippers farewell-

On the whole, we have no doubt that this volume
will be successful. The present age is an ago of sti-
mulus, and requires to be shocked by forcible epi-
grammatic contrasts into attention. 'Mr. Dagley has
judiciously supplied these contrasts : he has brought
impressively before us the only two considerations,
which, as long as the world lasts, will be universally
intelligible, life and death; and thus afforded an homily,
that, more or less, must come home to the hearts of all.
The moral, however, to be drawn from the book is
melancholy : it is like a jest spoken with a moist eye ;
a witticism uttered beside the tomb of a friend. Every
page. puts forth some fresh memewto of mortality in
one place we are required to smile at the death of the
young and beautiful ; in another, to sneer at distress;
and in all to remember that the world, taken even in its
best sense, is nothing but a boundless sepulchre,
wherein are inscribed the names alike of the mean
and mighty, the enlightened and the ignorant of earth.