The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-17 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
lIADYNS DICTIONARY OF DATES.
lo.ion, London, 1844.
" The design of the author," says Mr. Hadyn in his
preface, "has been, to attempt the compression of the
greatest body of general information that has ever
appeared in a single volume, and to produce a book of
reference whose extensive usefulness may render its
possession material to every individual, in the same
manner that a London Directory is indispensable, on
business affairs, to a London merchant." '['his object
—a most difficult one—the author has successfully
accomplished; his volume contains upwards of four-
teen thousand articles, alphabetically arranged for the
greater convenience of reference, on almost every sub-
ject that can present itself to the reader's mind, com-
prehending every remarkable occurrence, ancient and
modern, the foundation, laws, and government of
countries, their progress in civilisation, industry, and
science, their achievements in arms, the political and
social transactions of the British empire, its civil,
military and religious institutions, together with co-
pious details respecting the origin and advance of
human arts and inventions. A work thus varied in
the nature, and extensive in the range of its informa-
tion must thereby have been of slow growth, and
tasl;xl Mr. Haydn's utmost industry, snore espe-
cialli as there is no confusion or mismanagement per-
ceptible in it, every article being duly ranged under
its fitting head, and found without the slightest dif-
ficulty, which is not always the case in productions
of this miscellaneous character, Altogether, the
" Dictionary of Dates" may be regarded as a work
sui generis, and is specially adapted as a companion
to all biographical memoirs " relating as it does"—
to quote the author's own apt terms—" to things, as
those do to persons, and affordinginformation not in-
cluded in the range or design of such publications."

THE WEEKLY VOLUME.—Part VI.
C. Knight, London, 1844.
The present Part of this weekly miscellany forms
the first volume of a republication, in a small duodecimo
shape, of Mr. Davis's well-known work on China,
which was brought out some eix or eight years since,
and acquired no ordinary share of popularity. It is
proposed to complete the republication in three
cheap neatly printed volumes, of which the one be-
fore us is a very favourable specimen, being illus-
trated—in addition to its other recommendations—by
not less than twelve skilful and appropriate wood-en-
gravings. If the " Weekly Volume" continue to be
devoted to the republication of such sterling works
of information as Davis's "China," it can scarcely fail
to become as great a favourite with the reading com-
munity as was the late Mr. Murray's " Family Li-
brary."

A WINTER IN ITALY. 2 Vols.
Colburn, London, 1844.
Mrs. Ashton Yates, to whom we are indebted for
this work, wields the pen of a ready writer. Within
the last ten or a dozen years, we have read scores of
accounts of visits to Italy, but we know not that we
have read any which have occasioned us more
amusement than the one before us. The authoress is
by no means a profound or subtle observer ; she
rarely, if ever, pierces below the surface; but her
remarks are uniformly entertaining, and her descrip-
tions, trite as are the themes on which she expatiates,
have the charm of ease and liveliness. During the
winter which she spent in Italy she seems to have
been constantly bustling about, making the best use
of her eyes and ears on every occasion, and missing
nothing that was at all worthy of notice. She visited
in succession almost every Italian town and city of
any note ; and even penetrated into the mountains of
the Tyrol, whose magnificent scenery she pourtrays
in animated terms, and at the same time takes the
opportunity of giving her readers a few interesting
particulars respecting the Tyrolese patriots, Hofer and
Speckbacher, the former of whom was shot in 1809
by order of Napoleon, for no worse crime than that
of defending his native country from the tyranny of
Bavaria, to whom the French Emperor had made it
over as a sort of Imperial gift to his ally. But de-
cidedly the most agreeable portions of Mrs. Ashton
Yates's volumes are those which are devoted to Venice
—a city which, as might be expected, greatly took her
fancy, and whose various public buildings, together
with the manners of its inhabitants, she describes
with the most circumstantial minuteness. While
residing at Rome, which appears to have been still
more to her taste than even Venice, she was honoured
with an interview by the Pope, of which she thus
states the particulars :
" Our acquaintance with a young clergyman, who
had some interest among the Cardinals, obtained for us
the honour of an interview with the Pope. We were a
party of about twelve, and on being told that we were
all English, he dispensed with our bending the knee, or
showing him any mark of homage to which our stiff-
necked, stiff limbed people are unaccustomed. Horace
Walpole, it is said, on being presented, drew back,
loth to pay the tribute of respect good Catholics
were doing to the slipper, which the Pope perceiving,
kindly addressed him—" My son, don't be afraid of
showing respect to an old man." We, not being called
on to pay any such implied homage, placed ouselves at
once in a circle around his Holiness. He was plainly
habited in a loose white cloth robe, made like a dressing-
gown ; his slippers only were ornamented, being com-
posed of crimson and gold ; he is an animated, benevo-
lent-looking old gentleman of about seventy years of
age. One of his Bishops, an Englishman, stood near
(the Pope was himself standing, leaning his back against
a table). We had been informed that we might speak
either Italian or French as we pleased, though his Holi-
ness would confine himself to the former language, in
which he converses most easily.
" On his being told somewhat of the different pur-
suits and avocations of the gentlemen, he addressed a
fine intelligent-looking young Man who had travelled
extensively with his tutor, but is, alas ! deaf and dumb.
so that no reply could he make. The Pope then turned
to a naval captain of great stature, and altogether gigan-
tic proportions (a fit representative of the man-of-war he
commands), who was, unfortunately, quite unconscious
of the encomiums bestowed upon our navy. Although
admirably fitted
ig-
norance make a cannon reply to the
off the
Vatican,the Continental languages rendered him
dumb thundersor an ce o
also.
-"
n

"A gentleman of our immediate party, who speaks Ita-
lian fluently, took up the subject, and did it full justice,
for whatever Englishmen may be called, Liberal or Con-
servatives, they are equally proud of England, more
especially when in a foreign land ; and though they
sometimes cavil at, and comp by they
of,
stranger's lips, and
affairs at home, yet
let their country be named
they instantly find their warmest affections called forth,
and her honour and their own identified.
" The Pope afterwards asked the ladies various
questions as to how they liked Italy, and other matters.
One of them, whose good animal spirits were rather en-
livened than repressed by the novelty of the situation,
replied, and caused him to smile so graciously, that I
almost fancy, had the offer been made, she was prepared
to accept his arm and take a turn with him in the ad-
joining garden, when his cap and cloak were brought for
the purpose of his going there. But he only bowed, and
went through a glass door, to pursue his solitary walk
amongst fine beds of flowers, which perhaps compensate
him in some degree for being denied the agremens of
female conversation,
excepting on the most limited
scale.

" No other sovereigns lead so solitary and cheerless a
life as do the Popes ; they never walk out beyond their
gardens, never ride on horseback, invariably dine alone,
and, worse than all, they see no ladies, mingling in the
grave society of churchmen with whom they associate,
except in cases of formal introductions, such as I have
described. This ascetic mode of life, I believe, was en-
joined by the Council of Trent, in order to preserve the
Papal character from the reproaches to which it had been
liable from the free manner of living of some such Popes
as Leo X., who hunted and enjoyed, without distinction,
the good fellowship, to say the least, of ordinary persons.
Most certainly, though the manner of living adopted
afterwards by the Popes appears unnecessarily strict,
and too far removed from wholesome and allowable gra-
tifications, still it must be admitted that the habitual
self-denial they severally practise, adds much to their
dignity and respectability. '