The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-02 00:00:00

TAIT'S MAGAZINE.

In his political article this month, entitled a "Re-
trospect of the Session," Tait observes :—" We take
leave of the session of 1844 with the pleasing persua-
sion that it has rendered, in a left-handed way, a fair
contribution of useful service to the popular cause.
It has been to the Ministry one of retribution—to the
people one of instruction and preparation. It has greatly
weakened party ties, and damaged the prestige of high
party names." This last remark is true to the letter.
The effect of the session just passed has indeed been
to weaken " party ties," by demonstrating the folly
and inconsistency of party, and its utter inability to
legislate in a comprehensive, national spirit. llence-
forth neither Whigs nor Tories will exercise much
influence over the public mind, which has at length
become fairly weary of the assumption and hollowness
of both factions. 'The " Burns' Festival" is an ac-
count, somewhat overcharged, of the late gathering
on the banks of the Doon of the admirers of this
truly national poet. The details are spirited and cir-
cumstantial, but we could have wished that the
writer had dwelt less upon the faults of Burns, for,
from all we can gather from his numerous biogra-
phers, they were by no means of a flagrant character,
but were such as ought to have been forgotten long
since. Poor Burns never committed a fault half so
grievous as that which his own countrymen com-
mitted when they left him to die in all but absolute
penury, neglected and broken-hearted. " Our Hearth
and Homestead" is a clever domestic sketch from the
pen of Mr. Mills, a writer whose sporting sketches
are fully equal to those of the late Nimrod. " Life
of Lord Chancellor Eldon" is an impartial notice of
Mr. Twiss's recently-published Memoirs of this over-
rated statesman. From the " Feast cf the Poets" we
quote some pleating stanzas, entitled the " Beautiful
and True :
The Beautiful and True, dear love,
The Beautiful and True,
Oft they meet to part, but yet
They never say, Adieu !
The stars, how gloriously they greet !
But then, as morn comes on,
Heaven's pavement to their glittering feet,
Is echoeless and lone.
Brightly they dance away, but still
Such partings yield no pain ;
For ne'er they bid adieu, until
They 've sworn to meet again,
Th.= love,
They 've sworn to meet again !
I saw two birds, like Faith on wings,
Meet o'er the waters blue ;
0 they could part like hopeful things,
Nor breathe a last adieu.
I saw a warrior, armed for fight,
Quit his lady fond and true,
But their lips first held a meeting bright,
And thus they bade adieu !
I saw two ships part company,
O'er the ocean's sparkling foam,
And the " Outward Bound" sang a song of glee,
And the " Homeward," a song of home,
Dear love,
And the " Homeward," a song of home !
O Minnie, thy words may breathe, "Farewell !"
But thy voice hath a binding thrill,
Whose latest sound shall wreathe a spell
To keep thee present still.
The touch of thy hand when kind and fond,
And thy smile, and thy waving hair,
And thy soft deep eyes, with their hopes beyond
The gloom of each passing care,
Shall haunt me still, and when thou art gone
I will live in a dream of thee,
And with thee will rove when the night comes on,
Through the grove to our trysting tree,
Dear love,
Through the grove to our trysting tree.

FRASER'S MAGAZINE.
The proceedings of the late Session of Parliament,
especially as regards the Church, seem to have be-
wildered Fraser as much as they would have be-
wildered Lord Eldon, had that stiff old ultra-Tory
been alive to witness them. "Poor Mother Church,"
says our disheartened monthly Contemporary, "is
going sadly to the wall! It is the doctrine of modern
Conservatism to keep her down. We wo'nt destroy
her. Oh, no ! But we will do all that we can to
prevent her from exercising any more the supremacy
which used in former times to belong to her. We
quite expect to see, ere another year passes over us,
an accredited. Minister from the Court of St..James's
to that of St.. Peter at Rome ; and it will be no object
of surprise to us to find two Established Churches, or
possibly no Established Church at all, recognised in
Ireland. And all will have been the work of a Con-
servative Government r" Really the Conservatives
are a most unlucky set of people, for they appear to
please nobody. The Whigs distrust t
Tories all but repudiate them—and the Radicals hold
them in utter abhorrence for their halting and
evasive course of policy. Well, we are not sorry for •
the frequent rebuffs they meet with, even from their
former friends, for they have done their best to deserve
them by their want of principle, and the spaniel-like
submissiveness which they have exhibited towards their
task-master, on whom, the more he has lashed them,
the more they have fawned. " Campbelliana" is a
collection of personal reminiscences of the author of
the " Pleasures of Hope." These reminiscences are
not penned in the most friendly spirit, but leave an
impression on the mind that the subject of them was a
cold, reserved, waspish creature, deficient alike in
candour, bonhommie, and liberality. Of his first
great poem? on " Hope," we are told that " the four-
teen opening lines were the last that were written,"
and that the work was sold to an Edinburgh book-
seller for the insignificant sum of twenty pounds !
Soon after its publication Campbell came to London,
and for a short time received two guineas a week for
contributingciironiele ;
occasional pin 1806 he had o
a pensione
m
s
to
fthles4l. Morning
granted to him out of the Scotch Excise, o
which aheyen-
joyed to the day of his death. Immediately on the
receipt of this pension he took up his residence at