The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-17 00:00:00

LITERA TIJRE

LOVE AND MES111E1?IS111.
3 Vas.
We regret to learn from he preface to this work that
the author of " Brambletye House" has written his last
novel. Spit-. of the inconsistency of human nature,
there is always something melancholy attached to the
word " last." All feel the charm of old associations,
and are loth to part with a familiar friend. We
recal the pleasant hours passed together, the sorrows
his presence has dispelled, the good feelings he has
called forth, the bright hopes he has inspired, and we
sigh to think it will be so no more. Such are the feel-
ings with which we regar 1 a favourite author, and such
will be the feelings of Mr. Smith's admirers when they
learn that he is to amuse them no longer. He tells us
in the introduction that after a successful career of nearly
a quaver of a century he now comes before the public,
like an actor, on his farewell benefit ; and as on such an
occasion it is usual for the hero of the evening to sustain
many different parts, appearing alike in tragedy or
comedy, as if to exhibit his various talents, so it seems
that Mr. Smith has wished to appear for the last time,
for in this work he has given us two very different spe-
cimens of his power—the tales of Love and Mesmerism
are as unlike in character, as in name. The first is a
history of the human heart, an analysis of its secret
passions, written in glowing and energetic language, full
of vigour and reality. The scene is in Italy, the land of
love and romance. We see Venice, durihg the rule of
her last Doge, arrayed in delusive splendour, hastening
to her downfall. The folbwing is a description of the
proud " Queen of the Waters" :-
4. Why should we attempt to portray Venice ? Lives there
in the wide European world a single educated man who is a
stranger to it? No, not one. Such a being would be an
anomaly, a solecism, an impossibility. He may have never
been wafted in a gondola, as it floated, like a brooding halcyon,
over the waters of the Grand Canal ; he may never have done
admiring homage with his bodily eye to the sovereign of the
many isles; but to his mental vision she has long been patent,
palpable, familiar as the market-place of his native town.
The paintings of Canaletto, Guardi, and other artists—the
vivid portraitures of dramatists and novelists, the
preans of poets, the mere sure and sober delinea-
tions of history, have not only indelibly stamped
upon his memory the glorious annals of this oldest
and most celebrated of all modern cities, but have pictured to
his delighted gaze her serpentine canal, with its myriad diver-
ging channels, her turret-crowned isles and islets, her Piazza
of St. Marc, her Piazzetta, her Rialto, her churches, her
palaces, columns, obelisks, towers, and trophies. Up from the
Adriatic does she majestically rise before him, haunting his
imagination like a dream, the only dream, perhaps, which, com-
bining wildness, splendour, and grotesque romance, still falls
short of the wildness, splendour, and romance of the reality.
" Populous and gay, yet comparatively silent and unbust-
ling—a metropolis without horses, carriages, or cattle—its in-
habitants gliding along the river-streets in black funereal-look-
ing gondolas—its fantastic buildings varying from every known
style and epoch, and contrasting while they harmonize with
each other, this aphrodite of the Adriatic might well be deemed
a glorious apparition, evoked from the waters of the deep by
the wand of some imaginative enchantress. Almost as dreamy,
ideal, and fancy-painted as the ' baseless fabric of a vision,'
what city, nevertheless, so prolific of fact, so storied with
historical associations, so prodigal of European, African,
and Asiatic realities, so self-revealing and autobiographical as
Venice? Enriched with the spoils of three quarters of the
globe, bearing the handwriting of twelve centuries upon her
walls, nearly every temple an epoch, every tower a narrative,
every column a trophy, she has literally made the stones
prate of her whereabout ;' has eternized her public glory in
her public buildings; and has rendered her open places as un-
reserved in their disclosures and revelations as the confessional
box of a cathedral."

By Horace Smith.

" Mesmerism" is a tale of a very different character,
more adapted to a German enthusiast than an English
novel-reader ; it is written in beautiful language, full of
feeling and pathos, yet it is neither calculated to instruct
or amuse. The author considers mesmerism as a pro-
found " mystery" which he has not atterupteol to solve,
and disregarding all the probable and the possible,
he has sought to " gild refined gold," and render the
" mystery" more mysterious than ever. One of his
objects is to render the idea of death less terrible, and
he has given us the example of two young sisters gra-
dually sinking to an early grave as calmly and gently as
'n infant on its mother's bosom. The whole passage is
full of tenderness and pathos, but was it necessary to
increase the interest of the scene by introducing visions
and phantoms ? To diminish the terrors of Death he
is introduced as a dirk figure, bearing the name of the
" Universal Friend"--thus truth is destroyed, and the
cheering example is lost; we have no longer a useful
lesson, but a wild incomprehensible romance. We
should be sorry if Mr. Smith thus terminated his literary
labours ; he will find enough to employ his energetic
fancy and undiminished vigour in the realities of life,
and scene.tl
without plunging into mystery, or retiring from the
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DELASS"

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,EIIIENTS CULINAIR ES. CULI-
NARY RELAXATIONS. By A. Soyer, of the
Reform Club.
We have here the renowned inventor of the Souffle
Monstre ti la Clontarf, appearing in the character of
author. The Revue Seria Buffa, with which these de-
lassements commence, is a glorious extravaganza. M.
Soyer was at a supper of the artistes of the Opera after
the conclusion of a new ballet, and on some of those pre-
sent observing on the difficulty of composing a ballet, M.
Soyer volunteered to produce one, and composed " La
Fille de i Orage." This constitutes the subject of the
first part of the delassements. Full of wit, fun, and
quiproguo, this paper wants little save putting into
dialogue to be made one of the most amusing and origi-
nal of comic dramas, in the course of which, the
ballet itself, which would afford excellent scope for
scenic effect, and which, if curtailed, would,
no doubt, succeed, might be introduced. We
commend this hint to the attention ,of M. Soyer. The
plat Pagodatique, the subject of the next paper, is one
of the most elegant and useful of modern gastronomical
inventions. It is •a new entrée dish, with a centre and
four compartments under one cover. There is not a
gourmet of taste in the land who will not possess himself
of one. For a petit souper it is the most elegant of
dishes, containing five varieties in one entrée. This
plat Pagodatique is one of the culinary glories of the
Reform Club. The last article we give entire :
" Procure, if possible, the antique Vase of the Roman Capi-
tol ; the Cup of Hebe ; the Strength of Hercules ; and the
Power of Jupiter ; then proceed as follows :—Have ready the
chaste Vase (on the glittering rim of which three Doves are
resting in peace), and in it deposit a Smile from the Duchess
of Sutherland, from which Terrestrial Deesse it will be most
graceful ; then add a Lesson from the Duchess of Northum-
berland; the Happy Remembrance of Lady Byron ; an In-
vitation from the Marchioness of Exeter; a Walk in the
Fairy Palace of the Duchess of Buckingham ; the Honour of
the Marchioness of Douro; a Sketch from Lady Westmore-
land; Lady Chesterfield's Conversation; the Deportment of
the Marchioness of Aylesbury ; the Affability of Lady Mar-
cus Hill ; some Romances of Mrs. Norton ; a Mite of Gold
from Miss Coutts ; a Royal Dress from the Duchess of Buc-
clench ; a Reception from the Duchess of Leinster ; a Frag-
ment from the Works of Lady Blessington ; a Ministerial
Secret from Lady Peel ; a Gift from the Duchess of Bedford ;
an Interview with Madame de Bunsen; a Diplomatic Remi-
niscence from the Marchioness of Clanricarde ; an Autocratic
Thought from the Baroness Brunow ; a Reflection from Lady
John Russell ; an Amiable Word from Lady Wilton ; the
Protection of the Countess de St. Aulaire ; a Seraphic Strain
from Lady Essex ; a Welcome from Lady Alice Peel ; the
Sylph-like form of the Marchioness of Abercorn ; a Soiree of
the Duchess of Beaufort ; a Reverence of the Viscountess
Jocelyn; and the Good-will of Lady Palmerston.
"Season with the Piquante Observation of the Marchioness
of Londonderry; the Stately Mien of the Countess of Jersey;
the Tresor of the Baroness Rothschild; the Noble Devotion
of Lady Sale; the Knowledge of the Fine Arts of the
Marchioness of Lansdowne ; the Charity of the Lady de
Grey; a Criticism from the Viscountess of Melville ;—with a
Musical Accompaniment from the whole; and Portraits of all
these Ladies taken from the Book of Celebrated Beauties.
"Amalgamate scientifically; and should you find this
Apparel? (which is without a parallel), does not mix well,
do not regard the expense for the completion of a Dish
worthy of the Gods !
" Endeavour to procure, no matter at what price, a Vir-
tuous Maxim from the Book of Education of her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Kent; a Kiss from the Infant
Princess Alice ; an Innocent Trick of the Princess Royal ; a
Benevolent Visit from the Duchess of Gloucester; a Mater-
nal Sentiment of her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cam-
bridge; a Compliment from the Princess Augusta de Mack.
lenbourg ; the Future Hopes of the Young Princess Mary;
—And the Munificence of her Majesty Queen Adelaide.
"Cover the Vase with the Glorious Reign of her Most
Gracious Majesty, and let it simmer for half a century, and
more, if possible, over a Fire of Immortal Roses.
" Then uncover, with the greatest care and precision, this
Mysterious Vase; garnish the top with the Aurora of a
Spring Morning; several Rays of the Sun of France; the
Serenity of an Italian Sky; and the universal Appreciation
of the Peace of Europe.
" Add a few Beams of the Aurora Borealis ; sprinkle over
with the Virgin Snow of Mont Blanc ; glaze with an Erup-
tion of Mount Vesuvius; cause the Star of the Shepherd to
dart over it; and remove, as quickly as possible, this chef
d'muvre of the nineteenth century, from the Volcanic District.
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iitfinthlasol
tuuelritrewobduieitns'is(i
uEtrtibiln
iiecsnhgsmai a
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tibnietrmilii)oiaarinteaclQyi immortality
nt
hoef.
brightest Queen of the Day."
This " flemmage aux Dames" is at once elegant,
truthful, and complimentary, and is worthy of the
gallantry of the nation to which M. Soyer belongs. The
allegorical meaning of this composition, which,
as we
take it, is emblematical of Peace, is quaintly poetical.
Thus do we interpret the allegory. The ladies, of
course, compose the cream. Titre antique vase with the
doves represents the ocean undisturbed by war—from
the cup of Liebe happiness is poured upon all nations—
the strength of Hercules maintains the nations within the
proper limits, and the power of Jupiter preserves peace
between them. The fifty years is evidently an allusion
to the length and happines of the reign which our pre-
sent beloved Sovereign is in all probability destined
to enjoy. In a note, M. Soyer pledges himself in
his forthcoming gastronomical work to give
a receipt " for a practicable dish making parallel
with the Cream of Great Britain." We look for-
ward to the appearance of the promised work
with curiosity, to ascertain what that dish can be. The

POLITICAL DICTIONARY. Pare VIII.
This is the first part of the second volume of this the
most generally useful book of reference which has issued
from the press for years. The first article in this part
is entitled " Factor," the last is " International Law."
All the articles arc written clearly and understandibly,
great research has been made to collect materials for
them, and they are in every instance au niveau des con-
nuisances uetuelles.