The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-01 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

The character, habits, personal peculiarities, &c., of
the Emperor Nicholas are minutely described in this
Number, by a writer who, it appears, has been some
years resident in Russia, and has had many opportu-
nities of picking up Court gossip. He represents the
Czar as one of the handsomest and most symmetrical
men of his age, upwards of six feet in height, stately
and severe in his demeanour, and greatly addicted to
frightening honest people out of their wits by the
sternness of his Imperial stare. His acquirements
are more than respectable; he speaks French and
German with perfect fluency, has a passable know-
ledge of English literature, but is so little acquainted
with our insular character and habits that he is con-
stantly falling into error, whenever England is the
theme of his conversation. His brother, the Grand
Duke Michael, is equally uninformed on this point,
so much so that when "he meets the clergyman of
the British factory of St. Petersburgh in the streets,
he addresses him in English with, .' Ah, G—d d—n
your eyes, how are you ? " This he means as a
courteous salutation, and of course the discreet parson
acknowledges it with becoming pride and thankful-
ness.. There appears by all accounts to be much that is
1.
melodramatic in the character of Nicholas ; like Louis
the Fourteenth, he is a sort of made-up man, and
;exhibits his warlike propensities to cor siderable advance
tage at reviews, though we do not learn that he has
ever found courage enough to head his armies in the
field, or that his campaigns have ever extended be-
yond the parade ground of St. Petersburgh. lie has
not yet achieved in person even the capture of a pig-
sty, and must, therefore, be considered as a less expe-
rienced warrior than the gallant Major Sturgeon,
whose daring assault on the old sow at the head of
the City Light Horse, has immortalized his memory.
" Recreations in Natural History" are devoted this
month to an account of the habits and physical pecu-
liarities of the elephant, of whose sagacity, several
curious anecdotes are related. " Social Nuisances"
is an anathema against lap-dogs, in the justice of
which we cordially concur. "Their selfishness is de-
testable," observes the author, " they engross the
snuggest chairs in the room, secure the best morsels,
and drink up all the cream at breakfast, without the
least regard to the duties of hospitality, or the com-
monest principles of politeness.' But this is not all;
notwithstanding the aristocratic circles in which they
move, they are the most vulgar dogs in the kingdom,
and make a point of turning up their noses at such of
their brethren as have not had the good fortune to be
educated in the drawing-room. In an essay on the
'll Rights of Dramatic Anthers," occur some speculations
on the causes of the decline of Comedy among us. The
question is one by no means difficult of solution.
Our national manners and feelings have been so much
toned down of late years by constant intercourse
with the Continent, and the steady march of refine-
ment and intelligence, that those marked distinctive
traits of character, which are the aliment of the Comic
Muse, are no longer to be found among us. One man
is now just for all the world like another man; we
have become sophisticated, and present no marks for
the shafts of wit and humour. True, our social,
literary, and political coteries still 'furnish ample food
for ridicule, but it is the business of Comedy to deal,
not with masses, but with individuals. " The Emi-
grants of St. Thomasso" is a passable poem, from the
pen UMrs. Gore.; and wesan extend no higher praise *.
Horace Smith's "Moral Alchemy," which is a lan-
guid imitation of Wordsworth's didactic manner.
"April Fool's Day all the Year Round" •is a
sprightly essay, whose execution is as ingenious as
its conception. " Lady Londonderry's Journal" is
full of entertaining gossip about Athens, Palermo,
Naples, and the society to be met with in these cities.
" The Wedding Day" is one of Ingoldsby's diverting
legends, and exhibits some of his raciest touches
of sarcasm and drollery. In hunting about for ex-
tracts, we can find none better suited to our circum-
scribed space than this pleasing poetical apostrophe to
"The Laurel :"

Oh ! the willow may wave o'er the mouldering grave,
For a scorner of valour is she,
But the type of renown is the evergreen crown,
That is form'd of the bright Laurel-tree ;
His green leaves have shed o'er the brow of the dead,

tie halo of lasting renown,
For the mighty of earth, in their pride and their worth,
Were wreathed by the bright laurel crown !
Peerless and changeless—oh ! long flourish he,
The pride of the nation—the green Laurel-tree.
Then hail to the Laurel—the evergreen King?
For a monarch undying is he;
An emblem of fame, from past ages he came,

And still sacred his branches shall be :
For him lives the warrior, his life of renown,
His glory gives nerve to the brave ;
There's fame in his breath, and his boughs after death,

-----
Are the emblems we carve on his grave
Peerless and changeless, immortal shall be,
The pride of the nation, the green Laurel-tree.
Though brave be the Laurel, we love him the most,

That he blooms net alone for the strong;
That his bright leaves are hung, for the Bards who have sung,
Whose voices were mighty in song !
Oh ; A song in his praise, shall be heard when the days
Of our warriors and minstrels are o'er,
When he yields then the fame of an undying namo,
Like the Bards and the Heroes of yore!
Peerless and changeless,—oh ! long flourish he,
The evergreen monarch—the green Laurel tree.

and a verdict -6 iiiiqUalifikl condemnation is pro-
nounced upon all of them. Poor Lord Ellenborough!
He seems doomed to find opponents among Tories as
well as Whigs; and, as if he had not quite enemies
enough already to contend against, he has contrived,
according to Fraser, to render himself obnoxious to
the entire Council of Calcutta, by designating them as
" old women," 'and the Lord Bishop as ' the greatest
old woman of them all !" This, it must be confessed,
is black—the Bishop will no doubt think it Atheis-
tical—still, we hope the Governor-General is not
wholly without the pale of pardon, even though he
may have presumed to question the absolute wisdom
of a Calcutta Prelate. " A Fine Day in the Strand"
is a hackneyed - subject, dressed up with tact and
adroitness. The historical and other associations
connected with this great thoroughfare are touched
on lightly and pleasantly, and with a gusto that would
have gone far to win the heart of old Johnson. Other
quarters of London possess their local peculiari-
ties, but the Strand is cosmopolitan. Regent-street
is the favourite resort of whiskered dandies,
and foreigners who live by their wits—Chan-
cery-lane, -of grave, fox-like lawyers—Cornhill, of
shrewd, flinty men of business—Paternoster-row,
of publishers, on whose shelves slumber in unmo-
lested serenity innumerable unsold copies of Mr.
Robert Montgomery's poems—but the Strand is the
resort equally of all classes. Here may be seen at
some hour or other of the day, Peers and pickpockets,
authors and actors, men of fashion and men of busi-
ness, lawyers and politicians, to say nothing of a stray
bishop or two looking as sleek and comfortable as
cows in a clover field. To our thinking, the Strand,
with its constant bustle, cheerfulness, and endless
variety of objects, is the place of all others best suited
to the tastes of the genuine Londoner. The " Luck
of Barry Lyndon" is the continuation of a tale by
Titmarsh, and is penned in a spirit of acute observa-
tion and racy humour. In the notice of " Mrs. Grant
of Laggan and her Contemporaries," occurs the follow-
ing remark, which we notice for the purpose of pointing
oat its inaccuracy :—" The most celebrated.authors of
our country have been silent and, embarrassed in ge-
neral society." Now the very reverse of this is the
fact. Burke was notorious for his colloquial powers
—Johnson spent at least one half of his life in con-
versation—Coleridge and Scott were unrivalled as
talkers—Burns fascinated all who met him in the
social circle—Sir James Mackintosh owed half his
fame to his conversational abilities—Sheridan softened
even attorneys by his flow of wit and humour—Moore,
when in the vein, talks quite as well as he writes
—Professor Wilson, it is said, even better—and we
all remember the panegyrics lavished by his contem-
poraries on the free and easy chit-chat of Ben Jon-
son. The truth is, a full mind must -relieve itself in
some way or other ; this is one of the primary neces-
sities of its nature ; and conversation is the easiest
and pleasantest means it can adopt of pouring forth
its stores. Doubtless " a still tongue maketh a wise
head," but such wisdom is of the lowest order, being
nothing more than a man's own consciousness that
he possesses a dull, dry, unimaginative, and scantily
furnished intellect. Be sure that no one maintains a
reserved demeanour in company who has ought to say
worth listening to, unless, indeed, he has been a re-
cluse half his life. In nine cases out of ten, the pos-
session of a faculty implies its exercise. We subjoin
from "Military Tableaux" a graphic sketch of Napo-
leon as he appeared at the battle of Wagram :
" As the feeble remnant of our'regiment was formed
in line, only fifteen yards behind where he had stationed
himself, I was for several hours enabled to observe the
man who then wielded the destinies of Europe in his own
grasp. He was surrounded by a numerous staff, and at-
tended by ten or twelve orderly officers; who, drawn up
in line, stood motionless within reach of his voice. On
the right were the guards inclose column, and with ordered
arms; their artillery was on their right. As we were
nearest the Emperor, we looked upon ourselves as his
personal guard on this occasion. He wore, as usual, his grey
great-coat over the plain uniform of the chasseurs of his
guard; rode a small white Arabian, and held a light
riding-whip in his hand. His face, while we could ob-
serve him, betrayed none of the emotions he might be
supposed to feel at such a time, but seemed perfectly
calm and collected. He listened quietly and attentively
to the reports brought him, and issued all his directions
in a similar manner. If he had an order to send, he
sotffia callednetelry loudly,wehaon
af'op
:On!
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forward
to
aod 's
bfioerrsdtooi ?if:
on
trahnedc cur ft
right
h.wt
,dthheehoeicntahtvhei
neligneg
i,orderly.vien n.
deliberateofficer
had manner, annont e
seizedr, t he
the Emperor
exact
meaninga,d his
deodr order eri
?oi
repeated ihem over again, add •
fen pt aeh t
ees zl
words,
ing, as before, 6 7?epetez:' if satisfied that *
'wordlafns
their import
was fully understood, he briefly said, ' A z 11e ' and the
officer instantly started off at the best speed he could
command. That under the empire French horseman-
ship was as indifferent as ungraceful is sufficiently well
known to all who recollect the French cavalry of the
period.
" By degrees our station ceased to be secure; from
the first, and as long as the battle, though raging fiercely ,
along the whole line, had remained stationary, we had
received an occasional shot from the batteries near
Wagram, which lay exactly in our front. The success
of the Austrian right wing, however, brought us shot
from the left; and they continued to advance even from
the very rear. Several shot struck among the guard
and round the ground on which the Emperor was sta-
tioned; but he never moved from a post whence he had
the whole battle-scene spread out like a panorama before
him. He was, indeed, as little disturbed by the reports
from his marshals as by the shot of the enemy: the
news that' the Austrians had turned the left wing of
the army,' that they ' had defeated the corps stationed
to protect the bridges,' seemed to make little impression
on him; though it greatly disquieted the officers of his
staff. Only once I observed a striking change in his
manner. He had desired an orderly officer to ' bring
up the sixty pieces of light artillery of the guard, and
the forty extra pieces attached to the same corps;' and
as they did not immediately arrive, he rode impatiently
along our front, striking his boot with the riding-whip,
and repeatedly taking snuk" --

THE ARTISTS' GENERAL BENE-
VOLENT INSTITUTION.
The Twenty-ninth Anniversary Dinner of this ex-
cellent institution took place on Saturday evening, at
the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, when
upwards of 200 gentlemen sat down to dinner.
Sir R. H. Inglis, M.P., presided.
the most excellent description, The dinner was of
and the viands, of
which there was no scarcity, vied with all former at-
tempts of the proprietor of this establishment to give
satisfaction.
Sir R. Inglis and the members of the Committee
entered the spacious hall about half-past six o'clock,
immediately upon which the demolition of the good
walslseuncgloitnh
Alr. T. Cooke, Master
things of this life commenced.
ehxacveinligenbtesetnylweibthydrawn, the Benedictus
M'l)ermott, and Messrs. Hawkins and Broadley.
The health of the Queen was then drank with four
times four, amid great cheering.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the " Health of the
patron of the institution, Prince Albert."—(Cheers.)
He believed that his Royal Highness was not only
one of the patrons of the arts, but was one of the
most enlightened artists of the present day.—(Cheers.)
" Long life to the Queen and the Prince."
Her Majesty, from the
proudestfiQr us
first
ent Do o
twhaeg epr
specimen.
r'
domestic and social virtue
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the " Health of the
had exhibited the
e'—seon(fCtelvieenil.eyorsm)eriHf,
—(Cheers)—and since she had been withdrawn from
public life by a calamity that all must deplore, she
had shown herself the most strenuous supporter of
every charitable institution throughout the country.
—(Cheers.) 'There was no case of misery ever came
before her Majesty that she did not immediately
take into consideration, and give relief.
The toast was drank amid much cheering, with three
times three And one cheer more.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the " Health of his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and all the
Royal Family." He truste I that what the Edwards
had achieved in war would be an example to his
Royal Highness in Teter times to adopt by the means
of peace.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the " Army and
Navy," which was most enthusiastically drunk, amid
great cheering.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the next toast, which
might be considered the toast of the evening—" The
prosperity of the Artists' General Benevolent Insti-
tution."—(Great cheering.) It was
perhaps pre-
sumptuous on the part of one who appeared for the
first time among them to attempt to state the merits
of the object they had in view; but when he re-
collected that out of 8,6001. a-year they had relieved
860 cases of distress, he could not but feel grateful
and delighted at the course they were pursuing.
From the funds they had obtained they had in fact
relievei poverty and distress..(lfear, hear.) The
present institution was not one of those which was
supported by the great body of the people, but it was
kept up pre-eminently
.by the artists of England—
(Cheers)—and such being the case, they had not
only a claim on those who were the supporters of the
arts in England, but on those who supported them
abroad.—(llear, hear.) While this institution had
been enabled to give so much relief, it had considered
not only the case of the receiver, but the giver.—
(Cheers.) The instances which he had brought
before that meeting lie hoped were sufficient to prove
that the institution ranked high among the institu-
tions of the country. The Hon. Gentleman con-
cluded by proposing the toast, which was drunk amid
much cheering.
Mr. H. S. TnoweroN proposed the next toast,
which was " The Health of the Chairman." It had
been his happiness to know the lion. Gentleman from
his earliest infancy, and, from that time to the
pre-
sent, he had ever found him a supporter of the I ine
Arts.—(Cheers.) The toast was then given, and
drank amid loud plaudits.
Sir R. INGeis returned thanks, and, in doing so
passed a high eulogium upon Sir Martin Archer Shee,
whose health he proposed, and which was drank most
enthusiastically.
The following, toasts were also proposed and drank :
—" The Commissioners for Protecting the Fine
Arts ;'? " The British Institution, and other Societies

E LONDON, NT ON AA, Vp,-14 LINT G, ►.PRXY.:., 16414.