The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-02 00:00:00

author is right in his assertion that " the grand e a
of French cookery may be dated from the commence-
ment of the imperial regime." We always imagined
that the science--for a science it assuredly is—had
reached its highest point of perfection during the reign
of the Regent Orleans. Certainly never was it in
such universal-esteem as then. Lady Morgan, in one
of her pleasant works on France, has furnished us
with some racy gossip respecting Careme, the great
cook of his day, who invented such an exquisite
sauce that a man might digest his own grandfather
with it ; but even he does not appear to have
been so transcendant a genius as V iart ; for this
last inspired artist, by the magic force of his genius,
actually converted a ham, far gone in decomposition,
into one of the most fragrant and delicious dainties
that ever electrified the palate of a gastronomist ! In
" Short Rides in an Author's Omnibus," Mr. Horace
Smith indulges in some felicitous aphoristic reflections,
especially; on the subject of jokes and joking.
" Nothing," he observes, "is so delightful as a few
flowers in a room, but if they be too numerous, their
odours sicken. Thus it is with the flowers of wit."
The "Barnabys in America" is clever, but in parts
too wire-drawn. Mrs. Trollope has now landed her
favourite family of the Barnabys in New Orleans,
where, of course, they are all busily engaged in seek- .
ing " like Apollyon, whom they may devour."
" Recollections of Eton" furnish us with a pic-
turesque sketch of the Montem—one of the few re-
maining holiday pageants of the days of Henry the
Eighth. Like other pageants, we suppose this also
will be ere long allowed to fall into disuse, for the
current of public opinion seems to be gradually set-
ting in against it. " Recollections in Natural His-
tory" convey instructive information in a familiar,
unassuming manner. We are sorry to hear this cha-
racter of Minerva's pet-bird, the owl. According to
the author's account, he must be a most unscrupulous
fellow in his eating :—" Owls are not beloved by
other birds, especially the smaller ones, for the latter
know well enough that the former will make no scru-
ple of gobbling up their young ones, and sometimes
making free with themselves. .Sir Wm. Jardine found
the remains of a thrush in an individual of the species
of which we are now treating." As a specimen of
Mrs. Trollope's descriptive powers in her new tale, we
quote her sketch of the fat landlady of a New Orleans
tiotel

The person of Mrs. Carmichael, the dimensions' of
which were, seen in whatever direction she could be
placed, very nearly six feet by four, was not only enor-
mous in size, but so astonishingly out of all ordinary
shape, as to make it no easy matter to clothe it at all.
It is not very surprising, therefore, considering the pro-
digious bulk of every limb, whereby every movement
became a labour, that Mrs. Carmichael could get into
her clothes with as little labour and pains as possible.
And then the heat ! Poor Mrs. Carmichael suffered
dreadfully from the heat, and certainly cared greatly
less how her draperies looked in the eyes of others, than
how they felt to herself. So her enormous white calico
gown, with its colossal hanging sleeves, was fastened so
loosely in the front by one single pin, as to create per-
petual alarm in the bystanders, as to the stability of the
investiture by which this very important portion of her
covering was attached. There was indeed what might
have been about a yard square of pink gauze loosely
tucked in around the bust ; but even this depended for
its adhesion to the aforesaid pin, and without it must
have floated away into air still thinner than itself.
Notwithstanding the immensity of Mrs. Carmichael's
person, it was not, as in the case of a preternaturally-
expansive-oak-tree, the result of advanced age, every
year of which had added to its bulk. All the fat which
had thus miraculously found a resting-place on the bones
of Mrs. Carmichael, had been considerab'y less than forty
years in collecting itself together, and had her face been
finished by one chin instead of three, and the rest of her
features in less evident danger or being smothered, she
would have been far from ill-looking. Excepting the
pink gauze and the white robe already described, with
the probable garment under it, together with her large
slippers, and probably stockings, she was as much with-
out the foreign aid of ornament as Eve herself. Stays
she had none; she wore nothing on her head; nor was
there the slightest reason whatever to suppose that she
was embarrassed by anything more in the way of cloth-
ing than what has already been described.
Excepting the hard-breathing, and an occasional eja-
culation expressive ot fatigue from moving, Mrs. Car-
michael uttered nothing for several minutes after she en-
tered the apartment. Having at length made her way to
the part ot the room where Major Allen Barnaby stood
fanning himself, she dropped down upon a large cane chair,
without any arms, every part of which, back and all,
became so completely invisible, that she seemed to have
perched herself on a three-legged stool—having thus
deposited her person, she fixed her soft eyes on the
major's face, and seemed to expect that he should speak
first. But her heavy breathing gave her so much the
appearance of being, as yet, unfit for any exertion, that
her visiter was too polite to address her, and if was there-
fore Mrs. Carmichael herself who at lastopened the con-
versation.

" What is your pleasure,. sir ?" said she, in a voice
which, notwithstanding her want of breath, was harmo-
nious, though somewhat drawling.
I have called, madam," he replied, "at the request
of our friend Captain 'rims, to inquire whether you can
accommodate our party with board ail(' lodging.
Mrs. Carmichael eyed the numerous group very com-
placently.
" For the whole kit of you. sir ?" she demanded, with,
a smile as sweet as it was possible a smile could be from
lips so overwhelmed by cheeks.
" Yes, madam, for all of us."
" And for a goodish spell, sir ?"
" Very likely, madam ; but that must depend on cir-
cumstances." . •

"Of course, sir, of course. Well then, Ido not know
—I rather expect I might make it convene, provided any
two of the ladies could lie together."

FRASER'S MAGAZINE.
After a long interval Dr, Maginn .has at length re-
sumed his "Homeric Ballads." We are glad of this,
for no scholar of the day is better able—when he
pleases—to give a spirited version of Homer, or more
thoroughly appreciates the genius of his original. But
he is apt to be careless at times, and to thrust in un-
warranted expletives, for the mere purpose of saving
himself trouble, and h€bing out the rhyme. In his
present translation of the latter part of the fourteenth
book of the Iliad, more than one instance of this negli-
gence occurs. Thus the terse, simple description,
aiyAl a'oufcciov IX.E; which literally means, and
the splendour ascended to Heaven," in allusion to the
flashing light of the arms of the Greeks—is expanded
into this verbose couplet,
" And their brilliant beam, in dazzling stream.
Skyward ascending soared."
Again, the lines immediately following, viz :
Enro wryTroc copuro 7rOTTIY
AVaiCt.e cv 3c !LEOOIOI XrqUtro-£7O 610 AxtAXE vc.
Are thus loosely rendered, or rather paraphrased—
" While their trampling feet raised a thunder sound
As they closed about their Lord."

There is nothing in the original about " thunder
sound." homer simply says " a sound was roused
under the feet of the men." Neither does he make
the slightest reference to the act of their closing about
their Lord. His words are, "and the divine Achilles
was armed in the midst of them." The emphatic de-
scription,

• •Ev&E Si l'iT'Ot)
Awe avc arAriroy,
is translated as folloWs,
" His soul with grief and rage was fraught,
And wrapping his heart in vengeful thought."
The last line is wholly superfluous, for there is no-
thing like it in the Greek ; and tilt, forcible expression
arkrrov, in reference to the intensity of Achilles'
grief, is but tamely rendered by " his soul with grief
and rage was fraught." The descr'ption that imme-
' diately follows, of the arming of the warrior, and the
noble simile to which it gives rise, are translated by
Dr. Maginn with uncommon spirit, and with suffi-
cient literalness. The line, in particular, " like the
moon from afar it shone," is perfectly Homeric in its
terse simplicity, and is almost word for word with the
original. If the Doctor will but endure to bestow a
little more pains on his version, he has it his power to
give the English reader a better translation of Homer,
than any that has yet appeared. It is continuous,
vigilant application only that is wanting to the right
completion of the Herculean task, not capacity. " My
Life and Times,"_ are continued by Nimrod with un-
abated spirit. Here are two of his punning anecdotes,
which may perhaps amuse the reader:— .
I must not forget the circumstance that associates the
name and fame of the Witty Watkin Hayman with the
facetious squire of Gwersylt Park. Of course, he (Hay-
man) could make a pun when he chose to descend so low
in the scale of colloquial accomplishments; and during an
evening that he passed tete-a-tete with Mr. Humbertone,
, they had punned against each other, in rivalry. Hayman,
at length, finding that he had brought the "squire" to a
standstill, brought his wit into play; and putting his
crutch under his arm, got up and rung the bell. On the
Butler making his appearance, he thus gravely ad •
dressed him, " I will thank you to bring your muster a pun."
Now, although it was the opinion of Dr. Johnson that
a man who makes a pun is equal to picking pockets,
thereby expressing his thorough contempt of the prac-
tice, still there are moments in which one well•and aptly
applied cannot fail to he applauded ; and I will give an
example. Towards the heel of an evening at Gwersylt
Park, two Welsh squires, sitting close to each other at
the dinner-table, and having made the best use of their
time with the bottle; were nodding their heads, in their
sleep, to the danger of their coming into contact with
each other. " Those gentlemen will fight in their sleep
presently," observed one of the party. " That would be
men-dosing," said the late Sir Richard Puleston, in allu-
sion to the pugilist Mendoza, at that time in repute; and
we may presume, in compliment to his host, who might
expect a pun from a guest of so lively a fancy as Sir
Richard.

In " Characters of Celebrated Authors," we have
an entertaining biographical and critical sketch of
Gray, the poet. But what nonsense to object to him,
that " the great doctrine of human redemption never
appears in his writings !" What had he to do with
this doctrine in his Pindarics, or in his " Ode on Eton
Collegeg?" He was not a theologian, but a poet. As
well might it be objected to Tom Moore, that
the Doctrine of human redemption never appears
in his " Lalla Rookh," or his " Little's Poems !" We
have no patience with such idle cant. The critigina