The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-01 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

This Number reached us, as usual, at so late
an hour, that we are compelled to glance briefly
at its contents. There is no lack of variety, and
some of the articles are of a very superior character
—such, for instance,' as Mr. Poole's " Phineas
Quiddy," which brings out the complex nature
of its hero in a masterly manner. Phineas is
no mere fancy sketch, but is the result of that
quickness of observation which constant inter-
. course with society begets. A secluded student,
however lively his imaginative powers, could
never have conceived, much less executed such
a portrait. This story, as it is the most con-
tinuous in point of interest, so is it also the
cleverest that its author has
yet produced: It
is shrewd, but not cynical; and worldly in its
tone, without being deficient, when occasion
serves, in quick and generous feeling. The
" Tower of Lahneck "...Is one of those stirring
legends which are to be picked up by scores
along the banks of the Rhine. The editor, Mr.
Hood, has not marred its effect by any attempt
at fine writing,
which is greatly to his credit.
" A School for Scolds" is a learned and inge-
nious commentary on the personal qualities of
that paragon of wives, Xantippe, whose tongue,
as her philosophic husband, Socrates, found to
his cost, realised the idea of perpetual motion.
" Foreign Sporting" is entertaining in its way,
but we have rather too much of it. Four or five
.pages would have been quite enough on such
a subject. " Recollections of Eton " are clearly
the productions of a genuine Etonian. The
description of the cricket-match Eton
cricket-matches are proverbial for their spirit
—is cleverly hit off. «On the Usefulness
of Inutilities" is an ingenious paradox treated
with corresponding ingenuity. " Graduates and
Under-Graduates" gives a lively account of a
young student of Oxford, Charles Famington,
who tried hard for University honours, and
gained in his third year, the Newdigate English
prize poem--" the most popular of all prizes."
" Christmas-day in Norway," is sufficiently ex,•
plained by its title. It is a richly coloured de-
scription, but apparently not over-charged.
"Short Rides in an- Author's Omnibus " are a
collection of aphoristical remarks from the fer-
tile pen of Horace Smith. There is much justice,
in these remarks on prejudice :—"A cat-has nine
lives, but a prejudice has nine times nine; It
dies by inches, and at the rate of an inch a.cen-
tury. If it assume the form of religious intoler-
ance, it never dies entirely, though its virulence
may be modified by public opinion, and the pro-
gress of time. Long and dreary is the interval
between the first religious roasting of a fellow-
creature, and the last Test, Corporation, and Ex-
clusion Act. The last ! We have not yet reached
that era, for the Jews still labour under civil and
other disabilities. We • have still many worthy
b
successors of the orthodox old lady, who died
she would not swallow a dose of bark,
of it Bajazet Gag," we extract
or anything else that came from those horrid
Jesuits." From Mr. Douglas Jerrold's piquant
an account of this great theatrical manager's at-
temptwith the conscienceof •
to tamper a giant,
satirical sketch
who was exhibiting himself in a twopentj-
r.show-
van :
were silently
Gag and Duckweed contemplating the
marvels before them, when the proprietor of the van re-
turned from the steps into the body of the vehicle, and
smiling upon Duckweed, proffered to him the expended
twopence.
" I beg you pardon, Sir, I didn't recollect you at first,
hut you're quite free, you and your friend ; I never
think, Sir, of charging a brother of the profession."
And with this lieral sentiment, the proprietor forced
the two penny pieces into the hand of Duckweed, and re-
sumed his place on the steps, there to exhort the enlight-
ened British public tohless their eyes with a sight of
wonders hitherto unknown, unseen.
" Now's the time," said Gag in
a whisper, " now,
while the fellow's talking;. offer the giant five pounds a-
week for a month, and a bed under the stage.'
"Really, you are a magnificent specimen—a very mag-
nificent specimen," said Duckweed, Opening the negotia-
tion with the Colossus. •
" The tallest, the strongest, and the handsomest man
on the earth," said the modest giant.
" No doubt ; but what a pity all such noble advantages
should be buried in the obscurity of a van. You require
a larger stage," said Duckweed.
" Why, I am devilish cramped here sotnetimes j. but I
can't complain—l've been shown in smaller places ; and
so as.l get plenty to eat and to drink, and my nice re-
freshing walk in Copenhagen-fields at midnight, what
more should a man wish for ? God help me I might
have been one of them Albinoes, or that there Spotted
Boy ;
,or worse than all, that heathen Lascar that's doing
duty for a Chinese—and, see, on the contrary, what 1
am," and-the giant showed the muscular vanities of bis
leg and arm.
". Now, listen to me," said Duekweed,.“ for we haven't
Much time to lose, and your master
overhear -us. I
suppose you are under an engagement to him" -• '