The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-21 00:00:00

LITERAT URE.

METRICAL CHRONICLES OF ENGLAND.
W. Smith, London, 1842.
The design of this work is remarkable for its inge-
nuity, and the execution is worthy of the conception.
It is a history. of England, commencing with the Con-
quest, and terminating with the death of George the
Fourth, and is written in verse, for reasons which the
author has satisfactorily explained in a modest and
judicious preface. "No fact in the world," says he,
" is better known than that metre, or rhythmical con-
struction, is that form of language which is the best
beloved of memory in its dawn, and the latest which
attends it on its journey to decline. It is the earliest
shoot, and often of the longest duration ; and there is
scarcely any intellect so ungenial, but will offer some
corner to the hardy vegetation of song. Take, for ex-
ample, the bulk of that which the memory has
retained of school-day associations, and verse will be
the ally whose intimacy has encountered the least in-
terruption. Like bearded grass, it has crept up. the
sleeve of the fancy whence no power can dislodge it.
It has attained its place with but little solicita-
tion, and holds it with obstinacy." This is forcibly
and eloquently urged, and forms an 'ample justifica-
tion of the present experiment. Hundreds will pe-
ruse Mr. Raymond's metrical Chronicles with avidity,
who would have turned from theta with indifference,
had they been written in dry, tame, :matter-of-fact
prose. We do not, however, recommend them simply
because they are metrical—for metre is as often as
not associated with dullness ; but because the versi-
fication is of an easy, flowing, and familiar character,
the imagery judiciously sparing, but always appro•
priate, and the sentiments such as become an English
gentleman and scholar, who knows how to interpret
history in a right spirit. The author had many op-
portunities of digressing, and indulging in the use of
such luxuriant metaphors as his fancy, which is any-
thing but sterile, might suggest; but he has had the rare
good sense to resist all such temptations ; and nothing
is more creditable to him than the simple, straightfor-
ward manner in which- he progresses with his task,
and the tact with which he everywhere adapts his de-
scriptions to his theme. Now and then he sounds a
loftier note than usual, but his tone is always in har-
mony with the character of the event he narrates.
We might have wished, perhaps, that he had devoted
a little more space to the circumstances of Henry the
Eighth's marriage with Anne Boleyn, for this
is one of the leading epochs in our history, and
contributed, more than aught else, to precipitate
the great crisis of the Reformation, which certain
Oxford wiseacres have now, for the first time, dis-
covered to have been, not a blessing but a cur: e !
Mr. Raymond might here have digressed a little with
p:opriety ; but he seems to have resolved on avo!ding
everything that might have the effect of checking,
even for a moment, the running stream of his narra-
tive. The notes interspersed throughout his work
are copious, but not too much so, for they are inva-
riably pertinent, and serve agreeably to relieve and
illustrate the text. Much curious and diligent re-
search is evident throughout them ; and among other
singular extracts, with which the author's reading
has supplied us, is a description, in Latin, by Erasmus,
of the exceeding fondness of the English ladies for
kissing gentlemen, which for the benefit of the un-
learned we thus freely translate :—" They kiss you,"
says he, with a fervour and emphasis worthy of the
occasion—" they kiss you on your arrival, and they
k;ss you on your departure. They greet you with a
kiss, and they dismiss you with a kiss. In fact, you
can't move a step without being kissed. All things
are full of kisses." Alas ! our modern English ladies
are sadly changed for the worse in this respect.
There is no such exuberant kissing now a-days—none
of that show of unsophisticated tenderness of nature
which so delighted Monstrelet, and which old
Cavendish has dwelt on with such minuteness in his
quaint " Life of Wolsey." If a gentleman now
venture to plead prescriptive right in justification of
his kissing a lady, he must pay for it forthwith, as
was the case with an enamoured swain the other
day, who was fined five shillings for the assault, And
looked on as a perfect heretic in point of propriety !
Mr. Raymond concludes his Chronicles with some
remarks in verse, which show much justness and
force of reasoning, clothed in graceful and truly
poetic language.

POEMS: BELMOUR HOUSE, A PLAY.
Sinipkin, London, 1842.

The author of this volume of poems assures us that
he has published it " in compliance with the repeated
solicitations of his friends," and adds, that he " aspires
not to public fame" in consequence of the composition,
which is exceedingly modest, considering that not a few
of the poems are marked by such decided originality
as might become even the Muse of Wakley. That
there are occasional defects in them, is true, but what
human production is perfect ? There are spots even
in the sun, why then should there not be blemishes
in the delectable little volume before us ? But not
only is the author a poet of " mark and likelihood,"
he is also a dramatist, as is abundantly proved by
his "Belmour House, a Play," the chief person-
ages of which are a bookseller and his son
Charles, the latter of whom is, it seems, a traveller for
the paternal firm, and is represented as being endowed
w:th all those chivalrous and romantic qualities for
which the bibliopolical fraternity have ever been re-
markable. This high-minded young man, while jour-
neying outside the stage-coac'h from Bristol, with his
order-book in his pocket, is fortunate enough to meet
with Miss Matilda Belmour—a lovely and susceptible
girl, who is also travelling outside with her father. The
perties happening to like each other, they very soon
fall into familiar conversation, and the result is that
Charles receives an invitation to old Belmour's house,
which he gladly accepts ; and, when asked what is the
nature of his trade or profession, replies in a fine strain
of eloquence, that he is " a dispenser of knowledge—
in a word, a bookseller," one of those " presiding ge-
niuses who sit at the well-head of knowledge, and send
forth its living streams to the very ends of the earth !"
On receiving this information, Mr. Belmour luckily
remembers that he is having " a large winged book-
case made," and adds, in the true spirit of disinte-
rested friendship,
" As Mr. Booker is a bookseller, I shall certainly em-
ploy our friend, Mr. Charles, to furnish it according to
his own taste and judgment."
To this affectionate proposal, Charles, with a shrewd
eye to business, makes answer,
" Sir, I shall be most happy to do so, and on the most
reasonable terms." _ _ _

While the parties are thus sociably conversing, a
man servant enters with the pleasing intelligence that,
" dinner is on the table," whereupon old Belmour,
who is evidently a wag, replies with irresistible drol-
lery, " I am very happy to hear it!" We direct our
readers' particular attention to the exquisite felicity of
this unstudied repartee. Can anything be more jo-
cose—anything more appropriate to time, place, and
circumstance ? We regret, however, to be obliged to
state that the sally makes not the slightest impression
on the midriff of the youthful Charles, for he gravely
refuses his friend's offer to stay dinner, who accord-
ingly launches the following brilliant sarcasm against
him :
" I thought you were too old a stager not to take care
of the belly-timber !"
But though the youthful bookseller refuses to make
a longer stay at Belmour's house, he has no idea of
dropping his acquaintance, for it happens that during
his few hours' visit he has fallen in love with Matilda
Belmour, who—we have great pleasure in assuring
our readers—reciprocates the affection. But, alas,
the " course of true love never did run smooth," and
this attached couple are rendered seriously uneasy by
the exceedingly rude conduct of one Chip, a cabinet-
maker, who, it appears, is a discarded suitor of the
young lady. It will scarcely be credited that the in-
stant this monster in human form learns that Charles
is his rival, he resolves on pitching into him ; which,
coming to the ears of the enamoured bibliopole, he ex-
claims in a transport of chivalrous wrath, " My ho-
nour is at stake !" and forthwith seeks Chip, with a
pistol in each hand, loaded no doubt to the muzzle,
and for the bloodiest purposes 1 When the half-
frenzied cabinet-maker gets sight of these ugly wea-
pons, his courage gradually oozes out at his fingers'
ends, and he faulters out,
" I now look upon you, Sir, as an honourable man
and a gentleman, being thoroughly convinced that you
had no intention of rivalling me in the affections of the
amiable young lady who has been the innocent cause of
our hostile meeting."
• Now this was true magnanimity on the part of
Chip, though we fear that the sceptical reader will b 3
apt to attribute it to the sight of the pistol, which, it
is well known, possesses extraordinary logical powers,
and has often brought conviction home to the minds
even of the most prejudiced. When the news of the
intended duel reaches the ears of old Belmour, he is
so enraptured with Charles's boiling courage, that lie
cracks several bright joke,, and among others the
following :
" My dear boy, why did you not name the duel to me at
the time, and I would have chopped the impertinent Chip
into a bunch of Lucifer matches. Turn round, my boy,
and let me see if your limbs are whole, you courageous
dog, you !"
The upshot of the affair is, that Charles and Matilda,
after indulging in divers billings and cooings, are each
made happy with the other's hand ; and the author
winds up his play by invoking a blessing on their
heads, to which, as their sincere well-wishers, we
cordially respond Amen ! Such . are the leading
incidents of this transcendent drama, which, ad-
mirable as it is, is surpassed,
if possible, by the
poems of the .same author. Here, for instance, is
one entitled " Farewell to the Village," which is
replete with touches of the tenderest pathos :
•• Farewell to the village, the scene of my birth
The loveliest of spots I e'er trod upon earth.
When thy beauties I think on, my bosom doth swell,
Ah, scenes of my youth, fare ye well, fare ye well.
" There's the old village church, with ivy grown o'er,
With its steeple, which seems to heaven to soar,
The church yard, where friends and companims
are laid,
The debt of stern nature each one having paid."

We pause here to express our admiration of the
truly benevolent feeling that suggested the last line_
The author, it will be seen, takes spteial care to as-
sure us that the " friends and companions," to whom
he alludes, were not buried till they had each paid
the "debt of nature,".fearing that otherwise we might
be apprehensive that they were buried alive, and our
sensibility thereby receive a grievous shock. After
enumerating a few more particulars respecting the
" Village," the poet proceeds as follows :

" Rut the girl I adore, I am leaving behind,
She's my heart's own desire, so loving and hind,
Alt, who, when I'm gone, her sorrows can cheer ?
)h, my heart it will break, to part from my dear !
" Farewell village streams, willows weeping around,
Ye sweet blooming rallies with foliage crown'd,
Farewell thy old church, and farewell to thy people,
Farewell to thy clerk, and farewell to thy steeple."
We have here a Complete inventory of affectionate
recollections. How touching is the allusion to the
parish clerk ; and what a world of sentiment is con-
veyed in the adieu to the steeple !. The clerk, the
steeple, and the •weeping willows, indeed, seem to
share the writer's affections equally with the girl who
is his " heart's own desire"—a proof how singularly
comprehensive is the range of a poet's sympathies !
We close our hasty notice with the observation
that the present volume abounds in passages worthy
even of the seraphic genius of a Middlesex Coroner.

HALL ON THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
Whittaker, London, 1842.
The thoughtful reader will find much matter for
reflection and speculation in this instructive volume,
especially in the chapter on the " Unity of our
Species, in which the connexion between mind and
matter is argued with force and subtlety. In refer-
ence to the effects produced by excessive joy
on the body, the author observes :—" Joy at
times so powarfully exhausts the brain and nervous
energy as to produce death. The classical reader at
once remembers the unhappy fate of poor old Sophocles,
who died with delight on being crowned for composing
a successful tragedy in his old age ; and also the sto-
ries of the Roman ladies, who expired on seeing their
sons return from the battles of Thrasymene and
Cabnae. But to examine facts nearer home. Dr.
Mead says that during the never-to-be-forgotten year
of the South Sea Bubble, more individuals went mad
when they had acquired large fortunes, th in others
who were ruined by that system of fraud." The
vo:unie is delicated, by permission, to Earl Spencer.

BBOTSFORD EDITION of the WAVERLEY
NOVELS. Part I. Cadell, Edinburgh, 1842.
When this work is completed, it will be by many
degrees the most satisfactory and elegant edition
Sir Walter Scott's Tales that has yet 'appeared. Th
embellishments will be in number about two thou-
sand, and will represent the real localities of the grea;
novelist's scenes, which have already been diligently
explored for the purpose by Clarkson Stanfield, to-
gether with the pictorial and antiquarian Museum
at Abbotsford. in the present Part there are not
less than twenty-four choice engravings, among the
most interesting of which are the views of the park
and library at Waverley Honor, of the well-known
Eildon Hills ; and of the old-fashioned desk wherein
the long-missing MSS. of Waverley was found. But,
perhaps, the engraving that will most interest the
reader is the sketch of Sir Walter Scott's easy chair ;
we see his thick-soled shoes lying beside it, his every-
day coat flung carelessly over it, his staff leaning
against it ; but where is ale man himself? The sight
of these familiar objects will scarcely fail to call forth
strong feelings of emotion in the mind of the specta-
tor. The engraving is, indeed, one that abounds in
deep pathos. The Part is got up in every respect
with remarkable skill and attention to details.

A LETTER TO PHILIP PUSEY, Esq., M.P.,
41% brc., ADVOCATING A GENERAL AND
UNIFORM SYSTEM OF DRAINAGE. By J.

BAILEY DENTON. James Ridgway, Piccadilly.
This is a small pamphlet, by Mr. J. B. Denton,
advocating the propriety of a general system of land
drainage and irrigation, in answer to the question
" What can he done for British Agriculture ?" Our
author states that there are 12,000,000 acres of land
at present under tillage in England and Wales, of
which 10,000,000 are usually allowed to be un-
drained, or ineffectually drained. There are
3,800,000 acres annually under wheat in England
W and ales,. and, taking the average annual produce
at 26 bushels per acre, the total produce per an-
num would be 12,350,000 quarters ; but there are
14,000,000 of consumers of wheat in this kingdom,
and allowing one quarter of wheat per annum to
each individual, which is considered the average con-
sumption, we find that we are more than one million
and a half of quarters annually deficient; in conse-
quence of which we have to look abroad to have that
deficiency made up. Mr. Denton, however, pro-
poses to make it up by a general system of drainage
and irrigation of the lands at home ; and this
is his statement :—" It is admitted by all who under-
stood the subject, that where drainage has heen carried
on upon correct principles, and with proper skill and
energy, eight bushels, or one quarter of wheat per
acre, has been added to the annual produce. 10,000,C00
out of 12,000,000, are usually allowed as the un-
drained or ineffectually drained acres under tillage ;
and, as the strong lands are those which stand most

in need of drainage , and are also the best wheat lands,
it may be assumed that five-sixths of the land under
wheat may, by being drained, yield a quarter more
per acre on the average, which will be a little more
than 3,000,000 of quarters annually, and this, added
to the quantity quoted as the present estimated pro-
duce, will bring the supply as much above the -de-
mand as it is now below."

It is not our intention to say one word with respect
to the party political feeling which we are sorry to
see pervades the whole of this pamphlet. We arc
always glad to see any proposition, having for its pro-
fessed object the improvement of our " sca-girt isle,"
and the welfare of our fellow beings ; and we had
hoped that this pamphlet would have entered fully
into the subject of drainage, would have proposed some
feasible plan for carrying it out, and would have given
something like an estimate of the probable expense of
this leviathan project; but this Mr. Denton does not
do. He tells us, and every one knew it before, that
there is a great quantity of land in England
which might be much improved by being drained,
and a great quantity, as dry as tle other is moist,
whi&l wculd be greatly improved by irrigation. The
only question hitherto has been, wh&her the benefits
wh:ch would arise from such a course would com-
pensate for the large amount of labour and capital to
be expended upon the lands before any return could
he expected ? This, we say, was the only question ;
and on this Mr. Denton does not enter. He does, in-
deed, give one instance where the system has been
adopted with advantage—that of the Teddesley
Ilay estate, belonging to Lord Ilatherton. • His
Lordship had certain operations performed upon 467
acres, the expense of which operations is stated at
2,733/. 2s. 2d., the time occupied in accomplishing
them ten years, and the total annual increase of value
is 1,0131. But this is a most favourable example,
and such a result, to such an extent, might not,
perhaps, happen in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred ; for in this instance the 467 acres were
first drained of the superfluous water, that water was
then conducted to a mill-pond, and thence to an over-
shot wheel, thirty feet in diameter, which turned ma-
chinery " that perthrmed a. great many operations ;"
after driving the mill the water passed through a
tunnel, 500 yards in length, and was joined by the
water of a carrier, which brought down the liquid of
the farm-yard ; this, and the alluvial matter brought
by the mill course, mixed in a tank, and the mixture
was employed in irrigating 89 acres of upland mea-
dow, which happened to lie close by, for the express
purpose of being irrigated by this said very useful and,
we think, N'ery much overworked water. The pam-
phlet exhibits a good deal of research, but it really
contains nothing more than a series of little facts and
assertions brought forward, and that in rather a clumsy
way, to prove his first assertion, " that this country
can grow sufficient food for its population:"
On the whole, we think Mr. Denton has not
made out his case, though he has said sufficient to re-
quire an investigation into the matter. At present—
no distinct modus operandi having been proposedthe
thing stands just where it did before the publication
of this pamphlet. There are, however, in the course
of the book, several very useful hints thrown out, re-
lative to agriculture, and it is on that account worthy
th perusal of those' interested in that branch of our
country's industry.

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FRENCH TAERS.—The Moniteur publishes the fol-
lowing table of the receipts of indirect taxes for the first quarter
of the present year, as compared with the corresponding quarter
of the year 1841. There is an increase on the quarter of
13,088,000 francs : • 1842. 2841.
Francs. Francs.
Registration clues, &c........
Shinps ................... .
Customs, Navigation, &c . 24,563,000 20,432,000
I' renel Colonial Sugars . 7,773,000 5,407,000
Foreign Sugars 1,405,000 2,243,000
lti,tigennus Sugars
Silt, lbws( Extraction) ...... 12,887,000 12,578,000
Salt Dues (Consumption) .. 2324,000 1,830,000
Potable Liquors 21,114,000 21,202,000
Public carriages and other Indirect
Taxes 7,684,000 7,104 000