The Sun.
London, England, 1829-01-02 00:00:00

MONTHLY REVIEW.

This Review still keeps its ground among the
improving periodicals of the month, and pos-
sesses information, variety, and amusement. The
most elaborate article in the number is entitled
".Introductory Lecture of the London Univer-
sity," and discusses its subject, the nature and
fitting style of a Grammatical Lecture, in a very
spirited and ingenious manner. The
following
observations deserve attention :
is The office of a Professor of English Literature in the
University, presents' many difficulties for its proper
dis-
cbtrgwhich it, equires considerable skill and ability to
surmount, A Professorship of Poetry or of Oratory is a
situation, the duties of which may be. easily defined ; but a
Professor of the Eisngmliestltwl.i.atinigdsolaugbet,saantditioefoEmtiingelinscheiLneitnetr-;
of sobects, eeveral of which he
ahten riemai nagyeanreireatly,
jects,
can treat
only in a very superficial manner, and Others not at all.—
He must by turns be the antiquary, the philologist, the
philosopher, and the divine; and he must not only neces-
sarily possess the stoat extensive resources of learning him-
self, but he must impart a vast deal of remotely relative
information to his pupils, or his lectures will be totally
wicks's. We have great confidence in Mr. Dale's persever-
ance as well as talent, but there are difficulties which he
can only overcome by long experience in his office. From
the idea which we are enabled to form of ;his intended
plan from the lecture before us, we are inclined to a pretty
confident opinion that he will find it necessary greatly to
modify the view he has taken of his subjects. We need
not tell bins that the history and the philosophy of lan-
guage and grammar are not branches of study, which,
taken eren singly, admit of great haste in the completion :
we need not tell him either that they ere not those which
can be most easily made intelligible or profitable to unculti-
vated minds. The history of languages is far more ab-
struse than that of events, events the most distant, and
the study of it meet, in a very great degree, be carried on
by investigation, and not by the simple process of reading
or hearing facts. A strength or patience of mind are hence
necessary, which have hitherto confined the pursuit to a
very few hard reading men, whose scholarship, before they
commenced it, was of the most superior kind. The
philosophy of grammar, again, offers the most subtle and
most exercised mind a subject for which ao intellectual
weapon can be too keen—a subject on which the mature
and experienced metaphysician finds it necessary to exert
all his !towers of attention and reasoning, and from which
the speculator is very frequently obliged to turn with little
other re-payment for his labour, than the gratification of
strong mental exercise."

"- The Art of Dancing" is a learned but
somewhat insipid analysis of i\l. BlaFis's treatise
on that subject. Instead. of making it light and
readable, as suited the subject, the Reviewer has
made his criticism heavy, with a mass of useless
learning that confuses and oppresses the reader.
Instead .of this it should have been light—
sparkling—elastic, like the character of the
amusement it discussed. " Present Condition
of the Italian States" is a truly able . his-
torical piece of writing, penned in a calm,

comprehensive :spirit, it is full of information,
pertinent, and weli-dige:Aed. The readct
dQrires great entertainment from its peru-
sal. " Novels of the Month' is a tame, but pas-
sable analysis of Zillah. Of the remaining ar-
ticles we have neither space nor time to say more
than that they are severally good of their kind.

ACK ERAIANN'S REPOSITORY OF FASIIIONS.

Mr. Ackermann is, we believe, the first gen-
tleman who set afloat the idea of an English
Annual, and, indeed, it is chiefly through his
spirited exertions that the embellishments to our
different lighter orders of literature hale attained
their present elegant prc-eminence. The present
work, though, as its title imports, of a restricted
character, is yet very ingenious in its plan ; it is,
in fact, a repository of all the prevailing male and
female fashions of the mouth, accompanied by
peculiarly tasteful engravings in which these
fashions are shown off to the best advantage. It
should be called the IVest End Gazeitc.

EDWARDS' BOTANICAL REGISTER,

OR ORNAMENTAL FLOWF.R GARDEN AND STIRLAMIERT.

CONTINUND BY JOHN LINDLEY, 111,g.
rnoymson OF BOTANY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, &C.
No. 11.—Coloured Mateo.

The figures in the present number are both
beautiful and curious, and well worthy the at-
tention of the Botanist and amateur. We may
particularize the fine new Purple Sage from
Mexico, which promises to rival the Salvia
Splendens of the same country, and a brilliant
Crimson Pc-cony* from the Caucasus. The
noble establishment of the Duke of Northum-
berland, at Sien, has supplied a lovely blue
flowered shrub called Hosta Gerulca. In speak-
ing of a fragrant East India shrub, which occu-
pies two plates, curiously illustrated by numerous
dissections, Mr. Lindley takes the opportunity
of paying a high but just tribute of acknow-
ledgment to the Court of Directors of the East
India Company, whose splendid liberality is said
to have done more for modern science than the
united efforts of all the Sovereign Princes of
Europe. Possessing the signal advantages of
contributions from the establishments of • the
highest of our nobility and gentry, as well as
from the public gardens, we need not feel sur-
prised that this work should be held in such
estimation by all who pursue Botany as a science,
or use it as a medium for ornamenting and en-
riching their domains.

" So named by the Ancientu, in memory of Peon, the
physician, whom Homer records as having cured Pluto
with this herb, when be was wounded by Hercules. We
presume its virtues ale altogether reserved for such august
occasions, they having never been made manifest on any
other, as far as we kliow.