The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-01 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

In a curious article entitled "Diabolical Sugges-
tions," the author, Mr. T.. Hood,, relates a whimsical
anecdote of a monomaniac, a friend of his, who once
fancied that he was under the direct influence of the
Devil, and was compelled by him to kiss the red,
hard, awkward hand of his maid of all work, and then
to trot up and down stairs from the top to the bottom
of the houses of his acquaintance before he could count
twenty. Strange to say, he spent some months in ac-
complishing daily this eccentric feat, to the great di-
version of all who knew him, and at last dropped dead on
the top step of an attic with the word "nineteen" in his
mouth. The article is written in a tone of mingledj est and
earnest, so that we can scarcely tell whether or not Mr.
Hood means it to be read as a truth. The thing is
by no means improbable, for instances are common
enough of monomaniacs indulging in such strange
vagaries. We once heard of a man who fancied he
was a tea-pot, and used to stand upon his breakfast-.
table, for an hour together, waiting to be poured out ;
and of another, who took it into his head that his
face was turned towards his back, and was in the
habit of putting on his clothes hind-part in front.
The " Thief of Time" is an agreeable essay on pro-
crastination. " The true procrastinator," says the
author, " will never give you much trouble. You
are sure of his help, when he cannot help himself.
There 'is also an advantage in knowing what
he will not do. If you have given him provocation,
resenting his delays, he will scarcely call you out
within a twelvemonth, when his anger will have
cooled. If he wrote to complain, he will never put
the letter into the post. If he meditate a pamphlet
against you, he will never get beyond the title-page.
In the end his memory, much amusing, but sleeping
half its time, will grow confused ; and he will be-
gin to doubt whether you cruelly injured him, or he
you." In the present chapters of the " Barnabys in
America," we find the fair, fat, bustling, and intre-
pid widow preparing to write in favour of the slave-
trade, in order to propitiate her friends at New Or-
leans. The narrative is not amiss, but is too much
spun out, as if the author were more solicitous re-
specting the quantity than the quality of her mate-
rials. In " Graduates and Under-Graduates," a
graphic account is given of a day's coursing at Wood-
stock. The article exhibits much of that reck-
less, extravagant humour that characterised the late
Theodore Hook's tales. " Contributions to the
Income-tax" should either have been more lively or
more serious. At present, it is neither one nor the
other. In his " Phineas Quiddy," Mr. Poole sketches,
with infinite caustic humour, the character of a mean,
pettifogging attorney, whom he appropriately names
Iscariot Hitchflat. In " Short Rides in an Author's
Omnibus," occur these sensible remarks on courage :
Personal courage in a powerful man scarcely
commands our admiration, not only from its being
so common, but because it may generally be displayed
with safety ; but where it is unsupported by physical
strength, where it i 5 the triumph of a gallant spirit
over a feeble frame, the very danger that accompanies
its exertion enhances its merit, and increases the
respect with which we contemplate it." The " Little
Browns" is suggested by the rumoured coinage of
half-farthings. The writer thus endeavours to ex-
plain the motives that suggested this new issue of
copper:--
" Tho new denomination can hardly be intended—
against an universal Income-tax—to enable a man with
fourpence-farthing a year to pay three per cent. on his
annuity. The Victoria D. G. on the new coin would
never lend her Royal countenance to any such speculation.
"Is it possible, in consideration of the dearness of
bread, that the Lilliputian currency has been invented
for the purchase of such tiny little loaves as Gulliver
used to devour by the dozen ? Alas ! the people who
make money are not so considerate for those who don't !
" With none of these views is it likely that the Demi
, Farthings have been minted—nor yet to encourage low