The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-03 00:00:00

There is much various information in this I
good old- periodical—a. judicious blending of j
the useful with the ornamental ; and, in point of
style, a revivification of the old leaven, of the
times when one single number of the " Edin-
burgh Review" was found to contain, both in
point of thought and 'language, germs of almost
every excellence. The first article, entitled " Dr.
Laurence and Mr. Burke," is valuable for its
character of the former—a writer whose name
was becoming rather musty—with. respect, how-
ever, to its elaborate, but partial analysis of
Burke, the time; we fear, is not yet arrived when
that unequalled writer shall receive impartial jus-
tice. It is scarcely, two years since the " Quar-
terly Review," with more of truth on its side,
asserted that he was divine, or something to the

like effect. ^ The present periodical uraer-rates
him in every respect ; first, as a writer ; secondly,
as a politician ; thirdly, as a philosopher. As a
writer, it has discovered that. he is replete with
bad taste, that his very eloquence is false,' and
that, "in works of a serious nature, figurative
style should never deviate from the subject
matter,"—that is to say, that "sit should be alto-
gether laid aside. Close upon the heels of this
rigorous dogma, which smacks more of Scaliger
than Jeffrey, we find the following very unlaboured
and unornamented sentence. The " heavy artil-
lery of powerful declamation, and the'conflict of
close argument, are alone wanting (to Burke),
but of this the garrison is not always aware, his
noise is oftentimes mistaken for the thunder of
true eloquence ; the number of his movements
distracts, and the variety of his missiles annoys
the adversary a panic spreads, and he carries
his point, as if he had actually made a practi-
cable breach, nor is it discovered till after the
smoke and eonfusion is (quere, are) over, that
the citadel remains untouched." Here we lose
sight of the subject matter altogether : our ideas,
averted from Burke, are hurried away to Badajoz
or St. Sebastian : a proof that it is far easier to
lay down than to practise a doctrine ; it is, in
'fact, like the author of Irene condemning Cato
for the coldness of its love-scenes. As a poli-
tician and philosopher, the Reviewer7—eloquently
we. admit, though unjustly--4enies Burke s pos-
session of that sagacious prescience which even
his worst enemies have, one and all, accorded
him. Thrown back by this bold assertion on
our recollections, we:find _in the splendid " Re-
flections" the following passage, in which
Burke's prophecy of Napoleon's despotism is
as shrewdly and distinctly shadowed forth as that
Nay dramatist Seneca's prediction of the disco-
very of America. "If the project of a Republic (he
is speaking of the earlier periods of the French Re-
volution) should fail; all securities to a mode-
m ed freedom .fail along with it ; insomuch, that
• onarchy should'ever again obtain ascendancy
'France, .under this or any other dynasty, it
will probably be the most arbitrary power that
has ever appeared on earth." Has not this been
the case, even to the strict letter of the law, with the
Emperor and his conscriptions ? The Reviewer
goes on to express his astonishment at the great
increase, in his later years, of Burke's splendid
imagination. This is singular, but not unpre-
cedented. The fancy of that most learned and
versatile wit Rabelais, who, like our English
Statesman, possessed: and turned to *account
every variety of knowledge; was never so lavish,
brilliant, or overwhelming, as in his Voyage to
the Holy Bottle ;- yet this extraordinary work
(in which, 'on the single subject of architecture,
there' is as much lore displayed as would serve to
set up six modern professors for life) was penned
when he was past seventy. We have nothing
further to remark On the subject. of the Reviewer's
analysis, except that he grudgingly does his sub-
ject a scanty and inadequate justice. With the
exception of Shakspeare, we conceive Burke
to have been the most • variously gifted
genius that ever existed. His wit was equalled
only by his learning ; his imagination was supe-
rior to both. In his letter to two Noble Lords
alone ; which,lif we remember rightly, scarcely
exceeds eighty pages ; there is contained (and
the author of the " Pursuits of Literature"—a
high authority, has recorded the same opinion)
almost every variety of intellect. The poet,- the
satirist,. the orator, the scholar, the philosopher,
the tragedian, (for what can equal its deep
pathos in parts ?) may here draw nourishment
from the' same salubrious and prolific spring.
As a whole, it is without doubt, the most con
anzore work that Burke ever penned. The
" Reflections" are more_profound,more elaborate,
more finished ; the " Thoughts on the DiScon-
ertswasdthi
al
shame, sbe i
lneo est c;
ir
teas,
niadmn
adag se
itr
er gc
Discon-
tents" more correct and sober—but this is more
.oet xin dalrenks cetethnedas:eisivitemnmi t,
eat doy
vtahbe
derive no useless hints from its perusal.
The " State of German Literature" is a su-
perior article, and almost equals the celebrat-
ed analysis of Machiavel which appeared in
the same Review some months since. Its
turn , of thought, however, is far different from
that which was wont to distinguish the Edinburgh
Review, whenever German talent was mentioned.
Then it was all scorn and pungent sarcasm ; now it
is unmeasured eulogy. The Editor has mani-
festly been compelled, whether reluctantly or not,
we cannot say—to bow to the opinions of the
day. As far as mere style is concerned, the
article may challenge severest scrutiny. Like
Denham's description of the Thames, it is full
but not overflowing; bestrewed all over with the
rich lights of fancy, yet without being like
Prince Esterhazy's court-dress coat—one broad
tasteless and unvaried illumination. Its elo-
quence grows out of the subject matter," and
merely serves to set off and enamel, not to
change or overload the tone and colour of its
argument.
In proof of what we have just ad-
vanced, we give the Reviewer,
s character of the
German Lessing.
He thinks with the clearness and piercing sharpness of
the most expert logician ; but a genial fire pervades him,
a wit, a heartiness, a general richness, and fineness of na-
ture, to which most logicians are-strangers. He is a sceptic
in many things, hut the noblest of sceptics ; a mild, manly,
half-careless enthusiasm straggles through his indignant un-
belief; he stands before us like a toil-worn, but unwearied
and heroic champion, earning not the conquest but the
battle; as indeed himself admits to us, that " it is not the
" finding of truth, but the honest search for it'that profits."
We confess, we should be entirely at a lass for the literary
creedof that man who reckoned Lessing other than a
thoroughly cultivated writer ; nay, entitled to rank, in this
particular, with the most distinguished writers of any
existing nation. As a poet, as a critic, philosopher, or con-
troversialist, his style
.will be found precisely•sucti ae we

of England are accustomed to admire most : brief, nerv-
ous, vivid; yet quiet, without, glitter or antithesis; idio
,vatic, pure without purism, transparerit; yet full of charac-
ter and reflex hues of meaning. " Every sentence," say,
Horn, and justly, "is like a phalanx ;" not a word wrong
placed, not a word that could be spared ; and it farms it-
self so calmly and lightly, and stands in its completeness, so
gay, yet so impregnable ! As a poet he contemptuously
denied himself all merit ; but his readers have not taken
him at his word : here too-a similar felicity of style at-
tends him ; his plays, his Minna von Barnkelm,, his
Emilie Galotti, his Nathan der Weise, have a genuine
and graceful poetic life ; yet no works known to us in any
language are purer from exaggeration, or any appearance
of falsehood. They are pictures, we might say, painted
ribt in.colours, but in crayons ; yet a strange attraction lies
in them ; for the figures are grouped into the finest atti-
tudes, and true and spirit-speaking in every line.
The " Private Theatricals of. Kilkenny,"—a
subject on which, if we remember rightly, Mr.
Banim, in his Tales of the O'Hara Family, has
lightly and gracefully ,touchedevinces some
odd and -
,amusing research. Two English
Bishops,it seems, a Pope, and a couple of Car-
dinals, have 'been 'famous for their theatrical
abilities; one sound divine in particular, had
the .honour of putting King_ James to sleep
(a faculty which by no means impeaches his
orthodoxy) during the representation of his
comedy at Cambridge. At present—as the
Reviewer
.properly:observes—farce is confined to
Sir Harcourt Lees. The article headed " Re-
Auction of the National Debt," is long and
looks learned ; we have stood shivering for full
ten minutes on the brink 'of its first page, with-
out once daring to plunge in ; deterred chiefly
by the arithmetical figures which are scattered
over the surface of the article, like warning posts
on the Serpentine .during a frost, and which are
set up, weconclude, pretty much for the same
reason—to show that the places pointed out are
beyond our depth. The c, Spirit of Party" is a
temperate and useful -defence of What needed
none ; namely, the late,perfectly justifiable coali-
tion. Its object is to prove-that the Union was
both natural and necessary ; that neither parties
were compromised by it ; and that incalculable
benefits may (we would add more decisively
accrue from ite adoption. In' the
;course of this argument, a cursory allu-
sion
is made to Lord Londonderry, who is
bepraised, !quite as much as he deserves—and
a pungent note proves moreinvincibly than ever
that Chief Justice Best is far indeed removed
from either of those two qualities, the possession
of which has redounded so much to the celebrity
of Job :and Solomon. The remaining articles,
not forgetting the animated Review of O'Driscol's
History of Ireland—we must dismiss with this
imperfect notice, that they' will each, more or
less, amply repay perusal. Indeed, the whole
number is of a very superior cast, possessing
with' all the good taste and information of the
Quarterly—a tact—a pungency—a condensa-
ion—and a versatility, in which that periodical
as of late been somewhat deficient.

!FORMATION TO MASTERS OF YES

SELS TRADING TO MEMEL.

ExTaatcl: or A LETTER Fitaid TRE AGENT TO LLOYD'S AT
MEMEL, DATED NOY. 10.
" Mr. Notzke, Master of the Isis, in very hazy
weather last summer, mistook the Polangen-wood
for the Dutch cap, and made, as,,he supposed, for
this port. In a short time, the vessel struck on a
ridge of stone, and soon became a wreck. As this
ridge bad not been surveyed, it was afterwards
examined by Mr. Schroder, Pilot Commodore of
this place, who found it to be a mile in extent, from
north to south, and about half a mile broad, with its
outer edge more than a mile from shore. From the
depth of nine feet near the middle of the bank, the
south end of Polangen wood bore N.E. by E. I E,;
Polangen Church S.E. by E. 4 E. ; and Immerset-
wood nearly S. 4.E. by compass. The depth along
the edge.of the reef is in general four fathoms, as it
it along the Immerset reef, which extends to the dis-
tance of half a mile from the shore."