The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
PUNCH Vol. 11. London, 1842.

There are some admirable wood-cuts in this vo-
lume ; those, in particular, which are in illustration
of Punch's Almanac, are among the most humorous
we have seen for many a long day. The variety, too, of
the embellishments, is quite extraordinary ; and the ca-
ricature portraits of several eminent living individuals
are remarkable for their resemblance to the originals,
notwithstanding their grotesqueness and drollery. As
regards the literary portion of the volume, it is quite
worthy to vie with the pictorial. Quizzical poems—
neat satirical hits at the passing follies of the day—
puns, anecdotes, and sketches of character in profu-
sion ;—some, or all, of these are to be found in almost
every page of " Punch," which, thus recommended, is
—as it deserves to be—a general favourite.

BATTLES OF THE BRITISH NAVY. 2 Vole.
Body, London, 1842.
These volumes, which are the production of Mr.
Joseph Allen, of Greenwich Hospital, embrace a pe-
riod of upwards of eight hundred years, commencing;
curiously enough, with the first siege of Acre, in the
time of the Crusades, when " King Richard's fleet
was anchored off the port, and effectually prevented
supplies from being thrown into the town, in the
course of which duty it defeated a large fleet of the
enemy ;" and terminating with the last siege and
capture of Acre under the - conduct of Commodore
Napier, in the year 18401 The first naval engage-
P3Pnt of any consequence is recorded by Mr. Allen
to have taken-place in 1217, when " the rival fleets
of France and Eri,gland; 'nfet .the.straitaofDover.
The French consisted o' eighty large ships, while the
English had fewer, but of a more warlike description.
The fleet of the latter, therefore, assumed such a mode
of attack, as to counteract the preponderancy of force
against them. They manoeuvred to get to windward
of the enemy, when, bearing down on them before
the wind, they made terrible hAtoc of the French
ships,' by means of the iron beaks with which their
vessels were fitted; they likewise made great
slaughter with their archers. But what completed
their victory was a quantity of quick-lime in powder
that the English had on board, and which beirg cast
into the air, was blown by the wind into the eyes of
the French, and blinded them. The English gained
a complete victory, and took and destroyed nearly the
whole of the French ships." This unsophisticated
mode of defeating an enemy at sea by throwing dust
into his eyes, will amuse those who are familiar with
the more modern victories of the British navy. It
was not by powdering them with quicklime that we
triumphed over the -" Invincible Armada" of the
Spaniards, and destroyed the French fleets at the Nile
and Trafalgar ! During the whole extended period
over which his researches range, Mr. Allen has not
omitted one naval action of the slightest moment.
The tact and diligence he has exhibited throughout
his undertaking are truly praiseworthy; names,
dates, and localities are given with the most scru-
pulous accuracy ; and a uniform tone of moderation
and impartiality is maintained, that tends greatly to
enhance the value of the work. As books of re-
ference thn volumes are invaluable ; they contain the
the very pith and marrow of our best naval histories
and chronicles ; arid are embellished with not less
• than twenty-four portraits of our ablest naval com-
manders. We have no doubt that they will be taken
under the patronage of the Admiralty, and obtain
a place in the different searneWa libraries on board
.her Msjesty's ships. We quote an anecdote illustra-
tive of the heroic powers of endurance whiotan
English sailor can exhibit, when in the discharge of
his duty. The anecdote refers to an engagement be-
tween the American corvette, Wasp, Captain Blakeley,
and the British gun-brig, Reindeer, Captain Manners
" Captain Manners, who had been badly wounded
the calves of' the legs, at the commencement of the
action, nobly refused to quit the deck, but continued
at his station, encouraging his cry by his heroic ex-
ample. Shortly after a canister-shot passed through
both his thighs, and he fell on his knees, but quickly
sprung up again, and, though bleeding profusely,
refused to go below. By this time the musketry from
the Wasp had caused such slaughter? that Captain
Manners determined to board his opponent, and gall-
ing to his crew to follow him, was in the act of ascend-.
ing the main rigging of the Reindeer with that de-
sign, when two musket-balls from the main-top of
the Wasp, penetrated his skull, NW eame out be-
neath his chin. Placing one hand op his rgreheaci,
and vith the other convusively brandishing his sword,
he exclaimed, Oh, God ! ' and dropped lifeless on
the deck !"

ENGLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CEN-
T U RY. Part i.
How and Parsonp, London, 1842.
.

The account of I.a.ncashire, its ggenery, antiquities,
manufactories, &c., is concluded in this. Pan, which
is embellished with numerous appropriate illustra-
tions, and among others, with a view of the small,
homely farm-house in Fish-lane, Blackburn, where
the father of the present Sir Robert Peel. was born,,
We quote the following anecdote respecting this ce-
lebrated Millionaire :—" When the first Sir Robert
Peel lived in Fir3n-lane with his brother and parents,
which was then a respectably farm-house, it ,was cus-
tomary for respectable yeomen to use pewtei plates
for dinner. Sir Robert, or his brother, sketched
figure, or pattern, of some kind or other, upon one of
their plates, and a thought struck him that he would.
try whether an impression could be made on calico
with colour. 'At one end of the farm-building a
young woman of the name of Elizabeth Milton kept
a calendering machine, and he went into her -house,
and put the plate with colour in the figured part and
some calico, through the machine, when it left an im-
pression; such, we believe, was the origin of roller-
printing on calico. This information is derived from
the daughter of the said Elizabeth Milton, a Mrs.
White, of Burnley."

SOFTNESS. Three Vols.
Saunders and Otley, London, 1842.

There are one or two vigorousl3• drawn charac-
ters in this tale, which is written throughout with
spirit, though here and there the tone is somewhat too
exaggerated. The third volume is the most entertain-
ing; and the scene wherein a reckless, unprincipled
couple, Mr. and Mrs. Meekes, administer a dose of
laudanam to an invalid old woman, who they suspect
knows too many of their secrets, and is likely to
prove a dangerous enemy—this scene is described with
much energy. The closing chapters of the story are
ingeniously wrought up.

MR.MULOCK'S LECTURE ON PAR-

LIAMENTARY SPEAKERS.

' The fifth of these dramatic and rhetorical lectures,
' given in alternate conjunction by Mr. Sheridan Knowles
• -and Mr. Mulock, at Kensington, was delivered by the
latter gentleman on Saturday, having fur its subject the
rise and progress of 'oratory in the Parliaments of the
United Kingdom. Grand as was the outbarst of dra-
matic and poetic powers during the Elizabethan age,
public speaking was but little in vogue, or rather, by
broad hints from the Queen, was almost wholly sup-
pressed, ns dangerous to the Government. Extempora-
neous oratory, indeed, in England, was neither attempted
nor practised till the reign of Charles the First. Then
it was that the Royalists and Republicans fotight man-
fully on the stage of the House. Mr. Mulock, however,
observed this peculiarity on referring to the records of
those foregone days, that the speeches that were at all
attoned to brilliancy were on the King's side. A fine
sparkling, and courtly beauty, often reigned in these,
while those of the puritanical party, were either dull and
prosy, or rough and verbose. Falkland spoke with a '
fine tongue, elegantly fill!. Pym and Hampden, the
best of the opposition body were at their best, but
strenuous and rugged. The first James, in the lec-
turer's opinion, though usually accounted an imbecile,
was a King of lofty and generous views, and despite the
quaintness of speeoh he introduced, yot. by the elevation
of his statesman-like views, he nourished. eloquence in
no limited degree.- He was the first to notice Ireland.
But if debate began with Charles 1., it had a dreary
blank in •his successor's of the same name : neither
dramatist, poet, nor rhetorican flourished in this reuse,
save perchance Shaftesbury, who- in the Douse was a
brilliant talker, but nothing more. Boithgbioke, though
a model of extraordinary mind, was too much of a made
men to be an orator. He had no principle—no heart—
the source from which all eloquence springs, and to
which the tongue is tributary. In the beginning of the
Georges, Sir Robert Walpole and l'ultcTig aplpeex., hut
no very radiant stars dawn till about the beginning of
the- third George's reign. Then broke a splendid period.
Chatham stood up: The moral, mental, and physical
ual; ties of the orator beamed around him. Majesty
ci -
aggrandised his mind no less then 44 neronn.
His p0R1417 )YIV? the - taint
of selfishness has .I<3oell fa4terled on him, yet when the
nation was to be personified in himself, he rose superior
to sordid views, and was champion to the magnificent
dignity of his country—then he thundered in the Senate,
and " ruled at will the fume democracy." To thg
eloquence of this great man, the lezturep ilttOinited the
into:if:Ong power 01014 feanitestetlons of the period
n the bruddetion drfligh speakers, considering it as the
originative cause of much- of the after•eloquenee of the
day. Superbly they rose in rapid succession. Burke l
rp,pleqent name on 00 rot! 9f iigg=who wielded
a mastery over the 'recoiAls: of ihe past—grasped the pre-
sent—and held "colloquy sublime" with the future.
Fox and Pitt ! the latter exhibiting astonishing prema-
turity of talent, and who, played at the head of the
Seaate early, shone during his " perennial premiership"
in many a lustrous speech. Fox, his eppoßent, wet:
rugged, bill; how powerful ;111lie liihrbeen called
forward to uphold an ancient and long-existing state
of things the latter was leader of a new order
and system. Democracy and aristocracy did battle
in their persons. Charles Fox, from the nnpiT,
things he advocated, irk
.ft's t-pp, opv;1111;
was toll 1.111 ipAreePoPary spirit, winch finely con-
trasted with the regulated grandeur of Pitt. Wyndham
was a ply4i, singular man, too conversational to be the
orator. Then came Sheridan, full of heart. His powers
of pleasantry were unrivalled. Joenseeess mingled with
his grandeur. One occasion, in the Hastings case,
speaks volumes (4 his power. It was . then that Pitt
begged to adjourn the whole House----the entire body of
the senators of the kingdom—lest while the white wand •
of the magician was waving over theme . they sinerld be
siviled.l3y his tittspealoblO eloci4fteo to ii prejudiced