The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE WAR IN SYRIA. By 'Commodore Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, K.C.B. hi 2 Vols. London,

John W. Parker, 1842.

The future historian of the naval glories of Eng-
land will find this work an excellent guide through
the labyrinth of the Eastern question. Much as we
knew about the Syrian expedition before, and we
may assume what little merit there may be in closely
watching its progress from a distance, and reading every
despatch and note hitherto published concerning it, we
found so much entirely new in these volumes that we
perused them with as much interest as we should have
felt had we never before read a word upon the subject.
The language is homely and conversational, but given in
the terse, vigorous style bf the gallant old Commodore.
The narrative is of course egotistical, for the Commodore
had no heroic or diplomatic deeds to record equal to
h" s own; but where praise can be justly accorded, it
is bestowed with all the generous warmth of a true son
of the ocean. Commodore Napier states two facts
which frequently appeared in the leading columns of
The Sun during the Syrian war, namely, that but for
the indecision of Admiral Stopford, and the hatred of
Mehemet Ali indulged in by Lord Ponsonby, the
war would not have lasted half the time which it did;
and again, that had it only lasted a month longer, we
would have found ourselves at war with France. We
have not the slightest doubt that, but for the headlong
gallantry of the Commodore, which settled the
question before France had her loins girded for
the conflict, we should now have been at war
with half the States of Europe. Some racy corres-
pondence passed between the Commodore and Admiral
Stopford, Lord Ponsonby and Major-General Sir C.
Smith, relative to the celebrated " unauthorised "
convention, which we regret to find is too long
for insertion in our columns. The gossip about
Mehemet Ali, Solyman Pacha, Ibrahim Pacha, and.
the Emirs of the Mountains is exceedingly interest-
ing-. We cordially recommend these volumes to all
who take an interest in the triumphs of our gallant tars.

MODERN FRENCH LIFE. 3 Vols.
Bentley, London, 1842.
The tales contained in these volumes are all—with
but two eXceptions—illustrative of the manners and
habits of France in the present day, and are selected
from the works of eminent writers by an able
linguist, for whom, as she tells us in her preface, Mrs.
Gore has undertaken thc task of revision. If the tales
be indeed an accurate representation of modern French
Life, that life has little to boast of, on the
score of morality, for there is no country in Europe
where the moral code would appear to be so relaxed.
But the most interesting tales in the present volumes
are not those whose scenes are laid in France, for the
Russian narrative, entitled the "Red House," is far
superior to any one of them, and refers to a murder,
committed under most extraordinary circumstances,
by the young and beautiful Countess Vaninka,
daughter of the Russian 'General Tchermayloff.
This story, we are assured, is founded on fact, and
the events occurred shortly after Suwarow's return
from his campaigns in Switzerland and Italy against
the French republic—towards the close of the reign of
the Emperor Paul. The narrative is told throughout
with great terseness and energy, and furnishes us
with some brief, amusing gliMpses of social life in St.
Pctersburgh.

FINE ARTS.
THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.

This picture, which is now in the course of exhi-
bition at the rooms of the Society of Arts, in the
Adelphi, is the production of Mr. Melling--a pro-
mising artists, who, if he has not successfully ac-
complished all that he proposed to himself to do, has
yet displayed no little talent in his painting.
His design is better than his execution, ex-
cellence in which last comes only from conti-
nuous study and practice.. The most prominent
figure_ in the painting is of course the great hero of
the day—Henry the Fifth of England, who is repre-
sented in the foreground, defending his Royal brother
of Clarence, who has been wounded and struck down.
The attitude of the King is natural and spirited, and
is free from that exaggeration which we detect in the
figure to his left, who is seen bearing the Royal
standard. The sketch of the dying war-horse biting his
leg in his agony, while the blood streams from the
wound made by an arrow in his neck, is forcibly
pourtrayed, and is perhaps the most efficient bit of
colouring in the picture. 1Y regret we cannot give
similar praise to the figure of the dead French Knight,
on whom his victor, stout old Sir 'Thomas Erpingham,
is trampling with very little ceremony, for the white,
chalky hue of the Knight's face is anything
but true to nature. The English archers, too, are
aiming their shafts in such a direction that they
appear more likely to hit their own countrymen
than their enemies. But, despite these defects, the
painting is a clever one ; and the contest between
the French and English men-hat-arms in the middle
distance, teems with life and energy.