A WEEK'S READING.
Loan MAHON'S LIFE OF BELISAPuIUS.
UPHAM'S HISTORY OF TI1E OTTOMAN EMPIRE, VOL. I. CONSTAI3LE'S DR. MEMES'S HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, PAINTING, MISCELLANY, AND sCUIPTURE. Nos.:19 and -AL TIMBER TREES. LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE, VOL. II. PART I. MACKRAY ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVIL SOCIETY. MALCOLM'S TALES OF FLOOD AND FIELD.
FLETCHER'S CHOZAR AND SELA.
CIA LEE'S INTRODUCTION TO HERALDRY.
HERE is a tolerable week's work for an idle man. A student who should seclude himself with this little library for seven days, if he had not the choicest selection in the world of literature with him, needed at least to be under no loss for variety. Possibly some of these works would suggest to him more subjects of reflection, than supply topics of information ; nevertheless, he could not be said to be in particularly bad company. A club might be formed of worse materials ; more particularly seeing that there is a lord of the party,—a circumstance which alone, in our aristocratic country, would redeem a world of dulness. But Lord MAnoN is something better than a lord : he could fell Mr. Frif.km, the historian of Budhism and Turkey, more than he knows ; and we are sure the historian would be grateful for a few les- sons in style from the biographer—at least he might take them with benefit. We are not certain that we should keep Dr. MamEs of the party till the close of the seventh day : we have serious apprehensions that he is a dreadful proser ; and unless his discourse could be taken as a soporific, we know not how far our toleration would extend. Per- haps the lively young Lieutenant of the Forty-second, with his Tales of Hood and Field, or the juvenile poet of Clare Hall—he who wrote Chozar and Sela before his eighteenth year—might be apt to excite our irritable nerves by the bright and joyous views they take of the things of earth, and produce a fit of insomnolency : in that case the aid of Dr. ME:mas would be invaluable. How calm and soothing a few of his commonplaces would fall upon the heated temperament of a too irritable constitution ! We can well fancy the blissful sensation of unexpectedly sinking with half-shut eyes into the downy paradise of forgetfulness under the gentle influence of his drowsy muse. The plea- sant and instructive voice of the sylvan author of Timber Trees would also interchange well with the turbid eloquence of the Budhist, Mr. UPHAM : ane continuous fall of his noisy stream would stun the stoutest ears; and lest we should take refuge in rudeness, and in no measured terms inform the rugged historian of his offence, we would walk in the shade with him of the woods. Mr. CLARKE, with his blazonry gib- berish, would, we fear, prove the most ill-sorted of the party: a herald can neither learn nor communicate any thing but his own mystic tut; and party pale, sinister bend, and gales, sound mightily ridiculous as well as barbarous when removed from the scenes of painted pannels and court circulars. But perhaps he is somewhat of an antiquary, and what with Lord MAHoN's arms and history, might manage to play his part in our small society. After all, however, we had rather have the books than the company of these respectable persons. The whole world acknowledges the inestimable property of a book, which may at any time be shut up, when its author cannot be so readily shut out. Mr. MACKRAY especially is evidently a character whom we would not for untold treasure detect in our bower : long and loud, we are sure, are the roulades of his thundering voice ; his zeal is as glowing as his style is frothy ; and his property of button-holding more tenacious even than his love of the Reformed Kirk ; an excellent man, we doubt not, but to be avoided ; a kind of north-east wind—boisterous, strong, and sharp, but very healthy, if it does not blow you away, or cut you in Pieces. Perhaps we are wrong, and his friends must forgive us for our personi- fication of his book : assuredly it will be long before we forgive him for putting under a title so attractive to a philosophic eye, the empty declamation, the half-speech, half-sermon, we have at last read. Lord MAHON, on the contrary, in his Life of Be/is-anus, has sur- passed our expectations : we expected little learning from a young lord, and we love not the brutal age of JUSTINIAN. '1 he acquirements of Lord MAHON are those of an industrious student ; and his biographi- cal history is a masterly summary of the events, not only of the life of BELISARIUS, but of his times. His work will not please the imagina- tion like the fiction of MARMONTEL ; but it cannot fail to interest the historical and moral inquirer. BELISARIUS was a great man in a rude age ; and, like many other great men, was the slave of a violent-tem- pered wife, who knew how to rule him both by her authority and her blandishments. In this point, as well as in his generalship, he resem- bled our Marlborough, and God knows how many other heroes, who never trembled but at home. A tragic interest is given to the fate of BELISARIUS by the sad vicissitudes of his latter days. The broken- down warrior, deprived of his sight and begging his bread, is an image that never fails to present itself with the mention of his name. Some writers have attempted to discredit the anecdote on which it is founded; but we think Lord MAHON has established the probability of its truth. We have alluded to Mr. UPHAM'S style in the History of Turkey, and to Dr. MENSES'S gift of prosiness. We really must warn the con- ductors of Constable's Miscellany, that these are not the kind of works that ought to 'gain admission into such a collection. They never would have gained a circulation without it; is it not therefore wrong that they should circulate by its means ? Either the very best of exist- ing classical works should be reprinted in it, or tastefully abridged for it ; or such original works should be introduced, as are not only apt by their subject, but which by the ability and care bestowed upon them are likely to go down to posterity with the standard works to which they are coupled. If such works as these are tied to the really good parts of the selection, the whole is likely to go down in no other sense than that of sinking to the bottom. We have neither space nor incli- nation to display the enormity of Mr. lienAm's offences against sense, logic, and style, in his hasty compilation ; but we will, by way of suf- ficient specimen of style, lay before our readers the introductory para- graph on history.
" History is, of all our studies, the one most attractive, and best qualified to reward our research, as it developes the springs and motives of human actions, and displays the consequence of those circumstances which operate most powerfully on the destinies of the human race. Its investigation also acquaints us with points of character of the highest moment ; for the good and evil of life are so blended and combined in the connexion of causes and events, that the happiness or misery of millions may often be clearly referred to the daring act of an individual, and a permanent impression be thereby made for ages upon the moral and intellectual character of mankind."
History is qualified to reward research, as it developes the springs of action, also because it displays the consequences of those circum- stances which operate on the destinies of the human race. Again, The inrestigation of history acquaints with points of character: for (mark the for) the good and evil are so blended and combined in the connexion qf causes and events, Mat the happiness or misery of mil- lions may often be referred to the daring act of an individual. Read this, my young masters, and learn what history is: this is CONSTABLE'S Miscellany with a witness !—CONSTABLES Dosfberry. It is a pleasure to turn from this jargon (and the book is full of it) to the neat and instructive compilation on Vegetable Substances, which forms a portion of the Miscellany of the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge. This is knowledge, arid entertaining too : the title-page keeps its promise, as it did in the other part on Menageries, of which we have already spoken. We expected something better from Mr.MALCOLM than these Tales of Flood and Field; they are very slight things indeed, mere sweepings of his tent : he must buelde to something less frivolous; he must not suppose that he will be able to keep hims'elf long in the air on those Scotch puffs, a list of which we perceive tacked to his advertisements in the newspapers, as long as the tail of a kite. They please hirn for the moment perhaps, but they will mislead him. We remember read- ing of a little boy who stood upon a wall blowing soap bubbles with a pipe and bowl, and who was so pleased with the many-coloured pother he made about him, that down he fell, and broke both his basin and his crown.
We now come to Mr. FLETCHER ; and letting the bitterness of cri- ticism pass away, we will get up from our task with a sweet taste in the mouth. Mr. FLETCHER is really a very pretty little poet, and we do not despair of seeing him write something worth reading. His Chozar and Sela contains some well-founded observations of human nature, remarkable in a person of his age, combined with many pleas- ing- poetical images. We cannot detach anything-from the long-poem ; and therefore quote a little piece of elegant versification from the minor poems, which will leave our readers with a favourable impres- sion both of our good-humour and Mr. FLETCHER'S talents. The sub- ject is commonplace—the greater therefore the merit of the writer.
TO A BUTTERFLY.
" I will not end thy summer reign, Thou little, trembling, painted, thing, For Winter's storms too soon will stain The beauties of thy gaudy wing. "No cloud o'ercasts thy glorious day, Thou minion of the summer beam, No cares hast thou to wile away ; No waking to thy joyous dream; "No tears, the price of laughing hours; No wants to chill thy pleasures bland; Thy banquet on the sweets of flowers Is spread by Nature's generous hand. " Then wing thy airy flight again, And hie thee to thy scented toys ; For I no longer will restrain
The freedom of thy playful joys.
" And when marauding Winter's breath Shall rifle all thy honied bowers, Then sink into the sleep of death With all thy sweet coeval flowers. "But man surviving, oft must gaze Upon his ruined bowers forlorn, And linger through his wintry days, When all his summer joys are gone !"
We ought to add to this desultory sketch of our little library for the week, that CLARKE'S Introduction to Heraldry is well adapted to its object They who wish to learn the principles of Heraldry, if it has principles, cannot do better than buy it. We recommend uxoriom widowers to the instructions for quartering the arms of a sixth wife.
Previous page
