SONNET. FROM THE ITALIAN OF MICHAEL ANGELO. Per ritornar là donde venne fuora. How like an angel's came her beauteous form And then, with heav'nward wing, to bid farewell! It is her spirit which all mine inflames; And, while her outward charms awaken love, "Tis love of that which fadeth not, nor shames, But centres all its dearest hopes above! And if her beauty move me much at times, 'Tis the first step in the ascent to heaven, By which the soul, adorned with graces, climbs; And ne'er hath Heaven a choicer bounty given, Than when the godhead's shadowed glories flame Within a perfect-beauteous mortal frame! In spite of the variable weather, the noon-day heats and the chill of evening, the frequency of rain, and the universality of colds and pulmonary affections, coquetry reigns triumphant, to whatever side we turn. Mousselines de laine of an almost gossamer texture, and bookmuslins, which a pair of parlourbellows would blow into rags with a single gust, are sported by every E. damsel you meet. They seem not to take the slightest note of the cold, although, good sooth, it perfuses the tips of their noses with a cerulean tint. The innate love of display, which is dearer to the sex than the pupils of their eyes, would keep them warm, if the temperature were at zero. CO How true is M. de Martignac's saying: "Les femmes quettes n'ont jamais froid!" RONDE, PAR REGNARD. Au bon vieux temps On s'aimoit d'amour sincère, Au bon vieux temps. THE APPROACH TO CONSTANTINOPLE.-Mr. Adolphus Slade, R.N., in his recently published book of travels, has the following admirable description of the most beautiful diorama in the world :: "We then continued our course down the Bosphorus, and entered another silvery lake embosomed in hills of all forms-but all gracefulcovered with fairy-looking villages, among which Kandilly, scene of Anastasius's exploits, sits pleasantly in the midst of gardens, whilst arabesqued latticed palaces, retreats of the wealthy and beautiful of Constantinople, and cemeteries rich with gilding and marble, fringe the water's edge. Presently the towers, which had seemed to stop egress at the further end, opened apart, and gave us a glimpse of further glories beyond the castles of Anadolu Hissar and Roumely Hissar, built by Mahomet II. to command the strait during his siege of the city. Borne on the rapid current, which is here dignified by the Devil's name, we shot through like an arrow. Royal palaces, stately mosques, hanging gardens, and queenly villages, rapidly succeeded on either hand, each surpassing the other in claims to admiration. A confused assemblage of trees, towers, mosques, and houses, calmly reposing amidst azure liquid and ether, filled up the space in the distance they gradually disentan pounds are resolved into thin elements, and every difficulty vanishes at the touch of a little plain good sense. From a long attention to these subjects, we feel thoroughly convinced that the interlineary and strictly searching mode of translation, here adopted, is the true principle to be applied to the study of every language; and that by this means three tongues may be acquired during the time in which one was mastered under the old system. We have known a student in oriental literature, by his own application of this method, to start from the Hebrew, and acquire Persian and Arabic in an amazingly short space of time. Literal analysis is, in truth, the railway of languages. Herr Klauer is no charlatan, but an able scholar, and the most accomplished philologist will find matter of instruction and entertainment in his pages. These books might make even a dunce teach himself German. Three Years' Residence in Canada, from 1837 to 1839, &c. By T. R. PRESTON, late of the Government Service at Toronto. 2 vols. Bentley. An intelligibly written, though rather rambling, book. The author is too fond of generalising, and might assuredly have presented us with a more satisfactory array of details. His subject possesses the greatest interest. We subjoin a description of Toronto : "Toronto, though exhibiting little to bear out its pretensions either as a city or a capital, and still less to justify the metropolitan airs which the élite of its denizens assume, is a place bearing (unlike Kingston) the appearance of having been much improved within these last few years; but it as yet possesses only one good street, which runs east and west, and this is in some parts advantageously set off with an array of wellfilled shops and stores. At the western extremity stands a sort of overgrown party-coloured cottage, dignified by the name of Government-house,' and a neat assemblage of red brick buildings, comprising the school-house and private dwellings, appertaining to Upper Ca nada College,' of whose history I shall hereafter speak. Between the Government-house and the bay, an unseemly mass of brickwork, encasing the legisla tive chambers and various of the public offices, rears its head; while a mile beyond this again, is an ill-constructed stockade-sort of fort, with an incommodious barrack within its circuit. Eastward, Toronto's chief edifices are, a church, a bank, a town - hall (having behind it a market-place), and lastly, a sessions-house and gaol, besides a second prison-house in progress of construction, to signify the moral improvement of the people. This end of the town is much eschewed as vulgar by the high order of patricians, whose abodes, consisting in many cases of good-sized, substantial, though isolated houses, are for the most part situated in the three opposite directions. Nevertheless, the city of Toronto will not bear mentioning in the same breath with either of the American towns Rochester or Buffalo (both, I believe, of later origin), though I am aware that in making this assertion, I incur the risk of being thought tasteless, not to say a rebel in disguise, by the majority of those amongst whom I have been so lately dwelling; since they would consider as derogating from their city's dignity the mere institution of any such comparison." a We have received a copy of " Spartacus, or the Roman Gladiator; exhibits some ability, though we rather tragedy, by Jacob Jones, Esq., which doubt its capability for successful representation. We have also received the two first numbers of M. Victor Bohain's French newspaper, "Le Courrier de l'Europe," and from a careful perusal of their contents, can pronounce favourably of the venture, and of the great likelihood of its success. The selections are made with considerable skill and judgment; and the original writing is not destitute of esprit. The feuilletons of the French journals are a boundless field; and the editor will find his account in leaning less to politics than literature. END OF VOL. I. William Stevens, Printer, Bell Yard, Temple Bar. THE DIURNAL REVOLUTIONS OF DAVIE DIDDLEDOFT, DURING THE COURSE OF HIS INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON LIFE, BY SIR TICKELEM TENDER, BART. CHAP. VII. (Illustration) STATEMENT OF FACTS WITH REFERENCE TO THE BLOCKADE OF To Correspondents. Politics being usually voted a drug from the fag-end of the session to the end of the recess, we suspend the publication of our "Political Portraits" until the re-opening of Parliament. We do not propose to take communications of any length, except from cur regular Contributors, and shall be open only to the receipt of short articles in prose and verse, for the CHARIVARI and COURRIER DES DAMES, and concisely written original tales, which, however, will be in no instance paid for. All communications to be forwarded by letter (post paid) to the Publishers. The papers of "Zeta" and "E. Q. R." do not suit us. The Contribution of "A. P." and the Sonnet by Celio Magno in our next. The verses of "H. G." and "A. A." are under consideration. Books, Prints, &c. intended for review in this Magazine, should be forwarded (free) as soon as published, to Mr. RICHARD FENNELL, 28, Arundel Street, Strand; or the Publishers, Messrs. SIMPKIN & Co., Stationers' Hall Court. |