Excursion to the Top of Skiddaw.... 183 Foreign Books imported..

LONDON:

BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY.

[Entered at Stationers' Hall.]

122

THE LION'S HEAD.

Valiant as a lion, and wondrous affable..

SHAKSPEARE.

This INSTITUTION has occasioned some inquiries; among others it has been asked, whether THE LION'S HEAD is intended to be jocular? It might be dangerous to answer this question-and Lions are not apt to commit themselves. Suffice it, then, to say, that our's roars ex cathedra, as the mouthpiece of the Magazine. According to the fulness of our Letter-box, he venteth his responses, retorts, or explanations; occasionally, too, pushing his nose a little beyond the bars of his own den, just to snuff what is going on about him.

We have more than one Epistle before us, questioning the propriety of inserting pugilistic articles. We hope that the very clever one in our present Number will be thought a satisfactory answer to these remonstrances. To say the truth, we did, at first, feel shy about following so directly in the traces of others; and along a path, too, which had been trodden with power. We would always avoid doing this, if possible; and have been rather surprised, on more than one occasion, at finding persons of real talent forgetful of the great truth, that when "two men ride a horse, one must ride behind." But the pleasantness of the Papers, on this subject, submitted to us by some of our friends, has conquered our original shyness, occasioned as we have just explained, and we only feel it necessary, now, to say a word to some of the serious objections to this sort of insertion, as "undignified, and altogether discreditable," for such are the terms employed.-Is not man, in distinction from all other animals, a laughing animal? and has not every thing its laughable side? Is not England, in distinction from all other nations, a country of humour and humourists? And are the writings of Swift and Gay not good or elegant enough for insertion in a modern magazine? On points of moral principle, it is becoming to assume a high, clear, and serious tone; but surely the impropriety of picking-pockets is not, now-a-days, debateable; and if not, the practitioners of the art may very safely be sported a little with (as well as hanged), and human nature be permitted to show its face of sorry meriment amidst frailties which no one excuses, and that pretend to no justification.-As to boxing, we apprehend that, there are but few of the readers of the LONDON MAGAZINE likely to feel tempted to contest with Cribb his enjoyment of the profits attached to the championship. Besides, if there were, we don't know whether we would not be inclined to say, so much the better for the country: things are not come to so bad a pass as we had feared: the athletic minds, with the athletic arms of old England, still exist, and the Prize-ring is our security, that the energies of the nation will not be wholly smothered in that slough of slander and obscenity, now forming for the public annoyance, under the superintendance of the Crown and the two Houses of Parliament! Were the Five's Court to be wholly deserted while the House of Lords is crowded by persons curious to hear the evidence of the Italians, we might say of the country, c'en est fait-all is up! If more be thought necessary on this subject, more might be said-but an article which we have in view on the Beggar's Opera will afford a fitter oportunity than THE LION'S HEAD for the conclusion of the argument.-We have now, however, an account of another sort to settle with our fanciful contributor: Mr. Egan's encomiast :

Mr. Jackson's admirer: the dealer in jewels: and, what is still more to his credit in our eyes, the warm-hearted friend of old Street-walker, the Bull-dog, whose promised Biography we long to receive. What astonishes us is, how any man, who has good taste enough to cherish these partialities, should not like Mr. Edgeworth's Memoirs, written by himself! The hearty eccentricity, the unconquerable vivacity, the busy, bustling, sanguine, persevering temper which distinguished this true child of the "green Isle," would have done honour even to a Fellow of the Five's Court: and the reflection of these sparkling qualities shines so brightly in the work in question, that we cannot permit it to be insulted without calling for a ring and fair play! We suspect, however, that our esteemed contributor has been imposed upon: it is possible that neither Spring, nor Carter, nor Scroggins, has yet found leisure to give attentive perusal to Mr. Edgeworth's Memoirs; and such neglect may have operated on the mind of the ingenious essayist, and produced an undue impression against the book. That he has not judged or himself in regard to it, we are sure, for there is no man whose tact we have a better opinion of. We are confident, for instance, that he thinks highly of Mr. Keats's last volume of poetry (which we mean to review in our next Number), and that he regards the joke of electing one of Blackwood's Editors to be professor of moral PHILOSOPHY, as infinitely more laughable than any thing that has ever appeared in the pages of that work. That such an one should undervalue the amusement furnished by Mr. Edgeworth's Memoirs is lamentable. For ourselves, we have so high an opinion of the powers (now quenched) of the Irish philanthropist, that, were he now alive to do honour to our challenge, we would back him, on a wooden-horse, against, Buckle on a racer! In leaping, we would pit him, without fear, against the famous Jumping Jim! Nor are we rash in saying so much. Mr. Edgeworth, in his youth, would have beaten any man of his calves in a horn-pipe. Earth, air, or water, all was alike to him! He'd have manufactured, and then run, a balloon against Garnerin himself; or dropped with him in a parachute, play or pay, taking the chances of steeples and crow's-nests. He'd have swam with Lord Byron,-and disputed the lady with him too, on the other side the Hellespont, for he was four or five times married, and has left a progeny by each of his wives. Further, Mr. Edgeworth invented poetical Telegraphs, and wrote treatises on Education! An individual thus eminently and variously gifted, is not to be lightly disparaged, even in a boxing article. That his book is an entertaining one; that his character was estimable; that his talents were eminent, we will maintain—as long as we “ CAN COME TO

TIME.

Mr. David Ap Rice Llanrellyn seems warm in his feelings, and is peremptory in his demands. We remember noticing one of the pieces he alludes to, as unfit for publication: the others he does not very well recollect himself, nor do we. He had better present our compliments to "the Club,” and beg the members to accept his and our apologies.

66

Maria's verses are written under the impulse of a delicate feeling for natural beauty; and she has even a higher merit in our eyes, than this-for she encloses them in a letter, where she calls herself our admiring Correspondent.” Yet not even this (so stubborn is the stuff of which Editors' bosoms are made) can hinder us from perceiving that the turn of her expressions is sometimes not sufficiently removed from common-place, and even inaccuracy. The following four lines, however, are pretty, and there is a tenderness of disposition shown in them which leads us to think that she is so too,—or at least young-and youth is equivalent to beauty.

Oh it was sweet to breathe the fragrant air
When Sol again appear'd, and showers were gone,
To wander 'mongst the groves, and woodlands fair-
-But was it sweet to wander there alone?

Some of the Poetical pieces sent by J. A. H. are likely to be inserted next month.

A Correspondent transmits us a regular Essay in favour of Debating Societies, to which we cannot promise a place:-we think it, however, only fair to quote a short, but striking passage from the article in question, where the good effects of a general diffusion of Debating Societies over Europe, or rather, we believe, over the world, are eloquently enumerated. perhaps serve to convince the sceptical on this point:

It may

The thick clouds of ignorance, and the evil vapours of prejudice, would be hurled into the dark mazes of forgetfulness. The clangor and affectation of sceptical presumption the gaudy splendour and assumptive greatness of pretended accomplishments, would be buried in oblivion; and folly, the offspring of ignorance, would naturally be for ever banished and confined to very narrow limits, by the powerful and resplendent rays of wisdom!

The distinguished member of a Debating Club stands apparent in the above glowing passage. The exercise of writing could never have led to the production of so brilliant a surface. Speaking was necessary to give this confidence in metaphor-and the passage, therefore, has the merit of practically exemplifying the beneficial results of the Institutions it eulogizes. Most of the periods contained in the Essay in question, are very characteristic of the Orator :-but there is one, in particular, sufficient to make a man jump on the table, and take off his hat to the chair! The conclusion comes cantering with a noble elocutionary rattle. We are sure we need make no apology forgiving it as one more quotation:

"The advantages of good speaking in the Senate House are so numerous and conspicu- . ous, that language must fail in the description. The speech of a wise and eloquent Senator is read with avidity and delight by all ranks. Every one is lavish in its praise; and the abilities of the speaker re-echo from the statesman to the peasant, till at last his talents become the theme of every nation, and the effects of his transcendant genius are felt from POLE to POLE!

We have read the Letter of Francis with interest; but we are sorry to be. obliged to say, that his Verses do not appear to us written with sufficient force and distinctness to warrant their publication.