REVIEW.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1872, 23 May 1863, Page 5

REVIEW.

The Southern. Monthly Magazine. Auckland. — R. J. Cueighton and Alfred ' ScalesThe first two numbers of this periodical are before ns. The publication is by Messrs Creighton and Scales of Auckland, and does credit to lhe establishment of the Southern Cross. The Editor iv introducing the Magazine to his readerscertainly indulges in sanguine hopes not only° of the reception it will receive at the hands of the pnblic, but likewise ofthe literary means he has at bis disposal- Politics, Arts, Science and "ftsligion, Poetry and Fiction are alike to be treated in his columns, and with the announcemeut that he makes use of his discriminating powets as to the choice of his selections, we may anticipate a publication unparaileUedii) point of variety with any that have appeared in the Southern hemisphere. Neither is thb field of serialism to be confined to these shores. Our Editor opens his columns to Australia. Essayists, novelists, poets, political economists and savants from our big sister isle, are all to find room for their lucubrations in the pages ofthe Southern Monthly ! What a field for* aspiring Magazine writers!! The pages of the Southern Monthly open with a tale entitled, " Wbat became of him ?" a plagiarism on Bulwer's " What will he do with it?" Tbe plagiarism is however confined to the title. The tale commences with the description of v, military looking gentleman who is evidently the hero of the tale, and is introduced to the reader as sitting iri a. room listening to the reading of his lather's will, wherein be discovers tbe somewhat unpleasant announcement that he is illegitimate. The state of mind he is thrown into may be imagined from the following extract in which he *is described as sitting in company with an old servant declaring his firm resolution to support her in ber declining years. As a specimen of spasmodic composition itis by no means bad. " You shall never want while— l mean" — and ther ehe stopped ; for the whole bitter .tide of thought, arrested for a few moments, rushed upon his mind in an instant. Se promise anything to anyone ! He could almost have laughed at the idea. Se able to keep anyone from want ! when he hadn't an idea of how he was to live himself. He shrunk as if from something too terrible to face, and dropping his face upon his firmly-clenched hands, tried to think. He could not. Thought after thought rushed through his mind, and was gone before he could grasp it. Scraps of plans for his future, hideously mixed up with scenes in which he imagined himself treated with insult like a man with a brand upon him. Then again— strangely incongruous—- a scrap out of some play would ring iv his ears. But through it all he saw, standing out in horrible relief, the one idea of utter and indelible disgrace. Hoiw long he sat thus he never could tell, but it must have been for many hours. He was afc last aroused by a voice in the passage, which called out, " James ! Sir Charles says you had better give orders to have Lord Loftus's horses looked after for the night, as it's going to be a storm, and my Lord won't be able to go." " Sir Charles !" he muttered. " Sir Charles !" and then he gave a strange, wild, hollow sort of laugh. He looked round. It was getting very dark in the room where he was, but he could just mako out the figure of the old nurse, fast asleep in a large easy chair. " What business have I here?" he muttered once more. " I'm dead and buried, and have got a successor. Why, I'm an anachronism, I deoiare ;" and he laughed again — the same wild low laugh. "Ah ! it's going to be a 6torm ; a fine hearty, honest storm ! no taking one at unawares at that — no coming down on one without warning— l love a storm.— l'll be off!" Richard Fortescue was evidently in a very dangerous state of mind ; no wonder his intellect was partly unhinged for the time. And probably tbe reader's mind is not far off the same state after a perusal of tbis. The chapter concludes with the intelligence, that tbe hero has gone to California. In these days of Otago diggings we think this a mistake, both in point of pecuniary benefit to the hero, and as allowing the author to lose a considerable amount of literary prestige by not having changed the locality. The " Last v winter and present summer" is merely a review of the state of the crops during the past year, which is both sound and well worth reading, as most of Mr David Hay's papers are. We next have what wo are told isa"Sunthin in the Pastoral line," consisting of some 120 lines of the most melancholy rubbish, that we ever remember having experienced the torture of reading, being, as we take it, a most miserable plagiarism again on the Biglow papers. The conversation appears to be between the author and the shade of a Pilgrim father, wbo makes his appearance from the other world to give his opinion, and gather information respecting the American war- Here is a specimen of the conversation. Butdu pray tell me 'fore we furder go How in all natur' did you come to know Bout our affairs ; " sez I, in kingdom come." Again " Smite 'em hip an' thigh !" Sez gran'ther, " and let every man-child die ! Oh, for three weeks o' Crommle and the Lord 0! Israel, to your tents and grind the sivord ! The bad taste and vulgarity of such stuff as this, it is unnecessary to remark on. We have under the head of Reviews a very . good critique on the " Pakeha Maori," pleasantly written, bnt which we should be utterly spoiling to extract from. The,article on " Native Ipstitution^if not quite according to our otvn taste, will- certainly suit the author of " Mahoe leaves,' as his arguments are endorsed throughout. The next tale the v Rovers Prize," we most honestly slate we have not read, though we have tried haul to do so. It appears to be a - taie in the style of the " Paul Jones" school, and no doubt to those who like piratical tales they will find plenty of blood antl murder in its composition. The article " Colonial Experience" is uncommonly well written, and when our space will permit, we' propose transcribing it, 3t is botb honest and fair, and the advice good throughout. ' In the April number—" What became of . him," we begin to learn he started digging in California witb his man Tom, and tbe last we hear of Him is tbat tbree blackguards set fire to bis but, witb tbe hope of easing him of his nuggets. We have in this number a continuation of the papers "Colonial Experience," which promise to be tbe best series in the book, A translation from behiller entitled " The ' Diver," is a curious poem. Ashe strode to the marge of the summit and gave One glance on the gulf of the merciless main, Lo ! the wave that for ever devours the wave, Casts roaringly up \he Charybdis again ;| And as with the swell of the far thunder boom Rushes foamingly forth from the heart of the gloom. And it bubbles and seethes, and it hisses and roars, As when .fire is with water commixed and contending, ..And the spray of its. wrath to the welkin upsoars, And flood upon flood hurries on never-ending ; And it neyer mil rest, nor from travail be free, ; kike a sea thaiJaJabnrinir ttiUaishjofaflea. I

Yet at length comes a lull or the mighty commotion ; . , , And dark through the whiteness, and still thro the swell, The whirlpool cleaves downward and downward j in ocean, / A yawning abyss like the pathway to hell ; The stiller and darker the further it goes, SucJc'd into that smoothness— the breaker's repose. We ant make much out of tbis— The folc lowing stanza 'gives us the most novel idea of a shipwreck that we ever remember to have met witb — Oh ! many a bark to that breast grappledjjfasfc Has gone down to tho fearful aud fathomless grave ; Again, crashed together the Tceel and. ihe mast, To be seen toss'd aloft inthe glee of ihe wave ! Like the growth of a storm ever louder and clearer Grows the roar of the gulf, rising nearer and nearer. We might fill line aiter line with extracts from | this queer poem. For instance wbat does this j mean — And as witii the swell of the far thunder boom Hushes warningly forth from the heart of the ' gloom. We really can't wade through any more to avoid temporary delirium. Tbe author bad better try originality before translation, Mr Hay gives us a good article on " Drain" ing," but we fear that most 'farmers cannot , afford to follow bis directions, in spite of bis assertion that tliey can. We have very" little faith in paper calculations in practical agriculture. The " Rover" does not appear to bave got his " prize" — in this number , as we, turn the pages over, we observe sucb passages as " Revenge for those lashes," " enraged tiger," " see those gags are sure!'' "by tbe fiends ! (a new oath by the j way) you are too young to die" — from wbich we | gather great work is going on on the part ofl the " Rover." We have in this number, a very fair critique on f Bowen's Poems," (Christchurch) which we most thorougbly endorse the opinions of; we tiust that Mr Bowen will carefully read it. In a young colony we are not so overstocked with literary men, that we can afford to criticise them too severely ; but in these days of sarcastic reviewing-, an aspiring poet must expect tolerably hard rubs. We, however, hope to hear of Mr Bowen again. The last piece we have in tbe April number is " Lord Macaulay's Criticisms Criticised," which the author bad better bave left alone. He bas managed lo extract two passages from a collection of essays, to which he raises some objections, that to say tbe least, the general reader does not care about. Oul of so much pure metal it would be strange if there were no dross. Since the above was written, we have received tbe May number of this magazine, which does not show any improvement on its predecessors. We tberefore close the pages of the Southern Monthly. We have great fears of the success of the Magazine in a pecuniary point of view, but the publisheis (in the event of failure) may rest assured, that so far as presenting a neat periodical to the public, they have done well, and we trust tbat a more careful selection, especially of the lighter parts of the Magazine, will in future make us more heartily welcome its appearance on our editorial table.