1823.] 
young Spaniard is, in consequence of 
‘this, compelled to partake the noc- 
turnal accommodation of one of the 
“lovely Odalisques.” This arrange- 
‘ment gives rise to some suspicious 
and awkward circumstances, the full 
details of which Baba deems it pru- 
dent.to suppress, in his answers to, the 
sultana’s’ enquiries on the following 
morning. The fact, however, that 
Juan did not seek a lonely pillow, he 
cannot disguise; and his -mistress’s 
«imagination immediately suggests the 
‘worst. ‘Her jealous distress,—which 
ds described in a manner most richly 
‘poetical, is succeeded by indignant 
and vindictive feelings: she orders the 
erring pair to be brought into her 
presence, and direets Baba to’ have a 
‘boat ready under the palace-wall, to 
execute her orders respecting them. 
Phe eunuch justly regards this intima- 
tion -of her intentions as not very 
obscure, and earnestly deprecates the 
punishment destined for the culprits ; 
but to no purpose. The irritated 
sultaness continues. inexorable: Baba 
reluctantly retires to fulfil her man- 
date, and thus the sixth canto termi- 
nates. The seventh opens with an 
ironical invocation of love and glory, 
-and some passing allusions, “pregnant 
_ with meanings,” to the consistent cen- 
sors of the. poem. The poet. then 
brings us before Ismail, at the period 
of its being besieged by the Russians, 
in the time of Catharine the infamous. 
"The localities and defences of the for- 
tress are described, perhaps with too 
minute .a_ fidelity,. and a whimsical 
enumeration of several break-jaw 
Prussian names is introduced, as we 
_are told, to increase the euphony. 
Mention is then made of the various 
“blunders committed by the besiegers 
previous to Suwarrow being sent to 
command them. It is an historical 
fact, that this singular man would 
himself engage in drilling his soldiers ; 
and he is represenfed in the poem as 
“thus occupied when a party of pri- 
-soners are brought in by. some Cos- 
sacks. The captives consist of Juan, 
Johnson (thé Englishman who had 
been purchased along with’ the Spa- 
niard by the emissary of the seraglio), 
and two females, with their attendant, 
‘ Johnson is recognised by his old com- 
mander Suwarrow, and assigned a 
post in the army; and, at his sugges- 
tion, the same honour is» bestowed 
upon his companion Juan: the females 
MONTHLY Mac. No, 386. 
Lord Byron's ** Don Juan.” 
113 
of the party are ordered to the bag- 
gage. No light is thrown, in any part 
‘of ihe present cantos, on the manner 
in whieh our hero effected his escape 
from his apparently impending doom ; 
but we learn from Johnson, that the 
two Turkish ladies in ‘their company 
have been the means of freeing him 
and his companion. -The eighth 
canto, with the exception of some 
opening stanzas on war, admirably 
characteristic of their author, is almost 
-entirely filled with the taking of Ismail 
-by ‘storm. 
It woulé be absurd to 
attempt in prose even a feeble outline 
of the varied horrors which marked 
that. celebrated scene of ruthless and 
indiscriminate carnage: 
the noble 
writer has depicted them with all that 
vivid and appalling fidelity which on 
‘such a'theme might be expected from 
his powerful muse; ‘and,’ if any thing 
‘can add to tho shuddering sensation 
we experience in reading these terrific 
details, it is the consideration, that 
poetry in this instance, instead of 
dealing in fiction, must necessarily 
relate a tale that falls far short of the 
truth. An interesting adventure Is 
introduced of Juan’s saving a female 
infant from the midst of the slaughter, 
—a circumstance which, we are in- 
-formed in the preface, was actually 
the case with the late Duke of Riche- 
‘lieu, when a volunteer in the Russian 
“service. \ After the completion of the 
assault, the honour of carrying the 
dispatch announcing its success to the 
Russian government, is assigned to 
Juan, who accordingly sets off for 
Petersburgh, accompanied by his 
young protégée. 
The present continuation proceeds 
.no farther; and it will immediately 
occur to the minds of most readers, 
that but little progress is made in the 
history and adventures of thé hero in 
these three additional cantos. The 
fact is, however, that nothing has ap- 
peared from the beginning to be farther 
from the author’s intention that to ren- 
der his Don Juan any thing like a 
regular narrative. On the contrary, 
its general appearance tends strongly 
to remind us at times of the learned 
philosopher’s treatise, De rebus om- 
nibus et quibusdamatis. And here we 
cannot avoid remarking what an ad- 
inirable method those persons must 
possess of reconciling contradictions, 
who in the same breath censure the 
poem for its want of plan, and impeach 
» the 
