The Sun. — London, England, 1854-07-03 00:00:00

MABICET .NEWS-(THIS DAY,. CORN EXCHANGE. Although the supplies of wheat on sale in the country markets, held on Saturday, were very moderate, the de mand for all kinds ruled heavy, at a decline in pi ices of from is to 2s per quarter. For barley and malt there was scarcely any inquiry, on former terms. The oat trade was dull, at drooping prices. In beans, peas, and flour very little was doing. Onr latest advices from New York state that there was rather more doing in flour, though on lower terms. Most of the Continental markets have been devoid of animation The receipts of English grain up to our market last week,• were very moderate. From abroad we received 20,010 quarters of wheat, 2,361 barley, 26,475 oats, 136 beans, 310 poas, 47 tares, 4,278 linseed, 443 refined, 1,432 sundry seeds and Indian corn, 1,281 sacks and 4,275 barrels of flour. The supply of English wheat received fresh up to our market, to-day, coastwise from Essex and Kent was very moderate hut in fair average condition. There was a slight increase in that grain by land carriage; yet the show of • samples was small even the time of year considered. As the attendance of both town and country buyers was com paratively small, the demand for all descriptions ruled heavy, at a decline in the quotations paid on Monday last of from is to 2s per quarter. For forward delivery, scarcely any business was done. The show of foreign wheat fresh, as well as ex granary, was good. Even the finest parcels met a dull sale, and the transactions were wholly confined td im mediate wants, at from is to 2s per qr. beneath the cur rencies of this day week. There were very few floating cargoes to offer. The de mand for them ruled heavy, and prices were almost nominal. Barley, the supply of which was small, moved off slowly, but we have no change to notice in prices. We were well supplied with malt, which sold slowly, on former rates. The supplies of oats being extensive, the oat trade was dull, at 6d to is per qr. beneath last Monday's prices. There was an improved sale for beans, at very full prime, but peas were dull, on former terms. The flour trade was in a depressed state, and the quota tions had a downward tendency. CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE. Wheat—Essex le Kent, Red ...• new 703 to 823 Ditto old Vs 813 aitto, White new 7is 85s Ditt0........ old 75s 87s Norfolk and Lin coln, Red,; old 70s 803 Ditto new ...... 70s 80s Itre—Old ............ 51s 52s New ............ 50s Me ley--Grinding ..• • • 323 38 a Malting .•••••• •• —e —s Chevalier.... •.. —s —s Malt—Suffolk and Nor- ('Malt —Chevalier •• 75s to 76? Oats Yorkshire and Line°lush., Feed 29s 333 Potato ...... 31s 35s Youghal and Cork Black. .. .. 29s 32s Cork, White . 23s 34s Scotch, Feed. •. .. 333 35s Beans—Tick .•. • . .. 43s 52s Pige0n5.......... 47s 60s Peas—Grey .......... 44s 48s 46s 51s White •• •• •• 548 GOs f01k............ 66s 71s Brown.-- ....•• 60s 62s KlngstonandWare 73s 75s Boilers ...• .... 56s 60s Flour—Town-made... 66s 68s Saffolk .......... 58s 62s Btooktn & Norfolk 58s 62s SMITHFIELD. Th• total imports of foreign stock last week amounted to 6,179 head. In the corresponding week in 1853 we re ceived 6,246 ; in 1852, 6,676 ; in 1851, 4,810 ; in 1850, 2,747 ; in 1849, 3,974 ; in 1848, 3,233 ; and in 1847, 3,282 head. IMPORTS DITO LONDON LAST WEEK. From Beasts. Sheep. Lambs. Calves. Pigs. llamburgh 174 1,694 17 ... 20 Rotterdam lB6 ... 465 211 ... 363 ... Harlingen 145 ... 582 ... ... 267 ... 376 nordt 6B ... 215 ... 20 ... 10 Calais Ostend, Antwerp — 100 .•. ..• Bromvershven Amsterdam 35 Oporto Tonningen 144 - ... 137 25 ~. 25 351 - ... -- ... 120 ... - ... Total 1,138 ... 3,455 ... 256 ... 921 ... 409 The yearly comparison of weekly imports is as under : Beasts. Sheep. Lambs. Calves. Pigs. 1853 1,087 3,575 390 807 387 1852 9lB 4,240 438 ... 649 431 1851 337 3,299 ... 593 ... 451 127 1850 498 1,622 198 ... 380 51 1849 556 2,825 ... Si 487 ... 22 To-day's market was tolerably well, but not to say heavily, supplied with foreign stock for the time of year. The whole changed hands at extreme rates. From our own grazing districts, as well as from Scotland, the supply of beasts on offer was but moderate, and we observed a decided falling off in their general weight and condition. For all breeds the demand was rather active, at the extreme rates paid on Monday last. The general top figure for beef was ss, but a few very superior Scots realikd 5s 2d per 81bs. The arrivals from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cam bridgeshire amounted to 1,300 Scots and short-horns • from other parts of England, 600 of various breeds ; and from Scotland, 200 horned and polled Scots. Compared with Monday last, there was a falling off in the supply of sheep. The mutton trade was, therefore, rather brisk, at an improvement in prices of 2d per 81bs. The primest old Downs sold readily at 5s per Blbs. For lambs, the show of which was good, we had a fair demand, at full prices. The show of calves was extensive. The sale for them Was, therefore, inactive, at barely last week's currency. In pigs very little business was transacted, but wo have no change to notice in their value. The arrivals of stock by sea from Ireland last week were 14 beasts and 18 calves. Per 81bs to sink the offals. s. d. s. d.' s. d. s. d. Inferior Beasts.... 3 4to 3 6 PrimeSouthdown 410 5 0 Second quality.... 3 8 4 0 Large crse. calves 3 6 4 4 Prime lam?, oxen 4 2 4 6 Prime small d 0... 4 6 4la Prime Sc ots, dm 4 8 5 0 Large hogs 3 0 4 2 Inferior Sheep ...3 6 3 8 Small porkers 4 4 4 8 Second quality ...3 10 4 2 Sucklingcalves ..22 0 29 0 Prime crse.-wlled.4 4 4 8 Quarter old pigs 21 0 27 0 Lambs 4s 8d to 5s 10d. TOIEIGN SUPPLT. TOTAL suppm Beuts Sheep ....... Mee k ) .. • • • • • • • . . • ........• 2,400 Calves ............ ~.... 429 1 Calves..... ••• • • • ........ 343 Pigs statement and comparison of the supplies and prices of fat stock exhibited and sold in Smithfield Cattle Market, on Monday, July 4, 1853, and this day, Monday, July 3, 1854. Per Blbs, to sink the offals. July 4, 1853. (July 3, 1854 s. d. s. d. ;s. d. s. d 3 2to 3 43 4to 3 6 3 6 3 8;3 8 4 0 310 4 2 4 2 4 6 4 4 4 6.4 8 5 0 3 4 3 8!3 6 3 8 310 4 0:3 10 4 2 4 2 4 6 1 ,4 4 4 8 4 8 4 1014 10 5 0 5 0 6 4 1 ,4 8 510 310 4 43 6 4 4 4 6 5 0 1 4 6 410 3 4 3 83 0 4 2 . 310 4 44 4 4 8 4,040 3,608 27000 25,900 ••• ••• 653 429 350 420 SUPPLIES ON SALE, July 5, 1852.—Beasts, 3,868 ; sheep and lambs, 28,470 ; calves, 501; digs, 560. July 7, 1851.—Beasts, 3,651; sheep and lambs, 33,200 ; calves, 345 ; pigs, 390. Coarse and inferior beasts ... Second quality ditto ... Prime large oxen ... •-• Prime -Scots, &c Coarse and inferior sheep ... Second quality ditto ... Prime coarse woolled ditto Prime Southdown ditto Lambs •-• Large coarse calves • Prime sm a ll ditto ... ... •- Large hogs ... •-• '" Neat small porkers ... ' Beasts... Sheep Calves.. Pigs NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. Since this day se'nnight very limited supplies of country killed meat have appeared in these markets. To-day the show of meat slaughtered in the metropolis was small, and about an average business was transacted, on the following terms : Per 81bs by the carcass. s. d. s. d. s. Beef, inferior 3 2 3 4 , Mutton, Inferior 3 4 3 6 Do., middling 3 6 3 8 I Do., middling, ..... 3 8 4 2 no, prime largo 3 10 4 0 , Do., prime 4 4 4 8 1 2 0 , do. small ....4 2 4 4 1 Veal 3 4 4 8 Pork, lar ge 3 4 4 0 J Pork, small 4 2 4 8 Lamb 4s 6d to 5s Bd. BOROUGH HOP. The value of mostkinds of hope, owing to the unfavour able accounts from the plantations, has an upward ten dency, b u t th e b us i ness d o i ng i s by no means ex t en sive. The duty is called 85,0001. to 90,0001. Last week's imports were 1 bale from Havre, 135 bales from Hamburg, 19 ditto from Rotterdam, and 100 ditto from Ostend. BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS. There are now scarcely any old potatoes on offer, but the supplies of new are very extensive, and in good condition. The demand for them is active, at from 8s to 10s per cwt. Last new English, and 6s to 8s per basket for foreign. ;Isast week's imports were unusually large—viz., 18,250 baskets from Rotterdam, 700 barrels from Drontheim, 13 barrels 169 baskets from Guernsey, 1 box from Cork, and 124 bags from Belfast. WOOL. We have to report an improved feeling in the demand for most kinds of English wool, especially for Leicester qualities, at full rates of currency. In foreign and colonial parcels next to nothing is doing. Last week's imports were extensive—viz., 38 bales from Bombay, 215 from Ramberg, 209 from the Cape, 5,400 from Sydney, 1,500 from Geelong, 800 from Melbourne, and 1,600 from Hobart Town. The following are the quotations of English wool : South-down hoggets, is to is Id ; half-bred hoggets, lid to is ; ewes, clothing, lld to is ; Kent fleeces, is to is 04d ; combing skins, 10.1 d to is ; flannel wool, 10d to is ld ; blanket wool, 7d to ls ; and Leicester fleeces, 10d to is Per lb. SEEDS. There is less inquiry for canary seed, yet last week's ad- Irance in the quotations is fairly supported. The market for linseed is inactive, yet we have very few sellers on lower terms. In other seeds very little is doing. Cakes are dull, at barely late rates. Tornlp,WMte, per bush. 14s to 20i .. 5wede :....... .. 21s 38i a mlstard, Brown ...... 10i 133 . . Carraway....•• 423 48s Coriander ...• 103 15s Fiempseed, per quarter 41s 44s Linseed, Eng.iowing • • 74s 76s Crushing •• •• 644 68s Baltic .......... 66s 70s Odessa .... 66s los Linseed Cake. pr. ton — English .• . 10! Os 12 03 Foreign,per ton 9 53 111 5s Rape Cakes, pr ton 6/153 715. tiapese Sew, pr ist 3810 s 40 , Cs White, new ••• • .. los He z tres.Winter, new.... Os Od 0 Od Old .............• Os Odfid Od Cana••y, per quarter •. 47s 50s 47 e grass.. •• 24s 285 Clover, Red Eng (cwt.) 6 White • • • • Foreign iced.. —s White • . — S —S Trefoil, new .. • • •• • • • • —3 TAL: Our market continues stem Ported. P.Y.C. on the spc forward delivery 66s 6d per net cash ; rough fat, 3s 6d pc Low . . dy, and prices are well sup )t is quoted at 655, and for cwt. Town tallow is 63s er Blbs. 1853. 1854 1850. 1 1951. 1 1852. gtock - this day ......i 25,084 35,924 43.103 21,483 33,589 Vriee 36s 6d 37s 6d •.o 383 3d •:o Od sOd to Of Y. C. .... to 60. Od 37s 9d 00s Od to 00 , Od 00a Od b e . 'tvery last week •• 824 1,5 3 576 2,037 1,092 Lit t() frOm June 1.... 5,110 5,823 5,250 6,972 4,628 'Vast week.. 1,037 2,497 1,071 602 .ultt err s n Juno 1.. .. 4 , 510 4,344 7,725 5,1 40 2,217 liCe of 1 , 01 .• .• 335 Od 383 Od Pi 6d 52s 01 , 653 64 THE MAGAZINES. .---.--.0.- Blackwood. —lt is difficult to open the July number of Blackwood without exulting in the approaching issue of the spasmodic tragedy of " Firmilian," and of Dr. Warren's " Miscellanies," there announced through the medium of somewhat conspicuous advertisements. In the one we recog nise the promise of rare fun from the humorous author of " Bon Gaultier," and in the other the readers of Maga cannot fail to discover reason for no inconsiderable interest in the announced collec tion of miscellanies—" critical, imaginative, and juridical"—contributed from time to time to the pages of Blackwood's Magazine, by the author of " Ten Thousand a Year," and the memorable " Passages from. the Diary of a late Physician." Whenever issued from the press, both works will, we rest assured, command at once a cordial wel come—these "Miscellanies" and this "Firmillian," —for reflection but convinces us the more that Mr. T. Percy Jones is only another name for Professor William Edmonstone Aytoun, the gifted author of the " Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers." Turning to Maga herself, we find the contents for July rather more than usually varied, and some of them rather more than usually interesting,. The number abounds in poetical contributions. One of these, by "J. S. 8.," reports (metrically) " The Words of Schamyl, the Prophet"—Schamyl, the renowned warrior-prophet of the Caucasus. Whatever may be the merit of that wonderful man as an orator, we cannot at all recognise from these Words, as here (metrically) reported by J. S. 8., any justification whateverfor the ridiculous extravagance of the eulo gium prefixed to them in parenthesis, to the effect that, " compared with this address, the best. of Napoleon's speeches to his French soldiers are mere theatrical displays." Pshaw ! we never can, for the life of us, comprehend the utility of trying to raise one man's reputation by endeavouring to pull down that of another—especially when that other is wholly out of the reach of emulation, and, there fore, altogether beyond the limits essential to comparison. Extraordinary though Schamyl, the warrior-prophet of the Circassians, undoubt edly is as an historical character, assuredly no one would seriously attempt to bring him in any respect into comparison with Charlemagne. And... how does another contributor to this same num ber of Blackwood speak of Napoleon ? The writer is evidently less of a blind, unthinking, merely impulsive hero-worshipper than J. S. B. For, while the latter has spoken as we have re marked, th© former observes : "One thousand years after the great Charlemagne foresaw the decay of his empire from the irruptions of the barbarians of the north, another mighty potentate, whose ambition was not less vast, and whose genius was not less lofty, predicted danger to civilised Europe from the hordes of Russia. He, too, was in the sunset of life, and had survived power. From the rock of St. Helena the imperial captive beheld th 6 cold shadow which pre ceded the march of the giant. When the fate of Europe was hanging in the balance during the conference of Tilsit, even at that moment Napoleon refused to accede to the prayer of Alexander, and he thought Constanti nople far too precious a gift to be bestowed on the Czar." The passage occurs in an able article on " The European Alliance and Russia." Three other poetical contributions appear in Maga—being the effusions of H. G. K., whose collected "Poems, chiefly written in India," we observe under the title of "Ex Eremo by Henry G. Keene," announced for publication. Of these fugitive pieces one relates to " God in Nature," another is headed " The Lesson," and another is descriptive of " Clive's Dream before the Battle of Plassey." Another contributor, half in verse half in prose, hiding his identity under the transparent mask of initials—A.Q.S.—amuses the readers of Maga with 30 poetical " Riddles," sending them in a " Letter to Eusebius." Some of them are pretty and graceful enough, and most of them are suffi ciently ingenious. There is a rather elaborate essay delineative of " The Growth and Prospects of British America," with which, by the way, the number leads off—heavily but instructively. We find later on in the number for July, a second in stalment of " The Secret of Stoke Manor," a minute account of "The Battle of Lepanto," and a charming criticism on " Evelyn and Pepys," those most amusing of garrulous autobiographers. Fraser.—There is so tempting an array of papers in Fraser for the new month, that one scarcely knows which contribution to "have at" in prefe rence. " Etchings from the Euxine" gives pro mise of proving a serial worthy of particular exa mination. The initial specimen before us relates (only too briefly) to the " Flitting at Kostendje." Another short and timely paper—a mere fragment, but one• both attractive and instructive—refers to the " Prophecy of the Russians at Constantinople." The closing article for July, and yet at the same time in a manner the " leading article," too, takes into account the whole momentous problem of " War and its Obligations before Peace." As a matter of course, Fraser contains another instal ment of " General Bounce ; or, The Lady and the Locusts," by the author of " lligby Grand"—and almost equally as a matter of course the additional chapters comprised therein are fraught with mate rials for entertainment. The story of the month is a simple story called " Cousin William." The essay of the month is a brilliant essay or treatise entitled "The Astronomy of Comets." The criti cism of the month is an ingenious and most eulo gistic review of " Balder"—in regard to whi c h wor k the poetical reviewer of Fraser's Magazine ob serves : " Genius is so unmistakably present in every page of the strange book before us, that to give examples from one, without injustice to the others, we find to be be yond possibility in the limits of a magazine review. We cannot, however, resist a passing allusion to the absence of ail melodrama in those sceues which nevertheless reach the very bounds of the dramatic, and to the instinctive avoidance of the horrible and attainment of the terrible, under circumstances of the highest tragedy. These ge neral facts infer a fact of intuition in the author, which only the true critic can properly estimate ; and in such passages as the portrait of Amy, in scene 28, and the tjOoc of scene 37 or scene 24, he will recognise the same wonderful truth of instinct at work, in the calmest nooks and most pastoral quietudes of the many-coloured land scape of life." Again, the critic observes later on : " Having pointed out, for the enjoyment of kindred tastes and congenial powers, these specimens of those numerous passages which this poem offers to their en joyment, we can hardly do better, perhaps, than con clude a necessariiy unworthy exposition of so remarkable a work, with that grand invocation in the final scene to which—each according to the measure of his experience —the heart of every artist will respond. And this be cause it speaks not only for poet, painter, sculptor, or musician, but from the core of that great central form of Nature of which these aro but the varying manifesta tions. This is a rare and great quality in the main inci dents of the poem before us. They are all, in different degrees, representative. Thus, Balder soliloquises his ambition ; but there are ten thousand young minds in Europe to-day, who could adopt every one of his words as the fit utterance of that which is dumbly seething within them. Balder's child it is that dies, but his pang of uncertainty and despair, when he buries it, finds an answer in the secret consciousness of many a childless bosom. His agony over Amy's hopeless suffering is coloured by his own idiosyncrasy; but the general truth that makes it terrible, sits at this moment by how many bedsides in how many lands ? Once recognise the fact that the sufferer before us is of the most highly organised class of humanity, the genus irritabile, the race to madness So near allied, and infer also from that fact, that the proportionate inten sity in the manifestation of suffering, and possibilities of excitement from causes which the more callous tempera ment meets with impunity—even as the skin of the negro resi.ts the sun that, blasts , the white—once take these items into consideration, and we shall find in this volume, beneath all its apparently exceptional and individual fea tures, only another evidence of how truly the nature of the poet is at harmony, though in other keys, with that of the whole world of civilised man." Whereupon follows a rather lengthy quotation. Without mentioning all of 'the remaining contribu tions to the present number of Regina, we may par ticularise as among the more commendable an article on " Phases of Music in Russia," and a fourth paper on the curious " Researches in Dutch Literature." Colburn's United Service.—" The Secret Societies of Europe" is the first subject in this number. It is remarked that tyranny and secret societies have always existed at the same periods. It is asserted that " the two secret societies that have been of most importance during the last sixty years are the Carbonari and the Freemasons. The first, which has spread through all Europe, numbered among its members the most educated and distinguished personages of which tho last century can boast, and contributed especially to the great French Revolu tion of 1789, which gave the death-blow to the old political institutions of Europe. The second called to life the smouldering patriotism of Italy- in the present century, and the spirit of national inde pendence." A very ancient origin is claimed for the Freemasons, as it is affirmed that they derive their descent from Iram of Tirus, who was charged by King Solomon to build the Temple of Jerusa lem. Their reasons for this are not given. In a p a per on " Austria, Italy, and the War," it is thought that Austria would fear to join ussia, Jest Lombardy and Hungary should rise, and therefore we may expect her assistance. c‘ Tom Cox's Traverse" is a sailor's story, written in a characteristic style. An article, on the gradual increase of .Russia, traces the acquisitions of the Czars down to Peter the Great. It . is to be con tinued. The " Fortunate Islands" , is a narrative of e xcursions in the_Canaries, which, it appears, were favoured in antiquity by this flattering title. The " Extracts from the Journals of the late Major Macready," and " The Confessions of an old Dragoon," are continued. The following is from a paper on the Greeks—their political, social, and moral condition with reference to the present THE RUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 8, s crisis : "The military occupation of Greece by the Western Powers, and her compulsory neutrality in the present war, may well suggest matter for grave consideration. Degenerate Greece I Was it for this that Byron sung and died ? that the gallant seamen of France and Eng land bled at Navarino ? that the hard-working artisan subscribed his mite to set them free ? that the press, from one end of civilised Europe to the other, advocated thy cause, and inspired thousands of brave spirits to fly to arms in thy behalf ? May we not truly say with the Eastern sage, 'He that sows his wheat in an ungrateful soil, is certain to reap a harvest of tares and thistles.' Every people have their peculiar features and tendencies, the result of their political, moral, and religious institu tions, and Greece, in, its present demoralised condition, is a striking example of this. It was not enough that this ill-fated people had been already cursed with an ignorant, superstitious, designing priesthood, and debased by centuries of Moslem misrule, but, to add to these evils, they were forced, when they acquired their freedom, to accept the rule of a foreign prince whose every act since he assumed the reins of power has been to destroy all that was manly and patriotic, generous and noble-minded in the national character, till we now find them a byword of reproach among the nations. How different might have been the result had they been blessed with an enlightened legislator at that critical period when the first signs of returning life appeared in the national spirit, and when a community is so easily influenced, either for good or ill. Then the brilliant imagination, the ready invention and quickness of in tellect, which still so eminently distinguish this race, if properly directed by a master mind, would have soared to a higher standard of morality and social order, than that of a nation of brigands and pirates, the servile dupes of a Russo-Tartar despot—the paid instruments of a power whose open and seal-et policy has ever been to war against man's freedom, civilisation, and inde pendence." Colburn's New Monthly.—A long and curious account of M. Jules Gerard, the lion-killer of Al geria, is the first paper in Oofburn's. Some inte resting anecdotes of lion-hunts, and the adventures met with in them, are extracted from his work. " A Soldier's Career" is an episode of the Sikh war, by the author of " The Unholy Wish." " Literary Leaflets" have reached the twenty-first number, and the present instalment gives a memoir of Dr. Croly. We miss this month from the pages of the New Monthly the essays on " American Authorship," by the same writer. " A German View of the Eastern Question" gives us at least some new considerations as to the effect produced upon Germany by the European crisis. The " Diary of a First Winter at Rome" is continued, and narrates an audience with the Pope. " Quin tin's Bagshaw's Duel with Maxwell" is an amusing account of a melodrama which suddenly becomes a comedy. A criticism on De Quincey's "Miscel lanies" recommends the immediate appointment of that author to one of the vacancies on the pension list. " Stray Letters from the East" are not very entertaining, being neither in jest nor earnest. " Vignettes from a Poet's Portfolio," and " A Righi Day," are 'two travelling sketches. The poetical contributions consist of "An Ancient Bride's Lament," by Mrs. Bushby—a warning to all old maids with sudden legacies ; and a war song by Nicholas Michell, " Shall the Russians reach the Balkan Mountains," which contains some spirited passages. University.—Some remarks aro made on the " War," in the first article of this number, in which dissatisfaction is expressed at the mode of its arrangements. " Sir Jasper Carew" being com pleted, a new story is commenced, which is inte resting although very remarkable. It is entitled " Mosses upon Grave Stones." The narrator pays a visit unexpectedly to an old college friend whom lie finds in very low spirits, the inhabitant, of a ruined and melancholy country house. Some mystery hangs over the house which no one can explain, and the visitor is persuaded he can descry a female figure haunting the avenues and galleries, of an unearthly beauty and appearance. "Oh ivory palaced and amaranth dropping dreams. Oh fan cies sweet and strange, of poet and painter in the blue summer midnights. Oh visions of eremite and seer in the antique solitudes of old. Oh pic tures of Raphael. Oh songs of Petrarch—she was fairer than all of you." "The History of a Bache lor" is a very amusing little sketch, in which the many new loves of a dashing and capricious man are satirically epitomised by an old friend and looker-on. The biographer prefixes this consola tory reflection to his tale :—" Le marine est une chose tres serieuse, on n'y pout pas trop penser. Heureux ceux qui y pensent toute leur vie." In " German Epics and English Hexameters" an analysis is given of the difficulty of rendering poetry readable in English hexameters. A criti cism is entered into on the translation of some Ger man poems by Mr. Cochrane, and it is observed that " Herman and Dorothea " is Goethe's most perfect imaginative poem, and that it is to be regretted that it was not translated into blank verse instead of hexameters. " Our impression is that it will be impossible for the metre permanently to take any root in the language." In " The Poet's Aspiration" there are some passages of merit. The annexed verses are some of the best : Pass forth, ye thoughts of beauty, into light,— Forth from your palace in the poet's soul ; Where ye have been a glory and delight, Swaying all senses with your sweet control : Therefore, ye thoughts, speed on your winged way- ; Your life greets song as Memnon greets the day. Long halt thou dwelt within my soul, 0 song, Like the sweet music in an ocean-shell ; Making life sweet amid the senseless throng, With the fair magic of thy deop-loved spell ; Therefore my hymn, 0 ! Mahe of the soul, Queen of a realm where death hath no control. Visions there are like sunsets steeped in gold, Where the rich past has crowned some glorious scene, Whose spirit lingers on the sands of old, Fair as a syren by the sea-marge green : Lo ! they arise before thy tranced. sight, The soul's creations in their robes of light. Swiftly They pass upon their lustrous wings, Those lofty pageants time shall ever know; The battle march of bronzed Assyrian kings ; The maids that wept o'er Sion's overthrow : Swiftly they vanish in the Past once more, Those gods who guard the deathless banks of yore. Ainsworth.—" Nicholas Flamel" still continues its maze of plot and counterplot, and places some of its heroines in an unenviable position. A paper entitled " Two Centuries and a Half Age combats the idea that a higher state of morals and manners prevailed then than at a later period. No. 2of the Chapters on the Working Classes treats of the im portant subject of education. This difficult and perplexing question is carefully considered. A Tale of the Reign of Terror progresses, but only extricates its victims from imminent danger to leave them with gloomy forebodings. " A Village Tale" continues, ancl.leaves the unhappy miners in a terrible position. There are several other tales and sketches, all partaking more or less of the ro mantic, which tendency generally characterises this magazine. Bentley's Miscellany.—This number opens with an article on " The War and its Aspects," in which the writer expresses a very general feeling when he observes—" We have only to express regret that the war has not been prosecuted with more alacrity, purpose, and success." "Aspen Court" is con tinued, and the present instalment consists of two conversations, the first between Paul Chequerbent and the designing Heywood, and the second be tween Lord Rookbury, the evil genius of the story, and the minister Selwyn. " Haps and Mishaps of a Tour in Europe" describe a journey through Scotland. The histories of " Benjamin Bobbin the Bagman," and "Arthur Arden, the Medical Student," are both continued. They are neither of them remarkable for elegance or interest. The second chapter of Mr. Reade's new tale of " Clouds and Sunshine" is given. It is-in his usual lively manner, though not without some pathetic di lemmas. The " History o f th e Th ea t res o f Lon don" brings them this month to their suppression by the Long Parliament. "My Aviary" relates some curious particulars of the blackbird. The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review. —ln the preface we are - informed that this number is the beginning of a new series, and that this is the second century of the magazine's existence. The first article is "The Political Constitution of Fin land," which was written twelve years ago, but which the writer affirms he has not altered for its present appearance. It relates to the aggressive spirit of Russia, which circumstances have proved has only increased instead of diminishing of late. " Undesi,s,rned Imitations," contains some curious passages, in which it is represented that imitations may be traced of Erasmus by Shakspere, of Horace Walpole by Scott, and of Schiller by Eugene Sue and Dumas. In the remarks made on the " Sup pression of Female Infanticide in India," the ex- traordinary practice of the most influential tribes is described. The Rajpoots is one of the most pre eminent, and for centuries no female' child was per , witted to live. Happily, owing to British interfe rence, the crime has been nearly suppressed, and it is truly observed, " that generations yet unborn will thank the beneficent conquerors who used their power to ameliorate the condition of the peOple their prowess had subdued." " The Map of London" a hundred years ago" exhibits the remarkable changes that have taken place in the metropolis. " Jerome Cardan" is a brief sketch of the life of that gifted but misguided individual. The account given at . the end -of his pleading for the life of his son, who was being tried for the murder of his wife, is very interesting. The following is a part of the deserip= tion " We know nothing in history more touching than this paternal. attempt to tear a child from the grasp of the executioner. The defence is a monument of sub limity and folly. It advocates, justifies, disproves, ad mits, denies, excuses, beseeches, menaces, weeps, laughs, beguiles, and bewilders. It is at once titanic and dwarfish ; grand as Demosthenes, and peurile as a parody. It presents to us the terrible wreck of intel lect—madness strong, and affection stronger still. We see the profound lawyer on the very point of persuading the judges of the innocence of his client, but then some damning evidence makes him stumble, and down goes intellect again, and up rises despair, and the ball re sounds with the shrieks of the father screaming for mercy for his child, since justice would be too severe a lot for him. Mercy was not to be had ; the criminal confessed his crime ; the executioner did his office upon him pri vately within the prison ; and from that day Carden felt that he was infamous and unutterably wretched for ever. LITERATURE. The _Flitch of Bacon; or, The Custom of Dunmow. A Tale of English Home. By W. Harrison Ainsworth. Routledge. It would be scarcely surprising that Harrison Ainsworth should have secured to himself a very wide popularity —supposing his fictions to have possessed scarcely any other merit besides that of being based upon themes of the most felicitous selection. We have remarked this more than once already, but the thought recurs to us again with every additional contribution offered in succession by our novelist to what have long since been thesuf ficiently ample stores of English imaginative litera ture. Sometimes it has so happened that, by the luckiest inspiration, he has chosen as the subject of his romance—be sure of this, a romance of cap tivating and enthralling fascination—a celebrated personage, half real, half mythical, the marvel of his generation and the glory of his country, such as " Crichton," James Crichton, the Admirable Crichton, the paragon of Scots, the beau ideal of a scholar and a gentleman, as daring as handsome, as learned as accomplished. Surely no one ever hit upon a worthier hero of Romance—not from the days of Apuleius to those of Lesage or of Bulwer Lytton. Sometimes, and this, by the way, not unfrequently, as the readers of Mr. Ainsworth— readers numbered now by thousands upon thou sands—merely require to be reminded—sometimes the scene and the very title of his romance have been some renowned structure, some really national edifice, a palace, or a prison, or a fortress (occasion ally even all three together, as in the instance of " The Tower of London' ), a building, the very name of which conjures up on the instant a multitude of historic and heroic associations. It was thus with " Windsor Castle" depicted by him at the time when its royal precincts were haunted by the burly form of Harry VIII., and the beautiful face of Anne Boleyn, and the phantom shape of Herne the goblin hunter. It was thus with the old palatial fabric of " St. James's," the gorgeous interior of which the romancist revealed to us, as it appeared in the age of Addison and Marlborough,illus trating anew that famous couplet of Pope in re ference to Hampton Court— " Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea." Thus, likewise, have we listened, "spell bound" to the tale of " Old Saint Paul's," recounted in such wierd and eldritch tones by the modern novelist, who had not scanned in vain the wonderful record of the Plague, by Defoe, or the no less mar vellous celebration of the Fire, by Dryden ; that terrible plague which devastated London almost as fearfully as the Angel of Death the army of Sennacherib, and that dreadful fire which seemed only to spare the remnant of the city, as by a miracle, according to the bard of the year and the event towards the close of his Annus when -64 The Eternal heard, and from the heavenly quire, Chose out the cherub with flaming sword ; And bade him slowly drive th' approaching fire From where our naval magazines were stored." When, in obedience to the summons— " The blessed minister his wings display'd, And like a shooting star, he cleft the night. He charged the flames, and those that disobey'd He lashed to d u ty w ith hi s swo r d o f li g h t. " Sometime, again, with no less adroitn ess th an that displayed by him in the selection of a celebrated character, or of some celebrated palace or cathe dral, Mr. Ainsworth has found a fitting theme for romantic narrative in a renowned fable like that of the Rosicrucians, vide " Auriol," or in a memor able incident like that of the discovery of the Gun powder Plot, vide" Guy Fawkes." To say nothing of the skill disclosed in the selection (as a kindred theme for glamour or witchery over the mind of a romance-reader) of the association of the fortunes of the notable housebreaker, "Jack Sheppard," with those of the far-famed. Jonathan Wild the Great, already celebrated by the classic pen of Fielding ; or of the association, again, of the fortunes of the House of " Rookwood" with those of Dick Turpin, the pink and pattern of highwaymen. Scarcely less ability, or rather, we should say, perhaps more correctly, scarcely less adroitness in the choice of a new theme, was very recently shown once more by Harrison Ainsworth, in the instance of one of the latest of his literary productions—we mean his ro mance of the " Star Chamber." Prior to this he had taken a popular phrase, or legend, or whatever else you may like to call it, as the theme of an other romantic narrative, meaning that of his demi diabolic story about Pendle Forest, called the " Lancashire Witches." Not one of his ingeniously selected subjects for romance, however, can be deemed, we conjecture, in any one respect more peculiarly happy as the theme for a thoroughly English story—a story racy of the soil from which it may bo said to have sprung, as really as any atom of its i n di gen ous vegetation —than the one which h as h ere suggested to our popular novelist thi s c h arm ing tale of Home, anent " The Flit c h o f B acon ." It may b e remembered by the rea d ers of the N ew Monthly Magazine as havin g a d orned that per i o di ca l b y instalments inserted in it at uncertain and some of them very protracted i n t erva l s . Completed at length,its chapters h ave now been repu bli s h e d i n this goodly for m co l lectively. The volume is gracefully illustrated by woodcuts from designs I y John Gilbert, and is dedicat e d, moreo ver, quaintly, but prettily, to " Th e Chevalier and Madame Bern hard Tauchnitz, of L e i ps i g, says the author, " I have never known a more fondly united couple"--wherefore with reasons enow are their names, indeed, appropriately enough, .inscribed at the head of the dedication. itselfn other th The Flitch of Bacon" may be oewhf Dunmow— "hronmileofa deemed accept able,matter of fact, or, we are fain to believe even to the most o terest of the tale i tohfe which h t imaginative of antiquary. While the alluring in the peculiarities of this eccentric old custom of Dunmow may be said to be embalmed, must render the book a welcome boon to the lover of genuine romance.. As the word s, inci incidents e n t s preface to the volume under notice reminds . ,us sighificantly—it has been said, and said truly by Grose, " Among the jocular treasures of England none have been more talked of than the Bacon o f Dunmow." Talked of, in truth, so much has it been generation after gene ration that, as Mr. Ainsworth adds, " the Dun mow Flitch has passed into a proverb." A pro verb not unfrequently referred to in our na tional literature—mentioned by a writer in our language as remote and venerable as Geoffrey Chaucer—the Custom alluded t o h av i ng b een origi nated, it is generally believed, by a Fitzwalter, in the early part of the thirteenth. century. Wonder ful to relate, moreover, it is a custom which ap pears, from reliable records, to have survived the lapse of nearly five hundred years, h av i ng on l y very recently, indeed, fallen i nto desuetude—namely, about the middle of the last century. It is about that period that the date of his pleasant'story has been fixed by Mr. Ainsworth --who informs his readers at the outset, not merely that he has dis covered that the last delivery of the Flitch occurred on the 20th of June, 1751—just three years and a few days over a century from the present time—but observes, I possess a very curious print, quite Hogarthian in its character, from a drawing taken on the spot by David Ogborne, representing (appa rently with great accuracy) the ceremony and proces sion on that occasion." It appears, by th e wa y, th a t a similar custom to that so long in vogueat Dunmow, in Essex, existed at one time at Wichenoure, in Staffordshire. But as our romancist observes it was much less generally known, that of the Dunmow Flitch being in much greater request. According to Grose—" some persons having demanded the Flitch, it has, as is said, been refused "—hence several of the more ludicrous scenes intr o d uce d into Mr. Ainsworth's amusing narrative. " M an y years ago I planned this tale, ,, writes the author, " but it is only now that my long-meditated plan has been accomplished." For the which may we, with considerable reason, proffer him our felicita tions. Divided into five parts or books, the story refers in the opening part to the Old Inn at Dun mow, in the second to the Lady of the Manor of Little Dunmow, in the third to the Haunted Chamber, in the fourth to Monkbury Palace, and in the closing book to the Procession of the Dunmow Flitch. No less than ten of Harrison Ainaworth's animated and musical " Lyrics" will be found scattered through the work—happiest among which is Captain Juddock , s bacchanalian, entitled " The Wine-Drinker's Declaration." The different personages grouped together m this tale of English Home are excellently well delineated. First and foremost there is Jonas N . ettlebed, other wise Jovial Jonas, otherwise Friar 8ac0n....tb,0 landlord of tho Dunmow Flitch, the sign of whose house was a great gilded daub representing a side of fatted bacon with this superscription : " Painted in gold The Flitch behold, Of famed llitninow the boast ! Then here should call Fond couples all And pledge it in a toast." Then there are—Abel Roper, the steward ; and Frank Woodbine, the gamekeeper ' • and Roger Bowes, the clerk ; and Timothy Tipeat, the beadle; and Captain Juddock ' aforesaid ; and Dr. Plot, the mysterious ; and Squire Monkbury, the Lord of the manor ; and Parson Bush, his chaplain ; and Dr. Sidebottom, the vicar of Dunmow—and Grub, and Chip, and Clot, and all sorts of merry tag, rag, and bobtail. And for heroines—have we not here the three graces attendant on the presiding Venus of the Flitch ?—Nelly Nettlebed, and Rose Woodbine, and Bab Bassingbourne ! Delightfully has Harrison Ainsworth acquitted himself of his well-chosen responsibility of writing what may be called the crowning chapter in the gay and festive annals of Dunmow—with the memory of which, so long as it shall survive, his name must hence forth be associated. As a thoroughly national story —in truth as well as in title, a Tale of English Home—it is among the most acceptable of his many popular romances, about the happiest among his many successful literary achievements. Adventures of a Bashful Irishman. By William F. Deacon. New Edition. Bryce. An old favourite, coming to us again under a new aspect, is this humorous record of the "Ad ventures of a Bashful Irishman." Several years have gone by since the occasion of its first appear ance. But the various merits of the work as a fic titious autobiography more than justify, at this long date after its original advent, the fact of its present republication. Of the accomplished author himself we cannot induce ourselves to speak in the sedate and measured terms of Criticism without memories, sympathies, or predilections. Associated so long, so intimately, and we cannot but call to mind, moreover, so very honourably (to his repu tation as a critic and a man of letters) with the literary department of this journal--- , William Fre derick Deacon can never be mentioned in the co lumns of The Sun otherwise than in terms of sor rowing regard and affectionate remembrance. It is not so very long since we had occasion to wel come the romance his hand had scarcely completed when his career was prematurely closed by his re gretted death, the historical romance of "Annette," which appeared before the world under the winning auspices of a generous memorial of its author, penned by the late Justice Talfourd. That gifted man has since then himself, too, passed away in his turn—and we revert now with a twofold interest of regret to his Life of Mr. Deacon as to the latest, and not the least generous or the least interesting, of his literary performances. Besides the amusing novel now re-issued in a popular form from Mr. Bryce's establishment, Mr. Deacon had written prior to his story of "Annette" a number of lively volumes, among others " Hach°, or the Spell of St. Wilten," the " Innkeeper's Album," " War reniana," and " November Nights," in connection with some of which his name was favourably known among his contemporaries. Added to this he un dertook the issue at one time of a monthly publica tion, as rival (in name) to the famous London Ma gazine, and at another of a daily journal, " with out politics or scandal," called the " aljefitio, or Companion to the Breakfast Table" —contributing at intervals, moreover, and this by no means un frequently, to Blackivood's Magazine, and other first-class periodicals. Speaking of the work at the present moment jrought once more directly under our notice by the fact of its reappearance in the form of a new and cheap republication, , a pro duction originally entitled "The Exile of Erin, or the Sorrows of a Bashful Irishman" — the late Sir T. N. Talfourd observed in his " Prefatory Me moir" of Mr. Deacon—that these "Adventures" constitute "a pleasant history of an Irish Ord. Blas with some satirical notices of prominent Irish pa triots, somewhat extravagant, but wholly uu tinged by ill-nature." Adding, in regard to it, a little further on, " This work received great praise from all critical quarters in which it was noticed — sold well—and was republished in America, Acre it was largely bought, &a." Turning over its pages at this time, now nearly twenty years since the first appearance of the story in two volumes in 1835, it is not difficult to understand almost at a glance the secret of this early success of the " Bashful Irishman." It opens at once with a burst of animal spirits, and continues to the last chapter, and the closing sentence, gay, rollicking, and hilarious. Purporting to be mere transcripts from a fragmentary journal, supposed to have been kept by the imaginary narrator, one Terence O'Blarney, it assumes to itself almost from the outset the importance of a comic autobiography. Mr. Terence O'Blarney scarcely arrives at the end of his introductory paragraph before he has in formed his reader apologetically— "My narrative contains no extraordinary nor pa thetic adventures ; it has neither continuous interest nor artfully-elaborated plot ; but abounds in 'passages that lead to nothing," and characters, or rather shadows character, that come and go without a why or where fore, like the phantoms that flitted before the eyes of Macbeth in the cavern of Hecate." Adding sententiously that— " By far the majority of us are like travellers at an inn, who, before they have had time to become ac quainted with each- other's habits, manners, modes of thought, action and so forth, are complied to hurry away north, south, east, and west, never perhaps to re•assem ble." He appears to have been tumbled neck and crop into the world anyhow—himself informing us, in a rather surprising manner, that ho was born " dur ing a shower, beside a hedge, under an umbrella !" At one bound, however, he skips over the period of his childhood, and brings us to the time when he was seventeen. Placed under the care and in the shop of the village M.D., midwife, surgeon, apothecary, physician, all in one—Terence thus drolly sketches off the appearance of Killquick— THE IRISH DOCTOR. " He had the head of a giant fixed upon the shoulders of a dwarf. His eyes were of a gooseberry colour; his nose was gathered up in a bunch in the middle, just as if Dame Nature in a frolicsome mood had tied it in a double knot ; his teeth were tusks in shape and size ; he had a spilt inlis upper lip, which enabled him to give a full and perfect development to the broadest grin that ever threw a stranger into hysterics ; his month was not so much a mouth as a huge gash scored at ran dom across his face ; and he had two big red ears, which projected from each side of k his head like the lamp-lights of a mail-coach." A worthy Rosinaute was tho horse which appears to have borne this wonderful Quixote of the bolus and the black-draught. Hear the rogue describe in half-a-dozen laughter-moving words, this crea ture in a promising state of atrophy-- THE DOCTOR'S HORSE. " The very leanest hackney coach-horse that ever crawled would have blushed to be seen in company with such a prodigy of attenuation. It was just the sort of animal you would expect to see grazing on the Great Zaara." Dr. Killquick dying, Terence, is removed to the house and supervision of a good Catholic priest, one Father O'Flanaghan, with whom he remains until his twenty-first birthday, when Father O'Flanaghan, he tells us,!was " unexpectedly summoned to take his seat in Paradise." Shortly afterwards Terence O'Blarney—the susceptible vagabond—falls in love ! Och ! but it is in love he falls, up to his eyes, up to the roots of his hair entirely. Listen to him. Miss Mahony was the chosen object of his affections—in regard to whom thus writes Terence : " If I went out for a ramble, it was to steal a glance at Miss Mahoney. If I smiled, it was on Miss Mahoney. If I prayed, it was for Miss Mahoney. If I rhymed, it was on Miss Mahoney. If I swore it was by Miss Mahoney. If I dreamed, it was of Miss Mahoney." For " offering" to love the beautiful Miss Mahoney, however, poor O'Blarney is tossed in a blanket. A circumstance not altogether so very amazing when it is remembered, by the way, that the enanzorato is a poor devil with scarcely a coat to his back, while the " ladye" is no less important or less elevated a " demoiselle" than the Squire's daugh ter. Saith our hero when writing about the catas trophe : " I forbear to enumerate the reluctant somersets I threw ; I shrink from details of the height to which I rose, or the depth to which I fell : suffice it to say, that at one moment I was as near to heaven as a doctor's patient, and the next as far removed from it as a lawyer. Disheartened by his mishap, Terence flies from his native village, taking shelter the first night at a roadside tavern with the sign of the head of Brien Boroihme. He has here the felicity of participat ing amidst the fun, whisky, and devilment, in a delightful scrimmage—of which he thus speaks in tender commemoration : " It was indeed a lovely ' scrimmage.' No one dreamed of siding either with this party or with that ; xneyigotilibou were r impartiality being th© order of day, i o n f to th y e ourt ne all expected to do was to pitch and get as much fun out of him as possible.' , Meeting at this host el with a strolling player, O'Blarney is induced to join his " C - °ln PallY"—the 1 manager being in want of a novelty b y way of attraction. The brilliant success won by our h ero in his new profess ion ma y be conjectured from the , terms employed iu the followin g critique tak en ! from the columns of a local journal o f Molly ! moreen : ~ Last night, a gr. Terence Felix O 'Blarr!ey made his first appearance here as Romeo, in i bard's well.known play of that name. Barring b ro gue, this young aspirant possesses every qualification for the part. He bars excelle n t 1 the immortal a slight lungs i i 3 exceedingly vigorous in his movements ; and stands nearly, if not quite, six feet in his shoes. His dress was singularly picturesque, and he was received with enthusiasm by a most respectable and fashionable audience. We under stand he appears to-morrow night as Harlequin. Judg ing from his Romeo, we should conceive he would play this very difficult pvrt to admiration. Both characters have many points in common ; both are young, active, in love, and fond of leaping, and condemned by unpro pitious destiny to experience the most startling vicissi tudes. We wish Mr. O'Blarney all the success that his genius so richly merits." - Hastening on we find Terence married shortly after this, and travelling with Mrs. O'Blarney (who brings him a little money) on the Continent. Sauntering up the Rhine, he encounters the fol lowing indication of— GERMAN MAGNIFICENCE. " Think of his Serene Highness the Prince of Saxe Schweighausen, with upward of sixty quarferings on his arms, being absolute lord and master of a territory containing nearly ten thousand inhabitants, yielding a clear revenue of almost nine hundred pounds per annum, and supporting an army of some twelve dozen private soldiers, exclusive of six field-officers, and a band worthy to vie with the orchestra of one of our minor theatres." Quarrelling with his cara sposa, and quitting , her, Mr. Terence O'Bla.rney returns to the Bri tish Islands, and enters London. On arriving at which capital he draws in his imagination the sub joined contrast : LONDON TO THE POOR. " To meet a frown on every brow, a sneer on every lip ; to be distrusted as an adventurer, and with the purest intentions to be perpetually misconstrued ; to supplicate where there are few or none to pity ; to die of a broken heart in the midst of rejoicing, of famine in the midst of plenty ; and then, as if the cup of wretched ness were not drained to the dregs, to be carried out of a workhouse on four rough boards, flung like a dog into his hole, with just a prayer or two m um bl e d co ldl y an d hurriedly above one's remain, as if they were scarce worth salvation : this it is to be poor and friendless in London." LONDON TO THE RICH. " To be the idol of every circle ; to drivel like a fool, yet to be pronounced a sage ; to be 'a gentleman,' when it is manifest you are his antipodes ; to see woman's eye light up at your approach, and the fat porter at the great man's gate bustle forward at the hazard of his neck to usher you into the great man's presence ; to be the Sir Oracle' of ton, and the hero of a fashionable novel ; to be painted by Lawrence, and engraved by Finden ; and when put to death by a licensed physician, to be followed to your long home by some dozen agonised ac quaintances, while the parson prays his best above your gilt coffin, and a splendid mausoleum records your worth to all posterity : this it is to be wealthy and well connected in London." It were idle, however, to enter more minutely into these " Adventures of a Bashful Irishman," or to draw upon them more copiously for wise and witty quotations. The book itselt is now within the reach of every one who lists—of all who love a genuine laugh, or an hour or two of harmless and delightful amusement. Either from Book 1., " The Adventures;" or from Book 11. " The Politician ;" or from Book 111., " The Village Doctor ;" or from Book IV., " The Patriot"—this innocent and agreeable relaxation may be drawn by all win so please (literally) at pleasure. And after turning over the last page of the Irishman's Adventures, the reader may find to his surprise yet more as a means of after entertainment—a brief and simple story, in which " The Magic of Love" is very charmingly illustrated. The Hero of our Days. From the Russian of Michael Lermontoff. By Theresa Pulszky. Hodgson. It cannot but be peculiarly interesting just now for every intelligent Englishman to peruse this remarkable novel of the "Hero of our Days"—re markable as among the most happily-timed and as about the most gracefully executed of all Madame Theresa Pulszky's very charming translations—re markable as incomparably the best of the literary productions of the accomplished and unfortunate Lcrinontoff—especially remarkable as an object of attraction, at the present juncture, in England, as the Russian romance most successful among the higher circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg-. " Let me write the Ballads, and you may make the Laws." " Tell me your compani ons , and I will describ e y our character." They are old sayings, and wise sayings —sayings that every one remembers. And as Com panions are always with regard to individuals, and as Ballads were formerly in regard to the multitude, so are Novels nowadays in reference to an entire population. Indicators of character ! Influences of mighty and scarcely to be exaggerated importance ! It is in this way that Charles Dickens and Bulwer Lytton must be viewed by those who judge things correctly in this country—as important movers of the spirit of the times, and at the same time as repre sentatives through their works of the genius and the tendencies of their generation. It is in this way that the same age has been both appreciably affected and vividly reflected in the " Ten Thousand a Year" of Mr. Warren and in the "Vanity Fair" of Mr. Thackeray. Madame Pulszky has here very justly observed in her Preface—" It is in literature as well as in art and in politics that the moral and intellectual life of a nation is ex pressed"—adding very gracefully—" From the lite rary fruits and flowers IVO are like wise able to judge of the tree of national life ; should they even be withered or rotten, they still remain interesting and instructive to the analytic research of the phi losophic mind." And impressed with this belief she has ventured to translate " The Hero of our Days" from the Russian of Lermontoff, convinced, as she tells us, that " at the present crisis, sketches of Russian life, draw n by a di s ti ngu i s h e d Russian author, cannot fail to fix the attention of the Eng lish public." That they cannot fail to do so we also rest assured, under the circumstances. Exa mining this particular story of " The Hero of our Days," for this object and with this interest, it is worthy of remembrance that its author was the off spring of an aristocratic Russian family, and be longing to the higher classes of society, wrote verses which were distributed amongst his friends, which verses, however, for some considerable time were altogether overlooked by the public of St. Pe tersburg. They were so overlooked, indeed, un til 1837, when the great Russian poet, Pushki n , was unhappily killed in a duel by his own brother in-law, a Frenchman, Danthes d'Heckeren. Whereupon Lermontoff, inspired by the supreme grief excited in his heart by the death of his friend, wrote an impassioned ode upon the subject —an ode which at once secured to the young poet his literary reputation. In effecting this good, how ever, the poem written by Lermontoff on the death of Pushkin brought to the former the penalty of banishment, Di-regarding the fact that Pushkin had made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the court by his well-known liberal ideas, Lermontoff ventured through his ode to appeal directly to the Czar to avenge the popular poet of the Russians. The answer vouchsafed to this appeal by his Imperial Majesty was the sentence of banishment to the Caucasus pronounced on the unlucky Lermontoff. There it was—in the Caucasus—that he wrote his novel of " The Hero of our Days," and there it was, moreover, strange to tell, that he also, like his illustrious comrade and compatriot, the poet Pushkin, perished in a duel, in 1841, when scarcely thirty ! So much for the author of the popular Russian romance hero given to the English public in the form of an accurate and timely trans lation. Forming the 112th volume of the well-known " Parlour Library," it is accessible to all ranks of the community. It will be none the less welcome to the mass of readers in this country, seeing that it is to the lingual skill and to the literary abilities of Theresa Pulszky that they are indebted for this introduction to the master piece of the unhappy, but gifted, Michael Lermon toff. History of the Byzantilte and Greek Empires, from MLVII. to MCCCOLII. By George Finlay. Blackwood. A brilliant conclusion is here given of the learned and in many respects very masterly in regard t o Greek Governm en t s. historythe e first volu me The ample promise of th has neßdyzabnytinMe ar.ndFGinlay here, in the second, been t _o the full com pleted. i Now that the work is at le ng th substan tially before the world, we may be permitted to proffer to its laborious a uthor our earnest an d un lations. affected congratuHis researches could scarcely have been mor.e happily rep a id th an b y the appropriately interestmg conjun c t ure o f circum stances under which the second l vo ume appears, the concluding volume contai • mng as their fruits th e crowning chapters of Mr. i Fnlay's historical masterpiece. Under no other combination of events cou ld the record h ere decline and fall of the given by our annalist of the Byzantine governments and of the Greek em • • empires of Niccea and Constantinople have come forth invested with a more peculiar in terest, we might fascination. _ is even say with a more singular It at a juncture in the world's his tory when the . continued existence of the Turkish empir©, having its centre at what to the ancients was Byzantium and to the moderns is Constanti nople, is the question at issue in a great war be tween Russia on the one hand, and England and France on the other, the latter as the champions at once of Turkey, of Christendom, and of Civilisation —it is at this momentous epoch in the progress of ev outs i ii Europe that our scholar has been enabled, in reward for his past industry, to add to the treasury of the world of letters the completion of his lumi nous annals of the imperial governments of Byzan tium, Niccea, and Constantinople. In the previous instalment of his history of these empires(empires at onceAsiaticand European)Mr. Finlay had recounted the occurrences ranging between 716 and 1057. In his present volume, volume the second, the volume, as we have already observed, which brings the Whole of his remarkable undertaking to a con elusion, he comprises the incidents which marked the growth and decay of those oriental em pires between 1057 and 1453—from the reigns of Isaac (I.) Comnenus and the tenth Constantine down to the permanent establishment (four hun dred years ago) of the Ottoman rule at Constanti nople. Volume I. contained Book the First and Book the Second. Volume 11. comprises within its ample chapters and prolific pages Book the Third and Book the Fourth. Book Three, recouta. ing the narrative of the decline and fall of they Byzantine Government ; and Book Four, the rise and duration of the Greek empires of Niccea and Constantinople. Here we listen to that tale of blood and glory, that magnificent and sanguinary history which has been often told before, btit never with more enthralling eloquence or more satisfactory exactitude than by Mr. Finlay— the record of the dynasty of Comnenus and the annals of the fall of Imperial Byzantium. Here again the reader follows with breathless interest the course of the narrative which tells him now of the empire of Niccea, and now of the Greek empire of Constantinople under the dynasty of Paleologos. As the work draws towards its con clusion, the lucidity of the narrative becomes only the more obviously commendable. The account furnished by our author of the formation of the Ottoman power is among the most reliable which has yet fallen under our observation. It will be read at this notable juncture with peculiar eager ness, and we doubt not also with complete satisd faction. Besides a variety cf important " additions and corrections" to Volume I.—Volume 11. con tains a most ample and a very laboriously compiled "Index"—a circumstance of no small importance, and an advantage of no mean value in a historical work like the present, a work of classic authority, a masterpiece of minute research, a history worthy of more than one perusal and of very frequent con sultation. The Americans at Home. Edited by the author of " Sam Slick." 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett. We have become of late so well acquainted with American city life and manners from the medium. , of works of fiction or even the descriptions of tra vellers, that the real characteristic life of the back woods has been comparatively forgotten. It is ob served in the preface, that " travellers, on account of the facility, safety, and comfort of transit, con fine themselves to the great public thoroughfares, whereby they add but little to the stock of infor mation they previously possessed. The peculiarities of the people, their modes of thinking, living, and acting are principally to be sought for in the rural districts, where unrestrained 'freedom of action, and the incidents and requirements of a forest life, ea courage and give room for the development of cha racter in its fullest extent." The present volumes are devoted to descriptive narratives of " Byeways, Backwoods, and Prairies," with all their wild ro mance and fierce excitement. It is like another world, from the quiet details of domestic scenes to the midnight murders, the burning prairies, the struggles with wild beasts, and the vengeance of the terrible " Lynchers." The peculiarities of a backwoodsman are generally those of the whole class. They are bold, hardy, generous, and hospit able, but at the same time violent and vindictive, improvident and reckless. The life is one of wild daring and hairbreadth escapes. With neither law nor justice, their vengeance is sharp and sure. A thief knows his doom is instant death if discovered, and the certainty of narrow chances which they run from so many various causes, the knowledge that they may be in imminent danger from revenge,or from being unwelcome witnesses, besides the myriad accidents of travelling and trading in such an uncultivated laud, gives them a kind of recklessness of death, and indifference to danger, which is very peculiar. There are many sketches of the equally characteristic traits of humour and mischief making scattered among more serious exploits, that are very ludicrous. The work certainly presents its reader with striking novelty, and those who are wearied of the order and indolence of civilised life may find excitement and interest in the annals of the life ed the wild backwoods. The following is a description of an escape from a burning prairie TIIE PRAIRIE ON FIRE. " Oh how sublime, how awfully sublime this spectacle on which we rivet our fascinated eyes, while our heart* leap to our throats, and our lips are compressed with an indescribable fear. Now listen to these apparently mi. earthly sounds. The prairie is alive with millions of voices, which fancy would give to the fiery tongues of this rushing monster, as the cheering song of his death dealing advance—but which stern reality tells us are the frantic cries of droves and herds of wild animals of all species, mad with affright, all pressing forward t oge th er , pen mei', to escape one common but ever-conquering enemy. Look yonder, there goes a stampede of buffalo; yonder—another of wild horses. How they tear ahead, with foaming mouths, expanded nostrils, dilated eyes, and a tread that makes the very earth tremble beneath them. Look closer, nearer—here they come, above ns, before us, behind us, beneath us, on all and every side, sir's, beasts, reptiles, and insects. How they dart past us now, with lolling tongues, and fiery eyes, half starting from their sockets, entangling the very legs of our horses, and causing them to rearjand pluuge, and amort, and shriek with appalling terror. Here are wolves And wolverines, and rabbits, and boars, and serpents, each and all howling, shrieking, and hissing their fears. God of Heaven ! What a scene ! " The following is a specimen of an examination at a female college related by an astonished visitor " COLLEGE EXAMINATION. " Bimeby the bell rang, and the zamination commenced, and sich larnin' as we had thar don't grow in the pine woods, I tell you. The master, after axin' them a heap of questions 'bout 'rithmetic and grammar, and the like, ses he, What's mathew matix ?' My hart began to kick when he mentioned that feller's name. I ris up and looked over a tall feller's shoulder so I could see him if he was thar. Just then I caught Miss Mary's eye. ' Mathew matix,' ses she, 'is the science of quantity, magnitude, number ;' and she went on with a heap of larnin', but I could'nt hear no more. " Go to the board,' said the master, and she walked up to a grate black board and tuck bold of a piece of chawk. S'pose a canon ball is fired at the moon,' see the master, how long would it take it to go that?' I reckon it would done you good to see her chawk slide over that board. She made figers faster than I could count, and the chawk rattled on a board like a flock of chickens pickin' corn of a clap board. Bimeby' ses she, one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight years, five months, three weeks, four days, sixteen hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty-two seconds and a half.' My Lord, thinks I, how could she tell so zactly to half a second." RACING FIXTI JU Newmarket Worcester 4 Barnstaple Lancaster 6 Odiham 7 Harrogate 10 Mansfield ll Liverpool l2 Abingdon 13 Ipswich 13 AII( Brighton Airdrie .. 3 Durham 3 Brighton Club Ripon.. . .................... Yarmouth 6 North Staffordshire 8 Reading Lewes 10 ‘ N N V , : s l t v e e r r n halliP e e th ti n n R LWi o ca : r h flw : i : lc k e hatham 7 Doncaster 12 Pontefract 18 Bedford 19 RES FOR 1854. IA Y. Stourhridge l7 Stamford 18 Newtou Knutsford... ............ 19 Nottingham ............ 20 . Great Grimsby ............ 4 Goodwood .................. 25 Radcliffe ............. 31 Deritend P001...311 Ripon OCTI Chester Autumn 3 Kelso 3 Yorkshire Union Hunt 5 Wrexham 5 Newmarket S 0 9 Egham l5 Folkestone, Hythe, and Sandgate l7 York .... Hereford .24 Eccles 2B Chelmsford 2l, Derby 2O Plymouth 30 Lincoln 81 I'IIBER. "Leicester 2O Manchester Autumn 2l Lanark 25 Newmarket F 0 26 Walsall Northallerton 26 IBER. Caledonian Hunt...—. —ll War wick Autuma l7 Richmond 18 Newmarket H... 1 23 Worcester Autumn 31 YORK AUGUST RACES.—FIRST DAY. The CHESTERFIELD HANDICAP. One mile. Yrs st lb 1 Yrs et lb Rataplan Nabob Typee 4 8 9 :Ammonia 5 7 0 Snowdon Dunhill... 4 8 0 , Domino 3 7 Hunca Munca Prime Minister 67 12 Calamus 3;6 10 3 6 6 The Deformed 4 7 7 Quince _-• ........... 3 Evadne 6 4 Manta - lore Lass 4 7 71Middlesb oron gii ..... 36 4 The Early Bird 37 7 , Hermitage ... . ........ 36 4 Comfit 4 7 6 'Maude M 9 ......... 3 5 12 The General Catherine Parr 47 4 i Nelly .. . .... . ......... 35 11 Catspaw 4 7 4 f by - Ch . antieleer— Mare Anthony 37 2 Ellordah3 25 A William Rufus 4 7_ 2 __.------- ----- The Earl of Wilton's eldest son, Lord Grey de Wil ton, who has entered the Ist Life Guards, in which his lordship's relative, the lion. Captain de Ros, commands a troop, will attain his majority in November next, when the event will be !celebrated with the customary re joicings. TILE ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES.-0 11 Saturday the bill amended by the Lords was issued, to compel the attendance of witnesses in the United Kingdom—fro= Ireland to England vice versa. The parties need not attend unless they have their expenses defrayed in com ing and returning from tha place where they reside. LETTERS PATENT FOR INVENTIONS.— On Saturday a bill before the Commons was issued, to enable the Lord Chancellor in certain cases to extend the timr for seal. ing Letters Patent for Inventions, and filing specifica tthioenLmfror aof fis m p o r r o ee i x 9 t n ezded period from the expiration of protection.