The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-18 00:00:00

THE CHURCH-RATE DIVISION.

5 Members of the Government voted against the Bill,
and 12 voted in favour of it.
2 Cabinet Ministers voted against the Bill—Lord
Palmerston and Lord J. Russell.
2 Ditto in favour of the Bill—Sir W. Molesworth and
Mr. V. Smith.
2 Absented themselves—Sir Charles Wood and Sir
George Grey.
16 Holding office also were absent.

ANALYSIS OF "THE NOES."
From a Register kept by tb,e National Parliamentary
Reform Association.

Ayes, 219 ; Noes, 191 (Tellers included).
Of the 191 against there were—
County Members.
Englund arid Wales
Scotch
Irish
University Members
Borough Members.
England and Wales
Scotch
Irish

78

191
The County Members represented a population of
6,227,326.
The R)rough Members represented a population of
1,089.655.

Influence-74 were connected by birth or marriage
with the aristocracy ; 48 had interest in Church Pro-
perty.
In Llncaghire only 2 Borough Members voted against.
In Yorkshire 5 of the 6 County Members voted against,
but none of the Borough Members.

In Scotland 1 Borough Member voted against the
second reading.

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM MEETINGS.

BOSTON.—Qn Wednesday last, in compliance with a re-
qnisition, signed by men of all parties, the Mayor of
this borough called a public meeting of the inhabitants
in the
the Guildhall,. to consider the propriety of requesting
the borough members to support Mr. Layard's motion
in favour of administrative reform. The proceedings
throughout were of the most spirited character.
DEPTFORD--Last evening a crowded public meeting
of the inhabitants of Deptford was held at the Lecture-
hall, High-street, in order to adopt measures for the for-
mation of an auxiliary association for the promotion of
administrative reform.
WOLVERHAMPTON.--We are glad (says the Worcester-
shire Chronicle) to be able to announce.that a requisi-
tion to the mayor is in course of signature in this city,
requesting him to convene a meeting for the purpose of
enforcing the demand for " administrative reform."
• This is the great want of the age, as testified by the late
deplorable scenes in the Crimea.
LIVERPOOL.--A requisition has been in course of sig-
nature for the past few days in Liverpool, addressed to
the Mayor, requesting him to call a meeting of the in-
hfbitants, in furtherance of the cause of administratons
ive
reform. The requisitionists were composed of pers
of all shades and opinions. His worship the Mayor,
who is at present in London, sent a telegraphhic.i essa
to the requisitionists that he could not cornpl Wit theiry
request.

, .
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.—The petition of the in-
habitants of Derby for adrnmistrative reform was printed
on Tuesday. The petitioners " view with feelings of in-
dignation and astonishment the scandalous waste o
f
public money which is taking place, and is still continu-
ing in connection with the tran
port ser ice, and v tey
earnestly protest against this reckless expenditurhe.
They declare that the recent exposures before the Sebas-
topolt3 Committee call loudly for a radical change, and
they pray the house to take such steps as may
lead
a speedy and-effectual reform of the whole system. The
petitioners cannot remain satisfied with the simple
dis-
missal of Captain Christie, nor the retentiono f
fAdmiral
onsga
ls the acceptance
and the
Boxer. They condemn the existing system o
promo-
tion in the army, and the delay attpernodpi
Bug.
or rejection of Lord Dundonaltra
gestiona of scientific men. They contend for the neces-
sity of introducing men of enlarged exPeri
twat ability into the gervice of the State enee arid.prac-
up with the strung and biguificant assurance that, unless
the house institute-such proceedings as will lead to an
immediate and thorough reform, a
the people will be
compelled to take , counsel
of their owe liffiire. t2gether_ for the management
--•_ •...

LITERATURE,

Grace Lee. By Jnlia Kavanagh. 3 vole. Arnie,

_ -
Elder, and Co.
Miss Kavanagh's abilities, both as a romarecist
and an historical writer,h. are already well known.
Her first and least ambitious work was a tale for
showed the different`results the young, entitled "The Three Paths," which
cunning
of a rash and head-
strong disposition, a . and crafty temper,
and a prudent and well -principled line of action.
Her next tale, '''Madeleine," the touching re-
cord of the struggles and sufferings'w
of
of Auvergne, who, alone and almost unaaidyeodu,nragigiserdl
and maintained an hospital in her nativendlrthilelaugge.
Her next attempt was an historical one, a
the subject selected was not the most i
pl -n
c g -iht
was executed with great ability. It was on ci- --
man in France during the Eighteenth Century."
-
She subsequently produced more pleasing records
of feminine achievements in her " Women of
Christianity," a brief account of some of the . most
illustrious of the many.remarkable for their piety.,
benevolence, and heroism. " Nathalie," her only
novel, possessed much interest and . originality.
The two chief characters were drawn with much
ability. This ability the reader will not fail to re-
cognise in the pages of " Grace Lee," though of all
her works of fiction it is the least pleasing. This is
partly to be ascribed to the striking improbability of
some of the incidents, but chiefly to the two
chief actors in the drama—the hero and heroine
—John Owen and Grace Lee. Grace herself, with
her learning, her talents, her generosity, and
"hergalulite. otherirtnes; has something about her not
feminine, an 1, consequently not quite at-
tractive.
withdis distress, or.
eolrevoefresxiclietaerdt.feelinf,;,
Her intellect seems to have a greater in-
fluence than her ln moments of danger and
iletches—never discomposed, never
slit% is always ready
off her guard,
that
uvre, o ant of self-control is to
but in the case of Grace one does
fortune ra
courageousnotto e be ee
.the despisedce eo In'_-,
trol of feeling, but
absence of -feeling to be
controlled- However, she
craralcatyer:laiannid tu?ebsehocuould-•
sidered a very remarkable character,
rttaheinhleyrtohfeallsadvoert
imagine that her prototype.mostno t very easily met
interestingfar eh
ortPoefrstre
.the old idea
in with.tl bBohoek ,i sfucre
eri
interest hereic standard. Without
es
that heroes and heroines shouldpbieng
unin-
teresting perfection, to secure the reapdieece
they should have some distinguished traits,
noble qualities, to awake admiration. It - some
is not
moroseness and reserve of John Owen that the
dete-
riorate his character, for sometimes these reserved
and haughty characters are the most attractive • but
he seems to have no firm and settled purpcsse; no
high and ennobling aspirations. Had he remained
true to his ambition even, and instead of retreating,
to the Welsh hills, remained and fought the battle
of life with energy and determination, the reader
could have forgiven him all his faults of mind and
manner. But he surrenders the fight, at least for
a timeond falls in love with Grace Lee. Had he
only been constant to his vehement affection, he
might yet have awoke sympathy ; but when he
forsakes his idol on so frivolous a pretext, and

hastily forms firstone engagement and then another
the reader loses all patience, and begins to awake to
a sense of the ludicrous. Many incidents in the
plot are very unpleasing, and we feel the less
inclined to tolerate them from an authoress who so
plainly shows us she could do better if she tried.
Where are the gentle and pious attributes of
Madeleine —where all the graceful, feminine
qualities of Nathalio, always charming, even in her
caprices ? The chronicler of the " Women of
Christianity' has no need to give us such a brusque
and independent lady as her model heroine ; and
as for a hero, it will be hard indeed if she cannot
Surpass John Owen. The talents of the author are
evident, however, not only in the construction of
the book; which, to say the least of it, displays
much ingenuity and originality, but in the elo-
quence of the style and the fervour of the descrip-
tions, as the following extract will show. It is
from the conclusion, when John Owen is meditat-
ing on his fruitless search for Grace, who has been
lost to him for seven years through his own folly

and pride :
" The thought he had so long repelled came and pre-
vailed in that hour.

" Grace is dead,' he thought, stopping short.
Grace is dead, ay, I feel and I know it ; the grave
has closed on her. Where ?—how I—l know not ; I
shall never know. Unconsciously I may tread on the
earth that hides all I have vainly coveted to possess..
Oh that with me, too, it were over, that this unquiet
fever of life were still, and I sleeping somewhere by her
side, a deep, a long slumber. Happy ! thrice happy are
ye, ye dead !' ,
" And for the first time for years, ambition, that

master-passion of his life, folded lier wings, and, wearied
' of her long flight, pined for repose.
" But briet was the rest of that ardent heart. Strong
in his will, he recalled Grace ; he bade her return, not
pale, but vivid as the light of day ; not dead, but over-
flowing with the fulness of life. He looked at the setting
sun ; the dread round orb slowly sank down to a yellow
horizon, encircling the dark • earth like a golden zone.
then melting in the hoPow air into vast depths of palest
blue. But below all was splendour, all was light and
' flame ; a wooded slope was still a forest of bronze and
gold, a tame field a purple sea ; the dust:worn way a path
of light leading to a burning world. In that fervid glow
he sought the loved and lost image he had ever known,
all warmth and all light, and again, with passionate long-
ing, there rose an inward ory from the depths of his
heart, an unuttered voice that said : Come back, Grace,
come back !' _

—.....
" Suddenly he breathed deep. Dream or truth, he
saw and heard her. He saw an isolated dwelling,.ft
poor home, rising bare and lone by the road side, an
open door, a narrow room, with boarded floor, with
white-washed walls,, with gilt-edged books on a lovi
shelf, with bright crimson and yellow flowers in the
window, with the rich sunlight streaming in ; and half
lost in the evening gloom, an old man who sat grey and
blind in a deep arm-chair, whilst in the bright red light
a woman leaning back on a low seat with a heavy book
1 on her knees, read in a clear, musical voice, in a foreign
tongue, a tongue long dead and unspoken, a strain of
full and ancient verse."
* * • ' * *

"Like a vision come to him at his bidding from the
depths of the west, he saw her through the flood of living
gold that flowed behind and around her."

"The sea-worn mariner that has found land, the tra-

yeller that rests after, the burning desert crossed, never
knew so deep a sense of freshness and repose as this
wearied man of the world in that moment. A.b, love
there is something in thee beyond the light fondness of
youthful lovers ! Thy spring is all hope, thy summer
is all life, but deeper in its ardour, more beautiful in its
mingled passion and strength is thine autumn."

Mr. Truefitt, of the Burlington Arcade, has enlight-
ened the public as to the objects and purposes of his
really exquisitely decorated salon—namely, " A Toilet
Club," new in its essential characteristics and select in
its subscribers. A something of this kind was much
wanted at the west, and we know of no one better able
to carry it out in its integrity than Truefitt, who has a
perfect right, in the abundance of his appliances, to give
his patrons the novelty and comfort of apartments fit
for royalty itself.
• GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY OF CANADA. The statement
in the recent advices from Canada that the Provincial_
Government may probably be induced to withdraw their
support from the proposal for a fresh grant of 900,0001.
to the Grand Trunk Railway is affirmed by the best in-
formed persons on this side to be wholly erroneous. •Tbe
measure is understood to have been made the subject of
a fierce party contest, and it will consequently serve xis
the pretext for political attacks and personal viete_poeur!!
tion ; but, with regard to its ultimate success, nt_
odposbit.
appears t,) be entertained. At the same time, h
tive allegation in these advices that the en_tiree. w_oerkees of
the line will be stopped unless the demand
be I w
hd oe nl
yt
tractors be complied with is also stated
foundation. Assertions to that effect a
announce
withheld, they will
disseminated in the province, but the company
that, whether the grant bat
otermber next, and will
open 265 miles in August or"
from hv e bbeeenwwiti
in one or two years from that d te have carried the line through
GREAT RAILWAY UNDER-
SPEEDY CONSTRUCTION .ap
.13_roreikntvesill.e to Toronto
lis said about the extraordinarily
TAKINGS.--A great de,_a im ean Railway has been
short time time in which
_tin.
.. But it is not, perhaps, gene-.
cuted—and deservtotity
er 8:f which the English nation has
peaitieesi-
rally known—
Peto ard Co.have just . y and
(Messrs.
also
nit: be
f) d—that
Ltoernmd
otinhnsettedosathmeem within
Its length is 160 m. iles, between the cities
the three year-, the last important link that was wanted.
to complete the line o r . ,
some double road, of fi
with stations complete. On it there
orafnLeaynoseaa.nd Avignon. It is a
class,rat
are from four
to six miles of tunnelling. It passes through
and spans with-fi
stu-
pendous granite cuttings,
of 1852 before the first sod was turned. , was
three of the largest rivers in France. I
DIE MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, ntheebridges
May 17.—The Royal
middle
mail steamship Atrato, Captain Woolley, left this after-
noon with the fortnightly mails for the West Indies
and Pacific,
55 passengers,
full general cargo. The Tay,
7,0001. in specie, 4,0001.
value in jewellery, and a
daily. The
irortion of the above mails, is ex-
pectedsteamer Madrid,
with the homeward
_aptain Cook, with the mails for
eninsular and Oriental Company's
Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon,
h
3o3n,paCssaednigz,ersands2. m e
Gibraltar,l sailed
this afternoon with ie
for Lisbon, and 22,40 N. for- Cadiz—total, 13dizl t7otal, 36,1521.,
besides-the usual cargo. The Iberia, Captain stiffCh
with the next homeward portion of these mails.
petted about the 25th inst. The Euxine, Captain Weeks,
from Alexandria, Malta, and Gibraltar,
with the India
and Mediterranean mails, is -looked for about the 23d
inst. The Sultan, Captain Burney,
Will leave with the
should she return' in time, will convey h P ninsular
India and Mediterranean mails on the 20tht_.heeTr_lideeu:bieesrioa:
mails of the 27th. The Tagus. Captain Joy, lately re-
turned from the India and Mediterr.anean station is
Wotton, with dates from Xs*
undergoing repairs previous_ to resuming
the Peninsular route. The United. States' mail steam•
to arrive on Friday
or Saiurday.
YshoiprkStortLhoe76iB;bCianoPZinis expected .