The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-28 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

,n; and Comprehensive Dictionary of the Englisi,
Language, as Spoken and Written. By Hyde
Clarke, D.C.L., &c. John Weale.
The public is greatly indebted to Mr. Weale, and
still more to the author, for this important acquisi-
tion to its philological stores. The Dictionary is
preceded by an excellent English Grammar, in
which the author has " thought it right to look ra-
ther to the spoken than the written tongue, and to
seek his standard among that body of southern
English among whom our greatest writers and
speakers have arisen." A noticeable feature of the
Grammar is the author's careful abstinence from La-
tinisms, in order that he may be the more readily
understood by children and working men. Of the
Dictionary itself we feel no hesitation in speaking in
the most laudatory terms. To self-teachers it will be
especially valuable, while we are ignorant of any
class which will not find it a serviceable hand-book.
Unlike abridgments which only give words which
everybody knows, and standard dictionaries which
omit spoken words which everybody wants to
know, it is a dictionary of the English language,
as spoken and written, and, by an ingenious ar-
rangement, contains, in remarkably small space, at
least sixty thousand more words than any other
dictionary yet published. The meanings, of which
there are 10,000 additional for old words, are given
by words of English or Anglo-Saxon root, in order
to their being more readily understood.

The World (yid its Beautiful Lights and Sympa-
thies. By James Waymouth, author of the
" Crucifixion," and other poems. James Black-

wood.
The purchasers -of Mr. Waymouth's preceding
poems will doubtless recognise fresh claims to their
admiration in the present volume. It is charac-
terised by an elevated moral purpose and feeling,
and considerable facility of expression. Exigent
critics may object to some of the author's numerous
compound epithets, and take exception to the
quality and arrangement of some of his metaphors ;
while others will discern passages which do him
credit, and which will be perused with pleasure.

The New Quarterly Review. Hookham and Sons.
The April number of this useful review and 'di-
gest of current literature is hardly inferior to its
predecessors in variety and interest. In its resume
of French literature we are informed that "in
Paris there are, on a moderate computation, one
hundred autobiographies in course of publication ! "
If this be so our Parisian friends are to be pitied.
Among several meritorious papers one on the
" Clubs of London" is, perhaps, the most notice-
able.

The Screw Propeller. A Letter to Captain G. T.
Scobell, R.N., M.P. By Captain E. J. Car-
penter, R.N. Seeley.
Many of our readers are aware that a sum of
twenty thousand pounds' remunerative compensa-
tion was voted by the House of Commons to the
inventor or inventors of the screw. To set forth
the author's claim to the title, and to show how
the money has been misapplied, are the objects of
this pamphlet. To all appearance Capt. Carpenter
is an ill-used man.

Professor Johnston's Instructions for the Analysis of

Soils, &c. Blackwood.

A third edition of this valuable little work, in
which limestones, clays, ironstones, manures, and
natural waters have been included among the sub-
stances to be analysed. A copious index also has
been added, and the result is a help to practical
and economical analysis, of which tyros in chemis-
try will find it to their profit to avail themselves.
Few instructors are so lucid and generally intel-
ligible as Professor Johnston.

My Wanderings. Being Travels in the Fast in
1846-7, 1850-1, 1852-53. By John Gadsby,
formerly of Manchester. With map and numer-
ous engravings on wood. John Gadsby.
One of those works which possess the elements
of success, being noticeable for observation, good
sense, and a great varie'zy of useful information,
conveyed in a popular style. Reference is fre-
quently made to Scripture, and the author
seems to have taken pleasure in throwing light on
such of its dark passages as owe their obscurity to
our ignorance of Eastern customs.

The Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental
Pathology. Edited by Forbes Winslow, M.D.,
D.C.L. John Churchill.

The April number of this ably-conducted journal
contains papers of general, as well as professional,
interest. Among these are an article on the
" Pathology of Intemperance," " Critical Remarks
on the 'Plea of Insanity," and a paper on "The
Responsibility of the Insane."

A Digest of County Court Cases decided in the
Superior Courts on Motion or on Appeal. By
Sir George Stephen, of Gray's-inn, barrister-at-
law. John Crockford.
A useful compilation, in a somewhat novel form,
of cases, involving (mainly) the' practice of the
County Courts on points of law peculiar to their
jurisdiction.

The Crown Lands of Australia. Being an Expo-
sition of the Land Regulations, and of the Claims
and Grievances of the Crownenant, ctc By
William Campbell. John Smith ands Son,. Glas-
gow.
In addition to a clear and temperate expression
of the grievances of the squatters or Crown Tenants
of Australia, in connection with the land regula-
tions, backed by documentary evidence, the reader
will find a few practical hints upon emigration and
the gold fields. The author, lately a member of
the Legislative Council of Victoria, appears to be
" well up" to his task.

Parisian Etiquette. (guide to the Manners of
French Society in Pm is. John J. Shaw.
A little handbook, translated from the French,
and likely to be of service to such of our readers as
intend to visit Paris during the approaching
Exhibition.

Russia and her .Czars. Illustrated by Engravings
of the Kremlin and the Church of Saint Basil,
Moscow, from Original Views. By E. J. Bra-
bazon, author of " Outlines of the History of
Ireland," Sic. Robert Theobald.
An acceptable contribution to the general stock
of historical- literature. The history of " Russia
and ber CzaA" is brought down from the earliest
period to the preSent time, and but little of its ro-
mantic interest is lost in the narration. The work
contains a large amount of information, and is well
adapted both for young readers and old.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland has commuted the
sentence of death passed at the last Tipperary assizes on
Michael Hogan and Timothy Ryan, for the murder of
Denis Molony, into transportation for life.
STAMP ON BANKERS' CHEQUES.—Objections continue
to be urged against the proposed penny stamp on cheques,
from the effect it would have in causing coin to be used
in place of cheques in all small transactions. It seems
generally admitted, however, that a suggestion made
by Mr. 3. A. Franklin, and alluded to on Thursday, that
cheques should be allowed to be drawn without a stamp,
but that a stamp should be required to be affixed to
them before they could be paid, would obviate this dif-
ficulty entitely, since, as the tax would then fall on the
receiver, the payer would have no inducement to incur
the risk and inconvenience of using coin.
CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS.—The Master-General
of the Ordnance has been pleased to nominate W. B. Le
Geyt, Esq., son of Lieut.-Colonel Le Geyt,"Royal Jersey
Militia, o Fonthill, St. Heliers, Isle of Jersey, to a
clerkship in the Ordnance storekeeper's department,
Gun-wharf, Portsmouth. Acting Assistant-Surgeon R.
Webb has been appointed assistant-surgeon, vice Fasson,
promoted, in the Ordnance medical department. Mr.
Edwin J. Jelley, clerk in the Royal Engineer Office at
Woolwich, has been removed to the Royal Engineers'
Office at Manchester, vice Mr. J. J. Holmes, deceased.
There is a vacancy in the Comptroller's Account Legal
Quays, London, caused by the death of Mr. George St.
Quintin.—Civil Service Gazette.,
THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF THE POLICE WHO
VOLUNTEERED TO GO TO THE CRIMEA.—It will be re-
collected that the distressing case of Mrs. Pocock, the
widow of Sergeant, Pocock, of the P division of police,
who was one of several members of the Metropolitan
Police force who had volunteered to go out to the
Crimea as deputy store-keepers, has more than once
been brought under the notice of the Hon. G. C. Nor-
ton, and that he had not only expressed a strong opinion
of toe manner in which her claims for assistance from
the Patriotic Fund had been met, but kindly afforded
temporary relief for herse and her five helpless chil-
dren. Mrs. Pocock is now receiving assistance from the
fund, and will continue to do so in common with all
other widows of the service.
Goss BRUTALITY TO A WIFE IN HER CONFINEMENT;
—Charles Canton, a dentist, residing at 41, Myddleton-
street, Clerkenwell, was charged before Mr. Tyrwhitt
with ill-treating his wife. Elizabeth Canton, a care-
worn looking Woman, who carried an infant in her arras,
said, the defendant is my husband to my sorrow. Nine
days since I was confined of this -baby, and daily since
that he has been knocking me about in the bed until I
could bear it no longer. On Thursday, the eighth day,
i
hie conduct was so brutal to me that I was obliged to
get out of bed, and take the baby with me, and
ra-
plainaectro slappednont
snt herurae
td e fdtahcwee
witness,ti
tit, said that since her confinement the defendant
with
t hebed,gentleman.
ahn ds tch
or
ne
dw u
Ite ht
ri
.wn
Tga
yssgo out
of the house. A poor woman who nursed .the co
Call such a man a gentleman ? Some persons have
dailyit rhlda eteldr:
strange ideas of the word gentleman—indeed I should
r atws tl et
badr—
call him quite the reverse. The .worthy magistrate sent
him to 6,months' bard labour.

Prussian merchants, and as a proof of that he might
state that they were known to
.pay 20 per cent. for dis-
count. But capital was not all, that wa§• required. A

personal acquaintance with the agents was necessary,
and without such acquaintance capital would be of very
little avail. Now, how was it possible that such a class
of men could suddenly spring up in Russia ? And in the
meantime, in what condition would she be ? Her exports
would be destroyed ; her rouble would be of the value
of a French assignat ; her financed would be in the most
inextricable confusion in the course of two years ; and
the soldier landlord—on whose fidelity the sovereign
must depend on the day of battle—would be rendered
desponding, despairing, and disaffected. , A- prohibi-
tion to trade would have taught him not merely that
war was restrictive of the serfs, and burdensome In the
shape of taxes, but would have brought him to beg-
gary and ruin. Now, he would ask, could the war be
carried on for a year under such circumstances I He
himself saw something of the temper of the nobles in
1824, when the insurrection of the following year was
as freely talked of as the clubs of London now talked 'of
the efficiency of her Majesty's Government. (Hear,
hear, and laughter.) An indefinite sort of notion pre-
vailed that this country would be ruined by the stoppage
of the Russian trade. But was there any foundation for
that supposition ? None whatever. The Russian ex-
ports were not of that rare kind that no other country
could produce. He would take for instance the article
of hemp. Now, Russian hemp was not the best hemp
that came into the market, Manilla hemp was better
by 16 per cent. Hemp was obtained from Belgium, the
North of France, and Lombardy. In India there was
a superabundance of all the materials obtained from
Russia. That country absolutely swarmed with
them, and the while vegetable creation seemed to
resolve itself into hemp and flax, and if not into
animal tallow, at least into a substitute for that
article. Bekides all these sources of supply, he might
mention the Himalayas and the Philippine islands. The
nett'e was a most valuable article, and produced linen
equal to. Irish, and the ropes made from it were as good
as the best Russian. A fibre of a Russian rope broke with
160 lbs., whilst a similar nettle fibre sustained 400 lbs.
without breaking. Besides all these substitutes for Rus-
sian produce, iron cables and wire were fast coming into
use amongst the great shipping companies, and even in
the royal dockyards. It bad been stated by Mr. Noble,
one of the great hemp brokers, that if her Majesty's
Ministers would declare it unlawful to trade with Russia
for
essuecthextainle fabricsimpetutsha wt othuis ldcobuentgryivewnould be
to the
growers
able to compete with Russia; even with act open trade, in
oneyoefatr h,
price, quality, and quantity. (Hear, hear.) Then with
respect to Russian flax—that article was completely
beaten out of the field by Belgium, the flax of which
country was better by 12 per cent. In India there
was an inexhaustible supply of that material. The
country best adapted for the growth of flax was Ireland

it was no new crop there, because, in some of the north
ern provinces, it was already cultivated extensively. Sir
John 11/Weil, the celebrated engineer, upon the faith
that the blockade was to be strict, laid 600 acres under
flax ; but, now that the market was flooded, he could
not get a price for it. With regard to tallow, before
the war was declared, Russ;an animal tallo'w was losing
its price in the market, as it was being superseded by
vegetable oil, while taking the duty off soap produced .a
great effect in extending the number of substitutes for
animal tallow. In Price's patent candle manufactory
there was not one cask of animal tallow used ; it was
palm oil and other vegetable oils they used. Palm'oil
was chiefly cultivated along the coast of Africa where
slavery abounds,,and since the slave trade diminished as
the produce of palm oil increased, they had an additional
reason for rescinding the Order in Council of 1854. He
believed France almost entirely abstained from the use
of animal tallow, substituting for it what was commonly
called the African ground nut, which they obtained
from Algeria. These facts showed the facility with
which substitutes could be found for tallow, but to show
how necessity produced substitutes for anything, he
might mention the experience of the Irish Peat Com-
pany. They were in the habit of extracting oil—naphtha
oil—from peat, which they oli.Tinally valued at is a gal-
lon; but it turned out that this oil had high lubricating
powers, and in a few months the price rose from is. to ss.
a gallon, the augmentation being caused by the substitu-
tion of this oil for tallow. The present was a peculiarly
favourable time for striking F. a blow at Russian produce ;
its value bad considerably fallen in our market of late,
and if advantage were taken of the present moment
the trade of Russia would be destroyed withont,
comparatively speaking, inflicting any injury upon
ourselves. Stop the funds by wnich the trade of Russia
was carried on, and you destroyed it at once. He did
not attach much importance to the machinery by which
that end was to be attained, but the plan pro-

posed by the petitioners was to compel an importer to
certify before a consul or an agent appointed for the
purpose, either at the Customs or elsewhere, that the
produce he wished to import was not the production of
Russia. There might be occasional cases of fraud, but
as the onus of proof would rest with the proprietor, he
thmight Government would have no difficulty in esta-
blishing such machinery as should at once determine
whether the produce was Russian or not. War must
always be attended with evils and difficulties to trade,
but iu the case of Russia she had the least power of al-
most any nation to inflict injury upon our commerce,
because, during the time of peace, she did all she could
in the way of hostile tariffs to cripple British trade.
Why, he found that, in the last years to which the ex-
isting returns were made up, the whole of the British
exports to Russia amounted to 1,228,4041., while we
received from Rqssia imports valued at 9,20,041/., so
that the balance of stopping the Russian trade would be
greatly against Russia. But be disclaimed the idea of
treating this matter in a niggardly, huckstering spirit ;
they had no right to set off the paltry produce of
Russia in hides and tallow against the blood
and sinews of Englishmen ; but still it would only
cost 1-80th of our exports to reduce the imports
of gold and silver into Russia by something like
7,792,4371. He thought the bargain would be a good one.
Well, now, that would be precisely the effect of the step
he was urging Upon Government ; and although it might
be opposed to the strict principles of political economy,
yet it was peculiarly alapted to a state of war, while it
was best calculated to hasten peace. He hoped it would
be adopted without delay. (Hear.)
Lord STANLEY (of Alderley) said with regard to
the papers there would be no objection whatever to pro-
duce them. The noble earl complained that the
blockade last year was not strictly kept, but in reply
to that complaint he must remind their lordships of the
circumstances undenwhich the blockade was instituted.
Wewers engaged in a war with Russia in.concert with
an ally who entertained a different opinion to ourselves
with regard to mercantile matters. They recognised
the right of neutrals to carry property of the enemy
without being subject to the right of search, and that was
one reason which rendered it necessary to deal tem-
porarily with the b olkade: But there was yet an-
other circumstance which rendered that necessary. Ad-
vances of money had been made by English houses upon
the Russian produce of the year, and in point of fact a
good deal of the Russian produce lying in the ports of
the Baltic and White Sea was the property of English
merchants. If, therefore, the blockade had been imme-
diately and strictly carried into effect, we should not
have been injuring Russia, but our own merchants. For
these reasons it was deemed expedient that the period
for commencing the blockade should be extended, and
accordingly an Order in Council was published for
that purpose, but that order had only reference to
British merchants. It in no way altered the law,
but was issued simply to meet the case he had
mentioned. The blockade, however, was strictly en-
forced in the Baltic ; but from causes which bad already
been explained in the other House of Parliament it was
not so stringently kept in the Black Sea. The effect of
this blockade bad been greatly to cripple the Russian
trade ; indeed, by the returns which he held in his hand,
it would seem that the importation of Russian flax, hemp,
and tallow was reduced last year, as compared with for-
mer years, by at least one-half ; while it was only reason-
able to suppose that the trade of Russia with other
countries had been reduced in a corresponding degree.
With regard to the proposal of the noble earl there
would be great difficulty in carrying it out, because
the certificate process which he wished to establish could
,be easily evaded. How were the authorities to decide
what was and what was not Russian produce when
under the existing Customs law any produce which had
been subjected to the slightest manufacturing operation
became a manufactured article, and was treated, not as
the produce of the country where it was originally
produced, but as the produce of' the country where
the manufacturing operation had taken place Here,
then, would be a fruitful source of evasion, whereas
on the other hand, if an attempt were made to enforce
the regulations the noble earl wished' to establish, we
should be running theyisk of creating hostilities on the
part of countries that were now favourable to us. As for
the future, the blockade would be strictly enforced in
the East as well as the North, and when they considered
that already half the trade of Russia had been destroyed,
and the whole of her mercantile marine swept from every
sea in the world, and when they recollected that the
Russian manufacturers depended entirely upon her im-
poi ts of cotton, he thought their 'lordships would agree
with him that the Diable earl was hardly justified in ray-
ing that the blockade of last year had proved inoperative
and inefficient. ,

Lord BERNERS said it was of great importance to
the mercantile interest of this country that they should
know what were the real intentions of Government with
regard to blockading Russian ports, and now that it had
been announced that the blockade would be strictly en-
forced both in the White Sea and the Baltic, he trusted
that determination would be steadily adhered to.
The Earl of ALBEMARLE spoke a few words in
reply, and announced that on a future occasion he should
submit his views on this subject in the form of a resolu-
tion, upon which ho should take the sense of the house.
The returns were then ordered, and their lordships
adjourned shortly before nine o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
The Inverury and Old .Meldruni Railway Bill was
ordered to he considered.
On the motion that the England and Ireland Ithproved
Communication Bill be read a second time,
Mr. CAIRNS moved as an amendment that the bill
be read a second time that day month.
Mr. FRENCH opposed the amendment, and, after a
short discussion, in which Mr. Kirk, Mr. Vance, Mr.
Lindsay, Lord Naas, Mr. H. Herbert, and other hon.
members took part,
Mr. BOUVERIE expressed an opinion that putting
off the bill for a month would be putting it off for the ses-
sion, and he should give his vote for taking the second
reading at once.
Mr. CAIRNS said he should not trouble the house to
divide ; and
The bill was read a second time.
PETITIONS.
non from Petitions were presented by Sir W. Ye!

THE SITN, LONDON. SATURDA_Y EVENING, APRIL 28. 1855

Armagh against the Maynooth grant ; by Mr. Horsfal],
from Liverpool, with a similar prayer ; by Mr. 0. Gore,
from a place in Shropshire, prayin,..7 that, the public-
Louses might be closed the whole of Sunday ; by Mr.
Dundas, from a place in Scotland, against the proposed
Scotch spirit duty.-
NOTICES OF MOTION.
•

Mr. LAYARD gave notice that on an early day he
should move a series of resolutions to the effect that the
house viewed with deep and increasing concern the actual
state of the nation. Whilst atall times the administration
of public affairs should be entrusted to those beat qualified
it was the. more necessary that there should be so at a
moment of great national emergency. That the manner
in which the interests of party favouring influence had
been consulted in preference to merit in appointments to
the highest offices of State diplomacy, the army, and
other branches of the public service, was opposed to the
best interests of the State, and had already given rise to
many great misfortunes, and were calculatect to bring
discredit on the national character, and involve the
country in much distress. That the house would give its
support to any Ministry which in the present emergency
should propose to place the different departments on a
proper and efficient basis in those respects.