The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-21 00:00:00

I Wards in like manner, the victim reoeiving ih tl4*
+ ) latter a splash of whitewash and a severe reprimand
Ilius- . from the Commissioner. Common-place and trivial
G. R tl d e.
Every Boy's Book. By George Forrest.
',though the story is in itself, its purpose is,
theless, humane enough to admit of a
4-, of by way of commendation.
passing word
never-
Antrated by Harvey and Weir.
will ou e
old friend with a new face be atone©
recognised in this " Complete Encyclopaedia ,
Sports and Amusements." Every Boy's Book is in
reality nothing else than The Boy's Own, took,A Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith. By his
slightly extended, perhaps, and from first tii last Daughter, Lady Holland. Longman, Brown,
differently arranged. It is, however, very far Green, and Longmans.
from possessing in any respect the merit of prigi- Nothing can be more refreshing in these days of
nality. Yet as the result of somewhat elabprate Pharisaism and cant than the perusal of a work like
labour in the way of compilation, the book is alto- this. It is like leaving the enervating air of the
gether in no small degree meritorious. It hdd long i city to breathe the pure mountain breeze, and
been anticipated, as we have already observed, by luxuriate among the sturdy beauties of nature.
its prototype and predecessor. Its editor poss4ssed,
consequently, at starting, the advantage of That- ,The book is quite a godsend. Under any circum-
stances the memoirs of a wit and humourist, must
ever had been previously effected by earlier works
be sadly mismanaged if they do not insure some
of a similar character, other volumes besides pages of pleasant reading ; but when the wit and
the one above mentioned, volumes, for ex- .\
ample, like that charming one pub.cishecl vigour and determination, and employed with ex-
some years ago, and still retaining a considerable ,humouri (of- the .first water) have been allied to
share of popularity among the members of the , traordinary success in trying times in the cause of
rising generation, the conversational treatise en- 1 liberty and truth, the reading may be expected to
titled "Philosophy in Sport made Science in be •
instructive and health-inspiring also, and such
Earnest." Nevertheless, forgetting for a time as was no ordinary wit and humourist, and rarely has
is the case in the work before us. Sydney Smith
much as possible all that had been hitherto ac- there been a more practical and fearless philan-
complished, we must perforce accord a high 'need „ . .
of commendation to the zeal displayed by isir. 1 I,h
and instrue
anahiasrme
by
filialoirs, pthieetiye,fonroet,
only
yicaiomuuslsye
prerp°Pairsetd3 as they
Forrest in the bringing together within a little
Meat also brace you for the discharge
more than six hundred beautifully illustrated
lo • wisdom of the man outlive the
of the duties- ante. The eheery manliness, vigorous
pages, so many lively and welcome particulars cal-
culated "to afford recreation and instruction to gm, and merry
boys in their leisure"—being, in fact, as the book noble deeds they so materially aided in achieving.—.
is called, " A Complete Encyclopaedia of Sports ine advocate of the removal of religious and civil
disabilities has left behind him an arsenal of effec-
and Amusements." Let any schoolboy procure a five weapons against bigotry and intolerance.
copy of this pleasant repository of in-door and
real piety and
He has done more—he has demonstrated that a
out-of-door entertainments, and we warrant him he hatred of cant and Pharisaism is compatible with a
will, with a little care, soon become an adept in
fun and frolic, and a welcome acuisition to the
best that couldanhaaveteiThoughhim,.
we file
sacred office
playground. Armed only with 'a pocketfull ofvbeeen benevolence.selselected
t e
was none of his seeking, and not the
these wonderful little pellets, known even to every shown that he set about persevered in the dis-
mischievous urchin of the gutter as Marbles, he charge of its duties with and.
will soon learn from Mr. Forrest what varieties of his whimsical raT conscientious
fidelity. To
excitement may he won from " taws" and " allys" 1 mg against Dissenters may be
opposed his services in.t.li- al for
by the mysteries of three-holes, nine-holes, bounce- ration and his love of pea
a cause of religious tole-
eye, tip-shares, snaps•and-snops-and-bounce-about, peace ; and when his merry
wit seems to verge nigliest towards the unbecom-
the pyramid, and picking-the-plums ! Then under ing,
it should not be forgotten h
the generic head of Tops what diversities will lie ow native
to the man was this effervescence,
not find enumerated—whether the toy chosen for it sparkled with wisdom. To those and how
the nonce be the hardy, little, spiked, veteran admiration of his high and sterling
qualities
whose
Peg-top I or the big, burly, aldermanic slave
public man, whose heart was ever " outbiesr ast a
of the lash, the Whip-Top !or the drowsy, with a love of justice and truth," can receiveu slittnlg
old, melodious, roundabout Humming-Top, if any accession ; but who were unacquainted with
e
painted and glittering in the dance like a
his private character, the picture presented of him
harlequin ! Or again, under the comprehensive in his social and domestic relations will be deeply
designation of Balls, what different kinds of games gratifying. The life of the domestic circle -s- e-i-
-are there not implied—from that elastic compound mindful of " the rights and feelings" of those
of bladder, leather, and air, the football to that around him—and the model adviser, doctor (!), and
bounding sphere of whipcord and india-rubber the friend of his poorer parishioners—we find him in
famous racket-ball ! From the duller orb of every capacity doing his utmost to spread happi
worsted, battered over the grass in golfing, or in ness around him. In short, we have a picture of
hockey, to the white compact little globe of string a parson Fielding would have delighted to poi.-
and kid, employed in horney-holes and rounders 1 tray—so much kindness and simplicity was mingled.
Besides all which toys, are there not yet remaining with his shrewd sense, and, in the best sense, prac-
to he enumerated, as the spolia opinta of every tical wit. The first volume is devoted to his me-
skilful boy on a sunny holiday, kites, and hoops, moirs, and the second, edited by Mrs. Austin, to
and popguns—the sling, the quoit, and the boome- his correspondence (with many of the most diAin-
rang dutch-pins, nine-pins, and skittles—
guished public characters of the day, as well as his
and with these, too, the little tinselled graces,
relatives and friends). Like Lady Holland, Mrs.
and those famous implements in the thwacking
Austin appears to have made a skilful as well as a
contest between parchment and feathered-cork,
conscientious use of the materials in hand, and
popularly hight battle-dore and shuttle-cock 1 Hav- pays a cheerful and respectful tribute to his
ing introduced his young readers to sources of
memory.
amusement such as these, adapted to their immature
tastes as children, and having previously explained
in all due form the secrets of Hop-scotch, of I-spy,
of Prisoner's Base, of Leap-frog and Baste-the-
Bear, of Follow-my-leader and King-of-the-Castle,
of Hare and Hounds, of Duck and Drake, of Hop-
skip-and-jump, and the like pastimes requiring
no toys for their performance, the author of
Every Boy's Book enters upon higher grounds, ac-
quainting his 'host of pupils with all kinds of
athletic recreations. He teaches them, after the
pleasantest fashion, gymnastics and skating, swim-
ming and archery, angling .and cricket. In the
chapter relating to Horsemanship he carries them
with him not merely through all the paces, walking,
trotting, cantering, galloping, but imparts to those
who list a number of useful hints or ' wrinkles,"
about gibbing, shying, bolting, kicking, rearing,
stumbling, and all manner of other tricks of equine
restiveness. While in the chapter on Driving he
goes out of his way to explain the difference of nu-
merous well-known vehicles, the stage-coach, the
chariot, the post-chaise, thelandau, the barouche, the
phaeton, the cabriolet, the gig, the tilbury, the curri-
cle, the stanhope, the denneb, the brougham, the
britzscbka and the droitzschka. It seems, however,
rather out of place, by the way, for this instructor
of youth to inform his readers in regard to the
brougham that it is " the most convenient of all
the carriages, and, like its noble inventor, adapted to
a great variety of purposes"—(a rather poverty-
stricken little joke)—as entirely out of place as it is
to reprobate further on one of the most agreeable
and smooth-running of our hack-conveyances, the
Hansom's safety cab, as at once "clumsy, awkward,
and dangerous." Under the same category of
Athletic Recreations areincluded instructions about
boating and sailing the latter section being
briefly explanatory of matters relating to the sloop,
the cutter, the brig, the schooner, the smack,
the canoe, the galliot, the junk, the yacht, the
felucca, and the brigantine. Another division of
the work supplies an abundant store of information
to the Young Naturalist—acquainting him, first of
all, with the most approved method of catching
birds, whether by the aid of decoy-birds or by that
of bird-lime, whether by the common brick trap,
or the simple seive trap, or by the net, or by the
springle. Information is next given in reference
to all the varieties of singing birds—the linnet, the
goldfinch, the bullfinch, the thrush, the skylark,
the blackbird, the woodlark, the titlark, the black-
cap, the robin, the wren, the tomtit, the yellowham-
mer, the chaffinch, the redstart, the redpoll, and the
nightingale. Next, of foreign Talking Birds, includ-
ing the macaw, the parrot, and the cockatoo, and of
native talking birds—such, for example, as the
starling, the raven, the jay, the jackdaw, and the
magpie. In the descriptions dedicated to pigeons,
after due mention has been made of the stockdove,
the ringdove, and the turtledoVe, everything that
could reasonably be expected upon the subject may
here be learnt in relation to tumblers, carriers,
pouters, runts, fantails, jacobins, ruffs, nuns,
croppers, turbits, and trumpeters. As later on,
also, in reference to aquatic fowls and domestic
poultry, to rabbits and squirrels, guinea-pigs, and
white mice, gold and silver fish, bees and silk-
worms. Nevertheless, as though all the foregoing
were insufficient, the volume before us comprises
three other distinct divisions or compartments.
One miscellaneous in its character, another
scientific, and another yet in elucidation
of certain parlour amusements—the last-mentioned
including chess and draughts, puzzles, and cha-
rades. The scientific pursuits relating to no less
lofty and (some of them) abstruse themes than those
furnished by arithmetic, geometry, chemistry, gal-
vanism, magnetism, electricity, pnuematics, optics,
mechanics, hydraulics, acoustics, and photography.
The chapter upon miscellaneous matters with
which the volume is brought to a conclusion—
being descriptive, successively, of carpentery and
fireworks, of secret writing and gardening, of
fencing and of broadsword. So ends the book with
a flourish of quartos and tierce, of advance and
parade, of retreat, lounge, and recover ! A wel-
come gift it would be—this animated encyclopaedia
of sports and amusements whether among the
snows of Christmas or among the green leaves o"
Midsummer.
s

LITERATURE'.

A School Atlas of Astronomy. By Alex. Keith
Johnston, F.R.S.E., &c. William Blackwood
an ions.

An atlas of the heavenly bodies, combining
" elementary facts with scientific precision," has
long been a desideratum, and this is supplied in an
ad.mi.rable manner in the present work. It corn-
prises, in eighteen beautifully engraved and coloured
plates, a complete series of illustrations of the
heavenly bodies, drawn, we are assured, with the
greatest care from original and authentic docu-
ments, under the superintendence of Mr. Hind,
the eminent astronomer, who edits the entire
work. In the concluding six maps the position of
every star has been calculated, and its place pro-
jected from the catalogue of 1850, prepared under
the direction of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science. Besides this there are
other, and hardly less convincing, proofs of the
care and labour with which the Atlas has been got
up. It is uniform in size and style with Mr.
Johnston's well-known series of elementary At-
lases, the value of which it- will greatly increase.
Not only is it adapted for beginners, but it will
also prove useful to adepts in the science.

ROYAL CALEDONIAN ASYLUM.

The 38th anniversary festival of this society was held
yesterday at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-
street. In the unavoidable absence of his Grace the
Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the Duke of Buccleuch
took the chair, supported by Sir Charles Forbes, Bart.,
and many other ceebrities of the Scottish Society, Stc:
There were very few of the guests who attended in the
national costume.

The vocalists engaged were the Misses Wells, Mr.
Fielding, Mr. Charles, and Mr. E. Williams ; but to the
names announced we were pleased to find added those
of Mrs. Charles and Miss Ada Taylor. In addition to
the band of the Royal Caledonian Asylum were
Ross, the Queen's piper ; M'Kenzie, the piper of the
Duke of Sutherland ; the piper of the Marquis of Staf-
ford ; Campbell, the piper of Sir Charles Forbes ; and
Wilson, the piper of the Caledonian Society.
The noble Chairman gave, "The health of her Majesty
the Queen." Under ordinary circumstances it would be
sufficient to name her Majesty ; but it must be recol-
lected that her Majesty was the patroness of this society.
Her Majesty had shown in every way her appreciation
of the services of the army and navy ; she had not been
content with the information conveyed to her by de-
spatches, but she had been pleased to make a personal
inspection of the gallant heroes who had been wounded.
in the Crimea.
National Anthem. .

The CHAIRMAN next gave "His Royal Highness Prince
Albert, Albert Duke of Rothesay and Lord of the Isles,
and the rest of the Royal Family." (Great cheering.)
In that toast he begged to include the name specially of
the'Duke of Cambridge, who had so much distinguished
himself in the Crimea. (Cheers.)
Glee—" 0, merry may the keel row."
The CHAIRMAN next gave " The Army and Navy,
and may victory crown their arms."

Sir CHARLESFORBES returned thanks for the army,
not forgetting the Highland brigade. (Cheers.)
Sir JOHN HERON MAXWELL returned thanks on the
part of the navy ; and he was followed by Captain FISH-
BOURNE, the representative of the Patriotic Fund.
The Rev. Dr. CUMMING read the report, from which
we give the following extracts :
"The war has invested this asylum with new and most
eloquent claims, Numbers of our Scottish countrymen
have fallen in the Crimea, like their ancestors of old—
, "4 With their backs to the field and their feet to the foe.'
They have nobly acted—they have heroically died. The
sacrifices of the fallen, and the sufferings of the wounded,
lead for liberality to the children they have left behind
em.
" Very soon after the victory of the Alma a movement
was made by the directors to raise a special fund to enable
them to admit at once, without the formalities of an elec-
tion, 25 orphans of Scottish soldiers, sailors, and marines
killed in the East, and 100 children of thaSuottish soldiers,
sailors, and marines wounded in the East, at a reduced
rata. Your noble president, the Right Hon. Lord Kin-
naird, to whose personal exertions in this matter you are
deeply indebted, and other noblemen and gentlemen, libe-
rally responded to our appeal, and upwards of 2,0001. were
raised for this special object—a sum we implore and urge
you to enable us to double in the ensuing year.
" We have ample room for more than twice the present
number of children; we have able and laborious teachers in
both departments of our school ; we have watchful auditors
of accounts, a rigid economy in the management of our
finances; and all we now need, next to the blessing of God,
is your determination this night to enjoy the luxury of
emptying your purses and troubling your bankers in behalf
of this noble Christian charity. The children now in the
asylum, amounting to 4', boys and 38 girls, have been ex-
amined in all the usual branches of education, and have
given ample evidence of the labours of their teachers and
the attention they have paid to their studies. The healthy
and happy appearance of the children evinces that they
are the inmates of a home.
" The teachers have done their duty ; the directors have
done theirs. The gallant men—Highlander and Lowlander,
of whom not a few of these are the children—have
done their duty ; the green graves in the Crimea, with
dmbuittting to
victorious her
nothing but the dewdrops and the sunshine to gild them,
and a nation's grateful acclamation, are their noblest
monument.
Sovereigiihasdoanrds her shattered
e her pa in
a
"presence Our
at the Horse Guards
heroes, and with all the condescension of a S • overeign, and
all the tenderness of a woman, speaking kind words and.
bestowing Royal marks of approval ' • and his Royal High-
ness the Duke of Rothesay has done hi is, by presenting 250
guineas to the asylum. It now remains then
for you to do
your duty."
Sir John Heron Maxwell here introduced to the at-
tention of the meeting those
the benefits of this charity, and more especially those
who had been admitted who were the °Than children of
many of the gallant heroes, non-commissioned officers
and others, who had either fallen in battle in the Crimea
or had died under the influence of the various diseases
which led to such fatal results in the Crimea.
td

Living for Appearances. A Tale. By the Brothers
Mayhew. James Blackwood.
The merest trifle as a story—one scarcely re-
deemed from the rank of the utterly frivolous and
wholly nonsensical by the laudable purpose in
which it seems to have originated. That of illus-
trating in tire persons of Mr. and Mrs. Wellesley
Nicholls, the folly of that horridly genteel, or, in
other words, that simply and atrociously vulgar sys-
tem of living for appearances. The book is altoge-
ther just one of those gaudy little cheap railway vo-
lumes that can be turned over carelessly in the corner
of a first or second class carriage and read from
title-page to finis between starting upon a brief
journey and arriving at its termination. For the
story itself the reader is indebted to Henry and
Horace Mayhew—gemini, having a faint resem-
blance by their fraternal co-operation in literature
to the James and Horace Smith of the last genera-
tion. The illustrator of the volume is the indus-
trious W. M'Connell, who, if we recollect rightly,
made his original appearance as a comic
draughtsman in the pages of the defunct
Diogenes. Hardly half a dozen characters are
introduced in the course of the narrative—
scarcely more, in fact, than make their appearance
before the footlights in a farce or a vaudeville. The
' exceedingly mean and contemptible Mr. Wellesley
Nicholls must be accepted, we suppose, as the hero
of the piece, the role of heroine being that accordeC
to his empty-headed wife Sarah. The only tolerable
persons appearing before us in this tale of make-shift
and swindling being low but honestßueben Marsh
of Farnham, Surrey—and that bluff farmer's wife:
Molly. Between these contrasting pairs the balls
of squabble and deception are kept up, while the
London couple are running into all manner of debts
and opera-bog,
e r a - baonxd,
for diamonds, and a brougham, an
and a west-end house, and tawdry furniture,
the like extravagances, upon five hundred a-year,
merely living, in fact, from firs tto last,
for appear-
ances. Until the inevitable smash comes at length
aafvteenruteheofgdaiuinntsl,etanhdasbilbleen
i
and duly run between an
discounters, and pawn-
brokers—until the spunging-house has been passed
through, the Insolvent Debtors' Court after-

THE LATER
SEAT
OF
p DESPATCHwAn 01'
GT 111 SUPPLEMENTARYEE
POST
OFFICE,
J jNE,
1855,—1n consequence of an alteration in the
hour of despatching the French Mediterranean packet
which leaves Marseilles every Monday, the supplemen-
tary mail for the seat of war, hitherto despatched from
this office by the day mail to France on the previous Sa-
turday, will not, in future, be made up until the evening
of that day, and all letters for the British forces or the
transport service in Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea,
or for the British hospital at Scutari, posted or received
in London in time for the night mail to France, will be
forwarded in such supplementary mall. The supple-
mentary mails intended to be despatched by the French
packet leaving Marseilles on Thursday, will continue to
be made up on the morning of every Tuesday, as at pre-
sent.—ROWLAND HILL, secretary.