The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-22 00:00:00

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Isis. An Egyptian Pilgrimage. B u 4
tus St. John. 2 vols. Lo s. .
The country of Egypt has always •
interesting to the antiquarian, the s.llq>,
...-
enthusiast. It is in the combined s. 1'4.74 ik‘!"
that Mr. St. John has undertaken his pi yAmix.
He endeavours to discover in Egyptian ,
scenery, and climate, the origin or traces of their
mystic goddess Isis. The work commences with a
vision or dream of Isis, which induces him to visit
the ancient country of her abode. The travels,
however, are not indebted to supernatural agency
for their interest, but are descriptive of Egypt and
the Egyptians, Arabs, and Nubians of the present
day, with gorgeous accounts of the beautiful
scenery, the eternal structures, the mighty river,
and the lofty ruins that adorn the valley of the
Nile. Some of the descriptions are clothed in
poetical language, which the grandeur of the sur-
rounding scenes and associations is well calculated
to call forth ; but there is no want of more material
details and sketches, and several tales which are
related to the author during his voyage, are intro-
duced, though these generally are inferior in inte-
rest to the original subject. The writer encoun-
tered various adventures, though he met with no
hostility from the inhabitants or from the tribes
of wandering Arabs and dwellers in the
desert, who are not always agreeable com-
panions for strangers. That he was not in-
volved in several accidents was not certainly the
result of his own precautions, for in his eagerness
to see and examine high cliffs and subterraneous
caverns, he frequently overstepped the boundaries
of prudence. In one portion of the work he ex-
presses his surprise that Egypt, so enriched by the
memories of the past, so abounding in the wonders
of the present, with all the charms of nature and
art, has ever been neglected by poetry. If so, it is
indeed without a cause, as the present volumes
show. One of their chief attractions is the descrip-
tion given of the various wonderful ruins, and the
scenery that surrounds them. The following is an
account of the Pyramids :
" Egypt has seldom had justice done to it with regard to
its beauty. Nothing can look more like fairyland than the
great plain of Memphis, stretching from the Nile to the
Desert, and covered, immediately after the inundation,
with lakes, and ponds, and sheets of water, interspersed
with corn-fields, villages, hamlets, thickets, copses, groves,
and palm-woods, through which you discern, here and
there, small white cupolas, or towering minarets flashing
in the sun. But from all these the eye is soon attracted
by the vast masses of the Pyramids, over which, as you
draw near, you behold the shadows of the clouds travelling
as over the face of a mountain. It is not as mere struc-
tures of stone and mortar that they present themselves to
your imagination. If you have a heart at all, it must
throb when you reflect on what they represent, on the ages
that have passed over them, scarcely leaving on their ex-
terior any traces of their passage, or the system of ideas
which prevailed when they were erected, filling millions of
souls with devotion and gladness, but now vanished like
one of those thin vapours you behold at dawn on the bosom
of the Nile, which the sun's first ray melts into the invisi-
ble air."

LITERATURE.

The nights in Egypt are peculiarly beautiful.
The following description is taken from the voyage
to Thebes, that mighty ruin, which, says the author,
" far more truly than Rome, deserves to be called
the Eternal City :"

" The moon was nearly at the full, and poured its pearly
splendour on the spacious bosom of the river, which rippled,
and quivered, and plashed far and near with silvery light ;
here and there, through dense masses of wood, a village
minaret arose, glittering, as it were, in metallic brilliance;
while on either hand towered the naked crags of the Ara-
bian and Libyan chains, here rough with pinnacles, there
extending their regular elevation, liko a wall, in some places
bright, elsewhere indented with deep shadows, which
played, and mocked, and chased each other, as we glided
along, softly before the breeze. I seemed aethat moment
to understand thoroughly how the Egyptians came to love
their country with something like a religious love. Its
beauty, especially at night, appears to me absolutely unri-
valled. The blue of the sky, the brightness of the moon,
the surpassing size and splendour of the stars and constel-
lations, the calm, the serenity, the fragrant and balmy air,
the influence of boundless antiquity. the imagined presence
of goddesses and gods—a thousand powerful influences
combine to take possession of the soul, and to overwhelm
it with resistless emotion."

Castle Avon. By the Author of Ravenseliffe, &c.

a vols. Colburn.

The writer of these pages has long been a fa-
vourite of the reading world ; her former works
have all enjoyed deserved popularity. In the pre-
sent instance, her admirers will not be disappointed,
for the story before us possesses great attractions.
Not only does it fascinate by its interest, and gain
attention by its brilliancy, but it appeals to higher
feelings than those of pleasure or admiration. The
reader is forced to think, to turn from the realms
of fancy and the busy scene without, to dwell on
the mysteries of the world Is ;thin. It is shown
how riches and honours, even intellect and refined
tastes, are as valueless treasures to the weak, the
frivolous, and the covetous. Hernana in her humble
home, often compelled to perform menial services,
unsuited to her education and position, is far hap-
pier than the trifling Maria, reared in the lap of
luxury, every wish gratified, and caprice indulged.
Claribert, the unknown heir, brought up in solitary
wilds and wastes, is to be envied in comparison with
the self-indulging, unsteady Philip Gorhambury.
The latter did not know how to appreciate any of his
multiplied advantages ; the former, deprived of all
exterior aids, sought refuge in his own conviction of
right ; through nature he looked up to nature's God.
Again, Lady Aylmer, widowed and childless, was
far happier than Heather, who, secure of her trea-
sured son by adoption, was sick at heart,
and tormented clay and night by wild ap-
prehensions. In short, throughout the whole of
of these volumes the same principle is carried out,
and the same influence is the guiding star. Virtue
is made its own reward. It has to surmount many
obstacles, to pass many fiery ordeals, to endure
many painful partings, but at last it is trium-
phant in the noblest of conquests—the victory over
self ; and the reward is the crown of all earthly
gifts—the peace man neither gives nor takes away.
Lady Aylmer resigned her child to Him who gave
it. Hernfina sacrificed inclination to duty ; Clari-
bert, surrounded by heathens, sought out the un-
known God ; and in all cases success surmounted
their efforts. The following passage is taken from
a scene in the gipsies' tent, when the hero and his
foster-mother are conversing according to their dif-
ferent ways :
" They sat apart by the door of their hut and beside a
fire ; they sat long in this silence—a length of time that
would have worn out our patience, but the denizen of tho
woods is patient, and silent, and brooding. It might be a
couple of hours that thus passed away, and the night was
far advanced, one by one the fires of the encampment had
gone out, and the trees, no longer umbercd by their light,
raised their tall, giant tops black against the sky, which
was• all alive with large glittering stars, twinkling with
their everlasting motion as if pouring forth light from their
urns. Hesther at last spoke. Charlie,' she said,`what ails
you, I know your face —there Hesther has read it since you
Were a blessed infant. Strange looks it has, things in it I
see that it is not for such as Hesther to understand. Lines
gem that other world, I don't know their speech.
They are too bright and beautiful for Hesthefs eyes ; deep
mysteries are they to me, Charlie ; only this I can dis-
cern, that something ails thee—something more than com-
mon ails thee.' He lifted up his head and raised his eyes—
those beautiful fine eyes, in which you saw a world of wild,
and lofty, and spiritual thought—beautiful ; in truth,
transcendently beautiful. 'Yes, Hesther,' he said, 'there is
something working here. It has been stirring long, but
this day and this night the something within me seems
coming to a crisis. There is great pain and anguish—
terrible pain and anguish ; but I feel when this is gone
through something better will come ; something better
must come ; things cannot, shall not, must not, go on so any
longer. I thought, fool and blind, they blinded me, willing
to be blinded. I thought it was in little things I suffered
my conscience to be hoodwinked. I thought it was only
in little things, but day by day it has been coming clearer
and clearer upon me, just as the sun rises and rises, and
suddenly there is a great burst of light, and one sees all at
once—blue mountains, and rivers, and castles, and trees,
and flowers, where everything before was mistiness and
confusion. For the first time now I see it, I see it. I had
glimmerings before ; but this last, oh ! it has burst it all
open before me at once."

A Methodisation of the Hebrew Verbs, on an
Original Plan. By the Rev. T. D. Gregg.

This little grammatical tract is most valuable to
the student of the sacred language. On a single
sheet are exhibited the chief peculiarities of the
various classes of the Hebrew Verbs, so arranged
that a knowledge of them can be attained with
very extraordinary facility. The author has sub-
mitted the tables, constructed oziginally for his
own private use, to other able Hebraists, and at
their solicitation consented to give them to the pub-
lic. "I speak," he says, "with tolerable certainty
in saying, that in the study of those tables a stu-
dent will learn the Hebrew Verbs more perfectly
in a few hours than he could possibly do in years
without them. Experience will warrant the con-
fidence with which the statement is made."
This admirable production of his labours is dedi-
cated by the reverend linguist to the honourable
member for Sunderland, Mr. Digby Seymour.

MAIIYLEBONE BANKING COMPANY.—On Monday a
numerous meeting of the contributories and creditors of
this association was held before Master Sir George Rose, to
hear and decide upon the report of the official manager in
reference to the proposed compromise of the claims of
creditors. The report, which wasread, contained a list of
the parties with whom the official manager recommended
that compromises should be effected, together with the
amount of each claim, and the sum now proposed to be
put down at about 16,0001. The total
given in discharge. The largest claimant was Mr. Edmund
aWmaolkunetr,owho f
thewas claims which have been admitted by the
Master is, in round numbers, 43,0001., and the official
manager reported that these claims, as compromised, would
come to 36,0001. odd.

HAYNAII AND HIS PROTECTRESS.—A very handsome
bracelet, set with diamonds, has been forwarded by a
society of Viennese to the Austrian Embassy in London.
It was intended for Mrs. Benfield, the landlady in Bank-
side who saved General Haynau from the mob, but she has
disappeared.