The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-06 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Farmer's Magazine.—The first' article is a
treatise on the cultivation of oats. It is followed I
by a Lecture read at the annual meeting of th e
North Staffordshire Agricultural Society, on Ulf 3
improvements of homesteads and remodelling o f
farms. An agricultural biography is cc mtinued ,
and there is also a Lecture on the use and abuse o f
lime in agriculture. There is an interesting ac-
count of the Flax Industry of Ireland, and the
present number also contains several articles on the
potato.

Newton's London Journcd.7-This number ccei-
tains a list of fourteen patents, three of which are
for improvements in the construction of ploughs..
The most important are those of Negretti• and
Zambra for thermometers, J. M'lntosh for ord-
nance and fire-arms, W. E. Newton for manufac-
turing coke, &c. The list of Irish, Scotch, and
English patents is given as usual, and the maga-
zine contains two plates illustrating the patents.

Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour.—With the last month
of the year, our fortune-hunter brings his Sporting Tour
to an end ; and after many matrimonial speculations
and questionable transactions in disposing of his horse
to unprotected greenhorns and would-be sportsmen,
uninitiated in the mysteries of the dealer's stables, his
settles in life, united to an adventuress as needy as him-
self, who has fairly ridden into his affections. Through-
out the whole of this amusing narrative the object of the
author is apparent, and while the reader is amused by
the description of the various characters who are to be
met with in the hunting-field and at the tables of masters
of hounds, he sees vividly depicted the snares into which
the crafty and unscrupulous vampires who live by de-
frauding the unwary lead their victims, who, in propor-
tion to their ignorance, are presumptuous and self-con-
ceited. In the conclusion of the tale, the biter is bit, for
Mr. Sponge is taken in by Facey Romford—a knave of
deeper dye than our hero himself ; and in the grand
aristocratic steeplechase which is the closing scene, the
renowned Hercules astonishes both his owner and the
public by winning the race in spite of Mr. Sponge, whose
interest lay on the losing side.

Zadkiel's Almanac for 1853.—The most striking
vaticinations adventured upon by the renowned seer,
Zadkiel, in this the twenty-third yearly edition
of his almanac, are those regarding the new Em-
peror of the French, Napoleon 111. The hour of
birth being ascertained with sufficient accuracy from
the official Moniteur, the sage artist presents his readers
with a scheme or figure of the heavens, at sixteen
minutes before one o'clock, on the morning of the 20th
of April, 1808. After some singular remarks and cal-
culations, which certainly go far in support of the geneth-
hacal science, the following predictions are made for the
ensuing year and its successor 1853—His affairs
run very untoward ; his enemies are gathering ; a cloud
threatens. I judge that February can hardly go by
without WAR DECLARED. In May the nation is much
excited—takes an active part in warlike operations—and
probably his troops gain a battle of consequence. June
brings losses and discomfiture ; tumults and insurrec-
tions annoy him, and some plots are rife against his
power. But August promises him gain and victory.
Also, in November, he gains martial honours ; yet soma
strange reverses befall him at the end of the year. 1854
—February brings warlike gain ;he conquers. The
summer and autumn very unfortunate ; his troops
overthrown ; his enemies prevail in August, when sudden
reverses attend him. He is confused, totters to his fall,
and bows before the frown of fate ! Let him not dream
of lasting honours, power, or prosperity. He shall found
no dynasty ; he shall wear no durable crown."
In the prognostications given for each month under
the title .of " Voice of the Stars," may be found the fol-
lowing, worthy of the attention of the curious in such
matters :—" April—The return of the Sun to his place
at birth of L. Napoleon gives the Prince prosperity dur-
ing his forty-sixth year—honours, success, victory !
And this the King of Prussia will discover to his cost."
—" .Tune—L. Napoleon meets a check, and may loose a
battle now ; but is only a check—the tide of his fate
will still flow onwards. This month is fatal to the King
of Saxony, whose kingdom is rent away, and whose life
is endangered. The King of Prussia and Emperor of
Austria both bow to their adverse fate, and are tumbling
before the star of Napoleon." "July—The Autocrat of
Russia meets the frowns of fate, and sees his armies de-
feated, and his ambitious projects overthrown. He may
not hope to set his foot in Constantinople during his
fifty-eighth year, which is unfortunate." " October—
We shall hear of some sudden loss and injury to the
affairs of L. Napoleon. Riots prevail in his dominions,
and sudden matters affecting his honours, &c. He may
now look for the commencement of a series of troubles,
accumulating one upon the heels of another, exterminat-
ing, in the fall of the year 1854, by his overthrow, if not
his death." "November—The stars still frown on Aus-

tria's Emperor, and he is defeated in all his projects.
The King of Prussia may look for military misadven-
tures, losses, and discomfiture. In LONDON there are
failing trade, sudden fluctuations in the funds, and a
general derangement of commercial interests." " Do-
cember—Paris is filled with sad turmoil, and London full
of gloomy thoughts and scenes of sadness • for but little
that is good or prosperous befals the reahn the latter`
part of this year."
Among other matters promised us in the approaching
year by the prescient Zadkiel, are—a bountiful harvest
—an entire change of Ministry—war in India, ulti-
mately (though not in the outset) successful—Continental
war in the earlier part of the year, in which Frederick of
Prussia will grievously suffer some time in summer,
The announcement of all these marvellous events, and a
good deal of astronomical and meteorological information,
together with weather predictions, tide-tables, and the
usual tabular matter, being furnished by Zadkiel for the
small charge of sixpence, it is not surprising that hikr
Almanac is in very extensive demand.