The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
111 ER VYN CLITI EROE. No, IV. By W W.
It is Harrison Ainsworth.
with peculiar regret that we observe from an
announcement at the close of the present number, thet
ery yn Clitheroe" is interrupted for an indefinite
Period by' unavoidable circumstances. We lament
this interval in the course of its publication, the more
Particularly because we regard the story as pro-
Ilne 'sing in some respects to be incoinparably the most
delightful of all its author's compositions. Situated
as the scene of the narrative is, in a locality familiar to
the novelist from his childhood, he has been enabled
to describe it with more than usually graphic celonring,
11,1,1 d with more than ordicary admirable exactitude.
The various characters introduced, rnorPover, in the
course of the fiction are selected (or some of thew, at
least, we feel assured) from his household recollections.
46eYnnd which it must be borne in mind that Mr. Ain se
lorth has never more conspicuously displayed his
,1
aill as a story-teller than in the opening chaptersof
"Mervyn Clitheroe." Always alive to the ne-
cessity of incident, with a view to rouse the :attention
and to waken curiosity, he has here crowded the
Pages with changes and vicissitudes of a homely cha-
racter, it is true, but still fraught with a pecu-
liar fascination. The work, of course, has been with-
but the breathless escapes of " Jack Sheppard,"
Without the diabolical glamour of " Rookwood,"
without the occasional excitement lighting up the
Pages of the " Miser's Daughter." It has nothi g
of the pageantry of " Windsor Castle," of the
dungeon glOom of the "Tower of London," or of
• the Court intrigues of " St. James's." It is without
the rapid movement of " Crichton," without the as-
lotinding surprises of " Auriol," and without the
grim attraction of the " Lancashire Witches."
But notwithstanding all this, home tale as
it is, domestic as the dramatis personce
are, " Mervyn Clitheroe " has, even in the
brief space of four instalments, given' promise of emu-
lating in merit and equalling in popularity, the best of
its author's productions hitherto published. Yet, in
the midst of this fair promise, at the precise moment
When the interest of the reader had been enkindled
to a state of agreeable animation, the course of the
story, like that of true love, runs no longer smooth,
but, encountering some obstruction or other, becomes
temporarily interrupted. For Mr. Ainsworth's sake,
and for the sake of his readers also, we regret this
very sincerely, but must resign ourselves quietly to
What appears to be unavoidable, only sanguine that
'the thread of the narrative will be speedily resumed,
and that as it has commenced, so it will terminate._
',.Prasperously. After a nocturnal alarm in the old
laritt•house, and after the body of Uncle Mobberley
ti: 48 been, next day, consigned to the grave, the will
-Z.read, bestowing the whole of the property O'Malpas Sale and not on Mervyn Clitheroe. There-
"`ter Come some most exciting interviews between
710
--..ten,innah and her husband—the latter interview
taking place at midnight in the churchyard, followed
by a chase across the mere with bloodhounds. See-
lag that the current number ends most nnsatisfec-
iMile' in all respects—leaving the reader in almost
'unendurable suspense—it is with unusual fervour that
We close our present notice of Mervyn Clitheroe with
two words addressed to the author—Au revoir !

• -
EARL GREY AND Slit HARRY
SMITH.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
the
have airs ad y remarked that, in his answer to
ee Member for Lambeth, Lord John Russell acknow-
teugecl only that the dispatch of the 14th January from
arl Grey to Sir Harry Smith had been sent to him
(Lord John), and that he avoided to say whether he h,ad
or
%liad not read it; but, at the same time, with an ap-
rettrance of great candour, and as if most anxious a.
added, every information to the House, his Lordship
TT' that the recall of Sir Harry Smith had been ap
•rry'ved of by the Cabinet. Now ibis was indeed a ge-
terOus volunteer (his Lordship little tbenefit then het
41111Plbug volunteers would turn him out)—ior his Lord-
1P well knew that the very document of recall itself,
that abominable dispatch of the 14th January, containe:i
;111, information his Lordship then wished the House to
trick he was giving them. These are the words of the
1118Patch:—., It is my painful duty to inform you, that
ceating consulted my colleagues on the subject, they have
uncalled with me in corning to the conciusio.n . .
aria• that, therefore, we should not be justified in
vking from tendering to the Queen our humble ad-
: the
that the government of' the Cape of Good Hope and
101`.6 conduct of the war should be placed in other hands."
:`,:4111 Was it, then, that Lord John Russell did not give a
‘,,ar and correct answer to Mr. Williams's question?
by right had his Lordship to trifle With the House,
teY Avoiding an answer to a simple question, and pre-
' tiding to volunteer additional information? or rather
et
Us ask, what motive his Lordship had? Was this the
proper
conduct for the Prime Minister of England to
adopt? However, let that pass now, although it
Steed not be forgotten—a day of eeckoning may
~,
et Come. A certain Lord Stanley once, in spilling of
TA political tricks of the Whigs, made use of the word
;,thimble-rig." Lord John Rueeeil's conduct looks very
it. He no doubt knew, or guessed that very few,
if any, of the Members had read tho dispatch in quo;
__°A, and so he gained the applause of the moment fcr
ridour. His Lordship was like a dying patient, sof-
' ering from acute agony, before mortification takes
place and dissolution becomes inevitable; and he felt
thankful even for a moment of repose, though should its
.2ault be only to plunge him deeper in his fatal disease.
4nt we must now proceed with our business of the day—
thconduct of the Colonial Minister. There is one pa-
-1 graph in that famou3, or rather infamous dispatch,
that up to this moment has passed unnoticed, but not,
be assured, the less cruel or the less unfelt by the seusi-
ttve and Gallant General to whom it was addressed. I
Can hardly approach it without a feeling of such intense
disgust at the conduct of Earl Greyas almost incapari-
t,
tee me for the task I have undertaken. Surely, Sir, it
nuittst be pain and anguish enough for any British gc:-
:Pa to have his brave followers, the officers and tee
tr!iers, destroyed by the savages with whom it has been
taunted
unlucky lot to have to contend, without being
that,nnted with their death. Did not Earl Grey consider
Poor Sir Harry had sufficiently felt the loss of the
he ant cafieer who died, as a soldier ought to do, at the
it ad of his reginient—the brave Colonel Fordyce? Was
in the least necessary that Earl Grey should dwell
Upon
141°/1 that loss in the manner in which be has done? His
himself
would almost imply that Sir Harry Smith had
etacif killed poor Fordyce—certainly that be had sa-
taed him, when he ought to have gained him laurels.
• tt I learn from these dispatches," says Earl Grey,
Mitit
• , tatts another month of this distressing warfare hes
beebel away, and though the force at your disposal had
• tai," increased to a very considerable amount, no advan-
iac of any real importance has been gained over the
ex'aq, while the loss ot her Majesty's troops has been
lieeediegly beavy, that very distinguished officer,
thieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, being included amongst
• cite who have fallen."
• in `rt,ood God! Sir, is a British general to be written to
4„,..tfija style? Lieutenant Colonel Ford) co died, Sir,
at the head of his regiment, I believe the second
14 13 he was under fire. At all events, Sir, had he been
_ thousand and one times under fire, had there not been
nether his equal in Kafraria or in Etigland, why should
• Sir Harry Smith have his corpse pointed out to him in
this most remarkable and inhuman manner? Sir Harry
431 Sir, distinctly told by Earl Grey in that paragraph
that he had haistcienandthat he
•• had done noshing,t force to do much,
sacrificed the lives worse than nothing that be had
larly one very diet?! her Majesty's troops, and partial.-
; means that, Sir, if liguished officer: Tads paragraph
. well; for before It Aa_ana anything. Remember it
of that dispatch af "et to remark on the rest
back to consider what his Lordship 14th I must turn
time before. The case, Sir, is sbiP had written a short
altogetherthink
a most curious
but most melar °holy one, and
I shall be clearly
. able to show that the whole has been a
manifest
Conspiracy as ever was known—ant
of thel Tasntyanifest a case of
but of
°tie man's bad notions and ill*temPer, against
another
generous and confiding. But I must leave this to my
• neat letter. I wish the matter to be fairly and openly
canvassed, although I confess that no previous conduct
of Sir Harry Smith, had it been found fault with even,
• nculd justify the tone and character of Earl Grey's dia.
Patch of the 14th of January.—l am,Sir,
YOUR CONSTANT READER.

• LONDON WEDNESDAY CONCERTS.
Last evening the first of a series of seven of theso con-
' ce
t rtB9 and of seven farewell performances of Mr. Braham,r
graham
place at Exeter Hall. The reception given to
m
rahatn last night, by an audience sluaoq filling the
great hall, was most enthusiastic. some minutes
elapsed before the cessation of the repeated bursts of up-
. ?muse allowed him to commence his first
; Total eclipse," from Handel's Sampson. The other
piece—the scene,
°lB selected by Mr. Braham for last evening were,
th "The Old English Gentleman," " A man's a man for a'
13,4„,t';" and " The Bay of Biscay." For the rest the
tio-Taing's programme, us usual, included a varied
of popular and classical music, most of it admirably
rfortned. Mr. Swift received a well-deserved encore
,ar,his execution of a recitative end aria of Monclel-
jo?ua's, "If with all your hurts;" and Handel's " Re-
,,,lee greatly," sung by Miss Alleyne, was much ap-
;',!anded: as were many other of the tastefully selected
.ees constituting the :first of a serics of entertain-
ments which promise fully to sustain the high am-
, Concerts;'
already obtained by the "London Wednesday
"neerte

ROYAL POLYTECH—NIC INSTITUTION,
of Peed, professor of singing at the Royal Aefid, my
Music, has just commene,d- his second lecture on
music.., The subject chosen by the Priofessor is on the
tii,ll:lee and mu.ical compwitions of Dibein. After
hi!'ng a brief sketch of the life of this composer and
te' Career, both as a poet and musician, Mr. Peed pro-
wleided to illustrate his lecture by singing several 01 bia
4.--,rdies, "Poor Jack," " The Greenwich Pensioner,"
it, tom Bowling," "The Lads of the Village," Szo. The
ereduction of the music of Dirdin at this particulur
me no doubt, will induce many to visit this admirable
• litation to listen to the above popular and beautiful
melodies, so justly celebrated for their description and
th"'el copies of sea life. Mr. Peed acquited himself,
w e always does, with great judgment end taste, and
its greatly appl.uded throughout his lecture.

—lofessor Blackie, of Aberdeen, was elected on
lt4tesdY by the town council of Edinburgh to succeed the
e Professor Dunbar in the Greek chair et the univirsity of
that
,Clty.
,ul.-1- he Earl and Countess of Clarendon, family and
ae, arrived in Grosvenor-crescent on TtIOCIAY,
tzgria the Viceiegal Judge,