The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-12 00:00:00

Mr. Kinglake, M.P. for Bridgwater.

Mr. Alexander William Kinglake was born in
1809 ; and is the son of the late Mr. William King-
lake, solicitor at Taunton. He (the son) was edu-
cated at Taunton, Ottery St. Mary, Eton, and at
Frinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the
Bar in 1837, and soon afterwards went to the East,
whence he wrote to his friends at home some gra-
phic descriptions of the scenery and his adventures
there. On his return he, at the request of his
friends, unwillingly furbished up these letters with
a view to publication, and the MS. was, when
ready, offered to several publishers, who, with a
purblindness not uncommon in the tribe, refused to
undertake its publication. At last Mr. 011ivier
took the book in hand, the author guaran-
teeing the publisher against loss. This book was
"E 6 hen," of which we need not say a word. Mr.
Kinglake, some few years ago, contributed two
articles to the Quarterly, but other than "Eiithen"
and these he had published nothing till the '• His-
tory of the Invasion of the Crimea." Mr. Kinglake
was in the Crimea. He was present at the battle of
the Alma ; and with the army on its flank march to
Balaclava. He remained at headquarters at Sebas-
topol during the first bombardment, and at its close,
prostrated by fever, he came home. In 1856 he left
the Bar, and in 1857 entered the House of Commons
as representative of Bridgwater. Experience has
ever taught us that there are numbers oftnen of whom
nothing can bepredicted from theirappearance ; Mr.
Kinglake is one of these men. As he walks into
the house he seems to be an odd•looking man,
but you must peer very closely at him before you
can discover any special signs of menta' power. He
is short in stature, not more that Eft. 6iu. we should
judge, and his real face is almost entirely concealed
from view, for his hat covers his forehead, which is,
however, not particularly significant; just below
his hat there are his large round spectacles, and
then, almost touching the lower line of his glasses,
his dark moustache begins, and that and his beard
cover all the lower part of his face. In short, when
mouth, eyes, forehead, and indeed every part of bin
face except his nose, is concealed from your view,
how is it possible to divine from his outward ap-
pearance what may be the inward and invisible
characteristics behind P—lllustrated .7 imes.

At Edinburgh, yesterday, Alexander Milne, a
jeweller in that city, was sentenced to death for the murder
of a man named Paterson.

THE GREAT EASTERN.—The leviathan steamship
still lies in the river Mersey, a little to the south
of Rock Ferry, the steamers from which make half-hourly
trips round the big ship for the accommodation of these
persons who wish to see this wonderful vessel afloat. It
will be recollected that application was made to the sock
Board with the view of getting a gridiron placed in some
convenient position on the dock estate so that the bot-
tom of the Great Eastern might be examined and any
trifling repairs necessary made before her next trip across
the Atlantic. The Dock Board replied that they had n°
site large enough for the purpose. The directors of the
Big Ship Company have, however, obtained the lease of
sufficient land on the margin of the river a little to the
south of New Ferry, and there at the present time a grid-
iron is being laid down for the accommodation of the Great
Eastern. It is expected that during the next or following
spring tides the leviathan will be floated over the gridiron
and there left dry. After her bottom has been thoroughly
examined and repaired she will be floated off the follown4
spring tides, preparatory to her departure on another trip:
The next spring tides ere about the (f tnis month, and
ha following will be about the Bth of March. ,hottal the
Prince of Wales's marriage day be kept as a g,_•neral booiyhdayii
tid should the (heat Eastern at the t:me be lying . 17
and dry on t'io Cheshire side, hundreds of thousands of pur.,
8048 will, no doubt, cross to Rock Ferry to see her.