The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-07 00:00:00

A GOOD SUGGESTION,

(From Punch.)
TO TILE LADIES OF ENGLAND,
"Ladies,
"Windsor Castle, Aug. 1.
"The Queen has commanded me to express the pain
with which her Majesty reads the account of daily acci-
dents arising from tho wearing of the indelicate, expensive,
dangerous, and hideous article called Crinoline.
Het Majesty
carraot refrain from making known to you
her extreme displeasure that educated women should by
example rldicourage the wearing a dress which can be
pleasir:,g only to demoralise) taste,
" For the miserable idiots who abjectly copy the habits
of those conventionally termed their betters, it is impossible
to entertain anything but pity.
"But to the Ladies of England this appeal to abandon
the present degrading, dangerous, and disgusting fashion,
is made in the belief that they will show themselves the ra-
tional and decorous persons whom they are supposed to be.
"I have the honour to be,
" Ladies,
" Your most obedient humble servant,
" C. B. PHIPPS."

Mgr. Plantier, the Archbishop of Nimes, has
recently published in the form of a Pastoral an elaborate
refutation of M. Ernest Renan's " Vie de Jesus." No less
than tt n columns of L' Union are occupied to-day (Friday,
7th August) with extracts selected from this masterpiece of
logical and persuasive eloquence.
M. TRIERS'S STAY AT BADEN-BADEN, says the
Court Journal, has proved an interesting topic for news-
papers as well as private conversation, It is recorded that
this celebrated personage was a constant evening visitor to
the gardens attached to the Kursaal. His constant cony
panicn was the Due de Morny, and amongst the ladies in
his train the Princess Menschikoff may be mentioned, but
she was only one of a bevy of beauty of the highest dis-
tinction.

THE CAPE MAILS.—PLYMOUTH, Thursday.—
The Royal Union Mail Company's steamship Saxon,
Commander Hoffman, arrived in the Sound this morning,
and is appointed to leave at 4 p.m. for Ascension, St.
Helena, and the Cape of Good Hope. She takes out a full
general cargo and nearly SO passengers, among whom are,
for St. Helena, Chief Justice Phelps and family and Captain
Childs; for tha Cape, Colonel Rawstorn, Major Jones,
Captain O'Brien, Rev. M. M'Mahon, Rev. M. Stewart,
Dr. Kellner and Dr. Fritsch ; and for Algoa Bay, Dr.
M'Leod. The next mail ship homeward is the Briton,
Commander J. Boxer. She is due on the 29th, but may
arrive on the 24th inst,

LITERATURE.

Iceland: its Scenes and Sagas. By Sabine Baring-
Gould,!M.A. One vol., imp. Bvo., pp. 447. Sthith

and Elder.

" Farewell heat and welcome frost," exclaims the
author with the " Merchant of Venice," and very
heartily does he enter into this aspiration. The
record of this recent visit of Mr. Baring-Gould to
Iceland fills a most goodly volume, of handsome
appearance within and without, copiously illustrated
with most beautifully-coloured sketches. The his-
tory of the traveller's adventures is narrated in the
most animated and delightful manner possible.
Never before, assuredly, did such an ungenial theme
evoke such glowing descriptions l—never befol e did
such an unpromising expedition produce such feli-
citous results ! ''• My object in visiting Iceland,"
says Mr. Baring- Gould, " was twofold. I purposed
examining scenes famous in Saga, and filling a port-
folio with water-colour sketches." Both these ob-
jects have been most satisfactorily carried out, and
the full benefit of the result is at the service of the
reader. The legendary tales or sagas of the North,
are, for the most part, possessed of a singularly
romantic interest. Borne half-a-dozen of these
venerable fictions are here presented to us in a
most attractive guise. Interesting as they are,
however, they would possess a higher value in our
eyes were we assured of their absolute identity
with the originals. Mr. Baring• Gould tells
us that the alterations he has made are very
trifling—if so, they had better have been
entirely omitted. The illustrations are many
of them very felicitous. We obtain from them
a vivid idea of the picturesque character of
this land of " mountain and flood." The music of
many Icelandic hymns and ballads is continued in
this very interesting and marvellous volume, and
some curiosities of the Icelandic language, from
which we learn, among other things, that our
English word " gammon " is a derivation from the
Icelandic '• Gaman," to amuse !

Recollections and Anecdotes : being a Second Series
of _Reminiscences at the Camp, the Court, and
the Clubs. By Captain R. H. Grenow, formerly
of the Grenadier Guards, and M.P. for Stafford.
One vol, pp. 232. Smith and Elder.
Those who are familiar with Captain Gronow's
former volume will not require much recommenda-
tion to induce them to renew their acquaintance
with his very delightful gossip. The anecdotes
contained in the volume now before us are as diver-
sified in subject as " the Battle of Waterloo," and
" Sally Lunns ;" Mademoiselle Mars" and "Lord
Althorpe ; " " Revolution of 1848 " and " Snuff-
taking," &c.; while the style throughout is lively
and amusing. In his portraits and sketches of his
friends and acquaintances, Capt. Gronow is almost
as happy with his pen as the subject of one of
these sketches (Count D'Orsay) was with his pencil.
Here, for example, is Captain Gronow's descrip-
tion of--

COUNT D'ORSAY.
He was rather above six feet in height, and when I first
knew him lie might have served as a model for a statuary.
His neck was long, his shoulders broad, and mist narrow,
and though he was perhaps somewhat underlimbed, nothing
could surpass the beauty of his feet and ankles. His dark
chestnut hair hung naturally in long waving curls; his
forehead was high and wide, his features regular, and his
complexion glowed with radiant health. His eyes were
large and of a light hazel colour, he had full lips and very
white teeth, but a little apart; which sometimes gave to the
generally amiable expression of his countenance a rather
cruel and sneering look, such as one sees in the heads of
some of the old Roman emperors. He was wonderfully
strong and active, and excelled in manly exercises. He
was a fine horseman, a good swordsman, and a fair ehot.
I knew him intimately, and saw a good deal of him. He
had an amusing naiveté in speaking of his own personal
advantages. I remember on one occasion, when about to
fight a duel, he said to his second, Monsieur D-, who
was making the preliminary arrangements, " You know,
my dear friend, I am not on a par with my antagonist : he
is a very ugly fellow, and if I wound him in the face, he
wont look much the worse for it ; but on my side it ought
to be agreed that he should not aim higher than my chest,
for if my face should be spoiled ce serait vrainment dom-
mage.' " He said this with such a beaming smile, and
looked so handsome and happy, that his friend, Monsieur
D-, fully agreed with him.

Here, again, in a few lines, is a very efEctive per
trait of—

BALZ AC.

The great enchanter was one of the oiliest and commonest
looking mortals I ever beheld; being short and corpulent,
with a broad florid face, a cascade of double chins, and
straight groa.Y hair. The only striking feature in that
Friar Tuck countenance was his eye; dark, flashing,
wicked, full of sarcasm, and unholy fire.

It is hardiy fair, perhaps, to take exception to the
labour of one who has strived so successfully to
afford his readers amusement, yet some of the anec-
dotes here collected, although very well for collo-
quial gossip, are hardly worthy the honour of print
ing for publication.

Natural history and Sport in Moray. Collected
from the Journals and Letters of the late
Charles St. John, Author of " Wild Sports of
the Highlands." One Vol., pp. 325. Edinburgh,
.Edmonston and Douglas.
The editor very truly remarks in the preface to
this work, that no encomium of his could so
effectually recommend. this volume to a large class
of readers, as the knowledge that the text consists
entirely of the observations and notes of Charles
St. John—" a name dear to the lovers of Nature
and manly sport." To all such, this new volume
will be right welcome, and will prove a rare treat.
These "notes" are arranged according to the
months of the year—thus, for January. we have an
account, among other things, of wild ducks and
their habits; in February, we read of the activity
and cunning of the Roebuck ; in March, we learn
about Swans,Wild and Tame, Trout and Pike, &c.,
but the list is far too numerous to particularise—
containing all the denizens of field and flood, together
with the birds of the air frequenting the North.
In AuguE t, of course, we have an interesting account
of the Grouse, from which we select a passage as
one the theme of which renders it just now particu-
larly appropriate :
The rage for grouse-shooting, at present so great, is not
likely to change, like many other fashions. The fine air,
the freedom, the scenery, and all the other agrenants
acompanying this amusement must always make it the most
fascinating kind of sport in the way of shooting which the
British isles or indeed almost any country can afford. The
bird, too, in beauty and appearance is not to be equalled.
In fact, as long as grouse and heather exist, and the nature
of man is imbued with the same love for sport and manly
exercise as it now is, grouse-shooting will be one of our
favourite relaxations from the graver cares of life.
Although, like others, I am excessively fond of this sport,
yet I care little for numbers of slain ; and when following it
independently and alone, am not occupied solely by the
anxiety of bagging so many brace. My usual plan when I
set out is to fix on some burn, some cool and grassy spring,
or some hill summit which commands a fine view, as the
extremity of my day's excursion. To this point, then, I
walk, killing what birds come in my way, and after resting
myself and dogs, I return by some other route, Undoubtedly
the way to kill the greatest number of grouse is to hunt one
certain tract of ground closely and determinedly—searching
every spot as if you were looking for a lost needle, and not
leaving a yard of heather untried. This is the most killing
system, as every practised grouse-shooter knows; but to
me it is far less attractive than a good stretch across a
range of valley and mountain, though attended with fewer
shots. I am also far more pleased by seeing a brace of
good dogs do their work well, and exhibiting all their fine
instinct and skill, than in toiling after twice the number
when hunted by a keeper, whim only plan of breaking the
poor animals in, is to thrash them until they are actually
afraid to use half the wonderful intellect which nature has
given them.
The grouse (Lagopus Scotzeus) is peculiar to the British
islands. There is a kind of grouse in Forway which nearly
resembles it, but is sufficiently unlike and distinct not to be
confounded with it. The grouse needs no description, its
general appearance being known to all. It would be diffi-
cult to describe the plumage exactly, as scarcely any two
grouse of mature plumage are quite alike. They vary from
every shade of reddish brown to nearly black. The
plumage of the young bird is generally much the same in
all specimens, but after their first moult this difference of
colour takes place. The colour and markings of the eggs
are equally varied. Notwithstanding the immense numbers
killed by gun, net, and snare, not including those which
fall a prey to crows, hawks, foxes, and other vermin grouse
are still numerous enough to be a source of great profit in
the way of rent to the proprietors of the heath-clad moun-
tains of this country. That they are not already extinct in
most districts is owing, I truly believe, to the preservation
carried on by those who rent the shootings.
The nest of the grouse is placed in a tuft of heather ; it
contains from eight to ten beautiful eggs, spotted and
marked in manner characteristic of the bird itself, though
differing very much in colour. They are thickly spotted
with reddish brown of'different axles, The old birds are

very attentive to, and careful of the young brood, and re-
main with them till the following spring. On the approach
of, and during wet and rough weather, grouse pack, as it is
called, that is, assemble in large companies. They are
then very wild, and ic is quite useless for the sportsman to
follow them. His best chance of filling his bag on tia.:se
occasions is to pay no attention to the " packs," but to
hunt for scattered single birds and pairs, a few of which
are always to be found, When the heather is wet it is also
of little use attempting to shoot grouse, particularly at an
advanced period of the season. The 12th of August is,
generally speaking, too early to commence regular grouse-
shooting. The 24th would be a better day to appoint. The
early period being only fit for those who shoot for the news-
paper, as certain sportsmen seem to do whose names appear
every season as having murdered some marvellous number
of grouse on the 12th. One grouse in October is a more
satisfactory prize to the real lover of grouse-shooting than
12 can be on the first day of the season. By October the
grouse, instead of being, as in August, a half-plumaged
and often half-grown bird, is one of the finest and most
game-looking birds in the world. Since my recollection
of grouse they have very much changed their manner of
feeding. The small crops of oats which year after year
encroach on the moor lands have taught these birds to
appreciate corn as their food instead of the tender heather
shoots on which formerly they fed. Now, instead of find-
ing the crop of the grouse full of this latter food you find
that they have been feeding on oats like a pheasant or barn
door fowl. As long as anything is to be found on the
stubble the grouse come from long distances every evening
and morning to feed on them. Early in the season, too, they
feed in great numbers in the standing corn. Great num-
bers are destroyed by means of snares in the corn-fields
particularly while the sheaves of oats are left on the
ground.

It is often asserted that the black game drive away the
grouse; but I am not at all of that opinion; I do not cons.der
that they at all interfere with each other. The same der
scription of ground is not liked by both kinds of birds.
The blackcock prefers rocky hill-side, with plantations and
boggy pieces of ground, clothed with coarse grass and dif-
ferent kinds of plants; while the grouse delights in wide
open tracts where the heather is not too rank, and where
there is plenty of young heath, on the shoots of which they
can feed. Burning the heather judiciously and at proper
Feasons is of great service to grouse, as it gives them heather
of different age—the young to feed on, and the older parts
for shelter.

Not the least attractive chapter of this delightful
work is the memoir of its author, a memoir filled
with most interesting details of his happy but brief

career.

The Reason Why ; Physical Geography and Geo•
logy. :With numerous illustrations. Houlston
and Wright.

Messrs. Holliston and Wright are indeed bene-
factors to those "children of a larger growth,"
whose very natural and very laudable curiosity is
constantly inquiring after the Why and the Where-
fore, in all around them. Many of their recent
publications have abundantly ministered to this
craving for information ; and now, in the one newly
issued, we have "upwards of eleven hundred rea-
sons explanatory of the physical phenomena of the
earth, its geological history, and the geographical
distribution of plants, animals, and human families."
Eleven hundred questions and answers! We can open
any page at random, and demand the most abstruee
information. " What causes the trade winds," &c.
The most interesting portion of the work is perhaps
the conclusion, that, viz., relating to the different
divisions of the human family and the distribution of
the animal kingdom throughout the world. Numerous
pictorial illustrations increase the value and add to
the attractive character of these descriptions, which
will be especially welcome to young leaders.
Indeed if such a store of information does not prove
generally welcome and attractive, is would surely
puzzle even the compiler of this collection to explain
The Reason Why.