The Sun.
London, England, 1837-04-25 00:00:00

the empire. The characters were no doubt chosen
to exhibit the classical acquirements of the author;
but in his management of them, though he occasion-
ally shows a knowledge of the times of which he treats,
he is yet, on the whole, deficient in tact and discre-
tion, Scribonius Mtnnmius, whom he represents as
a dry caustic htnourist, has little conception of hu-
mour of any kind. Calpurnitra Piso, the Ict:ding hero
of the tale, is little lens common-place than ohe of the
characters that figure in the pages of a fashipnable
novel. Clarence Harvey, in " Belinda," would
furnish material.; for a dozen of such " nice voting
ocn of good principles." Every tmiden aunt,
past a " certain a:;c," in the metropolis, has two or
three lek:acy-e:cpecting nephews, each of whom would

make a Pisoe The annals of ancient Greece and Rome
supply materiels for the tragedian, the epic poet, the
moralist, and Oaf juri.sconsult to fashion into works of
imperishable excelfnce ; but they are wanting in all
the familiar asociaticola without which none but men
of the highest order of :intellect can produce a readable
novel.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF

LONDON•

Sunday being St. George's Day, ete Society of Antiquaries
met yesterday at their apartments in .Somerset-place, in pur-
suance of their statutes and charter of I.ncorporation, to elect
a President, Council, and officers of the Society for the year
ensuing. Whereupon—
George, Earl of Aberdeen,
H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex,
Thomas Amyot, Esq.,
Nichs. Carlisle, Esq.,
Sir Henry Ellis, Knt.
John Gage, Esq.
Eleven of the Council were r
And
George Henry, Bishop of Bath Rev. Philip Hunt, LL.D.,
and Wells, Sir Madden, Kt.,
John Bidwell, Esq., Spencer, iNfa,-quis of Northamp
Henry Brandreth, Esq., ton,
Decimus Burton, Esq., Sir G. T. St4ancon, Bart.
C. P. Cooper, Esq., R. Westmacott,
Ten of the other Members of the Society were cuosen of the
new Council, and they were severally -declared to be the
Council for the year ensuing. And, on a Report made of the
officers of the Society, it appeared, that George, Earl o
Aberdeen, K. T., was elected President.
Thomas Amyot, Esq., Treasurer.
John Gage, Esq., Director.
Nicholas Carlisle, Esq., Secretary, and
Sir Henry Ellis, Knt., Secretary, for the year ensuing.
'The Society afterwards dined together at the Free Masons
Tavern, according to annual custom

(Henryudson Gurney, Esq.,
I Hallam, Esq.,
W. R. Hamilton, Esq.,
ISydney Smirke, Esq.,
Rt. Hon. C. W. W. Wynn.

chosen of the new Council

Some of the Gentoos enter their dwellings by a hole
in the roof, and any fat person who cannot get through it they
consider as an excommunicated offender who has not been
able to rid himself of his sins ' • and an eastern prince had an
officer to. regulate the size of his subjects, who dieted the un-
wieldy ones to reduce them to a proper volume.—Millengen's
Curiosity of Medical Experience.
" Never, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant,"
observes a Coventry paper, " was distress more universal
among the ribbon weavers of this city, than it is at the present
time. We believe that we do not exaggerate when we say
that full three-fourths of the thousands engaged in the ribbon
trade are out of employ at the present moment, and what is
still more appalling, the probability is that the next three
months will be even worse than the last.--Coventry Herald.
The genuine materials for the early history of St.
Sepulchre's Church are, unfortunately, extremely scant and
meagre ; in fact, even of the (late of its original foundation
there does not appear to be any record. From the circum-
stance, however, that it was dedicated in commemoration of
the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, we may, perhaps, assign it
to the commencement of the 12th century, when, as we know,
thousands of persons were eagerly and quixotically adventuring
their lives in a far country for the recovery of our Saviour's
tomb from the infidels, and all who remained at home were
emulative to evince the greatest respect and attachment to the
sacred cause.—Godwin's Churches of London.
MEMOIRS OF A PEERESS ; OR, THE DAYS OF
Fox—This is an extraordinarily clever book, which does
great credit to the authoress, as well as to Lady Charlotte
Bury, by whom it is edited. The writer, who has a great
talent for description and the sketching of chara(!ters, paints
what she saw and participated in with sense and judgment.
In the course of the work we are introduced to the private
lives of Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Lord Grey, and all the illus-
trious characters of that memorable era, and we are equally
familiarized with the galaxy of fashion when the Prince of
Wales was considered tkc acme of grace and elegance. All
that these interesting volumes say of Mr. Fox, redounds to
the honour of that kind hearted, illustrious man.—Dispatch.
The late inclement weather has not been alone de-
structive to the woolly part of the creation, but the feathered
have suffered also. The grouse in the neighbourhoed of Al-
lendale (and we have no doubt equally so in all grouse dis-
tricts) have suffered to an immense extent. The shepherds
report the finding of great numbers of the above-named birds
dead from actual starvation. Our informant states that on
Monday, the 10th instant, he, within a nide of his farm-
house, succeeded in taking four old birds, which he philan-
thropically set down amongst the poultry, and strange to say,
they fed and roosted with their new companions for three
days, after which they returned to their snowy wilderness.
The following is the proposed diet table for the
Lincoln Union \Vorkhouse

BkaAKFAsT.—Each day—one pint Of porridge, composed
of 2 ounces of oatmeal, half a pint of milk, and half a pint of
water; six ounces of bread.

DINNER.-Sunday : 5 oz. of cooked meat and 12 ounces of
potatoes. Monday : ditto. Tuesday : 1i pint of broth and 6
oz. bread. Wednesday : 5 oz, of meat and 12 oz. of pota-
toes. Thursday : pint of broth and 6 075. of bread. Fri-
day : 5 oz. rne.f.t and 12 oz. potatoes. Saturday ; 14 oz. flour
or yeast dumpling.

F'PI'ER.—.EaC day : 6 oz. bread and half a pint of milk.
TILE W'ELLING'TON STATUE.—The sum of

7,300/. has been contributed towards the erection of this
statue in the city of London, and it is calculated by those
who wish to see a splendid effort of art, and of course are de-
sirous that designs should be sent into the Committee, that
about 2,000/. more will be necessary. Wednesday a move is
likely to be made in the Committee on the subject.

The Chaplain of the New Prison, Cicrkenwcll, in
a circular letter, dated the 10th instant, addressed to the Mid-
dlesex Justices, says that within the last three months "no
less than 200 boys have beer, committed to that prison, whose
average stay.in it has been under a week ;" a stay just long
enough to improve them in crime, and to produce no good
effect whatever.

As long as Courts of Justice and Committee-
rooms are open to the public, and as many persons as they
will contain may hear what passes, it is not very easy to di-
vine why those who are absent may not read an account of the
same proceedings ; yet this, and neither more nor less, is the
nature of the attempt to convert the one into a breach of privi-
lege, while the other neither is nor can be prevented.
From the long continuance of dry and cold weather,
it is feared that much of the early sown barley will have pe-
rished in the ground.

A gentleman narned'Fitchett, residing at Crcwkerne,
Somersetshire, has had a considerable sum of money and va-
luable lands left to him by a gentleman of the same name,
lately residing at Hull, who was personally unknown to him.
The property was left merely on account of the name being
similar to that of the deceased.

PRIGS ATP GREENWICH FAIR.-At the Maid-
stone Quarter Sessions, which have just concluded, no less
than 25 young thieves were tried, and convicted of picking
pockets, and other petty larcenies during the late Greenwich
fair. All of them were sentenced to transportation. The
police sent to the fair were more numerous than usual, and a
large proportion being in plain clothes, the thieves were taken
quite by surprise, and in a few instances, mistaking the officers
for gentlemen, actually tried to rob those who were watching
their legerdemain tricks.
LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY.—The
number of persons who passed along the Greenwich Railway
since the 14th of December, 1836, was 450,000, nearly one-
third of the whole population of London.
STEAM BOAT NOVELTIES.—.A Company has
announced an intention of establishing a steam-boat ferry
from Hungerford Market to London-bridge. The boats to
start hourly at first, but to every quarter of an hour whenever
the spring season
.may in reality commence. Fare only 4d.
each person: The scheme seems plausible, and may please
many, but unhappily it has two sides, one of which is painful.
The steam competition has already reduced the jolly bluff
waterrnen of the Thames, many to utter ruin, and nearly all
to a state of abject slavery. The present project, if it suc-
ceed, it is to be feared, will complete what little of destruc-
tion remains undone to these poor fellows and their families.
On Monday week a frightful accident occurred in
a worsted factory called Meerclough Bottom Mill, near Hali-
frt. A young woman called Martha Ditching, whilst passing
an upright iron shaft moving with a fearful velocity, and which
from some cause had been left unprotected, was caught by her
clothes, and her body mangled in a most shocking manner.
What renders the accident more afflicting is the fact, that in a
few days she was to have been married. An inquest was held
on the body at the Old King Cross, and a verdict of " Acci-
dental death" returned, with a deodand of 6/. upon the ma-
chinery.—Leeds Times.

The Ambassadors from Madagascar continue to
visit the principal establishments of Paris, and inspect the in-
stitutions of learning, arts, and monuments, without expressing
surprise. They appear mild in manners, their habitual calm-
ness approaching to something very much resembling ennui.
The unseasonable state of the weather appears to inconveni-
ence them. On their guide asking them lately what they
would wish to see the following day, they replied, " The sun,
if possible."
We learn from Frankfort that the house of Roths-
child proposes extending the circle of its commercial relations
beyond the Atlantic. A branch of this house is about to be
established at New York, to which effect a M. Belmonte has
lately left Frankfort for that city, via London and Paris.
Paris .Paper, . • .