The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-31 00:00:00

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LITERATURE.

A RESIDENCE IN GREECE ANI\
WITH NOTES OF A JOURNEI"Y
BULGARIA, SER VIA, HUNGARY,UiteD4Wit:4IIIZ
BALKAN. IN 2 Voz.s.

Br FRANCIS ESQ.
London, Whittaker and Co. 1837.
The author of these volumes has so faithfully
sketched their character in the opening chapter, in his
delineation of his own individual peculiarities, that our
criticism shall not extend beyond an apposite quota-
tion from it ; followed by au extract or two as samples
of his desciiptive powers. " I entreat those readers,"
lie commences,- " who are attached to anything in the
shape of order or system at once to shut the book, as
I never could, in any transaction through life, arrive at
that most desirable of all talents, arrangement. I may
almost state that I was born an artist, beginning to
wield a pencil even before I had quitted my female
attire ; but know not why I could never acquire any
other artist-like quality than that of a total waPit of
order, which has characterised the whole of my pro-
gress. I must also crave pardon for a sort of restless-
ness which will occasion me now and then suddenly
to traverse the continent, perhaps from Constantinople
to Calais, or leap from the Archipelago to the extre-
mity of the Mediterranean, from thence cross the
English or Irish channel, as caprice may dictate, with
a rapidity infinitely surpassing any travelling yet per-
formed by steam boats, steam carriages, or even
balloons ; and above all I must beg of the reader never
to expect that because I set out for any given place,
that I should probably arrive at the stated destination ;
for such has ever been my uncalculating want of fore-
sight that even by that most straightforward mode of
travelling, the stage coach, with a genius peculiar to
myself for erring and straying from the right path, I have
contrived to mount the wrong vehicle, and after. having
proceeded some miles on a false track, have at length
discovered that I was at fault, by the conversation of
the passengers, or some other circumstance, which has
happily occurred to, enlighten me in my devious
course ; and in embarking on board a vessel bound
for a certain port, however the ship may arrive at its
wished for harbour, it by no means follows that I
should arrive with it," But notwithstanding our
author's want of system, and his erratic freaks of fancy,
he is to all travelling intents and purposes a most lively,
gossiping, and agreeable companion. About the phi-
losophy of objects he never once troubles himself or
others. What he saw he describes just as it struck
him at the moment, satisfied if he can only convey to
the reader his individual impressions which are some-
times ludicrous enough. As an example we give his
description of the far-famed Greek beauties :
" My ideas of Grecian beauty had been so exalted by the
poet and the sculptor, that I had expected to meet scarce
any but angels and syrens at every step and. turn, instead of
which, they struck me as being some unfortunate maniacs
who had by some chance escaped from their keepers, as I
appeal to all my reasonable readers if there be not a degree
of madness, in the summer season, in the burning climate
of Greece, to dress in shawls, velvets, and heavy clothes
trimmed with furs, add to which turbans puffed out to such
extravagant dimensions as no rational being in any civilized
country could think of wearing, without she were deter-
mined to astonish every passerby ; and not content with
the extraordinary appearance of these over be-puffed head-
dresses, they must stick a quantity of real flowers in them,
with so little regard either to form, colour, or assortment,
that one might reasonably suppose they were all acting the
part of Crazy Jane. Nor were their personal charms by
any means calculated to compensate thrr these extravaganza.
Their eyes are generally considered fine ; hut I should say
the expression was harsh, mostly very dark, and surmounted
by a pair of man's eyebrows : the mouth and nose being
equally heavy, the countenance has a masculine appearance ;
and as to their complexions, one might imagine that they
stained themselves with tobacco juice. Tneir heads are
naturally large, the effect of which they increase by their
outrageous manner of adorning them. Their stature is
mostly very short, and their waists generally rival in thick-
ness the rest of their person ; but they arc frequently so
constructed as to appear much taller when sitting than
standing. What the French call tournure could not be
expected from the little communication they had with po-
li,ted nations ; but nature has preveated any possibility of
hoping that even education could confer elegance of deport-
ment, as what possible grace can ever be produced from a
large head stuck upon a little dumpy woman ? The total
want of symmetry observable in their proportions may be
physically accounted for. Seven-eights of their lives which
are not spent in sleep, are passed by them sitting on their
heels huddled up upon their sofas ; and this constant unna-
tural contraction has doubtless much influence upon their
figures, not having those advantages which a proper degree
of exercise affords in giving strength and elasticity to the
form, so conducive to health and grace ; as those whose oc-
cupations doom them to pr:serve a cramped posture, ever
display a degree of awkwardness in walking, and in fact in
all their movements."
Mr. Herv6 was introduced to King Otho, whom he
says the English have satirically nicknamed the " Ugly
King of Greece." He considers the soubriquet un-
merited, and, to prove that it is so, favours his readers
with the following sketch of his Majesty, than which,
he assures us, no correct outline can be more flattering :
" When one beholds a Sovereign, we generally look at
him with a very scrutinising rye, endeavouring to discern a
something beyond the ordinary stamp of man. To make
any discovery of that description in Otho, must require a
being of superior penetration ; at any rate, I must confess
my own deficiency in that respect, never having been able
to perceive that majesty of appearance in the young king
which we naturally imagine the attribute of monarchs. His
countenance is ever replete with the expression of good
nature, and is in that instance a faithful index of his cha-
racter. He is in stature about the middle height, perhaps
rather above—may be from five feet nine to ten inches :
would appear taller if he did net, wear his hair so flat to his
head, as though it were gummed thereon ; and as if to pre-
serve it constantly in an unrefiled state, he has a habit ever
and anon of stroking it down with his hand, thereby re-
taining it in the most perfact and obedient state of smooth-
ness that man could desire : I never saw one rebel hair,
astray ; happy would he be could be keep his subjects in
the same state of subordination. But I suspect that this
extreme neatness of coiffeur as,ists in giving him the air of
a grocer's apprentice, when dressed in his Sunday clothes
that is to say, those of Bishopsgate-street or Holborn, v s
those of the west-end arc more stylish-looking fellows than
King Otho ; and indeed lie has ether symptoms
which
savour of the grocer's shop, having a curious knack of ton-
tinu.dly giving innumerable little nods of his head, which
one might be led to imagine he had acquired front ender
vouring to emulate these Chinese figures, the usual appen-
dages of dealers in groceries. The comparison may he
carried still further : nothing can be more inoffensive than
the physiognomy of thoe images ; but undoubtedly that of
the Kicg's is as much so, In fact, he always appeared to
me to have the expression of a good lad whose master had
just patted him on the Lead, And Said to him " There's a
good boy ;' thus giving the youth ati air of satisfaction with
himself and all the world. It would not be fair for me.to
comment on his colloquial powers, not understanding, the
German language : what converse we ever had together
was in French, which he spoke very indifferently ; and
having a great many nervous little twists and quirks in
ad-
dition to the Aforesaid incessant nods of the head, his arti-
culation appeared to me to be impeded, though his animation
certainly was increased by these vivacious gesticulations.
The fact was, that I could seldom understand what he said,
and it was quite evident that I was as rarely comprehended •
by . I • 'tis true he is deaf with one car, and I with tny.
usual bad tact always contrived to feet on the deaf side ; it
may therefore be easily imagined thatb our conversation 11;0
not very brilliant, having no other merit than its brevity." •
The work is embellished with a great number of
lithographic engravings by the author, most of w Lich
are very handsomely executed. It overflows with plea•
sant anecdotes.

Lord Leveson continued at Chatsworth on the.24th,
and it was expected that his Lordship would remain until •
the departure cf the Duke of Devonshire for town, and
then come up with his Grace.
Prince Augustus of Prussia was presented to the,
Sultan on the 4tl! inst:nt. Duke Maximilian of Leuch-
ttuberg was present at the interview.
rite intended illumination of Temple-bar alone on
the occasion of her Majesty's visit to the city is contraetA
to be done for SOO/.
Lord Carrington's emoluments, as Captain of Deal
Castle, which appointment he has hell since 180'2, is a 6!t•
lary
of 46/. paid half-yearly, voted in the Cinque Ports esti-
mates. His Lordship has expended in repairs, alterations,
and additions to the castle and premises since his appoint-
ment, upwards of 7,000/.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

On Saturday we presented our readers with a -report
of the proceedings at a dinner given a few clays since
by the Reformers of North Cheshire, to Mr. J. E.
S'anley, Member for that division of the county. The
Hon. Gentleman made a long and able speech in re-
turning thanks for the honour done him in drinking his
health. It was also a firm and uncompromising,

though temperate address, and is well calculated to ad-
vance the popular cause at the present moment. The
picture which the Hon. Gentleman drew of the Tories
of the past, as well as of the present day, was by no
means a flattering one ; but the likeness, on that ac-
cuint, is so much the more faithful. He showed that,
notwitlistainic, all their loud protestations of devoted
and c xcliesive loyalty, the Tories of a former day had
leagued themselves tobetheF as if by some freemasonry
sort of oath to exclude from the throne of these realms
the Ilouse of Hanover. And we have seen certain
indications of late, which would justify the conclusion
that there are persons calling themselves Conservatives,
and occupying 'a prominent place among that party,
who would have no objection to see certain clvinges
occur in some existing dynasties to which we will not
particularly refer. For the sake of the country, how-
ever, and that the mask in which the Tories appear
may be taken off their faces, we give one of the dashes
of Mr. 'Stanley's pencil in his portraiture of that party.
He says:—
At no time were they more united, or more determined
io their union and their purposes, than they were in their
endeavour to dethrone the present Royal Family, when the
Whigs held the reins of administration, on the accession of
the House of Hanover to the throne of these realms. Then,
as now, the Whigs were as bitterly reviled by a majority of
the aristocracy and of the clergy ; then, as now, the Whigs,
confident of the cordial support of the Cipwn, and relying
on the good sense and public spirit of the great towns, de-
feated the Tories. Nor are we warranted in the supposi-
tion that the Tories are more scrupulous now than for-
merly. Their transition from passive obedience to rebel-
lion was nothing to them, nor will it be greater trouble to
these convenient politicians to renounce despotism for radi-
calism, in the first instance, in order to exchange radicalism
for despotism, as an ulterior and eventual measure. There
were no means to which the Tories of that day did not re-
sort, in order to expel the House of Hanover, and to re-
store the Stuarts, with all the evils to which that restora-
tion must inevitably have given rise ; and, it may in reason
be expected, that the Tories of our day will be equally in-
different as to the means of which they avail themselves for
the attainment of their purpose—a resumption of that power
of which public opinion has happily deprived them."
" Behold the picture, is it like ?" Even the To-
ries themselves will hardly venture to question its fide-
lity. And yet these are the men who, as they pretend
to all the religion in the country, arrogate to them-
selves the exclusive possession of all the loyalty to be
found in the empire. Mr. Stanley next proceeds to
bring home to the Tories the charge of the grossest
inconsistency or the rankest hypocrisy. They may
prefer which they please. He. triumphantly enume-
rates particular measures of great importance which
they had pledged themselves to resist while they them-
selves continued to exist as a party ; and yet after-
wards, in order to preserve their places in Downing-
street, either passed those very measures, or intimated
their readiness to do so should they be suffered to re-
main in power. The peroration of Mr: Stanley's
speech is full of sound sense, and points out to the
people and the Legislature an enlightened course in
the Impending struggle between the Liberals and the
Tories. He says :
" It has been the fashion of late with some people—
friends to the cause of Reform—to imagine, in the exube-
rance of their zeal, that Reform would be advanced by
the temporary admission of the Tories to office—trusting
to a speedy ejection of that party, and a resurrection of
ardent Reformers in the full plenitude of power and place,
enabled to sweep down all opposition in the way of the
attainment of the objects they have in view. But, gentle-
men, let me remind you that this experiment may be dan-
gerous ; and it is easier to keep them out now that they
are out, than to turn them out after they are in ; and al-
though it is quite certain the spirit of the people would not
endure the continuance of the Tories at the helm of the
State, yet the getting rid of them might entail more evil
on the country than a prudent man should consent to see
inflicted. This subject reminds me of a debate in the
reign of Charles the Second on a Bill for the exclusion of
the Duke of York from the throne. A Member argued,
in favour of his suceession, that if they did not like him,
they could easily get rid of him ; to which another Mem-
ber replied—
I hear a lion in the lobby roar ;
Say, Mr. Speaker, shall I bar the doer
And keep him out ?—or shall I let him in,
To see if we can turn him out again."

—and as I think the Tories as dangerous as the lion, I do
not wish to run any risk for the sake of doing that which
is already done."
We arc among those who have no fears as to the
eventual consequences of another incursion, on the
part of the Tories, into Downing-street ; but the im-
mediate effects of such an advent might be very inju-
rious to the country. We, therefore, concur with the
Hon. Gentleman in the opinion that the wiser and
better way is to keep the Tories out of office while
they arc out. If they ever do get in again, it certainly
will not be from any want of efforts on our part for
their perpetual exclusion.—Morning Advertiser.
We insert a letter signed " Cotswold," detailing
some particulars of the different modes of manage-
ment of Tory and Whig estates. The Tories, it is
said, insist on their tenants voting according to in-
structions from them. The Whigs, on the other
hand, do not interfere at all with their tenants. So
far so good. Rut the Whigs arc above troubling
themselves with the doings of their Tory stewards;
and three cases are cited in East Gloucester of three
adjoining estates belonging to Whig landlords, renting
20,0001. a year, abandoned to Tory stewards, who, in
case of a contested election, would have intimidated
every tenant, and compelled him to vote for Tories !
Morning Chroultle.
Our Irish letter in this day's Times is worth read-
ing, were it only for the fresh proof it brings of the
perfect tranquillity which reigns in Ireland, and of the
non-existence of any disaffected association in that
country, now that the poor Orangemen have been so
long dissolved ! The Queen's County is the happy
scene of this new tribute to the pacificating genius of
Lord Mulgrave. The murderous outrage was com-
mitted on two inoffensive men, of whom one was a
Protestant, returning home quietly from the market of
Mountrath, when three ruffians rushed upon them from
behind a hedge—asked them, " Are you a Whitefoot
now ? "—flung stones at them, one of which struck
the forehead of him whose name was Quearney, and
after running a few yards, the unfortunate man ex-
pired. One of the murderers has since been recog-
nized by the wife of his victim, and lodged in Mary-
borough gaol. The Tipperarli Constitution of the
24th instant is rich in such' evidences of " tran-
quillity." On the night of the 21st instant three
policemen had arrested a f-2:101N chqr,-red with at-
tacking a house in the neighhourood of the Donas_
Leigh station. The surroundMg peasantry soon as-
sembled in full savagery, and began the work so
characteristic of a tranquil and law-governed country
—viz. that of rescuing the handcuffed prisoner freett
Justice. The policemen, pressed by number., took re-
fuge in a house, a hich they began to barricade, and
vii the mob attempting fruitlessly to break in, the
raptured villain bellowed ti them to burn down the
house, for that he weell willingly lose his life for the
sake of having tile )(Ake burned along with him.
:I'he house !Aceordinglyl
bt of the roof was fire to, and on the fall-
ii'Q their heads, the policemen were
obliged to leave it ; when what in Popish Ireland is
tailed a " fight" ensued, an Irish fight being the on-
o of the 0
..,usands against one, two, or three indi-
viduals--the more helpless the
the intended mulls the
bctot, inasmuch as courage of the assailants is so
tiluch the livelier, and their victory the surer, if not
altogether the more glorious. Well, there was one
Niireioan knocked down, and his head cut cruelly
With a spade by the " finest peasantry in the world,"
011ie one of the brutal rabble was shot dead, and
two other; carried away wounded by the police.
Not far from the scene of that intended massacre a
man was butchered by a numerous gang of potatoe-
diggers, who battered the poor creatures skull to pieces
with their spades, within two miles of the same police
station of Donaskeigh. A quantity amounting to.between
40 and 601 b. of gunpowder was blundered from the
quarrymen of Cappawhite and Duu
its drum—a proceed-
ing which will contribute share, no doubt, to the
sum-total of " Irish tranquillity, throughout
winter. Within two the en-
suingo miles of Fethardr in the

same county, two young men, of the name of Walshe,
returning to their homes last Sunday week were way-
laid by a couple of barbarians, who unmercifully frac-
tured the skull of one of them, who has since died,

and his brother is ill imminent danger. Yesterday
se'nnight the house of a woman named Moylan, who
sold spirits without license, commonly called a shebeen..
house, was thrown down; but a more noticeable fact
in relation to that hovel is, that it was the scene of a

savage assassination on the 9th instant, when a poor
man, of the name of Flanney, was murdered, on his
return from the fair of Roscrea, and although there
were. seven or eight persons present when the unfor-
tunate man's 1)1 od was spilt, and his destroyer well

known among them, nether witness nor prosecu-
tor is to be forthcoming ! So that when the Lenined •~
Judge, at calendar time, has to lecture the Grand Jury,
further negative grounds will not be wanting for a so-
lemn congratulation upon the disappearance of crime
and the growth of national prosperity. When will this
system of atrocious humbug be abandoned ? When
will it be punished? For punished if it be not, the
policy of the empire, as well as the administration of
justice, will be everlastingly disgraced. There is ano-
ther letter upon our file, but a private one, which ar-
raigns this journal somewhat carelessly, for having too
much disregarded the one grand object of a general
fund for the support of Irish petitions against. Mem-
bers returned to the present Parliament, through error,
fraud, or illegality. Our correspondent is not ju3ti-
ficd in bringing a charge against us, which, if true,
would convict us of the grossest folly in the teeth of
our known convictions, and of the most shameful
treachery to our declared principles. We have re-
peatedly and strenuously recommended, applauded,
and enforced the purposes of the Irish petition fund,
which we have every reason to believe will prove ade-
quate to its noble aim, of redressing the serious wrongs
inflicted on a very large number of the Irish constitu-
encies, and not on them only, but on the rights and
safeguards of the entire people of Great Britain,
through the usurpation of seats in the House of
Commons, by men sworn to obey the mandates of
one who has pledged himself to the formal dismem-
berment of the empire, unless he can produce, through
indirect and insidious means, a change in the
relations .of Great Britain and Ireland---equivalent,
by reason of its destructive nature, to an actual sepa-
ration of the countries. " Either," says the man who
has projected and executed those false returns which
the petition fund is destined to overthrow, " either the
open repeal of the Union, or a substantial frustration
of all the useful objects of the Union—one or the
other I am resolved to have. I am willing to try
whether I can manage to gain the ends of repeal with-
out the odium or the risk of it ; if not I shall insist
on repeal itself." Such is the avowed language of
Mr. Daniel O'Connell. Such, unquestionably, is the
plot for the success of which his nominees in the
House of Commons are bound, under his guidance,
to speak, to vote, and juggle. Such is the wicked-
ness, such the ruin, which it is and will be the honour-
able distinction of the fund we are proposing to avert.
Neither Lords nor Commoners, be it recollected, can
with propriety subscribe for such a purpose. It rests
exclusively upon the Conservatives out of doors to
complete it ; and we repeat once more, that the fund is
a sacred one, and the duty paramount.—Times.

That the citizens of London should evince their
loyalty to the person of the Queen, and their attach-
ment to the monarchical principle, of which the young
and amiable Victoria is the august personation, by in-
viting her Majesty to a banquet worthy of the me-
tropolitan city, can excite objection on the part of none
but sour ascetics, who denounce all hospitable inter-
course, or stern republicans, who see in the honours
paid to royalty the practical condemnation of their pe-
culiar opinions. Great, however, is the difference
between the rational expression of an honest, heartfelt
loyalty, and those extravagant and over-acted demon-
strations of attachment which display more of the
giddy spirit of fantastic flattery than the sincere and
sober homage of the haart. A banquet given to the
Queen of Great Britain by the first city of her empire
should be upon a scale of grandeur and magnificence
which would show that no considerations of paltry
economy had interfered to chill the spirit of a generous
hospitality. We believe that the entertainment now
preparing for the Queen will, in splendour, richness,
and arrangement, be worthy of the occasion. We
allude to the materiel of the entertainment, the supply
and disposition of which is in the best possible hands,
but the personnel is quite another thing, and re-
quires to be more particularly noticed. The public
have already been made aware that the ladies of
various distinguished personages, noblemen and states-
men who are to be the guests at this regal-civic ban-
quet have not been invited. It is asked, why this ap-
parent want of gallantry in the civic body ; and, in-
deed, of that proper manly feeling which is inseparable
from a due respect for the fair sex ? The reason given
is, that there is not room to accommodate them. We
are told, indeed, that the ladies of the Aldermen and
Common Councilmen will, according to a custom
never departed from, take their seats in the Hall. The
same authority states, " We believe, too, that a few
other ladies will be among the guests, although it is
perfectly true that no invitations have been sent to the
ladies of Foreign Ambassadors, or of the Noblemen
who are to have the honour of being present at the
entertainment." When we read such a statement as
this, put fcrth by an avowed apologist for the Corpo-
ration, we blush for the politeness and chivalry of the
citizens of London in the nineteenth century. What !
shall it be said in foreign countries that the ladies of
Ambassadors and other distinguished personages were
excluded from a festive scene which their presence would
have so highly graced and ornamented, on the alleged
plea of a want of room, N\ hile the Members of the
Common Council take their scats at the tables, and
genercusly bestow their hospitality on themselves ?
Would it, we ask, be derogatory to them to be present as
stewards, instead of occupying scats at the tables, to
the exclusion of the ladies of their distinguished guests?
On the contrary, it would be creditable to them, in
more than one respect, to attend in the capacity of
stewards upon their illustrious visitors, thus making
room for a number of ladies—some of them strangers
in England—all of them such as would heighten the
attractions of a banquet given in honour of a maiden
Queen. By acting the part which we suggest, the
Common Councilmen would remove the objection as
to want of room, and evince their politeness and gal-
lantry in a way that would be creditable to the national
character. We confess we are anxious that our
character as Englishmen should not suffer si this ban-
quet 11-1, any exhibition of that gross selfishness which
'would make the members of the civic body study their
own personal gratificatirm to the exclusion of the
greatest charm of the hospitable board—the fair scx.
Another topic connected with this dinner ought to
be noticed—it is the attempt whic:. is making to have
a general illumination, which we regard as extravagant
and absurd, and likely to be highly mischievous. It
has even been proposed to light up the dome of St.
Paul's, though, perhaps, the result of that cxperi-
, went might be to burn that glorious edifice to the
ground. Why an illumination at all ? Let the
streets be well lighted, and that is all the light that
will be required on the outside of the houses. It
has been calculated that it would cost from 100,000/.
to 150,000/. to illuminate the metropolis. Wily
should such a sum of money be expended on the glitter
and smoke of an illumination, which only serves to put
the streets in possession of disorderly and riotous
mobs, thieves, and vagabonds, to the exclusion or in-
jury of all respectable and well-disposed people ? But
who arc they who are most desirous of uselessly squan-
dering vast sums of money in getting up a public
nuisance? They are the very class of persons who used
to accuse the Tory party in the Corporation of the most
wanton and senseless extravagance, in having lavished
large sums upon similar rejoicings when George IV.,
then Prince Regent, and the allied Sovereigns, dined
with the Corporation. These are the men who now
propose that, for the merci lighting up of Temple-bar,
4001. out of the civic funds should be expended. They
had better have that fine specimen of the architectural
talents of Sir Christopher Wren well cleaned, so that
it might look well in the light of day, instead of dis-
gracing the city by the sooty and dingy appearance of
neglect and decay which it now presents. Half the
money proposed to be laid out in smoking it with oil
lamps would restore it to its pristine beauty, and the
remainder of the 4001. could not be better disposed of