The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-10 00:00:00

antics ; and the sharp white teeth gleamed from ear to ear
of the dusky little face, as it grinned with pleasure, while
the boy settled himself once more in an attitude of patience
and steady submission.
Nor was Valeria's apartment unworthy of the noble
beauty who devoted it to the mysterious rites of dress and
decoration. Dverything that luxury could imagine for
bodily ease, everything that science had as yet discovered
for the preservation or the production of feminine attrac-
tions, was there to be found in its handsomest and costliest
form. In one recess, shrouded by transparent curtains of
the softest pink, was the bath that could be heated at will
to any temperature, snd the marble steps of which that
shapely form was accustomed to descend twice and thrice
a day. In another stood the ivory couch with its quilted
crimson silks and ornamented pillars of solid gold, in which
Valeria slept, and dreamed such dreams as hovel round the
rest of those whose life is luxury, and whose business is a
ceaseless career of pleasure. On the table of cedar wood,
fashioned like a palm-leaf opening out from a pedestal that
terminated in a single claw of grotesque shape, stood her
silver night-lamp, exhaling odours of perfumed oil, and
near it lay the waxen tablets, on which she made her mettle-
randums, or composed her love-letters, and from which, 321
from an unfinished task, the sharp-pointed steel pencil had
rolled away upon the shining floor. Through the
whole court -- for court it might Lbe
called,
with its many entrances and recesses, its cool
and shady nooks, its lofty ceiling and its
tesselated pavement,—choice vases, jewelled cups, bur-
nished chalices, and exquisite little statues were scattered
in systematic irregularity, and graceful profusion. Even
the very water in the bath flowed through the mouth Of e
marble Cupid; and two more winged urchins ,wrought
bronze, supported a stand on which was set a formidable
array of perfumes, essences, cosmetics, and such material
for offensive and defensive warfare.
The walls, too, of this seductive arsenal, were delicately
tinted of a light rose-colour, that should throw the most
becoming shade over its inmates, relieved at intervals 139
oval wreaths wrought out in bas-relief, enclosing divers
mythological subjects, in which the figure of Venus, god-
dess of love and laughter, predominated, Round the cot"
vices stretched a frieze representing, also in relief, the
fabulous contests of the Amazons with every description
of monster, amongst which the most conspicuous foe
the well-known gryphon, or griffin, an abnormal quads'
ped, with the head and neck of a bird of prey.
Here, again, is a beautiful thought, commemorating
a kindred truth to that immortal exclamation
Keats— •
" A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOR EVER!" is.
It is pehaps one of the most consoling and merciful eLD.
pensations of Providence, that the human mind is se CO
stituted as to dwell on past pleasures, rather than past P 7.1,
The sorrow that ie done with, returns indeed at intern'"
vividly and bitterly enough ; but every fresh occurrence
is
less cruel than the last, and we can look back to our sager;
ings at length, with a calm and chastened humility whi„;
the first step towards resignation and eventual peace. 'll
the memory of a great happiness seems so interwoven giT„,
the imperishable part of our being, that it loses none of
reality by the relapse of time, none of its brightness from
the effect of distance. Anger, sorrow, hatred, contentions,
fleet away like a dream ; but the smile that glacidened us
long ago, has passed into the very sunlight of noon'tit
the whisper that softened our sternest moods, steals 911
the breeze of evening to our heart, gently and tenderly as
of yore, and we know, we feel, that while crime, and misery'
and remorse, are the temporary afflictions of hunienit'''
pardon, and hope, and love are its inheritance for Wier'
more.
fhe conflicts in the amphitheatre are very vividlia,
described. Here, as our final quotation, is a paewa3P
glimpse of—

THE GLADIATORS.
And now the arena becomes a ghastly and forbidding
sight. They die hard, these men, whose very trade 11
slaughter; but mortal agony cannot always suPPresB:-
6roan, and it is pitiful to see soma prostrate giant, stIPP:I°-ad
mg himself painfully on his hands, with drooping L.
and fast closing eye fixed on the ground, while the
'—
stream is pouring from his chest into the thirsty sand'
It is real sad earnest, th s representation of war, ,6
resembles the battle-field in all save that no prisoners 1"
taken, and quarters but rarely are given. Occasional-if'
indeed, some vanquished champion, of more than col:aloe°
beauty, or who has displayed more than common beel
or who has displayed more than commanding address all
courage, so wins the favour of the spectators that they .
ge
for his life to be spared. Hands ara turned outwards, Wrth
6
the thumb pointing to the earth, and the victor sheetile
his sword, and retires with his worsted antagonist frail.
the contest ; but more generally the fallen man's 041231 f°,,,
mercy is neglected : ere the shout " A hit I" has died itc'e—
ears, his despairing eye marks the thumbs of his judge el:
pointing upwards, and he disposes himself to " welcome th
steel" with a calm courage worthy of a better cause.
The reserve, consisting of ten pairs of picked gladiator"
has not yet been engaged. The green and the red 11(1
fought with nearly equal success ; but when the trumpet
has sounded a halt, and the dead have been dragged rise;!
by grappling-hooks, leaving long tracks of crimson in o°l-
wake, a careful enumeration of the survivors gives the /ie.;
tory by one, to the latter colour. Hippias, coming forcieti,:-
in a suit of burnished armour, declares as much, And
greeted with a round of applause. In all her preoccaPe;
tion, Valeria cannot refrain from a glance of aPPretalo
the handsome fencing master; and Mariamne, vr"
that Esca's life hangs on the man's skill, and rbeein;;
gazes on him with mingled awe and horror, as s°l°-
of another world. - waste tb.e

But the populace have little inclinationiat°o
precious moments in cheerinc, Hip ias or
made on
loss and gain. Fresh wagersp areP indeed
matches about to take place; but the prevailing feel
.Lotag..
over that numerous assemblage, is one of morbid e3'
ment and anticipation. The ten pairs of men now ma fight
so proudly into the centre of the lists, are pledged to gg
to the death.
The siege of Jerusalem, and the burning of the,
Temple,in the third volume,ar• described with gree!
vigour. The whole fiction is a thing apart and
lculatir.ige
complete. We congratulate Captain Melville o 1
the spirit and power evinced by this classical novel
of his, which, if flawed here and there, as we have
shown, is but flawed thus very rarely, very excelp"
tionally ! The whole romantic picture of the antique,
past conjured up to view, thus, in " The GladiatorleA
being sketched in manifestly with the rapid hang
of a master of his craft, always with the boldest Oat'
lines, often with the most gorgeous colouring.

Serious Illness of Mr. Justice Wightraay.

We regret to state that we have received a tel.c...
gram from York, announcing the serious illearstness or
app o
Mr. Justice Wightman. His recovery
be despaired of.
_--