The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-11 00:00:00

BREAD.

The prices of wheaten bread in the metropolis are from
7id to sa, or ttousenotd do., 51d to ia per 416 ioai.

HIDES AND SKINS.

Market hides, 561 b to 641 b, 21d to 3d ; 641 b to 721 b, 3d
to aid ; 721 b to 801 b, 3d to 31d ; 801 b to 881 b, 31d to 41d ;
881 b to 961 b, 4d to 41d ; 961 b to 1041 b, Od to Od ; 1041 b to
1121 b, Od to Od. Horse hides, 8s 6d to lOs 6d ; calf skins,
light, 2s Od to 3s 6d ; full, 6s Od to Os Od ; polled sheep, Os
Od to Os Od; half-breds, 9s Od to lOs 6d; Downs, 7s Od to
8s 6d ; lambs, 2s 9d to 3s 9d; shearlings, is 5d to is 6d.

LITERATURE.

The Deserted House of Hawksworth. 3 vols.

Hurst and Blackett.

Mr. Wilkie Collins has a great deal to answer
for. To his wonderful excellence in that terrible
branch of art, and to the success naturally conse-
quent upon that excellence, we believe we are
mainly indebted for the modern Sensation Novel.
Nature has (for the time being, let us hope !) gone
out of fashion, and in the world of literature now
the palm is given to the extravagant, the amazing,
and the unreal. To be surprised appears to be the
very acme of enjoyment to the modern romance
reader. A morbid craving for stimulants is not the
sign of health ; cayenne and curries may be very
acceptable as the occasional et ceteras of a repast,
but who in the possession of health and appetite
could endure to have them before him diurnally.
This feverish craving for excitement does not speak
well for the present condition of the reading public.
It is, moreover, an excitement which must defeat
its own object; it is essentially evanescent, like all
that is unreal. Not such the spells exercised by
the real romancist—by those potent magicians who
" hold the mirror up to nature," and who out of the
fulness of their own hearts appeal, and not in
va'n, to the living hearts of millions. Talk of
interest and excitement, what mysterious secret,
utterly worthless when discovered ; what accu-
mulated horrors, quite innocuous because so accu-
mulated, which crowd the pages of the Sensation
Novel, can in any the most remote degree compare
with the universal interest which was felt in so
many households all over the kingdom, aye, and
even attested by tears, at the death of poor Smike,
and little Nell,and little Paul, and tiny Tim ?—What
Sensation Novel produces such sensation ! When
Nicholas administered that immortal thrashing to
Mr. Squeers, when he clung in angry desperation to
the cab-horse of Sir Mulberry Hawk, those were
indeed scenes of excitement that stirred responsive
passions in the honest indignant hearts of hun-
dreds. Do we not all remember them well? These
are sensation novels, we admit, to whose power we
cordially bear testimony, a power again and again
attested as they alternately elicit our tears and
our laughter; but such are not the tributes
accorded to the modern novel. Who ever wept over
a sensation story ? "It is very pretty poetry, Mr.
Pope, but it is not Homer," said the censorious critic.
This is very clever acting—very clever, we have no
doubt—but it is acting, and we must be pardoned
if we are old-fashioned enough to prefer truth and
nature, whether in tragedy or comedy, to art and
artifice, whether in pantomime, burlesque, extrava-
ganza, or spectacle. Having spoken so far in gene.
ralities, we must turn to the latest and not the least
meritorious specimen of its class, " The Deserted
House of Hawksworth !" The readers of the cir-
culating library may rejoice in the ample banquet
here provided for them. Horror, and mystery, and
intrigue, passion and prejudice, evil-doing, and yet
more evil revenge and tardy but triumphant retri-
bution, constitute some of the attractive features of
this novel. The author's name is not given, but it
does not read like the work of an unpractised hand.
It displays no inconsiderable ability ; some of the
characters are well portrayed, and many of the
scenes described with much spirit, and the story
possesses a certain amount of originality. We are
willing to accord to book and writer a fair amount
of praise, but the work is of a class for which we
have no sympathy. For example let us specify a few
of its contents; in so doing, we shall perhaps, in
the opinion of some, be pronouncing a panegyric.
The tale opens with the opening of the " Deserted
House of Hawksworth"—a house that for 20 years
had been walled in, and blocked up, and inacces-
sible. Twenty years before, a wedding breakfast
had been prepared in the spacious dining-room, but
the bride had married another bridegroom, and the
Master of Hawksworth, disappointed at the last
moment, had caused the hall to be walled up with
the wedding breakfast on the table—an incident
that will remind some of Miss Havisham's disap •
pointment. Twenty years after the house is opened,
and its master enters it to die. Later on the real
heir is discovered by the falling of an old chiffonier
at an auction, when a paper escapes from a secret
drawer (fortunately addressed to a person who
happens to be present !) The heir with his bride
(the daughter of the faithless bride) enters the Hall
at het to reside thurc, and that night it is destroyed
by fire. One of the heroines, Marina Moriarty, is
a moat impassioned character. Many parts of her
history would have been well omitted. De-
ceived by the faithless hero, she appears
at his wedding breakfast, terrifies the bride
almost to death, and after threatening to de-
stroy her, attempts to kill herself, and apparently
dying, charges her false lover with murder. She
recovers, however, and a little later on resumes her
old influence over her former captive, to the great
disgust of the reader, who rejoices (we speak for
ourselves) when shortly afterwards, in a fit of pas-
sion, the faithless husband is hurled over a preci•
pice by the indignant hand of his lady love, who
dies of grief, and on her tomb is recorded an epitaph
worthy of a sensation novel :

" Marina,
Aged 23 years,

Born on the ocean amidst a storm,

Died on the cold ground with none to close her eyes,"
Is not this enough to justify all our remarks ?
Many we have, no doubt, will follow with interest
the tragic events here recorded, but when the sur-
prise is over and the mystery discovered, how many
will turn again and again to ponder over these
pages as we are in the habit of doing with many a
favourite work we could mention, but then they
are not Sensation Novels.

New Views on Baldness: being a Treatise on the
Hair and Skin. By H. P. Truefitt, Pp. 264.

W. and A. Webster, Piccadilly.
A Treatise on Baldness by Mr. Truefitt is as
much comme it faut, is as entirely a something done
with the strictest regard (literally) to the fitness of
things as a disquisition by Mr. Rarey on Horse-
taming, or an account by M. Blondin (though he has
never yet, we believe, gone as far South as the
Equator) of the pleasures of crossing the line. In
regard to the particular subject the author has here
taken in hand, he may very confidently be described
as the right man in the right place—to a hair !
He might, at the risk of startling the hon. and
learned gentleman the member for Sheffield into a
momentary indignation at having his right to his
own title, seemingly, in sound at least, directly
threatened—have called his book " The History of
the Wigs." As it is, Mr. Truefitt contents himself,
we cannot but think very wisely, with the more
modest office of writing a mere abstract or gene-
ralised treatise ou the Hair and Skin, distinguishing
this same treatise not more pretentiously than by
naming it, " New Views on Baldness." Any one
whose hair has been seriously thinned, whether
by the lapse of time, or, as it happens in the in-
stance of some, prematurely, will do well to consult
the pages of Mr. Truefitt. We are quite satisfied
of this, we would observe, en passant, quite dispas-
sionately,
as mere theoretical students and observers,
in regard to the highly important section of
physiology hero treated of, the most highly impor-
tant of all it should be remarked in its relative
position, being, in point of fact, above all the rest,
all the lower part, as one may say, of our human
anatomy. The work, although touching most
delicately (as such an artist's hand as Mr. Truefitt's
could alone do in the presence of such a theme),
upon the Hair and Skin—is, nevertheless, anything'
but superficial. In reality Mr. Truefitt may be said
s
here to have sounded—mark this I—tbe vebrye
of Beauty. That is, if the proverb to
looked
upon as in any way accurate, which speaks of beauty
as being only skin-deep. For Aib depth of the
skin. It is not merely i.. Truefitt's re-
searches penetrate through the wale
an artist who is here dis-
coursing to us upon a matter that s, indeed, his
metier—it is a philosopher. Hear him describing
the functions of the skin for example, and giving a
succinct history of it, when chemically con-
sidered ! Listen to him when he is descanting
upon the nervous elements of the scalp--a theme
the examination of which, as here pursued through
all its subtle mazes, would infallibly make the
mouth of a Red Indian water, out of sheer sympathy,
and induce him to relieve his excited feelings by
putting a keener edge upon his tomahawk. Deeper
and deeper into this current of his swims onward our

author when he has to descant "On Favus or Porrigo
Favosa," " On Scurf or Pityriasis," " On Eczema,'
c‘ On Impetigo," " On Psoriasis," and so forth—we
had almost written it psoforth. Having, however,
got through the more scientic part of his treatise
really very creditably, our renowned Artist in Hair,
our revered Author " Upon Baldness"—one whose
tender care for those afflicted with Baldness may be
said (to use a common parlance), to reflect equa
credit on his head and heart, or rather perhaps we
ought to say upon their heads and his heart—Mr.
Truefitt in a word (how aptly named ! ) gets at last
upon more familiar subjects. When, for example,
he has to comment at his own free wili
and pleasure on " Cutting the Hair," on
" Combing and Brushing," on Washing the Hair,
on Dyeing it—though to our mind, with such wigs
in existence as Truefitt's, the motto with the greyest
and the reddest haired among us all, ought certainly
to be " Never say Dye !" Greases, and Washes, and
all the little et cetsras of the toilet, one by ono are
passed in review, moreover, by this Arcadian
dreamer—we should say this Burlington-Arcadian
dreamer upon Hair, and Scalps, and Wigs, and
Baldness. Even the most irritable of Yankees
might allow, in Mr. Truefitt's regard, that he gets
one's dander up sometimes, perhaps, with his brushes
—with his pen, never ! Only once his own may
be described, figuratively of course, as having risen
—namely, when he bursts into a " fine phrenzy"
of indignation upon what he dubs in plain terms
(the capitals are his own) " The Folly of Shaving!"
In such horror is he at the mere notion of that
barber-ous proceeding, that one could fancy almost
" each particular hair" upon every one of his wigs
standing upon end, by electric sympathy, " like
quills upon the fretful," &c. For, in point of fact,
what after all is Shaving P Why nothing less than
the production of—what Mr. Truefitt has an especial
horror of in every point of view, what he has here
discoursed upon so eloquently through nearly 300
pages octavo—the deliberate production of an arti-
ficial—Baldness !

History of England, from the Accession of fames I.
to the Disgrace of Chzef-Justice Coke. By
Samuel Rawson Gardinor. Two Vols. Hurst

and Blackett.

The period of history comprised in these volumes
is a very brief one. It extends over little more
than a dozen years, and those years are unmarked by
startling events or national crises. It may seem at
first sight strange that an historian, who was willing
to devote so much time and labour to so short a
page of our annals, did not select a passage from the
reigns on either side of his hero, and depict with
the elaborate faithfulness of his present treatise
the great statesmen who gathered in the council-
chamber of the Maiden Queen, or the sturdy
patriots who fought the battle of English rights in
the days of the Civil War. The epoch which Mr.
Gardiner has eaosen, however, is not without its
importance. It was a time of transition and uncer-
tainty. The strong hand that had so long guided
the helm of State was gone ; the honour of the
people abroad, and their liberties at home, were in
equal danger. During the thirteen years which
occupy this history, James was secretly busy in
extending the influence of the Crown, and consoli-
dating its rights and privileges. The foundation of
the fatal struggle between Crown and Parliament,
which was to be productive of so much trouble in
the succeeding generation, was even then being
laid. Mr. Gardiner goes so far as to say that, it
it is possible for those who begin their study of the
English constitutional struggle at any later date
to arrive at sound conclusions with respect to the
principles at stake, it is utterly impossible for them
to judge the actors fairly." It is only, he adds, b 3
a careful investigation of the origin and progress of
the guiding principles of a party, that it is possible
rightly to comprehend the feelings of the partisans,
or to draw the line which separates a blunder from
a crime. The general political history of the open-
ing years of James's reign is summed up as follows
—" At the end of 1816, the Constitution, at least
in the minds of the supporters of the Crown, had
assumed that form which was always defended
by them in the course of the ensuing conflict
as the true Constitution of the country,
The prerogative had established its claim to be con
sidered as the regulating part of the machinery.
The sittings of Parliament had been suspended
without any immediate prospect of their renewal.
The judges had been taught by a practical example,
that they held their offices only at the good pleasum
of the Sovereign. In short, these thirteen years
and a half were years of constitutional change, Tie
lees real because it was carried on within the letter
of the constitution. It was in them that the wea-
pons were forged which were to be used by James
and his son with such unfortunate results for them
selves. Up to the summer of 1616 it was a question
what constitutional powers the Crown would be able
to assert. At the end of the year the question was,
what use would be made by it of the powers of
which it had obtained possession." The gradual
steps by which this change was effected are well
told by Mr. Gardiner; so is the firm stand made on
the ground of constitutional right by the Parlia-
ment. Sometimes James went a step too far, and
had to alter his position. Such was the case when
the Commons took into consideration the imposts
which the King had been levying on certain articles
of commerce. " The kings of France, Spain, and
Denmark," said James angrily, " had the right to
levy impositions, and why should not he do as they
did P He would not have his prerogative called in
question." This unconstitutional language gave
great offence to the Commons, who appointed a
committee on the subject, and drew up a petition of
right, in which they declared that "they would not
be prevented from debating on any matter which
concerned the rights and interests of the subject."
The dispute was subsequently compromised, only to
be succeeded by others of a similar character. In
the year 1614 James was compelled by his neces-
sities to summon a Parliament. The elections were
most unfavourable to the Government, and the re-
sult was a serious struggle for supremacy. The com-
mons brought forward the public grievances, of
which the first and foremost was the impositions,
and on the refusal of the Lords to hold a conference
they postposed the consideration of the supply.
The King, incensed, dissolved the Parliament after a
very brief session, and committed four of the refrac-
tory membets to the Tower, four others were struck
out of the commission of peace, and several were
forbidden to leave London. James did not venture
on summoning another Parliament until long after
the date at which these volumes close. The evil
example which ho thus set to the youthful heir to
the throne was only too closely followed by
the hapless Charles the First. Of the effect
of surrounding circumstances on his nar-
row and impressible mind, Mr. Gardiner speaksb
strongly in his concluding pages. Had
says the historian been some 10 or
yearsidifferent
older he might have learnedl
lesson. But at the dawn of his
le.aar
byetiritia
had passed
great men of the great days of.nEc
their system
°hood the
away. Their policy, their rerdgei
of the temper and
of government, their kn
rhiegs of the past. `
history
wants of the people, were
been t • the a womeny
has, perhaps, never been
such a youth as Charles could
of England at
which
with less chan
manhood
ce of understand-
enter upon
of the duties which he was called
ing the rea
upon to fulfil. lncapable of forming large and
comprehensive views for himself, there was little
hope of his being led in the right path by those
who were around him. Even the greatest and the
best of those who took part in his father's counsels
were men whose thoughts lay apart from the main
current of the life of the nation; and, desirable as
it is, that diversities of opinion should exist in the
body of the people, it is never with impunity that
such a separation grows up between a nation and
its rulers." Short as is the period referred to in this
work, Mr. Gardiner considers it as an epoch com-
plete in itself. With the disgrace of Coke, he says
the period of transition ends. "Itis a great his-
torical landmark. Up to this time James has been
busy in acquiring the powers which were after-
wards to be used with such fatal results to himself
and his son. In two or three years James will be
the most unpopular man in the three kingdoms.
England will be disgusted by the negotiations with
Spain—Scotland will be enraged by the Five
by the
Articles of Perth—lreland will be irritated
mr. Gardzner
seizure the oharter of Waterford.