The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-14 00:00:00

spondant, a popularity that, we are satirfied, will
be confirmed, and that, we trust, may also be ex-
tended, by means of their present collective reissue.

The Ignorant Learned : or, Researches after " The
Long Lost" Mysteries of Free-Masonry ; also,
The Eleusinian Mysteries, as they relate to
Royal Arch Masonry. By Henry Melville,
R.A.C, One Vol., pp. 118. Newby.
Assuredly " a little learning is a dangerous thing"
—dangerous sometimes to more than its possessor.
The author of this little book, believing himself
endowed with all knowledge, ancient and modern,
sacred and profane, has kindly endeavoured, out
of his own wisdom, to enlighten the ignorant re•
mainder of the community. " Researches after
the long lost mysteries of Royal Arch-Masonry,"
says Mr. Melville, "having engaged my ardent
and almost exclusive attention, for nearly thirty
years past, have at length resulted in the re-
discovery of the use of the keys of these mys-
teries, and of the laws by which those keys are
regulated." We are afraid Mr. Melville has, like
many others, employed his time in the perusal of
that "false science," " which leads to bewilder
and dazzles to blind," for we cannot compliment
him upon the universal knowledge which he has
gained by his researches. In one place, for ex-
ample, we find him suggesting that the shortest
day should be the 31st of December, as if the
length of the day were a matter for arbitrary
arrangement, and in another part we find the
following jocose remarks upon the Roman year,
in utter ignorance or unconsciousness of the pos-
sibility of the year beginning in any other month
than January!
Our year, according to scholars, consists of ten months—
that is, if there be any meaning in words—Septem means
seven, Octo eight, Novem nine, and then comes the end
of the year !n December, the tenth month. Bookmen tell
us Julius Caesar altered Sixtilis, or June, into August—thus
cutting two months, or 60 days, from the year. Poor un-
fortunate Roman workmen had then only 300 days in the
year, whilst all the barbarians had 365 or 360. Whilst
Caesar robbed the people of 60 days, it appears he was very
scrupulous about one day, for it is said he invented leap
year, giving to every fourth year one day additional.
Julius means " soft and tender hair," and Caesar "to cut,"
or " a head of hair"—a very fit and proper name for a
barber-surgeon, but one not very applicable to the con-
queror of the world. However, that gentleman, if his
history be true, was evidently a conjurer, for he deducted
two from twelve, and let twelve remain I Supposing we
were to believe that the deduction of the two months did
actually take place, as recorded, how did the Romans ma-
nage their monetary affairs? How about bills becoming
due, and interest on deposits, &c. ? Suppose our Govern-
ment were to take it into its head to issue a proclamation
turning the month of August into October. It would
puzzle our merchants and bankers I It may be argued that
in Gasser's time there were no bills of exchange, for the
first on record only bears date " 1 Jan., 1160," and that
all prior transactions were for ready money.
Yet more remarkable is this learned ignorance
when the sacred writings become the subject of
interpretation. We will only cite one among many
kindred instances. After remarking that St. Luke
describes the parentage and birth of St. John, Mr.
Melville goes on to say, "The other Gospels make
no mention of this event. Not even a word on the
subject is given by St. John, for he introduces him-
self. ' There was a man sent from God whose
name was John, &c.'" The commentator being quite
oblivious of the fact that the St. John referred to is
St. John the Baptist, the Sr. John whom he de-
scribes as writing of himself being St. John the
Evangelist, the brother of St. James I While we
find such ignorance upon matters of general know-
ledge, we may be pardoned for doubting the
" Learning" is matters more recondite and abstruse.

On Life and Death. Four Lectures delivered at the
Royal Institution. By W. S. Savory, F.R,S.
One Vol., pp. 203. Smith and Elder.
These lectures were not originally intended for
publication ; but at the request of many of those
wbo listened to them when delivered at the
Royal Institution, they are now given to
the public, and they will be very welcome.
They present in a clear and concise form a collec-
tion of great truths, a series of " facts" more strange
and momentous than " fiction." The first lecture
is occupied with the Study of Life, Types of Or-
ganisation, Grades of Development, 14%w of Progress
from the General to the Special, Unity of Plan.
The whole lecture concludes with this very beauti-
ful and truthful explanation of the common term,
"Law of Nature :"—" The Law of Nature," reve-
rently observes the lecturer, "is the will of God."
The second lecture relates to the essential features
of life when reduced to its simplest terms—.
Structure and Function, Nutrition, Mutual Rela-
tion of Organs, Vital Action, &c. In reference to
the changes effected in the body by the reparative
effects of nutrition, we are happily reminded that
"the body is in no sense as a vessel in which mat-
ters are burnt; it is itself the very fuel which is
being rapidly consumed." Lecture 111. refers to
the Conditions of Life, Material Agents, Vital
Force, &c. Lecture IV. refers particularly to
Death, in the course of which the lecturer remarks,
and strengthens his remarks by a quotation from
Sir B. Brodie, that the mere act of dying is seldom
very painful. So with the dread of death. The
King of Terrors is not always most terrible when
he approaches. " I think," says Mr. Savory,
" no one who has often stood by the bedside of the
dying can have failed to be struck by this fact—
the comparative or complete absence of dismay as
death draws near." With this consolatory reflec-
tion we will take leave of these very interesting
lectures.

The Guards, the Press, and the Jockey Club.

(From the Era.)
THE EARL OF COVENTRY, TEE HON. HENRY JOHN
ROE'S, AND CA LEDJN DUPRE ALEXANDER V. WILLES.
This action, brought by the Stewards of the Jockey Club
against " Argus" for simply remarking that the Tarragona
Committee evinced a desire to convict the two officers of
the Guards, by telgraphing for Mr. Crump, the Inspector
of Forgeries to the Bank of England, to examine their
betting books, has at length assumed a definite form, as the
demurrer to the defendant's pleas, or rather a portion of
them, will be argued before the full Court of Queen's
Bench in the course of the ensuing week. The trial of the
cause will take place in the course of March or April, and
the friends of the liberty of the Press will learn with no
small pleasure that every endeavour to come to a compro-
mise of the matter has been indignantly rejected, and no
exertion will be spared on the part of the Morning Post to
prevent Newmarket from being placed in the same position
as Warsaw and Cracow as regards the publication of intel-
ligence in which all classes of society are interested.
Mr. Mellish has been retained for the Jockey Club,while
the cause of Mr. Willes and the Press has been intrusted
to Messrs. Hawkins and Quain. It is, however, stated, in
well-informed circles, that when the actual trial comes on
the Stewards of the Jockey Club will be represented by Sir
Fitzroy Kelly, with a fee of a thousand guineas, so im-
pressed are they with the idea that they should be placed
beyond the reach of all criticism. Mais nous verrons,

RUSKIN ON A WAR FOR POLAND.—Mr. Ruskin
has just written an earnest letter to the School of
Art in connection with the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute,
in which he speaks of the horror and shame with which he
regards the political position, taken, or rather sunk into,
by England in her foreign relations—especially in the
affairs of Italy and Poland; saying at the end of his letter,t
" I like war as ill as most people—so ill that I would no
spend twenty millions a year in making machines for it,
neither my holidays and pocket-money in playing at it—
yet I would have the country go to war, with haste, in a
good quarrel ; and which is, perhaps, eccentric in me, rather
in another's quarrel than in her own. We say of our•
selves, complacently, that we will not go to war for an idea;
but the phrase interpreted means only that we will go to
war for a bale of goods, but not for justice or for mercy;
and I would ask you to favour me so far as to read this
letter to the students at your meeting, and to say to them
that I heartily wish them well; but for the present I am
too sad to bo of any service to them; that our wars in
China and Japan are not likely to furnish good subjects for
historical pictures ; that " ideas" happen, untortanately, to
be, in art, the principal things, and that a country which
will not fight for its iaeas is not likely to have anything
worth painting.
TUE 'UULIPOMANIA.—It was from 1634 to 1637
that the tulipomania exerted its influence in Hol-
land. In those years tulips rose to enormous prices, and
enriched many speculators. The florists esteemed prin-
cipally certain species, to which they gave particular names
The species the most precious was that which was named
Semper auguitus. It was valued at 2,000 florins. It was
reported to be so rare that there existed only two flowers of
this species, one at Harlem, the other at Amsterdam. A
gentleman to obn one of them offered 4,000 florins, and
in addition a beautiful coach with two horses and all the
accessories. Another gave for a bulb twelve acres of
ground. The passion for tulips turned the head of all the
world. A bed of tulips was the greatest treasure any one
could have, and was equal in value to a magnift,,iit-man-
sion,