The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-01 00:00:00

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PRICE..... -..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

newa
quack medicine or perfumed soap to sell, establishes a
periodical to accomplish his purpose." Te
consequence
of this, as might be expected, is asomewhat extensive press.
In 1861, there were in the Union 450 daily papers, more
than 4,000 weekly papers, and 336 monthlies and semi-
monthlies—the whole number being 5,233. As a sample
of the proportion existing between the press and thepopu-
lation, we may mention that St. Louis, a city with a popu-
lation of little more than 160,000, has 55 periodicals, eleven
of which are daily ; and New Orleans, before the war, had
48 publications of the same class, though its numbers only
amounted to 170,000. It is unfortunate that the character
of the press is not commensurate with the extent of its in-
fluence. The writer of the paper in question denounces the
members of the press and the pulpit for encouraging the war,
for the sake of securing popularity. "To the everlasting
shame and disgrace of self-styled freemen, the press and the
pulpit succumbed even when clergymen, bishops, and edi-
tors knew better, and allowed the deluge of blood to roll
its red manes over the land." The few editors who pre •
sented honourable exceptions to the rule paid for
the maintenance of their convictions with loss of property,
and even of liberty. The writer styles it " a terribly
significant fact that the paper which has the largest circu-
lation of any in New York is believed to have risen by black
mail and personal abuse." The narrative of a pleasant
ramble through Belgium, and the reflections of a hermit in
the midst of the modern Babylon, are both worth reading.
So; too, is_a sketch of the history of Madagascar, but a more
attractive one will be found at the conclusionof the number,
bringing our old friend A.K.H.B. before us again, with
his discursive reflections " touching" (we wonder he does
not say" concerning") "Dream-life." The essay is brief,
and not one of his best, yet it,brings to our minis, after the
suggestive fashion of his writings, a clearer perception of
some of the great home truths and universal affinities lying
in our common footpath. " The Prussian Crisis" is con-
sidered in a paper which remarks upon the singular indif-
ference manifest-6d by this country to German prospects
and politics.

UNITED SERVICE.—The United Service opens
with an excellent article on the late Lord Clyde.
While doing justice to his high merits as a com-
mander, the writer does not hesitate to expose his
foibles. This is as it should be, for every man has
his weak points, and, as regards Lord Clyde, the
exposition of these very foibles only tends to enhance the
eminence of his qualities in cases of difficulty. He is de-
scribed as being rude in speech and brusque in conversation
in ordinary times, but when called upon to exercise his
military skill in cases of emergency, the general was all
courtesy, though peremptory and decided. This:brief out-
line of the history of our latest General of renown is well
worth reading, and, although the writer concludes by say-
ing—" He was a man, take him for all and all, we may not
look upon his like again," we have yet to learn that England
cannot produce men equal to the moment, no matter what
crisis may arrive. England may be a nation of shop-
keepers, but history has shown that shopkeepers can fight;
and that to the purpose. No. 3 of " Military Studies"
treats of the various mancouvres which cavalry can perform.
The Austrians are conscious of the necessity of develop-
ing this branch of their service, and the steps recently
taken by their Government show that in future continental
wars the lesson taught by Napoleon have not been thrown
away. It has been shown only recently what English
cavalry can do, however limited their number. Austria
can bring ten times as great a force of cavalry into the field
as Great Britain could furnish, and if she can supply bold
riders and good horses, as history tells us she can, the tide
of battle may one day be turned on the Imperial phalanxes
of her Gallic neighbour, and a bold charge may change the
fortunes of a well-fought day. The Mexican question is
considered at some length, and many probabilities are dis-
cussed, but as yet the conclusion to the whole affair is
locked up in the bureau of the Tuileries. Under the head
of a visit to the King of Dahomey we find an account of
the dominions of that interesting monarch. His visitor has
been so well entertained and was so well pleased by the
courteous conduct of his noble Majesty, that he charitably
overlooks the barbarity of national customs, and trusts that
intercourse with Europeans may lead oar black brethren to
more enlightened ways. The war is New Zealand is con-
sidered, and an account of the recent engagement given.
It is to be hoped that this lesson will bring the Maories to
their senses. A paper on the Navy and the past session
recapitulates what was not done and what ought to have
been done. "Greenwich Characters" are continued, and
a new tale, entitled "Recruiting under Difficulties among
the Virgin Islands," promises to furnish matter of interest.
We have also an article on the Polish question, and the
general supply of information completes the number.

TEMPLE BAR.—" John Mafchmont's Legacy," as
usual, contains some very exciting events. We
have a strange scene of " Capt. Arundel's Revenge."
Paul Marchmont's mortification was richly de-
served, and it vas like his sneaking nature to
swallow the affront and to go on quietly as before.
His enormous wealth, of course, attracted some ; but the
discerning ones soon spied him out, and noticed his arrant
meanness of soul and want of spirit. When it was known
that the insult was to be passed over, general contempt was
felt by those who witnessed the scene at the porch on the
hunting morning. "The fox-hunting squires shrugged
their shoulders, and I am sorry to" say that the epithets
' hound," cur," sneak,' and mongrel' were more often
applied to Mr. Marchmont than was consistent with Chris-
tian feeling on the part of the gentlemen who uttered them."
Capt. Arundel '‘ wandered far away in the depths of Brit-
tany" to cure himself of his great grief before assuming his
duty as a soldier, which he felt to be his true vocation.
Olivia is found out by her father to be mad, but he is not
allowed to keep her, as Paul Marchmont and his mother
insist on taking her back with them. " Breakfast in Bed",
reaches the 12th and last chapter in this number. It is
called "On a Young Lady in a Balcony." It chiefly con-
cerns the Juliet of Shakspere, now rendered in English by
Stella Collas, but various digressions are met with. These
papers have taken us over many places and through divers
scenes, and have been entertaining in their way, with t
end-
less variety in their style. "The Trials of the Tredgolds
is proceeded with at some length. It is very complicated
in its structure, and will suit the reader who likes to be
puzzled in making out the plot of a narrative. M. r. Gifford
makes an enemy of William Moyle by discharging him on
account of the engagement between his daughter
.and his
employer's son. Doubtless some important eelorc.
tssement
will ensue from this. "To Anus" is a very vehement
adjuration to the nations to take up the cause of Poland.
"My i
Travelling Companion" is the commencement of a
sketch that bids fair to be an exciting one in the way of
hapless adventures. At the end of this instalment the
writer is left shut up in an• iron closet, without any possi-
bility of escape or immediate hope of rescue. "Blue Dis-
tance" is a readable paper on fine views and lovely prospects,
says that it is surprising how people can often be
and truly
content to look out upon oackyards, when they might have
splendid scenery if the houses were contrived better. Many
other papers of various attractions make up the contents of
this number.

THE COE NHILL.—The most attractive paper in
the Cornhal is also the first, " The Small House at
Allington" having the honour of priority
assigned
to it this month. The instalment of the family
history beforelus chronicles some important events.
An unpleasant interview between the old Squire
and Mrs. Dale produces a resolution, on the part of herself
and her daughters, to leave the Small House, so as no
longer to be under an obligation which they coul d not repay.
Whether they will carry out this somewhat
at unnecessary
I Anu
determination, remains to be seer!.
the. indignant denunciations of
t
attacks with some severity
society's conventional laws which. some gifted writers have
though the. judgment of the social
thought fit to indulge in. There is,
.undoubtedly, much to
be said on both sides, and
far from
. infallible, there is much
world is certainly verY
truth in the plea that there is nothing in reckless and im-
prudentN!hicliconstitutos of itself a claim
conduct
consideration. " The Opera in
to indulgence. and
will attract musical connoteseurs, and some
1833-1853 "
critic's observations are just and sensible.
of the
We
are glad to find him protesting against the
pernicious practice of drowning the singers' voices with
the accompaniments. or force them to take refuge in abso •
lately screaming, if they wish to be heard. In applauding,
1,„ he may well do, the performances of Costa's orchestra,
the writer gives a not unneeded piece of advice to that emi-
nent conductor. "He should reflect that, if it be glorious
to. have a giant's strength, it is tyrannous, except upon
gigantic occasions, to use it like a giant. Let his overtures,
marches, Symphonies, and finales be as brilliant and over-
powering as he pleases, but let him remember that we pay
our money to hear the singers, and not simply to see them
waving their arms and opening their mouths." A series
of articles on contemporary Italian poets is begun this
month, and the first number is devoted to Giovanni Prati,
"whose name holds a very prominent place, and twenty
years ago occupied one still more striking, on the list of
Italy's living poets." We know too little of distinguished
men of continental countries, and this attempt to familiarise
us with their style, character, and writings deserves encou-
ragement. An essay on "Art Criticism" sets forth the duties
of the critic, giving him eleven general rules as to his
functions and obligations, of which the eleventh is the most
important and uncommon, namely, " To resist the forma-
tion of prejudices." "Going to the Dogs" is a chapter of
painful truth, and parents and guardians will do well to
take heed by its warnings. A new story, entitled, "Out
on the World," commences this month, and promises in-
terest. Is it to prove a successor to the pleasant little
" Story of Elizabeth ?"
MACMILLAN.—The fourth of the Letters on India
tells us " A Story of the treat Mutiny," narrating

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the parils of the residents in Arrah, and of the
brave and fearless spirit with which they held
their own against the besiegers. In conclusion,
the writer observes, in words whose truth has been
testified by the experience of all ages—" The real strength
of a besieged place consists not in the scientific construction
of its defences, nor in the multitude of the garrison, nor in
abundant stores of provision and ordnance, but in the spirit
which is prepared to daro all, and endure all, sooner than
allow the assailants to set foot within the wall." Such a
spirit might well animate our countrymen after the expe -
rietee of Cawnpore ; and happily, in more than one in-
stance, it brought the reward due to heroic valour and en-
durance. The lengthened story of" 'Vincenzo" is still pro-
ceeding, having in this number reached its forty-fourth
chapter. It is well written, but unsatisfactory; the
wretched position of its hero being in a great measure
brought about by his own fault in succumbing to adverse
circumstances. The young marquis and marchioness who
appeared in the last number occupy a prominent place in
this one, and the conclusion comes to the enfeebled life of
the old Signor Avvocato. A singular paper, entitled,
" Some Account of the Closing of a Correspondence be-
tween ' Dear Sir' and Yours Faithfully,' " comments upon
the increasing brevity of our epistolary communications,
which have shrunk from pages into lines. Matthew Arnold
gives us an account of a French Eton in the Toulouse
Lyceum, which it is interesting to compare with our Eng-
lish public schools. "My First Glacier Pass" is, as may
be supposed, a narrative of an Alpine expedition ; while a
paper on the Links of St. Mungo takes us into Scottish
wilds. and shows us the ancient and inspiriting pastime
of golf, a game which the Scots assert to be as
old as the
Roman Empire.
ST. JAMES'S.---The St. James's Magazine is by no
means the best of the modern additions to our
serial literature. Still, it bears a fair variety on its
title page, and the numter before us is not an un-
favourable specimen. The story of " Aubrey Mar.
Istop" is continued at some length, and the troubles
of the unhappy hero thicken. He has become involved in
the vortex of speculation, and is obliged to recur for advice
and assistance to the friend who was the original cause of
all his troubles, and whose sincerity he is more than in-
clined to suspect. "Mountain Climbing,', and " D3wn in
Yachtland," are two papers appropriate to the season, the
one taking the reader up the " Jungfrau," the other bid-
ding him loiter by the pleasant towns of the Isle of Wright.
The eighth part of the series of papers on " Royal Favou.
rites" tells us the story of the career of the Duke de Luynee
—a career which, like so many similar ones, ended in mor-
tification and disgrace. " Straws in the Stream" float this
month by Mr. Mechi's farm, of which the writer gives an
animated description. Some five and twenty years ago,
when Mr. Mechi purchased the estate, it was, he observes,
little better than a waste. "It was difficult of approach by
foot, and almost impassable by means of any ordinary
vehicle, for where it was not sand and gravel to the very
surface it was bog; and altogether it presented as uninvit-
ing a spot as could well be conceived, even by a denizen of
the Essex marshes. That spot is now a rich landscape,
variegated by crops of agricultural produce, richer and
heavier than those in the delta of the Nile ; and in the
centres rises an attractive residential hall, in front of which
is a velvety lawn,which is approached by a carriage way as
smooth as Regent-street, and lined on either side with
rows of laurels and evergreens." All that remains of the
bog is an ornamental piece of water in the midst
of the pleasure grounds. Mr. Mechi may well be proud of
the transformation effected by his means. " Must be Sold"
is the title of an interesting sketch, telling how a middle-
aged Englishman and his family were entrapped byYankee
sharp practitioners. The unwary newcomer was induced
to invest all his savings in a piece of land said to contain
valuable mines, whose rich ore it need hardly be said was
all at the surface. Fortunately for the disconsolate immi-
grant, an engineering friend discovers a well of rock oil,
which makes ample compensation for the collapse of the
mining speculation. A paper on " Art in America" gives
an account of the best Transatlantic painters.
LONDON SOCIETY.—AIways animated and en-
tertaining, this magazine appears with its usual
attractive face, and though some readers may
quarrel with the plentiful supply of fashionable
sketches and professedly humorous pages, no one can
deny that there is often matter that is worth read-
ing for other purposes than amusement. The principal
contribution in the present number is the opening paper on
"London Editors and Reporters," with portraits, both with
pen and pencil, of two celebrities of the last generation,
"Memory Wood fall" and James Perry, The former is styled
the father of modern reporting, though few of our shorthand
writers of the present day would care to undertake his duties
or be competent to fill his post. If the denizens of the
Reporters' Gallery were suddenly deprived of pencil and
paper, and bidden to remember what they heard and write
it out at their leisure, we suspect they would find the change
anything but agreeable. The singular powers of Mr.
Woodfall defied the individual competition of his contem-
poraries. "Some of them might be equal to him in one
part of the work, others in another, one man might remem-
ber as much, another might express it as elegantly, and a
third reproduce it with as much despatch, but Woodfall
had the union of all three to an extent which none of them
could match." The latter part of this interesting article is
devoted to the career of James Perry, well known in con-
nection with the Morning Chronicle, and to the group of
talented writers who assisted the early days of the Morning
Post. A pleasant sketch of " Tho Actors' Fete" describes
that animated scene, and a paper on "English Dining-
rooms in Paris" will amuse the reader. The papers on
" Cricket" are continued, giving in this part an account of
the matches between Eton and Harrow. The story of
" The First Time I Saw Her" is brought to a satisfactory
termination, the spirited heroine being delivered at the last
moment from the toils which encompassed her. " Curiosities
of Fashion" is a paper that is very well worth reading,
being full of quaint and recondite information respecting
the vagaries of the whimsical goddess Fashion in the
matter of dress.