The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-01 00:00:00

THE CAPE MAIL.

PLYMOUTH, JAW. 1.
The Royal Mail steamship Norman has arrived
here with the above mail.

Her dates are Cape Town, 21st Nov.; St. Helena,
30th ; and Ascension, 4th Dec.
The Norman has been delayed by adverse winds
and bad weather. On the 21st December her fore
and main top masts were carried away.
The Norman brings 25 passengers.

IHE -WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS.
SOUTHAMPTON, lAN. 1,

The Royal Mail steamer Shannon, with the above
mulls, has arrived here. She brings 53 passengers,
2, 265,680d15. in specie, and 4,875 packages of cargo.

The Shannon left St. Thomas on the 15th of De-
comber, and encountered strong easterly winds
th.roughout the passage home.
Mercantile affairs at Valparaiso continno in a
depressed state, and money was scarce.
The political state-of the country was more satis-
facttory, and the liberal administration of Senor
Perez contained to gain the confidence of the
people.

The news from Bolivia is discouraging, and it
WB.B thought that more blood would be shed in
addition to the massacres recently perpetrated.
General San Ramon had received a large number
of votes for the Presidency of Peru. Troubles
were expected during the elections.
General San Ramon was at Arcquipo. The in-
crease of the army in that city caused great scar-

city of provisions.
The coffee crop in Costa Rica was expected to fall
80,000 quintals short of the average crop. Quota-
tations ranged very high.
In San Salvador a collision was expected be-
tween the Church and State.

The prices of indigo range unprecedentedly high,
having risen from 6to 10 reals per lb. This was
partly caused by the failure of the cochineal crop in
Guaterna:a.

The French transport ship Resource had been
wrecked 40 mi!es south of Valparaiso. It was re-
ported that only five were saved out of 600 persons
on board. The British barque Anna Pictavin had
been wrecked north of Cabija. A portion of the
cargo was saved. The French brig Bazaar had
been captured while endeavouring to run the
blockade at Buenaventura. She afterwards ran
ashore and went to pieces.
At Valparaiso Exchange on London was quoted
at 45d., and at Lima at 271 d.
The Barbados markt t was moderately supplied

with American I)readstuff3. Irish butter w:is scarce.
Exchange on London, 30 days' ,ight, 4921 dols.
Trade at Dctiler al a had slighily improved. The
weather was favourable.
Yellow fever prevailed among the shipping.
Tonnage was abundant.
Exchange on London, 90 days' sight was quoted
480 do's.

HE MAG.IZINES.

-0-
Blackwood.

" Wassail, a Christmas Story" is continued, and
the events become more exciting as the story pro-
ceeds. The outcast son and daughter are wander-
icg about in disguise, and most probably in the
next instalment there will be a grand eclaircisseinent
and a welcome home to the lost and found. Some
of the scenes are very vividly described, and there
is altogether much to amuse the reader in this tale
for the season. The last passage leaves matters in
a very alarming state, as the man rushed in to tell
his master that the thatch was on fire, as they were
all enjoying themselves at Tregarrow. J. W.
Turner, R.A., is a paper that criticises the work
recently published on the life of that distinguished
artist. Some of the strictures are just enough, but
the general opinion is rather severe, and therefore
the writer does not carry the weight he might
have, had he adopted a milder treatment. The
view taken of Turner himself is a very triste one ;
he is spoken of as a " man who has enriched the
world with so many sunsets and sunrises, so many
various splendours of storm and calm, without
leaving one gracious human reminiscence behind
him to make his fame dear to any heart of man."
And again, further on, it is said in yet more
lugubrious accents,—" Let the darkest curtain
fall over the lost life. Here died a man
to whom, by the strangest accident, had fallen such
a glorious gift of genius as might have indemnified
a human creature for all the agonies of existence.
He could not annihilate the splendid donation of
Heaven, but he did all that human perversity could
do to lessen its glory. Few modern men have left
behind them a collection of works so splendid ; per-
haps no one modern man, whose days have been
thought worthy of a record, stands in himself so
poor a figure before the gazing public." There are
some pages devoted the memory of the Prince
Consart,which offer a gracious and grateful testimony
to his memory. After paying a just tribute to his
consistent conduct under very trying circumstances,
and alluding in effective language to his many esti-
mable qualities as a man in all the relations of life,
the following eloquent passage appears in conclu-
sion :

It may seem to us that he has been called to his rest
before his work was done. That question lies within the
province of a wisdom higher than outs; nor will we augur
future evil for a nation which knows how to honour a ruler
such as him whom we have lost. If we had once a Queen
who said she "took the nation for her husband," we shall
not now lack a people to stand in that stead to a widowed
Queen. God willing, she shall not want for counsel, in
any strait that may come. Again the question will be
asked, by high-minded men of all parties, " How is the
Queen's Government to be carried on ?" and it will be an-
swered honestly, laying self and party aside.
Let such a man go to his grave "among the kings,"
with all honours that we can give him. For a King he
was, in all but in the name ; and one of England's best.
Not one of iron hand and will, the hero of battle-fields and
conquered provinces, but such as our time needed—wise,
firm, temperate, pure, and true. When the nation reckons
up her real Sovereigns, he will find his place amongst the
Rulers of England.

Even while these words are written, heralds have pro-
claimed his style and titles in the gorgeous pageant that
fills tit. George's Chapel. That is the rite which custom
has consecrwed for the funerals of Princes, and it is well
that it should still be observed. Let none call it an empty
ceremony, or say that pomp of woe mocks the cold clay that
neither hears nor heeds. But the simple wreaths which
affection laid upon his coffin were more honour than many
crowns ; and deep in a nation's heart and memory—graven
in deeper lines, more lasting than on the coffin-plate—will
live one title that is written there the last and best--which
comes within no herald's cognisance, butwhich a mourning
people whispers through their tears—

VICTORIA: REGIME
CONSUGIS PERCARISSIMT.

Dec. 23, 1831.
Also we meet with some touching lines on this sub-
ject called "The Nation's Prayer." yer. The refrain is
the same as the National Anthem, and the two most
impressive lines are these—
" Thou bast given gladness long,
Make her in sorrow strong.
God save the Queen."
It reminds one that royal life is no exemption from
the doom of mortality, and that those whose
course has been sunshiny must look for the
dark days that lower on our earthly pilgrimage.
" Chronicles of Calingford" is concluded in a very
satisfactory style, and it is quite a relief when the
big bushman " walks off with that compound of
absurdity and selfishness, Susan Rider. Nettie's
determination to go back to Australia was most
foolish, but fortunately she was not permitted to
make such a sacrifice of hers'elf. The narrative
contains some very good sketches, and " Nettie"
herself is a first-rate description, with her origi-
nality and independence, blended with kindness
and devotion, Another story is met with in
" Captain, Clutterbuck's Champagne." This has
now reached a fourth part, but the grand
climax will not be till next time. The beginning
of the end appears in the last chapter of this division,
and the reader will anxiously await the denoue-
ment. There is a ludicrous account of the sorry
figure that the expectant bridegroom cut when he
was thrown out of a carriage by his own clumsy
driving, and presented an appearance as adverse to
that of a hero as could he supposed. There is a
striking passage in this tale that refers to the appa-
rent anomaly of illness in sunshiny climes. "At
home sickness seems to be the result of fogs, frosts,and
constant changes, but in the tropics its appearance
is less comprehensible. Everything without is asso-
ciated with life, and jey, and beauty. People say
forcibly disease is far off where winter shakes in
melancholy halls. But RO, it is evar at the door.
Thus probably must it ever be. Where earth is
most fit to be enjoyed, there must come the most
startling warnings that earth is not our resting-
place. We say, 'Lo! here is Paradise, and lo! there.'
But a dread Teacher is near to claim our whole
hearts, and forbid undue affections for created
things. 'Tis the same lesson read under every sky."
There is an article on the "Convulsions of America,"
that is very well done, and expresses some strong
opinions on the subject with a vigour and energy
befitting a great national question. The writer
asserts, fairly enough, that the best class of Ameri-
cans would be an honour to any country, but it is
precisely because these men are excluded from public
life that we condemn the system that rejects them." •
Further on, it is observed, "We are all ready to
join in reprobation of absolute government, but
when did any civilieed absolute government show less
claim on our indulgence than th American Repub-
lic P What despotism has displayed so little mode-
ration in prosperity, so little dignity in adversity, less
self-control, less wisdom in council, less courage in
the field. Such is the spectacle presented in the
first storm by the Model Republic—a gallant army
whose energies have been displayed chiefly in fight
—a free country whose judges are a-.'aliuokeci tiy
sentries—disinterested patriotism that requires to
be bribed with eight per cent.—a united nation
where the elements of war are rife—a practical peo-
ple who are spending more than they possess, for
an object which they cannot define—such are a few
of the results of these remarkable institutions—in-
stitutions that have been recommended for our
imitation as immense improvements on our own."
The recent news from America happily suggests the
probability that amicable arrangements may take
place, but should toe blast of war sound in our
ears, and its trumpet tones summon our soldiers to
the fight, the advice hero tendered may be wisely
and successfully followed with advantage to our
immediate prospects, and with glory to our subs-
quent retrospection of events. There is another paper
on American affairs called " Canada our Frozen
Frontier." This is illustrated with a map that
will be of essential service to the reader wishing to
comprehend the subject in all its minutice of detail
and description. Some of the suggestions as to rail-
ways, &c., hero made are well worthy of considera-
tion, and may be of great consequence in the event
of a war. On the whole, this number of Blackwood
is very instructive and entertaining, and auspi-
ciously inaugurates the New Year with a collection
of subjects both grave and gay, of foreign and do•
mestic, political and social interest.