The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-07 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA IN MALTA.

VALETTA, July 31.
While accounts received from Alexandria indicate
a constant decrease of cholera in that city and
throughout Egypt, the disease has somewhat in-
creased in Malta during the past week. This has
induced the Lieutenant-General Commanding to
remove some of the•regiments from their close and
ill-ventilated barracks and place them under canvas
in airy situations, and they have already benefited
by the change. The 4th Regiment is now encamped
ou the Fioriana parade-ground, and the 100th on
Fort Manoel Island.

The following is a summarised statement of the
course of the malady within the last eight or nine
days :—On the 22d inst., after an oppressively hot
day and night, seventeen attacks were reported
throughout the island, in addition to the military,
of whom seven are said to have been interred
on the 23d. On that and on the following day there
were 14 new cases among the civil population, and
seven deaths, and nearly as many among the troops.
On the 25th and 26th some 26 fresh cases were re-
ported, of which about half terminated fatally. On
the 27th there were 22 attacks, seven of which oc-
curred in Valetta. Among the military there was
only one case. On the 28th the number of attacks
reported was 28, and the deaths 12 ; on the 29th, 31
attacks and 18 deaths ; and on the 30th, 23 attacks
and 12 deaths. Several of the distant villages have
returned a few cases each ; and two cases are re-
ported to have occurred in the neighbouring island
of Gozo.

In order not to add to the prevailing alarm, the
Lieut.-General has dispensed with the band at mili-
tary funerals, and a somewhat corresponding order
has been given by the Roman Catholic bishop, di-
recting that no bell shall accompany any viaticum
issuing after the second Ave Maria, while during
the daytime the large and noisy bell shall be super-
seded by a small one. A very important sanitary
step has also been taken by the ecclesiastical autho-
rities—namely, prohibiting interments within the
churches of Valets and the Three Cities of any
cholera subject.

Alexandria has new turned the tables upon us by
placing all arrivals from this island in quarantine.
In consequence of this the outward Indian mails
have been debarred from all communication with
Malta (except under quarantine restrictions, for the
purpose of replenishing fuel), so as to avoid being
put to any inconvenience on arrival in Egypt. Many
of the fugitives who took refuge at Malta on the
outbreak of the cholera in Alexandria are now re-
turning, but they are obliged to look for othermeans
of conveyance than the mail steamers, for the rea-
sons above given.

Letters from Sicily state that, notwithstanding
the assuredly vigorous enactments of the Sicilian
Boards of Health, some cases of cholera have mani-
fested themselves in Catania as well as in Palermo.
Trapani, which received vessels from Malta under a
quarantine of seven days, now rejects them entirely.
The following is the extract of the letter from
Naples above alluded to :—.

" I find myself unexpectedly in Naples, in conse-
quence of the dreadful fear of Cholera in Sicily,
where they first warned us off at Syracuse, not
allowing us to enter the port, although with a clean
bill of health. As a great favour they allowed us
to take in fresh provisions, and the captain was de-
sired to hoist the yellow flag and proceed forthwith
to Palermo without touching at Messina, where the
populace, we were told, were ready to pull us to
pieces, and perhaps burn us bodily, had we attempted
to land, even in the Lazaretto. When the Marsala
was seen with her yellow flag at Palermo on the
morning of the 6th she was met by a boat from the
Office of Sanita, and ofdered to anchor in the offing.
Here again a great excitement ; so much so, that it
was said that Signor Florio's ships and stores, which
are very extensive, were threatened with fire and
destruction if the Marsala was not sent immediately
away. At length we arrived on the morning of the
7th at Naples, where we were more mercifully
treated by being ordered to the island of Nisida, to
perform five days' quarantine. The Lazaretto had
not been used for 11 years, and consequently was
not in a state to receive us, and we rode out our
time on board the Marsala. We were 25 passengers
in the saloon—not too many to be quite comfort-
able, and what is not often met with in such a con-
tretemps, not a grumbler among us ; so that the time
passed merrily enough, surrounded by the most
beautiful scenery and fed on the fat of this favoured
land, brought daily from the shore. The Corriere
Italiano arrived yesterday morning (the 13th) from
Malta, and was sent to Nisida to. perform quaran-
tine, I suppose, for five days, following the example
of the Marsala."

A second and also fatal case of cholera was re-
ported to have manifested itself on the 29th inst.
on board the Chanticleer, in the person of a sea-
man of remarkably steady habits. On inquiry on
board I found the report to be untrue, though gene-
rally believed in Valetta, and I merely allude to
it to remove any alarm its circulation uncontra-
dicted might occasion. The Chanticleer will take
the next mail to the squadron.
A meeting has been convened at the Exchange
to raise money to supply the indigent with bread
during the present cholera visitation. It is under-
stood that Government will accord a grant of £3OO
or £4OO for the same purpose.

AUGUST 1.

The mortality from cholera showed a slight de-
crease on Sunday last, but on Monday the number
of attacks rose to 25 and the deaths to 17. On
Tuesday (to-day) a still further increase is reported.
the attacks being 33 and the deaths 18. It must be
borne in mind that we are now at the height of the
hot weather, and that these casualties aro distributed
over a population of 130,000. In other respects the
island enjoys excellent health, and hitherto the
chief sufferers have been the troops and the poorest
class of the people.

SPECIMEN OF DR. COLENSO'S LOGIC.—" In refe-
rence to the text, ' They sewed fig-leaves together and
made themselves aprons,' will it be believed that the
bishop asks, not in joke, but seriously, Where did they
got needles and thread ?' He quotes and endorses the lan-
guage of Dr. Thomas Burnet (Part IV. p. 151)—' The text
says, They sewed fig-leaves together and made to them-
selves girdlos.' Hare we have the first step in the art of
sewing. But whence had they a noedle—‘whence thread ?'
Ay, and a thimble ? Now, let us suppose that Eve's work-
box really had a supply of these useful implements.. .
Does the bishop imagine that Eve would Save been such a
goose as to have used them for the purpose of stitching
her fig-leaves together ? Why, if, in her perfect igno-
rance, she had been so inconsiderate, she would have
found her fragile workmanship soon give way, and after
only a very short experience would have discovered that
her object was but half accomplished."—Young's Modern
Scepticism.

LAW LATIN DESCRIPTION •OF A KITCHEN.—
_" Camera necessaria pro usu cookare, cum saucepannis,
stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo, stovis, smoke-
jacko, ad roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plum-
pudding-mixandura, pro turtlesoupis et calf's-headhaahi-
bus, cum, calipee et calipashibus."

THE ATLANTIC CABLE.

(From the Times)

The failure of the Atlantic Cable and its severance
from the Great Eastern may now be considered
certain, and no commercial misadventure of modern
times has ever excited more wide-spread interest
and deep regret than this almost national disaster.
Even as late as yesterday evening hopes were en-
tertained—hopes not altogether ill-founded—that
signals would be resumed. That time, however,
has been overpast and the wire remains as dumb
and useless as it has been since Wednesday, with the
only difference that during the interval that has
elapsed the most elaborate and careful tests have
been applied to the wire, and the results of these
experiments submitted to such electricians as have
the largest experience in testing submarine cables.
The almost unanimous verdict of these gentlemen
has been that the 1,250 miles paid out is lost—is
severed from the ship, and now lying useless at the
bottom of the Atlantic. We say almost unanimous
opinion, for a few still hope, and almost believe,
that the ship has yet got hold of the cable, and may
haul back and repair the fault. Their reason for
entertaining this expectation is that as yet no bat-
tery currents have come to land at Valentia. In
almost every case where a submarine cable parts
beneath the sea its copper conductor protrudes
beyond the broken gutta percha end, and comes in
contact with the outside spiral iron wires. The
action of the salt water instantly makes a battery
of the iron and copper, and would transmit what
might almost be mistaken for weak signals to the
instruments at Valentia. These are called battery_
currents, and none of these have come. In the case
of the old Atlantic cable these battery signals kept
hope alive for weeks after the cable was gone, for
they were sometimes so distinct upon the needles
as almost to spell words, and day after day
induced the belief that the fault, whatever it was,
had healed itself, and that messages were coming.
But the construction of the two cables is so widely
different as to leave little ground for hope from the
absence of these currents now. The old cable was
covered with 126 fine unprotected wires woven into
18 strands of seven wires each. The present cable
has only 10 strands of stout iron wire, each of
which is carefully insulated by a good thick covering
of tarred hemp, and these enclosed the gutta percha
core. When the old cable broke, therefore, metallic
contact was certain to be at once set up between its
conductor and ragged strands of iron wire, whereas
the present cable might easily be broken at the
bottom of the sea without any battery currents aris-
ing, as its outer wires are almost insulated by the
hemp. This is, unfortunately, a strong argument
against those who hope that the Great Eastern has
still got the end of the cable and is underrunning it
to cut out the fault ; but, unfortunately, a still
stronger argument remains. Allowing the widest
margin for the time this operation of hauling in the
rope from such tremendous depths would occupy,
and a further margin of 12 hours for sudden even-
tualities, still the Great Eastern should have reached
the fault at 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon, and signals
would have come through before the evening. None
have come, but, on the contrary, all the tests are
considered by electricians as showing conclusively
that up to about 1,230 miles the insulation and con-
ductivity of the line is absolutely perfect, and that
within a few miles beyond that distance it is severed
and lying at the bottom of the ocean. The balance
of evidence and of scientific opinion points so over-
whelmingly to this disastrous result that it now, we
fear, admits of no reasonable doubt. Of course, the
most extraordinary theories and surmises are rife as
to the cause of the accident. Some give the benefit of
their doubts to sharks, some to whales, some to air
bubbles in the gutta percha, and others dwell upon
the likelihood of malicious injury. It appears almost
certain that the fault did not manifest itself and was
not detected by those on board the great ship till
the faulty portion had been left some 12 miles
astern. What occurred at Valentia, of which we
have now full details, shows almost with equal cer-
tainty what would then take place on boardthe Great
Eastern. She was probably at once stopped, her
head got round, and the cable passed through the
winding-in machinery fixed forward. How much of
the rope was wound in again it is impossible to say,
but it seems almost certain that in this final effort the
cable was broken outside the ship and went at once
to the bottom. To wind in a rope having such hold
on the water as this hemp-covered cable must have
had would have been hazardous in the extreme, from
the certainty that any movement on the vessel
giving it a sudden pull would part it at once. The
old Atlantic cable, which was of less strength, and
had a greater weight in the water than the present
cable, was, it is true, wound in from a depth of
2,000 fathoms in the Bay of Biscay. This opera-
tion, however, occupied 19 hours, even though its
wire covering had not half the friction through the
water which the hemp would have in the rope which
has now seen partly lost. It has been suggested
by some that at the time the accident happened the
telegram to Valentia showed the Great Eastern to
have been paying out very fast indeed. If this con-
jecture—for as yet it is only a conjecture—is cor-
rect, it will, no doubt, be explained by the fact that
the ship was meeting a heavy swell, which required
the brakes to be opened and the cable let run as the
waves swept astern.

At Valentia on Wednesday last the signals up to
9 a.m. were coming with wonderful distinctness and
regularity, but about that time a violent magnetic
storm set in. No insulation of a submarine cable
is ever so perfect as to withstand the influence of
these electrical phenomenon, which correspond in
some particulars to storms in the ordinary atmo-
sphere, their direction generally being from east and
west. Their action is immediately communicated to
all conductors of electricity, and a struggle set up
between the natural current and that used artifi-
cially in sending messages. This magnetic storm,
which was announced in The Sun of Thursday,
affected every telegraphic station in the kingdom.
At some the wires were utterly useless, and be-
.tween Valentia and Killarney the natural current
towards the west was so strong along the land
lines that it required an addition of five times
beyond the ordinary battery power to overcome it.
This magnetic storm, which ceased at 2 a.m. on Fri-
day, was instantly perceptible in the Atlantic cable,
and at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday the signals from
the Great Eastern became confused and indistinct.
Of course, the presence of the magnetic currents was
known to those at Valentia, and due allowance
was, therefore, made for insufficiency of signals
coming eastward. Other and more alarming symp-
toms, however, soon presented themselves. A rapid
loss of insulation became evident. The 20 cells used
on board the Great Eastern had no power to signal.
At 11 o'clock a.m. it was seen that this battery
power was considerably increased and from 11 to
12 a.m. it was evident that repeated attempts were
being made from the Great Eastern to send mes-
sages by the code signals. None of the signs used,
however, were sufficiently perfect to be read with
certainty. At 12 noon they became a mere crowd
of feeble signs, before 1 p.m. the magnetic currents
had resumed the mastery, and when the electrical
storm was over the tests, as wo have said, gave
" dead earth," or a severed wire, almost at the very
spot where the first loss of insulation was detected.
Since that time, with the single exception of the ab-
sence of battery currents, which we have already
described, not a sign has been wanting to show that
the cable is parted. The Great Eastern is expected
to make her number off Valentia about noon on
Wednesday. She is not likely to be preceded by
either of her guards of honour—the Sphinx or the
Terrible—as both the latter vessels, after their long
cruise off Valentia, are likely to be short of coal.
The great ship, however, has coal enough to bring
her back at full speed. It is. expected that, after
communicating by signal with Valentia, she will go
to Portland—the only harbour where she has room
and depth of water sufficient to swing to a single
anchor. The loss which has been sustained by this
partial failure of the expedition is estimated at about
£200,000.—a loss which, we are glad to say, may be
considerably reduced by underrunning and recover-
ing much of the line laid from Valentia. We be-
lieve that neither the directors of the Atlantic
Company nor its shareholders have been dis-
heartened by the present unfortunate accident,
but, on the contrary, arc at once about to take
measures to replace the cable that has been .lost.

To do this, however, will require at least three
or four months of careful manufacture, so
that all chance of a resumption of the under-
taking this summer is out of the question. Up to
9 p.m. last night a telegram from Ireland reported
no alteration in the condition of the wire, and at
that time it may be safely said that none was ex-
pected.

We have received the following telegram from
the Atlantic Telegraph Company :

" AUG. 6.
" The following telegram was received this morn-
ing from Mr. M'Curley, at Valentia :
" SATURDAY, 9 50 a.m.
" Cable remains the same ; earth currents re-
turning strong.'—Yours truly,
"GEO. SAwARD, Secretary and General
Superintendent."

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE SUN.
Atlantic Telegraph Company, 12, St. Helen's-place,
Bishopsgate-street Within, E.C., Aug. 5.
Sir,—Mr. Glaisher, of the Royal Observatory,
has been so kind as again to-day to be the bearer of
a communication from, the Astronomer Royal re-
specting the storms of terrestrial magnetism which
have taken place during the last few days.
Mr. Glaisher again produced photographic sheets
from the Observatory showing the phenomena of a
renewed magnetic earth storm, equal in intensity to
that of Wednesday and Thursday, which manifested
itself during to-day (Saturday).
I send the letter of the Astronomer Royal for
publication if it seem to you desirable, notwithstand-
ing the _more direct evidence we ha ,*e received as to
the cause of non-communication through the cable,
believing that it will be deemed to have an interest
of its own in connexion with meteorological science,
irrespective of its possible reference to the present
state of the cable. —Yours truly,
GEO. SAWARD, Secretary and General
Superintendent.

"Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Aug. 5, 12 noon.

" Dear Sir,—At the date of my letter of yester-
day the magnetic storm had somewhat subsided.
Very soon, however, there were signs of great
activity, and by 11 o'clock of last night (Friday,
August 4), the magnetic storm was sensibly as 'vio-
lent as before, and continued so through all the
early morning hours. It has declined a little through
the morning, but at the present time (Saturday,
August 5, at noon) it is still very active.
" The spontaneous earth currents were not quite
so strong in the last 24 hours (ending Saturday,
August 5, at noon) as in the preceding 24 hours
(ending Friday, August 4, at noon), but they are
still very active. A nearly continuous register is
made by the currents on the Dartford wire (which
at first were not very strong) to midnight of Friday,
August 4th ; but since that time the traces have
been lost, and the currents on the Croydon wire
have been very violent; only far a short time end-
ing about Friday, Aug. 4, at 3 p.m., is the motion
sufficiently gentle to have left any record, and then
imperfectly. After that time the currents were so
violent that the trace is totally lost.

" It is scarce in possibility that a telegraph cur-
rent can have passed along the Atlantic cable in a
legible state during any part of this time.
" I am, sir, yours faithfully,
" G. B. AIRY.
" G. Saward, Esq."

"Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Aug. 6, 10 a.m.

" My dear Sir,—The magnetic disturbance men-
tioned by the Astronomer Royal in his note of yes-
terday continued very active till 4 p.m., was less
active till 10 p.m., was again very active from this
time to 3 a.m. of this day, from which time up to
the present the disturbance continues, but the ex-
cursions of the several magnets aro to smaller
amounts.

" The Dartford spontaneous earth currents were
so active that no photographic trace of the move-
ments of its galvanometer needle is shown till 4
p.m., and from this time the trace is nearly perfect.
" The Croydon spontaneous earth currents are
entirely lost before 4 p.m. ; and between the hours
of August 5, 10 p.m., and this morning, August 6,
at 3 a.m., and frequently at intermediate times.
" With a continuance of such strong and active
earth currents as these on our short wires, it is
quite possible that, through the great length of
the Atlantic cable, even if perfect, the far-arranged
feeble currents to be sent would not be at all intel-
ligible.
" I am, Sir, faithfully yours,

" George Saward, Esq."

" JAMES GLAISIIER.

The Cigar-shaped Steamer.

This extraordinarily constructed steamship, in
the shape of a cigar, building at Millvall, which
has for so many months attracted so much attention
from the public passing up and down the Thames
in the steamboats, will be launched in a few days,
every preparation for the ceremony having been
completed.
The ship, which has been built at Mr. John Hep-
worth's yard, Cubitt Town, Millwall, belongs to
Messrs. J. and W. L. Winans. The hull is in the
shape of a cigar, with the exception that both ends
are finely pointed. She measures 256 feet over all,
16 feet in breadth, and 16 feet in depth, her hull in
proportion to her beam being 16 times longer, but
as one-fourth of her hull at each end projects be-
yond the bulwarks, the length of her deck will be
eight times that of her beam. She is built through-
out of the finest boat plates—in some parts of steel,
in some parts of Low-moor iron. Her displacement
will be about 500 tons, giving her little over 300
tons burden, according to builders' measurement.
She is built without any longitudinal stringers, but
throughout her entire length she is divided by no
less than 13 water-tight compartments, and in the
engine and boiler rooms is further strengthened by
inner rings of angle iron seven inches deep, which
are rivetted to the side, and placed at intervals of
three feet apart. Inside is an iron floor, which also
runs from end to end, covered with wood, and forms
the lower passenger deck of the yacht. This floor
amidships is only about six feet from the bottom of
the cylinder, so that overhead there is a roomy
cabin much resembling in shape a small railway
tunnel. The upper deck is 130 feet long by 10i-
feet broad. She has two short funnels, and these
and her little deck and a small part of the upper
curve of the cylinder are all that will be seen out of
the water. The rivets that fasten her are counter-
sunk, so that she presents outwardly a perfectly
smooth surface. Tho engines are three-cylinder,
driven at high pressure, turning one steel shaft,
which runs through the whole length of the vessel,
projecting from the fine points at each end, where
it carries a sere vv. These screws are 4 feet greater
in diameter than the greatest diameter of the vessel,
namely, 22 feet, and each is to have eight blades,
because the two points being only a foot or so below
the water, four of the blades of each screw will
always be out, while there will be always four of
each immersed to do the work of propulsion. Under
each screw is a rudder. There are four boilers, on
the locomotive principle, and it is asserted that they
can be worked up to 10001 b. with safety.

"MEYERBEER'S MOTHER," says M. Blaze de Bury,
in his "Memoir of the Good Confessor," "was a strong
woman, an antique Jewess of superb stature ! No muse,
but a genuine woman of the Bible, which, from his cradle,
looked at him from the eyes of his mother They
say that during the last rehearsals of 'Robert,' Moyerbeer
received from her a letter with this address:—' To be
opened after the first representation of "Robert." ' So
soon as he got home, on the evening of that triumph, the
son broke the envelope, and read the biblical benediction,
in the simple majesty of its text, ' Lord bless and
keep thee,' ..Ste. This letter Aloyerbeer thenceforward
always carried about with him, as a talisman."
NAPOLEON SPEECHES.—The Emperor is
occupying a portion of his time at Plombieres upon
a work, shortly to be published under the title of " Impe-
rial Policy, according ts) the Speeches and Proclamations
of his Majesty Napoleon 111., from 1848 to 1865." In addi-
tion to a careful reprint of the original documents, there
will be explanatory footnotes, and introductions to the
several divisions, thus constituting the work a sort of
manual of French governmental policy.

Oun THUNDER."—At Albany a Queen Anne
gnu which had seen service in the llevolution and in the
war of 1812, added its voice to the general joy on the
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.—American
raper.

,
'09.-114.0
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HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Aug. 5.
Her Majesty drove out yesterday with Prince
Arthur.
The Princesses walked and drove.

Aug. 6.
The Queen went out yesterday afternoon, accom-
panied by Prince Arthur and Princess Beatrice.
Princess Helena and Princess Louise drove out
with the Princess of Wales.

The Princess of Wales drove out with her Majesty
in the evening.
To-day is the anniversary of the birth of Prince
Alfred.

Her Majesty, Princess Helena, Princess Louise,
and Prince Arthur attended Divine service at Os-
borne this morning.

The Rev. W. L. Onslow, chaplain to her Majesty's
ship Racoon, officiated.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess
Beatrice attended the service at Whippingham
Church.

The Judge Advocate General had an audience of
the Queen yesterday.

Death of Professor Aytoun.

The death of Professor Aytoun will excite regret
and awaken a sense of loss far beyond the limits of
Edinburgh, his native city, with which his life and
labours have been so intimately associated. Tho
tidings of his death will strike the great circle of the
reading public with sorrow—a sorrow not without
some mixture of surprise and disappointment, for
Mr. Aytoun had barely reached his prime, and it
seemed but natural to expect that for a long time
to come his hand would not be idle. But those who
knew him, or who had opportunities of observing
him at public seasons, though they might hope,
could scarcely venture to be even as confident as in
such matters it is usually permitted to be, that his
life would be much prolonged. For a number of
years, while all the time unrelaxing in his attention
to the business of his chair and unremitting in
activity with his pen, his state of health had been
unsatisfactory. No acute or local disease had laid
its hand upon him ; he was rather, as he has himself
on one occasion expressed it, uneasy than unwell ;
and he hoped and sought, by change of air and keen
entrance, so far as his duties allowed, into the
enjoyments of a country life, to repair the
breaches of the past, and prepare a store of
health against the future. For several summers
he went, under medical advice, to Homburg, in
Germany ; his first season there made no change
for the better, but the next effected a marked
improvement, which continued so long as he fre-
quented that morally unwholesome, but, in his ex-
perience, physically salubrious spa. For a year or
two he had retired, for at least part of the summer
recess, to Blackhills, near Elgin, a residence which
he had leased for the sake of the shooting and fish-
ing, and the other country recreations of which he
was so fond ; and it was there that, early on Friday
morning, he died at the too early age of 52.
He was born in 1813, of an old Fifeshire family.
His father, Roger Aytoun, was a lawyer of some
position in Edinburgh, and a Radical in politics.
Young Aytoun received his education at our aca-
demy and university—being distinguished among
his class-fellows at the former by the elegance and
excellence of his English and Latin compositions.
In 1831 he gave to the public his first work—a poem
on " Poland," the inspiration of which his impul-
sive and romantic spirit had doubtless drawn from
the stirring events of the Polish revolution ; but the
poem met with no very cordial reception. In 1840,
Aytoun, whose studies had taken the direction of
the law, was admitted as an advocate. At the bar
he did not make any marked figure, though he had
some little reputation in criminal business. His
geniality and ready wit, however, made him a
favourite among his fellows of the robe. In 1845
he was fortunate enough to be appointed to the
Chair of Literature and Belles Lettres in the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh ; and in 1852 the Conservative
Government further advanced him by making him
Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland. Shortly after his
appointment to his chair, we believe, he married the
youngest daughter of Professor Wilson. From
Oxford University he received, a year or two later,
the degree of D. C. L.
The true history of Professor Aytoun, however, is the
record of his literary labours. Those, for well nigh 30
years, have been constant, if not arduous. In his earlier
career, of the same school of politics with his father—he
worked hard, but deplorably in vain, to secure the return
of his cousin, the Radical and erratic James Aytoun, for
Edinburgh, in 1834, when Mr. Jeffrey went to the bench
he hold a prominent place among the contributors to Tait's
Magazine ; Theodore Martin, his partner in more than one
subsequent literary undertaking, being at this time also on
the staff of Tait. Between 1834 and 1839, however, his
political convictions suffered a change, and in 1839 he
formed the connection with Blackwood's Magazine which
has ever since so busily and so closely subsisted. Between
1840—when he published a "Life and Times of Richard L,"
of which scarcely anybody has ever heard—and 1848 he re-
mained anonymous ; but during this period appeared in the
pages of Blackwood many of the poems and jeux esprit by
which he has become most favourably known. Some of the
best of the "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers"—which wore
only published in a collected form, with the author's namel,
in 1848 ; " How we got up the Glenmutchkin Railway''
(Oct., 1845) ; " How I became a Yeoman" (Sept., 1816);
"How I stood for the Dreepdaily Burghs" (Sept., 1847) ;
those were some of the fruits of Mr. Aytoun's clever-
ness and activity before his name had emerged from
the shadow of the great title of Maga, and of the great
names that made that title groat. The "Lays of the Scot-
tish Cavaliers" was Mr. Aytoun's most ambitious, and it
has been his most successful work ; it has run through 17
editions—at the rate of one per annum—and, from its sub-
ject and spirit, it bids fair to hold a good place in popular
favour.--Scotsman.