The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-27 00:00:00

TELLERS.

TELLERS.

LIT_ERATURE

THE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON.
By W. HARRISON AINSWORTH.
Mr. Ainsworth has certainly struck upon a rich
vein in his new serial story now appearing
.from
month to month as the feature in Bentley's Illtseel-
lany. His latest instalment, the one adorning the
March number of that popular periodical, is the
very best that has yet made its appearance. The
occasion described is still the Lord Mayor's-day in
1761—exactly a hundred years ago on the 9th of
last November. The romancist is yet in the midst
of his radiant description of the pageantry and
pomp attendant upon that antique ceremonial. Sir
Gresham Lorrimer is surrounded, as usual upon
these occasions, with all the civic splendour inciden-
tal to the instalment of the chief magistrate
of the City of London. His generous nature
shines out more and more delightfully upon us.
And we appreciate his good qualities all the more
from their contrast with the petty foibles, and

unities, and littlenesses of all kinds distinguishing
the rest of the family, with the single exception of
his youngest and favourite daughter. The incident
of the dilemma into which the Lady Mayoress is
plunged, all of a sadden, by reason of the extrava-
gant height of her preposterous head-dress, is most
humorously imagined and described. It is not,
however, in regard to the minor characters of the
story, such as the vainglorious Queen of the City,
that the principal interest of the tale will be
found to consist —at any rate in the
present instalment. It is rather in the
vivid revival by Mr. Ainsworth's luminous and
skilled pencil of a whole century since, with all its
forgotten fashions and habits, and with all its
extinct historic personages. One after another
appear upon the scene the young King George 111.,
then in his twenty-third year, and but newly seated
upon his throne—his young bride, the Queen Char-
lotte—the then still well preserved Princess Dowa-
ger of Wales, the King's mother—her arch favourite,
the unpopular Earl of Bute—and in the midst of a
crowd of other celebrities, the paragon of the age,
the cynosure of all eyes, the idol of the
whole people, the future Earl of Chatham, then Mr.
Pitt, known to all Europe, loved by all England,
under his magnificent title of the Great Commoner !
The description Mr. Ainsworth gives of this illus-
trious man is so really admirable in every point of
view, that we here give it by way of quotation.
Here, then, is Mr. Pitt—" the mightier father of
the mighty son !"
" Some description must be attempted of the personal ap-
pearance of one of the first of England's statesmen, and in-
comparably her greatest orator, though we despair of giving
an idea of that marvelously expressive eountenance, cast
in the proudest mould, and stamped by the loftiest intelli-
gence—the magnificent brow, made marble pale by constant
thought—the eagle eye, that penetrated the very soul of him
on whom it fell—the aquiline nose—the haughty lips, which
could give vent to such a flood of eloquence as none other
ever poured forth. These were his lineaments ; but to judge I
of their full effect, you should have seen them kindled by
the fiery soul within, the eye flashing lightnings, the lips
breathing scorn, and every feature impressed with the
thought to which the eloquent tongue gave utterance. You
should have seen his tall majestio figure, thin and wasted
by the cruel malady to which he was a martyr,
reared to its full height—have marked his patrician
look and deportment, his dignified and appropriate
gestures—and above all, have listened to his won-
derful delivery—grand, sonorous, impassioned, persua-
sive, menacing, terrible—thunder not more awful than his
loudest and deepest tones. ' England,' said Frederick the
Great, speaking of Pitt, ' has at length brought forth a man'
Nature, indeed, as we have just endeavoured to show, had
endowed the Great Commoner with her richest gifts—a
stately person, a noble countenance, an eagle glance, and a
magnificent voice, susceptible of every variety of intona-
tion, persuasive in argument, terrific in invective."
As a contrast to this portraiture, take the follow-
ng rapid bat vivid sketch of
THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.

" Attired in a magnificent military costume, and wearing
the blue riband and a star, the hero of Culloden looked
painfully ill, and as if his days wore numbered. At this
juncture he was slowly recovering from a severe paralytic
attack, which for a time had deprived him of the use of his
limbs, and he had other bodily ailments besides. With
difficulty, and only by the aid of two servants, had he been
got into his coach. Naturally harsh and repulsive, his fea-
tures wore now swollen and distorted, the mouth being
drawn down on the left side, while his bloodshot eyes and
truculent looks seemed to justify the epithet of 'the butcher,'
bestowed upon him for the severity with which he had
treated the unfortunate Scots during the rebelli n. The
Duke was not popular with the multitude, and very few
cheers greeted him as he entered Pall-mall. Evidently
offended at the sullen silence of the throng, and with the
looks almost of aversion cast at him by some of them, he
scowled fiercely around, and threw himself back in his
carriage."
As a token of how well the romancist is up in the
mere " costume" of the period, take this brilliant
little pencilling of a balcony-full of great people a
hundred years back in Pall..mall.
" At the corner of St. James's-street a balcony was
erected, which was filled with well-dressed personages of
both sexes—beaux, young and old, in flowered velvet, or
cloths trimmed with gold, not of the dusky and monotonous
hues now in vogue, but of every variety of tint, rich bro-
caded waistcoats, perukes of every possible shape, high
foretops, pigeons' wings, bobs, bags, flat-ties, and Raieil-
lies. These gentlemen were too well bred to remain covered
in the presence of ladies, but carried their three-cornered
laced hats under their arms, and trifled with their snuff-
boxes and clouded canes, though some of the more elderly
among them protected their hands horn the cold by mutts.
Here also the female fashions of the day were fully exhi-
bited—sacques of silk and satin of all the colours in the
rainbow, tabby sacques, white and silver sacques, pink-and-
white-striped tobine sacques, and brocaded lustring
sacques, with a ruby-coloured ground ; fly-caps, Mecklen-
burg caps, Ranelagh mobs, turban rolls, and heads' of
the astounding size already described."
The description given at the close of the last chap-
ter yet published of this most interesting story
about " The Lord Mayor of London," giving an
account, as it does, of the Banquet itself, whets one's
appetite rather than satiates it, and renders the
reader curious for the " pippins and cheese" that
are doubtless to follow.

The Edinburgh .Review. No. 233. Longman.
It is very seldom that an intelligent and culti-
vated reader takes up a number of the Edinburgh
without finding something to interest and attract
him. The ability which is brought to the discus-
sion of the subjects, whether classic, political, social,
or literary, is always of a high order; and wLen
some great question has been agitating the public
mind during the quarter, we naturally turn with
interest to the new number of the great northern
serial, sure to find it discussed with vigour and in-
telligence within the magic blue and yellow cover.
In the present instance, the affair of the Trent, has
so often occupied our attention in these columns that
we need only commend the article on " Bellige-
rents and Neutrals" for the moderation of its tone,
and the clearness and force of its arguments. An
essay on Professor Thomas Muller's recent lectures
on the Science of Language will interest the
philologist. A subject of greater practical impor-
tance is, howpver, discussed in the article on
" Wrecks, Lifeboats, and Lighthouses," which is
founded on those startling returns which of late years
have impressed the public mind with a sense of
the frequency and fatality of our marine disasters.
We have often called attention to this subject, and
are glad to see that several important contributions
to the Lifeboat Fund, testify the increased appre-
ciation of the services of the National Lifeboat In-
stitution. Much, however, remains to be done,
and the urgent demand for harbours of refuge on
some parts of our coasts is still unresponded to.
With regard to one important cause of wreck and
damage, it is remarked in the article before us that,
notwithstanding all precautions, the increased num-
ber and rapidity of maritime communications; the
multitude ofateamers running with prodigious speed,
and too often the recklessness of seafaring men who
know their losses are covered by the insurance, have
increased the number of collisions to a lamentable
and disgraceful extent. After remarking that
from the experience of the last 11 years, we may
justly conclude that we have in our seas and chan-
nels no inconsiderable portion of the total wrecks
of the world, the writer goes on to cite some inte-
resting statistics which have been already pub-
lished, but cannot be too generally known :
We learn that during the period from 1852 to 1860 in-
clusive, without comprehending the Channel Islands,
1,820,062 voyages were made by British ships, and
389,616 by foreign ships, that is, in all no less than
2,209,678 voyages were made in the last nine years from
British ports. This very large total must obrously com-
prehend a principal portion of the voyages performed on all

n e
travel,prepared,
from a consideration disasters ; yet our expecta-
tionsmount of
seas.
to expect no small a
In such anumbeorfotfhevoorydaigneas7wpeersihlsoulufdrabarei
for in the ninereported,
casualties which happened to British
would fall short of theearsac
jtuuastl apmasosuendt,
faruetmhenltBisc2altlye
to foreign ships, 1,676; and
y to both 10,336. That more than ten thousand
shipslB6 0 inclusive,
wereu tiB66 o thein
number;
consequently
should have attended the voyages of the last nine
years will, doubtless, appear to all readers a very remark-
able and melancholy fact. It is a fact which not only has
never before been brought under public notice, but also one
which upon other than special authority would hardly be
received as entitled to credit. Such., however, is the un-
deniable truth, which may be rendered still more striking
by showing the rate per cent. of these calamities in relation
to the number of voyages accomplished. This rate is as 1
in 210 for British ships, as 1 in 232 for foreign ships, and
as 1 in 213 upon the total.
Of the whole nine years alluded to, the year 1859 was
signalised by the maximum of wrecks and casualties includ-
ing collisions, the total number being 1,416; but the year
1860 was not behind its predecessor, as its black record
bears the number 1,379. Whether it be owing to the in-
creasing vigilance of the reporters and the mere vigorous
use of ample means, or whether we may ascribe it to the
actual increase of the calamities themselves, cannot be de-
termined, but the fact is plain, that instead of diminishing
as the years advance, there is a considerable annual in
crease in the number of wrecks and casualties from the year
1855 to 1860.
The Saints of Salt Lake are discussed, and a com-
parison instituted between Captain Burton's clever
narrative and M. Jules Remy's recent account of
his visit to the territory of Utah. It is amusing to
learn the view taken by the saints of the probable
issue of the present struggle.
In a gravely Written article we are informed that them-