The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-25 00:00:00

LI 7'E RA7 URE.

Our Last Tears in India. By Mrs. John. B.
Speid. Smith, Elder, and Co.
The volume before us contains a pleasantly writ-
ten narrative of the writer's overland journey to
Lidia, as well as of her residence in that country,
and of visits paid by her to various places of anti-
quity and historic interest. She also discusses at
considerable length Hindoo theology, compares
Buddhism with Brahmanism, and strives on these
points, and with success, to render her work instruc-
tive as well as amusing. Passing through Cairo on
her journey out, she was delighted with its pic-
turesqueness. She says, " The streets of Cairo (fain
would I dwell on them), with their endless variety
of costume, their quaint old houses, sometimes lean-
ing °Ter as if to whisper to each other, and nearly
touching in the upper storeys; their, here and
there, honeycombed walls, their yashmak'd (veiled)
women, or assumed women, for you only see a
rolling black pillar (I urn speaking of the better
classes), a slipper, raid an eye—the streets of
Cairo, were I to enumerate half their inte-
resting objects, would entice me into a sen-
tence fifty times the length of even this.
Some of the dresses of the men I thought quite
exquisite—so harmonious in the arrangement of the
colours—the brilliant shawl, sash, and turban-bound
fez so admirably contrasting with the black-braided,
chocolate-coloured jacket and trousers. I believe
there are no clothing funds, so how all the poor
manage to be so beautiful I cannot imagine. All
seem in holiday clothing ; even your dragoman 1,„ho
Dives—quite imposing with
I waits on you is a very
purple and fine linen, or their Turkish eqinvalents.
Everybody, everything is picturesque; the donkeys
and Arab donkey boys; the blue-clad peasant wo,
men bearing their water jars; the camels and their
riders, slowly wending their way through the dense
many-tinted crowd ; the narraw streets, and houses
gay with scarlet stripes; the shop-keepers with
beards worthy of the patriarchs, sitting, dignified,
cross-legged, and ruminant ;Among their drums of
goldstmoehfeoemuslhht
o:
pp
grudge
e,nrcaduerdseg.colours,l people,ol
naf na td!
eetrnhe
ed
tsslippersetne r
y,
figs, and wizardly bottles, and Damascus broidery
o
the dresses,
am b er
freshest
devoted interest;
oyooku-
in g , and thanks to tbs delightful air *you may look
without fatigue!' Of the
ela-
borateceand explore all 13-4
I.',lured caves of Ellora, she gives an lite
brated scul
flescription, as well as of the painted caves
of njunta ; various phases, also, of Hindoo life are
Rraphically delineated, and the work will repay
perusal,

He Quarterly Perim.
Victor Hugo's " Les Ariserables" furnishes the
theme of the opening article here, in which the
writer, giving the work high praise, carefully dis
criminates between its poetical aspect and its shal-
low social theories. The recent translation, by Dr.
'Whewell, of " The Platonic Dialogues " is the sub-
ject of that which follows, the translator being
credited with perspicuity, and freshness and vigour
of expression, but accused. of want of enthusiasm.
Under the head of " Belgium" we find an interest-
ing account of the industry and resources of that
small territory. "It is," says the writer, "to the
excellent market which England affords for its pro-
duce that Belgium owes much of the present
flourishing and prosperous state of its agriculture.
Flanders may be almost regarded as an outlying
market-garden, orchard, and dairy-farm of Great
Britain. The quantity of farm and garden produoc
annually raised for English consumption is astonish-
rig. In 1860 we took from our Belgian neighbours
butter to the value of £467,686; fruit and
vegetables to the value of £150,000; seeds to the
value of £36,764; 11,656,576 eggs, and poultry
to the value of £40,270." " The Waterloo of Thiers
and Victor Hugo," is a clever exposure of the fictions
which those writers have put forth for facts. In
" Aids to Faith," we have an elaborate resume of
the "Essays and Reviews" controversy; and the
remaining articles are styled, " Modern Political
moirs," " China—The Tacping Rebellion," and
Who Confederate struggle and recognition."

THE BIRKENHEAD _RIOTS.

BIRKENHEAD, FRIDAY.

At the police court to-day before Messrs. Darby.
shire, Case, and Ledward, Mary Nolan was brought
up under warrant charged with having used
threatening language to Mary Ebrey, a witness
in the riot cases. The words complained of were
that if Ebrey had anything to do with the charges
against the rioters the prisoner would " paste her
brains'' against the walla of the house in which she
was staying. The prisoner, who denied the charge
through her attorney, Mr. Moore, produced no re-
butting testimony, and the bench ordered her to
find two sureties of £6 each to keep the peace for
12 months.

James Fining, Bridget Burns, Mary Macguire,
and Bridget MWonald, were brought up under
warrant and charged with having taken part in
the riot of Wednesday night week.
Mr. Moore, who appeared for the prisoners,
stated that he had been instructed in the case only
a quarter of an hour previously, and applied for a
remand, which was granted until Tuesday next.
Mr. Darbyshire took occasion to remark that the
town was now quiet, and he hoped that the good
sense of the inhabitants, of whatever class or creed,
would teach them in future to refrain from taking
part in proceedings similar to those which had
brought such disastrous results upon the people.
It was apprehended by the police that another riot
would take place last night, in consequence of an
announcement that the Rev. Dr. Butler, formerly
chamberlain to his Holiness the Pope, and a con-
vert to Protestantism, would deliver a lecture on
" Rome and Italy," at Christ Church, Claughton.
Although a number of demonstrations were made
by Orangemen and others in the shape of crying
out in the streets, where are the Birkenhead rioters
now ? and calling for cheers for the Birkenhead
police and Garibaldi,and loud groans for the Pope,
no action of importance occurred despite the taunts
which were very unnecessarily levelled against the
supporters of the Papacy.

AbDedEleANFNedErazDr. Berle
asserting
gthamt
eotnhterha ,
thes w
rermi tetdeyn f
otro
detahfe_
ness recommended by Mlle. Cleret a few years ago, is by
no means inefficacious as has been supposed by prac-
titioners. All that is required, he contends, is to apply it
properly, and to combine it with the treatment of the pri-
mary affection which has brought on the deafness. He
quotes two cases of rheumatic deafness, and three in which
otorrbeea was, the primary cause. Of the latter, one was
that of a musician, who has, by proper treatment with
ether after the ottorham was removed, regained the correct-
ness of ear which he possessed before in a remarkable
degree.

MARKET HOUSES IN PARlS.—Besides the rag-
gatherers, there is a class in Paris—of a much higher
grade--who have cabarets exclusively their own. These
are the market people who fill the Hanes, and whose houses
of refreshment were known by the names of Paul Niquet,
Bordier, Baratte, and half a dozen other less famous
cabaretiers. Unlike those night houses in London,
which M. Delvau calls "des gin-palace, des tap-rooms,
des beef houses, des beer shops, des oyster houses, the Ca-
barets des Halls are now always closed at midnight, though
until recently this was not the case. But Niquet's esta-
blishment has ceased to exist for several years, and Niquet
himself is dead. It was a place in which, perhaps, more
spirituous liquors were consumed than in any other cabaret
of Paris—absinthe., cassis, and brandy, the cheapest and the
worst. The consumers sat on benches ranged round a large
room, the floor of which, though paved, was always damp
and sloppy. As a natural consequence, where so much fiery
poison was swallowed, quarrels were of frequent occur-
rence; but 8:3 it was not desirable to call in the guard to
quiet the refractory, Paul Niquet adopted another course.
He had arranged a series of water pipes, so placed as to
enable hhn, when a quarrel began, to souse the combatants
well. NV hen it happened that they resisted this application,
he raised an apparatus which completely blocked up the
only issue from the room, and the water rose and roee, from
the Tinkle to the knee, from the knee to the body,
cabarets
y' till the
disturbers of society begged for mercy
of Bordier and Baratte, which rewaairns, ed .
undemolished—
and the second in
the first at the corner of Rue sus
the Rue aux Fers—you can
• both o
only accidental,—Dickens
eat and drink, but, like
Falstaff's supper, the eating is
All the Year Bound.
Ite
iscontracted understoodwi
that
11 Iron the Italian Government
hav
with the Millwa Works for a war
steamer fitted with cupolas
of 2,030 tons,
on the principle of
Capin Coles. The engines of 700. horse power are to be
by
Mears, Mandolay and Co.

711 E NAVY.

The Duke of Somerset has left his official resi-
dence at the Admiralty for Stover-park, Devon-

shire.

Her Majesty's armour-plated frigate Caledonia,
intended to carry 46 guns, was yesterday launched
from her building slip in Woolwich dockyard. The
operation was admirably carried out, every possible
care having been taken to insure success. Precisely
at 2 o'clock the youthful daughter of the Commo-
dore-Superintendent, Sir F. Nicolson, pronounced
the usual " God speed," the dog shores were re-
moved, and the vessel glided down the ways, and
with increased speed gained the body of the Thames.
She was then arrested in her course by a couple. of
steamtugs, by which she was brought round and
safely docked to receive the remainder of her plates,
250 in number, weighing in the aggregate about
1,000 tons. The Caledonia, was taken in hand (ac-
cording to the technical expression) in July, 1861,
and has been hastened to completion by 300 men in
constant work since that period. She is pronounced
to be one of the strongest built ships afloat. Her
iron riders, by a peculiar design of Mr. Turner, are
placed outside the frame, and are cemented toge-
ther, so as to form a series of arches over the ports,
thereby insuring greater strength longitudinally.
She possesses also a most important improvement
in the fitment of her inner waterways by the intro-
duction of a side binding strake to all her decks,
which adds considerably to her strength. Chocks
are likewise fitted between her beams, giving addi-
tional solidity to the framework, the whole forming
a perfect tower of strength ; her outside and inside
planking are dowelled in every timber, instead of
the ordinary method, found tobe objectionable. The
interior fitments have also been constructed with
peculiar care and strength, in order to insure her
success as a batterigg ram, if necessary. She has
iron beams to her upper deck, plated with iron
casing, and a 4-inch wood flat over all, the whole
of the iron deck knees, &c., being completed by
the shipwrights in the most creditable and praise-
worthy manner. Her draught of water is as fol-
lows—forward, 15ft. 6n. ; abaft, 20ft. bin. ; mean
draught,lB tt. Her dimensions are—length, extreme,
277 ft. ; ditto, between perpendiculars, 273 ft.; ditto
of keel for tonnage, 232 ft. 8-ain.; breadth, extreme,
68ft. sin.; ditto for tonnage, 57ft. tin. ; ditto
moulded, 56ft. 4in.; depth in hold, 19ft. 10in. ;
burden in tons, 4,045 26-94ths ; horse-power, 800.
The day was one of the finest of this variable
season, and the spectators numbered many thou-
sands.

The iron paddlewheel steamvessel Oberon, Lieut.-
Commander George Morice, from the south-east
coast of America, yesterday arrived at Woolwich ;
and the troopship Megaera, Commander Henderson,
yesterday received her sailing orders to leave Wool-
wich this morning for Portsmouth.

The iron-plated frigate Royal Oak, 1,000 horse-
power,the works connected with the armour plating
and completing of which are being pushed forward
with all the speed that the resources of Chatham
dockyard will permit, is ordered to be supplied
with the following large proportion of shot and
shell for her Armstrong and other guns,the required
space being allowed for in her fittings—viz., 200
filled and 140 empty 110-pounder Armstrong shells ;
140 filled ',and 200 empty segment 110-pounder
Armstrong shells, 480 68-pounder shells, 100 com-
mon and 100 segment 20-pounder Armstrong shells,
besides a large quantity of the 12-pounder Arm-
strong shells for her boat and field guns. Her solid
shot will include 1,680 68-pounders, 340 110-
.pounder Armstrongs, 100 20-pounder Armstrongs,
and 50 12-pounder Armstrongs. She will also take
494 pentagon whole, and 47 metal-lined cases of
gunpowder. The above proportion of shot and shell
is considerably larger than that supplied to many
of our largest line-of-battle ships.
The screw steamer Vigilant, 4, 200-horse power,
Commander Lord W. B. Elphinstone, which arrived
at the Nore on Thursday from the east coast of
Scotland, reports having passed the wreck of a
large vessel on the Essex sands, near Harwich,with
two women lashed to the rigging, and the sea
breaking over her. Owing to the tremendous gale
and the sea running very high, the Vigilant was
unable to render the wreck the least assistance.
Since the Vigilant has been at the Nore an
examination of her has been made in order to
ascertain what injuries she sustained from having
been on shore on the Gunfleet sands. It is believed
that her injuries are not of a very serious nature,
and her repairs are expected to be of a very trif-
ling character. After being docked and examined
she will fill up with provisions and stores and pro-
ceed, it is understood, for service on the coast of
Africa.

During the height of the gale from the south-
west on Thursday the Hart, sailing yacht of Capt.
Wise, broke from her moorings in the Medway
and drove foul of the jetty at the entrance of the
great basin, Sheerness, sustaining some injuries to
her bulwarks. She was got off by a party of riggers,
under the direction of Capt. Martyn, master at-
tendant of the dockyard, and towed to her moor-
ings by the Otter, steam tender.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Lieut. J. A. Forbes, to the Ad-
venture ; Lieut. Henry Berkeley, to the Ariadne ;
John S. Moore, assist-paymaster, to the Fisgard ;
John Rivers, assist.-paymaster, to the Adventure;
James Donne, engineer, to the Indus, for the Part-
ridge ; James S. Pidgeon, supernumerary, in the
Bacchante, confirmed as 2d class assist: engineer ;
James Stocks, in the Malacca, confirmed as 2d class
assist-engineer; Charles F. Goolden, master's-
assist., to the Trafalgar ; Charles Brent, master's
assist., to the Adventure; Henry G. Snowdon,
assist.-clerk, to the Marlborough, as supernumerary.