The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-07 00:00:00

INCREASE OF THE ARMY.

Tho augmentation of the army to be proposed on
the meeting of Parliament includes 43 battalions of
the line, each of 800 bayonets, a battalion of Rifles,
and another of artillery--total, about 36,000 men.

WAR VOLUNTEERING PROM WALES.—Captain Phillips,
of the Relative, f
e- ewquay, writes to us to say that he
did not sign the letter which appealed in tie Shipping
and _Mercantile Gazette of the 28th ult., offering to man a
ship of war front Wales to proceed to the Crimea ; and
that, in respect to his name', the signature was a forgery.
Lord Hardinge has in the most kind and prompt manner
presented to William L. Worthington, Esq., a commis-
sion, without, Purchase, for his second son, in consideration
of the loss of his eldest son, Mr. W. S. Worthington, late
lieutenant 38d Regiment, who fell while gallantly carry-
ing the colours of his regiment at the storming of the
heights of Alma.

DISPENSERS FOR THE EAST.—Among the gentlemen
sent out to assist the medical staff in the Crimea, the Go-
vernment have selected Mr. J. Fitze, son of Mr. Fitze,
stationer, Exeter, whs has just embarked. The pay of
this class per diem, including allowances, is half-a-guinea.
BOTAL MARINES FOR THE CRIMEA.—In addition to
the officers already named as ordered from this division to
join the Royal Marine corps in the Crimea, Capt. Kennelly
and three subalterns of the Portsmouth division have been
placed under orders to hold themselves in immediate readi-
ness for embarkation for the East.
DUBLIN, Wednesday Morning.—Large quantities of
powder and other munitions cf war were conveyed, on
Monday last, from the magazine in the Phoenix-park to
the Pigeon-house Fort, near this city, for the convenience
of shipment. Sixteen tons of gunpowder were taken on
board the steam-ship Arabia, at Kingstown, yesterday.
This splendid steamer, which belongs to the Halifax line,
arrived in the harbour yesterday morning, and after get-
ting the powder on board, sailed at 3 o'clock direct fer
Marseilles, to embark French troops for the Crimea.
THE SICK AND WOUNDED OF THE BATTLE OF INKER-
MAN AT PERA.—We find the following in a foreign jour-
nal :—"I yesterday visited the extensive hospital at Pera,
and saw the wounded in the battle of Inkerman,who had ar-
rived on the previous day in the Chaptal. NOtwithstanding
the gravity of their wounds,they support their sufforingS with
the greatest firmness. Among them I remarked several
Russian officers whose countenances were very intelligent,
showing a strong contrast to those of the common soldiers,
who are generally very stupid-looking. All of them ex-
perience the same treatment as the French. The number
of the sick and wounded in the hospital yesterday was
1,065. Among them are about sixty officers, of whom
eight or ten have undergone amputation ; but they are all
going on very well. Up to this time it is the medical staff
which has suffered the greatest losses. Out of six officers
who have died at the hospital at Pera may be reckoned
three surgeons ; and this is not astonishing, for a man need
be made of iron to stand the fatigues which the medical
corps undergo. The Sultan has on different occasions tes-
tified the interest he feels in the condition of the wounded.
The other day he sent to the hospital at Pera 256 kilo-
grames of excellent pates and excellent preserves, articles
for which the Turks are unrivalled, and this present to the
great delight of the soldiers was accompanied by a similar
weight of good tobacco."

LITERATURE.

lierbt3rt: LaL. By the author of " Anne Dysart."
3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
Without aiming at anything remarkable or out
of tho way of every-day life in thought or action,
this author contrives to render her works in no
ordinary degree a pleasure and a profit to the
reader. If, at the commencement of the narrative,
the plot may seem tame and the characters ordi-
nary, it is because they are life-like and simple.
We are shown human nature as it is in its every-
day garb, but as soon as we become acquainted
thoroughly with the various characters, they are
described with their cares and their follies as they
suffer and commit them in their struggles with the
world of sin and sorrow. Herbert Lake, the hero,
is not what. heroes are ordinarily depicted, in the
usual acceptation of the term. Richard Wyvil
comes nearer to the standard in his romantic and
refined notions, in his lofty contempt for toil and
trouble, his wayward fancies, which scorn the
trammels of wealth, and £yet which peculiarly re-
quire riches to indulge them. Herbert was fear-
less and self-reliant. The same dauntless courage
and determined energy which raised him from a
lowly origin into being the equal of a refined and
instructed assembly, and even the superior of many
of its votaries, enabled him to steer clear of the
perils which proved so fatal to his friend, and to
maintain his dignity and position when assailed
by many desperate circumstances. As the story
so soon developes itself, it will not interfere
with the interest to revert to the unfortu-
nate and clandestine marriage of • Richard
to Mary Harris. The miseries that resulted from
that alliance are skilfully shown forth. It is not
that Mr.Wyvill is screened from censure ; his pride
and his revenge are denounced, and a terrible suf-
fering is seen to visit his sin; yet this faultiness of
his conduct did not prevent his son's actions being
unworthy and inconsiderate. His hesitation and
yielding to fancied suggestions of wrong deterred
him from enacting the bold, straightforward course
becoming a man—above all, one preparing to enter
a solemn engagement. This part of the story is
eminently successful in delineating the evil that
was effected from the indulgence of opposite views.
Obduracy and weakness combined to blight the pro-
mise of a brilliant youth, and to render wretched
the decline of an honourable life. It is true that
Mr.Wyvill at last consented to receive his son into
the home of his youth again, but he had to learn
that man cannot take destiny into his own
hands to fashion. The day of grace was gone
by, the heir of his proud name and fair
inheritance was never to enjoy or to inherit it.
Before his father had schooled his haughty spirit
to relent, Richard Wyvill was cited to receive the
award of a higher tribunal than that of man, and
the tardy restitution of earthly justice was as no-
thing to him whose hope and expectation were en-
shrined in the promise of the mercies of Heaven;
still it was a sweet and soothing thought to die in
peace with home and friends, and as Richard
Wyvill was lying on the bed of death, looking out
on the smiling prospect of his earthly home, he
offered a solemn warning to all wayward and self-
sufficient spirits. In the pride of intellect and the
flush of youth and health he scorned control, and
did not brook counsel. He set out for himself
without principle or plan. At last, worn out and
withered in what should have been his prime of
life, he confessed that he was an unprofitable
worker, and his father, as he laid low in the dust
him who should have been the prop of his age and
the mourner at his tomb, to keep alive his memory
by the practise of his precepts, and transmit to
posterity the successors to his name, he might
well havo exclaimed, " All is vanity." A more
welcome truth, and a more pleasing knowledge is
conveyed by the life of Herbert, although his career
was greatly overshadowed. He, too, was alienated
from his friends, but that was from unfortunate
circumstances, and not from daring defiance or
self-willed actions. The powers of his mind were
more the sterling than the striking; his was more
reason and reflection than fancy and imagination.
He did ntit find it easy to come before the public
although he wished to be practical, and for a time
his wisdom was as much at a loss as Richard's more
volatile disposition. They found friends who were
ready to serve them after their own fashion, a
kindness only too prevalent in the world. Mr.
Fandshaw, who seemed the very man to refer to,
-and the most useful assistant to unprovided talents,
had his own views and wishes which he thought
just
.the thing to be observed, and the only course
to be adopted. As may be supposed, such a sub•
servience did not suit the high nature of Herbert
Lake; it was not pride of his own opinion, or vanity
of his own writings, but his self-respect and con-
sciousness of worth which resisted the slavery im-
posed. He heard with scorn that Richard had
forced himself to conform—but ho declined. For-
tunately, he afterwards met with a more congenial
spirit in Mr. Grant, whose acquaintance he made
in performing an act of kindness. The many dark
scenes through which Herbert and Richard passed
are given with skill and vigour, and the crowning
act of misery and destitution, when in mourning
for their only daughter, Richard and May are sur-
prised by bailiffs, is touchingly depicted. The
knowledge of the human heart is shown yet
mdre by the workings out of the home life.
As Herbert beheld his wretched friends in their
misunderstandings and troubles, he realised that
the sharpest still., of poverty is the effect it pro-
duces on the minds of the sufferers. Harder than
the scanty meal and the unfurnished hearth, more
painful than the want of friends and fortune, was
the harsh look and the unkind words from each
other. The love that had sprung up amid roses
and sunshine should havo bloomed in its native
atmosphere and flourished in its kindred soil ; it
had not been tested in the toils of city drudgery
and the details of the poor man's fire-side. Her-
bert, although spared such suffering, had a secret
trouble, which dimmed the lustre of his rising
fame, and obscured for him the pleasure of making
his way in the world. Kate Wyvill was a noble
and generous girl, her education had tended to warp
her judgment, and she was, besides, greatly in-
fluenced by her father in all her decisions and
opinions. In the society of literary and intelligent
men in London Herbert was conspicuous, but in
his own village they remembered him as a farmer's
son. The Wyvills of Wyvill's Court were the mag-
i Dates of the circle in which the Lakes were hardly
( recognised. True to this early prejudice, Kate
' Wyvill, kind and gentle to others, became abrupt
and repulsive to the unfortunate Herbert, who,
always welcomed by her with respect and, consi-
deration, forgot the distance between them, fur-
ther than as regarded the interchange of civilities.
Kate's spirit was roused to sustain her wavering
firmness, and she for a time forgot her uniform
grace and gentleness. Herbert's spirit was like-
wise excited, and he hastened away. In this dark '
hour of sorrow and wounded feeling he had to
make another effort. He had been greatly indebted
to the clergyman of the place, who wished him to
succeed him in his sacred calling. But Herbert
felt that his vocation was not that of the Church,
and he gave up every prospect of fortune rather
than be a hypocrite in so sublime a service. This
act of sacrificing self at the outset of his career
seemed to set a stamp of glory on his whole subse-
quent life. The approval of his own conscience
was with him in the hardest of his labours, and the
most dreary of his solitary hours. The only in-
stance in which blame can attach to him was in
the engagement ho formed with Jessie Grant, but
be had the excuse of being deceived by Kato
Wyvill. She had shown indifference to him, and
he could not imagine that indifference was feigned
to conceal the afiection that pride disdained. By
a chance, Miss Grant discovered her rival and her
real sentiments towards Herbert. Sh 9 suspected
all, and acted according to her conviction. This
was the only darkness in the retrospect of his life ;
but Herbert had not acted unfeelingly, but un-
knowingly, and in the end Jessie Grant was satis-
fied of his truth and rectitude, although she in-
sisted on their engagement being dissolved. It
was not until they had met at the death-bed of
Richard, whom both so dearly loved, that Kate
and Herbert overcame their angry feelings and
softened their proud hearts. In the presence of
that mighty Power, before which the petty jealou-
sies and vanities of the world are laid low, they
were awed into the right understanding of truth
and nature. The pride which seemed dignified was
Richard's stumbling-block through life, and seemed
about to bring Zr. Wyvill with sorrow to the
grave. The love of place and power had been the
misery of Alice ; in tho pride of her beauty and
her youth she was wandering an alien in a foreign
land, having given up her husband's home and hr
father's house to seek a refuge amid strangers.
Herbert and Kate did not rush to the altar, as
Richard and Mary had done, in ignorance of life
and its realities. They knew their way ; Herbert
had fought iat the world of action, and Kate had
suffered in the retirement of her existence. Their
thoughts had been directed to the contemplation
of their work ; they had learned from their rela-
tions and friends, and Alice and Richard had been
monitors of an awful lesson. " They build too
low who build beneath the skies," has been often
cited as a moral, and declared as a precept to the
ardent and aspiring, and the sequel of this story
would exemplify how pride has no place among us,
in self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, or self-love,

but that the spirit of Christian charity should be
the crown of ail our efforts, and the guiding influ-
ence in life and. death.

The Ballad of Babe Christabel, and Other Poems
By Gerald Massey. Fourth Edition. Bogue.

This is a volume of great promise, which has
been written under peculiar circumstances. The
fact of this being the fourth edition is not neces-
sarily a guarantee for the merit of the poetry, but
most readers will be of opinion that the success it
has obtained has not been undeserved. Gerald
Massey has arisen from the people. At eight years
of age he worked in a factory, and since then he
has met with countless obstacles in his upward
path of (self-instruction and improvement. His
life, which is given in this volume, is full of inte-
rest. None would suspect, from the perusal of the
work, the difficulties in the way of the writer's self-
education. His early circumstances can only be
guessed at from the tone of some of the political
lyrics. The writer, in thanking the critics who
have given him a generous welcome, declines the
title of poet. He says—" I knew what a poet is
too well to fancy that lam one yet. It is a high
standard that I set up myself, and I do not ask it
to be lowered to reach my stature—nor would I
have the poet's awful crown diminished to mete my
lesser brow." It is true that the title of poet is
much too readily bestowed, but

" Poeta naacitur, non fit."

Study, time, and cultivation may do much; they
will remove defects, adorn and embellish the style,
but if the inspiration of the muse be wanting no
efforts can ever make a poet. It is not wanting
here. Much remains to be done in minor points,
but there are many passages which display talents
of a very high order, especially if we take into ac-
count the author's history. One great merit of the
style is its clearness. Here and there a too great
redundancy of language and profuseness of imagery
mar and encumber it ; but the prevailing defect of
the present day is not there. The writer has a
meaning in all he says, which is really surprising
in these days, and, what is still more so, the reader
sees it. If he mounts to the clouds, at least he
carries his readers with him. As a sample of the
most ambitious style, we subjoin the following pas-
sages from a very fine poem to the memory of
Thomas Hood :

He might have clutcht the palm of victory
In the world's wrestling-ring of mightiest deeds ;
But he went down like a rich Argosy
At sea, just glimmering into sight of home,
With its rare freightage from diviner climes.
The world may never know the wealth it lost,
When Hood went darkling to his tearful tomb,
So mighty in his undevelopt force !
With all his crowding unaccomplished hopes I
Th' unuttered wealth and glory of his soul !
And all the music ringing round his life,
And poems stirring in his dying brain.
0 ! blessings on him for the songs he sang—
Which yearn'd about the world till then for birth !
How like a bonny bird of God he came,
And pour'd his heart in music for the poor ;
Who sit in gloom while sunshine floods the land,
And feel through darkness, for the hand of help !
And trampled manhood heard, and claimed his crown,
And trampled womanhood sprang up ennobled !
The human soul lookt radiantly through rags !
And there was melting of cold hearts, as when
The ripening sunlight fingers frozen flowers.
•
His Mausoleum is the people's heart ;
There he lies crown'd and glorified,—our king
In state, with singing robe wrapt richly round:
But 't is not meet, my England, his dear dust
Should lie where splendid flatteries flaunt on tombs,
As treachery serves to brighten wanton tears—
With not a line of letter'd love to tell
What mighty heart lies quencht and broken there.
So let us build our poet's monument !
With passionate hearts of love for corner-stones,
And tears that temper for immortal fame.

The " Love Lyrics" are full of tenderness, though
the faults of too much profuseness of language and
imagery are chiefly shown here. " The War" and
" People's Songs" are full of fire and spirit, though
some of the latter are decidedly democratic in their
opinions. This, of course, is but natural, but one
of the high aims which the author has set himself
is, " to write some songs that may become dear to
the hearts of the people, lighting them on the way
up which they are groping after better things." Tho
poem from which the following extract is taken is
on this subject :

Come from the den of darkness and the city's soil of sin,
Put on your radiant manhood, and the Angel's blessing
win !

Where wealthier sunlight comes from heaven, like
welcome-smiles of God,
And earth's blind yearnings leap to life in flowers, from
out the sod :
Come worship beauty in the forest-temple, dim andhusb,
Where stands magnificence dreaming ! and God burneth
in the bush :
Or where the old hills worship with their silence for a
psalm,
Or oceaa's weary heart doth keep the sabbath of its calm.
Come let us worship beauty with the knightly faith of old,
O chivalry of labour toiling for the age of gold !
Come let us worship beauty : she bath subtle power to
start
Heroic word and deed out-flashing from the humblest
heart !
Great feelings will gush unawares, and freshly as the first
Rich rainbow that up startled heaven in tearful
splendour burst.
O blessed are her lineaments, and wondrous are her ways
To re-picture God's worn likeness in the suffering human
face !
Or bliss shall richly overbrim like sunset in the west,
And we shall dream immortal dreams, and banquet w:tit
the blest.
Then let us worship beauty with the knightly faith ofold,
O chivalry of labour toiling for the age of gold !
The author is peculiarly happy in his refrains;
in this respect he has something of the gift of
Beranger. Those who saw a spirited war-song of
his, lately published, will remember the concluding
lines of every verse came in with great effect—
" Oh! victory, joyful victory,
Like love, thou bringest sorrow ;
But, oh ! for such an hour with thee
Who would not die to-morrow l"

The war lyrics in the present volume are full of
fire and spirit. They express the feelings which
animate the whole nation in a manner worthy of
the subject. The subjoined verses are from a
poem entitled " England Goes to War."
Now, glory to our England,
As she rises, calm and grand,
With the ancient spirit in her eyes,—
The good sword in her h and !
Our royal right on battle-ground
Was aye to bear the brunt ;
Ho ! brave heart ! for one passionate bound,
And take thy place in front
Now glory to our England,
As she raises calm and grand,
With the ancient spirit in her eyes—
The good sword in her hand !

To battle goes our England,
All as gallant and as gay
As lover to the altar on
A merry marriage-day.
A weary night she stood to watch
The battle-dawn up-roll'd ;
And her spirit leaps within, to match
The Roble deeds of old.
To battle goes old England,
And as gallant and as gay
As lover to the altar on
A merry marriage-day.

Now, victory to our England I
And where'er she lifts her hand
In freedom's fight, to rescue right,
God bless our dear old land !
And when the storm has pass'd away,
In glory and in calm,
May she sit down i' the green o' the day,
And sing her peaceful psalm !
Now, victory to our England !
And where'er she lifts her hand
In freedom's fight, to rescue right,
God bless the dear old laud

-----
Let not Gerald Massey despair of the "Poet's
awful crown," though he does well in not being
unduly elated by the praise of those who would
assure him he is already perfect. Let him amend
the defects of his style ; let him avoid, above all
things, the incomprehensible and exaggerated
school ; let him be more careful in the regulation
of the metre of his poems (which does not always
run smoothly, though occasionally very musical);
and let him have confidence in his own powers,
which, without the aid of critics or predictions,
will no doubt achieve for him an enduring fame.

Tropical Sketches. By W. Knighton, M.A., author
of " Forest Life in Ceylon." 2 vols. Hurst

and Blackett.
These Tropical Sketches or Reminiscences of an
Indian journalist, as they are called, are not re-
stricted to descriptions of one place or country—they
include sketches of Ceylon, Calcutta, Delhi, and the
Tristan d'Acunha Islands. The first of these, the
island of Ceylon, was the subject of the author's
former work, and a large portion of the present
volumes is devoted to it. At the conclusion of
the second volume a brief outline of its history is
appended, and the amusing narrative of the author's
editorial perplexities relates also to his residence
among the Cingalese. His accounts of "Men aild
Manners in the City of Palaces," does not give a
very tempting picture. The chapter entitled
" Anglo-Indian Comforts," is sufficient to o terrify
any intending emigrant. On the subject of Indian.
education, the author writes strongly, drawing a
.vivid picture of the ignorance of finbpyeople. Even
in the Government colleges of Indiae the results of
the instruction given do- not appear to be very
beneficial, for it is asserted that the religion in
which the students have been brought up, Brah-

I minim, being uprooted by the study of astro-
nomy and geography, and no opportunity af-
forded them of learning a better, they combine
groat intellectual acuteness and a total want
of moral principles, utter infidelity in reli-
gion, combined with an enthusiastic worship
of reason and money." One of the most in,
teresting and instructive portions of the work is
a brief summary, which is given at the commence-
ment of the second volume, of the rise and fall of
the Soikhs. It is justly observed that, should the
incidents of this history appear in a drama, they
would be stigmatised as improbable. The horrible
rites and ceremonies of the Brahmins are related,
and the writer demands, with indignation, why
they are tolerated. The customs of the Mu ssul-
mans are not of so barbarous a form,. though their
great fast of the -Ramezan is sufficiently distres-
sing. It lasts twenty-eight days, during which
time they must not eat or drink from sunrise to
sunset, and this under a tropical sun, for men
engaged in daily labour, sometimes in the hot-
test season of the year. It gives some idea
of the character of the people that some of them,
die under this self-imposed infliction. The ac-
count of the inhabitants of Tristan d'Acunha is
singular and interesting. A variety of information
respecting the different races and nations is con-
tained in these volumes, and much en*rtainment
may be derived from their lively and amusing
anecdotes of Life in the Tropics.

The Last _Earl of Desmond. 2 vols. Hodges and

Smith.
This is an historical novel, and relates the for-
tunes of the last Earl of Desmond and his com-
panions. A good deal of romance is introduced by
the affection of the earl for the fair Ellen, a poor
and friendless orphan, who resides with an old
priest with whom he takes refuge. She is subse-
quently discovered to be the daughter of Spenser
the poet, whose infant, it is well known, was left
behind him in his flight from the rebels, and was
always supposed to have perished in the fire. This
very improbable discovery does not render the
heroine any more suited for a bride for the
last Earl of Desmond in the opinion of
one of his companions, who accordingly poisons the
old priest, the only one willing to perform the
ceremony, by slow degrees. The old man hastens
on the marriage, and his murderer increases the
poison. At the altar he faints, the other presses
forward to give him a cordial ; he refuses it, and,
with a great effort, completes the ceremony and
falls dead. Political events and private history
are mingled throughout. It is said to be the first
work of the author, and, as such, certainly deserves
commendation, for it displays none of the exaggera-
tion which usually marks the style of young
writers. Indeed the error is on the other side,
for, in his assumption of a free and easy manner,
the author is sometimes careless in his style. This,
however, is a trifling fault, and the work certainly
possesses the attractions of originality and con-
ciseness, variety and interest.