The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-01 00:00:00

" Oh, golden light of youth !
How pure and warm thou art,
When Faith, and Hope, and Truth,
Like sunshine, flood the heart.
" Like Orient beams that creep
Across the desert lone,
And wake up tones that sleep
In Memnon's form of stone—
" So through our young life steals
The light of love along,
Till soon the heart reveals

Its strange sweet joy in song.
" Oh, gorgeous dreams of youth !
How glorious—yet how vain !
Fair visions, so like truth,
They cheat the heart and brain,
" As when the sun rays flow
On mist-wreaths in the even,
And make them blush and glow,
Like angels fresh from heaven.
" Thus bright are young life's dreams—
They fade when comes the even ;
And what celestial seems
Are mists from earth, not heaven."

United Service.—The state of the Russian army,
its organisation and distribution, is given in full
statistical detail, and must prove interesting to all
military men at the present eventful time.
." The
March to Tongo, by One of the Column," is very in-
teresting : it is a light and graphic sketch of Gene-
ral Steel's march. The only prompt and decisive
advance we know of. The Burmese are not so
despicable a foe as we at first supposed ; their
palyra guns are -rather remarkable in their con-,
struction. A portion, of the trunk of a palyra is
hollowed out, and at one end a strong substance
like closely cemented brick is fitted in, and secured
with thongs of bamboo ; this forms the breeching,
a vent hole is bored, and then the guu further
secured by strong thongs in several places, and
then mounted on a wheeled crrriage, or fastened
to a log or trunk of a tree, as a fixture ; they fire
very well, and only burst when overcharged. The
column at length arrived at Tongo
"The fort proved to be of immense size, five miles
round the ramparts, walls built of brick, 20 to 25 feet
high, ramparts 40 feet broad, and surrounded by a wet
moat 40 yards broad. We found in the arsenal 16 iron
and 8 brass guns, a great quantity of muskets and jinjals,
an English buggy, gaudily painted green and red, with
a set of harness accompanying, and two handsome how-
dahs ,of red and gilt. We were all quartered in the
Shoongee, or priest's houses, close to the large pagoda,
and were glad to have a little rest afters L
ot: r
althoughgre at .ietxaenrg-
tions. We had marched 240 miles through a country
hitherto untrodden by Europeans, as
and Shewa-geen were taken during the last war, yet the
force that took them came by water, and did not march
one inch of our road. _ _

lire had to build numerous bridges, and in many places
cut our way through the jungle ; the Madras sappers
fully sustained their former reputation, and Europeans
and natives were always eager to assist them in their
difficulties. The conduct of the whole march was' ad-
mirable, and the general's arrangements to prevent
plunder of the greatest political consequence ; supplies
therefrom were readily obtainable, and the inhabitants
now contemplate us as their saviours, they cannot at all
understand such lenience from a conquering army. A
fine field here presents itself to English capitalists : the
enormous teak forests of Tongo are not far from here,
and there is water carriage all the way to Moulmein : in
a few years our dockyards might be filled with teak, and
all our naval vessels built of it, saving an incredible sum
of money to the Government, as a vessel of teak will last
fully as long again as one of oak—principally, I believe,
from the fact o there being a quantity of oily substance
in the former, which prevents the nails from corroding
the wood. Enterprising English merchants would make
fortunes in this trade in no time ; and as for mining, I
should not be at all surprised if the kingdom of Pegu
' and the Jenasserin provinces would yield sufficient of
the precious metals for the satisfaction of the most ar-
dent Californian digger. Prome is 170 miles from here,
west by south."
The account of the warinin
periodical papers, are to be found,
toge-
ther with monthly military and
naval intelligence.
China,
as
,

Ainsworth.—Ainsworth commences, as usual,
with " Nicholas Flamel," by the author of " The
Confederates." " The Queen's Letter, an Episode
of the French Revolution," of which the unfor-
tunate Marie Antoinette is the heroine, is con-
tinued. There is the usual amount of tales and
i
sketches, of which the best s "Queer People."
In this number the people who are " all right"
are introduced, and the author justly condemns
them as the people who are usually " all wrong."
Who does not know the annoyance occasioned, in
moments of perplexity, by people who do nothing
to remove difficulties, but silence 'all inquiries by
the assertion of " All right." " Almost a Ghost
Story" will amuse the lovers of the marvellous.

The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Re-
view.—There is a very interesting account of Ma-
dame de Longueville in this periodical, which gives
a full description of the manners and customs of

despatched to Regina, doubtless from the wilds of
Australia.

Colburn's New Monthly.—" Beware of the Cho-
colate of Chiapa," by Dudley Costello, is concluded,
and so tragically does it end with -murders and
executions, that the reader will readily coincide in
the warning conveyed in its singular title.
"Literary Leaflets," by Sir Nathaniel, is devoted
to "The pathos of Thomas de Quincey." A tale
by the author of " The -Unholy Wish," and en-
titled " The Self-Convicted," turns upon the dis-
covery of a murder. " Hunting in the Far West"
will prove attractive to the lovers' of travel and
adventure, for it recounts the pursuit of buffaloes
and bisons in the prairies. " The Moors in Spain"
is an historical article. No. V. of " American
Authorship," treats of George William Curtis, the
author of " Nile Notes." The last article in the
present number contains the comprehensive sub-
jects of "Boston, Lowell, New London, Long
Island, Clipper Line home." The poetical con-
tributions are not remarkable for merit.

Bentley's Miscellany.—The clever story of " As-
pen Court," which is a political tale of our own
day, in which the characters are not difficult to
recognise, is continued. " Camps and Bivouacs,"
by Mrs. Ward, gives an interesting comparison
between French and English military arrange-
ments. " India and its Administration," and
" Russia, its Court and Cabinet," are articles on the
two great political questions of the day. Some
curious anecdotes of the Rajpoot customs are given
in the former. An old woman was eating her
dinner when some Mahomedans, walking through
the village, happened to look in and see her. From
that moment life was unendurable. To be seen
eating by a Mahomedan was a disgrace she could
not survive. She entreated her grandson to kill
her. He, being a little wiser than his relative,
refused. In his absence she beat her head against
the wall until, on his return, he took compassion
on her sufferings and stabbed her. ".The insult,"
as Mr. Kaye observes, "is not very easily appte-
ciated. The only thing clear is, that if an old
woman is so easily disgraced for ever, she had
better eat her dinner where she cannot be seen."
This is given as a proof of the difficulty of legislat-
ing for India and her singular inhabitants. " A
Railway Incident" is an account of the appalling
circumstance of a gentleman travelling in the same
carriage with an escaped lunatic alone. In the
middle of the journey he suddenly sprung with up-
lifted knife on his astonished fellow traveller, and
a fearful struggle ensued. The conclusion must
have been fatal, but just as the victim was becom-
ing utterly exhausted, the train stopped, and he
was rescued. This is recorded as a fact, and doubt-
less many can remember a similar incident which
occurred a few years ago. In that case the
threatened individual escaped by getting out of the
window, and walking along the steps of the car-
riages. We can easily understand the assertion
given in the history before us, " from that day to
this I have never entered a railway carriage with
only one passenger." " The Last Years of the
Emperor Charles the Fifth" is continued. That
monarch was indeed mistaken if he thought that
in seeking the cloisters he retired from the world
and sunk into insignificance, for the last years of
no sovereign of the civilised world have been more
chronicled and criticised. A sketch of the life of
Lord Chesterfield accompanies his portrait.

The Dublin University.—" Sir Jasper Carew"
is continued this month, and increases in interest.
He meets with some singular adventures ; and to
crown all his previous calamities, lie wounds in a
duel an important person, whose family are then
high in authority. Owing to the influence of a
friend in Paris, he receives warning, and we leave
him at the close of the last chapter planning an
escape to England. "A Tale of the Third Crusade"
is a very well written story, and is managed with
great skill. It refers to the oft-told death of Con-
rad de Montserrat, who has met with so many va-
rious ends in the legends of romance and the tales
of tradition. The description of the siege of Tyre
is the best part of the story, and the character of
Zaide is very consistent with her race and man-
ners. In the chapter on " Heroes, Ancient and
Modern," Belisarius and Marlborough are com-
pared, and there are several points in which they
resemble each other. Both were remarkable for
their military talents ; both were unfortunate in
private life ; after a career of honour and victory,
each was accused of crimes and misdemeanours,
each sunk into the grave overwhelmed by misery
and misfortune. In the commencement of this
paper some very explicit details are given of the
battles of Belisarius, in which that- general proved
himself equally great in victory .or defeat. In
" Midsummer Melodies" the poetry is very pleas-
ing. The following verses on " Youth" are among
th best :