The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-03 00:00:00

LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DA T.)

LONDON, Feb. 3.—Wind at Noon, S.E. Light breeze,
and dull cloudy weather.
DEAL, Feb. 2.—Wind, S.E. Sailed—Senator, Ade-
laide.
Arrived—Ko eed
FOILTOHUETLH:zAFiteDb..—GIip—seAy, Realio Jm.aneAriro;l
13? ,
Buenos Ayres ; Bee Sate, Pernambuco ; Ellen, Trinidad.
Sailed—Faith (s), West Coast of Africa.
Arrived—Lydia,
Bonny;
John Rt
oPnO O;LG,
IFdeebn.
Age,2.- n
.John,
SN. E.
B. ;
John Peile ; Islay ; Neptune, Buenos Ayres ; Conqueror ;
Mobile ; W. Rathbone, Savannan ; Forest Stale, Charles-
ton. Sailed—City of Manchester (s), Philadelphia • Orient,
do. New
Off Yort P
Mayflower, do. ; Alps (s), do. ; Columbia,
remise • Mobile ; Cornelia Savannah , •
Universe, do. ; Amrapohs ; Astrologer (s). Rothsay,
prokr—Co
Newfoundland to Pernambuco, was spoken with 22 Dec.,
1 deg N., 29 deg. W., with top off mainmast, Szc.
POBESMOUTH.—Wind, E. by S. Sailed—Vander Palm,
Batavia.
SHIELDS.—Wind, S. Sailed—Europa, New York. The
Blessing (s), of this port, struck on a sunken wreck within
the bar, and sunk in the narrows.
BELFAST. Wind, S.S.W. Arrived Majestic, St.
John, N.B.
COLTC.—The Felicity struck on an anchor and filled.
PLYMOUTH.—Wind, E.S.E. Sailed—Pioneer, Hobart
Town ; Caroline Chisholm, Adelaide.
JERZEY.—Wind, S.S.E. Sailed—lris, Pernambuco.
CLYDE. Wind, S.W. Sailed—Thomas Fielding, New
Orlean s.

BR ENCHLRY.—INCENDIARY FIRE.—On Thursday last,
about seven o'clock in the evening, a wheat stack, the
prop arty of Mr. George Wightman, of Dunk's Farm,
was. discovered to be on fire. The Tunbridge Wells fire-
engine was sent for, which arrived shortly afterwards,
ace oulpanied by Superintendent Gilbert, Mr. Dadson,
and 'Serjeant Swift ; and through the exertions used, a
row -of hopping houses and a pea-stack were saved ; but
the wheat-stack, containing about 25 quarters, was
totaaly destroyed. A searching investigation was made
by the officers as to the origin of the fire, and from what
the y could glean there is no doubt of its being purposely
set on fire. Suspicions are entertained of the guilty
pa rty, but we are not at present in a position to give
further particulars. Mr. Wightman insured.—Maid-
g Dne Journal.

LITERATURE.

On, the Proper Condition, for all Horses. By Harry.

Hieover.

T. C. Newby.

It has already been the priN;lege of Harry Hie.
over to enjoy several successes—successes, by the
way, none of them inconsiderable—as a contributor
to our sporting literature. And no wonder ! For
in sitting down to the composition of his volumes,
he possessed two very essential advantages, not un-
frequently altogether overlooked by the adventurer
into the realms of authorcraft. He took especial
care, we mean, before attempting to write the first
sentence in the first chapter of any one of his diffe-
rent productions, to provide himself with a clear
and complete knowledge of his subject, and to
feel perfectly conscious, before he commenced, that
he could impart that knowledge to others in a
manner readable and even exhilarating. Now, it
would seem from the character of not a few among
the works nowadays submitted to our criticism
that the writers go upon a precisely different cal-
culation. They appear to think that they may the
most effectually accomplish their object, namely, in
obtaining an audience, by being in the first instance
altogether unacquainted with their subject, and, in
the second, incapable of rendering themselves, in
any other way than by the exposure of that in-no-
ranee, comprehensible. It may appear exaggerate% to
talk thus, but indubitably those who think so have
never been doomed, like the unfortunate reviewers
of a public journal, to wade through shoals of dog-
grel to got at one respectable poem, through swarms
of indifferent novels to get at one tolerable romance,
through oceans of twaddle, and vapovring, and
rodomontade, to get at one scrap of common sense,
or at one fragment of really serviceable informa-
tion. Among the writers of the hour, Harry Hie-
over is at least not one of these—he knows what he
has to tell us, and he says what he has to say in a
manner that altogether defies misapprehension. With
all this, too, he is gifted with a very congenial good.
humour, and a very contagious hilarity. From
the first, you never dream for a moment of resist-
ing the influence of his very apparent bonhommie.
This, even, if you happen to be unluckily for your-
self a curmudgeon. He has you by the button-
hole even in the Preface. You feel that at once
and resign yourself (not to an infliction, but) to an
entertainment. It is a profitable entertainment
too, for through all those pleasant conversational
pages which the eye, skims over, agreeably one after
another, until you Bud yourself suddenly
brought face to face with Finis, (of whom.
the unlettered Irishman once said, " What a num-
ber of books that gentleman does write !")—you
find that your memory is being stored impercep-
tibly with a great many original hints, and a great
deal of really useful instruction. Harry Hieover
gives his instruction, moreover, not like a peda-
gogue, but rather, we should say, like a boon com-
panion ; and a companion, too, of a gay, rattling,
talkative, and yet unobtrusive and thoroughly
delightful, character. Here is his last book, for
example, which tells us everything that a reason-
able man can seriously want to know about the
" Proper Condition for all Horses." It is just
such another little volume as the " Pocket and the
Stud ;" but while that tells us all about the value of
horses, this tells us all about their condition. From
the title of the work, however, it must not by any
means be supposed that the author has ventured to
encroach upon the ground already entered by his
eminent predecessor—" the Nimrod, as a writer, of
his day"—the late Charles Apperly. In fact,
Harry Hieover disclaims the notion at the very
outset of his present performance. He says truly
enough, that any comparison between Nimrod's
work upon Condition and his own is effectually ob-
viated by the circumstance that the former applied
solely to the condition of hunters, whereas the latter
applies (as its title plainly enough intimates) to the
condition of all horses indiscriminately. In ac-
cordance with this comprehensive view, the volume
before us is portioned out into six distinct chapters,
preceded by an " Introduction," and succinctly
acquaints the reader with the real state of the case
as to the most desirable condition for the race-
horse, the hunter, the ladies'-horse, the hack, the
carriage-horse, and the cart-horse. In this way of
course the condition of the hunter is subordi-
nated to the condition of all horses gene-
rally, and Harry hoover thus avoids any
direct collision with the theme originally monopo-
lised by Charles Apperly. From what has already
been remarked, it is obvious that the book here
noticed addresses itself to a larger number of read-
ers than perhaps any other of the same writer's
popular productions. It holds out a temptation to
the wealthy Turfite—to the country gentleman
who follows the hounds—to the young lady who
carrocoles down Rotten-row during the dusty days
of " the season "—to the merest Guppy on "an
out " into any one of the suburbs of the
metropolis—to the physician and to the agri-
culturist. All these, and scores of others too
numerous and too obvious to need enumeration,
will find interest in these pages, and not only in-
terest but information. They are the result not
of theory, but of practice ; not of conjecture, but of
observation. The author, indeed, if through no-
thing else, through those capital sketches given by
his pencil of the same Horse (" Fit to show," and
" Fit to go,") under two conditions—reveals clearly
enough his intimate acquaintance with the subject,
his knowledge of a theme which he has herein
thoroughly and delightfully mastered.

United Service.—ln this month's number we
find the commencement of an interesting paper by
Prince Joinville, on the French Navy, translated.
by Sir Frederick Nicolson, R.N. in which the
Prince states that the existing French fleet dates
its origin from 1839, in the spring of which year
there were three line-of-battle ships on the Levant
station, which number was increased in November
of the same year to thirteen, and in the following
year to twenty ; and although subsequently re.
duced in 1847 to five, that owing to the skill and
energy displayed by Admiral Laland, and. his suc-
cessor Admiral Hugon, the fleet has from the first
maintained its character for discipline and effi-
ciency. The tone of bravado in which Prince
Joinville sometimes writes, especially when the re-
spective merits of the English and French ships
are the subject of discussion, shows the satisfaction
that a brush with the enemy would have given that
gallant seaman. A French account of the war
with China, by A. Haussmann, is continued, which
carries us to the retreat of the British squadron.
from the Pekin river to Canton. M. Haussmarn
plainly and clearly narrates the movements and
operations of the contending parties, and his ac-
count is well worthy of perusal. e German
campaigns of Gustavus Adolphus, by C. E. Watson,
continues, and is a good history of the thirty years,
war in Germany, of which, notwithstanding its
importance, little is in general known by the public,
except the names of the celebrated generals who
took part in it. The campaign in the hills gives
some idea not altogether disconnected with bricks
and mortar—of life at a new station in the Pun-
jaub. Notes by the Youngster of the Mess in a,
gun-brig—must improve greatly if it would con-
tinue to find favour with the reader.