The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-30 00:00:00

Cra;Vord.

" Ruth," 37e. Chapman and
The pervading characteristic of these sketches is
simplicity ; but it is simplicity- in its best form ;
and although none of the people here described are
talented, beautiful, or wealthy, though they pass
their days in unbroken retirement and perform
nothing out of the common way, it would be diffi-
cult to peruse a more interesting volume. Its
merit lies in its truth of description, its unassuming
style, and its sincerity of purpose. It is the privi-
lege of talent to exalt whatever it comes in contact
with, however lowly ; to adorn it, however plain;
and to endue it with attractions, however unpre-
possessing. This is pre-eminently the case in this
instance. We here find something worth noticing
in the humblest individual before us ; some touch
of feeling is manifested by the meanest capacity ;
and under the auspices of such a genial advocate
the darkest sphere is irradiated by a light that
transforms the simple into the sublime. The nar-
rator is a lady often visiting the quiet town of
Cranford, where all the events here mentioned
take place. In some of the chapters great skill is
evinced—in the " panic," for example, the way in
which the ignorant and superstitious denizens
of that primitive place continued to render
their lives miserable by suppositious shadows
and imaginary visitants. In other places the
reader is affected by the touching manner in which
the sorrows and sufferings of the meek and lowly
aro mentioned. The soldier's wife giving an ac-
count of her journey to save her child is very beau-
tifully pictured. She had lost six children in that
cruel climate, and determined to save the last.
" I set off, it was very lonely, through the thick
forests, dark again with their heavy trees—along by the
river's side (but I had been brought up by the river
Avon, in Warwickshire, so that flowing noise sounded
like home,) from station to station, from village to vil-
lage I went along carrying my child."
Eventually the brave and persevering woman
reached England, when to the delight of her heart
her infant prospered. The brother of Miss Matty,
" poor Peter," was restored to his unfortunate
sister through the intervention of the friend
who tells the circumstances to us. She could not
at first he certain how to act in regard to sending
a letter to India on the supposition of a certain
" Aga Jenkyns" being the lost treasure. After
putting the important document into the post, she
stood at the narrow slit which divided her from
the letter but a moment ago in her hand. "It
was gone from me like life—never to be recalled.
It would get tossed about on the sea, and stained
with sea waves perhaps ; and be carried among
pahn-trees, and scented with all tropical frag-
rance ; the little piece of paper, but an hour ago
so familiar and common-place, had set out on its
race to the strange wild countries beyond the
Ganges."

History of the Byzantine Empire from 716 to 1057.
By G. Finlay. Blackwood.
This work commences with the Isaurian dynasty,
or the period when Constantinople, having ceased
to be the great centre of the Roman power in the
East, was rapidly falling into desolation and de-
cay, when Leo the Isaurian mounted the throne.
A Isaurian and Iconoclast (or destroyer of
images), he did not seem likely, as a foreigner and.
heretic, to gain the affections of the people or to
found a government of strength and durability ;
but, by his talents and energy, he established him-
self securely on the throne—he entirely remodelled
the political constitution—he introduced numerous
military improvements—and, finally, formed and
commenced the great independent Byzantine em-
pire, of which this volume recounts the history.
Three great divisions mark its annals—the first (the
Isaurian dynasty) extends from A.D. 717 to 797.
This period comprises the successful efforts of Leo
111, to rescue the Christianreligion and the Roman
law from the Saracenic conquerors. It displays the
predominance of the Iconoclasts in the ecclesias-
tical department, and the struggles between the
government and the people. Many striking and
romantic incidents are found in the chronicles of
this line of sovereigns, all of whom, with one ex-
ception, that of Michael 111., the last of the
Amorian family, were resolute, able, and energetic
rulers, though most of their reigns are sullied with
those acts of cruelty or treachery which too often
cloud the memory of warriors and statesmen.
The second period is that of the Basilian dynasty,
which lasted a hundred and ninety years. At this
time the empire of Byzance was at its acme of
prosperity and power. The Danube became again
its northern barrier. The neighbouring states
were subdued, and so great was the com-
merce, that the Emperor claimed the title
of the Autocrat of the Mediterranean. Law and
justice met with increased respect, which speaks
favourably for the civilisation of the people. The
third division of the empire records its decline and
fall, from the accession of Isaac the First to the
conquest of Byzantium by the Crusaders is 147
years. Rebellion, oppression, and. finally, in 1204,
the destruction of the Easterr. Empire of the
Romans fill these years. This history is little
known as independent of others. A complete ac-
count of its warriors, rulers, and legislators is
therefore of great value. Thoigh the author
justly observes, that the true history of
a country can never be known while we remain in
ignorance of the state of the populace, though
the stern virtues of some of the emperors—the
treachery of others—the wicked smbition of Irene,
the Queen Regent—and the political intrigues, and
struggles, and successes, and failures find a chro-
nicle—though the military aggressions, and depre-
dations, and victories, and losses are all handed
down through many centuries—carough the family
feuds, the murders, and the tortures inflicted on
the losing side are held up for the warning of
posterity—no word is told, no trace is left, of the
state of the inhabitants of that great empire, which.
those rival emperors, regents, generals, and mur-
derers struggled ,to govern and to rule. Thus
there must always be a lapse in the records
of the empire of Constantinople, as who can point
out the merits or failings of a Government,
when the state of the nation and the effects it pro-
duces on their particular circumstances are un-
known ? Mr. Finlay does not announce his inten-
tion of writing an additional volume, but the his-
tory seems to require it. It would be interesting,
also, to have a description of the ancient city com-
pared with an account of the present appearance of
the country, " Where enchanted sleeps Byzance,"
and to trace the era from the ancient monarchy to
the Government of the present day. The volume dis-
plays much knowledge of the subject, and is ar-
ranged in a clear and concise manner. To the stu-
dent and the historian it offers a valuable field for
study ; and the general reader will learn from the
pages—which tell of assassinations, rebellions, de-
privation of eyesight, the plots and counter plots,
the persecutions, the conspiracies and seditious, and
the frequent incapacity of the rulers—to appreciate
and to value the advantages of our English consti-
tution.

Life in Sweden ; with Excursions in Norway and
Denmark. By Selina Bumbury. 2 vols. Hurst
and Blackett.
These volumes form a delightful subject for pe-
rusal to the vast number of people who desire ac-
counts from foreign lands. There is something
very pleasing in the descriptions of Sweden—there
is a natural kindness and consideration among the
people that is very gratifying to the stranger upon
their shores. Many anecdotes enliven these details,
which, while they are a relief from the routine de-
tails of travel, exemplify the character of the coun-
try, and show forth the peculiarities of its inhabi-
tants. The authoress speaks everywhere of the
great consideration shown to her as a visitor for a
brief space in their land. At the conclusion, she
declares that she would like to return some day to
the place where she had been so well received.
The picture given of a marriage is a most
ludicrous one. The party assembled go through
the most extraordinary ceremonies. The last
is entitled " dancing the bride's crown off,"
which consists in all the ladies swinging her
round. The marriage itself is always private, but
for hours previously every one has a right to enter
the house and stare at the bride, who is put up for
show in some state apartment. The idea of the
houses in winter in Stockholm is not at all agree-
able, for the windows are all built up with double
glass, and no air from without is allowed to enter
the room from October till April, except what comes
in at the door, for they have no chimneys. It is
a relief to turn from such air-tight habitations, to
read of the glorious appearance of the outside of
the dwellings when the snow is piled around, and
which to behold at night is like looking out on fairy
land. The following account shows how the first ap-
pearance of real cold is appreciated, for the natives
love a " good winter," as they call it. The
authoress remarks that it is a mistaken notion that
of supposing spring suddenly bursting into sight,
for although it is said,
" Oh, it is the touch of fairy hand
That makes the spring of northern land,"
it is the summer that all at once breaks forth, and
the season preceding it is not the advent of joyous
young spring, but the " decay and dissolution of
winter." At the genial season of the bright and
brilliant summer we have to take a farewell of this
interesting country.
" The broad open place was deep in snow ; the head-
less trees no longer seemed to be decapitated, the great
bronze figure of King Carl still stood with its back to
me, but he no longer looked so dark, heavy and clumsy ;
for on his shoulders he wore an ermine cape, and on his
head a snowy crown ; and the four great lions which