The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Turkish Alphabet. Designed by R. B. Brough,
and drawn by H. G. Hihe. Bogue.
A glorious political squib, every letter of which,
we wager, will go off with a fresh explosion of
laughter.

A was an Aberdeen, wise in debates.
B was a Bear, taught to dance on hot plates.
Aberdeen being a highly respectable but timorous
old gentlewoman—the bear-leader a British soldier
—and the hot plates the provinces of Moldo-Wal•
lachia.

C was a Czar, who would whip round the world.
D the Defiance, that at him was hurled.
The big booted Czar " absolutely" bounding into the
air with the swinging blow of the knout he is bring-
ing down upon that great hum-ming-top, the world
—and the defiance being nothing more than what
is vulgarly called a " sight" taken at the aggressor
by the embodiments of France and England, while
the Turk is coolly lighting his pipe with the
crumpled-up ultimatum.

E was an Emperor, struck with dismay.
F was a Frenchman in Besika-bay.
The Austrian boy-Emperor actually livid with ap-
prehension—his crown lifted bodily upfrards by the
force with which " each individual hair does stand
on end, like quills upon (an improvement on Shak-
spere) the frightful porcupine :' " the Frenchman,
by the way, evidently at sea, and therefore exceed-
ingly unwell, apparently not farther off than Long
Reach, though really in the neighbourhood of the
Dardanelles.
G was the Greeks, who for freedom would strike.
H was a Hospodar, warranted like.
The Greeks (elegantly be it said) struck—all of a
heap ; and the Hospodar armed with a red um-
brella like that memorable folding-tent of the im-
mortal Riccabocca.

I was an Insult that hurt the Porte's pride.
J was a Jassy, by friends occupied.
The Insult, of course, none other than the over-
bear-ing atitude assumed about this time last year
by Prince IVlenschikoff; and the friendly occupa-
tion of Jassy being only second in brutality to the
inhuman massacre at Sinope long afterwards.
K was the Knife to which war was declared.
L was the Lion, and how much Is cared.
The knife warranted " shear steel :" the British
lion complacently smoking his pipe in an easy chair
lined with the union jack--a pot of porter in his
paw, and such a comic leer of indifference in the
corner of his eye.

M was a Minister sniffing a row.
N was a Newspaper, Turkey's friend now.
The minister no other than Lord Palmerston, a
close prisoner in the Home-office : and the news-
paper the Times crowning the Turk with the laurel
of applause so soon as the Czar had been seriously
damaged at Citale and Oltenitza.
0 was an Own Correspondent so trusty.
P was a Port(e) old, and thin, and turned crusty.
The correspondent (note-book in hand) threatened
with decapitation : and the Porte (plentifully cob-
webbed) surrounded by the fungi of luxury and
corruption.

Q was a Question whose solving we all laugh at.
R was a Rout of the Russians at Kalafat.
The Question a maze of inextricable entanglement :
the Rout a prophecy scarcely uttered before its
fulfilmen t.

S was a Supplement telling it all.
T was a Tradesman who 'd sold for a fall.
Such a Supplement—a fly-leaf from a printing-
house of Brobdignag : and such a Tradesman—a
genuine Je d' esprit—a frequenter of Capel-court
—a Bear not of Russia but of the Stock Exchange.
U was an Urquhart foe foresight well vaunted.
V was the Vessels still ready if wanted.
Urquhart naturally in a state of rapturous delight :
the British and French commanders of the Vessels
hobnobbing comfortably with each other—quaffing
copious draughts of champaign—not sparkling, of
course, but " still" champaign.
W was a Westmoreland—teach kings he used to.
X the X-tremities Russia's reduced to.
Westmoreland a petit maitre in more senses
than one : the extremities of Russia, an empty
purse, worn-out boots, and three balls—not cannon
balls by the way, but the balls of the pawnbroker.
Y was a Yell for the Friends of the Czar.
And Z were the Zanies who're frightened at war.
The Zanies, Cobden and Bright, as any one might
guess, trembling and cadaverous, but not at all com-
plimentary—the yell an intensified " yah ! ! ! ! ! 1"
accompanied by a shower of cats, rotten eggs, and
brickb,,a-arti'ae very perfection of a caricature.
Such is c!,zie Turkish alphabet. And often as we
have already been tickled into laughter by the pen
of Mr. Brough and the pencil of Mr. Hine, we
must avow that they have never before yielded us
such store of apposite and genial merriment.

The Musical Directory for 1854. Rudall, Rose,

and Carte.

Although without the goad of a competitor,
Messrs. Rudall, Rose, and Carte's Musical Direc-
tory for 1854 does not betray by any appreciable
deficiency the want of the wholesome incentive of
competition. Within its moderate but ample
compass are collected together all particulars of
any interest whatsoever connected, directly or
indirectly, with the musical profession. In this
manner we have grouped together and given in a
tabular or alphabetical form consecutively, a sum-
mary of the " Musical Events of 1853"—a cata-
logue of the " Professors" with their addresses—a

list of the various " Musical Societies" both pro-
vincial and metropolitan—and besides the foregoing
a copious directory of music recently published, and
of the sellers of music, and of the makers of musi-
cal instruments.