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

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING-, FEBRUARY 2, 1853.

LITERATURE.

ilusinesi
this day.

" SABBATH-DAYS.

Bleck iluuse. No. XII. By Charles Dickens.

- Esther Summerson has it all to herself this
month in the, for once, uninterrupted continuation
of her autobiography. Hers are the three chapters
constituting the present instalment. In the thirty-
sixth we are at " Chesney Wold ;" in the thirty-
seventh we hear there of Rick's entanglement in
the terrible case of " Jarndyce and Jarndyce ;" in
the thirty-eighth, having returned once more to
Bleak House, we accompany Esther on a trip to
London, when she calk upon Caddy Turveydrop,
and where we witness " a struggle" between the
self-love and politeness of Mr. William Guppy, of
Penton-place, Pentonville. It is all out about
Lady Dedlock being the mother of Esther
Summerson. They have a sudden interview
in the wood close by Chesney Wold, when the
pride of the fine lady melts away altogether in the
warmth of maternal tenderness. The passion of the
mother's mingled joy and grief—joy at discovering
her child, grief at the blot upon her own reputa-
tion—has in it something very beautiful. Esther
and Lady Dedlock part, however, pledged to
mutual secresy, and with the understanding that
they are never again to hold communication with
each other. Stubbs, the pony, is a delicious fel-
low—quite a blood relation of our old friend Whis-
ker. We have in this number an exquisite little
sketch by Phiz, of the Ghost's Walk at Chesney
Wok! —a wild spot no less exquisitely de-
scribed by Boz—with the " old stone lions and
grotesque monsters bristling outside.dens of shadow
and snarling at the evening gloom over their
escutcheons." Esther appears to be dreadfully dis-
figured, as we surmised. The small-pox seems to
have made her ugly, in fact, if we may judge by
the sudden revulsion caused in the feelings of Mr.
Guppy, when her veil is raised. Nevertheless,
upon the other persons in the story, the change
appears to have but little effect, as is seen by the
recognition of her by Rick, and Ada, and Caddy,
and Prince, and even Mr. Skimpole. By the way
Mr. Skimpole comes out again delightfully in this
number for February. " The dear old infant" talks,
for example, beamingly of what Mr. Micawber
calls his pecuniary difficulties. He says he is "con-
stantly being bailed out, like a boat ; or paid off,
like a ship." " Somebody always does it for me,"
he observes; "I can't do it, you know, for I never
have any money. But Somebody do-n it. I g3t
out by Somebody's means. lam not like the star-
ling. I get out. If you were to ask me who
Somebody is, I couldn't tell you. Let us drink to
Somebody. God bless him!" Again—alluding to this
nameless philanthropist—he says that in one instance
of embarrassment, " Somebody was so good as to
step in and pay the money—something and four-
pence ; I forget the pounds and shillings, but I
know it ended with fourpence, because it struck
me at the time as being so odd that I should owe
anybody fourpence." Harold Skimpole, in short,
appears to be altogether incorrigible. What with
him as a companion, and with Mr. Vholes as a
legal adviser, Rick seems to be in a tolerably fair
way of going, as Mr. Mantalini has it to the
(demnition bow-wows) in his dance after good fortune
in the case of Jarndyce and Jarhdyce. We have
some comical scenes at the dancing academy in
Newman-street, where we witness the doings of
the little sprites of apprentices. At Pentonville,
again, we make the acquaintance of a very queer
old body, in the person of the mother of Mr.
Guppy—a person whose incessant smile, combined
with a large cap, a red nose, and an unsteady eye,
gave her quite a waggish appearance. When Esther,
accompanied by Caddy, knocks at the door, the good
lady is " visibly in danger of cracking herself like a
nut in the front parlour door by peeping out before
she was asked for." When seated at last in a cor-
ner during the interview, she presents a rather ex-
traordinary aspect to her visitors, " holding her
pocket handkerchief to her chest, like a fomentation,
with both hands." Mr. Guppy, by-the-bye, appears
at last by no way to advantage—rather mean, in-
deed, than otherwise—and selfish and vulgar—a
disgrace to the office clerks of Conversation Kenge,
and to the parlour-lodgers of Pentonville. The
plot still continues in seemingly inextricable con-
fusion—a confusion one might fancy it almost de-
fying unravelment.

Forest and Fireside Hours. Poems. By Westby ,
Gibson. Aylott and Company.
Really, a little volume so gracefully and some-
times so exquisitely written as this book of the
" Forest and Fireside," ought to command success,
particularly under the shelter of such magnificent
patronage. Among the subscribers we have names
" enough and to spare" of our popular celebrities.
Besides the Prince Consort, and Dukes, and Earls,
and Viscounts, and Barons, and Baronets, we have
all kinds of notabilities in literature. Among no-
velists we have shrewd Douglas Jerrold, and ironi-
cal W. M. Thackeray, wierd Harrison Ainsworth,
and glorious Charles Dickens. Among poets we
have the true-hearted Mackay, and the venerable
Rogers, and the thoughtful Tupper, and Lander,
and Procter, and a crowd of other favourites. And
the book is not by any means unworthy of so very
splendid an encouragement. It is unpretending,
but at the same time really beautiful in its charac-
ter. Altogether it contains no more than seven-
teen effusions, but those seventeen effusions are
stored with truth and loveliness. What is more,
the work is accurate in its title. It evinces on the
part of the writer, Westby Gibson, a homage for the
hearth and for nature. The subjects selected by
him for poetic celebration sufficiently indicate the
fact that his sympathies for the most part are either
rural or domestic. Take some of the names by way
of illustration. Now the verses are upon " May,
and now upon " Helen," the " Fall of the Leaf,"
the " Harvest Gleaning,", the " Early Violet."
Simple themes all of them, but themes treated with
a charming elegance, and evincing in their treat-
ment warmth and scope of imagination. Some of
the word-painting is good—some of it even deli-
cious. In a piece called " The Woodlands," we
penetrate the thickets, and peep into all sorts of
dainty little nooks and corners of the umbrage.
" Here the wild honeysuckles climb, and fold
The gnarled boughs with spires and leafy knots ;
And clustered blossoms, rich vtith ruddy gold,
Veiling the light from green sequestered spots."
Occasionally the phrases are inapt ; as when the
writer says that " the golden-armoured bees"—
" With sounding trumpets, march, from hidden hives "
which they don't ! These, however, are the
exceptions—for generally the expressions used are
the very ones most appropriate. Here is a dainty
mention of " Summer Twilight," in a piece so
entitled :
" The sweet mid-time, when Earth's glad heart is trem-
bling,
Stirred by the warm bright rains and brooding heat,
And through the rich May-grass, in childlike wonder,
Steals happy June, with light bewildered feet."
There are not wanting passages in which the
author, without being guilty of plagiarism, betrays
his knowledge of similar descriptions alreadypenned
by others. In the same poem about the " Summer
Twilight," for example, there are instances of this
—as vague as, we doubt not, they were inadver-
tent. That stanza—
" How sweet to feel, in this inscrutable darkness
Of shadow upon shadow lying deep
The ceaseless fragrance (nature's purest incense)
Doth, all night long, its way to heaven keep."
A thought almost identical in its nature and ex-
pression with that exquisite one in the Ode by Keats
to the Nightingale
" I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangS upon.the boughs,
But in the embalmed darkness guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows," &c.
Again there is that other stanza—
" Slowly the sun descends—in gold and purple
Royally clothed, like nature's King and Priest—
His glowing arms outstretched in benediction
On all the nations of the darkening East."
Reminding us of that noble couplet by Sir Bulwer
Lytton, occurring in his " New Timon "
" Behold the Sun ! how stately in the East,
Bright from God's presence comes the glorious Pripst."
As
a meaning,ilin ofg course, up of sweet names on the Sabbath,
the Sunday, we cannot refrain
from transcribing the following sonnet :

" Inese Sabbath-days are shining clues to Heaven !,
The overflow of Mercy ! wide-thrown doors
Into Joy's house ! sweet wayside shelters given
When round our path forlorn Life's tempest roars !
Smiles of Eternity ! flowers in Time's dust !
Armour-of-proof beneath our pilgrim's-guise !
Luxuriant banquets after six days' crust !
Foretastes of Heaven ! true dreams of Paradise !
Fair garden walks--which, leaving for a time,
Breaths of sweet air about us lingering play—
Whence we may bear, as from the Eden-clime
Poor Adam might have yearned, some balmy flower

away."
As a kind of companion picture, or rather as a
graceful contrast to the foregoing, we are tempted
to introduce in this place another " Sonnet, al-
though written by another hand—a sonnet not by
Westby Gibson, but by J. J. Briggs—a sonnet not
upon the Sabbath, but upon—

" MIDNIGHT.
" Silence hath set her finger with deep touch
Upon Creation's lip. Like a young bride, the moon
Lift's up Night's curtains, and, with countenance mild,
Smiles on the beauteous Earth—her sleeping child.
For joy the wild flowers weep—soft incense, such
As steals from herb; in pleasant fields in June,
Freights the Night air. Each light tree waving deep
Is edged with silver—flocks lie motionless :
How sweet are hours spent in such scenes as thii I

When Peace looks down from Heaven in plaintive

mp3d, • - •
And Earth, in deep tranquillity of bliss,
Becomes a suitor to fair Solitude.
What noble actions spring to flowery prime—
Spring—from the seeds Thought sows in such a time !"
Returning to the author of the little volume before
us, we augur well for his future success by so very
happy and propitious a commencement.

A Tour. of Inquiry through France and Italy;
Illustrating their Present Social, Political, and
Religious Condition. By Edmund Spencer,
author of " Travels in European Turkey," &c.
2 vols. Hurst and Blackett (Successors to Col-
burn).
This author is well known to the reading world
for his excellent descriptions of foreign life and
distant lands. In the present instance, it is not
his purpose to recount, for a thousandth time, the
glories of nature, or the arandeurs of art, which
Italy so la:vishly displays, tio charm the fancy and
delight the mind. The Eternal City of the Seven
Hills suggested other ideas to him, and be endea-
vours to represent the actual state an]l condition
of those who are now its denizens. He declares,
at the commencement of the work, that his "aim is
to enlist the sympathies of the generous sons of free
England in favour of a country once the cradle of
the arts, the home of science, literature, and learn-
ing, which has so long been overrun by foreign
armies, and torn by domestic dissensions." Truly
the picture is a most melancholy one, and none can
withhold their regret at the thought that this land
was once the foremost amid the empires and king-
doms of civilisation—that this people, so degraded,
oppressed, and deceived, are the countrymen of
the Cxsars, the descendants of the " Romans
who shook the world." In the pages of this
work we are informed of the gradual decline and
fall of the old spirit of freedom and glory. The
opinion expressed seems a just and true one, that
the Italians are endowed with the utmost develop-
ment of the human mind, although the transcen-
dent gift has been abused, perverted, and partially
obscured of late years by every species of tyranny,
injustice, and fan.atidism. Another argument
brought forward with much warmth and energy
is this, that the spirit of the people is not so
crushed and broken as it is asserted by some ; in
short, that the " fire of old Rome " is not extinct.
During the late revolution, the inhabitants of one
city maintained a desperate resistance against the
French, and at last the fight was only suspended
by the exhaustion of both sides, the engagement
having lasted the whole day. It is certainly de-
sirable for some one to have faith and hope for
Italy and the Italians, although he be of a different
race, creed, and country ; and it would be indeed
a blessed thing if the visions here shown of national
regeneration could be realised. It will be seen
from this work how the Inquisition was the ruin
of the country—that awful institution whose es-
tablishment has been the forerunner of death and
disgrace to every land where it has found an en-
trance, and to every people who have owned its
sway. It seems that a prophetic spirit warned the
victims, for their resistance was unequalled in
spirit and strength, but to no purpose. "In vain,
it is said, the Lombards in the north of Italy, so
nearly allied to the Anglo-Saxon in race and love
of freedom ; in vain the Neapolitans in the south
rose up again and again; in vain the republics of
Genoa and Venice defied its terrors ; in vain the
citizens of Rome threw open the dungeons of the
Inquisition, and reduced the building to ashes."
After the failure of these energetic attempts, ruin
and devastation reigned paramount ; from thence
may be dated the fall of the Queen of the Nations.
It is added—" While the streets of Rome Were
smoking with the burning pyres of the most illus-
trious sons of Italy, despair prevailed, the brilliant
Italian mind set in darkness, and the noblest
children of ruined Italy fled to the land of the
stranger, carrying with them their genius, their
industry, and their arts."
In the following passages it will be seen how the
system of tyranny worked against all improvement,
and laid waste all efforts of genius to improve and
adorn the land. The author eloquently remarks,
that those men who upheld their country's cause
and vindicated their birthright of free inquiry, " if
they have perished at the stake, or in the torture
chambers of the Inquisition, have hallowed the
classic soil of Italy, and left names immortalised in
the page of history."
"There are certain races among mankind who ap-
pear to be endowed with that degree of intellectual
superiority necessary for self-government, and we may
reckon the Italians among the number, a highly prac-
tical people who have already shown they could enjoy
and appreciate freedom. Again, how many illustrious
men has not this country produced? In political science,
we haVe Machiavelli, and the more recent Boccacio. We
might multiply instances to prove that Italy before she
fell under the demoralising sway of Spanish princes, and
the leaden rule of the House of Hapsburg, led the way
in all that was great and noble in the arts and sciences ;
and if her highly-gifted sons have not continued in the
van of European civilisation, it is solely to be ascribed
to the political and religious disabilities under which
they have laboured. Must we not therefore believe they
would have fallen into barbarism did they not possess in
a high degree the immortal development of mind—a,
development which neither the tyranny of foreign des-
pots, nor the insurmountable obstacles thrown in the
way of national education, has been able to crush."
"After the Pontiffs had listened to the counsels of
intolerant Spain, 'lt was then that the Jesuists, that
priestly militia of the Church of Rome, first invaded the
colleges, the schools, the pulpit, and the confessional. It
was then that this ill-starred nation, hitherto the most
enterprising and industrious in Europe, sank into
slavery. It was then that the bold conception, the
manly diction, the finished execution began to decline in
Italy.
"There were schools and academies, poets and artists,
as numerous as ever ; there was the same melodious
language, the same vivid imagery, the same luxurious
colouring ' • but the impulse of civil and religious free-
dom which had previously given life to men's minds
and their productions was wanting ; and the intolerant
rule of this new horde of fore'gn invaders, the Spanish
Jesuits, was sapping and undermining all that remained
of that inventive, active, life-enterprise, and industry
for which their fathers were so justly famed.
" It was not only in architecture that the gigantic mind
of old Italy revealed itself ; sculpture and painting were
cultivatedwesciencesretheofin o
whichst
most
eei re
they
hhe
hiegryha
te
es
weredt out/.
to
hs
founders.
fiwhileword hen r
Ituniversitiesnh e
anatomy
various
there is scarcely a part of the human body that is not
connected with the name of some illustrious Italian.
Fabricius, Malpighi, lEselli
Morgaqui. The erudite
observations of Cisalpinus, and the gigantic labours of
Aldvorandi on the organisation of plants, heralded the
investigations of the illustrious Swede, when, aided by
those great Italian navigators, Columbus and Vasco di
Gama, the botanic gardens of all the Italian universities
bloomed with a thousand beautiful exotics until then
unknown to Europe. Cassini drew the first
meridian, Toricelli invented the barometer, Castelli
explained the theory of running water, Galvani
and Volta discovered the phenomena of galvanism and
its effects, Paetaglia, of Brescia, may be termed the re-
storer of mathematics, and Galileo stands at the head of
another constellation of illustrious Italians, who were,
alas ! for the last time, to shed over their country the
light of genius. Facts, undeniable facts, were now being
elicited which the authority of a superstitious Church
sought in vain to contradict. Who has not read of the
Pontiffs of Rome ?—the
persecution
fattooef
tGohfealßi lerouuboy,
dungeonswth f heo
illustrious the
physician,lnqu ii ti ,se av ne
who was thrown into the flames at Modena, of Barozzi,
the mathematician, who expired by torture, of the mild
and humane Jelesio, the bold friar Campanello, of Ad-
and a host of other men.
, who perished, either at
home -or abroad, by the poinards of the Inquisition
r iai , V
eminent
iaue cthh ie,
aVr
tasr di,
and Ssaclipe
sciences,
Truly, it would be difficult to point out in any other
age, or in any other country, such a galaxy of immortal
names—men who united to the loftiest genius the cou-
rage of heroes, and the devotedness of martyrs."

111.
A twelvemonth and a day have fled
Since first we were united ;
And from that hour," the young man said,
"No change our hopes has blighted.
Fond faith with fonder faith we've paid,
And love with love requited."

" True to each other have we been ;
No dearer object seeing,
Than each has in the other found ;
In everything agreeing.
And every look, and word, and deed
That breed dissension fleeing."

" All this we swear, and take in proof
Our Lady of Dunmow !
For She, who sits with saints above
Well knows that it is so.
Attest our vow, thou reverend man,
And bless us, e'er we go !"

The Prior old stretch'd forth his hands
" Heaven prosper ye !" quoth he ;
" O'er such as ye, right gladly we
Say Benedicite "
On this, the kneeling pair uprose—
Uprose full joyfully.

Having proceeded so fitr merrily enough in the
ballad, the author contrives most adroitly, in the
subsequent portions of it, to give a clue to the
origin of the queer old custom about the Flitch ;
and ho does this, it will be admitted, in a manner
at once quaint and graceful. The ditty is thus
brought to a conclusion by Rose Woodbine :

Just then, pass'd by the Convent cook—
And moved the young man's glee;
For on his back a mighty Flitch
Of Bacon brown bore he.
So heavy was the load, I wis
It scarce mote carried be.

"Take ye that Flitch," the Prior cried,
"Take it, fond pair, and go ;
Fidelity, like yours, deserves
The boon 1 now bestow.
Go feast your friends, and think upon
The Convent of Dunmow."

111.
"Good Prior," then the youth replied,
"Thy gift to us is dear,
Not for its worth, but that it shows

Thoa deem'st our love sincere.
And in return broad lands I give—
Broad lands thy Convent near •
Which shall to thee and thine produce
A Thousand Marks a Year !

"But this Condition I annex,
Or else the Grant's forsaken ;
That whensoe'er a Pair shall come,
And take the Oath we've taken ;
They shall from thee and thine receive
A goodly Flitch of Bacon.

" And thus from out a simple chance
A usage good shall grow ;
And our example of true love
Be held up evermo :
While all who win the prize shall bless
The Custom of Dunmow."

" Who art thou, son ?" the Prior cried,
His tones with wonder falter—
" Thou should'st not jest with reverend men
Nor with their feelings palter."
"I jest not, Prior, for know in me
Sir Reginald Fitzwalter.

NIL .
"I now throw off my humble garb,
As I what I am, confest :
The wealthiest I of wealthy men,
Since with this treasure blest."
And as he spoke, Fitzwalter clasp'd
His lady to his breast.

Strewn with dead blooms—dead joys that once were
fair—
Sad was my soul till yonder ray's caress—
So Mara's waters 'mid the pilgrim land,
Touched by the " rod," forgot their bitterness,
And flowed in honey o'er the desert sand.
Sad was my soul, but now 'mid yonder light
I sing with thee, glad minstrel of the sphere !
Sweet is thy summons—wise thine upward flight,
With wings for glory, who should linger here ?"
There are among the other papers, not yet men-
tioned, further continuations of " The Confede-
rates" by the author of " Nicholas Flamel," and
of "Nicholaa Flamer by the author of " The
Confederates."

The Dublin university Magazine.—ln " Heroes
Ancient and Modern," the subjects chosen for this
month are Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte.
A most diligent comparison is instituted concern-
ing their respective achievements, and a general
epitome of their various chefs d'cruvres presented.
It must be observed that the writer is devoid of
enthusiastic predilections in favour of the great
•men whose careers he describes and whose charac-
ters he descants upon. If there is a difference,
however, he inclines to the side of the Roman
Emperor. The article entitled " The Ducal
Houses of 'Urbino and Milan," contains a great
deal of inforn:ation concerning Italy and the
various changes that have taken place in the arts.
There is only one chapter of the story of Sir
Jasper Carew, called Circumstantial Evidence,"
which leaves off at a most critical juncture. In the
first part of this magazif.l2, there is " Another
Night with the Mystics," which contains many
clever things. The following v;9rses, from a " Song
of Labour," are very good :

" If to labour on in sorrow, still renWred each coming
morrow,
Be the curse that God awarded, and our first traugression
bore ;
Labour is man's best obeying—Toil is man's jtest tribute
paying.
He that laboureth still is praying, this is deep anil holy
lore,
Laborare est orare,' man doth most the Lord adore
When he laboureth evermore.
" Labour on, thy grief repressing, God's decree as just
confessing)
And the curse will turn a blessing, as the seer declared of
yore :
He that diligently traineth hand and heart while life re-
maineth,
To observe what God ordaineth, shall be blessed more and

more,

In the field and in the city, and his basket and his store,
Shall be blessed evermore.
" Labour with thy spirit willing—labour with thy soul's
best feeling—
With thy whole heart do whatever finds thy harp to labour
o'er,
For thy body, soul, and spirit they are God's, and all they
merit
Is, with thankful patient courage, still to labour evermore.
`Laborare est orare,' grave this legend in the core
Of thy heart for evermore."

Bentley's Miscellany.—" Aspen. Court" is the com-
mencement of this number. There are three chap-
ters, and in the last a great deal of mysticism oc-
curs. It is called " What Tenant Waited in Aspen
Court." " Seated in a chair, in an attitude of
grim jauntiness, is the pictorial death—a skeleton."
There is a chapter by Professor Creasy on the impe-
rial Four—Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and
Napoleon. A very long account is given of " the
Cobra di Capello," which will prove of great ser-
vice to those. unacquainted with the nature and
peculiarities of the serpent. " Near and Dear
Ones, a Romance of the Pocket," is a very amusing
little sketch. A widow of reputed wealth, and a
bachelor of supposed fortune, were on the
point of contracting a marriage, when each
determined to be sure of the other's resources.
They meet at Doctor's Commons, and the
confusion that ensued may be imagined.
Eventually it appeared that both were rich • but
the affair terminated, as it had commenced, in
nothing. There are some interesting lines on
"The old old Woman of Elton," who died on the
sth of last month, at the age of 122. Her picture
was taken, but it did not appear at the Exhibition
as was proposed. It is strange, as here remarked,
that they did not exhibit the " oldest dame in
Britain's isle." In the last verses it is said :
" Not in vain did Mary live,
To link with these the times gone by,
And to life its duties give,
Calmly waiting here to die.
Not in vain, perchance, the cause— •
To show the mighty power of God,
Who, unbound by Nature's laws,
Can reverse them with a nod,
And bid the scorner apprehend
How He could, in serener climes,
To ages human life extend,
To people earth in early times."

The Colonial and Asiatic Resiew.—ln the first
article, " Is India to have Railways ?" it is stated
that the construction of a railway between Madras
and Bangalore attracted attention so long ' ago
as the year 1832. It also mentions that for twenty
years we have been talking of railroads for India,
and the wonders they would achieve, but as yet
not one line is in working order, while in America,
in the same time, 10,000 miles have been opened,
and as many more are in course of construction.
The next subject is the electric telegraph in India.
Dr. O'Shaughnessy introduced it to that country.
The following description of its construction in that
region is interesting :

" The overground lines differ totally from those in
use in England and America, or any other country in
this important respect ; no wire is used. Instead of wire
a thick iron rod, three-eighths inch diameter, weighing
one ton to the mile, is adopted—the heaviest wire else-
where used being only one cwt. to a mile. The advan-
tages of these substantial rods are these—they possess a
complete immurqy from gusts of wind, or ordinary me-
chanical violence, if accidentally thrown down they are
not injured, though passengers, bullocks, buffaloes, and
elephants may trample on them ; they are not easily
broken or bent ; owing to the mass of metal, they give
so free a passage to the electric currents, that no insula-
tion is necessary ; they are attached from bamboo to
bamboo, without any protection, and they work without
interruption through deluges of rain ; the thickness of
of the wire allows of their being placed on the post, with-
out any occasion for the straining and winding appara-
tus, whereas {,he tension of wires exposes them to frac-
ture, occasions expense in construction, and much diffi-
culty in repairs. The thick rods also admit of rusting
to take place without danger, to an extent which would
be fatal to a wire ; and, lastly, the rods are no more
costly than thin wire, and the welding occasions no diffi-
culty. The rods, moreover, are not likely to be injured
by crows or monkeys. Swarms of kites and crows
perch on the lines through swamps, but they cause no
harm—the correspondence flies through their claws with-
out interruption, though on one occasion a flash of light-
ning struck the wet rod, and k'lled some scores of them.
The importance of this discovery of the superiority of
rods over wire will be fully appreciated in a country like
India, where the line must often run through a howling
wilderness, tenanted by savage beasts, or more savage
men. The lines must therefore protect themselves, and
this is secured by thick rods."

There is also an article on " The Australian
Colony of Victoria ; " and a notice of a work of
M. Leon Faucher on " The Precious Metals."

The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Re-
view.—We here meet with " Memorials of John
Home, the author of Douglas." It is remarked
that the zeal of the Scotch in his behalf amounted
to extravagance, and the man who called out at
the theatre, on the play being applauded, " Ay,
ay, whare's ye're Willie Shakspere moo ?" only
represented the general feeling. The opinions of
several critics are given concerning the merits and
demerits of the tragedy. " The Roman Wall,"
refers to the works of Mr. Bruce, which has recently
reached a second edition. There are several cuts
which contain very interesting subjects for examina-
tion. It appears that by excavation many inscrip-
tions have been discovered, and they are very
elaborately explained here. Two are at the station,
Bremenium; now High Rochester, and some others
at Houseteads and Bucdoswald. In the article on
" The Baroness Oberkirch and Citizen Mercier,"
a comparison is instituted between these two,
differing so widely in rank and character ; but both
were writing in their peculiar ways at the same
time. It is declared here that " the evidence of
two such opposite witnesses is worth comparing,
but the book of the lady will be ten fathoms deepin.
Lethe when men will be still addressing themselves
with pleasure to the pages of Citizen Mercier." In
the diary of the, Countess she gives an epitome of
the vices and follies of the Court. Mercier, on the
contrary, describes the feelings of the people of
Paris--the deep sentiments of disgust prevailing
against all in authority. It is truly observed that
in both the works the scenes and subjects are so
different from the every-day objects around us
that they read like romances of a far-off land. The
remarks on " Giordano Bruno" are perhaps the
most admirable portion of the contents. They con-
cern one of whom little certain is known in many
respects, while in others he is famous. He is thus
introduced to our attention :—" It is as a martyr
of thought, not as the setter forth of any peculiar
gpehiniluossopthhayt,
weor asw eauimdanproefsveasntt
andop opinions
'nisi lienvarious,
Bruno to the veneration of true English
minds. It
was the man in him which made te philosopher,
the orator, the prophet interesting, an iron per-
tinacity of will whose onset was irresistible—an
intrepidity which nothing could daunt. These
were what seized the ear and the eye, before his
manifold mental faculties and resources came into
full play." After many vicissitudes in various
nations, in an evil hour he returned to Italy. He
was arrested, and, after six years in a dungeon,
given up to the Inquisition, his death was instantly
decided on. "On the 17th February, with osten-
tatious pomp he was led forth to glut the greedy