The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-30 00:00:00

worth, the seheolmns'er's wifo, a woman, wVh
all her fauits, and Ley are neither few nor
light, to be admired and loved ; of the
di,gusting and brutll par tyrant, Captain
i\Pßoss, of the gl,rious sailor Richands, a. perfect
specimen of the " honest jack tar," whose virtues
have keen celebrated by Dibdin in immortal verse ;
and of that purest incarnaticn of the self' sacrificing
love of woman, Bianca Salvi. We cannot conclude
without drawing the author's attention to an inad-
verten.-e which he will no doubt correct in the sub-
sequent editions. Ile makes his characters frequently
spak of giving a7.-ay sovereigns and half-sovereigns ;
the battle of Trafalgar, in which Rockingham was
killed, *as fought in l 805. The sovereign was not a
current coin of the realm at that time. The first
coinage of sovereigns for the lost two centuries took
place iu 1816. Non ego paucis offendar macula, but
from a work which so nearly approaches perfection,
we would wish that even the smallest spots should
disappear.

THE HISTORY OF SAMUEL TI T 1
AND TILE GREAT ROGGARTY

MOND. By W. M. Thackeray.
This is a reprint of a tale which originally ap-
peared in FM" Ser'S Magazine, in 1841, the moral of
which is to warn persons against joining Great Did-
dles.ex Companies of any description, which promise
enormous dividends, and to mind them " that the
great shrewd capitalists of this country would not be
content with four per cent. for their money, if they
could securely get more; above all, never to embark
in any speculation, of which the conduct is not
perrectly clear to them, and of which the
agents are not perfectly open and loyal."
We remember reading the tale in Fraser, and being
much delighted with it, although the author says in
his preface—

" Tire tale, which was always a favourite with its
writer, was not particularly well received at the time of
its tint appearance; or noticed, except by one or two
person,?, one of them the late John Sterling, who wrote
me a letter concerning it, which gave me at that time a
great comfort and pleasure. Other literary aspirants
may be consoled for their own failures by hearing that
this s'ory was refused by one magazine before it found a
place in Fraser; nor was it until the success of Vanity
Fair,' (which work was refused by a magazlne too), that
found, or perhaps sought, publishers [odd .enough to
venture upon producing the Hoggarty Diamond' in its
present connected shape."
The rejection of " Vanity Fair " is another instance
of the incoinpetency of booksellers to judge of the
merits of literary productions, and will henceforth
rank with the rejection of " Paradise Lost," "Robin-
son Crusoe," and " Thompson's Seasons." The
present edition of the " Great Hoggarty Diamond "
is enricl;:ed with several quaint illustrations by the
author, and is beautifully printed and admirably
got up.

THE COMMERCIAL CRISIS, 1847-1848 ;
being Facts and Figures Illustrative of the Events
of that Important Period, considered in Relation to
the Three Epochs of the Railway Mania, the Food
and Money Panic, and the French Revolution. To
which is added an Appendix. containing an Alpha •
betical List of the English and Foreign Mercantile
Failures, with the Balance Sheets and Statements
of the most important Houses. Second Edition,
revised and enlarged. By D. Morier Evans.
We are not surprised at finding that a second
edition of this most valuable work should have been
called fur within less than six months of its original
publication. It is a work which all parties who are
interested in commercial or financial affairs ought to
possess as a book of reference, fel' nowhere will they
find one en this subject of such general utility and
completeness. The table of dividends at the end of the
volume exhibi!s a fearful picture of the effects of the
late crisis, and cannot but be regarded as most in-
teresting, however painful the contents may be for
contemplation. The work is d.dicated to Charles
Barker, &q., a well deserved tribute of respect to
the high standing of that gentleman in the commer-
cial world.

RELIEF OF SIR JAMES ROSS'S

EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN.
Last week we briefly noticed the arrival of the North
Star store-ship, Master Commander Saunders, in tow of
the Stromboli steam•sloop, at Stromness, on her way to
relieve Sir James 11,,,ss's ships Investigator and Ent&
prise, with stores and provisions of all kinds, so as to
enable both ships to pursue their philanthropic search,
for Sir John Franklin and his brave, gallant, and de-
voted companions in the Arctic regions. It appears that
the North Star and Stromboli arrived off Aberdeen at
3 30 on Sunday morning, the 20th instant, but the wind
blowing strong from the E.S.E., with a heavy sea on the
bar, and, moreover, being neap tides, it was thought ad-
visable not to put into that port, but to proce: d to
Stromnns Harbour, in the Orkneys, where both ships
anchored at eleven o'clock the same night.
So far everything had gone on well, and was likely to
continue so. The Stromboli had performed her towing
work well, but the North Star steered rather wild in
consequence of being so deeply laden. With a fair wind
and fresh breeze, the engines at full speed, and making
16 revolutions, the Stromboli towed her consort nine
knots; working expansively, on the second step making
15 revolutions, the breeze fresh and fair, with a mo-
derate sea, the rate of towing was eight knots; with
fair wind and moderate weather, working expansively
on the third step 14i revolutions, the rate was seven
knots; with engines at full speed, making 13 revolu-
tions, towing head to wind, with moderate breeze and
sea, from five and a half to six knots; and going at one-
third speed, and making from 10i to 11 revolutions,
towing dead against a strong breeze with a heavy pitch-
ing sea, the Stromboli towed the North Star from three
and a half to four knots an hour.
By a fortunate chance, a leaky collier had put into
Stromness, and from her the Stromboli was enabled to
fill up with about 130 tuns of the best steaming coals at
a comparately low rate per ton. Both ships had also
replenished water, and intended to leave Stromness for
Cape Farewell on the afternoon of the 22d instant.