The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-06 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE MERCHANT' S DAUGHTER. 3 Vols.
Bentley, London, 1836.
The " Merchant's Daughter" is an illustration of
Shakspeare's remark, that " the course of true love
never did run smooth." The hero and heroine, Wal-
ter Gordon and Florence Lyle, love each other to the
usual amount of romantic desperation ; and, as a mat-
ter of course, their attachment is thwarted in a variety
of Nvays ; poor Florence being courted by two Lords
at once, and very nearly compelled to give her hand to
the one, whom of all others she most detests, in the hope
(a stale device) of rescuing her father from pecuniary
embarrassments : and Walter being equally unfortu-
nate, from the circumstance of his pocket exhibiting a
marked tendency to atrophy. It is soothing, however,
to be able to state that towards the close of the third
volume all difficulties vanish ; the wicked are discom-
fited, and the virtuous made happy—in other words,
the lovers arc united, and, of course, dwell in Elysium
ever after, especially if they happen to have " six small
children " all squalling away in their ears at one and
the same time. We cannot say much for the novelty
of the incidents of this tale ; though numerous, they
are, for the most part, of the trite, watering-place order ;
the characters, however—with the exception of the
hero, w4o has nothing to recommend him but dark
earliest eyes, and a sallow, romantic cast of counte-
nance—are well discriminated; we allude more parti-
cularly to the comic ones, which are drawn from obser-
vation, and not from books. The gossiping Mrs.
Hutchins, who mistakes a mysterious young stranger
at Weymouth for a burker and a resurrection man, be-
cause " a horse and cart are standing every night
about twelve between his house and the burial-ground,
and also because a little boy was lost for some hours
on his way to school, and the strange gentleman Was
seen near him when he was found "—this character is
pourtrayed to the life. .Scarce a watering-place in the
kingdom but can boast of its Mrs. Hutchins. M
Cheltenham—at Ramsgate—and at Brighton, every
third house is tenanted by one of the genus, whose
name is " Legion." Equally real is the sketch of the
" exquisitely natural " Miss Brindley, who is all art-
lessness and simplicity, and blunders in such a grace-
ful and unsophisticated manner as to be perfectly irre'
ristible. We have little doubt that the " Merchants
Daughter" will be liked by our fair readers, for if not
very original, it is at any rate very readable ; one or
two scenes are delineated with force, and the dialogue;
are uniformly well sustained.

SIR WILLIAM MOLESWORTH, BART., M.l3*---
The present member for East Cornwall having appeared te
a great number of the Leeds Reformers a suitable nerserir
to become one of the Liberal candidates for the borough el
Leeds at the next election, he has been written to for the.
purpose of ascertaining whether he would stand if called
upon. The following is an extract from his reply :
Meat, Launceston, Nov. 26, 1836°
" Dear Sir—l am now enabled to answer your letter, an
to inform you that I shall be happy to stand for your bo-
rough, and comply with the wishes of the electors, provided
that, on investigation, I find that my probability of success
is a good one. * * * My opinion is that Governine°t
will make the ballot an open question almost immediately'
but nothing will tend so much to influence them as a strong
demonstration from a town of such consequence as Leeds'
—Leeds Mercury. 'W. MOLESWORTH."
A Reform Association has been established ill;
Honiton. The meetings are held at the Golden Lion, and
an active and efficient committee have been appointed. It
is supposed that the Association will have the best effect
on the politics of the borough. The Liberal party have
decidedly gained by the last registration.
I cannot imagine why my whiskers should turn
gray so much sooner than the hair on my hrJad," said Al:
derman H. the other day. "It is because you have worked
so much more with your jaws than your brains," replied a
wag.—Liverpool Standard.
A few days since, as a fine swan, the property Of
Mr. Thomas Kirkpatrick Hall, of Holly-bush Hall, in the
county of Stafford, was sitting, it is supposed, by the side
of one of the fish-ponds, it was seized by a fox, with which
the swan rushed into the water. Determined not to lose
his prey, the fox kept his hold, when, after a violent
struggle, they were both drowned. The keeper, on going
his rounds the following morning, discovered them. Tho
swan had a large wound in the neck.--.:Derby Reporter.
CORPORATION TREASURE ~_The late Trea-
surer (G. C. Greenway,
further
resistance
enablesta
n e
e tloiimthetopienrceumrpttobrey
sfepeolnlsiiibSaciotyuraogf
eas nfuffir tcli Esq.). on, proceeding to London,
and after consulting with Mr. Knight, his counsel, did net
mands of the new trustees, and therefore paid over, on Sa'
turday last, to T. Heyden, Esq., the new Treasurer, d'e
balance in his hands on the Ist of January last, arnountici
to about 5,0001. The subsequent accounts are appoint'
to be settled in the country.— Warwick Advertiser.
The Flanders' Mail mentions that the Belgian
journals,are filled with accounts of the disasters caused g
the storm on the 29th ult. There, as here, chimneys,
trees, and houses, were blown down, but the devastaticin
fell most severely on the mills and on. the fishing-vesseisi
A great number of the latter are yet unaccounted for, 9110
several of the former were cast to the ground. These We
bring intelligence from Berlin and • Vienna, but. it is net: °5
political importance. The Belgian Chamber of Deput`e,
passed on the 30th ult., by a majority of 60 to 3, the Pr°,
ject of law concerning crimes and offences committed el
Belgians in foreign countries.
On Saturday morning, between twelve and 01
o'clock, as two men were employed in the shaft of 3 cfl)br
pit; beloneine• to Mr. Knowles, of Swinton, the earth' 0
many yards round the mouth gave way, and fell in °Pale
them. The unfortunate men, it appears, were employ
boy,
making some repairs at the sides of the shaft, and a;',f
who was stationed at the top, to give notice to the erigin-01,
when any thing was to be let down or drawn up for the,'
narrowly escaped sinking with the earth, which he felt gt'eTa
ing way beneathhis feet. No means have been yet adileir
for rescuing the bodies of the unfortunate men froth,' d,
premature grave ; and from the loose state of the glt, J.
for 'a considerable distance round the mouth of the pit's ,:ver
considered' doubtful whether the unfortunate men wilt ter
be extricated from their dreadful situation.—Manefies'
Times.
On Saturday evening last, James Holland and ''- ea
phis Sheriff robbed Mr. T. Clarke, of Atherstone, of Brea
bushels of potatoes ; on Sunday they were apprehends
0
a lodging house by Mr. Biddle, the active officer, On NI
day committed to the county gaol, on Tuesday brougl'ee-
the bar for trial—where they pleaded guilty, and were s• 00,
teneed to two calendar months in the House of Correebtlisi,
with hard labour. Thus each successive day had its .01e,
ness, awl punishment followed closely on the heels of cram
—Warwick Advertiser.
The severe storm which was felt in London' ~°ll,
Tuesday and Wednesday was not experienced in nto
burgh. Wednesday was particularly fine for the seas„le
that city. On Friday, however, it was blowing a
but
from the N.W., with occasional heavy showers,
more severe than usual.
at the
A distressing and fatal occurrence took place
grade,
residence of the Hon. W. Ashley, on the Marino-P. ale
Brighton, on Nelldnesday eVening, to a oung, .ith
named Elizabet wyer, who lived as lady's mid
le
young lady named Bailey, a visitant to the family'' dis,
had been unwell for some days, and her mind was yrateo
ordered state as she continually fancied that the Maglsieeec
had been applied to to apprehend her. Medical assist,,;sze,,
had been called in, and she had been bled, cuPP.e,tra
when, in the middle of the night, that individual -1 %II oft
noise in the deceased's room, and afterwards a heavY„._ut of
the ground, the poor creature having thrown herself ",
bare not
state' ,0,05
the window. She was picked up in a senseless
died in a quarter of an hour. A Coroner's- Inquest
held the next evening.—lnsanity. d eiglit
On Wednesday a
evening, between seven an Teat
o'clock, as George Barnes, postman, was crossin4 ,-,.,,
had
Ancoats-street, he was caught by the leg by a rope: fejloo'
a noose at the end, fastened to a boat-horse, whienlatlov•
was galloping and beating most unmercifully. I nnridgc t°
ful situation. he was dragged from near Ancoats
opposite the Dispensary, distance of three or
dred yards, before they could stop the rider in his r_nnoncrea off
and that was not accomplished till the fellow was knock
not.
the horse by the people who run to Mr. Barnes'tbee hersej
ante, and vainly endeavoured, by calling
603 4"
as lie was apparently dashed to pieces.
e'
Int
assts
the Dispensary, however, where the most promp
ouasttioopn.
it NwVahsetnholNufgr.bßt
tahrnatetshoverniawisnaraselaeiaesned:
eoubsimsitt
adfahl
fromman tleiisinpdeuriel
'tired but one a his legs and both of his arrps. were iota
' -joints were gru
was afforded, it was found that his head had escanreed. 00"111-
mangled the flesh and bone of the elbow
tel
therdarc
expected ; and, if mortification can be
bPrleovn ed to IVlr. CAP'
great hopes of his recovery. The horse evas
tg
be
hat causeatklf
aticl torn to pieces. The 'sufferer is better than co _
ver, a carrier, in whose employ the mu
Mancheiter
accident ; it has been detained,
the confusion contrived to make his escape. - ,
Guardian, but then fellow who rode it