The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-01 00:00:00

FRASER.

Fraser opens this month with a slashing review of
Lord Cloncurry's recently published autobiography,
the perusal of which, however, the reviewer confesses
to be a treat for which he is thankful. Mr. F. 0. Ward
contributes a series of chapters entitled " Order
Restored, an episode of 1848." These chapters,
written in Paris in July, 1848, immediately after the
victory of Cavaignac, express the sympathies of the
author with the Socialists, and are overflowing with
ill-concealed bitterness against the Garde Mobile and
the National Guard of Paris, and yet it is evident that
the author is no democrat, he hates the rich rather
than loves the poor, and would fain crush both
beneath an aristocracy of rank. The " Familiar
Epistles from Ireland" are continued, as are the
" Peace Campaigns of Ensign Faunce." Our old
friend Michael South has acquired, like Homer, the
privilege of occasionally nodding, and he has this
month exercised it. The Peace Campaigns of the
Ensign &re in the present number somewhat of the
dullest; we have too much of the old vicar, an ex-
cellent man no doubt, but prosy and sermonizing on
.occasions when he cannot plead his privilege of pulpit.
The papers on " North Devon " are the work of a
poet and a painter. Ilis description of Morte and
Clovelly are exquisite specimens of word• painting,
they equal the best things of the sketcher. The " Oc-
casional Discourse on the Negro Question" contains
under the guise of extravagance much common
sense. Speaking of the present state of the emanci-
pated Blacks, and contrasting it with that of our own
poor, he pithily observes—
" Exeter Hall, my philanthropic friends, has had its
way in this matter. The twenty millions, a mere trifle,
dispatched with a single dash of the pen, are paid ; and
far over the sea we have a few black persons rendered
extremely 'free' indeed. Sitting yonder with their
beautiful muzzles up to the ears in pumpkins, imbibing
sweet pulps and juices; the grinder and incisor teeth
ready for every new work; and the pumpkins cheap as
grass in those rich Clima.es; while the sugar-crops rot
rcund them uncut, because labour cannot be hired, so
cheap are the pumpkins; and at home we are but required
to rasp from the breakfast loaves of our own English
labourers some slight 'differential sugar-duties,' and
lend a poor half•million, or a fevi poor millions now and
then, to keep that beautiful state of matters going on."
He then, after some further discourse, proceeds to lay
down the following principle:—
"That no black man who will not work according to
what ability the gods have given him for working, has
the smallest right to eat pumpkin, or to any fraction of
land that will grow pumpkin, however plentiful such
land may be."
'This excellent principle is as applicable to Whites as
it is to Blacks, and we recommend the aristocratical
readers of Fraser, the fruges consumer' nati of our
own land,' to ponder well this maxim of their high
Tory friend, which is however merely a variation on
M. Proudhon's La propriete c'est le vol. The author
in fact seems to be thoroughly imbued with Socialist
doctrines. " Any poor idle Black man," says he,
" any idle White man, rich or poor, is a mere
eye-sorrow to the State; a perpetual blister on
the skin of the State." The writer indulges in a
prophecy which, judging from the experiment of
Hay ti, will, we fear, turn out correct. He is of opi-
nion that the West Indies, deserted by the Whites in
consequence of the indolence of the emausipated
Blacks, will be taken possession of by Brother Jona-
than, who will get the work out of the Blacks, and
restore the productiveness of the islands. There are
several other papers of great merit in Fraser, but we
miss the " History of the Month."

NEW ALMANACKS.

THE ROYAL NAVAL and MILITARY AL-

MANACK for 1850.
THE ARTIST'S ALMANACK for 1650.
Messrs. Ackermann have just issued two beautifully
executed almanacks of a novel design for the coming year.
The one is more especially dedicated to the votaries of
Captain Sword and the other to those of Captain
Pen, but both are full of interesting and useful know-
ledge, and matter of entertainment for the general
reader. The Naval and Military Almanack contains
of course, like all other almanacks, a calendar for
year, and with this is incorporated a list of the dates
of various naval and military engagements, and
the births and deaths of conspicuous naval and
military characters. In parallel columns we find a
variety of anecdotes and bits of information, for the
most part connected with naval and military subjects.
The Artists Almanack is arranged after the same
fashion, the chief dates, anecdotes, and reminiscences
having, of course, references to literary, artistic, and
scientific subjects. Many of the anecdotes and brief
chronicles here contained are full of interest and
suggestive of profitable reflections. To the Artists
Almanack is appended a list of living painters,
architects, lithographers, &e., with full particulars
concerning public libraries, artists' funds, &c. &c.
On the other hand, the Naval and Military
Almanack gives similar particulars concern-
ing matters of naval and military interest, and
both almanacks necessarily contain the ordinary alma-
neck information concerning the Royal Family, the
Ministers, Houses of Parliament, &c. The price of
each is one shilling, the .Naval and Military Almanack
possessing the additional attraction of illustrations.
The illustrations consist of portraits of Viscount
Herdinge, the Dewan Moolraj, Garibaldi, Georgey,
and Cavaignac ; the Siege of Moulton ; Gallant
Conflict of the 14th Light Dragoons with the Seikh
Troops near Ramnugger ; View of Civita Vecchia;
French Soldiers Storming the Barricades of Rome ;
Battle of Novara; the Wreck of the Avenger ; and
the Chase and Capture of a Slaver ; many of which
are executed with much ability. Useful as these
almanacks are calculated to be to the classes for
whom they are more specially intended, they will,
perhaps, be more actually beneficial to other readers
who are less acquainted with the various facts of
which they treat, but to whom those facts, as thus
detailed, will prove not only useful but highly inte-
resting.

FURTHER MEASURES FOR RELIEVING SIR JOHN
FRANKLIN.—We are informed on good authority, that
with the view of undertaking some further steps to
ascertain the fate of Sir John Franklin and his gal.
lant companions, a committee of officers experienced
in Arctic navigation—namely, Captains Sir William
E. Parry, Sir John Back, and F. W. Beechey, asso-
ciated with the Admiralty hydrographer, Rear-Ad-
miral Sir Francis Beaufort, were yesterday sum-
moned together to consider the most advisable means
for carrying out the wishes of the Government. These
gallant and distinguished officers are each expected to
furnish on Monday next their opinions with reference
to the prubable position of Sir John Franklin and
their recommendations as to the new expedition which
it is intended to organise.

SERVANTS IN AMERlCA.—Complaints were often
made to us of the difficulty of finding, or of keeping
when found, good servants in the States; and amusing
anecdotes were told of the independence of American
helps in this " land of liberty:" thus, " a green mountain
boy" of Vermont engaged himself to a family in town;
there was an evening party at the house, and he came in
with a tray: seeing some ladies sitting talking in a
corner which he could not conveniently reach, he called
out, " Hullo, girls! how are you off there for cream and
sweetinin?" Being directed to light a fire in the morn-
ing in the parlour for the children, when the mistress
came down she found the BEI vant sitting in a chair, with
his feet up, and reading the newspaper; without rising,
ho cried, pointing at the fire, "Isn't that a roarer?"—
Sir J. Alexander's "Acadie."

A man is valued as he makes himself valuable:—
Eliza Cook's Journal.

ALLEGED CURE FOR ACUTE RHEUMATISM.—By
dissolving ono eunce of saltpetre in half a pint of
vinegar, letting it simmer near the fire until reduced to
about halt the quantity, and afterwards applying it to
the parts affected, a certain and speedy cure will be the
result,—Correspondent of Liverpool Mercury,