The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMAN
PATRICIAN ALEXIS.. By Miles Gerald Keon.
One of those exquisite little works with which, after
the perusal of only three consecutive pages, the reader
becomes fascinated. Biography is perhaps the most en-
thralling kind of prose composition, and Mr. Keon is In
eloquent and impassioned biographer. The life of Richard
Savage, written by Samuel Johnson, so seized the ima-
gination of Sir Joshua Reynolds, on his accidentally
meeting with it in a road-side tavern very shortly after
its first publication, that he read on and on, leaf
after leaf, with his elbow resting upon the mantelpiece,
until he closed the volume at the " finis," and discovered
that his arm had become paralysed. And yet the life of
Richard Savage is the life of a bad man, the life of a
homicide, a profligate drunkard, a man who perished
ignobly in a debtor's prison at Bristol Mr. Keon has
selected a nobler theme, and, what is more, he has
treated it with the skill of a rhetorician and the fervour
of a poet. The life of the Roman Patrician Alexis
is a sublime and affecting life, the life of a
very wonderful and admirable mortal. To the
Romanist& he is a saint ; while to every right-minded
man he presents the spectacle of a splendid and immacu-
late character. The book is tinged of course with the
peculiar views which its author is already known to ad-
vocate ; but it is on that account by no means addressed
exclusively to religionists. As the very dedicationin-
dicate',the volume is characterised by an enlarged and
philosophic liberality—being inscribed, at once, to Pius
IX., the Honourable George Sydney Smythe, and the
New Generation. In purpose, if not in principle, we
cannot but regard Mr. Keon as in a great measure iden-
tified with that new generation, the importance of which
he thus commemorates ; and as a fresh testimony of
, this identification may be mentioned this beautiful
biography of the Patrician Alexif.

MUIR OP ORD MARKET.—The first market of the
season was held on Wednesday and Thursday last, and was
but thinly attended. The stock brought forward was much
less than that exhibited at the April market of last year, and
was also inferior in condition, which must be attributed to
the severity of 'the 'winter, the partial failure of the turnip
crop, and the scarcity of keep. The demand upon the •on-hoalt;
m
was steady, and fair prices were obtained. Crosses in
prices of last
year, a- beancdonsHidigerheldanadbcoautttlle9mpuerchcetn4
same.'bel owthA
good deal of
business was done
uinnsothe lattert.
Trotter,description,
Gabrgutusatovcln
considerable
number era
eurmhbeeardwfoe
rr were
is
two
yr old crosses ; a lot of 25 from Fettis
91.
13,'arna, fetched 8/. ; Mr. Macdomald, Neilstown. near Cromarty,
sold his lot at 191.105. ; Mr. Dickson, li,ppoclesCrosses realised
6/. 10s. ; Mr. Binning sold a lot from Bras Farm at 91. ;
and Mr. Rose, Drynie, a lot at 71. 10s. Highland cattle--
two years old—fetched-from 51. to 71., and three years old
fromta6vnlo.o
ttphorei9rnl
el.
osilptooTalwsdlh.
aleso2A very superior lot of highland heifers
ti n , bought a lot of chhots:leoal
fetched 111. There were a few lots of Cheviot and black-
eootasg etwAs ,
i2trlito: isrpm. kr,
rather
hnhcame,irenaoinarllcvoactBroeusreo.i.;
black-
faced hogs, which met with a dull sale. Mr. Laidlaw, Con-
iedhinkithtf
alstfhefiLeTe4°:el nrinhdel
oeals‘riVtksrea.ermrtßhd.
athned
tti
Allan,a rt 3
atM a2i n2l:
sale. Mr. Dickson, Reppoch, sold his lot at W. Most oi .
the sheep were, however, left unsold. As the weather seem-
now settled, and the prospects of keep rapidly advancing, we expect that the condition of the stock will be much im-
proved,
and anticipate a considerable rise in price by nexti:
market.—Ross-shire Advertiser.
The following new anecdote of the benevolence of
the Pope is related in a letter from Rome of the 17th, pub-
lished by the SiMe. A short time ago an inhabitant of Pisa
died, leaving by his will a sum of 5,000 Roman crowns to
Pius lx. The Pope accepted the legacy, but gave orders
that the money should not be sent to Rome, as he was de-
sirous of laying it out in Piss. He has just given half the
legacy for the relief of the indigent inhabitants of Yid, and
invested the other half for wedding portions to the daughters*
of poor persons.— Calignani.
MR. ADAMS.—We understand that the chair of
Natural Philosophy in the University of St. Andrew's has
been offered to this gentleman ; but we do not know whether
the discoverer of Neptune will consider it worth his while to
accept even this dignity. We much fear that in several re.
spects be would, by accepting it, incur a pecuniary sacrifice
ry
to a large amount. The sala attached to the
professorship is very small, and as the number of stu-
dents at St. Andrew's is exceedingly limited, the emoltunent
arising from fees would not, at the utmost, exceed 90x. per
. annum.— atmbridge Advertiser..