The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-12 00:00:00

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

By the John Brewer, arrived at Plymouth, we have
received Cape papers to the 12th of May ; but they
contain no news of importance.
The following are extracts from the South African
Commercial Advertiser of May 12th :
" There is no news from the frontier. The landing
of supplies at the mouth of the Buffalo River will pro-
baby enable the troops and burghers to operate with
effect on the refractory chiefs on and beyond the Kei.
On neither side of the border are many complaints
heard, though thefts of oxen are occasionally reported.
The Lieutenant-Governor has taken up his residence in
Graham's Town, and entered on the discharge of his
official duties.
" Some confusion seems to have arisen respecting the
issue of rations, &c., to the provisional levies, or others,
except her Majesty's regular forces. There are three
great officers on the frontier at present—the Governor
and Commander-in Chief, the Lieutenant-General Com-
manding, and the Lieutenant-Governor. If their pro-
vinces are not well defined, the only safety for the colony
will be tonna in one swallowing up the other two. Re-
laxation of authority has bcen,the bane of this war from
the beginning.
"By the report of the committee of Commercial Ex-
change it appears that the imports of last year exceeded
those, of the preceding year by 53,4911. ; to which is to
be added specie, as good an import as any, 159,3691.
The total increase therefore is 212,8601. The value of
the exports is less than that of the preceding year by
29,8821. 13s. 61.
" The determination of the Secretary for the Colonies
not to take any steps for the prosecution of the undertak-
ing for rendering Table Bay more safe and commodious
for shipping and trade, by the construction of a break-
water, has been received here with very general dis-
satisfaction. The undertaking had been for many years
under consideration at the Cape."

LICENSES TO DEAL IN GAME.—On Saturday the
annual sessions to grant licenses to persons to deal in
game in the city of London, was appointed to be held at
the Guildhall, on the 18th instant.
SOUTHAMPTON, SUNDAY.—Yesterday afternoon the
magnificent and stupendous steam-ship Washington,
Captain Hewitt, belonging to the Ocean Steam Naviga-
tion Company, New York, left our river for that port.
She had on board 140 passengers; the mails (made up
to Friday night), and nearly 500 tons of merchandise
principally manufactured silks, muslins, &c., for the
United States market. A greater portion was imported
from Havre to Southampton, and a great number of her
passengers were also from France. This afternoon,
however, at half-past three o'clock, we were much sur-
prised to see her steaming up the river, end on pro-
ceeding on board to ascertain the cause of her unex-
pected re appearance, found before the pilot left her
yesterday that the coal being anthracite, and supposed
to be similar to the anthracite of the United States,
clinkered and burned out one set of grate bars. A trial
was made by burning antracite and bitumenous together,
but the trial proved unsatisfactory, the fire continued to
burn the bars. Under these circumstances it was deemed
prudent not to proceed on the voyage, and the ship
arrived at Southampton as before stated, to get rid of
the authracite and take a supply of the other coal. It
is expected it will take at least two days to accomplish
this. The Washington is advertised to leave New York
for England on the 15th of August, but previous to her
leaving New York, it is intended to alter her machinery.
We sincerely regret to have the melancholy duty
of recording the death of Mrs. Quillinan, wife orfEld d
Quillinan, Esq., and only daughter of the
ahe Edward
Quillinan,
re
t
Laureate, Wordsworth. She expired o
h r
at Iviledynay venerable Poet
Laureate, Wordsworth. She expired at Ryda linlVolronuihngt:
the poet's residence, at one o'elock
after many weeks' suffering from pulmonary consump-
tion. Mr. and Mrs. Quillinanshe had quite recovered her
year, and it was hoped that had be en in Portugal last
ralliedl the north incautiously made
from the effects of a cold
h caught,ea lth
ibnuat
short she
ejourneyver
last winter. Rydal Mount, that happy retirement which
never
so many have seen, and so many more have thought of,
is now the abode of bereaved parents and a bereaved
husband, sorrowing over the loss of one of the brightest
and kindliest spirits that ever gladdened a home.
BARBAROUS MURDER NEAR HAREWOOD.—A most
diabolical murder was committed at Weeton, near Hare-
wood, on Monday morning last, by a man named Francis
Britton, his victim being his own child, a little girl about
three years old, named Maria Britton. It appears the
murderer had been in confinment as a lunatic for some
weeks, and on Saturday evening last he returned home.
On the following Monday morning early a person named
William Bright, who lodged in the house, and slept up
stairs, heard a heavy tread in the room below, which
was occupied by Britton, his wife, and child. Shortly
after Bright heard a heavy stroke and a moan, and im-
mediately went down stairs, when he saw Britton hit
the child three times with the poker. lie held the poker
in both bands, and hit the deceased on the forehead as
she lay in bed. Bright immediately seized Britton, and
handed him over to the custody of the constables. The
poor child's head was awfully mangled, and blood and
brains were scattered on the floor and walls of the cot-
tage. It appeared the wretch had taken the opportunity
of committing the dreadful act during the temporary ab-
sence of his wife. An inquest was held on the body of the
child on Wednesday last before Mr. Lee, coroner, when
a verdict of " Wilful murder " against Francis Britton
was returned.—Derbyshire Courier.
FETE AT THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENT S
PARK.—A promenade musicale, the last this season, took
place at the gardens of the Zoological Society in the
Regent's Park, on Saturday. An orchestra, selected
from the three bands of the household infantry and the
juvenile band of the Caledonian Asylum, performed a
variety of overtures, new waltzes, and pol Las, and the
attendance of company was numerous and brilliant.
CHEAP TRAVELLING.—A new company started this
day for the conveyance of passengers from Hungerford-
market to Paddington at one penny each person, in
opposition to the twopenny company.
The day now named as that on which the dissolu-
tion of Parliament will take place is Thursday, the 22d
inst.—John Bull.
Lord John Russell has offered Mr. Sheridan
Knowles, from the royal bounty, 1001. a year.—Sunday
paper.
THE LATE THUNDER-STORM.—The provincial pa-
pers, received on Saturday and yesterday, teem with
accounts of injuries inflicted on property in almost every
part of the country, by the disastrous thunder-storm
which raged on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning
last. Happily, however, ro further loss of life on the
occasion has been received.

CITY OF LONDON ELECTION.
A crowded meeting of electors and non-electors 0
the city of London assembled en Saturday evening, aC
Cogers' Hall, to meet the Liberal candidates now to
the field for the representation of the City in ParHawse,
and to hear them promulgate their political opinions.
" The Grand" occupied the chair. Baron Rothschild
was the first of the candidates who entered the Watt
and was received with cheers and clapping of 110°5'
which lasted for several minutes. Mr. Pattison
entered, and was hailed with a burst of cheering 101
and long continued, a manifestation which was
of
warmly accorded to Sir George Larpent, the third 0
the Liberal candidates who entered the roont. T
chairman opened the business by stating that on the two
preceding Saturday evenings he had introduced Mr'
Alderman Johnson and Mr. Payne to the Hall as ear
didates for the representation of the City in Parliament.
He now successively introduced Mr. Pattison, M.?" 8
the long and well-tried friend of the public, and of ,"
beral principles; Baron Rothschild, in whose person. niiSj
a member of the Hebrew persuasion, the cause oleic/
and religious liberty was anew to be tested; and Sir
Larpent, Bart., who had been before in Parliament, an,
whom he hoped to see there again as one of the Libers+
representatives for the city of London. The endnwi
ment of the Catholic Church was made the question 0
the night for testing the candidates, and was the debuts;
able point between their supporters on the one side, an
the opponents of the scheme on the other.
Mr. PATTISON expressed his gratitude for the very
kind reception he had met with, and referred to his Pld
Parliamentary conduct as the best exposition he 010
offer to the meeting of his political principles.
cursorily glanced at his votes in favour of every metssn'"
calculated tor the public good; and having pledge(' binl;
self, should they return him to Parliament, to pursue
like liberal course, he concluded with an expression °'
hope that the meeting would do their best, not for bided
self alone, but for Lord John Russell (who desers'_,
well at their hands, as the persevering friend of et
and religious liberty, and for whose absence he errne
gised); for Baron Rothschild, who was well known,'.",
his public and private worth to the citizens of Lnon
and for Sir George Larpent, Bart., as a consistent en
warm advocate of public rights.
Baron ROTHSCHILD pledged himself, should he be re:,
turned, to do everything in his power to advance tP.,
public good, by his votes in Parliament. He had beeL7
assailed in anonymous letters by the opponents of libenerf
principles and religious freedom, for presenting
lsiis
as a candidate for the suffrages of the citizens of le-!Po
don; but he was resolved to try the question of
right in his person. Baron Rothschild also stated t°,„6
he had been charged, in letters which he received, Wr,
buying up the corn of the country, to aggravate 1.7,
scarcity, and thus make a profit ; but he pledged II;
solemn honour that neither himself, nor the firm It
which he had the honour to be connected, had es.`'
purchased a quarter of corn, except fur their horses.'"
(Hear, and cheers.) r
Sir GEORGE LARPENT next presinted himself, o
was warmly applauded. He appealed to his past Pou./
conduct as the best guarantee he could give in testimoe
of his attachment to liberal and just principles, al/..„
pledged himself, if returned to Parliament, to peesef.e''
in support of a liberal and enlightened course of P°llfocit.
The candidates expressed themselves opposed to ,is
ther church endowments, not from any prejudice 00
any denomination of Christians, but on principle. del
The meeting was then addressed by Mr. M.P. lit Te.
and Mr. Falvey, in speeches loudly applauded for .40
advocacy of civil and religious libel ty, and of the
of the Liberal candidates ; „rt. sea
Also by Mr. Tanner, a Liberal, and Mr. Perry
Mr. Jones, opponents of Catholic Church endowol"
And,
On the motion of Mr. LEE, seconded by Me. TO-co,
a resolution was passed to support Lord John
Mr. Pattison, Baron Rothschild, and Sir "'toe
Larpent, as the Liberal candidates fur the represents"
of the City.

gooth•
CONTINENTAL COMMUNICATION. - The
Eastern and Continental Steam. packet Company's 5'5•0;
ship the Queen of the Belgians left Folkestone 76
Boulogne, at six o'clock, P.M. on the 9th inst., with ne
passengers, and the Lord Warden, arrived at Folkestod
from Boulogne, at 10 minutes past 8 P.M. On 8
the Lord Warden left Folkestone, for Boulogne9O,-00
o'clock A.M., with 33 passengers ; the Quern tlO
Belgians arrived at Folkestone, from Boulogne, Buieft
,•
minutes past 10 A.M. the Queen of the Freveuces
Ramsgate, for Ostend, at 8 A.M. ; and the Frill 10
Clementine arrived at Ramsgate, from Ostend, s"
minutes past 2 P.M., with 36 passengers. ent
Captain Fitzgerald, late governor of our settlelll,6
of the Gambia, has been appointed governer a ow--

River.
MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE AT SO - sid
I:mower
BRIDGE.—Last night, about eight o'clock, as theinols,
steam-boat was passing Southwark-bridge pier, le—tbe
most respectably dressed, fell from the deck Writ*,
water. A cry was instantly raised, and the vesseltl
backed astern as soon as possible. The officer on eri,
at the floatingengine, observing the accident, fib'
diately put off"in the boat belonging, to the London
engine establishment. He succeeded in obtaip
possession of the lady's bonnet, but just as he was $ sae
to seize hold of her person, she suddenly sank•
was not seen afterwards. Every exertion was rasp to
discover the body, but all efforts proved fruitless !Tot
ten o'clock last evening. There appears to be no 0°
that the occurrence was purely accidental.
pt Op
THE MARINERS' CHURCH.-01) Saturday Toren ,„t,
this edifice, which has been in course of erection 1".
some time back, and which abuts the Sailors' lion 109:
Wells-street, Wapping, was cone crated by the ra°
Bishop of London, in the presence of his Royal Hightlel
Prince Albert, who was accompanied by the Marquis
Abercorn, K.G., the Hon. Colonel Phipps, Colonel Sers
moor, and a distinguished circle, including the Rice
Hon. the Lord Mayor and other civic functionaries,
,ft!!'
Earl Waldegrave, Lord Radstock, the Hon. H. CAfrato
Cecil, Lord of the Admiralty, &c. His Royal Llig,b-f„-e.,
arrived shortly before eleven o'cl( ck, and was
diately conducted to a seat near the pulpit.
bird
ladies occupied seats close adjoinieg, and those heibee
were occupied by the residents of the Home, but ill
respects the attendance was not so great as was xP7,,iO
Prayers were read by the Rev. Mr. Smith, late ebtsePci by
to the Floating Church, and the sermon was preach, wage
the Lord Bishop, who selected for his text the 230. of
of the 14th chapter of St. Luke. At the conclusilibeo
the service the royal party inspected the Heine, and
retired, Wi AV";
THE LATE COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR opv
WIGAN, FRIDAY EVENlNG.—Thirteen lives WOO.
been sacrificed by this most lamentable accident, °ld' 011
inquest on the body of the sufferer last deco.° Did'
held at Wigan, at half-past seven o'clock this elegolase
before Mr. Rogerson, the borough coroner.
evidence having been taken, the Coroner said, !Ifs°
considered the case so important, and more eseeelsoo
from what had appeared in the London morning Prtrei,
of that day, that he should write to Sir George do
suggesting the propriety of sending some one the°
before the next hearing. The Foreman of the Priwhicil
submitted the following suggestion of the jurl.'„ jud
was read by the Coroner, and adopted:—
authorise Mr. Peace to view the mine, to eitare' a
i, se
cage, and report on the ventilation of the 11004
ascertain the true cause of the explosion, a° Tb°
thereon to the jury on or before Thursday next' e
inquest was then adjourned to Thursday next,
inquiry will be resumed.
BRANDING DESERTERS.—The following cArcn._.ol
reference to the mode of branding deserters to be swirr.,
in future, has been issued from the Horse Guar.dpue
"Horse Guards, June 25, 1847.—Circular nip
—The mode of marking deserters by means of Psth of
strument, prescribed by the circular letter of 111 Doff
May, 1842, having been found ineffectual and ',flea'
erased, the Commander-in-Chief has, on the recolta'-ob.
dation of a board of medical officers, to whom the
ject has been referred, been pleased to direct Oft.; tao
use of the said instrument may be discontinued, all" b.
method of marking with needles be reverted to throolkei
out the service. His Grace the Commandepin-C,bpita
further desires that the operation of marking desellser
may henceforth always take place in the hospital, Utid
the superintendence of a medical officer, who will be ovh".
responsible that it is effectually performed, and that
letter 'V shall be indeliby impressed on the skin. Pi
command of Field Marshal the Commander-in-Chief.
SINGULAR SUICIDE BY A MEDICAL GENTLEMAN/
On Friday night last an inquest was held at the Risief,
Sun Tavern, Old Kent-road, before Mr. William Carr
and a respectable jury on the remains of Mr. Geode
Kenrick, a medical gentleman, formerly a surgeon ioxfa
Royal Navy, but who had been in practice in the
t'4o,
Kent-road for some years. It appeared that some Inoli:„(1
ago, the deceased gentleman, who was a bachelor. nA
about fifty years of age, had had an operation perforron-r
on him, and since that period his manner and temper
had undergone a considerable change. Such haaniitl•
the effect which his affliction had had upon his "t of
that he discontinued his practice, and became a s°, tao
recluse. On Wednesday night he retired to bed
ta"0i00
usual time, and on the following Maning, at toy
o'clock, as was her general practice, his serve
het:
a cup of tea to his bedroom ; she faneieretjelo
master was asleep, and, in consequence, 'OOOO
from his chamber. At eleven o'clock she againvred hi'
his room, and, after calling repeatedly, approa"„e 00
bed and found that he was quite dead. She ga'neAP
alarm, and two medical gentlemen made their artroot•
ance, who, on examining the deceased, found '314 ote
ing knife buried in his left breast. The instrutoreP, otia
tered the body about two inches from the oiPP s tb°
was buried to the depth of six inches, and such Iv° ton
force used in forcing it into the body, that 17$°re "I°l
two inches of the handle was buried in the o.esh'l'Plie
served as a plug to prevent external heraorrsq,4l,lio'
medical gentlemen were of opinion that the t'doito
strument had passed through the heart, so
must have been instantaneous. The jury, after earl.
must
evidence of the above facts, and also of the eece,o,;;fit be
exhibited by the deceased, returned a verdict
had committed the act of self-destruction by St'',
himself while labouring under temporary josas,liTs
The Minister of Marine has just given oro-rbed
of
a careful examination shall be made of the ine,
oysters lately discovered in the Bay of the Se noy io
cutter has been sent to cruise off it, and tonotetioit!
fraction which the English fishermen may co
Paris paper. We be;
ALTERATION OF MILITARY UNIFORM. .0 400
lieve we may confidently state for the inforautti of
military readers, that the following alterations
nary° regv
to be made in the uniform of officers of inatob fae
ments:-1. Forage caps of royal regiments
en bed;
black silk (oakleaf pattern) band, with prese.e
00
instead of the present scarlet band. 2. Chid lace to
id lace 0
skirts of the coats to be removed. 3. eau
worn on the trousers in full dress, a- d s"r„..irasoa
undress. 4. Gold sash in full dress, plain " ,00i51!7_5
in undress. 5. Mack leather helm" t, alth *
,_ op:
ornaments and plume, instead of pre-•a • ~„)
Service Gazette. r cbakOS•••". "

LITERATURE.

THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, No. CLXXIII
A recollection of the most brilliant days of the
;Edinburgh Review is revived by the perusal of the
'eading contribution in the number for the present
quarter. The beauty of the composition, the terse-
ness of the illustrative passages, the melody and
volubility of the diction, the comprehensive generosity
of the sentiments—all these, and a variety of similar
characteristics, irresistibly remind us of the palmiest
days of this renowned periodical; they call to mind the
period when Brougham disdained not to become a lite-
rary critic ; when Sydney Smith, like a Younger Rabe-
lais, calculated the temperament of the world by his
j°°l"leter ; when Macaulay cast the golden glory of
his eloquence upon the pages, like the gorgeous hues
of a stained window streaming on the pavement of a
basilica; when Mackintosh lighted up the intricacies
of some mysterious theme, by the gleams of his
subtle analysis. The article we allude to is a brief but
Superb biographical notice of the memorable Saint
Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan
order. And who, it may be inquired, is the author
of this striking composition ? IVe recognise him as
instantly and as confidently as though his name had
been prefixed to the contribution. The writer of the
opening paper in this number of the Edinburgh Re-
view is the Honourable George Percy Sydney
Smythe. We are aware that the article has been
attributed to the Right Hon. the Paymaster of her
Majesty's Forces, and we are satisfied that the
magnificent compliment implied in that mis-
take as to the paternity will be grateful
to the young and accomplished author of
"Historic Fancies." From internal evidence, how-
ever, we are convinced that the memoir of Saint
Francis of Assisi is from the pen of Mr. Smythe, and
not of Mr. Macaulay. Notwithstanding the nunsereus
beauties of the composition, we detect in it more of
the immaturity of Mr. Smythe than of the mellow-
ess of Mr. Macaulay. Not that we would here
employ the expression immaturity in its vulgar ac-
°ePtation. The style of Mr. Smythe is by no
means immature from the redundancy of verbi-
age, neither is it in any manner marred by
puerile affectations, or by that tendency to over em-
bellishment which Longinus has derided with so
much earnestness. It is immature rather in those
inequalities of tone, or, as we should say more strictly,
of pitch, arising from a want of full reliance upon his
own capacities. Cicero was wont, so says the Latin
authority, to practise his voice to the pipings of a
flageolet. Demosthenes perfected his articulation by
Placing pebbles in his mouth. Mr. Smythe has not yet
succeeded so far as to be able to dispense with the pebbles
and the flageolet. To Mr. Macaulay they have long
ceased to be correctives ; and it is in this wise that
in mentioning their style together, we would speak
of the immaturity of the one, and the mellowness of
the other. A victorious athlete like Mr. Macaulay
can allow himself to be contrasted with a stripling
wrestler like Mr. Smythe, propitious as are the au-
vines, and nervous as is the ambition, of the latter.
Those who have familiarised themselves with the lite-
rary productions of the son of Lord Strangford cannot
by possibility fail to recognise his manner in
the biographical notice of Saint Francis of Assisi.
It shines visibly through the transparent mask of an
anonymous reviewer. The scholastic domino may
hide the shape, and even render the dimensions dubi-
ous ' • but to the practised eye the gait and the carriage
are detectable. Even in the first two sentences—
"lt was a noble design which died with Robert
Southey. His ' History of the Monastic Orders'
would not, perhaps, have poured a large tri-
bute of philosophy, divine or human, into the
?eean of knowledge ; but how graceful would have
been the flow of that transparent narrative, and
how
would it have reflected and enhanced the beauty
of
nioevery rich champaign and of every towering pro-
montory
the identity along
which it would have swept !" Again,
father
visions
ofobvious when he depicts the merchant
Francis, Pietro Bernadone, conjuring up
of glory for his offspring and mingling those
„usi Grouping
with the routine of his commercial enterprise :
into forms ever new and brilliant, like
spangles shaken in a kaleidoscope, the ideas
of bales and bills of lading, of sea risks and
of supercargoes, had combined with those of loans to
reckless Crusaders and of the supply of hostile camps,
to
form one gorgeous Eldorado. The peculiarities
of 111 r. Smythe, moreover, are manifest in a multi-
tude of other and minuter characteristics. In the
isterations by which a sort of crescendo intensity is im-
parted to an argument—in the vivid and almost en-
caustic colouring of the contrast of individuals, bring-
ingll, at once to our memory the almost gaudy lustre of
nis Paper on "Grey and Spencer" in the Oxford and
t,"mbridge Review—occasionally even in the use of
unusual,, but favourite adjectives, the hand of Mr.
Smythe is revealed, as for instance when speaking of
the authenticity of the poems attributed to St.
Francis, he observes that M. Delecluse considers that
the style " must have drifted far away from the
original structure into a form at once more modern
andt more ornate." Gratified as we are in detecting
chivalrous but not yet stalwart form of
the e
writer of "Historic Fancies" among the lite-
rary phalanx of the Edinburgh Review, we are
Wieldedim-
measurably
with so much skill and generosity
cause hitherto abandoned as hope •
less—namely, in the revival, as he himself
h
Says, of " the memory of a once famous Fa-
ofter the Church, now fallen into unmerited neglect
and indiscriminate opprobrium." The profound
earnestness with which he undertakes the exculpation
of
Saint Francis end his indigent brethren, has in it
something beautiful and pathetic. Impressed with a
conviction of the advantages of the Reformation, he is
Yet, like every man of liberal and unbiassed judg-
nt, ready to acknowledge the advantages which
resulted from the religious predecessors of Luther
and
Meiancthon. In this spirit of honesty he main-
tllos that the founder of such a confederacy as the
Franciscans " must have had some ,of the higher
qualities of a legislator." 4, it would be difficult
ever,
hist now," he continues, " with all the aid. of
better and philosophy, to devise a scheme
the adapted to restrain the licentiousness, to soften
iroloaanners,_and to mitigate all the oppressions of an
thirdage." Speaking again, in another part, of the
,estate in the Franciscan Orders, namely, the
ruer of Penitence," he declares that "it would be
mere Prejudice or ignorance to deny that it sustains
aiv•lFnPortant office in the general advancement of
issting and of truth." "In an age of oligarchical
tZerannY, he persists, "they (the Mendicant Friars)
! the protectors of the weak ; in an age of ignorance
the instructors
znstructors of mankind; and in an age of profligacy
e
stern vindicators of the holiness of the sacerdotal character and the virtues of domestic life." That
assuredly is a magnificent eulogium, and such
pll one as is
orate bodies. not applicable to many cor-
even when Biographies are always enthralling,
they relate to the characters and vicissi-
tudes of nonenties or criminals. For in a very eon-
saiderable degree, a biography gives us the analysis of
a mind, the phases of a temperament, the varieties of
career, a starting point and a goal. But a bio-
,,,,aWs kV of an enthusiast, such as was St. Francis of
sisle is in a particular manner attractive and en-
grossing. To a Roman Catholic, doubtless, the life
of Saint Francis, even when penned with the in-
terpolated scorn of an Edinburgh Reviewer, will
ZlowaYs present a spectacle of sanctity exalted
a sublime community with the invisible.
'a the estimation of every one but a Roman
te,atholic, the narrative of his eccentric course
throughout life must appear as little else tone
Whose records of a man crazed with fanaticism—one
Whose religious fervour was carried to an extrava-
gance—and whose conduct was that of a being with
a heart animated by lofty aspirations, but a brain dis-
traught with the frenzy of an ecclesiastical lunatic.
To all, without distinction of creed, how instructive
mast be that strange and fitful history, from the out-
set, when Francisco, the son of an adventurous mer-
chant of Assisi, in Lltnbria, by name Pietro Berna-
done di Mericona, was at once the bravest participator
in the feats of the tourney, the brightest ornament of
the civic pageantries, and yet withal the most
assiduous in the mart and the counting-house.
marvellous change, however, occurring in the cha-
racter of Francisco, the reader is afforded a different
subject for contemplation. Carried to the very gates
ofdeath, after escaping captivity among the citizens Perugia, Francisco is transformed from a world:,
sing into a recluse. " Long, earnest, and inquisitive,
:es the reviewer, " was his gaze into the inscrutable
caon which those dismal portals opened ; when
ea became a valetudinarian the metamorphosis was
tornpleted. His subsequent behaviour is then re-
kutinted with a sort of admiring and yet recoiling
tanseto. His robing himself in the rags of a inendi-
al ‘; his kissing with " courageous humility" the
pallrated wound of a leper; his purloining a
PreY laden with silks and embroideries for the
urpose, of aiding in the rebuilding of the ruined
n, near Foligno, dedicated to St. Daniiano ; his
.14:view with his opulent father in the streets of Assisi,
tir:ent. himself equalid and ems:listed ; his reverential
ion for the leprous 3.a sentiment springing par
ss,l44lvl•Y_frem the bewilderirlg, hint of Isaiah, " nosiatavi-
eu4sitewst (namely, the Messiah,) quasi leprosum, per-
for 41,_-4 a Deo, et humiliation ;" his wonderful exertions
aar•e:le restoration of the church of St. Damian°,
are VeYsmentioned, and of the chapel of La Porzioneula,
..I%t
.recounted in language either of admiration
snett4_ss nishment. What, by the way, can- be the
as ~n_nig of Mr. Smythe in mentioning Porzioncula
tern: shrine of our Lady of Angels, of which the
n' may yet be seen, at once hallowing and
rozz°
ei?;,the quiet meadow by which Assisi is sur-
Nye, • Does he not know that in speaking thus
fre ently of the Virgin he lays himself open before the
atacill!,n.ters of Exeter-hall to a charge of Maryolatry ?
.kviel'n't to many suspicious eyes the Edinburgh
the 11'
Inay henceforth seem little else than
perhacillsarterl organ of the Oxford tractarians
t' they most effeetiva passages in this

biogrophical notice ^of Saint Francis of Assisi '
are those in which are described, first, the
growth of the Franciscan order by the accumulation
of the disciples around the founder—those being
Barnard de Quintavalle, Peter of Catania, Egidius,
Sabbatini, Morico, John de Capella, Sylvester, and
others of less importance ; secondly, the formation
of the confederacy near the river Torto ; thirdly,
the supplication of Francisco to Pope Innocent
on the terrace of the Vatican ; fourthly, his preaching in
the sacred con sistory before Pope Honorius 111. ; fifthly,
his daring attempt, in the Holylands, to go unarmed
amongst the Saracens, and to convert the Soldan to
Christianity ; sixthly, his miraculous elevation into
the air ; and lastly, his death in the monastery of St.
Mary of Angels, after eating the cakes of Jacoba.
The final picture is simply but exquisitely pencilled.
li
" His last labour done, he was laid, in obedience to
his own command, on the bare ground. The even-
ing, we are told, was calm, balmy, and peaceful, the
western sky glowing with the mild and transparent
radiance which follows the setting of an autumnal sun
behind the lofty hills of central Italy. At that moment
the requiem for the dying ceased, Ili the faltering
voice of Francis was heard, in the language of David,
exclaiming, Voce melt as Dominurn clarnavi !"
Again we would express our satisfaction at discerning
the Ilonourable George Percy Sydney Smythe among
the number of the Edinburgh reviewers, for the more
closely we examine this leading article on " Saint
Francis" the more thoroughly are we convinced that
it is the effusion of his scholarly and eloquent pen. A
rich promise of the revival of the olden glory of the
Edinburgh is afforded by the acquisition of a contributor
so opulent in literary promise himself. The second
article is an admirable paper on Beaumont and
Fletcher, opening with a miniature memoir of Francis
Beaumont, who was born in 1585, at Gracedieu, hard
by Charnwood Forest, and died in 1616 ; and another,
of John Fletcher, who was burn in 1579, at Rye, and
died of the plague in 1625 at London. Knowing
these dates, it will be well to remember one or two
others of peculiar interest—namely, that Beaumont
was younger than Fletcher by somewhere about
six years; that they first met in 1607; that, reckon-
ing from 1607, their union as friends and poets con-
tinued during nine or ten years ; and that Fletcher
survived his companion nine summers. Fletcher was
poor, and wrote for his bread; Beaumont was well-
to-do, and wrote from a pure love of the art; hence,
argues the reviewer, their literary association
with each other " must have been entirely free,"
and not have arisen from the hack partner-
ship in the composition of dramas caused by the
exigencies of a playhouse. An interesting anecdote
about Shakspere (only recently brought to light) is
given in this criticism. We eagerly transfer it to
our columns as we would anything new and
authentic about that God-like Genius. Edward
Alleyn, be it premised, and William Shakspere are
" the two great theatrical managers"—the managers
of the two great rival theatres of London—mentioned
below.

"Alleyn being absent in the country on a strolling
excursion, at a time when the theatres in London were
shut by reason of the plague, his wife receives in town
a visit from a pretty youth, and handsome in apparel,'
who assumes an aristocratic name, asks for a loan of ten
pounds, and asserts that he is known both to Mr. Alleyn
and to the other great theatrical manager. Mrs. Alleyn
who, as the step-daughter of old Philip Henslowe, had
learned economy and caution, declines to comply with
the demand till the reference shall have been verified;
and the brother m•mager, on being appealed to, declares
that he knew the applicant only by having heard that he
was a rogue, and is glad the money had not been given.
The impostor does not again show himself; and Joan
Alleyn, in her next letter to her husband, exultingly
tells him the story. Her friendly adviser was a person
of whom we are accustomed to think as discharging
higher duties to humanity than detecting swindlers. She
describes him as Mr. Shakspere of the Globe.' "
Speaking afterwards of the visible influence exercised
over his contemporaries, and his immediate succes-
sors, by the dramas of Shakspere, the reviewer
writes as follows :
" Imaginative inventors, of all ranks below the very
highest, are like planetary satellites, which revolve in-
deed each on its own axis, but are all carried round in
the orbit of their common centre; nay, to push the com-
parison a step further, Jupiter himself, as well as his
moons, gravitates in dependence on the sun. Through
the concurrence of the two impulses, the special and the
common, it is natural and inevitable, that the appear-
ance of every great work or groups of works, in litera-
ture or art, should not only produce particular and
designed imitation, but should throw over all productions
of the same class a hue which otherwise they would not
have possessed. Thus did thoughts, and feelings, and
images innumerable, sown by Skakspere beside the
highway on which he travelled, spring up there into
stately plants, and shed their seeds over every field that
lay in the neighbourhood. Even the spirit of the great
poet did in some degree rest upon his contemporaries,
when his wide mantle fell and covered them all—his
divinest moods of emotion, his most dazzling trances of
imagination, his profoundest intuitions of character, his
marvellous reaches of thought, sounding all the depths
of human nature;—these were indeed inspirations not
vouchsafed to any but himself, and apprehended but
imperfectly even by the most exquisitely endowed of
those to whom the poetic seer communicated his visions.
But there was much that could be both comprehended
and transfused; much that did pass from the most com-
prehensive of all created minds, to the finest of the
intelligences which surrounded and followed him. The
magnetic rapport between his genius and that of his
fellow dramatists, could not, it is true, qualify any of
them, even in their most intense phases of poetical
rapture, to imagine characters, or mental histories, like
those of Hamlet, of Othello and lago, of Lear, or of
Macbeth: but the relation was close enough to enable
several of them to conceive forms and incidents, feelings
and thoughts, not so very dissimilar to those of Romeo
and Juliet, of As You Lite It, of Much Ado about
Nothing. That Samuel Johnson should prefer Shak-
spere's comedies to his tragedies, does not surprise us.
But that Milton should have gone to see a comedy of
Shakspere's when he was merry, and have been ob4ed
to fall back upon Greek plays about Pelops' line' when
.he was sad—pot finding in Shakspere enough of pity
and of terror—antithat Thoma \Varton should have
thought he showed good taste in doing so, is more than
we can understand."
The estimate of the. different plays of Beaumont and
Fletcher is generally judicious, and is penned in a
strain of encomium not one iota more than is de-
served. A glimpse at a " Whaling Cruise" is suc-
ceeded by an elaborate criticism upon Lord Sidmouth
and his biographer, the Dean of Norwich. "Robin
Hood" is a delightful scrap of antiquarian gossip upon
that renowned outlaw, all except the concluding
paragraphs, where, to our indignation, his existence
at any time is altogether discredited ! Robin Hood
and his time-honoured companions, George-a-Green,
Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Scarlet Much, and Little
John flit across the pages as vividly as though they
were in the greenwood glades, but they are invested
with awful authority as mythes. The other contri-
butions to the Edinburgh Review are clever and
miscellaneous, treating severally of Mr. Benjamin
Disraeli's Tancred, of Prussian Agrarian Legislation,
of the travels of Mrs. Quillinan and Mrs. Butler, of
Eastlake's Materials for the History of Oil Painting,
and of the important problem " What is to be done
with our Criminals ?" A better number of this eminent
Tiodical has not appeared during many past quarters.

MAGAZINES—(CONTINUED.)
THE COMIC HISTORY OF ENGLAIVD,
No. XIIL By Gilbert Abbott A'Beekett.
The reigns of the bloody tyrant, Henry VIII, and
of his equally bloody daughter, Mary, who, on
coming to the throne, was, says our author, "com-
paratively old, exceedingly hard, and totally void of
all the milk of human kindness," are the subjects out
of which our author has contrived to find food for
laughter in the present number. As a specimen of the
manner in which he has executed his task, we take the
admirable description of the death and character of
Henry VIII. :
" The tyrant, who had been getting physically as well
as morally worse and worse, clung to life with such des-
perate tenacity, that is a sure sign of there being good
reason for dreading death in those among whom, after a
certain age, such a cowardly fear is manifest. He would
often impiously threaten that " he would outlive all the
wyoungeras evidently
epeetol
yp people
not
tbfoaur off,thimh
eyweto;u'idanedot though
to ghhibse timetold
ofh.
he
etrue
devoted condition.
the
wretched Instead
remnant repenting
his
d existenceof his pastto
life,
mischiefextent tha
thatthe hiscould,now
doingmalice
allt the
othe
fullest
failing
venting
strengthht.s.
the unhappy old :brute that he must very
would admit of. Nobody dared musterresolutionseelto
until Sir Anthony Denny, a knight who psharleyd ourl
friend Dri.lmmond's aversion to any humbug of any de-
scription, boldly told old Harry that he was on the point
of visiting his redoubtable namesake.
" Finding all ehance of escape cut off, he began con-
fessing his sins ; but it was rather too late, for, had his
repentance been sincere, the catalogue of his crimes was
far too voluminous to allow of his getting through one
half of it before his dissolution. He had been in the
habit of adjourning that court of conscience existing in
his as well as in every man's breast, and he always post-
poned it sine die; but when the time to die actually
came, or the die was really cast, it was rather late to
move for a now trial. Henry died on the 2.9 th January,
1547, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, the thirty-eighth
of his reign, and at least the forty-first of his selfishness,
baseness, and brutality.
" lie had been married six times, having divorced two
of his wives, beheaded two more, and left one a widow.
This leaves one more—Jane Seymour—still unaccounted.
for ; and indeed her death was the most wonderful of
all, because it was natural. He left behind him three
children • but he did not care a pin's head, or even—to
name an article of smaller importance to him—a wife's
head, for any one of them. Such a very bad man was
sure to be a very bad father, and he had declared two
of his children illegitimate, for it was the delight of this
monster to depreciate his own offspring in the eyes of
the world as much as possible. His religious reforms,
however wholesome in their results, were brutal in their
execution and base in their origin. His insincerity may
be gathered from the fact that he appointed masses to
be said for his own soul, though he had burnt many
persons for popery ; and he seemed to think that, by
taking up two creeds at once on his death-bed, he could
make up. for the utter irreligion of his past existence:
Fie is said to have contributed to the cause of enlight-

THE SUN,