The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-16 00:00:00

COAL MARKE'

~. --YESTSRDAT.

Adair 's Main ......... 16s 6d Heaton
Huddle's W. Hartley.. 17a Od Medley
Chester Main lBs 6d Hebburn l9B Od
Davison's West Hartley 17s Od Eden Main 2os 3d
Dipton Tanfield lss Od Harraton Main ..... .... 16s 6d
Hasting's Hartley l7s Od Belmont 2oe 3d
New Tanfield l6s Od Braddyll'a Hetton ... 205 6d
Ord'a Redheugh
Original Pontop ..... 155 9d Lambton
South Pontop .. ...... 158 Od Lumley 195 id
Stewart's Hartley
Townley l6B 6d Stewart's ... 2lB Od
West Wylam
West Hartley .. l7s Od High Thornily),
Wylam
Wall's End, &c. Tees
Acorn Close
Bewicke and Co l9s 6d Cowndon Hartley ..... 178 Od
Clennell
Gosforth
198 6d Snapethorpe ............ 195 Od
Ships at market, 81—sold, 52.

CORN AVERAGES.
GENERAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.
For the Week ended Dec. 16, 1547, made ap from the Returns of the
Inspectors in the different Cities and Towns in England and Wales
per Imperial Quarter.
I WISSAT. I EARLZT. OATS. 1 P.TX. I BRANS• I "At
PRICE 1 51s lid IM 1s
5d I 2ls 4d 31s Od I 42s 7d 47s
The Duties on Foreign Grain aro now suspended.

SHERIFFS' COURT.—(THIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. UNDER-SHERIFF BiInCHELL.)
POTTON V. 'WHITESIDE.)
FALAI; IMPRISONMENT.—This was an action to re-
cover damages for false imprisonment. The defendant
allowed judgment to go by default.
Mr. PARRY stated the case. The plaintiff was lately
butler to Lord Morpeth, and preciously to Sir George
Wombwell. Defendant is a watchmaker in Davies-
street, Berkeley-square. In the evening of the 29th of
June last, plaintiff was waiting for a friend in Mount-
street, when defendant gave him into custody on suspi-
cion of stealing a gold watch, &c., of the value of twenty-
two guineas. Plaintiff was locked up in the police-
station all night, but on being taken before the magis-
trates the next morning, defendant said when he got
home at twelve o'clock at night he found the wateli in
the side pocket of his coat instead of his waistcoat.
He did not give any information of his discovery,
so that no bail could be taken for plaintiff. On
the part of the plaintiff it was alleged that he was
waiting for the valet of Sir Harry Smith, who could not
be called, as he had gone with Sir Harry to the Cape of
Good Hope ; that defendant passed with a woman
named Phillips, and shortly after he returned and gave
both of them into custody. The only evidence given by
defendant before the magistrates was, that the, fernal
prisoner pushed against him and he sweeten her o
robbing him, and afterwards saw her speaking to
'plaintiff in the street. Plaintiff, on being charged, 0
his proper address, and the inspector ascertained
th"at
he bore a good character.
The jury, after a short consultation, gave a verdict
for 504

CRIMINAL COURT.—(THIS DAY•)
OLD COURT'.
(Before Alderman Sir C. MARSHALL and Mr Commie•

sinner BuLLocx.)
FORGERY OF A RAILWAY PASS.—Joseph Alfred
Sandlands, a bricklayer, plead Guilty to an indictment
for forging an order to pass him from London to Bir-
mingham, and back, with intent to defraud the London
and North-Western Railway Company.
The Court sentenced the prisoner to be imprisoned
for six months, with hard labour, in the county jail.
POST-OFFICE RORI3ERY.—John Partiger, aged 33. a
postman, was indicted for stealing a bank-note, value
101., one sovereign, and one half-sovereign, the property
of the Postmaster-General.
The Solicitor-General, Mr. Clarkson, and Mr. Bodkin
conducted the prosecution. •
The charges were clearly► proved.
Witnesses of respectability gave the prisoner a good
character.

The jury returned a verdict of Guilty, with a recom-
mendation to mercy.
Baron ROLFE was always disposed to listen to such
recommendations, when he could do so with due regard
to the public interest. But good character was of no
avail in cases of robbery in the Post-office, as, without s
previous good character, the guilty party could not have
an opportunity of committing the crime. However, he
would not pronounce the full sentence of the law, which
was transportation for life, and he would sentence the
prisoner to be transported for ten years.
MURDER OF MR. BELLCHAMBERS.—George AP Coy,
wine cooper, 2 horn= Doyle, labourer, Thomas Sale, cooper,
and Thomas Davis, tinman, were indicted for the wilful
murder of John Bellchambers, on the 11th of October
last, in Westminster.

There is another indictment for the same murder, but
omitting the name of Thomas Doyle, and including that
of John Lloyd, modeller, instead, with the three other
prisoners. They are all young men, the eldest 25, the
youngest 17.
The trial commenced at one o'clock, and is not es'
pected to conclude to-night.

NEW COURT.
(Before the BECORDER and Mr. Alderman HuonEs
THE CASE OF CREATING AT CARDS.—SENTENCE.--
Andrew William Barr, Charles Bruder, Samuel Ilatis,
convicted on Tuesday of conspiring to defraud Mr.
Jalius A. Kerrie by cheating him at card-playing, wore
brought up for judgment.
The RECORDER impressively addressed the prisoners,
and dwelt at some length upon the peculiar "nefarious-
ness" of their conduct. They had decoyed a young man
lately come into money, and by various devices and
stratagems, under the pretence of gaming at cards, they
had plundered him to a frightful extent. They had, in
their conversations between them, plotted to deprive hum
of his last shilling, and it had been proved that Barr had
calculated how much they would have on ths
whole to divide amongst them. The spoil they bad
already obtained, as appeared upon the indictments,
amounted to 1,4401. The punishment for conspiring
was fine or imprisonment. But there were many shades
of conspiracy, and in some it was thought right to punish
by both fine and imprisonment. This was such a case ;
for it was proper to deprive the prisoners of any benefit
which they might hope to gain by their plunder. Hew"
over, there were shades of difference between the three
parties. The case of Barr was that of the person who
first planned the scheme of robbery, and contrived a
variety of weans to effect his nefarious purpose. The
sentence was that Barr be imprisoned in the common
county gaol, for fifteen calendar months, and pay a fine
of 500/.; that Brewer be imprisoned in the same gaol for
twelve months, and pay a fine also of 5001. ; and that
Rolfs be imprisoned six months, and pay a fine of 100 L
The sentence further was, that the prisoners severally
)csprisi,nk :I until their fine • be paid.
The prisoners, who, especially Brewer, seemed to feel
keenly the severity of the sentence, were then removed
from the bar.

THAI% lES.—(THIS DAY.)
David Hill, a. tall, powerfully-built seamao, was
~70tIght up in the.. custody of Police-constable Piekering,
ik 87, charged with .the following desperate outrage:—
, Anna Williams stated that between seven and eight
()clock yesterday evening, as she was passing the Swan
Public-house, Ratcliffe-highway, she saw the prisoner
and another sailor turned out of the house. They com-
menced fighting in the streets. Suddenly the prisoner
Seized the other man by tl Le hair, forced his head back,
and bit his nose off. The, p:or fellow was taken to the
London Flospital.
Mr. BALLANTINE--Do you mean to say the nose was
completely bitten off? Witness—One half of it, your
Worship, was completely bitten out.
Pickering KB7 apprehended the prisoner. Witness
bad been to the hospita't to make inquiries, and the ap-
pearance of the juju' tei individual was frightful; half his
480 and a portion c,,f the upper lip was completely torn
out. The constabl.e then handed in to the magistrate a
certificate from tt)e house-surgeon, which, after stating
the nature of the injuries inflicted, proceeded to state
that there was g,reat danger of inflamation supervening.
Mr. BALLANTINE, after commenting on the brutal
nature of the outrage, said he should commit the pri-
after for trial, and ordered the depositions to be taken.
Prisoner—Will your honour take hail ?
Mr. BALLANTINE—Most decidedly I will not.

7LI`ItAORDINARY OCCURRENCE.—On Thursday
tot some excitement prevailed in Marchmont-street.
Brunswick-square, in consequence of the following oc-
eurrenee:—About six o'clock that evening a person was
Observed to enter the shop of Mr. Owen, chemist and
rnggist, in that street, and being assisted by a medical
gentleman in the neighbourhood, who waited a short time
to enable Mr. Owen to &spres° a prescription, followed
kr. Owen, who had taken refuge in his back parlour,
Where he was thrown down, overpowered, and handcuffed
When a straight-waistnoat was put on him, and he was
dragged into the street. Mr. Marshall, a neighbour, eas
at his door, and on Mr- Owen's observing him, he said,
It Mr. Marshall, they rare taking me to a madhouse."
kr. Owen was then conveyed away in a cab, with a
keeper, and a person, on the box, to a lunatic asylum.
The neighbours, wleo are perfectly satisfied of his entire
lenity and propri sty of conduct, determined to take
immediate steps t e procure his liberation, and retained
respectable sa,eitor in the neighbourhood. Twelve
neighbours swore, that they had known him eleven years,
and that he was a quiet, gentlemanly, inoffensive neigh-
bour, and as sane as they were. Mr. Justice Erie, on
hearing the tracts at chambers, on Tuesday, granted a
habeas coqous for the production and discharge of the
Prisoner.
THE CITY OF LONDON NEW UNION WORKHOUSE.
The special committee directed to carry out the in-
tention of the board of guardians of the city of London
tation, to erect a workhouse, to obtain plans and esti-
mates, and offer premiums, &c., for designs, have, oat
°f forty-one sets of designs sent for their inspection,
Selected the work of Mr. R. Tress, archilect, of Little
„St- Thomas the Apostle. The estimated cost of the
altilding about to be erected is 28,860/., including
fittings and fixtures. The design, as far as can be
Judged from sections and diagrams, appears to be good;
aeconsurodation is provided for the various persons who
tatlY seek relief, ventilation is attended to, and airy
;rounds, fot excelcise laid down. Provision is also made
or the classification of the inmates. The site of the
building is between the Tower Hamlets Cemetery and
the road from Stratford-le-Bow to London. A fever-
se°llces altogether detached, forms part of the plan
adopted.
PIOILISM.—THE TIPTON SLASHER AND MASSEY'S
tXXFIT AT THE NATIONAL BATHS.—These well- known
,tic heroes took a joint benefit last night, at the Na-
°nal lßaths• and it being generally understood that a
ch 'allenge for the championship of England, and its nc-
t_cPtanee on the part of Caunt, would form part of the
evening's proceedings, upwards of a thousand spectators
Viid for admission to the sparring display. The ex-
bitors were certainly rather below the average, not in
ainceieer, but in character and ugilistic science. At the
l'ose of the proceedings the 'Lipton appeared, but there
4", ac no one to put on the gloves with him. He briefly
Lualtked the assemblage, and declared his readiness
„"", meet Caunt for 5001. a-side, and to post 501.
luere and then, in addition to the 5/. already de-
P°,,sited. This called up Spring, who, on behalf
?, Caunt, declared himself ready to produce
(making 201.), provided the battle should take place
tla a stage, and in not less than six months; and certain
!Ninties to 'oe barred by agreement. The Tipton reite.
fitted his headiness to make up 501. there and then, and
`.° fix the event within three or four months. This was
ieeted to, and the shorter time insisted on. A person
011 behalf of Ceuta here, amidst much confusion, entered
On What he termed the shameful conduct of Perry in
interruption
Caunt on the previous evening. After great
nterruption Spring proposed that the men should meet
St
his house on to-morrow (this) evening, to arrange
prel•
iminaries, which was ultimately assented to. Massey
e•7urned thanks amid some applause, and the multitude
ia-spersed.
• SIIIPWRECK ON TBE COAST OF SICILY OF THE
'',ettoostert. ORIENTAL.—The schooner Oriental, of
left
Yarmouth, Captain Thomas Christmas, which
it Malta on the sth of November, bound to Liverpool,
"lte unfortunately wrecked on the 9th or 10th, on rocks
lithe Cela Bernardo, in the district of, and about two
foom Noto. She struck on some rocks, immedi-
-eV fe 11 on her larboard bilge, and heeled off with her
„,e'is to the sea, which breaking on board with great
hi°,lerice cleared the decks of the boats, spars, &c., com-
thieill'ttg the crew to take to the main rigging, to which
ey clung, soaked by torrents of rain, until daylight on
tr uckness Y following morning, when in consequence of the
le of the weather, nothing was to be discerned
sett the rocks upon which the vessel had strack. The
unfortunate men thus remained the whole of that day
'and the following night, the mate being drowned in an
attempt to carry a line on shore; and about eleven
o'clock the second day they were rescued by a fishing
boat, which was drifted off to them from the shore.
Mere, however, their position was far from being corn-
fortable, as they were put under quarantine regulations,
and kept b' an armed force at the brink of the water
until a shed could be erected for them. All communi
‘ktion with the British consul and Lloyd's agent was
'Cut off, until at length the captain contrived to have a
letter despatched to Malta, and her Majesty's steam-
-410°13 Locust arrived off the coast, and took the poor
fellows away on the 26th.
SleiertriG or TUB CREDITORS OF MESSRS. GATES,
COSIES AND Co.—Another meeting of the creditors of
this firm, who were extensive warehousemen in Wading-
eet,
was held at the office of Messrs. Quilter, Ball, and
rae the accountants, in Coleman-street. We regret to
:0 te that the aspect of the affairs of this house was in
respect so favourable as that presented by most of
(Aber houses which have stopped payment. There
nil a good deal of discussion, but it is only necessary to
Gate the result. An offer of 2s. 6d. in the pound was
1et.410 by the insolvents, to be paid within a month, but
offer was rejected by the creditors, and a resolution
'faa drawn up to the effect that the offer be rejected, and
at the affairs of the firm be administered in the Court
lot
'"ankr up tcy. The debts and liabilities of this firm
-re about 13,0001., and the assets more than 2,0001.
FATAL EXPLOSION or GAS.—Tuesday afternoon
a 2; inquest was held before Mr. W. Baker, at the York
;row re Grey public-house, Hig-sreet, Whitec hapel, on
• of the body of Mr. Francis Eaby, aged 37 years,
died 'on Sunday last from the effects of severe in
;VI% he received by an explosion of gas. John Tar-
eant, waterixtan, deposed that the deceased was the
endlord of the above public-house, and had boon so for
ivenal years past. On the evening of the 16th June
the ittst •
witness was sitting before the bar, conversing with
deceased who was behind the bar. The deceased
p„hovered that gas was escaping from some of the pipes,
ed a search was made by them. The deceased lit a
le of paper in the tap-room and returned to the bar-
latiour with the light in his hand. He opened the door
atoll the deceased was forced to the ground by the explo-
:,(lea of gas that took place. He was enveloped in flames,
b"e`i Was burnt most severely. His hair was completely
eat off his head, and his face was most frightfully dis-
egared. Mr. Prophet, a surgeon, attended, but the de
liked died from the effects of the injuries on Sunday
or. The house had been under repairs, and the screw
e_ the gars-pipe in the bar parlour was left ;unfastened,
'daa ‘ud the
Deaths gas escaped from theholes. Verdict, " Acciden.
BOMBAY COMMERCIAL NEWS.---A letter from Alex-
ladria, received in Paris, gives very favourable commer-
tial accounts from Bombay. It states that the intelli•
Bence of .the crisis in England, brought out by the last
Packet had been met without a single failure, and large
remittances were on their way to assist their English
torrespondents.
PARIAH OF ST. DUNSTAN IN THE WEST.—Yes-
terday, at one o'clock, the inhabitants of the parish of
St. Dunstan assembled for the purpose of returning three
gentlemen as fit and proper persons to represent the
bard of Faringdon-without, in the Common Council of
the City of London, during the ensuing year; Mr. Bat-
chelor, churchwarden, in the chair. After going through
11‘e usual business, the following gentlemen were una-
t•
aously elected, without opposition, to be returned
e! the Wardmote as the representatives of the above
iireacinet viz.:—Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Lies, and Mr. G.
()miler- The Inquest Gentlemen and the Parochial
1,0 eel% were then appointed, after which, thanks were
til.,ted to the Chairman, who briefly replied, and the
',eating broke up.
-Uoe,
—SIORDEN.—ANOTFIBR INUNDATION ATTENDED
(3,,"1 LOSS OF LIFE AND CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE.—
th"„ the evening of Friday last, a dreadful overflow of
bun rivers Cal and Darr took place, in which several
leti"red houses, including shops, warehouses, &c., ware
Thadeted, many of them to the depth of nine feet.
1,05 overflow extended for more than two miles in
egth, visiting many houses that have been erected
Wards of 40 years, and have never suffered a similar
ebis'ett- The damage done on this occasion is consider-
in variously estimated. The banks of the rivers
tee se and
places were brought down ; but perhaps the
Of au' serious was the supposed loss of a man of the name
tieil'',r• Thomas Hartley, gardener at Ehodens, near
liqu'en Bridge, who left the Wood Mill Inn torward in
11..,01- about the time the flood WAS at its height, and
seine ot beers heard of up to Monday. Near to the
betweenPlae a horse belonging to Mr. Marshall, a carrier
eieas„ Halifax and Rochdale, was drowned, and a
of - •
eeten groceries, with which the cart was loaded,
cheneglag to various shopkeepers, was spoiled.—Man-
-1,,r Examiner.
Axolue Lords of the Treasury have ordered that
Peeo°llth, in the port of Lyme, shall have bonding
pr4trillicagees with regard to timber and wood goods, and
ecee,,e- 8 have been specially approved for that purpose
''ingly
The •
said quarantine station at Senate Creek, it is
,otti suety be reduced to e.be • eise•helf the present
men cement of men and officers. It is expected that the
Pm "'loved from this station will be located at Liver-
and Birkenhead.

LITERATURE.

MEN, TVOMEN, and BOOKS. 2 Vols. By Leigh
.Lunt.

No writer of his gene ration can produce a plea-
santer volume than Leigh Hunt. And one of the
most delightful works he has yet composed is this of
" Men, 'Women, and Books." It is to the " Priests,
Women, And Families." of Michelet, what a chalice
of hippocrene, with
" Beaded bubbles winking at the brim,"
would be to a cup of poison ; or, to use another
simile, what a country-dance on a Christmas-eve, in
a farm kitchen, would be to the " Dance of Death."
The book, as those who are familiar with the writings
of Leigh Hunt will recognise at once from the
" Table of Contents," is the selection from those of
his uncollected prose writings which have hitherto re-
mained in existence only as straggling articles in some
of the most eminent periodicals, including the Edin-
burgh Review, the Westnanster Review, the New
Monthly Magazine, Tait, Ainsworth and the Monthly
Chronicle. That this veteran essayist has not lost the
energy which associated him for so many years with
the magazines and newspaper press, has been recently
shown by his contributions to the columns of the
Atlas. Here, however, we have grouped together
the raciest of the papers whiQh came from him in the
palmiest days of his literary strength, when his wit
was two-edged, and his humour richest, merriest,
most hilarious, running over into lavish abundance
of conceits, and occasionally as boisterous as the veriest
romp in the playgrounds. OF these effusions who
can ever forget, who has ever forgotten, his talk with
the reader about " The inside of an Omnibus ?"
How ridiculously true in point of fact, and absurdly
grotesque in point of fiction, it is ! The very con-
jecture at the outset, that if Dr. Johnson had been
transformed into any sort of vehicle—a thing so pro-
bable !—it would have been into an omnibus !
And how he makes Johnson (in Elysium) de-
velop his choice f„o the ghost of Boswell !
" Sir, I should not be a cart. That would be low.
Neither should I aspire to be the triumphant chariot
of an Alexander, or the funeral car of a Napoleon.
Posthumous knowledge has corrected those sympathies
with ambition. A gig is pert; a curricle coxcombical ;
and the steam-carriage is too violent, perturbed,
and migratory. Sir, the omnibus for me. It is
decent, deliberate, and unpretending; no respecter
of persons ; a king has been known to ride in it ;
and opposite the king may have sat a republican
weaver. Then, after dismissing the shadow of the
garrulous doctor, how he goes off at a hard gallop,
describing the various grades and ages of omnibuses
—the morning omnibus, the noon, and the night !
" If a midnight omnibus," says he, " it is full of play-
goers and gentlemen, lax with stiff glasses of
brandy and water." And how correctly he
pourtrays the different passengers who get in
and out—the precise personage, the youngster,
the maid servant, the young lady in colours, the
two more young ladies in white, the dandy, the man
with the bundle, the old gentleman, the fat man, the
woman with the baby, the two estranged friends ignor-
ing each other, and the man in a smockfrock, "who,
by sitting on the edge of his seat, and perpetually
watching his time to go out, seems to make
a .constant apology for his presence." Here
is one. little side face, however, worth a
dozen full-lengths by another artist :—" Enter an
unreflecting young gentleman who has bought an
orange, and must needs eat it immediately. He ac-
cordingly begins by pealing it, and is first made
aware of the delicacy of his position by the giggle-
ment of the two young ladies, and his doubt where
he shall throw the peal. He is in for it, however,
and must proceed; so, being unable to divide the
orange into segments, he ventures upon a great liquid
bile, which resounds through the omnibus, and covers the
whole of the lower part of his face with pip and drip.
The young lady with the ringlets is right before
him. The two other young ladies stuff their hand-
kerchiefs into their mouths, and he, into his own
mouth, the whole of the rest of the fruit, sloshy, and
too big, with desperation in his heart, and the tears in
his eyes. Never will he eat an orange again in an
omnibus." No doubt he won't. Then, in glancing
through " The Day of the Disasters of Carfington
Blundell, Esq.," can we overlook the account
of the deplorable state of the weather, when the
gutters were a torrent, the pavement a dancing wash,
the wind a whirlwind, and " the women all turned
into distressed Venuses de Medici ;" or the description
of the flock of sheep, and the drover in a very
loud state of mind, hooting, whistling, swearing,
and tossing up his arms ; or, best of all, the
picture of the man who fled from the jeers of
the crowd—" He fairly turned back, pursued by
a roar ; and oh ! how he loved the corner as he went
round it ! Every hair at the back of his head had
seemed to tingle with consciousness and annoyance.
lie felt as if he saw with his shoulder-blades; —as if
he was face to face at the back of his hat." In the
paper on Zoological Gardens there is a thought as
lustrous and precious as a precious stone :—" The sun-
beam in the thick of St. Giles's comes as straight
and young as ever from the god-like orb that looks at
us from a distance of millions of miles, out of the
depths of millions of ages." Then the pleasant sug-
gestion made while the author is descanting on wild
beasts ! " Fancy yourself coming home from the
play or opera," he says, " humming Deh vieni non
tardar, or Meet me by Moonlight alone ; and, as you '
are turning a corner in Wimpole-street, meeting—a
tiger! What should you say ? You would find
yourself pouring forth a pretty set of Rabelaesque
exclamations :

" ':Eh—oh--01l Lord !—Rollo I— Help !—Help !
Murder I—Tigers I—U—u—u—u—u—u!—My God!—
Policeman !"

" Enter Policeman.

" Policeman—' Good God A gentleman with a
tiger!'
[" Exit Policeman."
Then the dissertation on " Beds and Bedrooms!" a
dissertation better than poppies, or opium, or the
recipe of Endymion. Home is home, however
homely, says the proverb. Bed is bed, however belly,
says Leigh Hunt. And, after this execrably good bit
of parody, how he goes on :

" Bed is the home of home ; the innermost part of
the contents. It is sweet within sweet; a nut in the nut;
within the snuggest nest a snugger ❑est ; my retreat
from the publicity of my privacy ; my room within my
room, walled (if I please) with curtains ; a box, a sepa-
ration, a snug corner, such as children love when they
play at house;' the place where I draw a direct line
between me and nay cares ; where I enter upon a new
existence, free, yet well invested ; reposing, but full of
power ; where the act of lying down, and pulling the
clothes over one's head, seems to exclude matters that
have to do with us when dressed and on our legs; where,
though in repose, one is never more conscious of one's
activity, divested of those hampering weeds ; where a
leg is not a lump of boot and stocking, but a real log,
clear, natural, fleshy, delighting to thrust itself hither
and thither ; and lo! so recreating itself, it comes in
contact with another ; to wit, one's own. One should
hardly guess as much, did it remain eternally divorced
from its compauion—alienated and altered into leather
and prunella."

What truth there is again in his diatribe about a
feather-bed ! " When we are in the depths of it, we
long to be on the heights. When we get on the
heights, down they go with us, and turn into depths.
The feathers hamper us, obstruct, irritate, suffocate.
We lose the sense (f repose and independence, and feel
ourselves in the hands of a soft lubberly giant." We
have already remarked that our essayist is some-
times in his humour as boisterous as a romp.
Here is proof of it—where he revels at the veryl idea
of having a bed made up on the floor—" pro-
vided the palliasse be of decent thickness. The
floor itself thus becomes a part of the great field of
rest in which we expatiate. There is nothing to bound
our [right of incumbency ; we can gather the clothes
about us alandroll on the floor if we please." Out of
his exquisite" Criticisms on Female Beauty," papers
abounding with classic and scholarly thoughts, as well
as with thoughts springing from an innate sense of
what isthe truth of the beautiful, we shall transcribe one
of those latter thoughts most delicately expressed :
" The mouth out of its many sensibilities may be
fancied throwing up one. great expression into the
eyes ;as many lights an a city reflect a broad lustre into
the heavens." And how he speaks against stays!_.
the ladies should read it—how he speas against
stays ! Prior, in his " Henry and Emma," says_
" No longer shall the boddice, aptly laced,
From thy full bosom to thy slender waist,
That air and harmony of shape express,
Fine by degrees and beautifully less.
No ! exclaims Leigh Hunt, it should be different ;
it should be

" Gaunt all at once and hideously little."
There is one passage at the outset of these inimitable
papers, on Female Beauty, which is delightfully
natural both in manner and sentiment. Here it is :

" The reader may take the confession as he pleases,
either as an instance of abundance of sentiment on our
part, or as an evidence of want of proper ardour and im-
partiality ; but we cannot (and that is the plain truth)
think the most beautiful creature beautiful, or be at all
affected by her, or long to sit next her, or go to a theatre
with her, or listen to a concert with her, or walk in a
field or a forest with her, or call her by her Christian
name, or ask her if she likes poetry, or tie (with any
satisfaction) her gown for her, or be asked whether we
admire her shoe, or take her arm even into a dining-
room, or kiss her at Crietmas, or on April-fool day, or
on May-day, or on any other day, or dream of her, or
wake thinking of her, or feel a want in the room when
she h:.3 gone, or a pleasure the more when she appears
—unless she has a heart as well as a face, and is a proper
good-tempered, natural, sincere, honest girl, who has a
love for other people and other things, apart from self-
reference and the wish to bo admired."

We have culled so many choice fragments—and strung
them together, as we might have done the rare eggs
of the halcyon, or the picked jewels of Golconda, or
the largest lumps of the nmst costly gravel of the
Valley of Diamonds—so that we have merely spare
enough for the hurried enumeration of the residue of
the two volumes. " Fiction and Matter of Fact," a
hopeful chapter as to the immortality of th• fieti-

tious, closing with a noble allegory of the Press.
1 —" A Man introduced to his Ancestors," a dainty
bit of banter against those who are proud of their
"family," as smart in its way as John Kemble's
exclamation at the dinner table when two dukes
were wrangling about the antiquity of their blood—
" 1) both your bloods, why don't you pass the bottle!"
—"A Novel Party," in two senses, bringing together
the creations of Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett—
" The World of Books," hinting the propriety of
a book geography—" Jack Abbott's Breakfast," an
incident as outrageous as a contretemps by Aloliere,
or a farce by Morton—" On Seeing a Pigeon make
Love," a fanciful sketch about birds in general and
doves in particular—" The Month of May," i smelling
sweetly of the May blossom, and breathing brightly
of Italy— " The Giuli Tre" (pronounced Joolee Tray),
translations of some of the 200 sonnets of that name,
written by the Abate Casti—" A few remarks on the
Rare Vice called Lying," a piece of sarcasm against
society, bitter enough to be relished by Douglas Jer-
rold—" Of Deceased Statesmen who have written
Verses," a chapter, curious, elegant, and historic—
" Female Sovereigns of England," such a paper as
might be fittingly published in the appendix to the
biographies of Miss Strickland—" Social Morality,"
an odd disquisition, the argument of which is illus-
trated by the lives of Suckling and Ben Jonson—
' " Pope, in some Lights in which he is not usually
Regarded," and displaying the character of the
little nightingale of Twickenham most amiably. The
paper ends with this rondeau by Leigh Hunt him-
self. It is sweet, quaint, and :
" Jenny kiss'd me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in ;
Time, you thief ! who love to get.
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have miss'd me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kiss'd me."
" Garth, Physicians, and Love Letters," a charming
bit of literary small talk—" Cowley and Thomson,"
a comparison as striking as any one of the contrasts
of Plutarch—" Bookstalls and Galateo," a loving re-
miniscence of old sixpenny books and twopenny-
halfpenny pamphlets picked up by chance—" Book-
binding and lieliodorus," a chapter, on the other
hand, in which the writer's fancy runs riot in the
luxuries of gilding and morocco—" Ver-Vert; or,
the Parrot of the Nuns," a happy translation from
the French of Gresset, of a most fantastic and comical
original—" Specimens of British Poetesses," a mul-
titude of delicious snatches of verse from the works
of very many remarkable and distinguished
ladies of these islands —" Duchess of St.
Albans, and Marriages from the Stage," con-
sisting principally of old theatrical anecdotes, well
put together—" Lady Mary Wortley Montagu,"
where she is fitly considered both as to her life and
her writings—" Lite and African Visit of Pepys,"
an agreeable annotation on the wine-loving, tailor-
worshipping author of the diary—" Life and Let-
ters of Madame de SC,vigne"," an article elucida-
tive of the history of that inimitable correspondent,
and one which shows that Mr. Hunt can appre-
ciate her writings as well as did Sir James
Mackintosh. Such are the several portions of these
two right excellent volumes—the bloom of the ripe-
ness of Leigh Hunt's intellect. They are so well
calculated in tone to create an intimacy between the
author and his reader that his winter offering will be
anticipated with almost as much curiosity as the
forthcoming medley (" The Princess") by Alfred
Tennyson. We allude to " The Jar of Honey from
Mount Hybla," a book with a dainty title enough.
The work which we have here noticed is in like
manner as various and palatable as a honeycomb.

VANITY FAIR. No. XII. By W. Al. Thackeray.
In this number we have an account of the death of
old Sir Pitt Crawley, and of the accession of young
Sir Pitt, who, immediately upon his accession dis-
patches to his brother Rawdon (despite the remon-
strances of his mother-in-law, Lady Southdown) a
missive, inviting him and his wife to Queen's
Crawley. The invitation is accepted; and Rebecca,
having restored herself to the good graces of Pitt
and his sisters, and having in half an hour secured
the close and intimate friendship of Lady Jane, pro-
ceeds to attack the august Lady Southdown herself;
and thus she proceeded :
" As soon as she found her Ladyship alone, Rebecca
attacked her on the nursery question at once, and said
that her own little boy was saved, actually saved, by
calomel, freely administered, when all the physicians in
Paris had given the dear child up. And then she men-
tioned how often she had heard of Lady Southdown from
that excellent man the Reverend Lawrence Grills, minis-
ter of the chapel in May Fair, which she frequented ;
and how her views were very much changed by circum-
stances and misfortunes; and how she hoped that a
past life spent in worldliness and error might not inca-
pacitate her from more serious thoughts for the future.
She described how in former days she had been indebted
to Mr. Crawley for religious instruction, touched upon
tho Washerwoman of Finchley Common,' which she
had read with the greatest profit, and asked about Lady
Emily, its gifted author, now Lady Emily Llornblower,
at Cape Town, where her husband had strong hopes of
becoming Bishop of Caffraria.
" But she crowned all, and confirmed herself in Lady
Southdown's favour, by feeling very much agitated and
unwell after the funeral, and requesting her Ladyship's
medical advice, which the Dowager Rot only gave, but,
wrapped up in a bed-gown, and looking more like Lady
Macbeth than ever, came privately in the night to
Becky's room, with a parcel of favourite tracts, and a
medicine of her own composition, which she insisted upon
Mrs. Rawdon should take.

" Beaky first accepted the tracts, and began to ex-
amine them with great interest, engaging the Dowager in
a conversation concerning, them and the.welfare of her
soul, by which moans she hoped that her body might
escape medication. But after the religious topics were
exhausted, Lady Macbeth would not quit Becky's cham-
ber until her cup of night-drink was emptied too ; and
poor Mrs. Rawdon was compelled actually to assume a
look of gratitude, and to swallow the medicine under the
unyielding old Dowager's nose, who left her victim finally
with a benediction.

" It did not much comfort Mrs. Rawdon; her counte-
nance was very queer when Rawdon came in and heard
what had happened; and his explosions of laughter were
as loud as usual, when Becky, with a fun which she could
not disguise, even though it was at her own expense,
described the occurrence, and how she had been victim-
ised by Lady Southdown. Lord Steyne, and her son in
London, had many a laugh over the story, when Raw-
don and his wife returned to their quarters in May Fair.
Becky acted the whole scene for them. She put on a
night-cap and gown. She preached a great sermon in
the true serious manner ; she lectured on the virtue of
the medicine which she pretended to administer, with a
gravity of imitation so perfect, that you would have
thoueht it was the Countess's own Roman nose through
which she snuffled. Give us Lady Southdown and the
back dose," was a constant cry amongst the folks in
Becky's little drawing-room iu May Fair. And for the
first time in her life the Dowager Countess of South-
down was made amusing."

Completely mistress of the position, Rebecca returns
to enjoy her triumphs in London. The story then
returns to the Osbornes. Maria Osborne, married to
Frederick Bullock, resides at the West-end, and cuts
her father, her sister, and the residents in Russell-
square, as vulgar. Miss Osborne becomes the old
maid housekeeper of her father, and an occasional
visitor at the residence of Sir William Dobbin—there
she one morning meets little Georgy
:
"Miss Osborne came back to give her father his din-
ner. He had made a good speculation in the City, and
was rather in a good humour that day, and chanced to
remark the agitation under which she laboured. What's
the matter, Miss Osborne?' he deigned to say.
" The woman burst into tears. 0, Sir,' she said;
' I've seen little George. He is as beautiful as an angel
—and so like him!' The old man opposite to her did
not say a word, but flushed up, and began to tremble in
e mu limb."