The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-09 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

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Tins Almanac lolly maintains the character
which it so justly obtained four years ago when it
appeared for the first time in its present shape. It
is equally copious, extending to 528 pages of small
but distinct type ; and, exclusive of very complete
information respectiny S!otlatifl Oil almost evtn'y
connected vvith
statistics, &c., it contains the Army and Navy
List complete towarils the close of the year, a great
number of useful tables, and several articles on dif-
ferent subjects prepared expressly for the work. It
resembles in some respects " Knight's British Al-
manac, with the Companion," but is mane respects
is more comprehensive, as, in addition to the at-
tic:es specified, it gives the Peerage of England
abridged, that of Scotland at length, and a brief
historical account of all the present Representatives
for Scotland. It is hardly necessary, therefore, to
say, that it will be found a very useful book of re-
ference for persons in every rank of life in the
United Kingdom. The following brief memoir of
the Attorney-General is taken from the notice on
the Members of Parliament for Scotland :

Campbell, Sir John, Knight, her Majesty's Attorney-
General (Edinburgh), born 1778, second son of the late
George Campbell, DD., Minister of Cupar, in Fifeshire,
from 1771 till 1825, and Magdalene, only daughter of
John Hailyburton, Esq., of the Fodderance ; wat called to
the bar in 1807 ; married 1821 llon. Mary Elizabeth, eldest
daughter of Lord Abinger, created in 1836 B.troness
Stratheden, and has issue; held the office of Solicitor-
General from 1832 to 1834; was appointed Attorney-
G:-neral in 1834, and has again held the office since April
1835 ; sat for Stafford in 1830 and 1831, and for Dudley
from 1832 to 1834 ; has represented the city since 1834.
Residence, 9, New_street, Spring gardens, London.

ENCYCL 0132EDIA BRITANNICA.
VOLS. XX., XXI.
Black,Edinburyh, 1840.
Among the various scientific, literary, &C, arti-
cles of which the volumes before us consist, we
have been particularly pleased with the biographi-
cal account of the well-known Horne Tooke, which,
brief as it is, gives a very accurate estimate of hiS
character—indeed, tells us all about him that we
care to know. Though a clever, well-read man, and
an acute politician, Tooke did little or nothing,
whether in literature or in politics, that should
cause his name to be handed down to posterity.
his chief excellence was a clear and vigorous un-
derstanding, of a decidedly practical character, which
rendered him formidable to his opponents—espe-
cially the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir
Fletcher Norton, who used to tremble whenever he
heard his name mentioned. Had he but given his
tobust, manly intellect fair play, and not have
frittered away his energies, now in squabbling with
Wilkes and Junius, and now in mixing himself up
with petty legal questions, unworthy the serious
consideration of such a man—had Tooke, in short,
abjured ultra-Radical politics, and stuck steadily to
the law, there is little doubt that he would have be-
come the first lawyer of his day, for his
talents were precisely of a nature calcu-
lated to win him fame and fortune in this
difficult profession. At present he is chiefly re-
membered for his great conversational abilities ; but
in a few years lie will be altogether forgotten, for his
" Diversions of Purley"—an etymological work on
which he greatly prided himself—is, however in-
genious, and at times witty, of far too superficial a
character to ensure the favourable suffrages of pos-
terity. Of the numerous other essays, criticisms,
and biographies to be found in these volumes, we
must content ourselves with saying, that they are
each and all written with that tact for which this
Encyclopiadia has ever been remarkable.

THE CRACKS OF THE DAY.
Ackermann, London, 1840.

In this work, which is handsomely got up, and
is devoted to sporting subjects, we have full par-
ticulars respecting many of the most celebrated
races that have taken place at Epsom, Newmarket,
Doncaster, and elsewhere, for the last ten or twenty
years and upwards. The volume is embellished
with numerous portraits of well-known race-horses
and their sporting owners, and, to our thinking, the
horses are the most intelligent looking animals of
the two.