The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, FE

r familiar, as regards the Bank of England, in rather a rapid
reduction of its stock of bullion. It is stated that on the Ist
instant it amounted only to 107,000,000 f., and that on the Ist
of March it will be 7,000,000 or 5,000,000 less. The payment
of the half. year's dividends on the Five per Cents. will, it is said,
absorb 40,000,000 f,, and the remaining 60,000 f. will be scarcely
sufficient for an Administration which expends 1,300,000 E, per
annum. Leans of the floatit.g debt could not, it was supposed,
supply the deficiency. The Treasury could hitherto only dispose
of time bonds to the amount of 39,000,000 f., and that by paying
3i per cent. for six months' date, and 4 per cent. for a year,
whereas two years ago the Treasury could easily procure money at
at 2or 2i per cent. This arises from no scarcity of :Toney, which
is said to abound in the Bourse, and is obtainable by private indi-
viduals at 2 per cent., but the credit of the State does not stand so
high as that of private individuals. This drain on the coffers of
the Bank of France will doubtless be felt to be very seasonable by
the Directors of the Bank of England, and it is to be hoped that
this event will have the effect of replenishing their own.

LITERATURE.

LETTERS FROM THE COURTS OF
FRANCE, NAPLES, &c.-2 VOLS.
Colburn, London, 1841.
By a short biographical memoir prefixed to
the first volume of this work, we learn that its
author, Mr. Swinburne, was an accomplished
English gentleman, third son of a northern
Baronet of that name; that he wrote a highly
popular book, entitled " Travels in Spain and
Italy;" and died in the West Indies in the year
1803, of a coup de 801(41. From the volumes now
lying on our table, we should judge that he was
a gentleman of very accomplished tastes, and a
man of the world in the best and most comprehen-
sive sense of the term; and we may add—what
is evident indeed in all his letters—that without
possessing one tithe of the fancy and sprightli-
ne3s of Horace Walpole, that prince of epistol-
ists, he possesses much of his easy, sketchy
power of narration, especially when detailing a
court or fashionable anecdote. Though in these
volumes Mr. Swinburne refers to thnes,characters,
and incidents long since passed away—for the date
of ins last letter is as 'flu back as 1802—yet his ob-
servations and gossiping stories will be read with
interest, affording us, as they do, a clear insight
into the character of fashionable continental
society towards the close of the last century.
Of Louis the Fifteenth, and his favourite mistress
Du Barri, we have many interesting reminis-
cences; the latter, to whom our author was
specially introduced, he describes as follows :
" We fbund the favourite Sultana in her morn-
ing gown, her capuchin on, and her hair un-
dressed ; she was very gracious, and chatted a
good deal about the opera. I could hardly re-
frain from laughing at an involuntary exclama-
tion from my brother presentee, the Duke of
Dorset, whose own mistress, Mrs. Parsons, has
been long out of her teens. Good Heavens !'
said his Grace in a whisper to me, why her bloom
is quite past !' Madame du Bari is of a middling
age, just plump enough, her face rather in the
yellow leaf, her eyes good, and all her features
regular • but I cannot think her a pleasing figure
now, whatever she may have been, or may be
still, when made up, and decked out in her pride."
On quitting the Court of France, where he met
with a cordial reception from all classes, our
author set out for Spain, and here he was equally
well received by the Royal Family and the No-
bility. According to his own account, nothing
could exceed the magnificence of the Spanish
Court at this period. " There are," he tells us,
" twelve thousand head of deer in the Royal
woods of Aranjuez. The King alone has
one hundred and fifteen sets of mules, and
ten thousand persons follow the Court whenever
it changes palaces. The Duke of Infantado gives
upwards of ten thousand pounds sterling in wages
and pensions." From Spain Mr. Swinburne
proceeded to Rome, Naples, and thence to
Sicily, where nothing surprised him more than
the exceeding ugliness of the women of Pa-
lermo. Brydone, if we remember rightly, was
struck with their beauty. On his return to Eng-
land our author mixed much in the higher cir-
cles of the metropolis; and among others whom
he often met in company, were the celebrated
George Selwyn and John Wilkes, of whom he
Oaks these anecdotes.
"We had a turtle dinner at Wilkes's yesterday. I had met
him the day before on the parade, and the warmth of the wea-
ther and walk had carried off all the powder from his bald pate.
He is a great complimenter, and would stand talking to me
with his hat in his hand A drummer and his son passed us,
and as I was going their way, I overheard their discourse.
' What a queer-looking bald fellow that was,' said the boy.
' Don't you know him ?' replied the other ; "tis Johnny
Wilkes, and that bald head has more brains in it than all our
regiments put together, drummers and all.' I told this to
Wilkes, and it made him chuckle. He was Very amusing, and
told me several droll things._

POST.—The general condition and prospects of the stock mar-
kets remain the same. The scarcity of money is, however, more
urgently felt than it has been at any period since the close of the
past year. Of the pressure experienced in this respect at the Stock
Exchange some idea will be conveyed by the difference there is be-
tween the quotations of Consols for time and for immediate trans-
fer, which is full per cent.
The result of the debate on Lord Morpeth's Registration Bill
was such as to lead to the conclusion, in this part of the metro-
polis, that Ministers have no alternative left but to abandon office.
Those most attached to them, and to their interests, seem, indeed,
on every account, not only to expect but even to wish it. If this
be nct the prevailing view of our commercial men, we shall most
probably be contradicted. Yet we confidently risk the aesertioti.
All parties are satisfied that things cannot go on as they are now
doing any longer.

SUN —The high rates paid in the Stock Exchange for
discount accommodation had the effect of keeping down the
value of the Funds. Consols for immediate transfer have
been marked 881 to 881-, and for time 89k to 891. The
rate of continuation to-day was 4to per Cent., till 15th
April. Exchequer Bills brought 50. to 7s. premium, and
India Bonds were 15s. discount. Bank Stick was at an
advance to 166 and 167, and India Stock was nominally
without alteration ; the New Three and-I-Half per Cents.
brought 97 to 1, and the Three per Cents. 891 to 881.
The half-monthly account in the Foreign Market was
settled to-day, and attracted scarcely any notiez, from its
extreme insignificance. Spanish Active Bonds hale al-
ternated since the 12th instant not more than .f 4-, Portu-
guese only 1, Mexican 1, and Brazilian 1/ per cent.
Money is at present rather scarce in the Stock Exchange,
and it is perhaps so far lucky that the fluctuations have not
been more considerable. Spanish Active Bods were
marked to-day at 231 to 24, Portuguese New-Fire per
Cents. at 31.,t to 1, Colombian of 1824 at 221, Mexican
at 271 to Brazilian at 72 to 4, Buenos Ayres at 25 ;
Russian Bonds were firm at 113., Danish brought 77k,
and• Dutch Five I.er Cents. 991 to 4. At Amsterdam, on
Tuesday afternoon, the Two-and-a-Half per Cents. doss d
at 501 to 7-16ths, and the Five per Cents. at 97 15-16
to 98.

The Railway Shares were this afternoon again rather
more dealt in, but the speculations having been recently in
favour of a decline, the account has sent down price.; a
littlr. Great Western were 23 to 211; tht., New 10 to
; the Fifths 5 ; the South Western 17i ; and the
York and North Midland 251 premium. Brighton Shares
were 71 to 74; Blackwall Northern and Eastern 27 ;
North Midland 27 ; Birmingham and Gloucester 22; and
South Eastern 164- discount. British North American
Bank Shares were 51- discount.
This afternoon the Foreign Exchanges were again bet-
ter, the improvement being more decided than for some
post days past. The rate for bills on Paris was 25f. 60c.
to 65c. ; on Hamburgh, 13 744-, to 8 ; nn Amsterdam, 12 34t0 1 ; on Antwerp, 12 21 to k ; on Frankfort, 149 k; and
on Trieste, 10 11 to 2i.

" In 1783-4, the House of Commons went up every day with
an address to the King, praying to remove Pitt and his Mi-
nistry. The King always received them on his throne, and
gave them an answer. One of these days, at the club, George
Selwyn had been asking the Prince of Wales some questions,
to which he did not choose to reply otherwise than by Pshaw !
nonsense !' Not long after, as they were both leaning on the
balcony looking at the Speaker going to Court, the Prince
said; I wonder what will be his Majesty's most gracious an-
swer?' I cannot tell,' answered George Selwyn, ' what may
be the gracious answer of his present Majesty—but I can tell
what will be the answer of our next gracious Sovereign.'
' Well, what will it be ?' said the Prince. ' Nonsense !' he
replied.
" The other day, at a dinner, in company with the Prince
of Wales, Wilkes being called upon for a toast, gave "rho
King, and long life to him !' Since when have you become
so loyal, Wilkes?' said the Prince, laughing. Ever since I
have'had the honour of knowing your Royal Highness,' said
he, with a respectful bow.
" When the Prince was a little boy, having been very trouble-
some in his father's room, an' several times turned out of it by
him, he returned at last, and thrusting his head into the door-
way, screamed out, Wilkes and Liberty !' "
Of Mrs. Siddons, whom our author frequently
met while in London, he says that " she is hand-
some, but too stately for common life," to which
remark the Editor, Mr. White, appends this
amusing note :
This is true. Mrs. Siddons almost always, to use her own
expression, spoke in the language of Shakspeare, and accounted
for it by her mind being constantly absorbed in meditating upon
the works of our immortal bard, so that she identified herself,
as it were, with his phraseology. The last time almost I met
her, she said, " how fares your good lady ?" " Passing well,"
answered I. " Bear my kind greetings, and commend me to
her favour," replied Mrs. Siddons, waving her hand. Then
again, one day at dinner, I proposed to help her to something ;
I cry your mercy," said she, "I've feasted sumptuously."
In Lockhart's life of Scott there is, if we re-
member rightly, a somewhat similar anecdote
related of Mrs. Siddons. She was dining at
Abbotsford, when, happening to call for a glass
of beer, the servant, by mistake, brought her a
tumbler of cold water, on which, looking at him
with the severe, majestic air of a high tragedy
Queen, she addressed him in the following blank
verse manner, " You've brought me water, boy,
I called for beer." In closing our notice of this
amusing, desultory work, we must observe that
it is by no means so carefully edited as it should
have been. Here, for instance, is a strange blun-
der on the part of the Editor. Mr. Swinburne,
having casually mentioned that he had paid a
visit to the "Duchess de la Valero, aged seventy-
nine, who was a famous beauty, and has yet won-
derful eyes," Mr. White, confounding this lady
with the celebrated mistress of the Grand Mo-
narque, observes in a note :—" It is, I believe,
admitted that Madame de la Valliere, from her
first presentation at Court to the latest moment of
her life, continued most constant both to the person
and memory of her Iloyal lovte, The history of
her liaison with Louis XIV., and her abandon-
ment b:.,* titan di44oluto and capricious Monarch,
are too well known to require comment." Now,
it happens that the Duchesse de la Valliere did
not survive Lotils, but died five years before him,
in 1710, and yet Mr. White gravely states that
she was alive in 1787—the period to which Mr.
Swinburne's visit refers—Just seventy-seven years
after her decease ! This is sad negligence.

TEE NAVAL SURGEON. 3 Yoz.s.
Colburn, London, 1841.

There is no want of mystery in this story, but
it is of a Violent and melodramatic character, and
is unravelled with an appearance of effort that
detracts from the effect. The hero is a high-
spirited, adventurous young man, the son of an
-Trish Baronet of ancient descent, Sir Maurice
O'Donnell, who leaving been rescued from death
in a field of battle by a brother officer of the
same name, is so grateful to his preserver, that
he purchases him a small estate near his own at
Castle Maurice; adopts him as a brother; and
when both O'Donnells subsequently marry, they
agree to live together, so as to form with their
children one large, happy, and united family.
For some years nothing can surpass their mutual
felicity, but unfortunately circumstances call
Major O'Donnell to England, and during his ab-
sence, his wife, who is a confirmed sleep-walker,
whenever anything weighs upon her mind, meets
with—or rather is the occasion of—the following
very awkward mistake, which is thus related by
Sir. Maurice O'Donnell, who was one of the chief
parties compromised by the accident, to his son,
many a long year after the event :
" By extreme care this habit of sleep-walking in Mrs.
O'Donnell had been, as we believed, quite cured; and
after showing itself only when external circumstances had
grievously oppressed the mind, a long interval elapsed
without any recurrence, and we ceased to fear that such
would be the cause. Colonel O'Donnell, her husband,
had almost forgot that it had ever occurred, and this led
to his neglecting the precautions that guarded against its
evils. When he, as you are aware, left Castle Maurice
for England, his wife greatly wished to accompany him ;
but as he had a peculiar aversion to such a step, she re-
mained behind, and, it being their first separation, was in
great distress. At this time both my brother's room and
my own were doubly furnished chambers, and when my
wife rose on she following morning, she came to my side.
The discovery which ensued, I cannot, dare not, relate to
you in detail ; suffice it to say that the happiness of a life
was blasted in a moment for all three. The unspeakable
agony, the horrible debate that followed I cannot dwell
upon. Mrs. O'Donnell became a gibbering ideot; my
w ire fell into almost as pitiable a state ; and I was thence-
forth the melancholy being you have always known. At
first it was thought advisable to conceal the truth from
the Colonel; but that becoming impossible, I wrote to
him a letter conkintly with your mother. To her part of
this lett^r he replied. But whether his reason tottered
under the blow I know not ; I cannot, however, think
otherwise. He refused to believe anything but the vilest
treachery on my part—spoke of his immed'ate return, and
vowed to attempt my life, whenever he should meet me."
Of course after this " untoward" affair the
O'Donnells no longer reside under the same roof;
the Baronet still continues at his castle, but
Major O'Donnell retires with his wife and chil-
dren to a small estate in the neighbourhood; and
happening to meet with hi.,; 010 friend, but now
•
-deadly enemy, olle day in inintiirg, he provokes
him to a duel, and is killed by the Baronet.
Soon afterwards the survivor's son encounters

[JAR V 27, 1841.

young KEtthlt,4,4t O'Donnell, falls in love
with her, and would &Ist! married her, but that
Sir Maurice hearing of the cirCiiiitstance orders
her to be clandestinely conveyed away to the
Continent. Thus disappointed; and stung by his
father's harshness and injustice towauds him, the
young man resolves on leaving home and becom-
ing the artificer of his own fortune. With this
view he adopts the medical line, and obtains the
post of naval surgeon; and his adventures in this
profession, which are related at length, and with
much graphic vigor, forth by far the most enter-
taining portions of the tale. Here, there is much
various knowledge of actual dally life exhibited,
and not a few characters drawn with equal tact
and superior energy to any of Captain Marryat's
naval sketches. The tale concludes with the
hero's marriage with Kathleen O'Donnell—a re-
sult, however, which is brought about by a can-
currence of the most improbable events.

CHILDREN OF THE MOBILITY.
Bentley, London, 1841.
This is a lively and ingenious quiz upon a
showy, fashionable Annual entitled " Children
of the Nobility," which, it may be remembered,
way brought out last year in a very splendid style,
and contained Some three or four brace of aristo-
cratic portraits, to each of which was attached
some commendatory pieces of prose or verse.
In the " Children of the Mobility," we have,
instead of particular individuals, groupes of
figures of the lowest classes, sketched with great
spirit and humour by Leech, who bids fair to win
himself a name in this walk of art. In the ease,
lightness, and occasional elegance of his touch,
he is not unlike H. 8., but he has less whim of
conception, and has yet to show that he possesses
the variety of this accomplished caricaturist.
Mr. Leech's first plate, which forms the 'frontis-
piece of the present work, is his cleverest, and
represents a squalid groupe of pauper children,
whose thin, pinched faces and tattered garments
present a striking contrast to the healthy, hand-
some aristocratic groupes depicted in the Annual
above mentioned. One figure, that of a young
girl, who is listening with a smile to the conver-
sation of a ragged urchin near her, is remarkable
for the ease, not to say elegance of its attitude,
though the 'artist, we suspect, intended to make
the girl's figure merely ridiculous. The bare-
legged child who stands next her, and is looking
pensively into an empty porter-pot, cannot be
seen without exciting a hearty laugh, so exqui-
site grotesque is the would-be pathetic expression
of her countenance. The literary department of
the work is penned in a spirit of quiet, sedate
humour, which would have been more effective,
had the author thrown a little more breadth and
piquancy into it.

THE MONEYED MAN. 3 VoLs,
Colburn' London, 1841. 't
Mr. Horace Smith has here essayed alltaSk in
which he is far better qualified to excel„than in
writing imitations of the Waverley.' novels.
In the " Moneyed Man," he has found a subject
every way suited to his talents, for the tale is one
of real practical life, and deals with real characters,
and consequently has been treated con amore by an
author whose power of shrewd observation has
ever been more remarkable than his fancy. We
consider the novel before us as the best that the
year has yet produced, first, on account of its in-
cidents, which are well put together, and vigor-
ously and carefully wrought out; and secondly,
on account of the judicious reflections that are
scattered throughout it, and the praise-
worthy moral it enforces. The leadinr,
points of the "Moneyed Man" which
assumes the form of an autobiography—
may be soon summed up. The hero, Mark
Hawkwood, is the son and heir of the richest
banker and merchant in all London, and at the
opening of the narrative has just succeeded in
obtaining a partnership in his father's house of
business. The old man, whose sole thoughts are
bent on the accumulation of gain, endeavours,
of course, to inoculate his son with the same
tastes; but the young man prefers rather to
join in the fashionable society and dissipa-
tions of the West-end, which soon involve him in
pecuniary embarrassments. While he is thus
hampered by his extravagances, old Hawk wood
suddenly dies; and then the son discovers to his
surprise and horror that, instead of succeed-
as he had anticipated, to his vast
wealth, he succeeds to nothing but his debts,
for the supposed millionaire had died in
a state of absolute insolvency. Then follow in
rapid succession the usual calamities attending
such a state of things. The destitute young :nan
is cut by all his respectable acquaintances; the
charm that hung around his life is dispelled; his
spirits daily sink more and more; and he seems
likely ere long to degenerate into a confirmed
misanthropist. But at this crisis, his only sister
Edith interposes, like a guardian angel, between
him and utter, hopeless ruin. By her advice, lie
looks actively about him for the means of sub-
sistence ; shakes off his lethargy; and after some
time spent in hunting about for a suitable em-
ployment, obtains a situation on a newspaper;
marries a girl with a small fortune, whom he had
occasionally flirted with in the days of his
prosperity ; and during the remainder of
his life enjoys a far greater amount of
rational happiness than lie had ever enjoyed
when courted by all classes of society in defe-
rence to his father's wealth and his own expecta-
tions. The main object of the tale is to show that
riches are by no means indispensable to felicity,
but, on the contrary, are too often destructive of
it ; and this useful moral is enforced through the
medium of the hero's own confessions, who,
as a rich man, is a very selfish, heartless, ar-
rogant fellow ; but when brought to his
senses, and sobered by misfortunes, seems to
change his very nature, and to become calm,
amiable, contented, and happy, because then,
for the first time, he enjoys—what Pope has so
beautifully called—the eternal sunshine of the
spotless mind." The delineation of this charac-
ter, in the various phases of its idiosyncrasy, is
admirably true to nature, and induces the suppo-
sition that some particularindividual, with whom
the author was acquainted, sat for the portrait. In
the course of the narrative we have brief glimpses
of several personages of more or less note in their
day--such as the Prince of Wales,Beau Brummell,
and Barrington the pickpocket, which last genius
had the finest conception of a petty larceny of any
artist that ever existed, though it has been objected
to him, by some fastidious critics, that his style
of execution was monotonous and wanted versa-
tility. We close this hasty notice with the re-
mark that the " Moneyed Man " isincomparably
the most thoughtful, spirited, and entertaining
novel that has yet appeared from the pen of Ho-
race Smith.

SCEIVERY AND ANTIQUITIES OP
IRELAND. P 4117 I.
Virtue, London, 1841.
We have here the commencement of another
work on Ireland, resembling in its plan and mode
of publication the one now editing by Mrs. Hall,
but certainly not possessing—so far at least as
we can judge from a first number—the claims of
that excellent work on popular favour. Mr. Wil-
lis is the editor of the present publication—an
American gentleman who has written some small
poems of a very Grub-street order of imagina-
tion, and one or two volumes of travels in which,
mixed with some lively descriptions, there is an
infinite deal of pert twaddle. His cursory
sketches, in the Part before us, of the scenery in
the neighbourhood of Belfast, are passable
enough, and his account of the city of Belfast is,
we have reason to believe, strictly accurate.
" No town," he says, " that I have since visited,
is so un-Irish in its appearance, or in the
character of its inhabitants. Industry, tem-
perance, and frugality seem to be the guid-
ing principle among every class. Business
is life here, and life is business; we find none of
the deep drinking and careless merriment' of the
South, which leave to-morrow to do for itself.
A shrewd calculating spirit pervades the whole
mass of the community, proving in contestibly
their genuine Scotch descent. Yet, with all
their money-getting habits, the people of Bel-
fast are not so engrossed by business, but that
they can afford a large portion of their time
and money to the advancement of literature and
the fine arts." The embellishments of this Part
are six in number, and furnish us with a vivid
idea of some of the loveliest landscapes in Ire-
land. The best in point of subject and execution
is a view of " Clew Bay, from West Port,"
which, with its gleaming water dotted by syl-
van islands, bold mountain-shores, and far-
stretching promontories, realizes all our notions
of the sublime and beautiful in nature. By way
of frontispiece, we have a half-length portrait of
Mr. Willis, in which that gentleman is trying
hard to look like a man of genius, but, we are
sorry to say, without effect.

7HE SPAS OF ENGLAND. •
Colburn, London, 1841.
After visiting in succession, and describing
with much minuteness of detail, the most cele-
brated Spas of Germany, Dr. Granville has now
turned. his attention to those of England ; and
in the present volume has given an ac-
count of those of our northern Spas Which
are most frequented by invalids.
ce His
hose de-
tails of Harrogate—a watering-pla w
springs still retain all their old efficiency—
of Scarborough, Redcar, and Hartlepool, are
full of curious local matters, and we hope will be
the means of drawing an increase of visitors to
these delightftil-spots, • and checking the preva-
lent mania for resorting to foreign Spas, as if

INITIA LATINA.

This ig a i'Vry useful guide to Latin for begin-
ners, edited by the Rev. I. Edwards, M.A., Se-
cond Master of King's College School, and Wil-
liam Cross, of Trinity College, Cambridge. Its
peculiarity consists in the threefold division of
the Syntax, forming three successive courses of
study. Nothing is anticipated in construction,
but an outline of the subject is presented to the
pupil in the first part, which is the object of the
remaining parts to fill up. A vocabulary is pre-
fixed to the first and second parts, and the Eton
Syntax forms the basis of the rules. which are so
simple and intelligible that a learner with a slight
knowledge of the grammar may study the work
to great advantage without the assiotance of a
master.

A DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE, LITER:4-

TUBE, AND ART,

The Second Number of this work, whigh is to
be completed in Twelve Parts, has just appearech
and contains all the articles under the letter fl
to those under Cup to " Chivalry." We have
already described the nature of the work, and are
glad to find that this Part confirms the favour-
able opinion we formed of it at the commence-
ment. The article on " Banks," by Mr. M'Cul-
loch, will be read with interest at the present
moment. It gives a concise history of banking
in general, pointing out the defects of the pre-
sent system, with suggestions for its improve.;
went, a statement of the affairs of the Bank of
England, an account of the circulation of pri-
vate banks in England and Wales, and an
outline of the system of banking in Scotland
since the establishment of the Bank of Scotland
in 1695, one year after the Bank of England was
founded. In describing the panic among
bankers, farmers, and others, after the general
peace and the panic of 1825, the writer gives the
following distressing account of the vast destruc-
tion of property :
" The country banks (in 1815) being generally
without the means of meeting any emergency
no fewer than 240 of these establishments
stopped payment. There is, in fact, believed to
have been in 1814-15-16 a greater destruction of
bank-paper in this country, and a wider range of
bankruptcy than had ever previously taken place
any where else, except, perhaps in France, at
the breaking up of the Mississippi scheme, and
so rapid and sweeping. was the destruction in
1825, that, in less than six weeks, above seventy
banking establishments were swept off, and a
vacuum created in the currency that absorbed
from eight to ten millions of additional issues by
the Bank of England."
Among the other articles of interest are " Ba-
rometer"(an ample account), "Bridge" " Canal,"
and a " Capillary Action" and " Chemistry."

FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. PART I
Virtue, London. 1841.

A republication, in Monthly Parts, of a book
once exceedingly popular, but which has now, in
a great measure, fallen into oblivion, the age
having outgrown that taste for physical horrors
in which it unsparingly deals. The Part is
printed in a clear, and even elegant type, and on
very excellent paper. We cannot, however, pre-
dict for the work any extensive circulation,
though its cheapness and beauty are certainly
strong arguments in its favour.

MEMOIRS OF THE COLMAN FAMILY.
2 Vols. Bentley, London, 1841.

Much of the matter contained in these volumes
has already appeared in George Colman's " Ran-
dom Records," but as the Editor, as in duty
bound, has mentioned this fact, we know not that
we have any great cause to complain, especially
as the extracts are all of an entertaining nature,
and many of them, no doubt, new to our readers,
the work from which they are taken, having
had, we believe, but a limited circulation. As
the Colmans, father and son, passed their whole
lives amid the stir and bustle of society, and
were both of them distinguished by ability
—the father being the better scholar, the
son, the greater wit—they came in contact with
nearly all, the celebrated personages of their day ;
and in these volumes we have cursory remini-
scences of many of the most eminent among
their contemporaries. As a matter of course,
Dr. Johnson figures prominently among
them, but is drawn by the younger Colman
in no favourable light, while Gibbon is kindly
and respectfully spoken of, and Goldsmith ex-
tolled to the skies for that very bonhommie and
simplicity which so highly excited the pity
and contempt of Boswell. Of Garrick also,
and Foote, and Sheridan, we have several
diverting recollections; but the former, with
his insatiable egotism, vanity, and fussiness of
nature, cuts but a sorry figure ; and after reading
the biographer's account of the great actor's en-
deavours to puff himself off through the medium
of a friend, while residing in Paris, we are more
than ever disposed to acquiesce in the justice of
Johnson's estimate of him. Hannah More appears
but once on the stage,but this once is quite enough,
for never was author more extravagantly overrated
than the sainted Hannah. As a poet and a dra-
matist, her abilities were beneath contempt;
as a novelist, she was merely of a fourth-rate
order ; and as a theological writer, her prosi-
ness is at least as remarkable as her piety.
She had, however, consummate knowledge
of the world, and by flattering all the great
people of her day—more particularly Johnson,
whom, on one occasion, she absolutely sickened
by her fulsome compliments—she managed to se-
cure for herself a reputation which is only just
now beginning to find its level. At the close of
the volumes we find a character of the younger
Colman pourtrayed by Mr. Arnold, in what
we are willing to believe is a just, though
it is assuredly not a flattering, spirit. This
gentleman gives more praise to the con-
versational wit of Sheridan than to that of
Colman, in which he differs from Lord
Byron, who had met both in society, and has
recorded in his diary—vide Moore's Life—
that he thought the latter by far the most
acceptable companion of the two. " Who shall
decide when doctors disagree ?" We subjoin a
whimsical anecdote of Colman when invited to
dine at Carlton House, which has this rare re-
commendation, that it has never till now appeared
in print :

About this time his Royal Highness the Duke of York
obtained leave (from the King's Bench) for Colman to
dine at Carlton House. He accompanied the Duke
thither. On his walking through the apertments with
him, Colman remarked, " What excellent lodgings
have nothing like them in the King's Bench 1" After
dinner, he exclaimed,—" Eh 1 why this is wine • pray, do
tell me, who that fine looking fellow is at the head of
Georthe
table ?" The good-natured Duke, said. Hash, ge,
you'll get into a scrape." " No, no," said Colman, in a louder
voice, " I am come out to enjoy myself; I want to know who
that fine, square-shouldered, magnificent-looking, agree-
able fellow is at the head of the table ?" "Be quiet,
George," interrupted the Duke, " You know it is the
Prince." " Why then," continued Colman, still
louder, " He is your elder brother. I declare Ire don't
look look half your age. Well the I
remember the time
when he sung a good song! and as I am come out for a
lark, fur only one day, if be is the same good fellow that
be used to be, he. would not refuse an old play-fellow."
The Prince laughed, and sang. " What a magnificent
voice,", exclaimed Colman. " I have heard nothing to he
compared to it for year& Such expression too ! I'll be
damned if I don't engage him for my theatte. It would
appear that this freak gave no offenccito the Royal host;
for Colman was ever treated with kindness by George the
Fourth.

PORTS, ARSENALOF S, AND DOCKYARDS,
FRANCE.
J. Fraser, London.

This is a collection of letters originally pub-
lished in
sa Morning Paper, giving a hasty, though
occasionally interesting account of the principal
naval establishments in France. It is to be re-
gretted, however, that. the writer, by fulsome
flattery of one party, rancorous abuse of another,
and a wanton attack upon an individual long em-
ployed by the Government, should raise some-

1.........0 . ..-4A. ‘,,.,,,
,„......4,44.6.1;70,....
- .:-.,
our tOrif were not quite as serviceable as rem edial thing more than suspicion in the min t. . - ---Li7,l•4rn;:
agents. Of Earrogate which seems to be that facts are often twisted to suit . o -17i-'
". -,
a great favourite With the Doctor, he I tells. torted views. The following paragraph, ' '.4-: ' "
'Ala sa -- *%'''
us that "it remains a village to this c lay, ciinen :—" Unadopted by the Foreign-office,
tbstigh upwards of two hundred and seve sty paid by the country, unrejected by any constitu-
years,springs :. !re practice literary larceny on a large scale, as some
have elapsed since the first mineral water ency whatever, I have not thought it right to
timents,have done, or appropriating the language, was tapped on its bleak heath. IS'
founta. i n - and opinions of others, io call it a Re-
unsophisticated, because the place itst.lif rem? Ills
port, and fawningly foist it on the tables of senti-
asPar-
it was. You dip your cup into the
~ Hai - nament." He is wofullyout of his reckoning at
times, too,
Re-
head, and get your strong waters. Th. 'n'e is ii"
8-,111.u.i5a.-10 French
r, navieisn. spoeankinvgisitoinf thae
rEopne_glwislaiikanadt
shuffling, and the mind is conyinced at once '•
g
t.;herbourg, he heard some 500 men and boys
rogate is, in fact, a true and genuine Spa. Its
singing martial airs to the beat of drum, a cir-
tion is delightful. For elevation, above the . 1
and German oceans, midway between which . it is
placed ; for position, at about equtil distant 'es.
cum
from the capitals of the United Kingdo
. on his nce. wdhich made as awful an impression
n. . B wtooden walls at once to , destruc-
for geological formation, favourable to ,of the ' Timesln'
a_s if the " infernal machine"
wre must describe his dismal
life—Harrogate stands almost pre-eminent. Y hll our _ had been prepared to blow
in his own words :—"As Ipaced down
human
such a place must enjoy a salubrious air it is hardi; 1 ‘?
'1,..L 'bodi n '
noble covered allies (alleys) and saw the
necessary for me to add. The extensive heaths
which, with immense tracts of finely-cultivated fors
igb eye, and heard the martial song and.
country, surround this favoured spot, allow full di&
tit of the drum, I caught a port(of
play to the sweeping breezes, and render the air alistei.
remarkably pure and bracing." Of Scarbo- the loulx
siasm which is in some sense commu-
rough, its environs, and its waters, our au- that entht,
thor speaks ,in equal terms of praise, and nicable and electric, and I said 'to myself,' in
e navy of
orrent of rain,
care " W
of ould to heav en
expressly assures us that, " after a course of going out in a. '
ine to to
the Harrogate waters, the daily use of the that we had some :
ke th
South spring water of Scarborough would form Old England!" A:ld while these lugubrious
the most appropriate and beneficial appendix words were going throt:,7l.l ti:e press, the English
to the treatment of a vast number of disorders." fi..-wt after successes on the, Syrian coast, un-
We take fur granted that in the next .volume paralleled even in the days of Illake or Nelson,
Dr. Granville will furnish us with an account of ;were safely moored in Marmorice, Bay, a French
the more fashionable western and southern Spas fleet was exposed without an object. to a :tempest
of England, as his present volume is exclusively in the Mediterranean, and utterly disc) erst. d with
devoted to descriptions- of the northern ones. frightful loss oflife and property ! The writer. seems
to have forgotten that there are such anima is as
British sailors in existence ; and we would at 'vise
him, therefore, to take a cruize with Commociore
Napier, to compare the cheer of the gallant cre w
of the Powerful with the chaunting of the Cher -
bourg rope-makers; or, if he will, what is more
terrible before battle, with "cet affreux .silence
des Anglais." Whatever he may know of F.rench
ports or French sailors, he evidently knows Jittle
or nothing, about the energy, the resources, and
the enterprise of the people of this country Or
the state of our natty; and before his book
reaches a second edition, we would advise him to►
pay some attention to these subjects, and place
them in contrast with the exaggerated titatementS,
in his letters.

EVEN ING EDIT

CHURCH RATES-ST. IV s.

On Thursday last, pursuant to public notice, a meetilig was
held in the parish church of St. Ives, for the object of levying a
r,,te for the repairs, Sec. Sc., of the church. 'The Vicar, ths' Rev.
Mr. ro,brook, took the Chair, and in a speech which was ch arac-
in a few words, proposed the rate—seconded by Mr..
teriew 04-• mildness and propriety, opened the business of the day.
six months. He contended ,nr. then rose and proposed the adjournment of the
14Maryinn°r.iab°nTg..nr,'::
pA,
ur,..111 Lands in the parish, if properly employed,
tided that the property
qaruiessintigonfrtoomthtahte
to defray the curr.-mt expenses of the
wEostualbdlibshemaemnptl;ydaaCsnth:dffitchiaetm:.as Dissenters did not participate in any
of the advantages arising front the ministry, th e forms and the
worship of the State religion, they ought not to be' called upon to
pay one farthing of its expenses ; that he fully agiited in the opi-
nion of the " Rural Dean," who had inspected the sacred edifice,
that the " Church was rotten at its foundation."

The Rev. Mr. HOLLkND seconded the amendment; and in a
speech replete with argunent, sound sense, and libera lions, said
that he for one wondered that the Church party, who arvogated to
themselves wealth and influence, intellectual superiority and pa-
tronage, should so lower themselves as to ask the poor Dissenter to
contribute towards the support of their richly.endowed and bene-
ficed Establishment.

Mr..T. LAWRENCE in a long speech supported the Rate, and
among other arguments quoted a passage from Scripture—" R ender
unto Ctesar the things that are Cwsar's," which excited Witch
laughter.
G. C. DAY, Esq., followed, and in his usual energetic style cam..
pletely exposed the fallacy of the attempt to enforce a Church-rate
at the present moment. He asked for the production of the kat,
Rate; wishing to know if it was all collected, and if so how ap-
plied, but it was not produced. He then entered at considerablae
length into the law of the subj-nt, and showed that the burden of
repairing the churches was at first laid, and long continued upon„
the tithes. He quoted the judgment of the Queen's Bench in the,
Braintree case, and said it was unfortunate for Mr. Lawrence. So,
quote the Attorney-General, as that gentleman had gives his de—
cided opinion, that if the majority of the palish refused the tate, no,
power on earth could compel them to pay it. Ile callerl on the
meeting to carry out their principles, and to show to the world that
the Dissenters of St. Ices knew their rights, and kncwiufi, dare
maintain them.

A show of hands was called for by the Chairman, when ii.4l im.
moose majority appeared for the amendment. A poll of the parish
was then demanded, which at Four o'Clock was closed, anol the
decision was as follows :

Against the rate.., . 243
For the rate
Majority against the rate

Thus victory has crowi.ed the errata of the independent Dis-
senters of the town of St. Ives, who have thus publicly expressed to
the world their unqualified disapprobation of this unrighteous impost.

HEATING BUILDINGS WITH

HOT WATER.

TO TEE EDITOR OF TEE SUN.

Sir,Taterested in an extensive manufactory
heated by the above means, my attention was naturally
roused by the alarming announcement above in your paper
of the 15th instant. After detailing many dangerous con-
sequences from its use, your Correspondent asks,
.‘ How, if at all, can the danger he averted, acrd this
cheap and convenient mode of heating buildings by means
of water, be practise,' without risk ?"
This question I will endeavour to answer by explaining
the plan adopted in our own manufactory. The building
consists of four floors or stories; upon the lower floor is
erected a wrought-iron boiler, of an elongated form; on
the upper floor it a cistern of a similar form, but of much
smaller dimensions, and open at the top. A cast-iron pipe
four inches in diameter is connected to the top of the
bt.iler by a flancb, and proceeding upwards, passes round
the lofts required to be heated, and terminates at the
cistern above-mentioned, to one end of which it is united
in the same manner as at its commencement from the
boiler. M the opposite end of the cistern begins another
pipe of the same dimensions, which descends to the boiler,
and, passing through the top of the boiler, gees to within
a few inches of the bottom. The first from the top of
the boiler to one end of the cistern is the ascending pipe ;
the latter from the opposite end of the cistern through
the top and nearly to the bottom of the boiler, the descend-
ing pipe. The apparatus is filled with water supplied by
a tome-pump, to the open cistern at the top, and the ope-
ration is at once simple, safe, and effective; simple, be-
cause natural, as thus : Water, being composed of parti-
cles or atoms whose affinity for each other is readily dis-
turbed by heat, the lowest portion, at the bottom of the
boiler, being nearest the fire, is the first affected, and the
columnal pressure of the water in the descending pipe
being greater than that in the ascending, the whole is set
is motion passing through the cistern at the top down one
pipe through the boiler and up the other pipe, until the
whole body of water is heated to one uniform degree,
never reaching the boiling point, consequently producing

no steam.
For safety, no plan for diffusing heat can be equal to
this, as no danger can arise from materials, however com-
bustible, being placed in close contact with the pipes. Of
its efficacy we have had ample proof in the experience of
ten years, a temperature higher than required for the pur-
poses of any manufactory being easily produced and kept
up without heating the water to the boiling point.
So far I presume, Mr. Editor, your Correspondent's
inquiry has been satisfactorily met. Looking for a mo-
ment to the case which has proved so disastrous, it stems
very clear, from the statement of your Correspondent,"_
nthe water
affinity
n evaporates,ity
of
the
that the water has been heated far beyond boiling point.
fliesN Vc aorffeianitloaswteaaremt;haint
othera at thi s P
oit
words,
par-
ticles or atoms of which water is composed, is at this de-
gree of heat destroyed, and, separating from each other,
become an expansive power of more or less extent, ac•
cording to the degree of heat ; but if the boiler and pipes
arc so filled that no space or vacuum exists for the forma•
tion of steam, then, as the experiments of Perkins,
already alluded to, have shown, it can be heated to any de-
gree of beat that the metal which confines it will sustain.
without fusion.
r Correspon..
The remedy, therefore, proposed by ru ould me! t
dent, of employing a metal for the pipes
.thoartowt
other
h cow,-
at cheat short of what would ignite wooa
fora danger
bustible materials, is, I submit, providing
that ought not to exist.
work the apparatus in
If it has been the practice
to
than boiling water, and
question at a higher temperature
during the late severe
an interval of disuse has occurred
• a most remote from tilt:
frosts, the contents of the pIP
ice, and by obstructing
the have no doubt beconie soled
. lied an excess of heat near the
the flow of water occasioned . •
ischief which has happened.
boiler so as to cause the
emcauy,
Sir Your's, &c ,
I remain ropeetfully, t
THOS. FUL,LER,
Coach Manufactory, Bath, Feb. 18, 1841.
- -- - _

RyouOrFJouTrnHalEtheSrerjal‘re some
.
---
E 0
, Sal,-- EDITOR
remarks on the danger of heating buildings by hot water,
and an account of several fires which have occurred in
consequence of adopting that plan.
The subject is a very
7Yn ar4
late number
important one, and the remarks
most just. There is, however, one error throughout the
article alluded to which it is desirable to. correct. The ar-
ticle describes the accident to have an
of the ordinary construction. This is a mistake.se° fromapparatus The
apparatus in question is one which was patented some
years since by Mr. Perkins, and consists
sealed tubes, which can easily be heatedßo as
hamlet
retzenadllz
them red hot, and thus produce the effect you Ic:ave de-
scribed. Not se, however, with the ordinary hot-water
apparatus, because, in this, pipes of two-inch bore end
upwards arc always used, together with a boiler and cis-
tern, which is invariably open to the external air, thus
effectually preventing the temperature of the water in any
part from rising above 212 degrees.
In such an apparatus as this there is no possibility of
accident, either from fire or from explosion, and the hun-
dreds, nay, thousands, that have been erected on this plan,
with the most perfect success, have proved its safety and
efficiency in buildings of every description.
It is of the utmost importance that these two distinct
plans of heating buildings should not be confounded. In
the one where the small hermetically sealed pipes are used,
the risk from fire and from explosion are imminently great,
in the other these accidents are absolutely impossible. It
therefore behoves the public, as well as the Insurance
Companies, to investigate this matter fully, as the ac-
knowledged safety of one description of hot-water appa-
ratus has led many persons to believe that the same pro-
perties belong to the other, and they have thus become in-
advertently. possessed of an apparatus which a very slight
degree of inattention may convert into a most dangerous
and destructive engine.
I am, Sir, your most bumble servant,
London, Feb. 20. PRO BONO PUBLIC°.