The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

OLD ENGLAND'S IFORTIIIES. Part XII

With this, the twelfth part, the volume of " Old
England's Worthies" is completed. A sketch of the
statue of Sir Isaac Newton at Cambridge, and por-
traits of Pope, Smeaton, Walpole, Halley, Swift, and
llogarth, are the illustrations. The letter-press is
of corresponding interest, and the book altogether is
an admirable addition to the library of popular works
already published by Charles Knight.

THE FORTUNE,S OF ORLOGH O'BRIEIV.

No. EV.
After a marvellously grandiloquent preliminary
to an account of the Battle of the Boyne, the author
of this serial romance slurs over that account in
a few slovenly paragraphs, on the plea, that
there is already a good description of the conflict
by the writer of the " Boyne Water." There
is likewise a very disgusting chapter about
thQ inhuman punishment of the " strappado," the
excruciating torments of which are dilated upon by
the narrator with a hideous zest. The shrieks of the
victim are interrupted by the most sickly witticisms,
and the scene altogether is rather like an incident
among devils than among men. An excellent and
spirited etching by " Phiz," pourtraying the horrible
death of Garvey, is accornpani'd by another, which
we are certain cannot be from his hand. The story
is evidently approaching its termination.

CONCERT IN AIL) Of THE FUNDS
OF THE WESTERN OPTHALMIC

TION.

To the honour of the members of the Musical Pro-
fession be it said, that they are ever the foretbobt in
the cause of charity. On Friday a Concert takes place
at the Hanover-square Rooms, in aid of the funds
of the Western Opthalmic Institution. An institu-
tion which is, from its very nature, of infinite
service to the industrious classes, enabling them
as it dots, in many instances, to gain a live-
lihood for themselves and their families by warding
off from them that greatest of all afflictions, blindness.
On this occasion, Madame Albertazzi, Miss Rainforth,
the Misses Williams, Miss A. Hill, Mr. and Mrs. Weiss,
Mr. and Miss Lockey, Mr. F. Bodda, and Mr. T. Wil-
liams, together with Miss Kate Loder, the Messrs. Distin,
Mr. Carte, Master Day, and Mr. A. Sedgwick, with Mr.
Brinley Richards, as conductor, have volunteered their
gratuitous services. There cannot be a doubt but that
the rooms will be crowded. The artistes will have the
satisfaction of knowing that their exertions have mate-
rially promoted the prosperity of this most excellent
institution.

THE LATE ROBERT PLUMER WARD, ESQ.—
Among the numerous articles of interest left by this
deceased, as heir. looms with the family estates, there are
the following :—The pole of the royal standard of Scot-
land, taken at the battle of Musselborough, tempore
Edward VI., by the hand of Sir Ralph Sadlier, his pre-
decessor in the Standon estate ; the standard of his
father-in-law, General Sir George Anson's regiment,
23d Light Dragoons, bearing Peninsula, Talavera, Sala-
manca, and Waterloo, and other banners ; the helmet,
.
crest, and coat of arms of Sir John Gore, his prede-
cessor in the Gilston estate ; many original
paintings,to
family portraits, and of the nobility and their ancestors, rs
the
busts and engravings ; the service of plate with
Sir plate Ga t Gilston
a ).i c r,
apramris,
;osfavtleieralPlpuemdiegr family
rees,r;tiadnedd the
by
Garter, connected
the Plumer Ward, fwroimth Cthhaerlefammaiglynea;n adnt nhetepneddel dgrleeettocrf
written by Mr. Pitt on his death bed, a few hours before
ho expired, and when his mind was wandering—although
Mr. Pitt had torn the raper, he gave it to Sir Walter
Farquhar, desiiing he would give it to the testator, Mr.
Ward, then under secretary of state for foreign affairs
All his printed books, not specifically disposed, he
leaves to threethe
saonsof
his son Henry
grandsons, Charles,George Ward ar,les,Sainbiairrne:
and
and
Evelyn,
leaves all other his furniture, books, busts, pictures,
plate, &c., in his several houses in Upper Brook street,
Chesterfield-street, London, and O'Beover Hall, Stafford-
shire, his carriages, &c., to his relict, who is his sole
executrix. Ile has left liberal legacies and provisions
for his servants. All his real estates he has settled on
his son Henry G. Ward, subject to his wife's jointure.—
Post.

IMPORTANT EXPERIMENT.—An interesting and
very important experiment was made this week at the
Prior Field Iron Works, belonging to Mr. 1-I. B. White-
house, on some cast-iron girders intended for the steam
factory buildings at Portsmouth, now in the course of
erection. The experiment was made under the direction
of Capt. James, of the Royal Engineers, on the part of the
Admiralty, and in the presence of Mr. Peter Rolt, con-
tractor for the works at Portsmouth, Mr. Henry Smith,
of West Bromwich, and several other gentlemen; and
nothing could be more satisfactory than the result, as
the girders did not break till they had sustained the
weight of 30i tons over the weight which the strength
of the girders, computed from liodgkinson's rules, was
calculated to break with. The mass of iron distributed
over these girders exceeded seven feet in height, and
showed that the castings were capable of sustaining a
very much larger weight than they could ever be loaded
with in the factory for which they are iutended._ATM
Birmingham Gamat.

INDIAN CORN AS AN ARTICLE

OF FOOD.
As a food for man, Indian corn is considered a grain
of the greatest value. The total annual crop in the
United States for a year or two cast, has been estimated
at between four and five hundred millions of bushels per
annum. Although long estimated in America as a
wholesome and nutritious bread stuff, it has only been
the failure of the crops in Great Britain the past and
present year, combined with the reduction of duties on
corn, which has caused its value to become appreciated
abroad, causing vastly increased exports.
Though the modes of preparing it for food are all
simple, yet the prevailing ignorance on the subject has
been most extraordinary. Believing information (though
condensed), respecting the modes of preparing Indian
corn for food will be as acceptable to the emigrant as
any other sort, at the present time of scarcity in Ire-
land, &c., we shall give some directions for converting
it into food for table use. To make pone bread from In-
dian meal, it should first be sifted through a hair sifter.
The bran is good for poultry. All that is necessary to
form the dough for bread, is to mix the meal with hot
water, and add salt. Then make it into cakes of any
convenient size, usually into flattened lumps of five or
six inches in diameter, and from two to three inches
thick, placing them in a cast-iron oven, or " spider,"
with coals of fire beneath, cr:vering it with a lid, and, if
convenient, the lid with coals, awl bake till the bread is
well browned or done. It may then be taken out for use,
If fat bits of pork, or small lumps of lard or butter be
added to the dough before baking, the bread will be all
the better.

If the meal be gently parched in a greased spider or
other iron vessel, like coffee, and then have poured en it
some gravy, and a sufficient quantity of boiling water,
stirring it well at the same time, it will form cheap and
most nourishing sort of soup.
Boiled with common water, being careful to have it
well stirred while boiling, till cooked, will form an ex-
cellent porridge, which may be eaten with milk, gravy,
or butter. To make it palatable, salt should be added as
a seasoning. More expensive preparations are made by
boiling white corn meal, and mixing it with wheat flour,
when it can be baked in all the ordinary modes of baking
the latter.
If corn meal be made into dough with warm water and
yeast, and kept in a warm place for twenty-four hours,
it will rise like white bread, at,d on being baked in a
baker's oven, in a large pan, it will keep for several
days in cold weather, pure and fresh.
A more extensive bread is made by taking corn meal,
say a quart, and adding to it two or three eggA, suffi-
cient milk to soften it, and a spoonful or two of butter
or lard, formirf- the whole into a soft batter, then
baking it in a thin cake, or in separate small masses
till well browned.

Very cheap and pleasant food can be made by making
a batter of Indian meal, salt, and hot water alone, or
sour milk, and then fried in thin cakes with lard. These
batter cakes are improved by adding boiled rice to the
batter. If Indian corn be coarsely ground the mass is
called " small hominy." This is usually boiled for table
use. It the whole grains be pounded in a mortar (having
been previously soaked in warm water), till
the tough
rind or skin of the grain be loosened, which is then
blown off ; it is then called "large hominy." To per-
form the eperation of beating it properly, a large wooden
mortar should be used, burnt or scooped cut in the end
of a block of wood cut from a tree. An iron wedge,
with its sharp edge inserted in a wooden handle, should
then be used for a pestle. It will be easily discovered
from the appearance of the grain when it is sufficiently
pounded. The husk is then blown off by tossing it up
and down in a large dish or wooden tray, blowing on it
at the same time with the breath. It is then placed in a
large iron pot, and boiled over a moderate fire a whole
day', or until it is soft enough to mash a grain of it be-
tween the fingers; water being added from time to time
during the boiling. It is then removed and preserved in
cold weather for use. It may be mashed and fried in
lard for breakfast, or it may be eaten cold with milk or
gravy, &c. To make this " large hominy,' it is best,
when convenient, to select the whitest and hardest corn
that can be obtained.—American Sun.

REPRODUCTION of the POTATO
(From the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.)

The experiment &tailed below is exceedingly inte-
resting, and of great public importance. More than a
year since, we urged the making of such an experiment,
in the confident belief that it would arrest a disease that
seemed to threaten almost total destruction to one of our
most valuable staple products, and it gives us great
pleasure to be able to announce the full success of the
experiment.