The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-14 00:00:00

lik% UNITED STATES

AND MEXICO.

ARRIVAL OF THE BRITANNIA.
LIVERPOOL, SIINDAY NIGHT,
. Half-past Nine o'clock.
The British and North American royal mail
ste
4111-2 hip Britannia, Captain Harrison, entered the
raver to-night at nine o'clock, after one of the most
1,131 d Passages ever made by this celebrated line of
nain-ships; and it may be here noted as a remark-
re fact that this same ship has sailed from Boston
tile Ist of June for the last four years, and arrived
It Liverpool on the 13th, as she does this day, estab-
hshtng for herself the character of being as punctual
"mpnher arrival as the railway mails in England.
The Britannia brings 112 passengers, and the
Gila from Canada and the United States to the Ist
theLl
~..44t. Her able commander, Captain Harrison,
;" highly complimented by his passengers, on his
Pe.._y arrival off Liverpool.
The Britannia news is fifteen days later than pre-
vl4:lBlY received.
pit?o boarding the Britannia, we learnt from the
le.sengers that the Washington would positively
ew York on the same day as that of the
-17nis, the Ist inst., so that the arrival of these two
yes sem have excited no little interest at Liverpool, and
o
ther commercial towns west of London.
The political news by this arrival is not essentially
important. From the seat of war, the latest was by
way of Orleans, which is given in a paper of that city,
411(1 which states that—
" Lqt ers dated Walnut Springs, May 3d, give a re-
Lye", that Colonel Doniphan's force had been attacked at
tiuopass of Sierra Gordon, about half-way between
ii,,,Sal-
Chihuahua, by a Mexican force from Durango,
„Zizr General Rieso. Colonel Doniphan was defeated,
'hi" Ow loss of seven men and all his artillery. An Eng-
gentleman, who arrived at Saltillo on the 3d March,
liYts Colonel Doniphan, started from Chihuahua on the
it's
April, vid San Jose del Parral, and, Saltillo
r's think that his command must be within a few
Ya, March of that place.
IZ_General Cadwallader and staff, Col. Ramsay, Major
Z.bmargin, Captains Carr, Syberg, Butler, Bernard, Biddle,
I:_r others had arrived at Palo Alto. General Cadwal-
timer forthwith proceeded with his command, except the
et°°ca, to Vera Cruz to reinforce General Scott. The
turf of Inquiry in the cases of General Lane and Co-
fo:111 Bowles has given its report. The conduct of the
zot er is fully approved, and the personal courage but
the capacity of the latter. The latest Monterey
General tinks that an advance on San Luis is designed
d Taylor, as unusual activity prevails in every
fo7artment,„ General Urrea has issued proclamations
16.3'eu and contributions, and left for the city of
Nclect so says the Matamoras Flag of the 15th of May.
era Cruz dates to the evening of the 15th of May, tur-
-71 nothing later from General Scott."
„:I°' Xevi York commercial paper of the latest date

of" The situation of our public affairs, and especially
the war in Mexico, has undergone little or no change ,
hu_see the departure of the steamer of the 16th of May.
"11113 to the expiration of their terms of s, rvice, five
to
ogiktnents of volunteers, of these one of cavalry attached
&I'm army under General Scott, were at the latest
line from Jalapa, of 11th May , about to take up their
the of March for Vera Cruz, thence to return to the
diminution
States, there to be mustered out of service. This
,„.121.flution of a force previouly too small in number to
ti7o r otherwise V:art very hazardous, upon the ordinary
ti'ecipks of war, an advance into the heart and against
capital of an enemy's country, necessarily compelled
he'lleral Scott to suspend that advance, and accordingly
00'was Yet at Jalapa. Some of the new levies would
1_ 0 reach Vera Cruz, and thence be hurried into the
Zteri
--°r, as well to avoid the pestilence of the yellow
hi' er 00 the coast, as to enable the General to pursue
cis victorious march to Mexico. The Washington
mineral
gives the assurance that in the month of June
neral Scott will have an army of 20,000 men.
General
Without waiting for reinforcements, however,
Scott was pushing his column n to Puebla,
Where n
6,1 0 resistance will probably be attempted. Ile
4;4 Issued a striking and well-timed proclamation to the
it:Leans, announcing his advance, and dispelling the
therepresentations and delusions, by virtue of which
bievnir Own ambitious but incapable generals and magis-
twlTl still sought to stimulate them to continue has-
hes: •
In the capital of Mexico complete anarchy seems to
qail- The latest dates from the city are the 4th or
making,
May, when little or no preparations for defence were
:ng• Indeed, money, munition, arms, and men, all
011 to be wanting. The Substitute PreAdent Anaya
4Q declared the city under martial law, but his term of
tee
rice would expire on the 15th of May, when a perma-
bcct President was to be regularly chosen. Meanwhile
"le better portion of the population was leaving the cit,
sad the Government itself is said to have made all its
preparations,
as soon as the Americans shall advance, to
remove with the archive of the State to Morelia.
_ Santa Anna was still at Orizaba, talking big and
do"mg little or nothing to justify his words. Some ap-
prehension was for a moment entertained at Vera Cruz,
vfa ere the American garrison is very small, that he me-
Zlnated falling uponiethat place—between which and Gen.
Ws army he is—but later advices:;had,re-assured the
Zitstrri2on, and they, moreover, had put and kept every-
Lng condition to resist such an attack. A more
be offered
because an easier and very rich prize, would
to his enterprise, if indeed he have any, by a
monstrous
and some
waggon train with provision and ammunition,
was leaveiu'ul a million of doUars in gold, which
corted by noVt Vera Cruz for Jalapa, about the 20th, es-
Annamore than a thousand men. If Santa
four or five
have really the force he is represented to have, of
thousand infantry and cavalry, there will
Seem no sort of excuse if he do not attempt to intercept
Ift.ed capture this train, yet little or no solicitude is felt
n.r. its safety, so little is the belief in Santa Anna's
Aey'ring. As an additional security to the train, how-
, General Scott has so ordered its advance, and the
ram march of some of the volunteer regiments whose
Lane is expiring, that at least one of these regiments
Will encamp every night with a train, in addition to its
proper escort.
"From the Pacific we hear that all the smaller ports
01:1 the peninsula of California had been taken possession
of by vessels of the American squadron, and that they
Were peacefully held."
The most important portion of the intelligence by
this arrival relates to the
COMMERCIAL.
On the departure of the Britannia commerce was
flourishing in all the commercial cities of the union.
The forthcoming crops of corn and grain were most
promising, money plentiful, the credit of the Govern-
Ment stocks good, and all the State stocks, including
even those of the non-paying states, are becoming
more valuable.
_ Exchange on Europe continues at a rate which
I,9rbids the further importation of specice. Bills on
Landon range from 6i to 7+; on Paris from 5 32}
5 30.
Pre%Z h
oft . is—To Europe are dull, and rates have fallen
Flour is taken by British vessels at 2s. There is
very little offering for Havre, and our quotations may
be considered nominal.
To Liverpool—Cotton, per lb., 3-16 d. a II; Beef, tce.,
55.; Beef and Pork, bbl., 35.; Flour, 2s. a 2s. 6d. ; Tur-
pentine, 35.; Leather, per lb., 5 16d. a id.; heavy goods,
toe, 355. a 405.; Grain, bushel, 9d. a 101.
The prices of bread-stuffs continue extravagantly high.
The best brands of Southern Fliwr sold last week for
home use, in the market, for el dolls. per bbl.; and
Genesee, for exportation, at from 8 dolls. 50 c. to 8 dots.
75c.; Wheat brought 2 dolls. 5 c. per bushel of 60 lbs.,
and Indian Corn 1 doll. 8 c. a 1 dol. 12 c. for yellow, per
bushel of 56 lbs. There is some little pause at present
in these prices, yet contracts have been freely made to
pay for these staples deliverable from June to August,
prices equal to, for Flour 8 dolls. 50 c. to 8 dolls.; from
2 dolls. in June, to 1 dull. 61 c. in August - for Indian
Corn, from 1 doll. 2 c. in June, to 97 c. in July,; and 02 c.
in August.
All this shows great confidence in a continued foreign
demand at high prices, and is the more remarkable be-
cause the arrivals daily from the canal are very heavy,
equalling 30,000 to 35,000 barrels a day for many consecu-
tive days, and the account from the interior makes it evi-
dent that the stocks are larger than was before generally
estimated.
The total of our exports of bread-stuffs from the United
States to Great Britain, since Ist September to 21st inst.
last, are, say two million barrels of 200 lbs. of flour ;
585,000 lbs. corn meal; 1,802,000 bushels of 601bs. of
Wheat; and 1,180,000 bushels of 56 lbs. of Indian corn.
E?tports, receipts, and stocks of Cotton at the ports of
the United States (in thousand bales) :
„_ExPorts to Great Britain. France. Oer. Total. Rl76sec'ts. Stocks.
far this season. 6.5 133 12 th 4
922 521
40 Sametime,lB46. 735 256 127 1118 1927 533
Do. 1845. 1160 298 236 1694 2292 348
Do. 1844. 915 233 94 1242 1887 408
Do. 1843. 1321 305 150 1776 2230 249
It will be seen that the receipts and exports of cotton
during the last fortnight have been less than in the same
period of any of the last four years.
Nevertheless, as the consumption in Europe seems to
have fallen off so considerably, it may be well to see how
I°.. 'Doh cotton will arrive in Great Britain in the year,
commencing
Inlci
ni ngg on Ist January—as this may be a much
important circumstance than the probability of our
below 1,800,000, of which there cannot now
much if any doubt.

1846-7 1845-6
ExPortm
Itsca„,_,--- to Groat Britain as ab0ve.............. 606 713555
'', In Great Britain before alit December . • 46
To arm ......_ ____
Ye in Great Britain, after 31st December.. 559 580
ttrirhus
r?La Y ear's
we tee that though our export is very deficient,
import of Gr,at Britain will be (ceteris pa-
lastluus)only 21,000 short of the corresponding period of
year.
It la evident, therefore, that unless the rate of con-
autnPti°n in Europe rallies up very materially this sum-
mer, it will require great firmness on the part of holders
_o
t withstand the t fleet of the increasing stock of the raw
material in Lirervol. The growing crop is backward,
but its d• •
con ition has lately been impr.ved by seasonable
rains in the Atlantic States, where it had bean chiefly
complained of as unpromising.
..n bale--; w
Cotton ,-The
e market remains inactive. A .
few hun-
dredere taken to-day by spinners; but shippers
do not
Itot come forward at present prices, and holders do
"ki PPear Willing to submit to any decline. We quote

liplauds—rkr, o.•cs,,uary to middling, 104 e. per
11:.; fair to t.,r,o.yi fair and good, 12ie. a 13c. and 13.,..
TenueE!c.es and ,A.labamas, late. a 114 e. Louisianan,
&e.—ordinary to middling, laic. a 11-le.: fair to good
fair, 13e. a 131 e.; good and fine, 14c. a 141 e. per
The sales since the 14th instant are estimated at 4,200

bale..
The exports, &c., of cotton since the Ist of September
are as follow.—
Total Exports. To G. Britain. Becipts. Stocks.
This year - - 921,000 605,000 1,654,005 523,000
Last year - - 1,130,000 741,000 1,933,000 530,0 0
Year before - - 1,714,( 00 1,175,000 2,293,000 837,000
Flour—The receipts continue to be unusually great,
nevertheless the downward tendency in prices appears to
be checked. A few lots of Western Canal, in poor order,
sold this morning at 8 dolls. to 8 dolls. 121 e. but the
bulk of the sal-s at 8 dolls. 25c. 2,000 barrels benessee
to be t elivered in June sold at S dolls. 500 barrel,. Jer-
sey.corn meal brought 5 dolls. 37ic. The market re-
mains bare of southern flour. Corn is firm, sales of
25.000 bushels at 105 c. to 112/c. for mixed, white and
yellow, 10,000 ditto for delivery in July and August
brought 95c. to 97c.; 500 bushels of rye were taken at
115 c., and 1,500 at 120 c.
The receipts of flour to day via the North River are
24,717 barrels—making 181,110 barrels received during
the week, which is about 50,000 barrels more than were
ever before received within the same space of time.
Potashes are dull of sale at 4,871 dolls.; shippers
offer 4.75 dolls. Pearls are steady at 6,50 dolls.
Pork is firm; sales of new Mess were made at 16,50
dolls; and new prime, 14 dolls.; old Mess 15,50 dolls.
Leef has an upward tendency.
Sales of Turpentine at 31 dolls. a 3i dolls. per brl of
280 lbs., for prime soft Newbern. Spirits of do. do.
35c. a 36c.
The Canadian Government have authorised the
transmit through Canada of foreign wheat and Indian
corn without payment of duty.
The Inspector-General, under date of 15th May, gives
netiee el this fact, and states that foreign wheat and
maize, on being entered for exportation, shall be per-
mitted tb pass through Canada to its port of exportation,
on bonds being giving in three times the amount of duty
otherwise payable, that the said grain shall within six
months be exported.
The " ship fever " introduced by the Irish emi-
grants, was spreading in the Atlantic cities of the
United States, and also in Canada, and causing consi-
derable alarm. The quarantine regulations were
being enforced with great strictness, and hospitals and
boards of health established.

NEW ORLEANS, MAY 22.
Every day or two produces its news. We now learn
that the rancheros, or guerillas, had been very trouble-
some near Vera Cruz; two hundred of them had been
followed by Walker an his rifles, and four killed; six
United States dragoons had been killed by these people
on the previous day. The Mexican Congress had re-
fused the mediation of England by a vote of 44
to 33. The returned officers of volunteers in this
city tell me that, in their opinion, there is no chance
of peace—not even if the capital be taken; but
they think there will be no more pitched battles. Four
of the states north of Mexico talk of separating and be-
coming a new republic under our protection, but per-
haps this report is but a weak invention of the enemy.
The American officers, who are prisoners in Mexico, are
reported to be well treated ; but the capital and Go-
vernment are full of confusion, and will not send Santa
Anna a dollar, though he tells them that he has rallied
7,000 men at Orizaba. The U. S. fleet is spread along
the Gulf shores to prevent the escape of Santa Anna by
sea, if he should attempt it. Everything is in confusion
at Yucatan, where another revolutionary movement
has
is
goine, on. On Rio Grande a camp of instruction
ber.i'formed at Palo Alto, with 1,400 men. General
Cushing had untortunately broken his leg at Matamoras
by a fall. The nuceber.of regiments returned end to re-
turn from Gk-iicral Scott's army is seven. The Mimi:,
regiment brings home less than one-half its men. The
division of the army to march on Puebla and Mexico,
cannot now reach 6,000 men. Will General Scott march
right straight on to the Halls of Montezuma, or will he
not ? That is the question. From all that I can hear
and read,.l lhink ho will go to Puebla, and wait there
for reinforcements. A great many of the returned vo-
lunteers are very sick—hospitals here and at Pensucola
full of " discharged on account of sickness."

THE BRAZIL MAIL.

FALMOUTH, JUNE 13.

Her Majesty's packet Swift, Lieutenant Long,
arrived last night from the Brazils, having left Rio
de Janeiro on the 13th of April, Bahia on the 20th
of April, and Pernambuco on the Ist of May. She
brings on freight about 10,0001., and the following
passengers, viz. :—Lord A. Beauclerk, late of her
Majesty's ship Curacoa ; Captain Thompson, late of
Curacoa ; Captain Proctor, late of Harpy, Mr. and
Mrs. Hapley, Mr. Sanville, Mr. D. Last, Mr. De
Castro, Mr. Plowes, Mr. Finnie, Mr. Murray, Mr.
Ramsden, Royal Navy ; also Dr. Coates, left at
Pernambuco ill. Her Majesty's steamer Rattler,
having on board Lord Howden, had arrived at Bahia,
and sailed for Rio de la Plata on the 26th April. The
Swift left at Rio de Janeiro the Crescent, Curacoa,
and Firebrand. The Griffin steamer, with the River
IPlate mails, had arrived at Rio on the 9th of April.
The news by this packet has been anticipated by the
recent arrival of her Majesty's brig Frolic. The ex-
change at Rio was 281, and at Bahia 28k. The want
of tonnage appears to have increased, and 555. to 70s.
had been obtained for the Channel. Coffee had ad •
vanced a little in the higher qualities, and although
the stock was very large (45,000 bags), the propor-
tion of these qualities was very small. The present
quotations are :—Superior, 2 reis 950 milreis to 3 reis
50 milreis ; good first, 2 reis 800 milreis to 2 reis
850 milreis ; good seconds, 2 reis 400 milreis to 2
reis 500 milreis ; Sugars are quiet—white, 300 reis ;
brown, 2 reis 100 milreis to 2 reis 200 milreis per
arroba. Hides had been bought up for the Ameri-
can market at 170 reis per lb., and the stock was re-
duced to 7,000. Government stock had remained
firm, notwithstanding considerable sales for foreign
account (chiefly English), Sm., at 821 and 82k per

cent.
Since the departure of the Penguin steam -packet,l
about 200,0001. has ' been done ; the transactions of
the last week being at the rate of 28i I, and lastly
at 28, with more money at 28i than bills.
The news from the Emperor was very satisfactory ;
he was diverting himself by gratifying his subjects
who approach him. He was expected to return in a
week. The Empress was going on well.

JUNE.—The Spring is gone ; the Summer is come .
B autitul as Sprig is, and delicate and poetical her
children—the stioNv-drop, the violet. the primrose, and
the cowslip—we has e seen and loved them once more,
and we will no lotager regret them. As they came and
passed away amid t be lingering chills of winter, we wel-
comed them, and w .st mourned over their departue. No
season like Spring makes us so sensible by its fleeting
beauties of the fleet big time; but Summer is the season
of full blown eejoyroent, and now let us enjoy it. The
great, wise Monarch of Jerusalem exclaimed in review-
g likee t h a
ut
azu !ien pyr eo suetnht: a nLde lett u uss
fillspeedily
ourselves
ing these very thingst, 4. Come on, therefore, let u' enjoy
theth e
gcoreoadt creatures
with costly wine aril ointments, and le
the Spring pass by us. Let us crowntno flower of
with rose buds befiare they be withered." Thatrselves was
now.
wisdom in Solomon' a time, and it is wisdom It is
wisdom to grasp th e good that is before and
around us,
and not to waste time • in lamenting what is gone, o
soon be going. And June seems the season made may
for
the universal rcjoici XI g of all the creatures of existence.
The country is arra. yed in its fullest yet newest beauty.
The trees are once 1 na-ire thick with leaves—leaves of the
most delicate freshmen 5. It is, as Spenser says, wherever
we turn our eyes, ''' a leafie luxurie." The ground is
covered with deeper It
,grass, and the birds and insects,
and flowers which a re moving, singing, and blowing over
the whole face of n. stare, are countless.
On Saturday th,s Grand Duke and Grand Duchess
of Saxony, Prince B award of Saxe Weimar, Count
Beust, accompanied by Lord William Ashley and their
suite, occupying thr. !e carriages, visited Guildhall. They
regarded with much interest the beautiful specimens of
penmanship in the C itamberlain's parlour, but particu-
larly the hand-writing; of Shakspere in the
Peter cityC lauriibrar and
y.
Aldermen Farebrotheo; Johnson, Sir L
Sidney, attended them. o ver the building.—Observer.
Measures are in or ogress for the erection of a
statue of the late Dr.. C halmers, to be executed by Mr.
Steel, from the admira 3,1 e bust lately sculptured by him,
and to be placed within the new college.
MARRIAGE OF JO UN BRIGHT, ESQ., M.P.—
Thursday morning, being the weekly meeting of the Friends
at their meeting-house, George-street, in Wakefield, was
fixed upon as the day u port which Mr. Bright's marriage
with Miss Leatham shoult i be solemnised according to the
usual form of that body. Hag an hour previously to the
time appointed (half-past ten), the chapel began to be filled
by a numerous and respe rtable portion of the inhabitants of
the town and neighbour bood. Amongst the company pre-
sent, most of whom we; te. of tare fair sex, we observed a
great number of Mr. 131 ifeat's political friends. Within a
few minutes of half-past tr al the wedding party arrived, and
immediately took the If eats apportioned to them. The
whole company eat fort about three quarters of an hour in
perfect silence, when M r. Bright arose, and taking the
right hand of Kiss Lea tham, pronounced in a low, but
distinct voice, the fat swing word:_
"
Friend be my
s, I take
my friend, Margaret Elizabeth Leatham, to
wife, and promisq by 3 Jivine amsietance to be unto her a
loving and faithful 11,1511,4 nd until it shall please God to part
us by death." Whiles till holding hands, Miss Lea art
pronounced the same I vet. cis, substituting John Bright for her
own name, in a low bu t t remulous voice. After which an-
other pause of some mi ne rtes occurred, when one of the con-
gregation offered up : t short prayer, the whole assembly
standing. After sum a minutes had again elapsed, Mr.
George Ilenington, dra per, read the certificate, or declara-
tion, which was signet Iby the bride and bridegroom, and
thei i
relations and frier (la, and afterwards by a large number
of the congregation. ' fhe wedding )arty consisted of Of
b rid.. and bridegroom, I Era. Leatham (mother of the bride),
Mr. Bright (father of t ill bridegroom), Mr. and Mrs. W.
H. L-atham, Miss Prisci ILA Leatham, 111iss Priscilla Bright,
Nlr. Charles Albert' Lem ha; tn, Miss Esther Bright, Mr. Ed-
wardßar Aldam Leatbam, M r. Jacob Bright, jun., Miss M. W.
Barclay, Mr. Joseph Gun to v Barclay, Miss M. Barclay,
Miss Ana F. Barclay, M. J. P •
riestman, jun., and Miss
ababeth Thornhill. T -
. .
.. . he e 'hole menu) lasted h t
nyo-.914, an
hOr and a half,..-,Leeds Hen ?01.

LITERATURE.
RAATHORPE. Gee Vol.
The motto on the title-page—a line from Balzae,
" I had commenced an 'insensate struggle ; I corn-
batted misery with my pen,"—sufficiently- indicates
the purport of this volume. It is the history of an
author. A fertile theme for the pen of the romancist,
and one of which he not unfrequently avails himself.
In this instance, however, it is not only as a ro-
mancist, but also as a moralist, that the writer of this
fiction has selected a literary hero; the adventures of
Percy Ranthorpe serve, not only to " adorn a tale,"
but also, and very effectually, to "point a moral"
and convey a useful les,,on. Man of genius though he
was, to a certain extent, at least, the hero—this Percy
Ranthorpe—is no all-perfect ideal ; neither does he
possess all the attractive attributes generally asso-
ciated with the poetic character. He is represented
rather as a very natural personification of a class, of
which, doubtless, many members are now existing :
" A creature, not too bright or good,
For human nature's daily food;"
endowed with considerable talent and even genius,
and also possessing no little ambition and no little
self-conceit. In the narrative of his arduous career
up that terrible acclivity—the hill of fame—is very
vividly pourtrayed, most of the varied phases of; an
author's early life, and the dangers and difficulties
that crowd his way. In the preface we are told that
" Ranthorpe " was written five years ago, and
the author has employed the interval in following
Boileau's advice, " Vingt fois sur le metier, remittez
l'ouvrage," and "Polissez souvent et souvent elfacez,"
so well that his composition has doubtless consider-
ably improved in style, and considerably diminished
in quantity. Originally intended to fill the pre-
scribed three volumes, Ranthorpe" is now con-
densed into some three hundred and fifty pages, yet
is nevertheless likely to afford as much interest
and amusement as many of its competitors of
greater weight. The writer himself admits that such
a great change in the structure of his work has occa-
sioned many faults in the arrangement of the details,
which to a certain extent must have been unavoid-
able. The most conspicuous evidence of the con-
densation of the narrative is the variety of person-
ages and incidents, with which it is crowded, but
to the general reader, this feature will he rather
an attraction. To the general reader we can
cordially recommend it, it is full of animation
and activity, the interest never flags. The variety
of scene and character is almost boundless ; for ex-
ample, we are introduced to the poet first in his
hard-working obscurity; then we follow him
as the " lion', into the boudoirs of fashion ; we see
him forget the humble love of his early life to fall
at the feet of some heartless coquette, and then,
after finding him repulsed with scorn, we follow
the fortunes of the lady through her eventful and
instructive career. It is useless, however, to attempt
to give even a summary of the variety of adventures
detailed here. But " Ranthorpe" has a higher attrac-
tion than the power of affording mere amusement—it is
interspersed with many beautiful thoughts, and many
reflections pregnant with moral truth. A useful
lesson, too, as we have said before, is conveyed in the
history of its hero. Even at the risk of diminishing
our approbation and regard for the young poet, his
biographer has been careful to expose to us his faults—
faults rather incidental to his position than to
his character. The titles of the three first " books"
into which the history is divided, sufficiently indicate
the moral which it conveys— " The Poet's first
struggles," " The Lion," " The unsuccessful Au-
thor.' The publication of his first book of poems—
The Dreams of Youth"—obtains for the young
author no inconsiderable celebrity—he is wel-
comed in those circles where every novelty is
received with 'avidity —he literally descends
from the garret to the drawing-room, from
the poet he sinks into the lion. In Oda
incident of his career is very naturally pourtrayed,
one of the casualties so often fatal to successful
genius. Escaping from the jaws of despair, he is
carried amid the vortex of dissipation—the Scylla
and Charybdis which guard the path of fame. In
pourtraying this period of his hero's life, the author
introduces a chapter on " the aristocracy of intellect,"
which is well worthy of attention. He premises that
there are two aristocracies, one of birth and one of in-
telligence. To the former he allows much, too much
indeed ; for instance, be observes, " the aristocracy
of birth is not the figment certain democrats proclaim.
A thorough bred hunter is not a hack:' To this
comparison we most certainly object ; true we agree
with our author, that between the " two nations"
there may exist as great a difference in beauty of
person and refinement of manner as there does be-
tween the two quadrupeds he has mentioned; but
surely the cause is a very different one, and is attri-
butable not to birth, but education. The following
remarks upon the anxiety which individuals of each
aristocracy evince to become members of the other
are full of truth :
" Whatever future changes may produce, there are at
the present day two potent aristocracies, both swarming
with presumptuous parvenus, despicable and despised:
parvenus (let it never be forgotten) of intelligence as well
as of station: men who aspire to qualities they have no
claim to: eunuchs of ambition!
" Society is brimful of absurdities, which no ridicule
will rewither ; and of this kind is the absurdity of the
members of one aristocracy consenting to become parvenus
in the other: authors degrading themselves into parvenus
of station, and lords descending into parvenus of intelli-
gence—this indeed is a misconception sometimes fatal;
always ludicrous. Lords consent to be lords; and, before
attempting to be authors, rigidly scrutinise your claims
and title- deeds! You are proud of your owa blazonry,
and ridicule the pretensions of the parvenu ; but you
become equally ridiculous when Liming after the blazonry
of mental aristocracy—the titles of books; unless, indeed,
you have the gift of genius to secure your position.
" Authors consent to be authors ; and before attempt-
ing to ' move in the first circles,' unless your position
call you there, rigidly scrutinise what it is you want :
what is your aim, and whether this society and its
demands be compatible with the mission of your lives.
Do not degrade yourselves by abdication of a rightful
throne for a baffled attempt at usurpation of a foreign
one.
" Either there is dignity in intellectual rank, or there
is not: if there is, no other rank is needed; if there is
not, no other rank can give it ; for dignity is not an
accident, but a quality."
The chapter following Ranthorpe's precipitate retreat
from the theatre, after the failure of his tragedy,
vividly pourtrays what many must have felt. It is
called " Aspiration and Inspiration," and points out
the terrible difference which exists between them.
With an extract from these suggestive remarks, we
must take leave of " Ranthorpe, in the hope, how-
ever, of ere long again meeting with its author.
" There have been few men of genius, I fancy, who
have not had their moments of despondency. Exalted
by the contemplation of Beauty, and the harmonious
witcheries of Proportion, they have looked upon their
own efforts with disgust ; aspiring after perfection they
have doubted their capacity to attain it, and questioned
themselves narrowly as to whether they have not mis-
taken the aspiration, common to so many, for the in-
spiration given to so few. The very superiority of mind
which enables them to conceive perfection, only the more
readily detects the distance which separates their works
from it.
" In these moments of despondency, when with bitter
irony a man interrogates himself and says—Am I what
I thought myself ? and receives only dark, vague
answers—then, should failure come as confirmation, the
thought of suicide arises, and is eagerly clutched at by
despair. To such despondency a few noble spirits
have succumbed: spirits who had endured the goading
evils of poverty, envy, and neglect—endured them to a
frightful extent, but never suffered them to quell their
giant energies.
" They wrong us who believe we quail before the
ordinary ills of life! We have more than a common
courage to endure; the history of our heroic predecessors
amply shows it. Our lives are chequered but because
our path is on the stony highway, where thorns and
flints pierce our bleeding feet, have we turned aside?
Have we ceased the combat when wounded? No; if the
path be stony, are there not flowers growing on the
hedge? If the path be dark before us, have we not an
inner lamp to guide us safely onwards? Ay, a lamp
whose smallest glimmer irradiates the world with beauty !
By its light we walk, and walk cheerily; by its rays we
are warmed and gladdened in the depth of winter nights,
when perhaps the last dying embers flicker on our deso-
late hearths. We may be poor, but we are never abject;
we may be neglected, but we are not unhappy until we
neglect ourselves! It is only when this inner lamp is
quenched, or when we look on it as some false will-o%
wisp, that all the glory of our mission fades away ; and
then what wonder if we arrest our steps and die blas-
pheming? Answer, Chatterton! Gilbert! Haydon I
"To have passed a life of cherished hopes any
visionary efforts, and to find at last that they were based
on air I To have forsaken all this bounteous world affords,
to feed the hungriest vanity, or greediest sense, and to
find that you have been a dupe, a miserable dupe! To
hear the ceaseless roll of waters as they break upon the
shore, and know how great the busy joyous world they
speak of; yet to feel like some poor stranded barque that
had tempted the rough waves in youthful confidence, and
now lies broken and deserted on them! To feel that
everywhere around you men are happy, busy, and you
alone without an aim—you alone purposeless, hops**,
joyless--you alone wasted 7 And in this despondency to
recal the delicious reveries and bounding hopes which
(m.
fipi
nao rds te e
atdhn ;ad t a
once were yours; to recal the lonely walks, on summer
eves, along sequestered streams, where your busy fancy
struck out many a gilded pageant of the future; to recal
your midnight studies, when with burning head and
nd
n joyless!etirie lampn Tto
o lookwewasa
kfeuanlpsoe fromn, our
the pdrreesaemn t
o f l
istate,fe
aching eyes you peered into the secrets of the great
aimless
a mockery of your
hopes! This is misery—this is despair mighty enough
to quell the stoutest heart!
" And this despair seized Percy Ranthorpe, and he
e I resolved to die!"
„

FINANCIAL HISToRY OF ENGLAND. By

Thomas Doubleday.

A peculiar interest attaches itself to this remark-
able work at the present moment, seeing that every
endeavour is now being made for the reparation of a
protracted injustice. The national mind, we do
firmly believe, is ripe fora cornprebepaive reorga-

nisation of that most injurious system of taxa-
tion which has for so long a period tended
to paralyse the industry of the population.
Mr. Doubleday has described the atrocious origin and
the malign influences of the national debt of E-,gland
in his financial history of the country, and 1-,t9 has
described them with such admirable perspicuity as
to their gradual developement, and with such wither-
ing sarcasm as to their producers, as to afford him, in
our opinion, a right to the title of a patriotic phi-
lanthropist. It is a curious circumstance to re-
flect upon the monetary and social condition of our
Anglo-Norman ancestors under the sovereignty of
the Plantagene%s, when the revenues of the monarch
and the state were derived in a particular manner
from his territorial possessions—when the royal
beeves and the royal harvests were carried to his
shambles and his granaries from his own pasture and
arable land, and were not wrung from the pittances
of the wretched artisans, earned by the de-
nial of their domestic comfort and the perpe-
tual sweating of their' brows. Until the aristo-
cratic ambition, and the feudatorial avarice had
beaten down the buttresses and desolated the orchards
of the religious establishments; until the lords of the
soil had glutted their coffers with the most unprin-
cipled and profligate spoliation, and had by the con-
tagion of their example rendered their lord para-
mount, the King, the participator in their corrupt
and execrable proceedings, the miseries of a poor-
law were unexperienced, and the labour of the land
untaxed. Those are the circumstances which do, in
a very great measure, render the olden times, in com-
parison with ours, the golden days; those, at least,
are the antique customs which we would willingly
see revived by the disciples of Young England ;
those are the immunities which must, in a very
great measure, have compensated our forefathers
for the scientific advantages reserved for a future
generation. While, indeed, we have been blessed
with the art of printing, we have been cursed
with the woes of taxation ; while our activity
has been promoted by a magic-dragoii of steam, our
strength has been undermined by the horrors of the
nightmare of the National Debt. The creation and
growth of these monster evils are well and compre-
hensively described by Mr. Doubleday. From the
first dawning of the debt until its accumulation
in 1711 to a principal of 16,394,702/. Is. 7d., in
1739 to a principal of 46,954,623/. 3s. 4d.,
in 1748 to a principal of 78,293,313/. Is. 10id., in
1775 to a principal of 135,943,0511., in 1783 to a
principal of 257,213,0431., in 1797 to a principal of
413,140,8321., until its extension in these latter times,
after the wars against France—wars forced upon us
by the pertinacious egotism of Pitt—to a terrific total
of 800,000,0001. How such miseries have been
entailed upon the industrious population of
these islands is readily to be comprehended,
when we recal to our recollection the expenses of a
protracted war, the odious subsidising system of
William Pitt, and the monetary suction of the
nobility. Mr. Doubleday has, in his present compo-
sition, become in a very great measure the impartial
historian of English Finance; at the same time it
must be acknowledged that his style is throughout
impassioned, but this earnestness arises from the
ardour of his patriotism. In writing these brief
observations we are in no manner disposed
to dismiss a volume so remarkable and
valuable with a few cursory remarks. We are
only solicitous to direct the attention of the
public, as speedily as possible, to a very extra-
ordinary and perspicuous work, recounting the in-
justice and incompetence of bygone statesmen. As
we shall repeatedly have occasion to refer to the ar-
guments of Mr. Doubleday, either for the purpose of
coinciding with them, or refuting them, we shall
abstain from entering upon their general analysis.

HOME AND ITS INFLUENCE. A Novel.
the Hon. Adela Sidney. 3 Vols.
The title of these volumes is a recommendation in
itself, and when we have said that, the tales which
they contain effectively carry out the moral which
that title seems to convey, further commendation is
almost needless. It would be well if a larger portion
of fictitious literature were devoted to a similar pur-
pose, and inspired by as amiable motives, as are these
volumes by Miss Sidney. However much it may be
customary to regard novel-reading either as a sad
waste of time, or, at best, only as a means of making
a few hours pass pleasantly, we are inclined to think
that works of this class, not individually, perhaps, but
collectively, exercise a not unimportant, and might
exercise a most beneficial, influence upon the morals
and the disposition of the community. Historical or
political romances are, doubtless, useful in their way,
as tending to impress certain facts more indelibly in
the memory, by means of familiar association and
kindly sympathies ; but their influence is immeasur-
ably less powerful than that exercised by the un-
pretending domestic novel. Always supposing such a
novel qualified to execute effectually its important
mission, namely, teaching by example. To do this it
is necessary not only that some good lesson should be
inculcated by the moral of the tale, but also more es-
pecially to render the example available, it is im-
perative that the characters and conduct of its heroes
and heroines should be truthfully and naturally pour-
trayed ; and then, according as they are good or evil,
they may serve as an incentive or a warning. His-
torical romancist though he was, such lessons abound
in the pages of Sir Walter Scott. We may ponder
with admiration, reverence, delight, or a thousand
kindred emotions, over his narratives, of the gallant
doings of the old crusaders, or the varied fortunes of
modern monarchs, from the doughty Richard to the
gentle Mary, or pedantic James; but we turn with
a sympathy ever glowing, and an interest ever new,
to study the histories of his humbler characters—fic-
titious they are called, but we know them to be
realities—and from those histories how many lessons
may we not learn I For instance,
a hundred elabo-
rate orations, a hundred eloquent panegyrics, upon
the various excellences and beauties of those two most
necessary and not incompatible virtues, resolution and
humility, must inevitably fail in producing a hun-
dredth part of the effect which would the perusal of,
perhaps, the most beautiful of all Scott's beautiful tales
—the ' Bride of Lammermoor." There, in the odious
character of the imperious Lady Ashton, and the
pitiful weakness of the gentle and yielding Lucy, its
fair readers more especially, may see the fatal effects
of two opposite extremes and become more anxious to
discover that happy juste milieu which avoids them
both—excluding alike wilfulness and weakness.
Innumerable lel.sons of this kind may be found
in the pages of the great novelist; and, notwithstand-
ing their manifold attractions, it is. for such lessons
that they are chiefly valuable. And such or similar
lessons we are always glad to find in the works of
our modern novelists, and it is because they aspire
to follow in the same course that we gladly welcome
Miss Sidney's otherwise unpretending tales. To
extol the happiness, and illustrate the beneficial in-
fluences of domestic life, is a peculiarly appropriate
subject for a work which, like this, is chiefly designed
For the younger and fairer members of the community.
The early studies of kings are chiefly directed
towards obtaining a knowledge of the countries
over which they are to rule, and in gathering
from the records of other sovereigns lessons
of experience for their future guidance ; and
in like manner should the early studies of women
tend in some way to qualify them for the right ad-
ministration of the future scene of their sovereignty—
the little empire of home. These three volumes con-
tain three tales—pleasing tales, pleasingly written—
" Beatrix," "Dinah," and " Clemente. " Of these the
last is by far the most interesting, and is an exquisite
romance. It is liable to some objections, certainly,
and the conduct of the heroine, in her heroic self-
sacrifice, is perhaps not very wise, even if natural ;
but then we must remember 'he never errs who sa-
crifices self;" or if he do,
" Such hero-errors purify our kind."
The story of " Dinah" is perhaps likely to be of most
practical benefit. It very forcibly pourtrays, in the
person of its heroine, the terrible consequences which
are occasioned by a fault-finding, domineering temper.
" Home and its Influence," then, may be cordially re-
commended as likely to afford, not only harmless and
agreeable recreation, but also many not unimportant
lessons. The object of the whole is to prove, in the
concluding words of one of the tales, "that happiness
apopvienres ans
united onl
an
is of a quiet nature--that all the charms of pleasure—
the excitement of fame—bear with them concealed
vithornsrtue a;
ni adu
love
0 vt
eh that
ed existenceth e
their
l lustre
r he
only when
intellectual borne." d

THE LRLII7S77—MI7-iFFBy Albert Sm7ith.
HE BALLET
TheNcAloTakU GAloßfßuffon has been a very long while
falling, and Albert Smith has caught it without any
doubt. It sits admirably on his shoulders—may he
wear it just so long as it shall not become threadbare!
After flaying the execrable, and detestable, and most
atrocious, and most abominable race of " Gents"
alive ; after punishing the whole genus of " Gents"
with a sort of literary " tar-and-feathering," Albert
Smith changes his theme from the grubs, as he very
expressively terms the " Gents," to the butterflies, as
he no less expressively terms the " Ballet Girls."
But his labour in this second chapter of his facetious
"Natural History," is not the labour of destruction,
or scarification, or ridicule, or satire. Tothe honour
and good taste of the author, be it said, the poor
"Ballet Girls" may here find their palliation, if not
even their' panegyric. On this account the little
book before us, anent the danseuses, is right welcome;
it is a blithe, sparkling, humourous sketch behind the
cenes, and it is a very great deal more—it is the
enunciation of a kind word, and the expression of a
generous and honourable sympathy for an abu!ed, and
we do believe, a wrongfully slighted class. We
cannot afford a better notion of the gentleness of sen-
timent which imparts such a pleasant flavour to the
out-pourings of the present brochure, than .by giving
the following defence of the moral characters of the
members of the corps de ballet.
"the Bogoiliri is very fond of finery. In a Pod"