The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMAN
PATRICIAN ALEXIS. By Miles Gerald Kwn.
One of those exquisite little works with which, after
the perusal of only three consecutive pages, the reader
becomes fascinated. Biography is perhaps the most en-
thralling kind of prose composition, and lIIr. Keon is an
eloquent and impassioned biographer. 'I he life of Richard
Savage, written by Samuel Johnson, so seized the ima-
gination of Sir Joshua Reynolds, on his accidentally
meeting with it in a road-side tavern very shortly after
its first publication, that he read on and on, leaf
after leaf, with his elbow resting upon the mantelpiece,
until he closed the volume at the " finis," and discovered
that his arm had become paralysed. And yet the life of
Richard Savage is the life of a bad man, the life of a
homicide, a profligate drunkard, a man who perished
ignobly in a debtor's prison at Bristol ! Mr. Keon has
selected a nobler theme, and, what is more, he has
treated it with the skill of a rhetorician and the fervour
of a poet. The life of the Roman Patrician Alexis
is a sublime and affecting life, the life of a
very wonderful and admirable mortal. To the
Romanists he is a saint ; while to every right-minded
m an
era presents
racter. the
bookspec is tingedtacleof asplendid and immacu-
late
of course with the
peculiar views which its author is already known to ad-
vocate ; but it is on that account by no means addressed
exclusively to religionists. As the very dedication in-
dicate,,, the volume is characterised by an enlarged and
philosophic liberality—being inscribed, at once, to Pius
IX., the Honourable George Sydney Smythe, and the
New Generation. In purpose, if not in principle, we
cannot but regard Mr. Keen as in a great measure iden-
tified with that new generation, the importance of which
he thus commemorates ; and as a fresh testimony of
this identification may be mentioned this beautiful
biography of the Patrician Alexis.

----'
MUIR or ORD MARKET.—The first market of the
season was held on Wednesday and Thursday last, and was
bat thinly attended. The stock brought forward was much
less than that exhibited at the April market of last year, and
was also interior in condition, which must be attributed to
the severity of the whiter, the partial failure of the turnip
crop, and the scarcity of keep. The demand upon the whole
was steady, and fair prices were obtained. Crosses in general
may be considered about 19 per cent. below the prices of last
}ear, and Highland cattle much the same. A good deal of
business was done in the latter description, but a considerable
number were left unsold. Mr. Trotter, GarAustown, got 9/.
per head for his two yr old crosses ; a lot of 25 from Fettis
Farm
ar nl)ll,de aa trhse9ilf.oelis
Farm, fetched Si. ; Mr. Macdonald, Ncilstown. near Cromartv,
sold his lot at 19L 10s. ; Alr.Dickson, Koppoch'sCrosses realised
61. lOs. ; Mr. Binning sold a lot fronitalolßfdrahteuiti;he'
and Mr. Rose, Dryrde, a lot at 7/. 10s. Highland cattle--
Nf.eror3m
ESui;ertoiort
911.-Tiht°eeBtr.cehNeArdere a few lots of Cheviot and black-
faced hogs, which met with a dull 1
Kirkton at 18s.,
and another lot was sold to Lord W
Con-
tin, bought a lot of cheviots from Msra e.
the two principal lots in the krd at 215., which were
Cro-
marty Mains, sold 200 half
sale. Air. Dickson, Kepi) i
Leicestertr -et. Mr. Duncan,
Allan, at 225. The lthickfaccd h hogs to Mr. Monro, of
a. Rnsel:lr. Laidlaw,
ogs met with rather a dull
, sold his lot at 11/. Most of
now settled, and the prospectsuiisoolfd.As
the sheep were, however, left°u
we expect that the condition of the st the veather seems
proved, and anticipate a considerable rise in
keepk rapidlyN4.iwill
be advancing,
we
pricemuhyc
nextiitt-
market.—Ross-shire Advertiser.
The following new anecdote of the benevolence of
the Pope is related in a letter from Rome of the 17th, pub-
lished by the SW:de. A short time ago an inhabitant of Pisa
died, leaving by his will a sum of 5,000 Roman crowns to
Pius IX. The Pope accepted the legacy, but gave orders
that the money should not he sent to Rome, as he was de-
sirous of laying it out in Pisa. Ile has just given half the
legacy for the relief of the indigent inhabitants of Pisa, and
invested the other half for wedding portions to the daughters
of poor persons.— Galignani.
Mat. ADAsis.—We understand that the chair of
Natural Philosophy in the University of St. Andrew's has
beep offered to this gentleman ; but we do not know whether
the discoverer of Neptune will consider it worth his while to
accept even this dignity. We much fear that in several re.
specta he would, by accepting it, incur a pecuniary sacrifice
to a large amount. The salary attached to the
professorship is very small, and as the number of stu-
dents at St. Andrew's is exceedingly limited, the emolument
arising from fees would not, at the utmost, exceed 901. per
anAuPl:--CkatbridgesisioctitTr•!