The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

AMENITIES OF LITERATURE.-3 Vols.
Moron, London, 1841.
Mr. D'lsraeli, to whose practised pen we are
indebted for these volumes, is one of the neatest
and most entertaining writers of the day. The
-department he Inis chosen is not a very extensive
Or important one, but he has brought to it all
the resources of a skilful and accomplished mind.
His manner is unithrinly attractive; and in the
easy, unembarrassed flow of his style, may not
unaptly be. compared to Hume. He departed,
however, from his usual cool and healthy judg-
ment, when, in one of his earliest and best
works, he drew his illustration of the literary
character from Rousseau, who, if not quite mad,
was in a state closely approaching to madnesS,
and can never, therefore, be justly put forth as
a sample of the fraternity. In his present vo-
lumes, Mr. D'lsraeli exhibitsinuch of that amus-
ing power of gossip and light narrative which so
delighted us in his former works. His " Ame-
nities of Literature " has a sort of family like-
nes to his " Curiosities," with this exception,
that they have more unity of design, and are
more fully charged with information. From few
of the opinions broached in them do we find cause
to dissent, but among these few is the following,
which is pronounced on Henry the Eighth :
" The passions of his own times secured his popu-
larity even to his latter days. Youthful, with
all its vigorous and generous temper, and not
inferior in the majesty of his intellect any more
than in that of his person; learned in his cioset,
yet enterprising in action, this sovereign im-
pressed his own commanding character on, the
nation." We doubt much the generosity of
Henry's nature, of which Mr. D'lsraeli here
speaks. Hume, indeed; praises his Magnani-
mity, but he adduces no proof of it; and Tytler,
a sounder authority, most distinctly states—un-
less our memory greatly deceives us—that he
never had anything generous or noble about
him. He was showy, extravagant, and even
good-natured, so long as youth and health
lasted, but nothing more. In later days, he
degenerated into one of the most cruel, vindic-
tive, sensual despots, that England had ever
known. As for his popularity, the frequent
conspiracies that occurred towards the -close of
his life, prove that it could not have been very
great ; and, so far from his impressing " a com-
manding character" on the nation, never
was a Parliament so abject, so sycophan tic, as dur-
ing the latter portion of his reign. His learning
cannot be denied. Erasmus bears testimony
to his classical and other acquirements; but it
was rather reading he possessed, than an en-
larged and majestic intellect. Our author's spe-
culations on the private character of the Earl of
Leicester the haughty favourite of Queen •
Elizabeth—are as just as they are in ;
and not less happy is he in his sketch of Hooker,
of whom he justly says, " he is the first vernacu-
lar writer whose classical pen harmonized a
numerous prose. While his earnest eloquence,
freed from all scholastic pedantry, assumed a
style stately in its structure,- his gentle spirit
sometimes flows into natural humour, lovely in
the freshness of its simplicity." In closing our
short noticeof these pleasant volumes, we should
not omit to mention that they are introduced by
a brief preface, wherein the author touchingly
alludes to his own deprivation of sight, and the
affectionate solicitude of his son in preparing the
manuscript for the press.

DISCOVERY OF A. HOUSE UNDER

GROUND.

NEWBLISS, AUGUST 3, 1841.—An under-ground house
was discovered last week near the old road leading from
Newbliss to Monaghan, and about three miles from the
latter town, and from its perfect state of preservation
formed a most curious relic of antiquity. A man who lately
got possession of the farm upon which it is situated, went
to remove an unsightly hillock in a small meadow close to
his house. This little field had been reclaimed a few
years ago, after the turf had been cut off it, and from it
to the small lake of Keshlin (about three hundred yards
below it) was, in the memory of an old man living near
it, one continued heath moor, with several spades' depth
of turf under it ; and he had seen seven spits of turf cut
off the hillock which formed the roof of the house. The
outer wall is forty-six feet by about sixteen. Outside
the entrance is a semicircular court-yard, the base of the
wall surrounding it, as well as that of all the other walls,
is composed of large rough stones, some of them several
tons weight, standing on their ends, something like those
of Stonehenge. The entrance divided the semicircular
wall into two equal segments, and was formed with two
larger stones than the others, sufficiently apart to admit
a man with ease. Inside the entrance was an oval apart-
ment, about twelve feet by eight, which was arched over
from within about four feet of the base. The arch was
composed of fiat stones of different sizes, so carefully
selected and fitted (though there was not a cut stone in
the whole building), that the point of a penknife could
scarcely be inserted between them. Each stone pro-
jected about a quarter of an inch from the underneath
one, until they met at the top of the roof, which was
about six feet from the ground. Opposite the entrance,
at the other end of this room, was a similar entrance
into a lobby, which led straight to the other extremity
of the building, and off which were six other apart-
ments, all square, and built and roofed in the same
manner as the first oval one. The two standing stones
forming the entrance from this latter room into the cor- I
ridor, stood somewhat narrower than those of the prin-
cipal entrance, and were rubbed and worn on one par-
ticular part, as it were from the weapons of the in-
habitants returning from their hunting or plunder-
ing excursions. The whole of the . floor inside was
flagged with slabs of the same stone, and the outside
of the roof covered with the same material, which is ,
the most remarkable circumstance connected with it, as
the nearest freestone quarry is on Carronmore mountain,
in Fermanagh, about twenty miles from this place, and
the stone there does not cleave into slabs, and is of
quite a different grain, the former exactly resembling
the Scotch sand-stone found along the Clyde. Some
maintain that this antique piece of architecture must
be antideluvian ; but the circumstance of the interior
having been found perfectly clean, with the exception of
the juice of the bog-stuff' covering it having trickled
down the walls (and this black appearance may have
been caaused by the effect of smoke, although there was
no other indication of fire having been used inside), it
may be concluded, from the number of what are called in
the south of Ireland " follagh feeah," (deer fire), that
this edifice ha 3 been the abode of hunters, and that the
turf-mould was first excavated in order to build it, and
then laid back again for the purpose of concealment.
Many of his neighbours say that the owner of the
ground, who has dug up part of the house, found some
great curiosities in it ; but he himself denies it, with the
exception of a round slab of sand stone, with some cha-
racters scratched upon it, and one of his children let it
fall and broke it.—Dublin Evening Mail.

THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.
On Wednesday morning, a letter from the Rev. Mr.
Hodgson, a clergyman of the Established Church, re-
commending a union of the Wesleyans with the Church,
was brought before the Conference, and gave rise to a
long and interesting discussion, Among the speakers
was Dr. Bunting, who took occasion to observe, in re-
ference to one portion of the letter stating that those of
the Wesleyan ministers who had passed the Presidential
Chair should be made Bishops—that no power
whatever should ever induce or compel him to
be made a Bishop. He had received a great
number of communications on the subject of the
union of the Methodists with the Church ; and he
was induced to believe that many persons attributed
to him a power and an influence which he did not
possess. Why those communications were addressed so
pre-eminently to him, he could not conceive; but the
fact was, that he had received two letters from Mem-
hers of Parliament, thanking him for their elections;
though he .did not know those gentlemen, had had no
pgno ranrevioust, cbeforeommuntheyication
themselves with them, and was totally
i informed him, that
they had been elected at all,
bers in
question was a Tory,
and the other was a
One of the Mem-
Whig. He mentioned that to show
what a mistaken
notion some people had of his influence and ance in connection with the Wesleyan body. In the
import-
course of discussion, it was stated that no official cor-
respondence could be entered into with Mr. Hodgson,
as he could. have no power or authority to make any
proposition that would be regarded b .' Church at
y the
large as authoritative. It was, however, resolved that
a reply bo sent to him, thanking him for his kind mo-
tives in writing the letter and expressing a desire that
a greater unanimity of feeling may obtain among all
religious denominations. This discussion occupied ther
greater portion of the forenoon. At five in the
.afteo-_
noon the Conference re-assembled for the ordination
of
the young men who were admitted to the niubbulsicr3l'v.eref
whom there are between 30 and 40.
The public
On
admitted, and the chapel was filled to
of the Stationing
Thursday\ afternoon, in consequence
commence its delibera-
Committee being required to
'more than about an
tions, the genera body did not sit
Robert Newton, the hour. In the evening, the Rev.o
the newly-ordained
ex-President, delivered a charge
The Service was
Ministers, in Oldham-street Chapel.he
congregation was very
open to the public, and.
tof the silk gown, the Con-
numerous. On the question
no
preacher shall wear it
ferenec has decided that
from the Conference ; and
without express permissiondirection of the Committee, adrai-
Dr. Bunting, by the
Rev. W. Bunting and the Rev.
nistered a reproof to thefor
having appeared in the gown
Mr. Waddy,
of lll:listhe Conference was occupied in
in the pulpit. Yesterday
stations
o f the
various ministers for the ensu-
ing the
may mention, for the amusement of our
ing year.
thatWe Mrs. Martin, a lecturer on Socialism, titUt '
readers, a
L onference to discuss certtgu iiipi-s in
a challenge to
herth.
views ; but we ha*
lv.--ed -state
connection with
did not aceopt the l,",it t.' ion. We
that the Conference
bas not r‘-' a a
that the Conference curnea any answer
believe
to the
letter font the Committee of Arrangement for
the•prapOS ell conference 0! ministers on the Corn-laws.
_ . .
—Manchester Guardian.

For vtrettg past during the gloomy weather,
mauy.persons have complained of difficulty in their re-
splrAtion and of being otherwise effected. Medical men
of experience attribute the cause to the want of a due
portion of oxygen gas in the atmosphere, and the air
not being properly rarified, occasioned by the absence
t sunshine for many days.

EVENING STJN.

PETITION TO THE QUEEN
The Petition to her Majesty, published in The .
Sun on.
the 3d inst, was forwarded to the Marquis of Nor-.
manby to be presented to her Majesty. The day before,
yesterday the Noble Marquis caused the following infor—
mation to be conveyed to the Chairman of the -petitioners:,
" Whitehall,- Aug. 11; 1841.
" Sir,—l am directed by the Marquis of Nornfanby to
inform you that he has not failed to lay before the Queen.
the Petition of the Merchants, Manufacturers, Traders,.
and others, agreed to at a public meeting, held at the.
King's Arms Tavern, Philip-lane, Wood-street, in. the.
City of London, on the 31st of July.—l am, Sir, your'
obedient servant, ' "S. M. PHILLIPI'S.
" To John Foreman, Esq., Commercial-
wharf, Old SWati4ane:"

1 THE REV. HUGH M'NELLE AND
THE -CORN-LAWS.
, .
We copy the folloWino. sensible observations from X
pamphlet recently issued' by a working man, in reply to.
Mr. M'Neile's late effusion at the Liverpool Ampitheatre,
on the subject of the Corn-laws :--" But, fellow-work-
men, if it be so glorious a thing to be ' independent 0t.7
foreigners,' how comes it that we are to be indvendent:
'for bread alone ? Why not for tea, coffee, sugar, rice,.
spices, cotton, silk, in short for everything ? We nev ce•
hear the men who now talk so loudly of independence*
endeavouring to persuade us to have such a " love.
for English dried leaves, for instance, as to refuses
tea, merely that we may be ' independent of fo-
reigners.' How does this happen ? I can think of but:
one reason—they have no interest in endete.ouring.-
to mislead us on this matter. If, however, the land-
owners of :this country derived a large income from.
drying, and selling at an 'extravagant prim, the. leaves.
of the trees on their estates, and it were proposed for
the first time to have a free trade to China, we. should.
have as great an outcry as we now hear against a free.
trade in corn ; many a hireling lawyer, acid ' hypocri-
tical parsons' in abundance, would stand forth with brazen:
front to tell us that such trade would reduce our wages,.
and bring ruin on the country ; and, I am s‘prry to say,.
many a solemn fool would be found among us ready to and applaud them. Cultivate a love for every-
thing English, says Mr. M'Neile. Depend sot on foreign
countries for supplies. Well, then, my friends, if this,
principle be good for any thing, let it not. be con fined to,
corn. Let it be carried out, and extended to evez y thing..
Let us destroy our ships, and make corn fields. of iour
docks. Let us hold no commuiration with ' on,:er
Strangers.' Let us be even wlne than the Chinee,
and prevent any ' foreign ' vessels fro m coming net is
our shores. Yea more, we must bv,nish all ' alien: ;'
from our land. We must have no ' barbarian" hypo -
critical parsons ' from the sister island. Mr. 21'Neile e
must no longer be permitted to live on 6 English oxen,
and sheep, and hogs, and poultry ;' but must be sent,
like an Irish goose, to feed and cackle on the bogs of
Ireland ; or, if he like it better, and the nations of
bears and lions have no antipathies to ' foreigners,' be
can try, his favourite experiment of civilizing thein by
persuading them to pay him a tax upon their food..
Fellow-workmen, oh I is it not a melancholy spectacle
to behold a man who has sworn that he is ' moved by
the Holy .Ghost,' to teach, among other things, the
universal brotherhood of man—that God has made of
one blood ALL nations of men to dwell on the face of
the earth ; is it not a melancholy spectacle to beho. Icl
such a man striving to perpetuate the foolish prejudice S
of rude and barbarous ages ; endeavouring to foster an -
tipathies between man and man, and to excite mutua. I
jealousies and distrusts between members of the same e
great family, merely because they speak a different •'
tongue, and are separated by a sheet of water ? I,
although a poor ignorant working man, with no educa-
tion save what I have been able to pick up for myself ;
and, moreover, not having the advantage of bein„.,o. %spe-
cially ' moved by the Holy Ghost,' should be trtret'ly
ashamed of exhibiting this extreme narrowness of mind,
this wretched poverty mid contractedness of soul. The
great Creator having bestowed different capabilities on.
different countries, it must surely be most advantageous
for each nation to devote its enemies to what can be
produced at the least cost, and exchange its commodities
freely with the world."

VEGETABLES AND HERBS KNOWN IN
ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRTEENTH' CEN-
TURY.—It cannot fail to be remarked, in perusing the
roll, that very few esculent plants are mentioned. Dried
pens and beans; parsley, fennel, onions, green peas,
and new beans are the only species named. rot-
herbs, of which the names are not specified, but
which served eleven days, cost sixpence. If any either. -
vegetables were in general use at the time, they. were;,
perhaps, comprised wider the term " potagitun."' There
is, however, much uncertainty upon the silbject of
the cultivation of vegetables, in this country, cl,ur ing the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Cress,es, endive,
lettuce, beets, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, lee) ;s,
and cardoons were grown in France during the reign
Charlemagne ; butit is doubtful whether, many of thes
varieties had penetrated into England at. nn early perio( t.
The most skilful horticulturists of the middle ages wer a
ecclesiastics, and it is possible that in the gardens of mo -
nasteries many vegetables were rearedyihich were not it
common use among the laity. Even Li the fifteenth cen• -
tury, the general produce, of the English kitchen garden t
was contemptible when compared with that of the Low
Countries, France, and Italy. Gilbert Rymer can enu- •
merate only, besides a few wild and forgotten sorts, cab- •
bage, lettuce, spinach, beet-root, trefoir,__hugles, borne, •
celery, purslane, fennel, smallage, thyme, hyssop, par- -
sley, mint, a species of turnip, and small white onions .
According to him, all those plants were boiled with meat -
He observes also, that some were eaten raw, in spring ary ,
summer, with olive oil and spices, but questions the ?T o
priety of the custom. This is, perhaps, the earliest. 310 -
tiee extant of the use of salads in England.— Mann(
I Household Expenses of Englund in the Thirteenth tur3 '-
SHA KER I SAL—Mr. Carter, a ren onricivi
shaker, visited this place a few weeks since, am', gwve Y w,
or three lectures on Shakerism, and sung some twee 1, f songs, danced, exposed Miller's theory, ani.:l did serer •t other things for the amusement of the audience. T
Shakers' creed is a very curious one. They believe
one God, and two persons in the Godhead_male a nd
female, or father and mother.—called Power and Wisdo
m.
They believe that Adam 'was the father of the old crc a-
tion, and Eve was the mother, both being created aft er
the image of God ; and that Christ is the father of the ni
creation, and Ann Lee the mother, and that them a-
lenium commenced with the appearance of Ai isa.
Lee on earth. They believe in the immortality or
animals, as well as of men. They say that John sa sr
horses in the world of spirits, as recorded in Revelatioi
They believe that all the ugly and venomous animals
nt
earth are symbolical of the evil spirits that inhabit t' be
lower regions of the invisible world, and that all t' be
beautiful creatures, Such as birds with gorgeous plumat ;et
are symbolical of the good spirits in the mansions of
bliss. They believe that the souls of Shakers, in tht
trances and visions, really visit the heavenly world. T
lancet has been applied to them, and their flesh has bet ni
scarified, while in this state, without producing a part i•••
cle of blood. One person who visited the land of spin-. ts•
in a trance, saw all the patriarchs and kings of olds.;,
time ; saw King David travelling, and Solomon tri
snow white horse ;_ saw Christ and all the upeztl
Newburyport Watchtower.
CARLYLE, HALLAM, AND SlDNrey
—I may say that we have scaled the ladder of evenimsr, e f--
tertainments here, going
to a magnificent concert aftroL--n1 a sixii°:
o
ease; k
afamilythe t
tea e a up
to
this home-like hour was at Car) fie's. He is living in*
the suburbs of London, near t}'.e.Thames ;my impr es
sion is in rather an humble 4-,vay; but when your eye filled with a grand and beatetiful temple, you do not t Ake
the dimensions of surrouniting objects; and if any r 3au.
"11 be independent of them, you might expect Ca.rlyl4 rto
be. His head would throw a phrenologist into ecstac ies.
It looks like the " torge of thought" it is; and his e yes
o
have a preternatural brilliane. He reminded me
eobfsmt
ex's
Lockhart said to me, speaking of the size
head, that he " had brains to fill half a dozenmr ha tsbe.".
Carlyle has as strong a Scotch accent as . Cot.
tniaotnurhalaskyt,haenpdictausrefrcreenes
from Germanism, as his own.
Ibis manner is simple, natural, and kindly. His..convt
infusion of Gel mart
s of his writings,. and flow as
mountain streams are free from any
ac-
quaintance with
secluded part of Scotland. They ha dno
living
wife in a most
Soil. Ile gave us en interesting cwouanst
wfiirstit
went seine miles .
noseecotinomaupnoiscta-toiffioncewiinththtehehNoNp-oerlodf,
abet ter
ai hpoi
neighbours,selneotile
intimation that the world was going on. One
day, si tra
to to them, a young American, and . Ale,
seemed
el." The spoke of him as if •th,
had never lost their first impression of his celestia 1 nil
tare.
Carlyle had met Mr. Webster, and expre. Sod
;rm: carne
angy
talk English, and be as familiar as the natives wit h tht r
hourous surprise that a men from over the sea s hew,
English constitution and laws,
" With all that priest or jurist saith,
Of modes of law, or modes of faith."
_ _

wanted blowing on to lighten them up. And, b..
the way
He said Webster's eyes were like dull furnace-,that onlyr
it is quite interesting to perceive that our great country -
man has made a sensation here, where it is all but as chi
ficult to make one as to make a mark on the ocean. The T
have given him the sobriquet of the "Great Western,
and they seem particularly struck with his appearanc
A gentleman said to me, " His eyes open, and open, at id open, and you think they will never stop opening ." ix; A
a painter was heard to exclaim, on seeing him, " *ha t.*
head ! what eyes ! what a mouth ! and, my God !wl taX
colouring !" We had a very amusing evening at. dr.
Hallam's, whom (thanks to F., as thanks to her for
best privileges in London) I have had the great vx,ieo.. ;tire
of seeing two or three times. But this kind of seen r ist
so brief and imperfect that it amounts to little more . ;hart
seeing the pictures of these great people. Jr. Hal la=
has a very pleasing countenance, and a 7- ,„t good -hum
moured and playful manner. I quite "o-,
sage of the " Middle Ages." He rexe..mded me of
but his simplicity is more genuine •. '.iot at all that o '?the
great man trying to play child. uu quite forget, the
freedom and ease of the social ^7'. .cost
he was the
hero in armour, We met Si Alley Smith' at his hous€ the
best known all the wi mad, that he is eve' ! the
`.s of the civilized world. The
company 7ras small ;he was i' the vein, which is 1 ike s
svagir being in voice, and we saw him, I believe, t o ad—
nntage. His wit ,-,fas not, as I expected, a success? on of
brilliant explosioAsbut a sparkling stream onow,no,.
like when he is at home, and i' the vein too ; and
like him, also, he seemed to enjoy his own fun, a nd tco
have fattened on it. He expressed unqualified ad mira—
tion of Dickens, and said that 10,000 of each nun: ber oE
Nicholas Nickleby was sold. There was a youn r mam
present, who, being flushed with some recent literary
success, ventured to throw himself into the arena a gains;
the old lion-king, and to a lover of such sport, it would
have been pleasant to see how he crackled him up, fiesh,
bones, and all.—Miss Sedgwick's Letters.
UPTON._-A DIFFERENCE.--Not very long
ago there were twenty-six coaches
running h Worcester and the Blue Bell gate, near this toss tht2 whole of which are now off the road.— Worcesi 'Arsh;rel Chronick.