The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENIN CT) JANUARY 25, 1847

LITERAT URE.
ORATORS OF THE AGE. comprising Portraits
Critical, Biograplucal, and Descriptive by G. ti.
Francis, I,ditor of " Maxims and Opinions cf the
Duke of Wellington."
Our readers will doubtless recollect certain admirably
Written papers entitled "Contemporary Orators," which
have from time to time appeared in Fraser's Magazine
during the last twelvemonth, and from which we have
not infrequently given extracts. These papers having
attained a high popularity not only in this country, but
On the contioent (several of them have been translated
into French), Mr. Francis liss doi.c wisely :a c
ing them together, for publication in a separate form.
This work, however, is not merely a reprint from Fraser:
each sketch has been subjected to careful revision, and
Many of them have been re-written or remodelled. In
his position Mr. Francis possesses great advantages for
Collecting materials for such a work as the one now
under notice, and he knows well how to avail himself of
these advantages. He has consequently produced a
book which is decidedly the best of its sort. His criti-
cisms are acute, yet fair and impartial. and his portraits
are perfect Daguerreotypes—we give the portrait of Lord
404 Russell as a specimen.
" Can that little, quiet, fragile, modest, almost insignifi-
oant-lookins, man, so neat, plain, and formal in his black coat
and snow-white neckcloth, who sits with his legs crossed
lany-how,' and his hat overshadowing his sharp features
till they are scarcely seen,—can that be Lord John Russell?
.1a he really leader of that compact and numerous party ?
And has he the power or the skill to rule and rein them in ; to
amalgamate all their discordant varieties ; to tame their poli-
tical violence, of which you have heard and seen so much ; to
Pour the oil of his philosophic spirit on the troubled waters
of their excited passions ; to beguile them into suspending
or giving up their cherished opinions and settled purposes,
and cordially uniting in working out his views, and respect-
mg, if not obeying, his will? When yov regard the phy-
Lgue of Sir Robert Peel ; his full, commanding figure, his
intellectual face and head, his handsome expressive counte-
nance his erect and manly bearing; you are half tempted
to believe, on trust, all you have heard of his magical in-
fluence over the House of Commons : but no persuasion will
induce you t think that the diminutive model of a man who
has been pointed out to you as Lord John Russell—whom
Lord Palmerston, his next neighbour, might almost dandle
in his arms—can possess those qualities which history tells
us are necessary in order to sway popular assemblies.
" In a few moments lie takes off his hat and rises from his
"at; advancing to the table to speak. Now, for the first
time, you see something that prepossesses. His head,
though small, is finely shaped ; it is a highly intellectual
head, and the brow is wide and deep. The face, broad and
firm set, sphynx-like in shape, is not of faultless outline, but
it is strongly marked with character. A thoughtful repose,
slightly tinged with melancholy, pervades it. The features
ago sharply defined; they look-more so in the extreme pale-
ness
of the complexion—a paleness not of health, but of
refined breeding.
The mouth is wide,
ifinely shaped;
surrounded with a marked line, as thou
gh made the vehicle of expression, while the lips were
ar
efirmlyo n
t is
compressed, as from habitual thought. The evequick
a
intelligent, the nose straight and decided, the eyebrows dark
and well arched, and the whole face, which seems smaller
still than it is, from the absence of whiskers, is surmounted
by dark and scanty hair, which leaves disclosed the whole
depth of an ample and intellectual forehead. A moment
More, and you are struck with the proportions, though
small, of his frame--his attitude erect, his chest expanded.
You begin to perceive that a little man need not of necessity
be insignificant. There is a presence upon him, a firm com-
pactness of outline, a self-possessed manner, a consciousness
able view of his
of la tent strength, that lead you to abandon your unfavour-
physical attributes, and to hope much from
his moral and intellectual qualities.
" Isle speaks and for a time your isappointment returns.
You have seen, him make one step fordward to the table, look
all round the house, then make a step back again into his
old place; then with the right arm stretched partly out, and
his face half turned to his own supporters, he begins. His
"°'°e is feeble in quality and monotonous. It is thin, and
there is a twang upon it which smacks of aristocratic affec-
tati°n ; but it is distinct. He is, perhaps, about to answer
amine speech, or to attack some measure, of Sir Robert Peel.
ve goes on in level strain, uttering a few of the most ob-
vious commonplaces of apology or of deprecation, till the
idea of mediocrity grows irresistibly upon your mind. Yet
tse -duse seem to listen anxiously—they would not do so if
1"53' did not know the man. Wait a little. A cheer comes
Ward,
around him ; it bears in it the effeminate laugh of Mr.
the deep bassoon note of Mr. Warburton, the shrill
a„ scream ofMr. Shell, the loud hearty shout of Mr. Wakley,
is;4" tne delighted chorus of the Radicals and manufacturers.
Without even on the opposite side, the point' has not been
'lout its effect, as many a suppressed titter testifies. All
bow
level commonplace,it seems, was but the stringing of the
uaaw.., ; at the moment when least expected, the cool, prepared
T.,l(arrien has shot his arrow of keen and polished sarcasm
‘oir Robert Peel, whom it has fleshed, if not transfixed.
111. follow the speaker a little longer, now fairly interested
shatiT, even though opposed to his opinions, and you find
he e has more of those arrows in his quiver. And then
esvPrceeds, during a speech of perhaps an hour and a half,
qs„_e °Ping those characteristics of his mind which we have
_17511 bed in detail ; now earning approval by his enlarged
attilthSetatesmanlike views, now lowering himself to the level
respejarious prejudices of his party ; alternately compelling
tenspi-,and admiration or provoking something like con-
-8 enib,iitillg
Oppone;2l", rousing his own side to cheers against their
,8 to laugh at or suspect their own leaders; but
.al-
tamers, power, self-possession, tact, skill, pasha-
and fen-political knowledge, command of language,
gnish eitY of diction surpassed by but a few of the distin-
ed men of the day.
sps"lreanwhile you have lost sight of the defects of the
in a 8 of voice manner, and action, which place
tart ,
88 far Sir
below Robert Peel, in the merely mechanical
of oratory as
114PPhave bee his occasional elevation of thought and
Y choice of language place him in these respects above
If you had not tbus been carried away, you would
n speedily wearied by the drawling monotony of
voice, the hesitation in delivery, the constant catching up
ati!! repetition of words, and even of portions of sentences
n You will have noticed that the only action used was a
baßant stepping forwards from the bench to the table and
tight again, an occasional thumping cf the latter with the
the arms
ang, when not rested permanently on it, a folding of
r e arms akimbo or an action peculiar to this orator when he
~,,!t8 his left elbow on his right hand, while the left arm,
,‘"Qied perpendicularly, is held up as if in warning at his op-
ponents.,,

THE QUARTERLY RE VIEW. No. CLVII.
, From the interesting narrative (written in Latin
by the Jesuit Giulio Cordara in 1751) of the expedi-
tion of Charles Edward Stuart, very recently ren-
cred into Italian by Antonio Gussalli, an historical
article of singular beauty has suggested' itself to one
°t. the Quarterly reviewers. That article is contained
!II the present number, and is entitled The Stuarts
tif;ta,lY' Whether it be from the natural sympa-
tes Inspired by occurrences of a chivalrous charac-
terely
auLdwhen associated with youth, illustrious lineage,
extraordinary misfortune, or whether it arise
from the circumstance of these romantic inci-
turnt3;(l,a,ting from so recent a period in the past cen-
kiaj: 13 certain that no events of a purely national
aroused the Particularly arrested the attention, and
of cd the
161, imaginations, and elicited the compassion
Stuarts
ng—urneo as the vicissitudes encountered by the
oft and' fora while, the noblest of the royal house
don' , among the tarns and glens of Cale-
teifut* Alfred burning the cakes of the forester's
vale--Cosur-de-lion vying in deeds of arms with the
orous Saladin—Henry the Sixth pining in the
:rower
—not one
ehorit: the involuntary guise of an anoin
in ted an •
Whol single epoch or personage in the
th- e annals of Great Britain, so entirely fascinates
pe' Popular mind as the epoch of 1745-6, and the
1/1411:nage styled The Young Pretender. The fact
cited Tn be recognised in the enthusiasm ex-
by the the latter among his adherents,
zlen , Spontaneous gatherings of the north-
the at one moment promised to restore
itu transferred regalia to the possession of the dy-
ntY from which it had been wrested, by the suffer-
flcs endured, the wrongs borne, the blood spilt, the
b;rjunes sacrificed, and the hearths desolated in his
ve_ualf• If any testimony were required to prove the
racity of the historians of this adventurous rising
Scotland that testimony is found in the beautiful
and Passionate poetry of the Jacobite ballads—than
Much there are not in existence more fervent and re-
markable specimens of party-feelings, party-loyalty
and party-violence. What can evidence a more
frantic devotion to the cause of an individual than
the famous " Cam ye by Athol," preserved to us by
the faithful memory and fluent pen of the Ettrick
ahepperd ?—that gallant battle-song which rings to
the last syllable with the gaudium ban.
``Down through the Lowlands, down
. wi' the Whigamore,
Loyal true Highlanders, down wi' them rarely!
llonald and Donald, drive on wi' the braid clamorc,

Over the necks of the foes of Prince Charlie !
Fallow thee, follow thee, wha wadna follow thee !
Lang hest thou loved and trusted us fairly ?
vliarlie, Charlie, wba wadna follow thee?
for
of the Highland hearts, bonnie Prince Charlie?"
4`401" is the dynasty of Bruuswick of that juvenile and
Ggorious character, which in the times of the first
;sorges rendered it danaerous to utter any expres-
810ns of sympathy in the fortunes of the exiled
Princes. The truest and staunchest lieges of our sove-
reign lady Victoria may now, without peril to them-
seoives and without the slightest diminution
if their good name as loyal subjects participate fully
nf those sentiments of admiration which the conduct
d. Prince Charles, throughout his unfortunate expe-
ti,°,o, enkindled among his faithful Highlanders.
lita all our ideas as to " legitimacy," it is impos-
bt° deny that the descent of Charles Edward
rro the kingdom of his ancestors, for the purpose of
theasirlerting the claims of his father to the crown and
cliZngshiP, possessed so much of the spirit of true
toltCrY and antique prowess, that the fancy reverts
"e seen of his wanderings and wretchedness
Vith a es
B dtheattrac-
ill% Peculiar and reverent interest. eyon
Vithaast of his intellect, Prince Charles was endowed
tig all those externals which are most calculated to
ractire the affection and attachment of a generous
of is aPpearance and disposition given of him by Cor-
hea • Features of remarkable regularity and
ensutY, with a certain princely air ; a noble, gener-
Of. 2, and fervid disposition ; a soaring spirit, capable
4,. equable
loftiest flights ; a nimble, yet robust frame, and
heeapable temperament were native gifts, to which
llebi?ded a studious acquaintance with all courtly
's and observances, and an admirably gentleman-
gu,,v_a ad easy manner, with an unfailingly joyous and
be address." That was the bewitching aspect of
his royal adventurer at the commencement of
the
(Tiyward existence ; little did it augur
" ,Nenerate manhood ; little did the purity
kenulgaity of his adolescence prefigure the drun-
ptetugess and debasement of his degraded age. As a
dye,ThlT of the closing scenes in the drama of the
t on of the once puissant Stuarts, this contribu-
critical
!° the Quarterly Review is vivid and picturesque.
frad paper upon the ancient Portuguese Drama,
esPecially uPOII tht works of Gil Vicente, dis-

plays a perfect familiarity with the literature of lie
land of Camoers, and a capability of appreciating
ti,e exc;eiieticie, bletnislie3 writ-rs.
The criticism is interspersed with'teveral happy and
appropriate quotations ; from the quaint rnalupert
ditty of Cassandra :

"Dicen quo memo yo;
No quiero marido, no:"

To a delicious carol of spring, most characteristic of
the sunny Peninsula. We give the graceful imitation
of this latter song, paraphrased from the original by
the rcrie c;•er

"I'll away to the garden,
Fur winter is over ;
The Rose is awake
To the song of her lover
I will go and discover
The passionate Nightingale singing above her.
" From the boughs green and golden
That slope to the river,
A Nymph gathers lemons
To give to her lover :
I will go and discover
The shy little Nightingale singing above her.
" Near the vineyard, where often
I have spied out a rover,
Sits a damsel who sings
To be heard by her lover :
I will go and discover
The bold little Nightingale singing above her."
In the article headed " State of Ireland," the
reader will discover merely a recapitulation of the
account already published in all the newspapers,
besides a variety of suggestions as to the restoration
of that afflicted island to agricultural and commer-
cial prosperity. The suggestions are about as
feasible as the nine hundred and ninety-nine
already made by the vagrant charlatans
of political economy, scattered through the
country. If the Government attends merely to
the numberless and conflicting schemes advanced as
to the social redemption of the Irish it will be in im-
minent peril of sharing the fate of the old gentleman
in the fable who had a boy and a donkey. The
Parliament and the Ministry must look more to the
dictates of their own sagacity and wisdom. Other-
wise the emerald isle will continue for an indefinite
period the victim of an erroneous legislation and of a
mistaken system of agriculture. In the paper re-
lating to " Agriculture in France," there are
so many statistical fallacies and extravagant
propositions that a merely cursory denial of their
accuracy would be inefficient and—in point of fact—
pert. The merits, or rather the demerits, of the
article must be discussed in a more detailed form than
our space at present will permit, in order to do jus-
tice to the plausibility of the writer, and the ennobling
truths of free trade. " Faraday "is the subject of a
well-deserved panegyric in a disquisition commemo-
rative ofhis recent discoveries in relation to light and
electricity—discoveries which promise to prove the keys
to a new knowledge. As a suitable beginning to the
Quarterlyßeview for 1847,we find a shrewd and compre-
hensive biography of the memorable Marquis of Mon-
trose—that heroic chieftain who is emphatically de-
signated " The Great Marquis" by his Caledonian
countrymen. To our thinking, however, the most
valuable and laudable paper in the whole number is
the one descriptive of the Ragged Schools—of their
original institution—of their progressive establish-
ment—of their meritorious character, and of the ne-
cessity which existed for some educational effort of
the kind. The article is admirably written,
written with point, and sometimes eloquence; writ-
ten with the intellect ready to perceive the more
crying wants of the indigent, above all written with
a deep and zealous feeling of unaffected benevolence.
As a testimony that these philanthropic establish-
ments have not. been prematurely called into exist-
ence, here is a calculation enough to appal the least
credulous, and to render the spirit of philanthropy
contagious, if only from a dread of the consequences
likely to arise from so enormous an evil, if not
checked in its extension.

In the year 1845 there were taken into custody by the
metropolitan police 14,887 persons of both sexes under
20 years of age. Of these were summarily disposed of
by the magistrates-
-38 males, 15 females, under 10 years of age;
1,187 „ 123 „ at 10 and under 15 ;
3,519 „ 1,191 ~ at 15 and under 20.
There were committed for trial :-
12 males, 4 females, under 10 years of age;
370 „ 44 „ at 10 and under 15.
1,839 „ 257 „ at 15 and under 20.
Here is a list of agenda ample enough to keep both
magistrates and police from growing pursy and fat ! but
it is not a full statement of the annual mischief ; much
escapes the vigilance of the law ; much falls somewhat
within the limits of crime ; much, however pernicious,
cannot be ranked with offences against the Queen's peace.
Now let us just look at the offences of some among those
whom the magistrates disposed of without delay—
Assaults - - - - 1 under 10 years of age;
58 at 10 and under 15
714 15 and under 20.
Misdemeanours :

With intent to steal - 3 under 10 years of age;
62 at 10 and under 15
128 15 and under 20.
Unlawful posses- t 22 under 10
sion of goods,
11 446 at 10 and under 15
591 15 and under 20.
Wilful damage - 2 under 10
142 at 10 and under 15
500 15 and under 20.
Disorderly characters 111 10 and under 15
505 15 and under 20.
11
Drunkenness and Z 473
15 and under 20.
drunken persons S
Reputed thieves - - 2 under 10
91 38 15
11 140 at 15 and under 20.
Vagrants - - - - 22 under 10
•• 242 at 10 and under 15

7 7
548 15 and under 20.
The opening passages of this excellent contribution
are so painfully yet truthfully descriptive of the
necessity which there is for a moral drainage and
ventilation, as well as for a physical one, that we shall
copy them entire, commending them heartily to the
perusal of all who have not been fortunate enough to
devour the whole argument of the reviewer:—

" Every one who walks the streets of the metropolis must
daily observe several members of the tribe—bold, and pert,
and dirty as London sparrows, but pale, feeble, and sadly in-
ferior to them in plumpness of outline. Their business, or
pretended business, seems to vary with the locality. At the
west-end they deal in lucifer-matches, audaciously beg, or tell
a touching tale of woe. Pass on to the central parts of the
town—to Holborn or the Strand, and the regions adjacent to
them—and you will there find the numbers very greatly in-
creased ; a few are pursuing the avocations above-mentioned
of their more Corinthian fellows; many are spanning the
gutters with their legs, and dabbling with earnestness in the
latest accumulation of nastiness; while others, in squalid
and half-naked groups, squat at the entrances of the narrow,
fceted courts and alleys that lie concealed behind the decep.
tive frontages of our larger thoroughfares. Whitechapel
and Spitalfields teem with them like an ant's-nest ; but it is
in Lambeth and in Westminster that we find the most fla-
grant traces of their swarming activity. There the foul and
dismal passages are thronged with children of both sexes, and
of every age from three to thirteen. Though wan and hag-
gard, they are singularly vivacious, and engaged in every
sort of occupation but that which would be beneficial to them-
selves and creditable to the neighbourhoodnErheir appearance
is wild; the matted hair, the disgustinDfilth that renders
necessary a closer inspection, before the flesh can be discerned
between the rags which hang abglit tit; and the barbarian
freedom from all superintendence' Auckstatraint, fill the mind
of a novice in these things with perpiegiikyi and dismay. Visit
these regions in the summer, atid,yeltt are overwhelmed by
the exhalations ; visit them in, the Winter, and you are
shocked by the spectacle of ;hnridreds shivering in apparel
that would be scanty in the troisiste; many are all but naked ' •
those that are clothed are grotesque; the trousers, where
they have them, seldom pass the knee ; the tailed coats very
frequently trail below the heels. In this guise they run
about the streets, and line the banks of the river at low
water, seeking coals, sticks, corks, for nothing comes amiss
as treasure- trove ; screams of delight burst occasionally from
the crowds, and leave the passer-by, if he be in a contemplative
mood, to wonder and to rejoice that moral and physical de•
gradations have not yet broken every spring of their youthful
energies.
" Eccentric doubts flit through our minds ; and we are
tempted to ask whether these nondescripts ever had a parent,
or whether there be parents to be found in the district.
' They look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, and yet are
on 't.' A feeling of curiosity arises, and the next step is to
investigate their natural history, their haunts, their habits,
their idiosyncracy, their points of resemblance to the rest of
mankind, and the part they sustain in the great purpose of
creation. The stranger dives into the recesses from which
they seem to issue—and there he sees, before and behind, on
the right hand and on the left, every form and character of evil
that can offend the sense and deaden the morals. Let those
who desire a minute description of these horrid retreats, in
which thousands of our country-people cower by day and by
night, consult the admirable reports of the Sanitary Com-
missioners, and the Health of Towns' Association, which
have told us as much as language can convey. But language
is powerless to exhibit the truth: personal experience alone
can give the reality ; and then many a weary and pestilential
search, and many a sick headache, will prove to the disgusted
inquirer that a large proportion of those who dwell in the
capital of the British empire are crammed into regions of
filth and darkness, the ancient but not solitary reign of the
newts and toads.

" Here are the receptacles of the species we investigate ;
here they are spawned, and here they perish! Can their
state be a matter of wonder? We have penetrated alleys
terminating in a cul-de-sac, long and narrow like a tobacco-
pipe, where air and sunshine were never known. On one
side rose walls several feet in height, blackened with damp
and slime; on the other side stood the dwellings, still more
revolting, while the breadth of the wet and bestrewed passage
would by no means allow us the full expansion of our arms.
We have waited at the entrance of another of similar cha-
racter and dimensions, but forbidden, by the force and pun-
gency of the odours, to examine its recesses. The novelty
of a visit from persons clad like gentlemen gave the hope
that we were officials; and several women, haggard, rough,
and exasperated, surrounded us at once, imploring us to order
the removal of the filth which had poisoned their tenements,
and to grant them a supply of water, from which they had
been debarred during many days. Pass to another district;
you may think it less confined—but there you will see flow-
ing before each hovel, and within a few feet of it, a broad,
black, uncovered drain, exhaling at every point the most
unwholesome vapours. If there be not a drain, there is a
stagnant pool ; touch either with your stick. ; and the me-
phitic mass will yield up its poisonous gas like the corusca-
tions of soda-water.
"The children sit along these depositories of death, or
roam through the retired courts in which the abomination
of years has been suffered to accumulate. Here reigns a me-
silence, seldom broken but by an irritated scold or a
pugnacious
lancholy
drunkard. The pale discoloured faces of the in-
habitants, their shrivelled forms, their abandoned exterior

recal the living skeletons of the Pontine Marshes, and suffi-
ciently attest the presence of a secret agency, hostile to every
physical and moral improvement of the human race.
" Tne interior of the dwelling is in strict keeping: the
smaller space of the apartments increasing, ofcourse, the
evils that prevail without—damp, darkness, dirt, and foul
air. Many are wholly destitute of furniture; many con-
tain nothing except a table and a chair: some few have e
common bed for all ages and both sexes; but a large portion
of the denizens of those regions lie on a heap of rags more
nasty than the floor itself. Happy is the family that can
boast of a single room to itself, and in that room a dry
corner.
" But these creatures have pursuits of their own, certain
thouoccupations r Nee here
are, rthhaepys, oibutaani; ap
persona
ay
ob taeyn ce;
not ad-
for,
mit the necessity, they themselves have a conviction that they
must live. The children, that survive the noxious influ-
ences and awful neglect, are thrown, as soon as they can
crawl, to scramble in the gutter, and leave their parents to
amusement or business: as they advance in years they dis-
cover that they must, in general, find their own food or go
without it. The ' duris urgens in rebus egestas,' stimulates
these independent urchins; and, at an age when the chil-
dren of the wealthy would still be in leading-strings, they
are off, singly or is parties, to beg, borrow, steal, and exer-
cise all the cunning that want, and a love of evil can stir up
in a reckless race. They are driven to these courses, in
many instances, by their parents; in more by their step-
mothers ; in most by necessity and general example. The
passion for shows and the lowest drama is nearly universal;
• Panem et Circenses'—food and the penny theatres—these
are their paradise, and their chief temptation to crime.
They receive no education, religious or secular; they are
subjected to no restraint of any sort; never do they hear the
word of advice, or the accent of kindness ; the notions that exist
in the minds of ordinary persons have no place in theirs ;
having nothing exclusively of their own, they seem to think
such, in fact, the true position of society; and, helping
themselves without scruple to the goods of others, they can
never recognise, when convicted before a magistrate, the
Justice of a sentence which punishes them for having done
little more than was indispensable to their existence.
" Well, then, we discover that they are beings like our-
selves ; that they have long subsisted within a walk of our
own dwellings; that they have increased, and are increasing
in numbers with the extension of this overgrown metropolis ;
and that they recede, if to recede be possible, in physical and
moral condition as the capital itself advances towards the
pinnacle of magnificence and refinement. Will no one roll
away the reproach ? We have an Established Church, abun-
dant in able and pious men, and she boasts herself to be the
Church of the people. We have a great body of wealthy
and intelligent Dissenters, who declaim, by day and by night,
on the efficacious virtues of the voluntary principle. We
have a generous aristocracy and plethoric capitalists, and a
Government pledged to social improvements. Who will
come forward ? Why not all ?"
Those are the scenes in which crime and destitution
are germinated—those are the blanks in the lottery
of social life which the ragged schools have been
created to transform, if possible, into prizes. Still
the labour of love and regeneration is only commencing;
it must be long before that labour can be effectual
in
oitpit;e7hrt
civilised
wedge,
einesldiu,
gso
epfeadp,n
jredhsuoosvtesiwhei suppression n of
society—ignorance—must
obdurate juvenile
eebr_d:uhiggranansotoebrraeatnenr,ncue
ignorance.
ipmvToreafuhnvset depravity
ny and
anbt;
narrow
rlge the
pieewanu great
penetrated
d end
adrpti is-
evoa desf
and prostrated.

RURAL PICKINGS; orT.:lttractive Points in Country
Life and Scenery. By the Author of " Points and
Pickings of Information about China."
The name of this little volume almost describes its
character, but the subjects of which it treats, and the
benefits to be derived from its perusal are very accu-
rately set forth in the introduction, as will be seen from
the following very beautiful observations :
" As my book will appeal rather to the heart than to
the head, so sentimentality must give place to the healthy
freshness of natural feeling. I cannot promise you much
of a treat in the way of sighing over " faded flowers,"
and apostrophising " babbling streams ;" but I will do
my best to set your pulse throbbing among the bright
breezy hills and the sweet, secluded, bird-singing, heart-
expanding valleys of rural scenery. I will set before you.
in such language as I may, rustic occupations, the rich
garniture of fields, the goodly foliage of trees, the beauty
of buds and blossoms, the sparkling of running brooks,
the warbling of the feathery world, the fair forms of
hills and valleys, the bright gleams of sunset, and the
brighter glories of sun-risings. I will take you to scenes
of rural seclusion, of dark and shadowy nooks, of wild
boughs hanging over gurgling streams, of woods of
giant trees, and hazel copses rich with clustering nuts ;
of mossy banks sprinkled with primroses ; of old stone
quarries and grey cliffs hung with creepers, ivy, and
lichens ; of thorn bushes garlanded with wild convolulus
and red and yellow poison-berries; of tangled wildernesses
of gorse, fern, and fox-glove. You shall see nature in
her glory and her gloom ; hear her in the silent elo-
quence of her solitude, and feel her influence in every
hour. _

"Many have gone before me in describing rural scenery,
and others will follow me in the same alluring enter-
prise ; but nature is a wide field in which all may wan-
der, and each find something to admire. He that roams
in the rich luxuriance of country scenes, with a love of
what is sweet and simple, as well as what is arresting
and sublime ; and is content to express faithfully the
joyous emotions of his mind, the gushing gladness of his
spirit, in natural language, can hardly fail in affording
pleasure.
" The lover of nature has an inexhaustible treasure in the
common things of creation. His enjoyments flow not from
one part of rural influences, but from all. To him the air is
health, the wind is music, the flowers are pearls, the fruits a
banquet, and the burst of glowing sights and harmonious
sounds that appeal at once to his eye, his ear, and his heart,
create in him a jubilee of joy.
God has not given
This passion to the heart of man in vain,
This love of earth's green face, and air of heaven,
And all the bliss of Nature's rustic reign.'
For it is a source of wealth ; not the wealth of the coffer, but
of the heart. It makes man rich in the love of beauty; rich
in the quiet delights of solitude ; rich in sweet and kindly
thoughts; rich in yearnings and aspirations after purity and
knowledge; and rich in desires for the happiness of all crea-
tures. It breaks up the deep fountain of his affections, bind-
ing him in closer brotherhood to his kind, and awakening in
his soul a warmer, purer, and a holier thanksgiving to God."
To say that these remarks only do justice to the volume
which they preface, will surely be saying sufficient in its
praise. It is filled with interesting and animated de-
scriptions of the country and country scenes all written
con amore, and interspersed with varied anecdotes,
amusing adventures, occasional poems and fragments of
poems, some original, some quotations, and many in-
' teresting particulars regarding the mode of living in the
country ; among others an extract from a letter, written
by a country clergyman, in which he gives a sort of
a summary of his diurnal pursuits, beginning with
" Rose at three o'clock." The following remarks, ex-
cellent in themselves, will show that the author has
some higher object in view than that of only affording
amusement to his readers :
" It is one of the many objects I have in view in these
Rural Pickings, to sprinkle freely my rustic descriptions with
good feeling and kindly suggestions that may be turned to
account. Hills and valleys, woods and waterfalls, fields and
flowers, ponds and brooks, will only be the more beautiful if
we can get from them aught that will dispose us more grate-
fully to enjoy, and more patiently to endure ; aught that will
nerve our hearts in danger, knit us more closely to those we
love, and call forth kindly emotions for all around. What if
we could wander for ever amid daisies and daffodils, breathe
nothing but fresh air scented by violets, and hear nothing
but the singing of larks and the murmuring of waterfalls!
dreaming away our lives in listless ease and unenviable use-
lessness! A generous heart and a kindly spirit would shrink
from such selfish enjoyment; but when we turn the fair
things of creation to account by improving our own hearts,
and connecting our own good with the good of others, we
obtain a healthier, if not a holier, gratification.
" There are very few qualities of more value than that of
perseverance in the different positions and relations of life;
those who possess it have, as it were, in most undertakings.
Success written on their foreheads; while those who possess
it not have but a poor prospect of obtaining their ends. The
cavern of Antiparos is deep, but Perseverance descends to its
lowest recess, The Alps are high, yet Perseverance places its
foot on their cloud-capt heads."
This little volume of " Rural Pickings" is both elegant
and excellent, as regards binding, printing, 84c. ; the
illustrations by Absolon are, some of them especially,
peculiarly beautiful. They have all the softness of
lithography, and the additional attraction of colouring ;
one of the best—" Reading the Bible"—represents a
group listening to an old man reading, and the curious
and attentive expression with which one of the children
regards him is very well portrayed.

Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, had an
interview with the Right Hon. 'l'. Milner Gibson, on Satur-
day, at the office of the Board of Trade.
The Duke of Wellington attended the early service yester-
day, in the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Rev. Dr.
Wesley officiated and preached the sermon. At the daily
service the prayers were read by the Rev. T. llehnore, and
the lessons by the Rev. J. V. Povah. The sermon was
preached by the Rev. Dr. Sleath. The anthem was, " Lord
let me know my end," (Greene). Mr. Turle presided at the
organ. Lords Salisbury, Spencer, Fortescue, Ebrington, In-
gestrie, and Canterbury, were among the nobility present.

THE ROYAL NAVY.
(From the Hampshire Independent.)
There cannot be more convincing proofs of the dote
rioration of our naval officers in point of professional
fficiency than has been furnished by recent events. At
a time when our navy numbered fully three times as
many vessels, and we maintained four times as many in
commission as we do at present, so many accidents never
occurred within such a short space of time as have hap-
pened during the last three weeks, excepting from stress
of weather, which in none of the late cases has been
even the remote cause. There cannot be the shadow of
a doubt that had Capt. Onslow possessed the judgment
necessary for the commander of a British man-of-war,
the Daphne would never have gone on shore, even al-
though the pilot had been, as it is said he was, in a
state of inebriety, because he (the Captain) would have
seen the impropriety of getting a ship under way after
sunset on the eve of a dark night, to beat out through
a long and narrow channel with shoals on each side.
There cannot be a question that if the most
common prudence bad been used on board the
Hyacinth, either in keeping a good look out prior
to her falling in with the Wanderer, or in endea-
vouring by seamanlike manmuvres to avoid collision
when the danger became apparent, the consequences of
that disaster would have either been wholly obviated, or
so materially lessened, that neither vessel would have
sustained more than temporary injury, and the Hyacinth
might have proceeded to Sheerness without detention, or
putting her crew to the inconvenience and expense of
going to their friends by land from this port. It is
equally obvious that the wreck (for a total wreck it will
be) of the Sphynx steam sloop in Freshwater Bay, Isle
of Wight, has been the result of a gross neglect of the
most common precautions which the possession of a very
small modicum of seamanship would have readily sug.
gested. The lead, one of the most essential and unerring
guides in thick weather, appears to have been totally for-
gotten; and the speed was altogether much too great, con-
sidering the supposed position of the vessel, and the at-
mospheric obscurity. All these circumstances combine to
form a mass of evidence conclusive as to the fact which
we have frequently before adverted to, of the lamentable
want of professional experience in our,present race of naval
officers, and prove the positive necessity of some alteration
being speedily made in the mode of instructing them,
so as to insure their possessing at least a tolerable de-
gree of knowledge of nautical matters, enough to en-
able them to conduct the vessels intrusted to their
charge with safety to them and their crows. That such
is not the case at present we know, even independent
of the recent proofs, and the causes are obvious to every
person competent to form a judgment on the subject.
Our midshipmen and mates are too much of gentlemen
—too fond of gaudy uniforms and white gloves—too
much attached to shore going amusements—and have
too little exercise at sea during their probationary term
of service, to learn their profession. We ourselves
were eye-witnesses some years since of a specimen of
the nautical acquirements of the mates of the Excellent,
who are supposed to be the elite of the Navy. These
gentlemen were rowing for amusement in one of the
boats of that ship, and their performance of that very
essential part of a seaman's knowledge would have
disgraced a crew of raw jollies. As it happened they
did not drift out of the harbour, which we devoutly
prayed they might4seeing it would probably have proved
beneficial to them as a lesson of practical utility.
They were not preserved from this by their own ex-
ertions, but by the labour and skill of two stout boys
who, luckily for them, chanced to be with them, and by
tracking the boat along the beach at Blockhouse, which
they had not sense enough to do, saved them from the
fate of Gay's " Bear in a boat." It may be objected,
that officers are not required to perform this service, but
to direct others; but how can any man tell what he may
be called upon to perform ? and how can any officer
properly direct others to do that of which he is himself
profoundly ignorant ? What would these gentlemen
themselves say of a military officer who did not know
how to handle a musket? The mates of the Excellent
were at this same period so thoroughly ignorant of sig-
nals, that if one were made to the ship, and the signal
man chanced to be out of the way, they were compelled
to consult the table of flags in the book, before they
could decide upon what symbol each flag denoted !
We have no doubt that they were as profoundly
ignorant of all other points of their profession, except the
comparatively useless ones of theoretic gunnery and the
minutia' of nautical astronomy. At the same time we
have every reason to believe—having seen divers of them
clad is scarlet hunting frocks and white leathers—they
were quite adepts in that exercise. These are the men
who are selected par excellence (oh 1 excellent !) to com-
mand our ships and fleets, and who bid fair to lose them.
We trust the late disasters will impress a useful lesson on
the minds of the Lords of the Admiralty, and that they
will see the necessity of making these young gentlemen
learn the practical duties of their profession, and by
keeping our ships more at sea, give to all hands a better
opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and keeping them-
selves in exercise, for assuredly the time is not far dis-
tant when they will be called on to put all they do know
into practice, and it will not do for the enemy to find
them, us he would now, unready.