The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-14 00:00:00

CRUIKSHANK'S OMNIBUS.

The present Number, which is the Fifth, of
this lively periodical, contains several humour-
ous plates, executed in Cruikshank'S most cha-
racteristic manner,—to say nothing Of n full-
length portrait of Madlle. Rachel, in her fa-
vourite character of Mary Stuart. The prose and
verse are both excellent of their kind ; and we
may mention, in particular, a witty jeu d'esprit
entitled " A Sou, of Contradictions."

DUBLIN REVIEW—Nu. XXL
Dolman, London, 1541.

We cannot congratulate the Editor on the en-
tertainment or the variety he has furnished us
with ill the present number. The articles are
few in number, and their paucity is not atoned
for by their excellence. Among the best is an
essay on the subject of" German Prose Writers,"
in which we find a just and vigorous sketch of
the celebrated Lessing, " who," says the Re-
viewer, "boldly withstood the prevailing common-
ness of thought and style, vigorously attacked and
discomfited the much-lauded French taste, and
spread far and wide in his numerous writings the
elements for the improvement of German litera-
ture. He sought utterly to annihilate the imita-
tion of French errors. He looked upon the age
of Louis XIV. as weak and contemptible. The
ancients he honoured from the very bottom of
his heart, and earnestly recommended the
study of them to his countrymen; but his
admiration was grounded on a true insight
into the nature and merits of the classic
master-pieces; while for the French perversions
and improvements, as they were denominated,
he bad the most intolerant scorn. With all his
reverence for the productions of the past, lie
was not one-sided, as he had a keen and just
appreciation of the literature of England, Spain,
and Italy,,then but little known to Germany, so
dissimilar from that of Greece and Rome; and
laboured to introduce an acquaintance with its
best works, as an antidote to the feeble and
artificial as exhibited by that of France." We
certainly do not agree with the remarks here
made on the literature of Louis the Fourteenth's
reign. It was an artificial age as regarded man- •
ners; but not so as regarded wit or eloquence,
fbr it was the age of Moliere and Massillon—eme,
the great master of pulpit-eloquence, and the
other of humour; and each in his line, nearly
equally removed from the purely conventional
or artificial. " Southern Africa in 1840," re-
commends the emigration of Irish labourers to
this colony, as opening out finer prospects to them
than either the Cauadas, or the boasted
Australia have it in their power to afford.
" Moral and Intellectual, Condition of Catholic
Germany" states that Catholic science in that
country has to struggle against numerous disad-
vantages ; hut adds that, in spite of all obstacles,
it has achieved wonders. " The Liturgy of the
Anglican Church" is a heavy and tedious theo-
logical disquisition, which, so far as we can per-
ceive, has neither beginning, middle, nor end.
The one or two remaining articles are of the
usual average.

SMITH'S STANDARD LIBRARY.
Smith, London, 1841.
We have here three more Numbers of this
cheap and popular Miscellany, containing repub-
lication of " Bryant's Poems," and " Voltaire's
Charles the Twelfth," together with a transla.
tion of " Goethe's Faustus," made expressly, it
seems, for this edition. The Numbers are got
up in superior style, as regards print and paper.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY

CONVENTION. -
A thick octavo, presenting verbatim repr,rts of
the proceedings which took place durlng the
June season of the last year, by the Convention
held in London towards the tote.l abolition of
Slavery and the Slave Trade. The infamous op-
pressions which exist in this modern if House of
Bondwre"—the millions olwhose victims stretch
from Prance to the Brazils, from the land of
Mahomet to the limits of Patagonia—have here
their grievances presented to British sympathies,
for the purpose of British exertions being made
in their behalf, and it is hoped that power will
be found adequate to the demand.

KNIGHTS PICTORIAL EDITION OF SHAK-

SPEARE.
The present part contains the play of Antony
and Cleopatra. The engravings and vignettes
are cut with a clear and accurate fineness. The
frontispiece, exhibiting Antony in the Market-
place with the " iare Egyptian" seated by Was
side, grouped with the pillars of Isis and is
choicely finished.

STRAWBERRIES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE .SUN.
Sin—l observe in the last number Of Chambers'
Edinburgh Journal an amusing article on straw-
berries, which, nevertheless, contains one passage
which seems to me not corre'et. It is asserted
that the name of the fruit ;as bestowed on it
either from the berries being brought to market
on straw run through theln, or from straw being
laid under to cultivate them. Both suppositions
are made in forgetfulness of sonic common prin-
ciples of language. The strawberry is an in-
digenous production of our soil, and must
undoubtedly have been named bethre art had
fallen on a peculiar method to string the
berries together, or to cultivate them. At the
same time a peculiarity of the strawberry-root
is mentioned, which ridicules the source of its
name. It is said to propagate itself by its layers
striking root in the ground, so that one
plant will fill a garden, or strew itself over
a large space. The name, then, is not, pro-
perly straw, but strew berries, though wheil or
how the vowel became 'changed I know not.
Their present name in Gertnan is Erdbeern,
but the German word struen, used nearly in the
same sense as to strew, is, I-have no doubt, the
real source of the name strawberry.
Your obedient servant, CRITICUS.

THE IRISH COURT—The following appoint-
ments have taken place in the Household of his Ex-
cellency the Lord-Lieutenant :—Mr. Barker, Comp-
troller ; Major Brownlow, Master of the Horse ;
Mr. G. L'Estrange, Chamberlain. Mr. L'Estrange:
held the same office under Lord Haddington. Mr-
lAlagennis, Private Secretary ; Hon. Capt. Cole, First
Aide-de-cam ; Lord Conn() Russell, Aide-de-camp ;
Captain Marray, extra Aide-de-carnp. Captain Willis
continues as Gentleman 'Usher. Report assigns the place
of State Steward to Balfour.—Dublin Eimhing
ACCIDENT AND NARROW ESCAPE 01 THE
DUKE OF BUCKINGUAM.—On Thursday morning last
his Grace the Duke of Buckingham experiencedia "ar-
row escape while proceeding in his carriage from tim Pendley station of the London and Birmingham Rail-
way. His Grace arrived from. town by an early tnin at
Pendley, where he took his carriage, which was waiting
to convey him to Stowe ; he had not proceeded tunny
miles when the horses (his Grace's' own), ridden by
postilions, shyed at something on the road, andc!avu(t,.
a,-
turned the carriage in a ditch near
13rought?.a,,n.I, but
His Grace received a bump or two from tile
was soon extricated unhurt. Assistance was
ately obtained from Mr. Fowler's farm, andcarnage
got out, when it was found that it had
trifling injury, and accordingly:
his
ych:o dzette.
Graceu a
his
seat, and proceeded on his journe
at Melville Castle, near Edinburgh. deceased, who
The Viscountess Melville expired. !pilos tn the a
or ndk
Richard
dl alslt
.
was daughter and co-heir of
1796,
to Viscount
Saunders, was married 29th g
Melville (then the Right Hon.
her Ladyship leaves issue fout;_c
rAenel Henry Dundas,
namely, the lion. LieutenanlBol;
jßlsouobis;
andll u ntdwaso)d,
abtyglNii whom
the lion. Captain
C.'''. born 25th February, ,
born I Ith A_ pril, 1802;
eper of the Navy, born
tßhiechl'aiordn.Siatoubnedie.tr
the Hon. Miss Jane Dundas, born
14th September, 18031 _
14th April, 180.),
-• tho lion. and Rev. Charles Dundas,
1806, married let August, 1833,
Ds lihruidniu3,"
eldest ,laughter of Sir William
and the Hon, Miss Anne Dundas, born.
Boothby, Dart.; siStilor:l\ek.e,
sth January, 1808.
bliss
Louisall eictioatbiel
dEnitt io,:,(i
gli the Noble Earl expected to take his de-
P fey has not yet left town for Dublin;
an
arll"..e Ibis ‘veelt for Ireland, the precise day of his Ex-
cellency leaving has not transpired.
The mortal remains of the late Earl of Malmes-
bury are • to be removed to-morrow morning, from Put-
ney-heath for Heron Court, the family seat in Hants,,
where the body will lay in state previous to being in-
ter:eft in the ancestral vault at Christchurch.
A LAZY FELLow...---There was a fellow in the
Far West so excessively indolent, that once, when he
was pushed down a hill, he ran on for three days and,
nights, being too lazy to stop himself.—/Ilissouri Gazette
A GENUINE HOSTLER'S BILL.--" To Anes,
3s. Gd. To Agetinoniniom, Gd." Which, being ren-
dered into English from its present Greek form, stands
thus :—To a Horse, 3s. Gd. To a getting on him home, Gd..
A tradesman of Shrewsbury travelling in a taxed
cart, on the Atcham-road, was on Sunday, charged a toll
of los. 4(1. in passing through Emstres gate, for having
the name of the owner of the cart affixed on the wrong
side of it.—Cambrian.

Mintz, at Trieste, has published
declaration sce of
contradicting the report of its failure, given,
by the German papers, and stating that at no period has:
it been under the slightest embarrassment.

EVEN IN G SUN

THE TIMES AND THE MANCHES-
TER CONYEIVENCE.
We have been requested to insert the following letter.
alrlressed to the Times, but refused insertion in that

xnal

,
ATHENS. 1 up their quarters in the Greek inns, the proprietors oc ,
When, on the 6th September 1833, I trod for the !
which are Maltese ; there may be had the colocyntice •
,
a kind of pumpkin, reamed aria (lamb) pamics, anti
first time the sacred path of Eteasis, and from. the sum-
other national viands. The wine-merchants frequentl)
mit of Parnassus my gaze swept over the plains of At- .
tica, Athens presented a lamentable spectacle. Shattered
let a portion of their premises to artszsna of every call-
andi disordered by the reckless hand of war, she clung ing t in some you may see a tailor, a bookmaker, a
in scattered fragments around the hekatompedon of M clockmaker, and a weaver, all quietly pursuing their
i-
nerve. It was dawn ; the mass of ruins which the pas-
avocations under the same roof, and within a short
sage of time had heaped upon the soil were' slowly
distance of each other. Cafes are in great vogue ; tie
peering through the veil of darkness which obscured , most brilliant of these are in the streets of ./Ealus ;
them; the soft tones of the dawning light melted down among others there is one kept by a Swiss named IRo-
bert, a native of Berne. A Greek and a .Maltese have
the harshness of their jagged forme, and brought out
recently set up establishments in opposition to him.
in beautiful relief the fine outlines of the lonian aschi-
The business is one of great profit ; the cafes are
tecture. crowded from morning to an advanced hour of
At the time I speak of, the temple of Theseus 1e- the night with persons who play at demi-
sounded with the neighing of horses stabled in its
sanctuary, and tents of the Albanians shouldered the walls noes and billiards, read the daily papers, and talk
politics. This is the great hobby of the Athenians of
of Stoa. From the column of the Agora were seen
the present day ; the jabberers of the Agora have re-
floating in the wind the white tunics of their young girls,
appeared with the return of liberty. There is net a
suspended there to dry, and a family of gypsies had taken
soul, down to the poorest cobbler's apprentice, who
up their abode in the l'emple of the Winds. The pro-
does not believe himself called upon to give his opi-
pylasa were converted into powder stores ; the mosaic
nion on the affairs of the state, and this fever of po
pavement of the Olympian Jupiter's temple vibrated be-
litical discussion, which agitates every human head,t:t
ueath the peasant's flail; a mosque reared its head
kept up by a numerous supply of newspapers.
in the midst of the temple of Minerea ; while the owls,
In proportion as the state organizes itself and gains in
scared by the first beams of day, hastened to take
strength and order, property returns into existence and
shelter beneath the roof of their ancient patroness. And
commercial relations become more numerous and ex-
yet, although the fury of mankind had lent As aid to
tended. The place is infested with tourists ; every day
the destroying influence of time, although it is true
sees fresh arrivals of English, who, loaded with guide
Lysander ,dealt the first fatal blow to Sparta 's rival,
books and travelling-loops, promenade under the colo-
whose destruction was by his commands nom-
nodes and inspect the monuments of antiquity. At the
manned amid the flourish of trumpets—although the
same time a taste for the arts is inculcated ;the Mahan
Goths, the Macedonians, the Romans, and the Ottomans
Opera is much frequented, and in families whose cir-
had in turn directed their attacks on the glorious city,
cumstances areessy music is cultivate]. Every Sunday
—although Lord Elgin had with sacrilegious hand ran-
the musicians of the garrison assemble at a short dia..
sacked her ruins, the old town of Theseus, declined and
tance from the town to execute overtures, cavatinas,
pillaged as it may have been, nevertheless displayed im-
&c. These concerts attract crowds.—Frozelz Paper.
posing vestiges of its former grandeur, whereas of the
Roman town, the town built by the Caesars, all that re-
mains unlevelled with the soil is a gate, bearing this in-
scription, " This is the town of Adrian, and not that of
Theseus."
It was on the 12th of April. 1833, that the Turk-
ish Commander, Osman Effendi, delivered Athens"
into the hands of the Bavarian troops, and that the
standard of the Greeks was hoisted on the summit of
the Erechtheion. There were then not more
than 20 habitable houses in it, and the intervel be-
tween the remains of antiquity and the modern ruins
was occupied by the tents of the Albanians. Here and
there were visible a few dirty coffee-shops and miser-
able stalls, exposing for sale the spoiled stocks of the
Marseilles and Trieste warehouses. In the evening
the air was filled with the barking of countless dogs or
the braying of donkeys browzing in the wilderness of
thistles which covered the charred soil ; and the narrow
and tortuous streets, winding through heaped-up rules,
resounded with the nasal chanting, of some strolling
musician, as he scraped his two-stringed lyre with a
piece of quill.
The only locanda (inn) then to be found in Athens
was kept by an Italian named Cossali, who had married
a Viennese, They were an original couple, and both
one-eyed, but nevertheless looked well to the main
chance, and charged pretty dearly for their goat's flesh,
which they served up at the table (Mote under all possi•
ble shapes. They sold a small wine of Trieste, disguised
under the pompons appellation of Burgundy, and for the
four walls of a room, with the use of an iron bed, one chair,
and a table, they exacted 5 francs per diem. Through-
out
the whole town there was but one plaintain and one
palm tree ; indeed, this was the only verdure that it was
possible to descry for half a league round.
This mournful picture was still before my mind's
eye in all the vividness of its wretched colours, when,
after an absence of eight years, I lately made my entry
on board the gabarre Phoenix into the Gulf of Egina,
steering towards the Piraeus. Tue wind was contrary,
and we were obliged to luff the whole night. The
moon threw a pale gloom over the summits of Hymetta,
and the whole coast lay before us in a broad light, re-
lieved with massive shadows. I could distinguish a long
row of houses ranged in a semicircle, and, on inquiring
the name of the place, I was informed, to my great sur-
prise, that where I had formerly beheld only a few
mean buildings the Piraeus now stood, a new town, al-
ready consisting of 1,500 houses.
I passed the night on deck, whence I at length be-
held the sky light up with rosy tints. In a short time
the sun appeared above the mountains, the wind
freshened, and our three-masted vessel sailed majes-
tically into port. What was my amazement at the
appearance of the Piraeus ! What activity ! What a
crowd of coaches and boats coming and going ! Mules
and cabriolets are stationed on the qnays, and wait
for passengers to take them into the town, the entry
to which is by an excel'ent road. The hackney car-
riages go at a round pace, and are exceedingly cheap.
We made a halt midway in an olive wood, where re-
freshments may be obtained in wooden booths. For
two glasses of Resinato wine and a cigar I paid ten
leptas, or about two sous. After about ten minutes'
stay, we started off again, and soon reached the height
of the Acropolis, ascended the side of the Pnyx, and
beheld Athens before us. We stood at the commence-
ment of the new street Hermes, and, in the distance,
appeared the Royal caste in process of construct-on.
The existing town extends to the north-west of the
Acropolis, 500 metres beyond the ancient wall of
enceinte. It will form a hemicycle round the Pnyx and
the Acropolis, which is to terminate at the temple of
Jupiter saympus, and the temple of Theseus will stand
in the miadle. The street of Hermes cuts the town in
a right Ike from east to west, and is 1,200 metres in
length and 16 broad.. Two principel streets run front
north to south, namely, the street of .tEolus, which
strikes off from the Temple of the Winds, and the
street of Minerva, which begins at the portico of
As:Jsian The space included between the Temple of
Taeseu." and that of the Winds contain none but irre-
gular strew d, with houses of mean appearance. The
finest quarter or the town is that which stretches be-
tween the Temple of the 'Winds and the tomb of Lysi-
cates. Of the private houses, none are very remarka-
ble; among them, indeed, are some vast buildings, but
they are constructs] without style, aid with but
little solidity.
The King's palace will not be completed before a
lapse of four or fide years. It is a fine monument of a
simple and elegant style of architecture, and not without
an imposing aspect. It is calculated that in a year King.
Otho will be enabled to take up his residence there, to-
gether with his entire household. His actual residence
consists of two buildings united by a gallery, the rent
of which is 20,000 drachms per year. Among the
public buildings we will mention an exceedingly pretty
little theatre where Italian operas are performed, the
Civil Hospital, the Lithographic Printing-office, the
two Barracks, the Military Hospital, the Bazaar, the
Mint, the School-house, the Church of St. Irene, and
the University. Two aqueducts have-been restored,
and are sufficient for the supply of the inhabitanrs. In
the interior of the town, as well as in the environs, are
inclosed numerous gardens, and a number of canals are
in course of construction, for the purpose of carrying off
the impurities of the town.
In the evening I visited the Acropolis. The de-
clining sun was darting his rich golden rays upon the
Parthenon. I was seized with a feeling of reverential
awe as I reflected that the very height on which I now
stood bad witnessed the meditations of so many great
men, who to the present day have formed the admira-
tion and instruction of mankind ! Socrates, perhaps,
bad leaned upon this pillar! And now fragmentary
remnants of the great epoch of the Greeks have
, become spectators of the advent of a new and flourish

MAIL PACKET STATIONS.

The subject of the West India mail steamers occu
pied the attention of the Town Council on Wednesday
last ; and we hope that the matter will not be lost
sight of until Government does justice, not only to
this town, but to the great commercial interests of the
country at large, by appointing as the station for those
steamers the port which affords the greatest facilities
for collecting and distributing the.letters ; and that port
will be found to be Liverpool.
That Liverpool affords every accommodation for
large steamers, is sufficiently established by the packets
to Halifax, Glasgow, Dublin, and in fact to all parts
of Ireland and Scotland. It may be objected, that, to
and from Liverpool, vessels will have to make a longer
sea-voyage than to and from one of the western points
in the British Channel. This would be a good objec-
tion with regard to sailing vessels, but it is of no im-
portance to steamers, as has been fully proved by the
speed and regularity with which the Halifax
packets have performed their voyages. All such
considerations have been reduced to nothing by the
extensive employment of steamers and railroads ; and,
in future, no place can be fairly selected, as a station
for mail-packets, from which there is not a railroad
leading to ali the great towns of the kingdom. Neither
Falmouth nor Dartmouth possesses this grand requisite;
and the want of it has recently caused much delay in
distributing the foreign mails. of which the merchants
of this town have felt the effects, and respecting which
they have loudly complained.
Bristol and SouthaMpton have also put forward their
claims. These two ports are more convenient for
transatlantic mail stations than either Falmouth or
Dartmouth ; but they do not possess the advantages
that Liverpool does, whether we consider the accom-
modation to be afforded to the ships, the moans of
building, repairing, and fitting them out, or the very
important consideration of collecting and despatching the
letters. In the last particular, no town in the kingdom
can at all compete with Liverpool. From this po►t letters
can be despatehed to Manchester,Leeis,York, Birming-
ham, Sheffield, and to all the great manufacturing towns
in England, as well as to every part of Irel Ind and
Semiarid, more frequently, and in a shorter space of
time, than from any other port that can be named ;
conscquent'y, by having the mails made up here, mer-
chants residing in most parts of the United Kingdom
can have an opportunity of replying to the letters they
receive by the packet from the West Indies, even when
but a few hours elapse before the departure of the out-
ward mail.
Besides the letters from the West Indies, it is more
than probable that those from Mexico, the Spanish
Main. the Brazils, and from the ports in the Pacific,
will ultimately be conveyed by these vessels. The im-
portance of this correspondence cannot be overrated,
and the great commerc►al communities which are in-
terested in it should at once exert thomselves to prevent
any injudicious arrangement from being entered into.
The Town Council and people of Liverpool will be
greatly to blame if they fail to urge upon the Govern-
ment and upon the Leg►tlature the superiority of their
port, in every requisite, for ensuring despatch to the
packets, midi' a speedy diffusion of intelligence over
every part of the United Kingdom.—Liverpool

We have lately witnessed a most singular fact
having the greatest interest in vegetable physiology. L
the garden of John Radford, Esq., of Winehmore-hill,
near London, there stands a bay tree, which appeared to
be killed by the frost of last winter, and the whole of
whose leaves became brown and apparently dead. Of
the latter many fell off as spring advanced, and the
branches gradually acquired new leaves. In this there
was nothing at all remarkable ; but the singular fact
is, that the leaves—hard, brown, dry, and to all ap-
pearance dead—have gradually recovered their green
colour, and are in some cases completely re-
stored to life ! The green colour makes its ap-
pearance at the base of the leaf in the first in-
stance, and spreads upwards, along, and right and
left of, the mid rib. There can be no mistake about this
circumstance, for so very strange a phenomenon natu-
rally attracted attention ; and we learn from Mr. Rad-
ford that he has distinguished the dead-looking leaves
with notches and other marks in order to be quite sure
that it is they which are restored to life. A leaf now
before us, marked as dead a week ago, has now the
green colour spreading along it, in the manner we have
described, to the length .of rather more than an inch.
That the sweet bay-tree should never be cut down after
it appears to be killed with frost, is well known ; but
that its perfectly dead leaves should be capable of re-
viving in this extraordinary manner, is to us an event
without a parallel in either the animal or vegetable
kingdom.—Gardener's Chronicle.
HINTS TO THE CHOLERIC.—AII experiments
with cups and saucers, glasses, vases, mirrors, &c., are
much better performed, for obvious reasons, at other
people's houses than at your own. It is very pleasant
and quite pardonable to sweep a few glasses off the table
in a fit of enthusiasm now and then—when you are dining
out ; but it is perfectly ridiculous to proceed to such ex-
tremities at home, where the modes of venting rage
are infinite. For a somewhat similar reason, I differ
from those who systematically tear their own hair
when they fall into a paroxysm ; there is no occasion
for it, because you might happen to be wearing a wig,
and the effect would be ludicrous. It is far better to
thrust your hands desperately into the loose locks of
somebody sitting next to you, tearing them Violently
for the space of an instant, and then apologizing for
the wildness of your excitement and the extreme sus-
ceptibility of your feelings. Your sensibility and the
frankness of your disposition will find many admirers ;
but to pull your own hair has at hest but an affected and
theatrical look. The practice common to many of the
choleric—that of taking off their hats, flinging them
at the first object they see, and then kicking them,
regardless of expense—is one that seems to have
arisen out of an instinctive feeling, but until lately it
was to be condemned as ruinous to those who fall
very frequently into a passion. It. is less excep-
tionable now ; the cheap hats are immense con-
veniences to the choleric. It is better, however,
to snatch a friend's off his head and set your foot upon
it, taking care to pick it up immediately, tenderly
putting it into shape a little and brushing its injured
nap, and returning=-it with your unfeigned regrets. I
should not forget to mention ode ingenious expedient,
which is sure to produce a speedy relief to over-excited
feelings. It is recommended on authority as infallible.
You sall first lock the door of your sitting-room, and
alien lie down on your back upon the rug before the
fire, taking at the same time one of the bell-ropes in
either hand. In this position you will find a little violent
pulling very pleasant. But don't leave off merely be-
cause every body iu the house comes rattling at the door,
desiring to know, not for their own, but for Heaven's
sake, what's the matter. Iteep on tugging
until the door is broken oPen at both bells
—you will then come-to
quite comfortably.—George Cruikshank's Omnibus.
TIT FOR TAT.—A gentleman of Stockton, on
Wednesday night last, was roused front sleep by a thun-
dering knock at the door ' - and on popping his night-
capped head out of the window, to inquire the nature of
his untimely visitor's business, w asinformed that Mr.
R— had sent him an " objection."—Indeed !" said the
gentleman, and looked at his watch. He found that it
wanted a few minutes to twelve o'clock ; and, therefore,
preparing an "objection" to Mr. R—'s vote, he dis-
patched a, messenger to his house, and had it served
before the expiration .of the time allowed by. the Act of
Parliament. Mr. R , when aroused in his turn, and
rewarded in his own coin, was not nearly so grateful as
might have been anticipated. But his friend Mr. T—
will have the approbation of his own heart, in having
acted upon the good old principle that " one good turn
deserves another."—Gateshead Observer.
CAPABILITY OF TILE IRISH SOIL FOIL Pito
DUCING FINE FLax.—A sample of flax, of most supe-
riorstones of the same quality
fineness of fibre and fairness of colour, now lies at
our office for inspection. It was grown and handled in
the neighbourhood of Armagh, and a parcel of 150
figure, at the market of that town. The gentleman who
left the sample assured us that a small parcel of even
making
andb
yto ue Belfast
t o x eSnodc ea
tayd,
finer flax, of home growth, was exhibited on the same
m
was purchased, at a very high
occasion, and which he is Confident could not be sur-
passed by the product of a foreign soil. These circum-
stances ought to convey much encouragement to our
flax cultivators,in the exer-
tionsimprove the
culture of this most important crop.. Should a better
now maki
system of growth and management, in the course of a
year or two, enhance the value of Irish flax by but ten
per cent., some 200,0001. or 300,000 L would annually be
expended in this country for this article alone, instead
of finding its way, as it now does, into the pockets of
our Dutch or Belgian
neighbours, never to return in any
shat e.—. Northern Whig.

ing era.
The Acropolis is now being cleared from the rubbish
with which it was encumbered, and during the progress
of the work several antiquities have been discovered.
The Parthenon has been treed from the modern build-
ings by which it was surrounded and disfigured ; its
columns have been raised and restored, and its steps
cleansed. The Erecbtheion has been restored, and the
statue carried off by Lord Elgin will be replaced by an-
other, sculptured on the model of those which have been
preserved. The Temple of Minerva Pales is also rising
from its ruins; it had been destroyed during the last war
by the fall of a bomb, and the whole family of the trai-
tor Cures was buried beneath it-ruins. The Acropolis
is guarded by invalids. A Suliot, with a copious gray
beard, officiated as my guide, and when I was about
to return .he led Me to a projection of the Pelasgian
wall, whence be began to. explain the magnificent pa-
norama which lay stretched beneath us. " There lies
our Royal town," said he ; " Heaven be thanked that
I have lived long enough to see it rise again•from its
ashes. It has not been in vain that. my blood has flowed
in fighting against the Turks."
In the bazaar they were beginning to light the
lamps, and the town was growing more and more ani-
mated. The din of evening was succeeding to the
silence of day, and the inhabitants, whom the heat of
the day had confined within doors, were beginning to
perambulate the streets. The mode of life adopted
here is Oriental with a certain admixture of German
manners. Tnus the business of the day is so divided
that the principal meal is taken at mid-day, as though
it were in the very centre of Germany. In other re-
spects, in spite of the Greek hatred for all foreigners,
the presence of Germans has a marked influence for the
manner of the indigenous population. Thus the Greek
ladies have learned to pay attention to the care of their
households, and they even frequent the bazaar to pur-
chase provisions.
Marriages between Germans and Greek girls are
frequent. The ceremony takes place in privet..., be-
cause the holy synod have charged the clergy not t]
pronounce a benediction on the union of a native woman
with a " miscreant." The Greeks rarely marry European
women, for no other reason than that they arc scarce;
ladies in want of husbands would make a good specula-
tion by coming to Athens ; the article is in great re-
quest. There is also a want of servants, who are paid
from 30 to 35 francs per month, which is a great deal
in this country. Workmen here are very well off ; the
price of labour is twice that of the material. German
workmen are particula►ly sought after. Locandas
are in great abundance, but there are few which
can be safely recommended. One of the hest
is that of Pullmann, who keeps a German hos-
telry. nolo who prefer the Oriental cuisine take

THE BUST, LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTENBER, 14, 1.841