The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-11 00:00:00

THE SOCIAL REFORMERS' ALMANAC.

This is a sheet almanac, with a neatly exe-
cuted view of New Lanark, and a medallion of
Robert Owen, with a memoir of his life. With
the exception of the Calendar and a few tables,
this publication is drawn up for the convenience
and information of the Owenites, giving a list of
the branches of the Society throughout the coun-
try, their great social festivals, and the official decla-
ration of their principles.

LITERATURE.

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND.

—— -
This Number, the Twenty-eighth, contains ac-
counts of sixteen parishes, three in the county of
Edinburgh, and thirteen in Aberdeenshire, together
with a good map of Caithness-shire, in the north-
east corner of which are the remains of the famous
house of John O'Groat. We have little to add
to what we have already said on this useful publi-
cation. It goes on, as it commenced, with great
spirit, and, when finished, will be highly creditable
to the clergy of Scotland. It gives us great plea-
sure to quote the following;o- extract from the statis-
tical account of the united parishes of Tullynessle
and Forbes, respecting the state of education there,
and the great benefit conferred on his country by a
native of Aberdeenshire, who amassed a large for-
tune in London, and directed in his will that the
interest should be paid over to the parish school-
masters of three adjoining counties for ever :
Education.—Tire school and school-house, which are
separate buildings, sere erected about ten years ago,
and do credit to the public spirit of the heritors. The
schoolmaster's salary is the maximum, and the amount
of his f,:vs, although low,. may, in consequence of his
zealous attention to the duties of his office, be stated
at about 251. per annum. In addition to this, he en-
joys the emoluments of the session clerkship, which are,
however, trifling. But the school-masters in this and
the two neighbouring counties of Banff and Moray
have, within these few years, received very consider-
able addition to their incomes, by a noble. bequest from
a Mr. Dick of London, whose parents resided in or
near Keith The benefit of the fund which he esta-
blished for this purpose, with a view, as he himself
states, of raising the standard of literature, and ad-
vancing the comfort of this useful and meritorious class
within the three counties mentioned, and which is under
the management of a certain number of Writers to the
Signet at Edinburgh, is confined to the parish schools.
The annual division of the interest of the fund has
hitherto been regulated by an attention to other cir-
cumstances, besides that of the number of schools, such
as the number of scholars at each school, success of the
teacher, &c. The revenue, if 'equally divided, would
afford, it is believed, from 251. to 301. sterling per an-
num to each schoolmaster.

THE HOUR AND THE MAN, 3 VoLs.
Moxon, London, 1840.
The character of Toussaint L'Ouverture—as he
was called by the St. P. omingo blacks whom he
had redeemed from slavery—ha; hardly yet had
adequate justice done it. 'Towards the e;pse of the
last century indeed, when the splendid achie;f-
ments of this great man were noised far and wide
through Europe, the eye of eager curiosity was
directed towards him, and numerous,in consequence,
were time memoirs of him that appeared from time
to time ; but few were awara of the sterling worth of
his nature—of his high moral qualities, his inflex-
ible resolution of purpose, and extraordinary talents
for legislation ; by the majority he was regarded in
no other light than as a clever and fortunate adven-
turer ; and at the present day, ha is nearly, if not
quite, forgotten. Yet Toussaint deserves a better
fate than thus to pass away from the recollections
of men. It was his glorious task to maintain the
cause of freedom ; to conduct that cause with the
serene dignity and lofty disinterestedness of a Wash-
ington, and to triumph in it against overwhelming
odds. Born in slavery, he was yet distinguished
from his early youth by his unshaken courage, his
love of study, and Iris uniform good conduct. His
master, a French planter, fully appreciated his rare
qualities of head and heart ; appointed him his
overseer ; placed unbounded confidence in him ;
and always held him up as a model to the other
negroes on his estate. When the revolution in St.
Domingo broke out, Toussaint took an active share
in it, invariably, however discountenancing and
repressing, as far as he could, the horrid scenes of
carnage that ensued ; and when at length, after a
desperate struggle with the French authorities, the
blacks of St. Domingo recovered their freedom, he
was appointed by general consent the Comman-
der-in-Chief of the Haytian Republic, in which
capacity he governed it for several years, armed
with unlimited power, yet always exercising it justly
and conscientiously, and on one occasion even
sacrificing his own favourite nephew, because he
had infringed one of the laws of the land. So
great was his influence at this period, that the Bri-
tish Government offered to make him King of the
island provided he would give them a monopoly of
its trade ; but he was high-minded enough to resist
the temptation, from a sense of what was due to
the French settlers. When Bonaparte—which,
by the bye, is one of the greatest blots in his
scutcheon—endeavoured to restore the old system
of slavery in St. Domingo, Toussaint, though beset
with treachery in all quarters, boldly stood forth
against him, and vanquished all the French Gene-
ral's forces ; but being ultimately taken prisoner,
was conveyed away to France, and confined in a
damp, solitary dungeon, where he closed hisglorious
—his unstained military and political career. It is
this illustrious man who forms the subject of Miss
Martineau's present tale. In general, she has ad-
tiered with tolerable fidelity to history, and done no
more justice to Toussaint—lofty as is her estimate
of him—than he deserves. The rest of her cha- •
meters, however, with hardly one exception, are but
indifferently executed, for they are wholly wanting
in discrimination, and express themselves through-
out the story with a polish, an eloquence, and at
times, a metaphysical subtlety, that is at variance
with all truth of effect. Though many of the in-
cidents are striking, yet they fail frorh the writer's
want of power, and her utter inability to develope
the workings of the human heart. But her scenic
descriptions are invariably excellent, full of pic-
turesque beauty, and as vivid as if they had all been
written down on the spot from the glowing impres-
sions of %hi moment.