The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-07 00:00:00

LI TE RAT URE.
Brun:: RE VIE W, No, IX.
THE NOP Ili
We have already adverted to this nun; in a leading
article, and quoted from it some appropriate remarhe QP
the affairs of the Punjaub, but there are several other
topics that require notice, We may at the same time
observe, that this review, though established by a religi-
ous sect in Scotland, whose measures, from a sense of
public duty, we were some years since compelled to
oppose, has nothing in it sectarian or etchisive ; it treats
of subjects of literature, and science, and art, arid history
in a Catholic and impartial manner, and seems purposely
to avoid a fault, with which similar works are often
chargeable ; namely, bringing forward the peculiar views
of the writers on almost every subject in thie whole
range of knowledge. In a commercial point of view
any bookseller or publisher can see the propriety of such
a regulation, and even as regards the propagation of
certain political or religious creeds, there is an equal
advantage, for converts are not made by force, and a
man's opinions are not changed by endless unvarying lec-
tures on the same subject. In a periodical of this kind
the known character of the writers is not without its
effect, especially when questions of pure science, and
which may interfere with scriptural authority, are dis-
cussed. The timorous have no reason to fear for their
faith when discoveries in geology, for instance, or as-
tronomy, are made, which cannot be reconciled with
occasional passages in Scripture; they are sure that these
discrepancies will be satisfactorily explained by men in
whose religious belief they have full confidence ; and
they can, therefore° follow with perfect composure, in-
vestigatims which lead to•the conviction that the period
between the creation of man and that of the other ani-
mals has no definable limits and that before the " human
face divine" was formed Countless revolutions in this
globe, and convulsions annihilating animal life had
occurred. " Man, vras neither anagcntnor victim in
these primeval convulsions. The
exterminated creatures
tt had not been lorded over by his presence, nor have
heir
cemeteries. been dignified with his remains. In the heraldic
roll of ancient life he has no precedence. Beforehis advent
the oat had struck its roots and perished—the eagle had
soared and fallen—the mammoth had breathed and died,
and as he was the last-born among the living creatures
entrusted to his mercy, he had no rights of primogeni-
ture even in the age which he controlled. He is but an
upstart among the petrified dead." Such is the start-
ling language of the writer who reviews " Murchison's
Geology of Russia," but the reader need not tremble
for bis orthodoxy, though no such events are even
' alluded to in the first chapter of Genesis. It is a curi-
ous circumstance, discovered in perusing some of the
extracts from that work, that gold was not formed till
a very late period in the work of creation. It is found
only with the remains of the mammoth and the other
races which lived in the age preceding that in which
man was created. The review of this great geological
survey in Russia, considering that geology is by most
readers regarded as dry and uninteresting, is calculated
to excite great interest. It is evidently the production of
a writer well fitted by his own ingenious discoveries,
and his superior knowledge in the arts and sciences, to
make many of the subjects familiar to even ordinary
readers, and to give the highest importance to investi-
gations which may be said to be in their infancy. And
some of the subjects, when thus exposed and delineated,
give rise to reflections of the most sublime and momen-
tous description. We know from the Bible that the
work of creation was completed in six days, but of the
length of these days the divine writer gives us no idea.
..The geologist may, therefore, exert his reason, and pro-
secute his researches, to ascertain the fact, without at
all impugning Scripture ; but his researches have not as
yet been productive of any decisive conclusion. Some of
those days may have beep, for aught we know, ten thou-
sand or a hundred thousand years in length, and at the
close of each was some vast convulsion of nature, com-
missioned as it were to destroy what had been created,
and form a different race and a new generation for the
next. When facts like these are established by the clear-
est proofs, no occasional paragraphs in Scripture are
allowed for a moment to throw any doubt upon them.
The language of the Reviewer on this subject is highly
eloquent and incontrovertible :
" While thus identified in their general objects and modes
of investigation, the twin sisters of terrestial and celestial
physics have been joint heirs of intolerance and persecution,
unresisting victims in
,the crusade which ignorance and
fanaticism are ever waging against science. When great
truths are driven to make an appeal to reason, knowledge
becomes crime, and • phildsophers martyrs. The doctrine of
the earth's motion and the sun's stability hurried Gali'eo
into the dungeons of the Inquisition, and the announcement
of creations anterior to man, would have thrown Hutton and
his followers into a prison, had its bolts and bars been in-
trusted to bigotry. Truth, however, unlike all other powers,
can neither be checked nor extinguished. When com-
pressed it but reacts the more. It crushes where it cannot
expand—it burns where it is not allowed to shine. Human
when originally divulged, it becomes Divine when finally
established. At first the breath of a sage—at last it is the
edict of a God. Endowed with such vital energy, astrono-
mical truth has cut its way through the thick darkness of
superstitious times, and, following in its wake, geology will
soon find the same open path when it has triumphed over.
the less formidable obstacles of a more civilised age.
There are several other articles, both attractive and
instructive, and among them we may mention, " His-
tory of Domesticated Animals," " Anderson's Annals of
the English Bible," " British and Foreign Agriculture."
" The Life of Leibnitz" is a failure, and that on " Free
Church Sites" displays great ardour in the cause. The
writer, as Jonathan says, " goes the whole hogg."

LETTERS of the KINGS of ENGLAND. Two
Vols. By James Orchard Halliwell.
Often as it becomes our duty to announce, by a
critical or analytical notice, the publication of important
works, it is seldom one is issued which combines the im-
portance, the utility, the necessity of the present. As is
invariable under all similar occasions, the thing is alto-
gether so excellent we wonder it has never been thought
of heretofore. For in the autographic correspondence
of our British Sovereigns (a correspondence scattered
too widely for the convenience of every searcher into
our native records) many of the state problems are
solved better than by all the conjectures of philosophy,
and many regal characters become transparent to the
most superficial gazer. The editor of these two invalu-
able volumes assures us—in an " introduction" whiclflve
only regret was not somewhat longer—that in the com-
pilation of kis present work no less than twenty-seven
separate collections of MSS. have been consulted. In
this respect he will ever stand forth as the pioneer of
all future historians. Mr. Macaulay, whose elo-
quent mind is now engaged in frqctifying - his
own views of English history, will rejoice un-
doubtedly to find so many weapons for his own pro-
gress placed ready to his hand, without the trouble of
investigation. If ever a work was published deserving
of the title of a national work, " The Letters of the
Kings of England," by Mr. Halliwell has a full and
perfect right to the title. As a compilation it pre-
cludes criticism, while analysis becomes almost an im-
possibility, since these two volumes are the skeleton of
the occurrences of many generations—they are the cal-
culable causes that gave rise to such incalcu-
lable effects. One peculiarity is, however,
particularly worthy of mention in the letters here
mentioned—the orthography is modernised so as
to facilitate their perusal without interfering with
their idiocyncrasy—as all the quaint and characteristic
phrases are preserved. From Richard I. till Charles I.
inclusively, all the intervening reigns are illucidated by
the epistolary correspondence of the different monarchs.
The love-letters of Henry VIIL to the unfortunate
Anne Boleyn are of themselves sufficient rewards to
any bibliographic antiquary ; and the epistles of Ed-
ward VI., so wise for one so inexperienced, so staid and
pious for one so young, are infinitely curious. Indeed,
we cannot divest ourselves of the notion that those
letters were indicted under the dictation of the boy-
king's political advisers—say Cranmer. We say this,
under all correction from Mr. Halliwell, both from the
intrinsic qualities of the correspondence itself, and be-
cause we are somewhat sceptical about the oft-mentioned
" royal road" to wisdom. As one among the most re-
markable letters in the series, we transcribe one from
Anne Boleyn to Cardinal Wolsey, with a posteript by
King Henry.
" Anne Boleyn to Cardinal Wolsey.
think, -I desire you to pardon me that lam so heart can
"My Lord, in my most humblest wise thatbomldy
know esteeming
at
yioturtoGraceto trouble
pro-
ceedyou withfro mybor simpletht
is and rude ddeosr:ror
us tgo,
does well, as I perceive by this bearer that you do, the which
I pray God long to continue, as I am most bound to pray;
for I do know the great pains and troubles that you have
taken for me is never like to be recompensed on my part, but
alonely [entirely, wholly] in loving you next unto the King's
Grace above all creatures living. And I d o not doubt but
the daily proofs of my deeds shall
manifestly declare and
affirm my writing to be true, and I do trust you to think the
same.

" My Lord, I do assure you, I do long to hear from you
theynews
shall
atheb
e Legate;very g ef
oo
dr
;I
andd o hope,massureeY come from you,
yo desire
imow it a
it s
s
much as I, and more, an it were possible;
as o I
not: and thus remaining in a stedfast hope, I make an end
of my letter.
" Written with the hand of her that is most bound to be
your humble servant, " ANNE BOLEYN.
rietPtt by
erwgioulhdg Henry.hnoetr.
" The writer cease, till she had
ol‘f‘ Fth°is letter
caused me likewise to set my hand, desiring you, though it
be short, to take it in good part. I insure you that there is
neither of us but greatly desireth to see you, and are joyous
to hear that you have escaped the plague se well, trusting
the fury thereof to be passed, especially with them that
keepeth good diet, as I trust that you de. The not hearing
of the Legate's arrival in France causeth us somewhat to
muse; notwithstanding, we trust, by your diligence and
vigilancy (with the assistance of Almighty God), shortly to
be eased out of that trouble. No more to you at this time,
but that I pray God send you as good health and prosperity
as the writer would.
" By your laving sovereign and friend, " H. R"
This may be regarded as some slight indication of
the exalted influence possessed by this renowned states-
man at the Court of Windsor. Mr. J. O. Halliwell has
shown no slight ability in the notes and elucidatory
paragraphs, with which he has interpolated the text :
he has, however, in one instance shown undue indeci-
sion in acquitting James I. of certain crimes imputed to
him by Scott, the romance writer, and others. We
commend Mr. Halliwell to the refutation of that charge,
as pronounced by Lingard. After a perusal of that
refutation, the correspondence of James will appear
:nnocent enough, and the acquittal will be accorded
In
rathet more readily. This at least we conjecture.
all essential respects the two volumes before us arefor
the history of his native land ; he has
complete. Mr.
collectedHalliwell has performed a service
lights of " the past, in
the instruction of ‘• "
for
focus many of the,
the scattered
present," and the praise of "the
future." While the white one
of Albion are washed
by the ocean, the book olis
w ill. be resorted to as an au-
thority. From '!'he
very nature of the work it must
live ; and from th.e,adroitness
compiled it will ai Ways be associated with the name of
with which it has been
Halliwell.

SLAVERY AND SLAVE TRADE OF THE
BRAZILS. By T. Nelson, R.N.
A very honest, comprehen2ive, and well-mitten ex-
posure of o great national iniq,u):4 is the WWllet r.-