The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-26 00:00:00

MR. DISRAELI'S NEW NOVEL.

Mr. Disraeli has proved that a career of almost un-
exampled difficulty has not extinguished in him the
divine gift of imagination. Political drudgery, the
necessity of waging an arduous and unequal contest for
the greater part of a lifetime, the innumerable cares and
anxieties which press upon the leader of a great party,
have not been able to alter the original bent of his genius.
He depicts character and describes society with the grace
and wit which characterized his writings at twenty. He
affords again and again the proof that his nature is in
reality a genial one, that his impulses are
generous and noble, and that all his aspira.
tions tend toward the elevation of the human
race. People expected him to write a sharp
satire on his political foes. He has merely written a
brilliant novel of society—drawing a portrait here and
there, doubtless, but in the main confining himself to the
exercise of that inexhaustible imagination which has
always been a distinctive feature of his genius. People
who expect to find in " Lothair" a thrilling romance, in
which the heroine is always on the point of topping over
some precipice, and is rescued by the hair of her head by
an enterprising lover, will be as much disappointed as
the scandal-mongers of the age. Mr. Disraeli has
attempted to shew the insidious progress of the
Roman Catholics, and has thrown a flood of light on
the tactics they pursue. His hero is very nearly persuaded
to join the Romish Church, and the portrait might have
had the name of the Marquis of Bute written under it at
once, only that Lothair resists all temptations, and remains
a Protestant to the end. The Cardinal, whose eloquence
nearly makes a powerful convert, is understood to be a
" composition "—the late Cardinal Wiseman and the
present Archbishop Manning being both laid under con-
tribution for it. A satirical sketch of an Oxford Professor
is understood to be meant for an English Professor now
connected with the Cornell University, whom Mr.
Disraeli once described in the House of Commons
as a " wild man." Originals for other portraits
will no doubt be found, but it will be mere guess-work on
the part of the reader. The book will be memorable
chiefly for the worldly wisdom with which it overflows,
and for the "Disraelian " epigrams which stud almost
every page. It is noticeable fact that the English journals
most bitterly opposed to Mr. Disraeli, are almost vehe-
ment in their praises of his novel. At the age of sixty-
five, and in the midst of a busy session, a statesman does
not often publish a book of this character. Perhaps it
will contribute quite as much to the amusement and
instruction of mankind as the speculations upon the
Homeric poems, and the essays on.Ecce Homo, which Mr.
Disraeli's rival, Mr. Gladstone, has given to the world as
the fruit of his leisure hours.—New York Times.

FEARFUL RAILROAD SLAUGHTER.
ST. Louis, May 12, 1870.

At six o'clock this morning the night express train on
the Missouri Pacifig Railroad, which left Atchison,
Kansas, last evening, collided near Eureka, twenty-eight
miles from here, with an extra freight train going West.
Sixeeon persons were killed outright and twenty wounded.
Two that have been taken home will die. No names of
the sufferers have yet been ascertained. The wounded
have been brought here and further particulars will be
obtained when the train arrives. The dead will be brought
here as soon as the coroner reaches the scene of the
disaster and holds an inquest. A special train left here
early this morning with physicians and all the necessary
appliances for the relief of the wounded and care of the
dead. Another train will leave at noon with the coroner,
reporters and another relief party. Both the locomotives
were completely wrecked and the trains badly smashed
The collision occurred through through a misapprehension
of orders given to the conductor. Hunson E. Bridge,
president of the road, and Thomas M`Kessock, are on the
spot doing everything possible to relieve the sufferers and
to clear the track.

SECOND DESPATCII.
ST. Louis, May 12, 1870
The train containing the wounded arrived about three
o'clock. The sufferers were taken directly to the hospital.
A large crowd was at the depot, and as the wounded were
borne on mattresses to proper conveyances much sorrow
was manifested. Most of the killed are persons returning
from Kansas, destined to points in Illinois and Ohio. Al-
though many of the wounded are seriously hurt, it is be
lieved all will recover. They are well cared for. The
people and physicians in the neighbourhood were on the
ground promptly, and have been labouring incessantly ;
everything has been done that could be done to make the
wounded comfortable. Augustus A. Fleming, chief en-
gineer of the Taboo and Neosho Railroad, among the
killed, needs confirmation. The misunderstanding of
orders seems to have been made by the engineer of the
freight train. It is said he has not been seen since the ac-
cident. Another train, with coffins for the dead and com-
forts for the wounded, has just started for the scene of
the disaster. _Mere are nineteen persons killed. All the
bodies will be brought to this city late to-night.