The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-05 00:00:00

DOUGLAS JERROLD.

We have an additional chapter of " St. Giles and
St. James" in the present number. The scene is laid
at Snipeton's house at Hampstead, where Beckey
and St. Giles have arrived as servants, and have been,
arrivesby Clarissa,
wi ich he employs Tom Blast
itnhterohdourscee,dwtho the household. Crossbone
with
hitholtd, heanandhnthaalt, wwohrteh is o
ny
he
eins the
stopped
point of
by
ys makingt off
. Gi
Blast terrifies St. Giles, by a threat of disclosing the
history of his early career, into giving him a shilling,
and almost promising him a guinea a week, and hints
at a plot for purloining Snipeton's plate. The scene
is short, but it is admirably drawn :
, " What have Ito do with Mr. Snipeton's plate, but
to see nobody steals it ? ' said St. Giles, firmly.
" To be sure ; and yet when there's so much silver
about, and a guinea a week—well, I'll say a pound, then
—a pound a week would make a fellow-cretur happy,
and silent for life—l said, silent for life'—
" St. Giles suddenly paused and turned full upon Blast.
'Go your ways, man—go your ways. Silent or not
silent, you do not frighten me. What I may do for you
I'll do of my own free will, and with my own money,
such as it is. And, after all, I think 't will serve you
better to hold your tongue than'—
: "'I wouldn't kill the goose for all the eggs at once,'
said Blast, grinning at the figure.
" St. Giles felt deadly sick. He had thought to brave
• —defy the ruffian ; but the power of the villain, the fate
that with a word he could call down upon his victim,
unnerved him. St. Giles, with entreating looks, motioned
him away ; and Blast leering at him, and then tossing
up the shilling with his finger and thumb, passed on,
leaving St. Giles at the garden gate, where stood Clarissa,
brought there by the earnest entreaties of Crossbone, to
view the horse—the wondrous steed that was to endow
its mistress with new health and beauty."

Paul Bell, in his " August Visions," draws an
amusing contrast between the doings of August,
1846, and those of August, 1746—the trials of the
rebel Scotch Lords, &c., as detailed in Horace Wal-
pole's letters. The article on " Railroads in Egypt"
is written by one who is evidently intimately ac-
quainted with the country, and who exposes the
manner in which the French consular agents have
constantly endeavoured, in that country, to thwart
British interests, and to prevent the formation of the
railroad.

"It now remains only to inquire how it is that we
have suffered France successfully to oppose us in this
particular. Certainly there has not been any remark-
able reluctance on the part of our Government to give
it support. Opinions have changed since a British
Minister so singularly thwarted the desire of Mohammed
Ali, and rejected his overtures. Lord Aberdeen, in
October, 1843, after the French Consul had dissuaded
the Pacha from commencing the railroad, forwarded the
most positive instructions to Colonel Barnet, our Consul-
General in Egypt, to give every support to the under-
taking ; but we are sorry to say that the supineness or
indifference of this gentleman, or it may be the per-
suasion of his bosom friend, the French Consul. General,
prevented him from fulfilling those instructions, and in-
duced him to neglect, in a most singular manner, his
duty to his employers and his country. On him rests
the responsibility of having been the means of prevent-
ing instead of assisting, the execution of a work of such
paramount importance to British interests, both in a
commercial and political point of view."

Colonel Barnet, we are happy to say, is now re-
moved; but if he have been guilty of the neglect, or
something worse, here imputed to him—if British
interests have been sacrificed, either wilfully or care-
lessly, surely he should be brought to account and
punished, as an example to others. At all events,
some inquiry should be instituted into his conduct.
The "Fable for foolish Fellows" is a capital bit of
drollery, but "Pearls for Popish places" is dull;
it is, however, the only dull paper in the number,
which contains more than the average quantity of
good, readable matter.