The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-24 00:00:00

ELIHU BURRITT.
THE LEARNED AMERICAN BLACKSMITH.

As this indefatigable philanthropist will probabV
sit Great Britain in the course of a few wei,ks, it will
no doubt`grstify many Of our readers to learn something
regarding his history. Elihu Burritt was born in New
Britain, Connecticut, in the year 1811, of honest and
respectable parents. He enjoyed the priviloge of occa
sionally attending the " district school " till he was 16
years old, when his father died, and he was apprenticed
to the trade of a blacksmith. The Bible was the first boa
which he thoroughly studied; and at a very early age 1w
was familiar with almost every passage in the Old and
New Testaments. Before he reached the age of 21, he was
conversant with the English classics, both in prose anti
poetry, and passed delighi fully many of his leisure hours
in poring over the pages of Milton, Young, Thomson,
Cowper, Addison, &c. In the winter of the year is
which he attained his majority, he commenced, under
the direction of a brother-in-law, who was an accom-
plished scholar, the study of mathematics. He then en
tered on the study of the Latin language, for the pur-
pose of reading. He soon after turned his attention
to the French, Greek, and German languages. After
having mastered the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin lan-
guages, and ail the languages of modern Europe ;
by dint of hard labour he has become a proficient in
the most difficult languages of Europe which are now
nearly disused and obsolete—among them are 'Gaelic,
Welsh, Celtic, Saxon, Gothic, Icelandic, Russian,
Salvonic. Armenian, Chaldaic, Lyriac, Ethiopic, San-
scrit, and Tamul 1 It was stated in a public meeting,
in 1838, by Governor Everett, that Mr. Burritt, by
that time, by his unaided industry alone, had made
himself acquainted with fifty languages. Mr. Burritt
sows no disposition to relax it un his labours. He
usually devotes eight hours to labour, with eight hours
to study, and eight hours to physical indulgence. anti
repose ; and, by pursuing this course, he enjoys the
advantages—vainly coveted by many literary men—
those connected With "a sound mind in a he.,lO(lY
body." Nor does he confine his labours to the mere
acquisition. of literary wealth—he also diffuses it with
a liberal hand. He has written many valuable articles
for periodicals of high standing ; he has delivered
many lectures, which have been replete with interest
ant valuable information ; and has been repeatedly
list. ned to by large and highly respectable audiences
in New York, Philadelphia, and other places, with
edification and delight. He has not yet reached the
meridian of life, and it is to be hoped that many years of
usefulness ...re still before him ; he is indeed, a man of
whom N. w England may well be proud. Amongst his
works of philanthropy, Elihu Burritt issues almost
weekly 1,000 or 1,200 of his " Olive Leaves" for the
press ; and, in prom of his powers of writing, we may
mention the fact—a fact perfectly •unparalleled in the
annals of periodical literature—that the artiees thus
forwarded are regularly printed in about 30U newspapers
in various parts of the Union.

DISAPPEARANCE OF THREE HOUSES.—An alarming
and very extraordinary circumstance took place yesterday
se'nnight at Hateley-heath, West Bromwich—the total and
immediate disappearance of three houses, in consequence of
the thick coal having been got from under them some time
since. The houses were inhabited, but fortunately no lives
were lost. About ball-past eight o'clock the middle of one
of the houses suddenly fell in,an
tablearw,
alarm was
of
thegiv en,atidas
soon as the people could get out,buildings
being five six or yart
immediately sank dow il wi t
ths
baelgo rwe a tt
beer asl
level
ethe
ttho
op ss the-
housesuorfface
covered with the earth which had fallen in around them.
ofT their p
The unfortunate
Bru
eyo_ccupil,invm Gazette.ntsolathehou have lost the whole
on
17 ti.anicien; d-
s?o' the
THE WEATHER.—Between eleven and twelve o'clock
part of the eveningmetropolis was
theand full
visited by a pretty smart
Which lasted for about an hour. In the early
suffocating de,.
warning
the atmosphere was heated to the most
corruscations of sheet close
was given towre:(ia'of the coming storm
of the evening, by the brilliant
lightning which continued to illumi-
nate the horizon for two'h Shortly after eleven o'clock
it beeline more vivid and oinrtsen,tsoe, and rapidly assumed the
For half an hour the
vivid, rtu.
character of a decided thunder-
lightning was exceedingly
of thunder. The storm was dby loud peals
fall of rain, which, though but of short dwuhrh a very heavy
the most grateful coolness. A few more hoautrist:n, r oduced
rain Avould
tend much to the comfort of the hapless mortals
doomed to
the metropolis, for our climate• for the last week or two has
been worse than tropical.
EFFECTS OF THE WEATHER.—We are informed that
the heat has seriously interfered with the working of many collieries
M this neighbourhood ; the managers have found it very difficult,
and even impossible, to maintain a proper state of ventilation. Ven-
tilation is usually effected by means of furnaces at the bottom of the
mines near the pits' mouth, the heat from which so rarities the at-
mosphere as to cause a continual rush of pure air into the mine. The
intensity of the heat, however, during the last few days has so rani-
fled the air above ground as to render this plan ineffective. We have
beard of several collieries which has suspended operations for the
present, in consequence of the danger arising frvia this vow.—
2 2L..o4,o4terZraminer.