The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-25 00:00:00

THE NEW PALACE OF WESTMINSTER.

The second report has just been issued by the Lords' Select
Committee to inquire into the progress of the building of the
Houses of Parliament, and to report to the House, and to
whom leave was given to report from time to time to the
House. This report is to the following effect

,4 That the Committee have again— met, and having exa-
mined Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney as to the best system of
ventilation for the new Houses of Parliament, are of opinion,
that further inquiries and experiments should be made,
under the direction of her Majesty's Commissioners of
Woods and Forests, before the final adoption of any plan
hitherto proposed for that purpose.
4, And the Committee have directed the evidence of the
said Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, taken before them, to be laid
before your Lordships." (This evidence is decidedly against
the practicability of Dr. Reid's plans.)

FIFTEENTH REPORT FROM THE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON RAILWAY BILLS
CLASSIFICATION.
Mr. Wilson Patten reported from the Select Committee ap-
pointed for the Classification of Railway Bills according
to the resolutions adopted by the House, that they had
further considered the several matters referred to them,
and had agreed to report as follows :
Your Committee recommend that the Preston and Wyre
Railway Harbour and Dock Company (Longridge Junction),
be removed from Group No. 41, and be placed in Group No. 44.
Your Committee recommend that the Manchester and
Leeds Railway (Extensions), now in Groups No. 39 and No.
59, should be removed from Group No. 39, and remain in
Group No. 59 only.
Your Committee recommend that the Lancaster and Pres-
ton Junction Railway be referred to Group No. 59.
Your Committee recommend that the Chichester, Ports-
mouth, and Fareham Railway be referred to Group No. 60.

"'PUBLIC NURSERY FOR CHILDREN AT GLASGOW.—
The experiments made at Glasgow of the practicability of
establishing a public nursery for the care of children whose
parents are prevented by their avocations from taking care of
them at home, or of children who are orphans, has proved suc-
cessful. " Applications for admission," says the annual re-
port, " are becoming daily more frequent and urgent ; and
as the working classes are becoming more sensible of the
advantages of the institution, it is obvious that much greater
accommodation will soon be required for this large com-
munity. Indeed, s successful ha been te undertaking and
so completely does oit answer then objecth ki
fa intended, as ras
limited means and limited accommodation would permit,
that there is no doubt that Glasgow will not long be
the only city in this country that can boast of a
nursery institution." Healthy children, from eighteen
months to six years of age, are admitted at the nominal
charge of ls. 6d. per week. Those who wish their children
admitted as day-boarders only, are charged ls. per week.
" Their food consists of porridge and milk for breakfast ; a
roll at eleven o'clock ; usually broth, with beef and potatoes,
for dinner ; and bread and milk or porridge for supper ; and
care is taken that they have at all times a sufficient supply.
Particular attention is also paid to the cleanness, comfort, and
health of the children. Their cribs are kept scrupulously
clean ; the rooms in good order, well aired, and, in winter,
or when necessary, provided with fires."—Scotsman.
MRS. GORE'S NEW NOVEL, " THE DEBUTANTE."—
We are requested to state that Mr. Bentley, of New
Burlington-street, will publish this new work on Tuesday
next, the 26th instant, when it may be obtained at all the
libraries, in three volumes. Mr. Bentley has just published
Lady Blessington's new novel, ~ aemoirs of a Femme de
Chambre," and " Forest Hill ; a Tale of Social Life in 1830-
31," which may now be had at all the libraries.
LEONTINE.—The new novel, entitled " Leontine,"
ofrfom,,
Ethmeilpy7 oisftMo
ars. ppeillabarimerly, the
msdiat ely. accomplished
cn
e ctur
eauthoresshas
fbauirsyprasemtoatiutsresluybjtoecdtiavntildgehearoisnee,crebt,utwhiticohw oluylodulldiarpdulyt.l i
abon
n
fashionable circles in relation to the work.
rmiTsheussams purcebv,ahlown.
theme entirely differing from that
we may state, that in " Leontine" Mrs.
whichhasMaberly
gained for her so much popularity in her former production.
of Liberal Peers took place on Saturday
A meeting
venturedever on a
every respect, what the co
came to the determination ro gve the Corn
country would most wish. About seventy
at Lansdowne House. The result of their deliberations. was, in
anvd
visiting
unite in opposing isny amend-
Billi
iting the race-course, or
.Peeenrst
w attended,hatsoevera.n_d_
cthheryonteie :
'ties
EtpnseiormmoßstAhceEarst.y—suLp.apod
reparation and a
and relaxation from the com-
plexion, • medlately affording
otherwise exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, wuxililliflnaryd
to" Slow-
land's
fort, dispelling the cloud of langour .
land's Kalydor" a most refreshing p
the pleasing sensation attending restored e
allaying all heat and irritability,
elasticity
immediately
and
numerous varieties of cutaneous eruptions, sun-burn, freckles, tan,
and discolorations, are pleasingly eradicated by the " Kalydor,"
of the skin. The
the skin rendered delicately clear and soft. Its purifying and re-
freshing properties have obtained its exclusive selection by the Court
and the Royal Family of Great Britain, and those of the Continent
of Europe, together with the eleie of the aristocracy, and Haute
ruinousYoke.mheoa sl tt health.
. deleteriousiltettwhlaesrceio:inennfppgeirsrepeaxdulioeivten:t sosannc'doi
their repellent
mineralrrso etlole nsteea iho astringents,antthe uwt t
oe r
endangeringwords
". Rowland's Kalydor" are on the envelope (an engraving of exquisite
beauty, from a steel plate by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon, and Co.) All
nKpbtaralaricYtichea7s" for sale, composed of the
others are fraudulent counterfeits!!
D Piccadilly.VE RTI S E 3 lEN
OpticalT .
—lnTstilrut enEtsrtOS'e—na3bl9e'm oArslohnem atradle:
Ad
age to read with ease and to discriminate objecPts witshpaerfect
v street,anEce
distinctness. Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, opticians, have invented
Spectacle Lenses, &c. of the :greatest transparent
po'wer, patronised by his Majesty the King of 1.1 allover, her ' w
Grace'. areie
Dowager Duchess of Bedford, their Graces the Archbishop. of Can-
terbury, York, and Dublin, the Dukes of Devonshire, Norfork, Ar-
gyle, Marlborough and Manchester, Bishops of Exeter and Lincoln,
Cork, Elphin, and Kildare. By this invention, imperfect vision is
preserved and strengthened, and very aged persons are enabled to
employ their sight at the most minute occupation, and can see with
these lenses of a much less magnifying power, and they do not re-
quire the frequent changes to further helps. Also, Achromatic Te-
reotiecouspes, Opera Glasses, Microscopes, Invisible, and all kinds of
Instruments, for relief of extreme deafness. Caution--
Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, Opticians, are not in any way con-
nectedmr
me diisattaekrei
se
,i g
bb
in s-
bourhood, nor any part
with a person of
oftha
inTothperirevimen tglr ceounnatmrye.
cautious and observe, only to be had at 39, Albemarle-street, Picca-
dilly, opposito the lot Hotel.

LITERATURE.

SCRIPTURE HISTORY. By Catherine Irene

Finch.

with W hwaht
ew
he
it
hs particularlybee d
n undertaken,a mire in this a work
ndths the
the
singular objt
suc-
cessec
da
se vhei It ohpeer dt
0. b
eAe An
enthhe fragmentary
pa cr
ec ue
lr awn
dit teel
di knowledge
iaol
dt f
ht oho bookheojdec t
both
oefh
tahs bongs
bb ye
manner in which its records have been inculcated, and
by the diffuse style so peculiarly the characteristic of the
inspired writings. To obviate this, our authoress has
compiled an inductive narrative founded upon the great
records of scripture ; and her compilation is so remark-
able for its simplicity both of diction and arrangement
as entirely to dispel those obstacles. Besides adhering
to the original purity of the text, wherever it did not
interfere with her purpose, she has elaborated tbe volume
with geographical explanations, such as must tend very
materially to facilitate the acquisition of the History in
childhood. Availing herself of the labours of Joseplzus,
and Calmet, and the Abbe Fleury, the writer has so
judiciously interpolated their elucidations upon many
obscure points of the narration as not to interfere with
the integrity of the original, while they render the
details more vivid and appreciable. The lady who has at-
tempted thus much for the advantage of the young
generation, has in an elegantly written preface dilated
upon the benefits which must accrue from the successful
completion of a task like the present ; nor has she over-
estimated its importance. Whether we regard an
accurate knowledge of Scripture as likely to
elevated the more spiritual attributes of the human
intellect, or to mellow and strengthen its tone
by imbuing it with an account of the occur-
rences which transpired in the earliest ages of the
globe whereon we are sojourners for a time, that
knowledge is necessarily most requisite ; and as far as
the embryo powers of a child will permit information of
such vastness to he instilled, the attempt is both the
human and the divine duty of the parent. Many ob-
structions have hitherto rendered the fulfilment of this
duty most difficult, if not generally impossible ; but the
present volume promises to smooth the pathway, and to
strew it with flowers—to make these great truths of re-
vealed religion easy of attainment and doubly attractive
in form, as far as the immature and plastic capacities of
infancy are concerned. No parents proud of numbering
themselves under the insignia of Christianity should dis-
regard the publication of the book under notice. We
say this in all honesty and earnestness of feeling, as we
conceive the " Scripture History by Catherine Irene
Finch"_ as a boon to all classes. From the clear and
perspicuous arrangement of the facts, they will be readily
understood, and lastingly stamped upon the memory.
We hope before long to see the continuation of the un-
dertaking, until it has reached what the authoress pro-
poses in a postscript, namely, the commencement of the
Christian era. It must in time become an elementary
book to the Scriptures.

IMAGINATIONS AND IMITATIONS.
By Hope.
The " Hyperion," printed on tea-paper and stitched
up in pasteboard, is, in our estimation, a more costly
work, than the choicest piece of rhythmical insipidity
ever published in emblaz'med silk, with leaves of vellum
and letters of gold. Nevertheless we must not bring a
very fastidious taste to the perusal of those annual out-
scourings of rhyme with which the minds of our poetas-
ters are relieved every successive year, or they become
annihilated. Let them float off with their pretty butter-
fly decorations upon the waters of Lethe, until they be-
come happily lost in perspective. Some books are of
such a dull and ponderous nature in their stupidity that
they drop down plonab I into oblivion; not all the sys-
tem of good Martinus Scriblerus could teach them the
"art of sinking" more inimitably than they do themselves.
Others are of such an exceeding flimsiness as scarcely
to wrinkle the surface of Lathe while they are being
swept off into its abyss—like the
" —little wanton boys that swim on bladders."
But to be serious, if possible, to be honeit, to be good
natured—let us turn to the volume upon our table and
receive it as it is offered, namely in all simplicity. Among
the eastern people, during remote ages, when, according
to the old legal phrase, " the memory of man runneth
not to the contrary," it was (and we believe is) a fine
custom among the orientals to tender each other pre- -
sents, habitually. With the wealthy trinkets are usually
given, but whenever a man's poverty precludes any gift
of a more solid character, a mere handful of barley
ears or of fruit are presented, and there are
received with a like good grace. The intentions of the
donor are looked to—not the emolument of the donee.
We reverence this system much. For one thing, it
breeds good blood, good fellowship, and good encourage-
ment. And revering it, we will endeavour to follow it
as a pattern, wherever injury can be inflicted upon no-
body by the imitation. Looking at the effusions of
Hope then in this pleasant spirit, we can cordially admire
the binding, the satin paper, and the symetrical manner
in which " the rivulet of rhyme " runs through its
" meadow of margin," to quote the famous sarcasm and
alliteration of Sheridan not for the first time within
this half century. Of the compositions contained
in the volume we cannot, however, bring ourselves to
speak in a similar strain of panegyric. If all the albums
of our fair countrywomen had been filtered down into a
book, leaving out everything of 'vigour, of nerve, or of
novelty, and if the residue had been diluted very care-
fully afterwards, the result would, undoubtedly, have
been some such a work as these " Imaginations and Imi-
tations." What shall we say, for instance, of a poem,
ostentatiously commencing and terminating tips—
" Bright genius hover round me,
Association •,
How oft thy spell hath bound me,
Association !"
We cannot, however, induce ourselves to imagine that
this collection of metrical effusions is seriously issued
from the press with any ambitious views : we are
inclined, on the contrary, to regard it as a rich joke level-
led at Parnassus. And if such really be the case, though
we cannot precisely discover the point of the thing, we
are impressed with a conviction that the joke is emi-
nently successful. One little syllable of advice we would,
however, whisper to the writer, if the compositions are
dictated in all earnestness; and our advice is, to abstain
henceforth from committing to public criticism verses
only fit to be crow-quilled upon gilt-edged note paper,
delicately tinged with pink, and delicately perfumed
withfleur d'orange.

PICTURES FROM ITALY. By Charles Dickens.
Ever welcome, no matter under what appearance,
whether as transatlantic notes, or goblin stpries, or serial
novels, or even casual letters upon jurisprudence, are
the writings of Mr. Dickens to us ! He has east such
gleams of sunlight upon our pathway, he has so glad-
dened our heart with his wit, and moved it with his
pathos, he has spoken out with so much eloquence and
daring in the cause of those who most required an ad-
vocate, and has done all this with such unaffected kindli-
ness and power that the mere superscription of his
name upon a titlepage becomes a guarantee that there is
excellence of some sort in the after pages. We must
acknowlege ourselves as not numbering amongst those
captious individuals who expressed their disappointment
at the character of his " American Notes." We anti-
cipated none of that impertinent gossip in which travel-
ling authors too frequently indulge ; nor were our ex-
pectations aroused in favour of philosophical commenta-
ries or political disquisitions upon the government, or
the scientific progression of the United States. The
book was precisely the description of book one might
rationally have looked for from "Boz." It was a trans-
parent medium through which we might gaze across the
intervening ocean upon scenes, and characters, and land-
scapes, such as are actually visible in that quarter of the
New orld ; there was a healthiness, moreover, in
the tone, a simplicity in the diction, a truth-
fulness about the descriptions, and an alterna-
tion of facetious details and solemn supplications
for the greater diffusion of liberality and
brotherly-love among mankind, which accorded well
with the peculiar kind of celebrity which Dickens had
already acquired. In speaking thus, however, it must
not be supposed that we are ready to regard anything
and everything which this author may issue from the,
press as faultless, or as deserving of unconditional com-
mendation. Not so. We could enumerate a diversity
of blemishes in the fictions of Charles Dickens, faults of
composition, faults of grouping, and especially the most
glaring and intolerable faults of punctuation. But,
perceiving the infinite preponderance of his excellencies,
recognising his extraordinary originality, and loving from
our heart the noble spirit by which his works are ac-
tuated, we should deem such an enumeration as ungrateful,
and invidious, and hypercritical to the very last degree.
Just, to a proportionate extent, as we should consider
any indiscriminating censure of the " Winter's Tale,"
for its anachronisms, or Shelley for the occasional halt-
ing of his metre, or Byron, for plagiarism, or the
"Seasons" for grandiloquence. Looking in each of
these instances at the immeasurable predominance
of the beauty over the flaw, we confess our-
selves ready to lose all recollection of those subor-
dinate failings, and to accord praise and honour,
in their different ways, to Shakspere, Shelly, Byron,
Thomson, and Dickens. Any carping at the eccentri-
cities (for such in reality the major (portion of these
blemishes may be termed), for which those
who adorn our literature are remarkable, we
conceive to be a petty and contemptible display
of fastidiousness; it is quarrelling with the nightingale
for its russet hue, and the peacock for its discordant
voice. In this manner, whenever there is a manifestation
of genius in a writer, our literary taste is cosmopolite.
We admire the amber none the less because of the fly
imbedded in it. And that our author has, of a truth, a
certain genius, and that of a very unusual order, his pen
has sufficiently demonstrated of itself for the fact to
require any elaborate exposition. Of this, however,
enough. Our attention must confine itself for the pre-
sent to a consideration of the " Pictures from Italy"
—a blue book, somewhat less dry, somewhat
less monotonous, and somewhat less unpalatable
than those produced by our parliamentary wisdom.
nevertheless, eyta
Tpilictehpreicstu;,rs contained in
they
argeorndectehsesarreialyde; Ca
pictures
is, it is the faith-
fulness of exaggeration ; no one
Faithful, however, as the portraiture
lfivalnthough m
e ry,inilattaulri
Italian e
eepheasreanc
tae o
annodf
tt
nal
ii nn life,eus t
olmtas-.
paints a scene more
• al conceit—which con-
possible distortion—some wimste
vividly, more accurately, oerdmhoyresommienuptreelpyotshtae
nrou"slß;izm;'
but it is always accompanied
hv euYms o utroo u sth, the
while, m ind
imprint the description upon the memory. Take
atthethme osstampeiqutahmntee,
as an example of this the account of the Colos-
seum at Rome, which, as viewed from above, re-
minded Dickens of a gigantic straw hat, the circular
rows of benches being the plaits, and the arena the
crown. Or again, his mention of the vines by the road-
side during spring "so many walking sticks ;" or the
white houses of Naples, "dwindling, in the great extent of
prospect, down to dice;" or the scaffolding in St. Peter's,
which, when all the tapestry was removed, and all the
framework left, " looked like an exploded cracker;" or
lastly, and especially, that description of the sailors in