The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-01 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

DIS.P.ATCHES AND LETTERS OF LORD
IVEL,SO.N. Vol. VII. .Edited by Sir IVicholas I
Harris .Nicolas.
Now that this magnificent work is completed, we
can form from experience some conception of that ,
national importance which, from anticipation, we
were disposed to conjecture would be its great cha-
racteristic. In these seven splendid volumes we dis-
cover the realisation of the wish expressed so tersely
and emphatically by a writer in the Quarterly Review,
who exclaimed—" The nation expected, and was en-
titled to expect, that while cities vied with each other
in consecrating statues in marble and brass to the
memory of our Nelson, a literary monument would
be erected, which should record his deeds for the im-
mortal honour of his own country, and the admiration
of the rest of the world." That literary monument is
here completed. To say that it is eminently worthy
of the great hero whose prowess, wbose wisdom,
whose patriotism, and whose genius it is intended to ,
illustrate ; to say that these pages constitute the most
copious narrative of his history ever published ; to
say that the documents are authentic, that the inter-
mediate descriptions are detailed without degenerating
to unnecessary minuteness, graphic without departing
from the severe style most appropriate to the records
of such, chivalric actions, and varied in manner,
without detracting from the uniformity, and, so to
speak, the uniqueness of so illustrious a career ; to
say, in fine, that this work is a fitting record of the
life and deeds of Horatio Nelson, is to pronounce at
once a fact and a panegyric. The present, and
concluding volume, comprises the correspondence of
Lord Nelson from the Ist of August, 1805, up to the
fatal but glorious victory of Trafalgar. Almost every
imaginable description of letter or note, whether a
business communication to one of the officials in
Parliament-street, or the veriest scrap of an invita-
tion to dinner, are here treasured up as memorials of
the writer. We do not presume that any individual
will have the folly, or—shall we say it ?—the audacity
to cavil at the completeness of this correspondence.
It cannot be forgotten that the disposition of an his-
torical character is better divulged in those trivial
circumstances, which the superficial would be disposed
to regard as insignificant; that we may best obtain
an inkling of the home qualities and mental pecu-
liarities of such a personage, from the examination

of those little domestic epistles, which are thrown off
with all the unreserve of familiarity, than fromihe

staid circumspection of professional intercourse. Un-
questionably the most interesting epoch in the history
of Lord Nelson, is that which constitutes its termi-
nation ; and that epoch is, of course, contained in
this concluding volume. Already we had followed
the greatest of all sea captains from his birth, in the
parsonage-house at the village of Burnham Thorpe,
in the county of Norfolk, on the 29th September,
1758. Already we had watched the development of
his character, when stealing pears in the school-
,
' gnanradgeinnaattioNnorftrhomWhailssheanmtr.anNoVe,e
ahsada pinuidrssuheipdinhaimn,,
onin
board the Eaisonnable ; from his transition to a West
India merchantman ; from his promotion to the
Triumph ; from his East Indian voyage in the Sea-
horse ; from his removal to the Worcester • from his
being lieutenant in the Lowestoffe, commander in the
Badger brig, and post-captain in the Hinchinbrook.
him tc, C when the E.:glisl.
were pretending to sustain the cause of the illustrious
Paoli; to the capture of Bastiu, on the 19th May,

1794 ; to the siege of Calvi, where one of his eyes
was destroyed ; to the battle of St. Vincent, 14th
February, 1797. We had seen his life saved by the
devotion of his coxswain, in the murderous boat-
action in the bay of Cadiz ; and his loss of an arm in
the expedition of Teneriffe. His unparalled victory
of the Nile, in 1798, fought at anchor and at mid-
night ; his diplomatic success at the bombardment of
Copenhagen, in 1801; and his proceedings, in refer-
ence to the flotilla of Boulogne, had been successively
submitted to our scrutiny in the preceding volumes,
together with the family misunderstandings which
tended to the embitterment of the life of Lord Nel-
son. It remained for us to behold the termination of
that adventurous and extraordinary career, to watch
the closing of that eventful and surprising drama, to
recognise-the consummation of such unequalled daring,
of such assiduous patriotism, of such brilliant ser-
vices, of such perpetual and unprecedented disinte-
restedness. We had yet, aided by the accumulated
embellishment of his private correspondence, and by
a mul4iplicity of official documents, to scrutinise the
circumstances of Lord Nelson's final achievements,
to re-consider the glory and solemnity of his death—
a death the most heroic in modern history—to lament
again upon the tardiness of the recompenses which
could only be lavished by a grateful country upon
the relatives of one who had done so much for his
native land, and who had received so little in return.
Nothing could well be more satisfactory, as far as
novelty and copiousness of information are concerned,
than the pages here devoted to the description of these
occurrences. The sea fight off Cape Trafalgar, the
demise of the conqueror, the combined paroxysm of
joy and grief into which the English nation was
plunged on the reception of that intelligence and the
funereal pomps and pageantries with which the corpse
of our heroic and immortal Nelson were consigned
to their resting-place in St. Paul's Cathedral, " under
the dome in the midst of the temple consecrated by re-
ligion to the god of armies." We can readily enter into
the emotions of the people on witnessing that august
ceremonial, when we recur to the account (given by
the editor in the preface to the present volume) of
Nelson's last departure from this island, when, on
proceeding to the place of embarkation at Porsmouth
for the purpose of going on board the Victory, " A
crowd collected in his train, pressing forward to ob-
tain a sight of his face ; many were in tears, and many
knelt down before him and blessed him as he passed.
What Lord Hawkesbury said in the flush of anguish
consequent upon the arrival of the news of that great
man's death, may, nevertheless, be repeated in the
calmness of criticism, and after the lapse of many
years :—" All the virtues which could adorn human
nature were to be found in the illustrious Nelsen.
The attribute of mercy was what most eminently dis-
tinguished him. In the language of the poet, it was
not his wish to

" Wade through slaughter to a throne,
Or shut the gates of mercy to pankind."

These volumes were absolutely requisite ; they are a
splendid memorial of the glory and dignity of the
naval service of Great Britain. Sir H. Nicolas has
admirably acquitted himself of his very difficult and
responsible editorial duties. Under his supervision,
the work has been issued in a manner most creditable
to all who were engaged in its production, Let
Nelson's motto be never forgotten—" Palmam qui
meruit ferat !"

There are few persons, except those who give mi-
nute attention to the subject, but will learn with sur-
prise that the average price of wheat, according to the
Gazette, at the present time, is only 2s. per quarter
higher than at the same period last year.—Marh-lane
Express.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OP A LADY. Yesterday,
Mr. Carter resumed, andconcluded an adjourned inquiry
from Friday last, at the Plough and Harrow Tavern,
Cold Harbour-lane, Camberwell, respecting the death of
Mrs. Mary Summers, aged forty-eight years, lately re-
siding at No. 10, Holland-place, Denmark-street, Cam-
berwell. The deceased, who was highly connected, had
been in the enjoyment of excellent health for several
years. On Wednesday last she retired to her dressing-
room, and having remained for a considerable time some
alarm was manifested by the other members of the fa-
mily, and after a few minutes search, one of the servants
discovered the deceased lying on the floor by the bedside,
in an insensible state. A surgeon was called in, who
pronounced life to be gaktinct. - In consequence of the
sudden nature of the death, the coroner ordered Mr.

Burridge, a surgeon, to make a post mortem examination.
The inquiry was adjournedsuntil yesterday, to allow time

for the surgeon to Lake an analysis of the contents of
the stomach. On the re:assembling. of the jury, Mr.

Burridge and a chemical lecturer said, they were unable
to detect anything of a deleterious nature, but death
had clearly resulted from the rupture of a blood vessel
_...

on the bran. The coroner remarked on the case, after
which the jury unanimously returned a verdict of
Death from natural causes."

SUICIDE IN THE TOWER.—An inquest was held
yesterday before William Walton, Esq., at the King's
Head Tavern, in the Tower, on the body of Mr. George
Tidy, aged forty-six. It appeared, according to the
evidence of several witnesses, that the deceased had been
landlord of the King's Head for some years past, but, in
consequence of ill health, he had confided the manage-
ment of his business to Mr. John Davidson, his brother-
in-law. His complaint was an affection of the liver, and
he frequently suffered such pain that he said he thought
he could bear it no longer. his wife left him alone on
Sunday afternoon, while she went to open the door, and
on her return found him lying on the floor with his
throat cut, and a knife, with which be had just been
eating his dinner, lying stained with blood by his side.
The surgeon said that the deceased had been out of his
mind for some time past,
.probably from long continued
suffering; but the brother-in-law attributed his state of
mind to the circumstance that he was going to be turned
out of his house without compensation, after having paid
a very large sum for the good-will. Verdict—" Tem-
porary insanity."
MunnEn IN SHROPSHIRE.—We are sorry to record
a most brutal case of assault by a carpet weaver of the
name of James Smith, on the person of Sarah Bill, a
poor girl working at the same factory, that of the
Messrs. Southwell, of the Friars, Bridgnorth. The girl,
who had been drawer to Smith for some time, did some-
thing on the day in question (Thurday week) to offend
him, when he ran after her in the workshop from his
loom, and struck her a violent blow with his fist in the
stomach, which had the effect of rupturing her bowels,
and causing great internal injury. The poor unfortunate
girl was assisted to her lodgings from the factory ; but,
notwithstanding every medical assistance was afforded to
her, she expired at five o'clock on Monday morning.
An inquest was held on the body on Tuesday and Wed-
nesday evenings, when a verdict of " Manslaughter" was
returned against Smith. On Thursday he was brought
up before the magistrates for examination, when the
whole of the evidence was again read through, and the
prisoner was fully committed to take his trial at the next
assizes for the county, for the wilful murder of Sarah
Hill.—Eddowes' Journal.

VIOLENT SHOCK OF EARTHQUAKE.—On Tuesday
night, a few minutes before twelve o'clock, a shock of
earthquake was felt here of greater intensity and longer
duration than any remembered. The state of the
atmosphere at the time was calm and beautifully clear.
Early on the previous morning a very heavy rain had
fallen, which had cleared the air and softened the tem-
perature, and the following day was unseasonably fine
and mild, the thermometer standing about 52 degrees.
At nine o'clock, evening, it had fallen to 42 degrees,

the barometer indicating 29.50 inches the greaten
cold during the night was 36 degrees, and the barometer
inclined to rise, standing next morning at 29.51 'inches.
The feeling of individuals, during the shock, depended
greatly on their situation. It is most generally de-
scribed as being rather tremulous than undulating,
and in high tenements heavy articles of furniture were
violently shaken, bells were nut, and crockeryware
overturned. Every family was alarmed, and many
rushed out to the streets under the impression that their
houses were falling. Such as were walking at the
time describe the ground as shaken under their feet,
intuit' like the tremulous motion in steam-boats. The du-
ration of the shock, by all accounts, must have been
from fifteen to twenty seconds, although the fears of
many naturally led them to think it longer. It extended
'as far north as our accounts yesterday reached, and
along the line of the Grampians it seems to have been
particularly severe. Our correspondent at Crieff writes
last night thus:—" At twelve o'clock, perhaps two
-minutes after it, a low rumble, resembling distant
thunder, but one which a practised ear could at once
detect to be the herald of an earthquake, was heard.
For five or six seconds it approached nearer and
nearer, and waxed louder and louder; then came a
heavy underground knock or two, then a sensible up-
heaving and downfalling accompanied by a vielent
shaking of everything on the surface, and the thunder-
like noise continuing for six or eight seconds, died
away in the distance. This may not have been the
heaviest shock of earthquake that has occurred in Crieff
for the last fifty years, but it certainly was a very smart
one, and caused many a timid heart to quake. The air
before and at the time of the shock was calm and still,
but a short time thereafter a fresh breeze p an.- up "
s , •
Perthshire Courier.
TOBACCO AND SNUFF.—By a recently issued
Parliamentary return it appears that there areas many as
202,051 licensed dealers in tobacco and snuff in the
United Kingdom. In England there are 170,048; in
Ireland, 16,601; and in Scotland, 15,402. From an ex-
amination of the paper it seems that there arc 12,958
dealers in London, and that the number within ten miles
of the Excise Office is 23,807.
The evening semi-official journal the Messager
announces that it will cease to appear at the end of
the present month. It is said that this journal had a
monthly subvention of 7,000 f. from the Government.—
Galignani.
A DRUNKARD'S Doom.—We are under the painful
necessity of narrating the following particulars of an
awful case of death caused by intemperance. It appeared
that on Wednesday week a number of workmen were
assembled in ono of those dens of infamy too common
amongst us, where they had been partaking very freely
of ardent spirits. One old man in particular, a nailer
by trade, from the delirious state into which previous
excesses had thrown him, challenged his comrades that
he would drink another shilling's-worth of liquor in a
given time. The bet was taken up, and the infatuated
wretch drank off the quantity of drink almost in a
draught. The man went home, and got to bed about
nine o'clock, and by twelve was discovered to be a corpse.
—Paisley Advertiser.
The first sod in the site of the General Station,
Court-square, was cut on Monday last, and a large.force
of workmen will shortly be engaged upon the structure.
Carlisle Journal.

A LOVE AFFAIR IN EVERTON
On Tuesday the police-court was crowded with young
and old, gay and sedate persons, all anxious to learn the
particulars of an assault case, arising out of a love affair
in Field-street, Everton, which was set down forbearing.
The respectability of the parties on both sides—the lady
being the young, beautiful, and accomplished daughter
of a surgeon, and her suitor, or alleged suitor, the clerk
in a highly-respectable house in Liverpool—added a
raciness and an interest to the disclosures which they
would not have possessed had the principal actors been
moving in an humbler walk of life. •
The father of the young lady, Mr. John Ball, is a
widower, and removed with his family, which, we believe,
consists of two sons, Archdale and. John George, and
two daughters, Louisa and Elizabeth, from Ireland to
Liverpool, some time towards the close of last summer,
and took up his residence here at No. 84, Field-street,
flti3rton.

Shortly after, we understand about the beginning of
August, an acquaintance was formed between Miss
Ball (Louisa), who, it is said, has not yet attained her
nineteenth year, and the clerk to whom we have already
alluded, and who, besides being of fe.shionable exterior
and bland manners, is very respectably connected, and
perhaps, at a guess, about three and-twenty. The ac-
quaintance ripened into esteem, friendship, and love.
Matters progressed, as matters of the kind sometimes
ill progress, smoothly, for the space of three months
or thereabouts, we cannot be particular to a day; and
as the young parties lived contiguous to each other—she
in Field•street, and he in Rukeby-street, close by-Lthey
had frequent opportunities of interchanging little
thoughts without always committing them to paper.
His attentions were such as led herself and her family to
suppose that he contemplated a speedy marriage ; and
about the expiration of the three months a question--
not a very pointless one, noryet one very unintelligible
—seems to have been put to him upon this very delicate
subject. The answer was by no means of an agreeable
nature to the family. The gentleman said something
about his mind not having been Made up, and also about
his not having made any more, advances to Miss Ball
than he had to her sister Elizabeth ; and, in fact, it be-
came pretty evident, before the interview terminated,
that there was a slight misunderstanding on Mr. Ball's
side touching the gentleman's matrimonial vievrs.

Here wawa discovery ! The, family- felt indignant,
and tiirthwith preparations were made for inflicting sum-
mary chastisement on the body corporate of " the- faith-
less swain." Mr. Archdale Ball, the brother of theyoung
lady, undertook the task'; and, after two or three un-
successful attempts to see the gentleman at Rokeby-
street, he at length made his way up to the drawing-
room, and vigorously laid about him with a walking-stick.
This formed the gravamen of the case heard on
Tuesday, for Archdale was summoned for the assault.
The case was to have come en last Friday, but owing to
a misnomer in the first summons issued, it was postponed
until Tuesday, when Mr. Ball, the father of the lady,
Archdale, the defendant, John George, their second son,
and their friends were all present.
Mr. Davenport, appeared for the nomplainant, and
after informing the Court that his client was a clerk in a
respectable house in Liverpool, and giving a general
acccunt of the assault.

The complainant was sworn and deposed as follows:
I lodge in Rokeby-street, Everton, and on Monday, the
16th instant, I was at my lolgings about one o'clock in
the day. I was up stairs in the drawing-room. Miss
Harriet, one of the young ladies of the house,-told me
that Mr. Ball was below, and wished to see me. She
said she told him I was up stairs, and he said in reply
that he was obliged to see me. Shortly after he came
up to the drawing-room, and struck me pith the stick he
has in his hand at present. I had given him no offence.
When he entered I asked him what he wanted) and he
immediately struck me, and that several times. The
door of the drawing-room then opened, and I met Miss
Harriet on the top of the stairs, and in her presence he
struck me several times with the stick, and also with his
fist. I had given no provocation whatever for the as-
sault. •

Mr. Ruston.—What has the defendant to say ?
The defendant.—l admit the charge, Sir, but the cir-
cumstances of the greatest provocation caused me to
break the peace in this manner. He was paying my
sister attentions. He trifled with the feelings of that
sister, who is, I may. say, a mere child, and I, as her
brother, took the law into my own hands, and chastised
him for the way he treated her. appeal to you, Sir,
under the circumstances, whether the provocation has
not been great ? and if you want proof of how he acted,
there is a gentleman here (Mr. Owen) who can prove it.
Mr. Davenport.—Wc can prove the contrary. We can
call upon a gentleman that will prove the complainant
never thought of one more than another.
The defendant.—The vet.) lady in whose house he
lodges was witness to his attentions to my sister, and
she even said that he deserved a flogging.
The lady.—l said that, if all that has been said of him
by your sisters, Miss Ball and Miss Louisa, was true, he
did deserve it, but I question it.
Mr. Rushton.—But are we here to try the question,
whether he treated the girl ill or not ? _
_ _

Mr. Ball, sen.—Sir, fam the father of the young girl,
and, Sir, it was impossible not to feel, and to feel deeply,
for her. I appeal Ito every father of a family in the
Court, if he would not feel under similar circumstances.
Sir, the feelings of our family were indeed excited, par-
ticularly as we had no redress in any Court for the man-
ner in which the girl had been treated.
Mr. Rushton.—Yes, you have redress. If the young
man paid his addresses to her, and promised her mar-
riage in an honourable way, and then declined to fulfil
his promise, he is liable for the consequences before
another tribunal.

Mr. Ball, sen.—But, Sir, we had no written document.
Here is a gentleman alongside me (Mr. Owen), and I
appeal to him, if the complainant was not received into
our family as the suitor of the young girl ? And let me
tell you, sir, that he (the complainant) introduced him-
self to our family on religious grounds. His first act was
to make me a present of a Bible ! We placed confidence
in him as a religious character and a well-conducted
young man ; and he came and spent evenings at our
house. In the end, he gained the affections of the young
girl ; and when I asked him what his intentions towards
her were, he turned round and said, that he had not
made up his mind, and that he did not think he had
committed himself in any possible way ! Then it was
that this young fellow, my son, Archdale, said he merited
punishment ; and for his having taken the law into his
own hands, we humbly submit to the mercy of the court.
Mr. Davenport—l am given to understand that he
never proposed for her, and that another young man, as
well as himself, used to go and spend the evenings at
Mr. Ball's house.

Mr. John G. Ball—Will you allow me to ask the com-
plainant one question, Sir?
Mr. Rushton—No, no. If the complainant has done
anything of this sort, he has inflicted a gross wrong, mad
that wrong has caused the brothers of the lady to be
impetuous. _ _ _

Mr. Davenport—Was anything of this kind in exist-
ence between you and the young lady?
Complainant—No. I can prove that I never went
with one of the young ladies more than with another.
Mr. Davenport—l believe you were only acquainted
with her three months. _

Complainant—About three months.
Mr. Davenport—l have a lady here, Sir, who can
prove that Miss Ball knew the complainant was under
an engagement of two years' standing to another young
lady.—(Loud laughter.)
Mr. Ball, sen.—Will you allow me just to put one
question ?
Mr. Rushton.—No. There has been a breach of the
peace ; and if there is any truth in the provocation, of
course you have a remedy in another court.
The defendant again appealed to Mr. Owen; and, by
permission of the Court,
Mr. Owen was briefly examined. He said—l lived
in Mr. Ball's house, and knew that the complainant was

. _
paying attention to Miss Ball for a considerable time. I
understood that he was going to marry her, and that he
had promised marriage on several occasions, but not be-
fore any witnesses, lam not an inmate of the house at

present.
I,lr. Rushton (to defendant).—You must be fined a
shilling without costs. But you ought not to do this.
You ought not to take the law into your own hands,
although gross provocation has been given, undOubtedly.
The shilling was immediately paid, and Iliexarties on
both sides left the court.

. „
SINGULAR BIRTH.-On Monday ias, at Ca-stlehar-
rison, near Charleville, Mrs. M'Hanrahan, the wife of a
poor peasant, was safely delivered of a female child,
having three heads, perfectly formed, and on the left
hand, which was more than double the size of the right,
six fingers. It was at first supposed the child was still
born, but after a short time animation appeared, and it
is at present likely to do well. Dr. Sullivan, of Charle-
ville, has been in constantattendance on the poor woman,
and owing to his exertions she is considered out of dan-
ger. On a previous confinement she was delivered of a
son who had an enormous head.—Constitution.
OUR FOOD PROSPECTS.—From every part of the
country the reports as to the state of trad_eozei;eaxsceed-
ingly discouraging; and as the supply of f
tycoloufmns
much to ao with the demand
most
tmi amnilitiofratelnutresc,oonus
irdvfeoerorayd_
prospects become the next
gainveonppinorotuunri
this week will
tion. The
affordinformatiootnirwreeadhaevres
think, will be, that we need
• t • and that conclusion,. we
ar-
riving at a tolerably a.cOurate conclusion upon this sub-
juc ,
be under no apprehension that we shall suffer from
any greater scarcity, or higher prices, than we Eive now
contend against; for the authorities we have quoted
arc reconfessedly the very best on this question; and that
they hare taken the most discouraging view of our pros-
pects, the following analysis we have prepared of the
latest official returns of American food imports Teceived
in London and Liverpool alone, seems to us proof con-
clusive :—Of flour, 36,407 barrels; corn meal, 934 barrels;
Indiantcorn, 83,449 barrels; wheat, 7,466 bushels; peas,
746 barrels; oatmeal, 200 barrels; rice, 200 tierces; beef,
5,708 barrels; lard, 1,573 packages; pork, 1,349 bar-
rels ; bacon, 1,040 hogsheads ; hams, 1,094 ditto ;
butter, 966 kegs ; cheese, 6;875 packages; biscuits, 170
barrels ; onions, 292 barrels ; seeds, 50 tierces. The
precise time in which these imports have come to hand
we do not know ; but we believe it is of very recent date.
It must also be borne in mind that the:American trade
is but a yoUng one ;•there. had been no preparations in
anticipation of its opening ; and this fact of itself makes
these steadily increasing returns all the more encouraging,
both with respect to our present exigencies and our pros-
pects for the future. The vessels which bring these im-
ports will not return to the United States with empty
bottoms or in ballast ; as the trade of the Americans
With us increases, so will their deniand for on; goods
become greater and more steady ; and the prophecies of
the free traders will thus every year be proved more and
more correct—that from the repeal of the corn laws we
shall have to date the commencement of a new order of
things the beginning of a career of peace and plenty
throughout the world. What, indeed, would have been
our -condition"' had • the corn-laws remained in foice ?
Leicestershire Mercury.