The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE UNION OF CHRISTIANS. A Poem. By

John Tod Brown.
Readily is the confession made that we commenced
the perusal of this production predisposed to be
pleased. The exquisite outline which forms the
frontispiece, and which would alone constitute Mr.
Paton a worthy disciple of that wonderful artist
Retzsch, seemed to indicate that the letter-press, of
which it formed the illustration, could scarcely be of
an inferior description. But, above all, the title of
the work—" The Union of Christians"—especially
coming from the pen of a clergyman, was sufficient
to have propitiated the most churlish or indifferent
reader. We have read these eighty-eight pages,
and we have been more than disappointed; we have
mourned the production of a book so ungenerous and
supercilious. The poem is dedicated to Sir Culling
Eardley Smith, and, although it particularly observes
that the name of that Honourable Baronet " is em-
perishably identified with the progress of spiritual re-
ligion, irrespectively of sect or party," the entire
production is nothing less than a torrent of abuse, and
ridicule, and vituperation upon all the various religions
coming under the general title of Christianity.
We will give a few samples. Of the " Independents
the author says :
" But what the porcupine that bristles there,
And dares you to invade his lonely lair ?

Too independent, let him not maintain
That brother bodies drag the clog and chain,
Would rather that his deadly darts were thrust
Through the foul heart of unbelief and last ! "
He then calles the belief of the Quakers " a haze of
visionary lies," and afterwards compares their creed
to a child's watch :
" Its face seems right, but if inside you try,
Strait you detect the stationary lie."
Speaking of the Free Church, he exclaims—
" Hush ! from gruff Scotland breaks a furious bark!
What thus can make a Babel of the ark ?
Oh !—twins fast spliced as Siamese have split,
And at each other logically hit," &c.
Episcopacy is next assailed, as—
"A bird of state blessed with well feathered claws'
She crows o'er all conventicle jackdaws," &c.
With similar elegance he alludes to the Presbyterians,
and, speaking in their name, begins—
" We Presbyterians blue, replete with starch,
Naked as elephants, majestic march," &c.
Baptists are typified ornithologically, namely, as
something between duckling and geese :
" A fowl domestic waddles o'er the ground,
Which ne'er is right, till half in water drowned," &c.
The unfortunate Romanists are likewise besmat-
tered with slang epithets; the author meekly remarks
of their church, that—

" That scarlet strumpet excommunicates
Each thoughtful son her dictum who debates," &c.
Methodists, accerding to his lively imagination, are

Ile better than rooks
" See ! on that new-built farm they perch and gloat

On straws," &c.
Infidels, Socinians, Worldlings, and divers other
classes, are treated precisely in a similar strain;
ugly adjectives of all kinds crowd the couplets, and
the whole poem closes with an impassioned eulogium
on Messrs. Smith, Bickersteth, James, Noel, Bunt-
_ _

ing, Montgomery, and others. We give Mr. John
Tod Brown all possible credit for having intended to
promote brotherly love, and to ensure, if he possibly
could, " The union of Christians," but let him take
our plain, honest word for it, he has been altogether
mistaken. He has been mistaken in imagining such
lines as those we have quoted at random are poetry,
and he has been mistaken, most grievously mistaken,
in conceiving that sarcasms so coarse, and derision
so universally scattered about, could in any manner
tend to the fusion of religious parties into one har-
monious band. This little book is calculated, more
than any other production we have seen for many
years, to promote the Dis-union instead of the union
of Christians.

A HISTORY OF INVENTIONS, DISCOVE-
RIES, AND ORIGINS. By John Beckmann,
Profesor of Economy in the University of Gottingen.
Vol. IV.
This, the second volume of Francis's Translation of
Beckmann's History of Inventions, completes the
work, and Mr. Bohn has done the cause of literature
good service by reprinting it in his standard library.
The editors, Drs. Francis and Griffiths,have donetheir
work well, and we know of no book which, in such a
small space, pleasantly conveys so large an amount of
curious inf. rmation as Mr. Bohn's edition of Beck-
mann. It is a perfect repertory of useful and enter-
taining ' knowledge.

ON THE PARALLAX RECENTLY DISCOVERED OF AN
ANONYMOUS STAR IN THE GREATER BEAR.—Since the
beautiful and original observations of the illustrious
astronomer of Konisberg, the late M. Besse], of the dis-
tance of the star No. 61, or Sigma, of the constellation
Cygnus, it is not to be wondered at if, excited by a noble
emulation, some other distinguished astronomers have
also applied themselves with great exertion to a kind of
research, which, like this, unfolds to the astronomers of
future times a field fit to produce fruits of the most
wonderful discoveries. With a method still better, and
of short solution, M. Faye, of Paris, announces his
having found the parallax of the star 1830 of Groom •
bridge—an anonymous star of the constellation Ursa
Major—of which the proper movement of seven seconds
yearly had been already recognised by M. Argelander.
if the observations of Faye are exact to the minuteness,
which all the examinatory trials seem to confirm, this
star, which moves the most rapidly of all, is, moreover,
the nearest to us of all those that we knoti of. Its
parallax is not less than a second and six hundred parts
of a second (1.06). Thus the distance of this star from
the earth is equal to 195,000 times the mean distance of
the earth from the sun—a spice which light travels in
about three years.—.Raccolkz Scientifica di Roma.
TEE CASE OF THE RAJA OF SATTARA.—Monday
evening a public meeting was held in the Vestry-room of
St. Pancras, Gordon-square, to hear a statement from
Runjo Bapojee, the accredited agent of the deposed
Raja of Sattara, relative to the deposition of that Sove-
reign, with the view to excite the sympathy of the
public in his favour, the exertions of the agent and
others on behalf of the exiled Prince with the Govern-
ment, having hitherto proved unsuccessful. There was
a very respectable attendance. Mr. T. P. Healey, bar-
rister, was called to the chair. Several gentlemen ad-
dressed the meeting, and resolutions were unanimously
passed, sympathising u ith the Raja, and recommending
to their representatives in the House of Commons to
bring the case before Parliament, in order that his High-
ness might obtain -speedy and effectual redress for the
wrongs he has suffered. The meeting very warmly ap-
plauded the various speakers, and the appearance and
statements of Runjo Bapojee in particular excited much
enthusiasm.
NARROW ESCAPE.—An • accident of a frightful
nature occurred in gur.cathedral on Tuesday last,during
the performance of morning service. As our readers are
aware, workmen are now employed ,in putting In new
windows in the east side of the venerable building ; and
at the time we speak of they were in the act of removing
a mullion from the upper part of one of the old windows
when, owing to the crazy state of that part of the
fabric, some of the tackle gave way, and the stone, which
would weigh nearly four cwt., fell through the opening
into the choir below—the two men engaged in the work
saying themselves from following it by catching at a
cross beam, by which they hung for some time. The
stone fell with a tremendous crash into one of the pews
within a few feet of seats occupied by the Rev. A.
Brown, the precentor, and singing boys? Fortunately
all escaped without injury, there being only one or two
persons in the cathedral beyond those engaged in the
service. The seat and wood of the pew into which the
stone fell were much broken. Until that day, the seat
had been regularly occupied by a lady,. a stranger, every
morning for nearly a fortnight.—Cailisle Journal.
SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO A STEAMER.—ShortIy be-
fore 2 o'clock on Monday morning the fine vessel known
as the Promethea, from Cork, having reached Fenning's
wharf, made preparations for slipping anchor opposite
that establishment, when unfortunately the cable was
found not sufficiently long, the tide being exceedingly
high' at the time, and upon an examination of the other
anchor it was found that the chain was missing, and the
consequence was, the steam being down, that the vessel,
which was fitted with the screw propeller, began to drift
rapidly in the direction of London-bridge, immediately
in front of the middle arch. At this time the vessel was
filled with a cargo of provisions of every description be-
longing to the Irish trade; and besides the crew there
were on board a considerable number of Irish labourers
with their wives and families. Notwithstanding the
utmost activity on the part of the hands on beard and
the Thames police, to prevent the vessel from coming in
contact with the bridge, the foremast caught the crown
of one of the arches, and the mast gave way, sweeping
before it everything on deck, from which the passengers
had fortunately been previously ordered by the captain.
The funnel of the steamer next met the stone work of
the bridge, and so great was the shock that the whole of
the chimney was torn away with a tremendous crash; the
hind mast was ripped down, and the stern posts cut off
level with the floor of the deck. The funnel fell over-
board and sank instantly. Assistance was afforded as soon
possible to the affrighted passengers on board, many of
whom expected that the vessel would go down. But
such was not the fact, and none of the crew or passengers
. are missing. The damage to the bridge is trifling,
.but
to the owners of the Promethea it must prove of serious
amount.
SLAVERY IN JAVA.—The people in Europe, who
entertain so just a horror of slavery as to regard even
slave grown produce as an abomination not to be tole.
rated from Brazil and Cuba, will be sorry to learn that
the products of Java, so accepted and acceptable as the
achievements of free labour, are nevertheless tainted
with the same sort of slave leprosy. In the Java
Courant of May 6, there are no less than seven adver
tisements fur the sale of slaves, of which fivo are by
public auction, and two by private contract, in number
altogether forty-five mer, women, boys, girls, and in-
fants. The Director of Means and Domains advertises,
moreover, " that the tax on slaves for the current year
must be paid before the last of September ensuing, the
same amounting to 2 florins 65 st. for each slave."
PHEASANT SHOOTlNG.—Thursday last being the
Ist of October, pheasant shooting commenced, with good
sport. The preserves are represented as being well-
stocked and the birds in good condition.--Newcastie
Guardian.