The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-30 00:00:00

BELLS AND
_POMEGRANATES.

and Last. By Robert Browning.
Paracelsus was, alas! delusive; naturally, we are dis-
inclined to believe so ; we looked towrds Robert
Browning as one destined to interrupt the
enuingenerale
utilitarianism of the present age with gleams of g
and lasting poetry. Our expectations have been woe-
fully deceived, and, as we say this emphatically though
unwillingly, our opinion is a positive one. "Sordello"
afforded us an inkling that the chief excellencies of
" Paracelsus" were promises never likely to be fulfilled,
and this feeling has been confirmed by die successive
numbers of that serial melange which the author, in a
beautiful spirit of eccentricity, christened "Bells and
Pomegranates," and of which the present part is the
conclusion. It would be preposterous as well, as
unjust to attach such a comprehensive meaning
to our words of condemnation as would embrace the
entire structure of these works : it would be prepos-
terous, since a man with so much imagination and spon-
taneous delicacy of thought as Robert Browning cool]
not possibly produce fifty lines of blank verse without
something choice, and new, and worthy of applause: it
would be unjust, since criticism should forego all
tendency to acerbity, and as readily admit the success-
fulness, as it condemns the ambitious failure. There
are adroit turnings of phrase, and a certain musical
intonation of the rhythm that charm the ear; there are
fragmentary indications of character and subtle turns
of thought exquisitely conceived of themselves. But
what we especially note as a deficiency is that grasp
over the entirety of his subject, that eye to a poetical
oneness which can alone ensure the permanent excellence
of a poem. In this particular—so utterly essential for a
drinker of the bippocrene—Mr. Browning is deficient.
The gold is there—rich, pure, and plentiful—but, to
quote aptly the word inaptly applied to Shakspere by
1)r. Johnson, that gold is " clouded with incrustations,
debased by impurities, and mingled with a mass of
meaner minerals ;"—hesides which,
as we have already
I ' Y
intimated, it lacks that -mmetr of application
can alone stamp it with such signet as will enable it
to pass current with posterity. Mr. Browning may re-
deem his position
and we .turn' anti ; we are fain to think and hope so ;
firmation of the idea,
towards the future for a con-
lapsed into a bewildering silence,
better for him to have
our Yowl,. Poets, ng silence, like the Greatest of
Alfredand
d Tennyson, than to have pub-
lished " Young
nt sbuyccession of poems.
He may, however, by maturing,
tfo which we have alluded,
obtaining such a
mastery of his fancy
ays h
his recent
produce works more w
„a judicious enthusiasm—
., things of beauty" that shyala7ndlive for ever." We can
do nothing but anticipate yearn, and we do so
earnestly, because in Robert Browning we recognise an
intellect lavish and exuberant in its riches, but the
wealth of which is rendered null and
p profitless fiotrl ecsasre byle
sssonrne
ses:
t
P
thing approaching either to preei •
tati
Hence do we hie him forward on a lless devious path
among the plenteous vegetation of Parnassus.
U
fly-leaf of the present number our
aadu.thor bringsP for-n award an apologia fur his quaint h,-. mg, " Bells and
e "meant only to indi-
cate
an alternation,
pomegranates"—a title, says he,
an en 3eavour towards something
or mixture of music with discoursing, sound
t thus us es
flea': '•
poetry with thought, which looks too ambitious
pressed. so the symbol was preferred." This explanation
must undoubtedly be accepted as sufficient, though we
must acknowledge it somewhat more vague even than
the " symbol" itself. " I wish he would explain his ex-
planation," said Byron, in allusion to the metaphysics of
Coleridge; we might apply the same expression to Mr.
Browning, when he actually infers a distinction between
poetry and thought. "Luria," in five acts, and " A Soul's
Tragedy," in two parts, form the contents of this eighth
land final number. Without any question the former
las the advantage in merit ; the spirit of it is a rapid
train of resolves ever tending towards action, but seldom
rising into anything but areuinent. " Braccio" is a
character happily. imagined and no less happily defined.
The language,, in which the dialogues arc couched is
occasionally slovenly, but sometimes (if we might so

speak) solid and picturesque. Witness that passage
uttered by the secretary:—

" Here I sit your scribe,
Awl in ar.,l n it g,nv Luria, days and night-;
This Paccio conies; the 1\ loorhis other friend,
Husain ; they talk—all that's feigned easily ;
He speAs (I wotild not listen if I could),
Reads, orders, counsels; but he rests sometimes—
/ see him stand end eat, sleep stretched an hour
On the lynx-skins yonder; hold his bared black arms
Into the sun from the tent-opening; hugh
When his horse drops the forage .from his teeth
And neighs to hear him hum, his Moorish songs :
That man believes in Florence, as the saint
Tied to the wheel believes in God !"
One who can write such spontaneous music is surely
capable of better things than this jumble of bells and
pomegranates ; the keen limning of that single incident
is in itself eminently beautiful—the tawny barbarian
holding his " bared arms into the sun," through the
cool doorway of the tent, laughing when his horse
starts from its meal upon the sward, and neighs to hear
its master humming some well-remembered "Moorish
song," is most happily grouped—grouped as a poet alone
could group it. Besides which it is suffused with a
tender air of melancholy, clearly felt, but indefinable
withal. "Bells and Pomegranates" are finished and
have failed—we would fain cry with Sir Hugh Evans,
There be pippins and cheese to come yet," trustful that
Robert Browning will in the end afford us some sterling
English poetry.

THE CONFESSIONS OF A PRETTY WOMAN.
By Jliiss Pardue. 3 Vols.
The title of this novel is no doubt an attractive one,
but the contents are most unsatisfactory. It is brilliant,
effective, certainly clever, but there is a want of truth in
the characters so admirab?; delineated—of reality in
the incidents so graphically described. Truth is as es-
sential to a novel as to a history. the one is a record of
events, and facts, and dates—of the outward deeds and
doings of men ; the other should lay bare their secret
thoughts and feelings—should give a faithful picture of
life —a veritable history of the human heart. These
volumes may do this, but we can hardly think it. They
certainly convey a moral lesson; they tend to expose
the fatal influence of a worldly spirit and a perverted
education; on every page is stamped "all, all is vanity."
The confessions are supposed to be written by
ene whose youth was blighted, whosew bole hope and
happiness withered by the moral contagion to which she
was exposed ; one endowed with " the fatal gift of
beauty;" a woman, and a woman of fashion, even from
her cradle, panting for admiration, yet dreaming of
better things without the courage to pursue or the hap-
piness to obtain them. Every hope vanished, every
prospect destroyed, in seclusion and solitude she mourns
over her sorrows and the sins which caused them. So
far a lesson, and a good lesson, may be learned; and
yet we cannot lay aside these really interesting and at-
tractive volumes without feeling considerable doubt as to
the truth of their representations, or having our good
opinion of human nature greatly lowered—and the
former alternative we should most certainly prefer. We
cannot, we will not, believe that the brilliant and fan-
tastic heroes and heroines of the tale are faithful
transcripts of real men and women. We cannot be-
lieve that a Lady Madeleine ever existed—a woman
whose vanity and w'aose passio❑ for adulation cast a
blight upon all who approached her—friends, admirers,
husband, children ; neither will we believe Sir James
Dornton ever to have had a living prototype. His cha-
racter is revolting, for it is unnatural. Many things
have been done for the sake of gaining money, yet it
will hardly be credited that a man—not a hardened, des-
perate character, but an easy, spoiled man of fashion—
anxious to retrieve his fortune, after proposing to the
rich widow, and being refused, enters into an engage-
ment with her daughter, who loves him devotedly, and
to whom he is also attached, and then, at the capricious
desire of the mother, becomes the husband of the sister
of his promised bride. The forsaken one dies of a broken
heart; while the wretched wife, hating her husband,
flies for happiness to society and finds only despair. We
trust that Miss Pardoe will in future devote her powerful
pen to a more pleasing theme; there are flowers as well
weeds in the human garden, and we trust to receive a
bouquet of sweets from her hand. In the meanwhile
these volumes may interest and amuse ; they will do no
harm, for they carry their own antidote.

THE EDINI3I7IiGH REVIEW. No. CLX VIII
Our blue and buff philosopher concludes his eighty-
third volume with more than usual vigour and variety.
Foremost undoubtedly in importance, and possibly in
literary merit, as it actually is in position, the article on
" The;Lord Chancellors of England" engages our espe
cial notice. Whether the three volumes recently issued
by Lord Campbell (and upon which this preliminary
article is founded) be regarded as the production of a
liberal ex-Chancellor, the fruits of a career of untiring
erudition, or the effusion of a purely analytical intellect,
they must be looked upon as volumes of no ordinary
character. Through the intervals of his Parliamentary
occupations, Lord Campbell has striven, with no puny
or unsuccessful effort, to erect a monument by
which he may at once ensure the per-
petuity of his fame, and throw a stream of elucidatory
light into many of the most dusky and impenetrable
quarters of history. A most splendid section of hio-
graphy was to be devoted to the romance, the dignity,
the wisdom, the grandeur, the power, and the ac-
quirements of the Lord Chancellors of Great Bri-
tain, a line of men which Mr. Addison has correctly
declared to have accumulated in itself more intellectual
and worldly capacities, and to be, in all essential parti-
culars, more truly illustrious than any other office or
profession possibly in the world. From the accession of
William the Conqueror to our own immediate genera-
tion, the seals and the royal conscience have remained in
the custody of men remarkable for some one or other, or
occasionally for a combination of all the lofty qualities
which we have just enumerated. Whether we regard
the gorgeous integrity of Becket, the protracted influ-
ence of Burnel, and the imperial 'magnificence and pon-
tifical supremacy of Wolsey, or descend to a considera-
tion of personages no less extraordinary who have in these
modern times presided over the High Courts of Chancery
—Eldon, and Brougham, and Cottenham, and Lyndhurst
—there was almost every accessory attraction combined
in the theme undertaken by Lord Campbell ; there were
abstruse inquiries for the scholar, incidental discoveries
for the antiquary of letters, romantic alternations of
fortune for the indolent, sagacious inferences for the mo-
ralist, texts of thought in almost every page for the
philosopher, instruction for the sedate, amusement for
the volatile. Every grade of intellectual capacity, every
shade of temperament, every bias acquired in educe
tion was separately appealed to by the very title of the
literary venture. " The Lives of the Lord Chancellors
of England." Attention was thus excited towards
and interest engaged in the undertaking : the
first series of the work has already appeared
and its reception has been commensurate with its pro-
mise. From the woolsack, and in the presence of the
assembled peers, the author has been complimented
for the work by the Lord Chancellor, Lynd-
hurst ; criticism has pronounced in its favour ;
even the Edinburgh Review, whose reluctance
to praise has become proverbial, says, in regard to the
labour and the labourer—" We must not wish that Lord
Campbell may be permitted to finish his Lives of the
Chancellors of England' in the uninterrupted leisure
of a man of letters ; but it is a great pleasure to us to
find that his well-earned leisure is so happily em-
ployed." A concession that ! drawn forth by the
greatness of the subject, and the skilfulness with
which it has been accomplished. Almost the entire
of the criticism—if it can be so designated—
in the Edinburgh Review, is devoted to a dry
account of the rise and establishment of the Chancellor-
ship, an account which can be gleaned from almost any
or every encyclopaedia. Two only of the renowned men
who have filled that office are selected for scrutiny by
the reviewer—both of them great men, one of them as
good as he was great, the other—we recoil even from
onfessliunagtrtnonsouarnsdeluvnefsatdhinegignineornmoinryy
nwfhFicrhaniasisaßttaancohned; confessing
as we linger over the moral beauty of Sir Thomas
More with astonishment and rapture. The latter, so
gentle, so guileless,
so
s
moralpe perfection),
e o
n), attainments (we wittym igh' t s o walmostse, nsaol gl
tehneumi n
he ian
mo-
ralhi
so dignified in his simplicity, and yet of
such " homespun" excellence, as Sir James Mackintosh
has happily expressed it. The former, so majestic in
his genius, so profuse in his capacity, so flawed and tar-
nished in his principles of morality, but more espe-
cially as regards the virtues of probity and indepen-
dence: " dedicated by nature a high priest of knowledge,
for
rTI( entertain
theh.
human and divine;" fallen to a proportionate lowliness
in the estimation of a lamenting but reverential
posterity. Whether we accumulate our information
respecting Sir Thomas More from the tender revelations
of Roper, or the precise narrative of the great Chancel-
lor's grandson ; whether we collect the materials
of his career from the correspondence of Erasmus,
the careful summary of Hoddeston, or from
his life as writ-
eheacratn,nloovte
him
that masterpiece of biography
odfe r n
theess
rteenverbeyMoSrier fojratmheesanglelliaccpkuinrtitoyshOf hisw
deepest
for the
phe
iststh e
nature,
admiration
mir at exceedingiaonnd
u n a sifeencetteieumdreant
etstenbalance
mirably is he christened by t
and lofty capabilities
Hied in theof he hilsstoariainnte`l`leacmLartyAr dto-
ntrinimthen;
eshisq
mtloiestpruoundsuest: is, w.ti_tehoutone
his-
torical records of our country.. For h
question, the trot
of More, by our
cast upon the memory
impu-
tations of intolerance and religious persecution
and upon
contorted view of passages in the " Apology,"
re-
viewer, are, we undertake to aesert, based upon s own
the questionable evidence of Fox. For a thorough
refutation of these accusatory remarks we
refer our readers, and the reviewer himself, to the pages
of Mackintosh. which, notwithstanding the writer al-
ludes to as familiar to himself. we conjecture, have not
met his perusal very recently, or in that case have been
consulted with random precipitation. Of Bacon our
language is too feeble to express our feelings of
admiration, and our admiration too exalted and sin-
cere to allow us to expatiate upon the demerits
—" for," as the writer of this article in the
Edinburgh Revview exclaims, " his genius, and
for the glory of it, the world is not large enough
to contain them." An after-observation, in the same
article, is beautiful in its emphasis, in its expressions of
awe, and the mournful hopelessness of its desires. It is
fgorre a t;
the
at hn at t
ps
re
(n)
fis et
mankind of ivhat Nh,aeveowe
reaped
this—" Our reverence for the genius of Bacon is so
we have
from his immortal writings ; we feel so 1 l
what it is we lose in hope
andpy
glory, and Leehow
all that is most magnificent in the prospects
of human nature is clouded over by
that melan-
choly antithesis which holds forth Bacon as
at once the wisest and the meanest of
mankind ; that nothing can be thought of in the way
of monument or reward which ought not to be gratefully
bestowed, not only by fellow countrymen, but by fellow..
men, for a nobler restoration of at tainted blood'than ever
fell to the office of any herald; upon the man who should

indeed r emove " the blot of ignomy" from that still most
resplendent name. Butt unfortunately, the facts,
and the one rational coristructibn of them,, :admit
of neither gloss nor question." t Such was
the corritadiction of the character of this
wonderful mortal, so vast were his powers of mind and
so little his powers of self-control, so exalted his genius
ot of hpirsi
dcea,reaenrd,
exultation, eind reverence, and with feelings which (but
iann do
nseoapnadl rybe hissame abma soemmeenntt, that we vrfeeerleinegusr
for a certain sense of awe) would actually merge them-
selves into scorn. Of the dead, however, nil nisi bonum;
it is a a good adage, and costs nothing in the fulfilment.
So in reference to the greatest of modern philosophers,
and the only one who can, in a relative sense, be coupled
with Aristotle, we would leave his culpabilities to his
Maker, and turn with a solemn gratitude to the nobler
deeds he has accomplished. We gladly recognise in
this number of the Review a tribute paid individually
to the merits of two of our contemporary authors—one
still living, the other in a premature grave—Thomas
Hood and Walter Savage Landon Yet, though we ac-
knowledge the general sagacity which pervades the
analysis of the poetical powers of Hood, we are sur-
prised to find one of his most delicate and chastened
poems (" The Bridge of Sighs ") carped at for what the
critic is pleased to christen its "falsetto tone." If there
be really anything like a "falsetto tone " about this
pure and generous chant, it is in the theme itself—and
surely that theme deserves a venture of this kind, even
at the risk of its merit beirg cavilled at by an Edin-
burgh Reviewer! What is possibly the chief charm in
the " Bridge of Sighs " is the exquisite adaptation of
words, thoughts, allusions, even of the fantastic metre
itself, to the suicide of a young female. The estima-
tion of Landor's character and position as a writer is
deserved, is honest, is just :—" perhaps no writer of the
present age is more likely to survive and make acquaint-
ance with another." It will be some satisfaction to that
venerable sage to hear this prediction of his fame from
such an organ, to taste in those words the sweets of the
reflection that his life has not been all useless—that he
has laboured his allotted labour—that he may fold his
arms and rest, until his hour orprobaticrti 'has' reached
its close. Particular attention should be- given' to two
other articles, " The Administration of Charitable
Trusts," and the " Government of Dependencies," evi-
dencing, as they do, retentive erudition, clear observa-
tion, and cautious arrangement, though occasionally the
arguments employed are rather more hasty than appo-
site. A survey of " Wilkes' Exploring Expedition ' is
interesting ; and the notice of Duveyrier's works, as
illustrative of certain " Political Views of French Af-

fairs," is replete with important considerations. As the
leader of that regenerative spirit which is conducting
the whole European system to better days, to a more
extended consonance of religion and government, to a
greater diffusion of happiness, and consequently to a
greater diffusion of knowledge, France must ever en-
gage the sympathies of the most remote as well as of
the most adjacent states. She has offered up her chil-
dren, as it were, as a holocaust to the cause of universal
emancipation, and has thus acquired for herself the pre-
rogative of marshalling the world to freedom, and to
what men of ardent imaginations might be pleased to
designate the millenium.

EMILIA WYNDHAM. By the Author of "Mount

Sorel." 3 Vols.

This is a deeply interesting and highly entertaining
work—and something more, and something far higher
and far better. It will instruct while it entertains, will
improve while it interests. There are few who will
close the third volume, after a careful and attentive pe-
rusal of the wholo, without being imperceptibly, uncon-
sciously, perhaps, a little the better, a little the wiser for
its teaching. Example has always more force, always
far more efficacy than any precept, and few learned
homilies or wise discourses could persuade so gently, or
convince so powerfully, as the simple story of Emilia
Wyndham. Contrary to all the rules of romance, in
direct opposition to th" avoured theories of novel
readers, it speaks of the duties of domestic life.
It would inspire the noble courage not to brave the
storms of adversity, the face of danger, the front of
battle, in which the ordinary heroine delights, but to
encounter and overcome, steadily, patiently, and calmly,
the petty cares, trials, and anxieties of every-day life.
Such an endeavour may seem insignificant, humble, un-
necessary ; but, rightly considered it is all-important,
since

" Trifles make the sum o fnuman things,
And half our misery from our foibles springs."

In the opening of the first chapter the ardent and
enthusiastic Emilia is learning true wisdom from her
gentle mother. Burning with admiration and emula-
tion for the heroic, she is surprised and pained to hear it
thus defined:—

" Heroism I—To those who consider rightly, it is a far
nobler thing now : when it is no longer a sound to mark the
glowing excitement, the lofty enthusiasm, which fights and
struggles in the brilliant mid-day, gilded by the sun, all
warm and genial ; but the slow, silent, death-Struggle of the
soul in solitude, darkness, and obscurity, against the heavy,
wearying, every-day evils of every-day actual life : sacrifices
of the hourly and the small, but the sum of which is exist-
ence—not offered in the fervour of the moment, but given,
as it were, by inches ; the heroic devotion to ethers, and
those others, not even worthy ! far from grateful, too often
resentful ; combining patience, perseverance, endurance,
gentleness, and disinterestedness—that i,4 the heroism of our
day, my dear poet !"
And such was the heroism which flop listener's future

life was to exemplify and illustrate, and such is the
quality which gives the moral power to these volumes.
A tone of genuine feeling pervades the whole, sincere
and natural; and here and there wend some bright
thought which bids us pause, and reflect, and admire,
Many of the characters have a degree of individuality
and truthfulness, which adds greatly to the apparent
reality of the whole. There is
,the beautiful and
capricieuse Lisa, tbe friend and exact contrast of Emilia,
a striking example of the fearful struggle between a bad
education and a good heart ; and there is ar. Denby,
the hard-working, care-worn, withered lawyer, growing
old amid his books and papers, apparently without a
kindly thought or feeling, till, touched by the invincible
hand of love, the marble is melted into man. But it is
needless to enumerate further, suffice it to say that no
book more diametrically opposed to the ordinary rales
and routine of novels, could more effectually fulfil, what
hould be their main object—to give pleasure in the
perusal and benefit in the remembrance.

THE ABBOTSFORD EDITION OF THE
WAVERLEY NOVELS. Vol. 10.
This, the Editio Princeps of the works of our Scot-
tish Ariosto, is fast tending towards a conclusion. This,
the 10th volume, contains " Woodstock " and the
"Chronicles of the Canong ate." For the beauty of its
typography, and the profuseness and exquisiteness of its
pictorial illustrations, this volume is quite equal to any
of its predecessors.

THE PARLOUI? NOVELIST, No. 2.
This, the second volume of a series of works of fic-
tion, now in the course of publication in Belfast, con-
tains the whole of Eugene Sue's admirable novel, " The
Commander of Malta," excellently translated by Mr.
Doisy, of the Belfast Royal Academical Institution. The
book is beautifully printed on good paper, and is got up
in a manner that reflects the highest credit on the book
and printing trade of Belfast.

LETTERS ON THE MORE EVIDENT
CHANGES WHICH THE BODY UNDER-
GOES, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF
HEALTH FROM INFANCY TO ADULT
AGE. By a Black, M.D., Member of the Royal Col-
lege of Surgeons, England, 6.c.
This is a very small but a very valuable book. Dr.
Black is almost the only medical man who has not
treated the subject of diet and regimen empirically.
Like a man of true science he lays down general prin-
ciples, which, if duly observed, will be sufficient to
preserve health. He however writes-under more favour-
able circumstances than his iirede4Ssers..
the last ten years our experience in Dietetics' has
been almost entirely of an empirical nature. Certain
descriptions of food were known froth' observation to
produce dyspepsia; certain other descriptions were
known to be easy of digestion, but beyond the know-
ledge of the fact we knew nothing. The splendid dis-
coveries of Liebig have, however, shown us why certain
descriptions were indigestive, and why certain other
descriptions of food were not, and why food which in
certain states of the system is most wholesome, becomes
in certain other states of the system most unwhole
some. These discoveries of Liebig have been prac-
tically applied by Dr. Black, and he has produced
the most useful, the most intelligible, and the most
scientific work on the management of health, that has
yet been published. His directions are clear and ex-
plicit, and he gives in every instance a reason for the
faith that is in him. Every nurse and every mother
should study attentively the letters on infancy and child-
hood. In fact the book should find a place in every
family, and in every village-lending library.

MARSTON ; OR, THE SOLDIER AND STATESMAN.—
By the Rev. G. Croly, L.L D , author of " Salathiel," &c.
3 volS.—The above work is published this day by Mr. Col-
burn, and may now be had at all the Libraries. Mr. Col-
burn has also just published the following popular new
novels :-2. Emilia Wyndham, by the author of " Two Old
Men's Tales," " Mount Sorel," ecc-3. Confessions of a
Pretty Woman, by Miss Pardoe,
onauthoresstheir of " The City of
the Sultan," &c.-4. The Robertses Travels, by Mrs.
Trollops-5. Peers and Parvenus, by Mrs. Gore.-6. The
Citizen of Prague, edited by Mary Howitt.-7. Pomfret,
by H. F. Chorley, Esq.—And 8. The Queen of Denmark
(Caroline Matilda, sister of George III.), an Historical Ro-
mance, founded on the private communications of the Queen's
Chamberlain.
A letter from Rome, of the 16th, says:—" The Pope
attended at all the religions offices of the Holy Week, and according
to custom, gave the grand benediction on Holy Thursday and Good
Friday. On the former occasion his Holiness was plesed, as in pre-
ceding years, to celebrate the ceremony of washing the feet of the
thirteen apostles. Those thirteen apostles are in general priests who
have come to Rome on pilgrimage from various countries. Frequently
also priests residing in Rome are selected. The Ambassadors of
France, Austria, Spain, and Portugal have the privilege of choosing
one of their countrymen. M. Rossi, this year, selected Father
Vaures, canonist to the French Embassy. There is to be a consistory
held the day after to-morrow, at which Cardinal Riario, Archbishop
of Naples, is to receive the hat. It is still a matter of doubt at what
time the Empress of Russia will come here, or indeed whether she
will come here stall.—Cla/ignani.
ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY AT DOVER. The
workmen, in clearing the ground for the erection of some new
houses in the Priory Grounds, have developed three of the lower
arches of a church or chapel : one only of these was perfect when
opened, but we regret to learn that it was displaced by a fall of the
earth adjoining, The whole is of the Norman style, and built of
Caen stone. The floor was paved with glazed tiles of the period,
many of which are in good preservation ; under the tiles was turned
up a structure of burnt wood, which seems to show that a chapel
standing on the same site had been destroyed by fire. Many skele-
tons have been discovered during the excavations. They appear to
have been generally interred in graves linerwith squared chalk ;
nothing, however, excepting the bones has hitherto been obtained.—
Dover Telegraph.
A club, formed for the purpose of sparrow-shooting,
assembles at Ryall's-grove, a small hamlet in the parish of Ripple,
near Tewkesbury. It numbers upwards of twenty members of the
n
eighbonnlng farmers and gardeners. The number of birds destroyed
is 150 dozen within four months.—Gloucester Chronicle.
Mr. Lock had an interview yesterday with the Earl of
Dalhousie.

MR. W. W. SIMPSON'S SALES.

SALE OF THE NORTH COVE HALL ESTATES IN
THE LARGE ROOM AT THE NORFOLK-HOTEL,
NORWICH, ON THURSDAY LAST.

The attendance was exceedingly; numerous, and, to a
great extent, represented the individual and collective re-
spectability, as well as the opulence of the sister counties.
Mr. Simpson, previous to opening the sales, ventured to
address his audience at some length on the all-absorbing
subject of the contemplated (and, he opined, certain) abolition
of the corn-laws. He acknowledged that till within the last
year he had been a thoroughgoing protectionist. A three
years' test, however, of Sir Robert Peel's measures, added to

his extensive experience up to the present period in the let-
ting and sales of landed property, he was now free and proud
to confess that sliding and other scales had fallen from his
eyes; Cie result of which is that he is now a tho►oughgoing
anti-protectionist.
Mr. Simpson observed, from an honest and firm convic-
tion, that rents, which had been set on fair and liberal prin-
ciples (within the last seven years) of " live, and let live,"
would be permanent, and he fearlessly stated that the years'
purchase on such rentals have risen within the last six
months, and, in all probability, will continue to rise on the
settlement of the great question in respect of Free Trade in
Corn, &c. For the truthfulness of these statements, Mr.
Simpson referred to recent lettings and sales, which have
been published not only by himself, but other auctioneers
and land agents of greater eminence ; consumption and de-
mand of an increasing population (in the ratio of about 1,000
per day), the capital, skill, industry, and enterprise, in addi-
tion to the easy and inexpensive transit of the produce to
the first markets in Europe, will form such a counterpoise, as
will enable us to compete successfully with the miserably
uncultivated lands and minds of exotic growth. Instead,
therefore, of the motto of " Agitate, agitate," let us substi-
tute that of" Cultivate, cultivate ;" and let landlords assist
improving tenants by making advances (in the nature of
improvements in drainage, &c., &c.) of the additional capital
which may be required, charging for the same at the
rate of 4 per cent. on that expenditure, which shall
be judiciously laid out; hence the tenant farmer will reap
an additional benefit of at least 10 per cent., and a perma-
nent improvement of the value of the farm (quasi landlord)
will supervene.
Mr. Simpson stated that in his humble opinion, Sir Robert
Peel is (at least) one of the greatest, most talented, and
fearlessly honest Ministers that has ever lived in the tide
of times.

The following is an account of the Sales :
Lot 1. The Mansion called North Cove Hall,
with 516 acres of arable, pasture, marb, and
wood land, was bought in at £19,000 0 0

Sold the next day, by private contract, to
Wm. Everett, Esq., of Yarmouth.
2. A Freehold Farm of 122 acres, sold to
John Slipper, Esq., of Ashby, for .. ......... 4,640 0 0
3. A Freehold Farm of 122 acres, produc-
ing (including the land in hand, 1251. 7s. 9d. _

per annum), bought in at, 3,150 0 0
An offer of 3,100 was made for this lot on the

following day. The selling price is now 3,2501.
4. An Estate (principally Freehold), com-
prising 180 acres of land of first-rate quality,
a gentlemanly residence and buildings, the
rental amounting to 3221. 7s. 3d. per annum,
bought in at ... 8,200 0 0
An offer of 8,0001. has been made by private
contract, but the price now is 8,5001.
5. A Small Farm House, and 17 acres of

land (Freehold), producing 371. 19s. per an:

num.' Bought'hi at -

900 0 0

8501. was offered.

6. A Freehold Cottage, 2A. 3n. 34p. of
land, sold to the Rev. Charles Clarke, for
_ •

245 0 0

7. Two Freehold Tenements with Gardens,
&c., containing together lA. OR. 91.., bought

in at

220 0 0

Sold by Private Contract, to Wm. Everett,
Esq.. after the sale, at 2801.
8. Ditto ditto, altogether containing le,
ln. 25r., sold to Benj. Andrews, Esq., for
9. Four Enclosures of Land, principally
Freehold, containing 3A. 3n. 29r., producing
131. Os. 2d. per annum. Bought in at 3OO 0 0

305 0 0

£36,960 0 0
The Advowson of the Rectory of Woodton, si-
tuate about five miles from Bungay, was of-
fered on the same day. 3,000/. were bid, but
the reserve price being 3,350/, it was bought in.
Mr. Simpson is instructed to treat for the disposal of
those lots bought in at the sale, since which he has had
several applications to purchase. The Proprietor, however,
who is a gentleman of large landed and other property, is
not at all indisposed to retain those portions of the lands
which form the cream of the estate.