The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

7 r PrT.
J R J,A D. Br' Pcrey B. St. John, ./11.:t.',0r
The apper's Bride," " Eagle's Nest." 6,•c
This is the third of the Indian Tales by Mr. St.
John, who announces that the series will be corn.
pleted in three more. In the "'White Stone Canoe,"
Mr. St. John maintains the high character he has
already acquired as a delineator of Indian character,
and a describer of Indian scenery. The scene of the
story is laid in the country of the Comanche In-
dians, on the confines t.,f Mexico, and the following is
the legend (related by Isaonie, a Comanche chief;)
from which the title of the work is taken :
" Many years -Ago a young daughter of our tribe died
on the day of her wedding. The heart of her young
warrior was black as night, and he resolved to join her.
The old peo, le told of a path which led to the land of
soup, and t.,e warrior said that, he would follow it. His
jourrn y Iva,' long anti great. Over hill and valley,
through fr•st hncl snow he went, until he came to eter-
nal spring, and then 1w found himself on the banks of a
broad lake. He found a canoe of shining white stone
tied to the shore, with shining paddles. He was brave,
and he entered. Ihe warrior crossed the lake, and there
he found her he hr sought. She was white as milk, and
fair as the swans on lake Za-za-pi."
The tale is most dramatically told—the incidents
are startling, yet probable, and follow one another in
such rapidity, that the attention never flags, while the
characters are admirably drawn and accurately discri-
minated. Indeed, so dramatic is the tale, and so ar-
tistically is it " built," to use a stage phrase, that we
feel convinced that Mr. Percy St. John would attain
high fame as a dramatist if he chose to devote his
attention to that department of literature. His de-
scriptions of scenery are deliciously fresh and exhi-
larating. The words conjure up, and paint, as it
were, the scene before the eyes of the reader. Take
the following as a specimen :
" About twenty miles from the Comanche camp is
situated a translucent spring of remarkable beauty.
Taking its rise in the cleft of a rock, it falls clear and
pellucid into a hollow, formed doubtless by the ceaseless
tall of the water, where it made a pool, bottomed by the
golden sand which could be counted grain by grain
through the pure and liquid element. Round about,
shading and cooling the fountain, were trees of varied
form and hue. Here the live oak, stunted, gnarled, and
ever green, the crowning laurel, the proud and erect
cedar, the Indian yew.
"' The fruitful Olive, and the Plaintain round
The Cai ver Holme, the Maple seldom inward sound.'
From the fountain, along each sole of the rill which
thence bubbled o'er and ran towards the plain below, lay
~oft green meadows, where the deer loved to dwell, crop

ping the luxuriant grass, and sheltered from the noon-
tide heat by little clumps of musquit and other bushes,
'neath which these antelopes of the American wildernes,
crept, confiding and wearied. Deep imbedded in the
soft turf, the hunter would find their empty forms Nam-
ing him that game was near at hand, while the pelican,
the stork and the croaking crane kept tuneful chorus
near owl), spot where rank vegetation dt noted the pre-
sence of marsh or streamlet.

4" Now Morn her rosy steps in th' eastern clime
Advancing—sewed the earth with orient pearl,'
and some halt doz.qi turkey buzzards sailing high aloft

and whirling round in long -continued circles, proclaimed
that near the fountain was some prey which they hoped
to full upon, but wt-re restrained from attacking by the
presence of human beings. The wild turkey and the
squirrel were simultaneously in motion. The one flying
from his roosting tree in search of morning food, the
other commencing his gambols on the top of a half-dead
sycamore, re but scanty- foliage hid him from sight ;
the screeching night-owl, scared by the break of dawn,
flew hooting to his solitude, teaching as has been quaintly
said, that no life is so safe as the obscure ; that retire•

rnent, if it hall less c,rurort, yet has less danger and
vexation than that which brings us much in ci.ntact with
the multitude ; sayings which tend only to demonstrate
that, for the selfish purpose of saving ourselves trouble,
we should avoid the service of our fellow men. Fools

may be trappists if they please, but every honest and
honourable man will commune with his kind, and serve

hem even to his ow•n detriment."

SIR FRIZZLE PUMPKIN-NIGHTS AT
MESS, AND OTHER TALES.

Some years have elapsed since we laughed at and
with Sir Frizzle Pumpkin, when he made his first ap-
pearance before the literary world, as one of the Black-
wood regiment, commanded by Christopher North.
Here we have him in the separate command of a de-
tachment of Blackwood's, and right glad are we to
see our old friend again, and laugh with and at him
once more. Of the many reprints of papers from
B lackwcod, which have appeared of late, this is by no
means the least amusing. The book is well
printed, of a convenient size for the sitters by fires on
winter evenings to hold in their hands to read, and to
all such who are fond of whim, wit, and pleasantry,
and who enjoy a hearty laugh, we recommend Sir
Frizzle Pumpkin.

THE LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC RE-
GISTER AND ALMALVACK FOR 1847. By
J. W. G. Gutch, M.R.C.S.L., Foreign Service
Queen's Messenger.
In addition to the usual contents of an almanack,
this very neatly printed little work gives us no less
than 182 pages of scientific information, arranged
under the heads of the various sciences. It is beauti-
fully got up, with gilt edges in roan tuck, and is of
more permanent value than the generality of annual
pocket-books.

ELGIN BURGHS.-We have this week had • •
from our representative, Sir Andrew Leith a visit
ll
understand that he called on many of theeal)eretaonrsd, we
assurances
whom he was most cordially
received, and
given of continued support, there being really n o
wish
at present to disturb him in his seat, and in this feeling
we find many of the Conservative as well as the Liberal
party, participate.—Elgin Courant.
NEWPORT.—The death of the venerable Baronet,
Sir Charles Morgan, of Trecegar, who expired on Sa-
turday last, after a few days' illness, has cast an univer-
sal gloom over the southern part of the principality,
where he was not only respected, and looked up to as
the representative of a long line of Welsh princes and
chieftains, but as the friend, protector, or benefactor of
all these who came within the sphere of his influence.
He expired at Tredegar, surrounded by all the members
of his family, and we believe there can scarcely be found
in the recorts of this and the last century, a similar in-
stance of a private individual who, while living, was
honoured like a prince, and beloved by all ranks, and
who, to the age of eighty-seven years was permitted the
enjoyment of all his mental and hodily powers.
FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT...—AiI Old soldier,
who had recently received his discharge, was killed o
the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway on Wednesday
evening. He was a passenger in one of the fourth-class
carriages by the train which leaves Edinburgh at five
o'clock, and it appears that when the train had ap-
proached within five or six miles of Linlithgow, he at-
t< mpted to enter into the adjoining vehicle, but having
missed his footing, he fell on the rails, and all the re-
maining carriages pas-ed over him. The train, which
'
at the time was proceeding at full spew, it seems was
not stopped to take up the body, it being known that a
luggage train was not far in the rear. On the arrival of
the latter at the spot, the corpse was found dreadfully
mangled.—Scotsman.
A CONTRACTOR'S EN TERPRISE.—Mr. J. Gordon,
contractor fur the extensive drainage at Poyntzfield, near
Invergordon, has purchased a very superior set of''
vehicles, with horses, for more efficiently performing the
task. Four draught horses were selected by Mr. Davie,
of the Royal Hotel, Elgin, and have since been fitted
with very superior harness by Mr. M‘Bean, saddler. In-
deed, the whole turn out is highl • creditable to the en-
terprise and perseverance of Mr. Gordon, who employs
upwards of 100 workmen in Ross: shire The horses
carts left Elgin yesterday for Poyntzfield, and were very
much admired for their uniform appearance.—lnverness
Journal.

A STEAM BOAT PACKED IN BOXES.--We under-
stand that Mesas. Miller, Ravenhill, and Co., have just
c,inpleted, in a novel manner, a beautiful little steamer
fur the Austrian Government, intended to be employed
in the canals of Venice, and occasionally, in fine weather,
on the Adriatie, contiguous to that romantic city. She
is of iron, 70 feet long, 12 feet beam, has a rudder at
each end, and her internal arrangements were made
with an eye to the accommodation of persons of distinc-
tion. This vessel was put up in frame, in the usual
way ; the plates were all prepared and adjusted, the
cabins were completed, &c., and then the whole was
taken to pieces, packed in boxes, and put on board a
ship bound for Venice, but now in the East India Docks.
The Queen Dowager has contributed the liberal
donation of 201 towards the fund for the building of a
National School at Pool Keynes, Wilts. Her Majesty
has also given 10/. in aid of the erection of a school for
the education of the children of the poorer classes at
Leieton, Suffolk.
A SCOTCH COUNTRY INN ON SUNDAY.—Even in
this age of rapid locomotion, there must be few of my
readers who have not been, at least once in their lives,
the habitant of a Scotch country inn on a Sabbath
evening. It is necessary, however, that they should
have been in the same situation on some other evening
of the week, that they may properly appreciate that
sober quiet, that softened stillness, that mare than. partial
cessation from labour, and din, and discerd, of things
animate and inanimate, that pervades the precincts of a
country inn on the evening in question. The lighting of
a bed room candle, or the ringing for a pair of slippers,
at such a time, seems to be done under protest. The
chambermaid who, the evening before, looked so made
up of " becks, and nods, and wreathed smiles," that you
wondered whether she smiled through her sleep, or even
if she ever shut her eyes at all, they glanced so brilliant
and eh, erful, and happy, now looks demure and grave,
while every dimple seem to say, " Nae daffin the night,
ye ken it's Sunday." Go down stairs, and you find the
ostler seated at the kitchen fire, listless, inactive, with a
face ten times more demure than the maid's, his finger
and thumb inserted in a well worn edition of the " Scots
Worthiee," or the " Confession of Faith." Passing the
bar, you observe the landlady seated similarly occupied;
her snow white eap and cellar, and sober silk gown, pro-
claiming that maid and matron are at peace. Scolding is
banished for a day. Mine host is stretched, pipe in hand,
now eyeing his portly helpmate, anon watching the
clouds that curl in regular succession from his almost
motionless lips. The clock at the top of the staircase is
the only object within or without that seems to court
your observat on ; its constant, well-marked march,
sounding amid the stillness louder than you ever heard
it before, till you attach an importance to it that amply
makes up for your neglect of it in times past, because
you have nothing else to listen to,— Tait's Magazine.

WORCESTER, WARWICK, AND
RUGBY RAILWAY COMPANY.
rzt...isiet,, „ .j.5,1„,51 ftoal Wstireess
ad
ta last,
twelvesov
,aesl
01 dck ; yue s.tGe r.t:lalyrtat;dt
Ethes
(Li.
An C.P., offee-house,
fft,hee- ouuasi
r.
On t •,king the chair,
Mr. WARD said that he assumed his old position, as
this was an adjourned meeting; he believed it was not
necessary to have a vote for that purpose. In doing so
he should merely observe, that having been given to
understand that all sorts of actions might be brought.
against him, do what he might, he had placed himself in
the hands of his legal advisers, and under their advice
he should refrain from everything but his simple duty as
president of the meeting. He world only say that it
was intended to altogether withdraw the 4,240 shares to
which he had alluded.
A SHAREHOLDER inquired where the scrip was now ?
The CHAIRMAN replied that it was in safe keeping,
but he should give no further information. At the last
meeting he had stated that all the papers and documents
of the company were opt.n to a fair inspection of the
shareholders.
Mr. SPACKMAN, after giving the opinion of Sir F.
Kelly and two other counsel, that it was illegal to use
any scrip in voting which was not actually in possession
of the holders, read a correspondence which had taken
place between himself and one of the other scrutineers
and the secretary and chairman of the company, the
object of which was to obtain the numbers and holders
of the scrip for the 4,240 shares alluded to. The result
was, that under legal advice the directors refused to give
the information required.
The CHAIRMAN said, that whatever the responsibility
might be rested with him and the other directors, and
not with Mr. Hughes, the secretary.
Mr. SPACKMAN resumed with saying, that if the votes
now in the room were sufficient to authorise the disso-
lution and bankruptcy of the company, well, but if net,
then he would advise the shareholders to object to suffer
the 4,240 votes to be withdrawn. Whatever they did,
let them do it legally.
Mr. CLARKE, the third scrutineer, stated, as the reason
for refusing to act with the other scrutineers, his belief
that in demanding the numbers and names of the holders
of the scrip they were exceeding their official power.
Ile had written to Mr. Spackman, intimating this
opinion, and suggesting that a committee of
shareholders should be appointed to investigate the
circumstances, and examine the scrip as it was presented
for voting. He could see but one way of escaping from
the difficulty and avoiding litigation : that was, for
every shareholder who had voted on the suspected scrip
to come forward and say whether his scrip was good or
bad. If this were done he believed that all difficulty
would be obviated, and every one would be saved from
being committed to an illegal action. It appeared now
impossible to get out of this difficulty without such a
course as he pointed out. If they refused, then
he should maintain that every person who voted on
the scrip presented by him should be held responsible
for the 30s. a share which had been originally paid.
A SHAREHOLDER inquired whether there was any
power in the Act of Parliament to enable the directors
to withdraw the shares in question ?
The CHAIRMAN replied that there was no such power,
and that occasioned the difficulty.
An angry discussion ensued, in the course of which
Mr CLARKE declared that he differed from Mr. Spack-
man and several other shareholders in their belief of the
efficacy of bankruptcy. In his opinion the best plan was
to pursue the directors at law and in equity. He had
calculated the expenses in the Worcester, Warwick, and
Rugby Company at 7s. a share, and if the plan he re-
commended were adopted, he believed that the whole of
the balance could be obtained.
The meeting decided upon proceeding to a scrutiny of
the additional votes present.
The CHAIRMAN said that he should never do anything
behind their backs which he would not do in their pre-
sence ; and he had now therefore to remind them that
'it the last meeting he had stated that there was one
debt against the company not entered in the balance-
sheet, against which he was endeavouring to defend the
shareholders. Since then, seeing the spirit of the meet-
ing against the shareholders, and, acting under the
highest advice, he had paid that debt, and he had now
to intimate that, in the event of a resolution of dissolv-
ing in bankruptcy being come to, in virtue of the power
which, as chairman, he held, he should give cheques be-
fore to-morrow morning for the settlement of every
account now outstanding against the company, so that
if they did go into the Court of Bankruptcy they would
go without a single creditor to oppose them.
Mr. ADAMSON—Then I tell you, sir, that you will
have every sixpence to refund.
While the meeting was in a very excited state the
scrutineers resumed their duty, and on their return re-
ported that there were 8,975 votes recorded, 4,240 of
which were put in by the directors, and the validity of
which the scrutineers could not ascertain, and they
therefore demanded the vouchers which should confirm
their authenticity.
The CHAIRMAN stated that such a report was
not in accordance with the statute, and that con
sequently he could not receive it. He should there-
fore call upon the scrutineers to amend their report, and
would give them a reasonable time for doing so. In the
event, therefore, of the amended report not being made
within one hour he should declare the meeting dissolved,
and leave the responsibility of the consequences to those
who caused them.
Mr. SPACKMAN said they would not keep the Chair-
man one hour or five minutes, for the scrutineers would
make no other report, and he believed they were quite
within the terms of Lord Dalbousie's Act.
The CHAIRMAN said that since the last meeting he
had taken the very highest legal advice, but ho found
that he had no power to interfere, and that in fact there
were no means whatever of now withdrawing the 4,240
votes put in by the directors. He should, therefore, call
upon the scrutineers to amend their report.
Mr. SPACKMAN having declared that it was not the
intention of the scrutineers to alter the report,
it
The CHAIRMAN then said that he would give a quarter
of an hour for the purpose, when, if he received no
answer
et
without
that awt
awas
beforema him, he should declare the taeet-
g
other
comingde to
this,to conclusion.aaneanyd Air Spackman
vck
a
Nn
ab
dissolved
WWI and
his friends, after a little consultation, left the room.
At the appointed time the Chairman declared the sleet-
ing dissolved.