The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-25 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
Me ELEVATION OF THE PEOPLE. By the

Rev. T. Milner:

M.A.

, The title of this work at mce urn ats our sympathy,
tad excites our interest. The elevation of the people !
_ what ;varied thoughts are conjured up by that brief
phrase I We see. before us the mighty multitude, in
their innate grandeur and actual degradation. We see
before us the powerful sinews of the social frame ; the
base of the national edifice ; the root, the • sour2e, the
(Muse of all the greatness and glory of our country—and
we see them, alas, in sorrow, in suffering, and in shame.
The bare tom of 4' the People" reanmis us of their il-
limitable power; the thought of their -4 Eleva. ion" recap
their sad position : it tsqls us of what they sh old be.
and painfully contrasts what they are; but also in the
gentle voice of hope. it whispers, what they may, and
what a strong Qinsiction assures us, they shall be. This
moment is Tweitliarly appropriate for such thoughts__
this 1130.w:eats whes the beams of morning are dispelling
the (IF knees of night ; when hope is being merged in
ceri;ainty, end the fulfilment of some of our most
P:tixious expectations bids us anticipate the reali-a-ion of
: the whole. In all human affairs there is an 'nevi t."ble ten-
dency to advaece, and not only to advance, but to improve,
forthe apparent increase of evil only tends to i=A own
ultimate • destruction. The pent. up waters, re-trained
fur a time, acquire new force in their accumulteion, arid
rising at last, overthrow all bond, ; and so has all
tyranny, temporarily triumphant, succumbed eventually
to the power of the oppressed. Hence all the revolu
tions of old. and hence ours of the present day. Hence
cur is hellion, not with fire and :ovoid uga,rist some seep-
tred despot. but a social rebellion agaio,t social tyrant')
—a revolu•ien operating in our hearts. Let those, it
any there are, who doubt this, but earnestly regard the
sign. or toe times ; the sorrows of the poor, once turned
from with contempt—the wrongs of the many, once re-
garded with indifference, are now the objets of geuerai
investigation—are now the objects of an a, tention almost
" universal as its theme," We hear of them in the gen
Lle voice trona the throne, in th,-- earnest language of :he
minister, in tho animated debates in the Parliament
house, or the imps: sinned eloquence of the multitude.
We read of them on every page, whether the poli-
tician's or the poi t's, portrayed with the terrible realitit-s
of truth, or clothed in the varied adornments of ro-
mance. We learn them in various ways, but we do
learn them ; and all these ways, however differing in
themselves, are only parts of one great movement—of
one simultaneous endeavour Their object is to expose
evil, and thereby to remedy it ; tl make us feel for the
suffering aid think how to alleviate it ; and of such a
class is the work before us. To recommend it to atten-
tion seers almost a work of supererogation. Its aim is
prranote the elevation of the people, " mot al, instruc-
tional, and social," and it does so in a m .st si nple arid
'effective manner, alike free from enthusiasm and preju
dice. The greater portion is devoted ro education ;
Various systems are anal) sad, and various examples
cited. Commencing with a "glance at b) gone tines,"
it furnishes us with a brief sketch of the condition of the
country, or rather of the people, down to the, present
day. In the chapter emphatically named " The Strife
for Life" we have a heart-rending picture of the terrible
struggles, daily and hourly endured by many th.rusand,
in every part of the kingdom ; struggles of which their
happier brethren, who " live at home in ease" can hardly
form an adequate conception. Not decked out in
plausible probabilities, but, as learned by Commis-
sioneTs and other inquirers on the spot, the plain un-
mnished truth is here made manifest to us. We read
Of the lace maker's children, not four years old, work-
ing twelve hours a clay ; we hear the mother of six
children declaring "we never see such a thin g as
butcher's meat—we never know what it is to get enough
to eat." We read of the "morality of dens and wig-
.wams" (names more appropriate than cottages for our
wretched habitations) where many persons of all ages,
and both sexes sleep together in the same room, some-
times in the same bed. How terrible, how awful is the
following piragraph, if it be true. which we will
ardently hope it is not:—" Some years ago, Mr. Walrus-
ley estimated the amount annually realised as the wage-
of crime (in Liverpool) at seven hundred thsusand
pounds. A sub-committee of the Town Council was ap-
pointed to examine this statement, and they reported
the conviction that the immense sum was not exaggerated.
The concluding chapter of this work enurierates the
" social improvements already projected and commenced.
and dissioates the gloom imspired by a retrospect of the
past in contemplating the better things which are at
hand, or which are even now being realised. For all
persons ,if all ages, and of all clases, this volume should,
and will, be deeply interesting. The young will have.
more true wisdom and more practical knowledge, from
studying- the present state of their own countrymen,
than from contemplating the deeds of the heroes of old,
however vividly or nervously depicted. And the very
impartial and general character of the work will prevent
it from clashing with political opinions, save in a few
instance-, and its moderate and straignttorvvard. tone
must preserve it from offending any. save the seihsh or
the prejudiced, whose censure will be preferable to com-
mendation.

TIIOII-\'BERRY ABBEY. A Tale of the Estab-

lished Church.

" Rtasselas " sprangfrom the well of pure English
fiction, so did the " Vicar of Wakefield," so did the
" Christmas Carol." There is noihing nieretrien bus in
the comp sition or the conception of either of them ;
of each might most truly be declared that " none but
Itself could be its parallel." Of the first the prireipal
characteristic is thoughtfulness ; the second is essen-
tially domestic ; the last is a combination of wit, medi-
tation, pathos, domesticity, and drollery, the chief
Charm 01 which is its spontaneousitess merit
' • every sent'met
is, as it were, the cushla ma three, "the pulse cf m)
heart." But beyond the iokali.oi of each utory, onc...t
the rarest beauties of these three is the remsrkatile
purity of the language in which they are couched ;
they bmack in every sentence of our insular literature ;
they could alone have been produced by an inhabitant tit
“la perfide Albion." For this same purity and nation
silty of style, the little volume called " Thornberry
Abbey" can put in a very fair claim ; and however
Much the imaginativeness of the narrative may he ham
P. red and suppressed by its professedly polemical ten-
dency, ae cannot but acknowledge that as a lit-rary
composition alone it possesses angular attributes of
attraction. We have not, undoubtedly, the temerity to
classify the writer with a Johnson, a Goldsmith, or a
Dickens ; the thiug would be a flagrant rebellion
against judicious taste and classical propriety ; but we
are assured that as a composition the present volume
would not have been disdained by those fine intel•eets.
The tale is plainly but honestly told ; it is simple, but its
diction rings well even upon the accustomed ear. Nor
is the purpose of the whole a deterioration of this
merit ; it is consonant with it for its gentleness, its
earnestness, and its truthfulness. There are none of
the hackneyed commonplaces of the habitual contr.-
eersialist ; there are no gleams of acerbity, indicative
of the bigot ; no deprecations of this beautiful world,
er,of society at large, such as furnish matter for vitupe-
ration to the fanatical mind. The doctrines are ad-
vanced, not dogmatically, but meekly ; the controversy
is unaffectedly and gracefully written. Many of the
characters introduced are singularly life-like and Ti al,
er. gr. Lady Martin and Mrs. Hardy. 'l'me first inter-
view between these two redoubtalye ladies is capitally
told. James Eynon, again, is a faithful transcript from
an original ; his lameatatious over imaginary troubles,
form a good representation of a half-misanthrope, half-
hypochondriac. It would be rather ungracious to d•-fine
the plot of the story, as by so doing we should deprive
the book of much of its attraction ; in other w irdi we
should be destroying its interest. However much may
be our difference of opinion, can commend this
" Tale of the Established Church " as a pleasant, en-
tertaining, and thor•ewhiv Anglie.re fiction.

LAMENTABLR ,MISTAKE.—'A INDsoR. c.,sp.vy EVEN..
IMO.—An unfortunate occurrence took place yester,lay after-
noon at St Leonard's-place, near Windser, which. it is
feared, may prove fatal, for La Marquise d'Harcourt,
who is on a visit to Mr. . 13. Ha, te.urt, at his real-
dance at St. Leonard's. It appears that La 'Marquise had
been attended for some time past by Messrs. Brown and
Andrews, of this town, surgeons to the royal house-
hold. By a lamentable oversight on the part of a denies-
tie, a bottle containing an ounce and a halt of a very
'trot% preparation of laudanum was administered to
the unfortunate lady hi mistake fur a draught of medi-
cine. Shortly afterwards the error was discovered, and a
messenger inetantly dispatched to Windsor for medical aid
Within forty minutes of the discovery being made e.r.
Andrews was in attendance. and administered the proper
remedies to neutraiise the effects of the poison ; but. trent
the advanced age of the sufferer (who is in her 76th year)
the greatest fears were entertained of tier not being enabled
to recover from the severe shock she has experienced. At 6
o'clock this evening La Marquise was considered to be in the
most imminent danger. Her medical attend.ints, however,
have still hopes that she may be restored, should infl.nnma-
ton, from the strong remedies which it was necessary to re-
sort to, not take place. La Marquise d'llarcourt is the relict
of Major-General Charles Ameeee Harcourt Marquis d'Har-
court, a peer of France, who was killed by a tall trein his
horse in 1831, at St. Le,mard's, and was buried at Albury
Church, Hertfordshire, in the family vault of the late Sir
Richard Harcourt.
DANGER OF BATHING IN THE THAMES.— (h 1 Sunday
morning, two young lads, the one about sixteen, and tb•
other about twenty years of age. tailors, in the employ
meat of Mr. Hems, Hare street, and Mr. Flide, Powis-
t_i_treet. Woolwich, were drowned while bathing in the River
Thames, near Charlton Pier, and their bodies have not been
found. On Monday evening another lad about sixteen
years of age, named Lv
ue, was drowned while bathing
nearly opposite Warren- a W
eolwich, and his body was
found about an hour afterward-, t
the use of the drag; had been tried for
employing a net, after
some time. A report
wag prevalent that two othervouthzehhead been drowned while
bathing at Plumstead Marshes. l
that these numerous fatal accidents general impressien
bathing in the
Thames arises from the swell in the river
which causes an actionn in the water
the
Passing of
isescribed
nu described
by large steam vessels,
contrary to the tidal current of the river, and
i
by bathers as throwing them off their hp
water, and drowning those who are not good swimmers.
PATRIOTIC I )RINKING.—" Now I ax) ou fellers who's
the best citterzen, him as supports Guverment, or him as
doesn't? Why, him as does, in course. 11re supports Guver-
meat, we fellers—every men as drink. grog supp nets the
Guverment—that is, if he linkers at a licences house. Every
blessed drop of ticker he swatters there is taxed to pay the
salary of some of them ere great big wigs. 'Spose we was to
quit drinking, why, Guverment must fall-wit couldn't help it
no bow: - That's the werry reason I drinks. I don't, like
grog—I mortelly hates it. If I tottered my own inclernatior,
i'd.rather drink buttermilk, or ginger pop, or soda water.
But 1 linkers for the geol of my country, to set an example
of patriot:sm and wirtus self-denial to the rising generation."
—American paper.
TEE BANICAUPT-LAW.—" Sambo, what your 'pinion
ob dat bankrupt-law ;" "Tink him fuss-rate, Pompey ; I
imply for the application myself." "Just explain him prin-
ciples." "Why, you see now; just lend me dat half-dollar
Yo got for. whitewashing." (Pompey hands him the money,
awl -4arnito Aclibei-Ately puts it 'into his pocket ) "I). re,
s,vr " now I owes de shoermiker tree shillings
c cle.grocer's ; now dis halt-
QUiidTj.;
al; de ;•:y I gni ; I diwido hint iiecorditiv
to my debts." rompey—" I take dat half dollar back."
Sambo (with amazement)—" Do you tink dis child green P
rig g bankrupt; you sots your sure laid do otter croditore

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