The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-02 00:00:00

T I-1 IT SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

(THIS DAY.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly after Twelve
o'Clock.

LORDS AMENDMENTS.

.The Lords Amendments to the following Bills were
considered and agreed to :

Aberavon Musket

Leith Municipality and Police Trusts, Markets, Paving,
and Sanitary Improvement Bill.
Wishaw and Cohness R ilway (Deviation Connecting
Branch and Improvement) Bill.
SECOND READING.

The Earl of Sheffield's Estate Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to bci committed.
WALSALL IMPROVEMENT.

On the motion of Mr. SPOONER, it was ordered.—
That the report on the Improvement Bill b.?
t.:lken into consideration on Thursday, provided a bre-
viate of the amended Bill be laid on the table the day
before ; and one clafs notice thereof be given in the
Private Bill• otlic,!.

THE MAGAZINES.
BLACKWOOD.

The race of tourists—whose name, thanks to rail•
roads and steam-vessels, is now Legion—receives the
malediction of Blachwood. Especially the profestional
lady tourists—women who, according to the apt ex-
pressions of the critic, " talk of faces they have never
seen, describe fetes to which they would never have
been admitted, and quote conversations which they
have never heard." Some we could name who
come precisely under this category—authoresse:,
with all the dogmatism and none of the genius of,
Mrs. Somerville, with much of the self-sufficiency
end very little indeed of the verve and brilliancy of
Madame de Steil, Madame Daciers in everything but
erudition, and Corinnes in everything but tact. The
writer who eyed so superciliously the Americans in
Philadelphia, the French in Paris, and the Italians in
Rome might perchance detect the delineation
of her own character in these sentences but
for an obliquity of vision which defies the
appreciation of truth. Although Miss Harriet Mar-
tineau is not classed among these melancholy profes-
sionals—" scattered over Europe, all pen in hand, all
determined not to let a henroost remain undescribed,
all portfolioed, all handbooked, all getting up a
journal,' "—her theological lucubrations as to the
career of Moses are justly the subject of the con-
demnation of the reviewer; and certainly the flip-
pancy of such irreverent interpolations cannot
be too severely condemned. " The Caxtons" conti-
nues to be the chief attraction of the magazine, and,

if completed as it halPcommenced, will certainly stand
among the most exquisite serials which have adorned
the pages of Blackwood. Already Fame is not si!ent
as to the authorship. It is whispered among the literary
circles that the scholastic hand of a ripened genius
is detectable throughout, that the mind which conceived
Adam Warner could alone have imagined Augustine
Caxton, that the great work on " Human Error" has
something of a prototype and a foreshadowing in the
mechanism of the Eureka, that, in short, the author
of " The Caxtons" is no other than Sir Edward Bulwer
Lytton. Whether the notion be erroneous or correct,
we are satisfied that Bulwer might have created a
roving blade like good Mr. Peacock, that the
young, scapegrace his companion is almost the double
of Varney, that Trevanion promises to be a compa-
nion picture to Brandon, and that, under any cir-
cumstances, the story, as far as it has gone, is emi-
nently worthy of our distinguished countryman. It
is the fate, at any rate, of Sir Bulwer Lytton to
have almost every noble anonymous effort in Eng-
lish literature at once fathered upon his genius—
a circumstance, to our thinking, which shows that the
• prolific, cultivated, elegant, and virile beauties of that
genius are in some measure appreciated. We have
again and again expressed our conviction that the
"New Timon" is his, that the splendid epic
of " King Arthur" is his, that occasionally the
cunning of his hand is perceptible among
the contributions to the Edinburgh Review ; and
while we now acknowledge that there is much of the
verisimilitude of his style in these opening chapters
of the " Caxtons," we must acknowledge that, with
all our admiration for the powers of Sir Bulwer
Lytton, we could never have attributed to him such a
sweetness of wisdom, such a gentleness of senti-
ment, and such a bewitching refinement of pathos,
as are the principal characteristics of the work
now appearing in the pages of Blackwood. The
present instalment follows Pisistratus on his road to
London. His accidental interviews with Mr. Tre-
vanion and afterwards with Lady Elinor and Fanny
are admirably told; and in the entrance of the young
pedestrian into London it is well said—" the Gra-
dual is a great disenchanter." Those who have
pored for hours and hours over the dusty records
of the lore of ages piled together in those glorious
halls of learning the library of the British Museum,
will relish the following passage—so true, so accurate,
so genuine

.Pisistratus," said my father, one evening as he ar-
ranged his notes before him, and rubbed his spectacles.
" Pisistratus, a great library is an awful place! Thero
are interred all the remains of men since the Flood."

" It is a burial-place!" quoth my Uncle Roland, who
had that day found us out.
" It is an Heraclea!" said my father.
" Please, not such hard words," said the Captain,
shaking his head.
" Heraclea was the city of necromancers, in which
they raised the dead. Do I want to speak to Cicero? I
invoke him. Do I want to chat in the Athenian market-
place, and hear news two thousand years old? I write
down my charm on a slip of paper, and a grave magician
calls me up Aristophants." . .

The seventeentli.chapter describes the wanderings
of Uncle Roland de Caxton through the streets
of London. The description is life-like, and
the touch of feeling at the close, when the
light breaks in upon Pisistratus is beautiful. " Life
in the Far West" is continued in the old harum-
scarum spirit, so delightful to catch now and then in
the narrative of a traveller from the days of Strabo
down to those of Kinglake. " Art and its
Prospects" is a bone of criticism, not a fos-
sil like the leg of a megatherium, neither a mur-
derous weapon like the jaw-bone which slew
the Philistines, but a bone full of the marrow of
research. "Eighteen Hundred and Twelve" is a
ghastly reminiscence of one of the most awful catas-
trophes mentioned in ancient or modern history—the
wonderful conquest of Russia by the Emperor
Napoleon, and the destruction of his great army,
not by the puny hand of man, but by the arm
of the God of battles. " The Blue Dragoon,"
a tale of circumstantial evidence; " Laurels
and Laureates," a paper of agreeable chit-chat
about the old poets and poetasters of England ; " The
Horse dealer, a story translated from the Danish
and " Sketches in Paris," are all capital additions to,
the number, which is worthy of the prolonged fame
and popularity of Blackwood.

DOLMAN.
" A few words from the Editor," are introductory
to three letters—one from Lingard the historian of
England, one from Tierney the historian of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, and one from Rock the anti-
quarian and topographer--eulogizing the spirit in which
the magazine is conducted under its present editorship.
In the estimation of the Catholic subscribers to_Doinzan
the praise of such men, but especially of such a man as
Lingard, will be as a crown of laurel. A long and
interesting account of "l'he Opening of Saint
George's," from the pen of the editor, contains, among
other passages, a very graceful and to our mind,
indeed, a very beautiful allusion to the remark made
by a contemporary that the procession of 240 priests
Was conspicuous for its display of ugliness :—Thus
speaks the writer who was one in that procession of
secular clergy :
"We certainly never plumed ourselves on mere
personal beauty or comeliness of look. We are as God
made us, ands are thankful we are not worse. A
Catholicprierins a
priest especially a London priest's—
habitsthend toiling
eultiva tio
cultivation of
personal life;
poor diet, little sleep, and much and continued anxiety,
are
eha not certainly favourable
wearisome, to
and frequent ailments from unremitting attendance by
premature
hospitals, soon
soon dry up the beds, in noisome cellars, and
rin
springs
o fworkhouses,you youth,
anda
bring on a old age."
48 the Trinity man conti-
nues on "France in 18 I
pap,..
of Cambridge," and Mr.
gtehnetlheneaesysieorf.thiveiwe.ri
jteerr'snimngahnanmer
cmoanktreishhuitsers ;
e
pn ruoTeas his hc
Prophecies:' The number
Paley writes on " Popular
intelligence.
" Reminiscences
is completed with the usual monthly criticisms and

COMMONS' INCLOSURE.—By an Act of Parliament,
which took effect a few days since (11 and 12 Viet., cap.
27), the inclosure of the following places was autho-
rised :—Corringham and Springthorpe, in Lincoln ;
Oreton-common, Salop ; Tansley-common, Derby; Cal-
decot Open Fields, Cambridge ; Church Stoke and
riurdley, Montgomery ; Hyssington, Montgomery and
Salop ; Ashly-marsh, Westmoreland ; Dulverton, So-
merset ; Burghfield, Berks ; Barrow, Suffolk ; Woolpit,
Suffolk ; Hesselt, Suffolk ; Egton, York ; Twardale Fell,
Westmoreland ; Antrobus, Chester ' • Ikon-moor, Devon;
Chinnot, Oxford ; Mottram St. Andrew, Chester; Bris-
tow
Surrey; Cookbury-moor, Devon ; Ison•common,
Somerset ; Winsford, Somerset ; Thornton-mocr, York;
Stoke-pew, Somerset ; Warborough, Oxford ; Upwoodand Ramsay, Huntingdon ; St. Stephen's down, Corn-
wall ; Beninek, Cambridge ; Syminge, Kent ; Mid La-
vent, Sussex ; East-green, Suffolk ; Ealsworthy-moor;
illkacnmeagetrpvhhtnet.:otimainn;ratrc lehon:nLk;
Kingsley,sohatn ,
Stafford Sulk ;
;EGI 1 irsefiaetl dm.
isse common,nden,Sßouuctkh
Bagley-wood,asnhceaisitoo Berksndm maManor-waste,
rr-hwtohauess
tee,G,
Nottingham.r
Surreyan g e-c o;m mll Grange-common,
ns
Count de Reventlow, the Danish Minister, transacted
business at the Foreign-office, on Monday.
Dispatches were sent off yesterday evening from the
Colonial-office for the Governors of the West India
Colonies.
GRAVESEND RAlLWAY.—Considerable progress is
making with this very expensive and tortuous work. An
iron bridge is partly thrown over the New-cross-road,
the construction of which is quite a novelty to the gene-
rality of passengers. Strong cast-iron girders, weighing
seven tons or more each, are thrown over the excavation,
or opening under the road. The flat part Of these
girders, forming what the workmen name a panel, rest
upon brick piers and stone coping of great thickness.
Upon the top, or carriage-way, the earth is bound to-
gether by iron ribs, and rendered immoveable. The in-
terest excited by the engineering and the labour exerted
to overcowe the difficulties of the soil is remarkable.
Crowds are collected daily. They retrain gazilig on the
navvies who arc cutting through the hill, and nothing
but a shower of rain will move them.
I,IIxED GAUGE BETWEEN GLOUCESTER AND CIIEL-
TENHAM.—The stations and sidings are in duplicate, and
are
ehrmatedGialoteuesetsattejornas.nd
TChheelctaenrrhyaimng;
andtothtlti,:riey distincnotbinott
stock (engines, carriages, and trucks) for the two gauges
are in duplicate, and totally distinct. When the railway
`vas on one gauge only, there were only twelve pas-
senger-trains each way, which is ample for the trade
between the two towns. There are now twenty-six
trains a day each way, by which the working expenses
must be greatly increased. The staff of servants is in
duplicate at each station, and the number of policemen
on the line is much lucreased.—Front Messrs. Robert
Stephenson and Loche's Report,

THE RIVER PLATE.

We have received files of papers from Buenos Ayres
to the 6th May inclusive.
The news of the revolution of February at Paris had
caused great sensation. The new French Government
was immediately recognized by the Minister of the
United States and the Argentine Confederation. M. Le
Long, the agent of the French Legionaries in Monte
Video, had also given in his adhesion to the new order of
things, curiously enough attributing to himself the cha-
racter of Charge d'Affaires of the Oriental Republic.
The 6th May was the 956th day of the blockade.
No movement of importance had taken place. The
departure of Garibaldi and his condottieri was re-
garded as a good riddance.—(Garibaldi is at the present
moment on the confines of Tyrol, with all his band, de-
fending the passes against the Austrians).
On the 14th April, a dinner, expressly given, says the
Courrier de la Plata, in honour of Baron Gros and Cap-
tain Gore, took place on board the corvette bearing the
broad pennant of the Brazilian Commodore. Amongst
the guests were Rear-Admiral Le Predour, and Com-
modore Sir Thomas Herbert.
According to the last accounts from the interior,
affairs in Bolivia were beginning to assume a more
quiet aspect. After an interregnum in the admi-
nistration subsequent to the disappearance succes-
sively of General Ballivian and General Guilarte
from the political scene, General Velasco, proclaimed
President by the people, made his entry into the ca-
pital on the 3d of February, and immediately set about
re-organising the Government. His first appointments
were—Doia Casimiro Olaneta, Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs; Don Andres Maria Torrico, Home Department;
General Belza, War; and Senor Asin de la Paz, Fi-
nance. Some disorderly officers attempted to excite
fresh disturbances on the night of the Bth February,
but were speedily put down. The President was about
to visit La Paz tbr the purpose of regulating matters of
importance, and hopes were entertained that the order
and tranquillity re-established in all the departments of
the Republic would soon be consolidated.
The British Packet of the 29th of April (Buenos
Ayres paper) says:—
" Another week has elapsed, and although in the
meantime we have had the arrival of a steamer from
the scene of diplomatic action, nothing positive has trans-
pired in regard to the pending negotiations. The Harpy,
which has come up, was placed at the disposal of Presi-
dent Oribe, to convey hitherian envoy, but with respect
toth
is
eos bject of this_gengeman's mission the utmost re-
serve kept.
" In Monte Video, at the date of the last advices, all
The intrusive government
note which it had addressed the
published
l i doubtshed
on an d
the uncertainty.
a
day previous to the so-called ' Notables,' informing them
of the arrival of the new negotiators, and of the invitation
it received from them on the 28th ult., to enter into a
pacific arrangement with President Oribe; but, at the
same time that it gives to understand that it had received
subsequent communications, it is silent with regard
to their contents. The note alluded to denounces the
existence of a plot to deliver the town to President Oribe,
and calls upon the ' Notables' to devise means to enable
the authority to frustrate any seditious attempt. This
language, taken in connexiou with a report put in circu-
lation that the intrusive Government was about to con-
tract provisions for five months, would seem to imply a
determination on the part of the ruling clique to make a
show of resistance to contemplated arrangements, anta-
gonistic to their views and wishes.

" That the partisans of the rebel cause are strongly
apprehensive of a result being arrived at adverse to their
illegitimate interests, is clearly demonstrated by the tone
of rabid virulence and desperation in which the two
French organs of the armed foreigners speak. The
editor of the Courrier de la Plata, in particular, has be-
come so outrageously violent and abusive, that the
French agents have been compelled to disclaim all con-
nexion with the ci-devant pensioner on the bounty of the
Legation.
" Since the above was written, we have been informed
that Monte Video had been, or was about to be, de-
clared under martial law by an enactment of the
Notables'."