The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 17, 1870.

—and to the very abandon, and gusto, and verve,
and vivacity, what the French call the espieglerie of
real comedy. 'The obtuseness of the critics in fail-
ing to recognise anything of all this, is but another
illustration of how very little of his fame Lord
Lytton owes, as a rule, to the literary reviewers
among his own countrymen. For the juster esti-
mate of his powers and of his achievements he has
had all along, far rather than here at home in Eng-
land, to look to the subtler and more philosophic
critics of the great German Fatherland.
As whimsically illustrative of the Laureate's keen
eye to tLe minutest charms of nature, let me men-
tion, now, upon the morrow of his having covered
with a new glory of verse the mystery of the " Holy
Grail," a seemingly trivial, but for all that, an emi-
nently characteristic incident which took place dur-
ing his recent journey upon the Continent. One
of his two companions upon this journey having
called his attention to a dragon-fly basking upon
a rose—down upon his hands and knees goes the
Laureate, hanging his bearded visage over the two,
that is over the insect and the blossom, in rapt
contemplation. After a lengthened pause, like that
of Cortes—

Silent upon a peak in Darien—
the poet rises from his hands and knees, exclaim-
ing with a sigh of wonder and exultation, "I saw
the colour of the flower through the wing of the
fly!„
As for the green leaves of the greatest of our Eng-
lish humourists it will be interesting to all the ad-
mirers of Charles Dickens (and their name is it not
legion ?) to know that the outer illustration, the
design upon the cover, that is 'to say, will be from
the hand of his son-in-laW, Charles Collins—the
brother of Wilkie Collins, the novelist, sons, both of
them, of William Collins, the late Royal Academi-
cian. But for the still shattered state of his health
Mr. Charles Collins would have undertaken the
illustration of the whole work, vice Marcus Stone,
the very indifferent illustrator of " Our Mutual
Friend." As it is, au entirely new hand will be em-
ployed in the embellishment of the new serial by
Boz —one of the young artists who have already
sprung to the fore from among the contributors to
the Graphic, one whose limning of a group of
casuals is as fine in its way, is certainly as " gra-
phic," as the famous delineation of those unfortu-
nates a year or two ago in the colutrns of the Pall
Mall Gazette by the amateur casual pen of James
Greenwood.

A singularly able article on the " Diary of Henry
Crabbe Robinson" appears in the newly-published
number of the London Quarterly Reilleiv, in the
curse of which the reviewer, while contrasting
Robinson's Diary with Boswell's Life of Dr. John-
son, remarks very happily that the one book is a
biographical 2Eneid, written to magnify a parti-
cular hero, while the other is an autobiographical
Odyssey, telling of many men and many lands.
Among the newest serials which have appeared
with the dawning of the new year, there is a penny
twelve-paged double-columned paper, entitled the
News List and Index, giving in other words a
catalogue of the contents of the daily and periodi-
cal publications and magazines. It is, as it pur-
ports to be, the merest news list and index, an
ornnium gatherunt of tables of contents, but, as
such, may serve upon occasion to aid in the disco-
very of the proverbial needle in the bundle of hay,
as; by the presentation to the latter of a little
pocket loadstone.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

DUBLIN DIOCESAN SYNOD.

At an adjourned meeting of the consultative and
advising committee, appointed at the late Diocesan
Conference, there were more friendly relations
evident which promised some prospect of the
clergy and laity working harmoniously together in the
reconstruction of the Church. A conciliatory letter
was read from the Archbishop of Dublin to the Mar-
quis of Drogheda, expressing unwillingness to co-
operate in procuring answers to certain queries ad-
dressed to the clergy. After a long discussion, it
was agreed that the Archbishop should be asked to
send such queries to the clergy, and the secretary was
directed to send them to the laity.

cvnu-nu- IT Trite II IN _ =RIM() T.

The Archbishop of Syra, seeing that he is the
representative of another communion, is being well
received in England. Tlie Premier has, it is under-
tooth, welcomed him; the English . Church Union
has tvldressed him ; and the Bishop of Chester
"signifies his regret" that he will not be able, on
account of a severe domestic afliction, to be at the
consecration of the Greek Church—the ceremony
which the eastern patriarch is going to perform.
The Archbishop's reply to the English Church Union
was totally in favour of unity. The active desire for
it which the English Church was expressing sheaved
the spirit of Christ.

I um fully convinced that the way in which you aro
treading in your search for union is the surest one; it is
tha way which will lead you to the desired end. Yva, by
the Christian love which is burning in your hearts, as was
already fully known to our communion here, and now like-
wise to myself, and also by a strict inquiry, having
for its object simply and sincerely to ascertain the truth,
your aim will be much sooner and more easily attained than
by that overbearing arrogance which seeks, against the
t -aching of the Gospel, to build up and consolidate an em-
pire within the Church, and forges now dogmas which not
only have not the least found3tion in Holy Scripture or in
the ancient traditions of the Churcb, but, on the contrary,
being totally opposed to the spirit of Christianity, pollute our
blessed Lord's divine teaching.

Union cannot be far off one would think to read
such a speech from an Eastern Archbishop.

THE ATLANTIC CABLE COMPANIES.

What is called a " fusion of the interests" of the
English and French cable companies—announced as
on the point of completion last week—has been finally
arranged. For some time the parties could not agree.
The English company wanted to retain two-thirds
of the gross receipts, whilst the French com-
pany were willing to yield them only three-
fifths. Ultimately it was arranged that the dif-
ference between the two should be evenly split. In
future the gross earnings will be divided in the pro-
portion of 361 and 6.33 respectively between the two
companies. Under the terms of the proposed arrange-
ment the holders of the 8 per Cent. felegraph and
the Original 4 per Cent. will receive between them
£375,000, and the old company will be wound up and
cease to exist. The amalgamation will, of course, be
beneficial to the shareholders, by preventing reckless
competition ; but how it will affect the public in the
way of cheap telegraphy remains to be seen.

ENGLISH FALSEHOODS ABOUT IRELAND.

Why, asks the Spectator, is the Irish correspon-
dence of the London press so often a tissue of fables?
We were told a little while ago that a Mr. O'Connor
had been subjected to a brutal outrage, and that his
nose had been cut off. Mr. O'Connor was afterwards
seen in Dublin with a sound nose. It was said
that the man Walsh had been murdered because
he raised the price of eggs; whereas, though he
had been killed, it was in mistake for another person.
Thirdly, the Mallow Farmers Club was represented
as passing a tremendous resolution about amnesty,
repeal of the Union, and what not. The club
considered the resolution, but rejected it. The
Spectator complains that it was led into three
serious errors by these falsehoods. So were others
who relied on the information of the Times, and
similar journals. Why represent the state of Ireland
as worse than it really is ?

of Aberdeen Univeitity, nas been comparing ancient
with modern architecture, at the Edinburgh School
of Art. The baronet thought that the old school
had a decided advantage. The last twenty years
have done great things in Paris, but the new build-
inFs cannot take rank with the old masterpieces.
Miles of wide boulevards are very imposing, but
they are likewise monotonous. "The great achieve-
ments of the Second Empire are the completed
Tuileries and the Louvre and the renovated Hotel de
Ville. Very noble works they are, but they are
nothing more than a skilful repetition of notes struck
out in the 10th and 17th centuries, in which
the ideas of olden architects are reproduced,
and the 11. and L. of the old French Sove-
reigns replaced by the N. of the Corsican,
London has no very fine modern work,
save the river wall which fronts the Thames. In
painting the present age is equally. behind, though in
landscape we have made infinite improvement, for a
new era dawned when Turner first saw the sun.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STAR AND GARTER.
The old proverb about " Shutting the stable door
when the horse is stolen" may with truthfulness be
applied to the local authorities of Richmond. After
the terrible disaster which happened at the Star and
Garter Hotel, resulting in the sacrifice of human life,
they have held a meeting to "consider the startling
circumstance." It is to be hoped the result of their
investigation will be such as to prove that they are
at least " wiser "if not "sadder men." Mr. Maxwell,
who headed the requisition for the calling of the
meeting, urged the 'appointment of a com-
mittee to report upon the present insufficient
supply of water to the town. Some correspondence
was then read of a recriminatory character on behalf
of the authorities; but in the discussion which ensued
it was shewn that the Board had erred in not looking
up the Vauxhall Water Company, who received a
rental of £5,000 a year from the town. That com-
pany, it was stated, stipulated under the Act that
the directors should live in the town and hold a
meeting every three months, but neither of these sti-
pulations had been carried out. The Board were
denounced for not having taken the matter in hand,
and thus prevented the catastrophe. The appoint-
ment of a committee was eventually agreed upon.

be re/11-Ma- itora the Court of Exchegtier'
preside over the Court of Bankruptcy. Meanwhile
there is no lack of judicial business, for Term has
opened with a very heavy array of cases. The
Divorce Court, in particular, has so much on hand
that the Law Times regards the speedy appointment
of an extra judge as an absolute necessity.