The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-01 00:00:00

MARTIAL LAW.

By a proclamation dated " Head Quarters, Fort Beaufort,
23d," his Excellency warns all persons, under pain of
death, against furnishing ammunition, intelligence, &c., to
the enemy.
He also offers a free pardon to deserters who shall return to
their duty within ten days after the 27th April.
From Ohm William, the most distant of the western dis-
tricts, the Burgher force has already marched for the frontier.
The contingents from all the othes districts, except the Cape
district, are also in motion.

THE LATE MR. B. R. HAYDON.

Yesterday a meeting of gentlemen took place at the cham-
bers of Air. Sergeant Talfourd, in Sergeants' Inn, to devise
some means of providing for the widow and daughter of the
late Mr. Haydon, the melancholy circumstances of .whose de-
cease are still fresh in the recollection of our readers. Among
the gentlemen present were, Lord Morpeth, Sir J. C. Hob-
house, M.P., Dr. Bowring, M.P., Mr. W. Hamilton, Count
D'Orsay, the Rev. Dr. Croly. Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, and Mr.
Jerdan.

Lord Morpeth was called upon to preside, and his Lord-
ship, in common with every gentleman who took part in
the proceedings, expressed his deep concern at the deplorable
death of Mr. Haydon, and his sympathy with that unfortu-
nate gentleman's widow and daughter, who, in consequence
of the embarrassed state of Mr. Haydon's affairs, are left in a
state of utter destitution.

Several resolutions were proposed and adopted, the first
embodying an expression of deep regret at Mr. Haydon's
death, which had been caused by distraction of mind conse-
quent on his pecuniary embarrassments. The second
and third resolutions were in the following terms :
" That without presuming to offer any judgment as to the
place which Mr. Haydon will ultimately fill in the
annals of his art, or any opinion on the controversies in
which he was sometimes engaged, this meeting feels that
the efforts of his genius, and the circumstances of misfor-
tune which obstructed them, justify an expression of public
sympathy with his widow and daughter. That such ex,
pression would be most fitly conveyed by snaring a perma-
nent provision to his widow and daughter, left wholly desti-
tute by his death ; and that a public subscription be opened
for that purpose."
Mi. Sergeant Talfourd read a letter he had received from
Sir Robert Peel, expressing his regret that the pressure of
public business would prevent him from attending the meet-
ing, and stating that the Queen had been pleased to grant
Mrs. Haydon a pension from the Ci4ii moist of 604 a year.

-x-narragfit xroxf,-smartin=at7Wa e4E—tnat in ifine-icelitorli-
subscription being determined upon, his name might be put
down for 1001. as a contribution from his private purse.
It was stated that Lady Peel had assigned a pension of 251.
a year to Mrs. Haydon out of a fund over which, from her
position, she has control ; and that Sir R. Peel, having found
that a son of Mr. Haydon, who held a situation in the Cus-
toms, was of sufficient standing to receive promotion, imme-
diately gave bim a step in rank. The prompt generosity
evinced by Sir R. Peel in promoting the welfare of his un-
fortunate'family was warmly eulogised; and the following
resolution was unanimously adopted :—" That the thanks of
this meeting be respectfully tendered to the Right Hon. Sir
R. Peel, for his prompt and considerate attention to the
application made to him for assistance by the deceased Mr.
Haydon, and for his munificent acts of kindness towards his
family." Lord Morpeth, Sir J. C. Hobhouse, Mr. Sergeant
Talfourd, and Mr. W. Hamilton, were appointed trustees of
the subscription. A committee was formed to carry the re-
solutions into effect, and a vote of thanks having been given
to the Noble Chairman, the proceedings terminated. The
subscriptions announced at the meeting (including Sir R.
Peel's contribution of 1000 amounted to upwards of 400/.
It was stated by several gentlemen well acquainted with the
position of Mr. Haydon's family, that the peculiar circum-
stances of the case rendered prompt exertion on their behalf
most essential ; and a confident hope was expressed that the
differences which had existed between Mr. Haydon and
many of his professional contemporaries would not prevent
them from aiding to alleviate the distress of the widow and
daughter of a talented and able, though an eccentric and
unfortunate artist.
ACCIDENT ON THE BRIGHTON

RAILWAY.—TWO LIVES LOST.
BALCOMEE, TUESDAY EVENING.—An accident of a most
lamentable description occurred on Monday evening, on the
London and Brighton Railway, at the Balcombe station,
situate about a mile and a half on the Brighton side of the
Balcombe tunnel, by which two person.-3, one a female pas-
senger and the other the station-clerk, lost their lives.
The station, it should be stated, is of the worst construc-
tion, aad offers but trifling security, or even accommodation,
to the public. It is what is termed a good second class
station ; but all it comprises is a kind of sentry-box en the
left of the up line, just sufficient to shelter the station-clerk,
his desk, &c. It is approached by a deep flight of steps from
the main road, which passes over the railway; there is no
platform or railway to prevent persons wandering on the line,
while the pathway is se exceedingly narrow that it is diffi-
cult to keep a steady footing on the passing of trains. Pas-
sengers travelling by the down trains are compelled to walk
across both lines of rails to the opposite side, and to this
dangerous system may the accident in some measure be
attributed.

It appears that at about ten minutes before three o'clock,
among the passengers who came to the station and booked
themselves for the half-past two o'clock train from Brighton
for London, were Mr. Arthur Murphy, who holds the situa-
tionoaltoArßrisegnhatol
natonWbhricshcoannsdequheins
of a store-keeper in the ordnance department in the
Murphy. One of the clerks had in the morning got leave
Royal Arsenal af Woolwjch, and his wife, Mrs. Sarah
Murphy. Qx of the clerks had in the morning got leave
to go
person
consequently e oMnrl3s:
to perform all the duties'n
clerk, a man named Shaw. Ti!..hedostation was the station
passes a few seconds before the xzzairttwo row. express train
o'clock one from Brighton Comes minutescnse past two
greatest precaution should be adopted in. p
assin
gqxentlthe
passen-
gers over the rails. According to appearances, however,
-there is no clock at the station for the guidance of the pas-
sengers, or even a notice board, like at most stations, caution-
ing them as to crossing the line.
After taking the tickets Mrs. Murphy proceeded to cross
the rails in the direction of the shed on the up-line, and at
the same moment the down express was heard by Shaw ap-
proaching at its usual velocity. He looked out of his door-
way and saw that she had apparently slipped or fallen on
the down lines of the rails. Seeing her imminent danger he
heroically rushed out, caught hold of her, and made a
desperate effort to throw the unfortunate lady off the line,
when at the same instant the engine struck them both to
the ground, and the whole of the train passed over them,
killing them instantaneously. A more appalling sight was
scarcely ever witnessed. The wheels had passed completely over
the head of Shaw, thereby rendering the least recognition of
his features impossible. The head of Mrs. Murphy was
sadly mutilated, it was nearly cut in half; and to add to the
shocking catastrophe, she was far advanced in pregnancy.
The sufferings of Mr. Murphy, on discovering the dreadful
fate of his wife, as may be easily conceived, were of the most
heartrending: character. He was the first to raise the
mangled bodies off the line, and they were afterwards con-
veyed to a neighbouring public-house.
Not the least fault can be attributed to the engine driver
of the train. He saw the dangerous position of the unhappy
persons, and used every means in his power to stop the
engine by shutting off the steam and applying vigorously
the breaks, but the rate of the train, as it does not stop at
Balcombe, entirely prevented him effecting his purpose.
Mrs. Murphy, it appears, had been stopping at the neigh-
bouring village of Cuckfield for the benefit of her health, sad
her husband had come down only the day before to accom-
pany her on her return home. .The station clerk had been
in the service of the company since the opening of the rail-
way, and was greatly esteemed. He was 41 years of age,
married, but no family.
The bodies of the deceased now await the county coroner's
inquest.

HACKNEY THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—Last evening the
annual meeting was held at the chapel, Holywell Mount,
Shoreditch, F. Smith, Esq., in the chair. The seminary was
founded in the year 1803, since which time 150 students had
gone forth as ministers; during the past year two had com-
pleted their studies, and one had entered the seminary. The
expenditure was 1,5191., which sum exceeded the receipt: by
112/. Resolutions to promote the success of the institution
were adopted, and the meeting separated.
THE LORD MAYOR'S VIEW OF THE TIPPER DIS-
TRICT OF THE THAMES.—The Court of Aldermen having
passed a resolution on Saturday last, requesting the Lord
Mayor to take the usual view of the City's jurisdiction above
bridge, his Lordship has issued summonses to his brethren of
the Court to join him on the sth, 6th, ith, and Bth of August,
to commence at Oxford and come down the river in the state
barge.

LITERATURE.
BOGUE'S EUROPEAN LlBRARY.—History oft

Civilisation. By M. Guizot.—Literary Hist°, yof the
Middle Ages. By the Rev. Joseph Berington.
In issuing these two celebrated publications in such a
portable and moderately priced form, Mr. Bogue has per-
formed a service to the reading public, while he has
adorned his excellent series, entitled the " European
Library." So important do we consider these works,
and so necessary do we conceive their perusal to be, that
we feel justified! in designating them elementary books
to one of the widest fields of human knowledge. They
induct the reader to a capacious and. yet concrete and
symmetrical _ cognizance of the progress of that ex •
traordinary race of beings of which he is an unit.
They are perhaps the most fitting pioneers of historical
lore ; they serve as a connecting medium between
ancient and modern times. Certainly the most im-
portant fact to us, as inhabitants of the earth, is the fact
of barbarism having become modulated into civilisation.
Before we have acquired some accurate sense of the
manner in which this change was developed, of the
causes which originally withdrew mankind from their
primitive rudeness, and of the consequences
which have followed from that momentuous meta-
morphosis, we are ignorant of our true position
in the scale of creation. That ignorance is an
intolerable anomaly (in the present age especially),
and it may be effectually dispelled by the perusal of
these volumes. Can there be a more for
cible recommendation to any literary venture
than this ? We opine not ; and in uttering
it we have been actuated solely by a love for truth and
a reverence for justice. One circumstance in connexion
with these Histories is singular enough, inasmuch as
they are intimately associated with each other in subject,
as well as in publication. • The one is the production of
a Protestant Frenchman; the other of a Roman Catholic
Englishman. Any particular allusion to the " History
of Civilisation" by M. Guizot would be at once super-
fluous and impertinent, as the writings of that illustrie
ous stateman have justly achieved for themselves an
European celebrity. Since the chapters of the present
lucubrations were first pronounced in lectures
at the Sarbonne, in Paris, they have illicited
a constantly enlarging attention, both from the vastness
of the theme and the remarkable 'excellence of the com-
position. The survey taken by Guizot is peculiar for
its extent, and yet the remotest outlines of the panorama
are pencilled with a marvellous distinctness. The work
enlarges the mind, and imparts fresh vigour to the
faculties. In the " Literary History of the Middle
Ages," on the other hand, we obtain a more minute and
elaborated description of one segment in the cycle of
civilisation. Namely, of that extraordinary period in the
history of the world, when the popular intellect was slum-
bering save in the recesses of the casual philosophers, and,
be it said in justice, in the cloisters of the monasteries.
This, indeed, is not the only instance in which the cor-
rectness of the title of " Dark Ages," as applied to
those times, has been disproved. • The secretary to
the present Archbishop of Canterbury has already spoken
boldly in defence of those ancient ecclesiastics; and has
sufficiently demonstrated that but for the literary and
scientific spirit which was fostered in the monastic
edifices, the classics would possibly have been
swallowed up and lost in the almost universal
apathy of the popular mind; and that, but for such cha-
racters as Copernicus, and Friar Bacon, and a thousand
others, either wearers of the cowl er clients of the cowl,
philosophy might have lagged on for many centuries, in
the same effete and slumberous manner. As a new ex-
position of these circumstances, the work of Berington
is extremely interesting, and, with its renowned com-
panion already noticed, cannot fail to carry instruction
and intellectual advantages among all classes of the com-
munity.

PLEASURES OF POESY. By W. H. Haynes.
The author of this little volume has altogether mis-
taken his subject. He can write a brilliant passage and
an effective stanza, but, as far as these pages
can indicate, he is incapable of producing a con-
tinuous poem very far removed from medio-
crity. There is a want of sustained vigour,
and an indistinctness of conception, throughout these
two cantos which sadly deteriorate from their merit as
an accumulation of musical sentences. Akenside,
Rogers, Campbell, and Marton have severally 'dilated
upon the Pleasures of Imagination, Memory, Hope, and
Melancholy. Mr. Haynes attempts, if possible, a
loftier ffight,—videlicit, the " Pleasures of Poesy."
But the presumed fraternity with his • pre-
decessors renders his failure so much the more
manifest. He reminds one of the philosopher
in " Rasselas," who, to test the merits of his artificial
wings, ascends to the summit of a conspicuous eminence,
and tumbles into a lake. Is the water in this instance
Lethe ? Unquestionably it will prove so to the poem,
but the poet may extricate himself from the same catas-
trophe if he strives to compose something more likely to
live. We do not mean to imply that the writing is altogether
faulty; on the contrary, there are in the volume para-
graphs of no inconsiderable beauty. But those advan-
tages are marred by such forced similitudes as, where
the author is speaking of the time,
" When Newton's eager telescopic eye,
Explor'd the realms of circumambient sky."

A figure of speech, which calls up an unpleasant recol-
lection of the visual organs of a lobster I Again, the
repetition of strained adjectives, is a remarkable blemish
in the whole poem. For example, in the very same
page, (p. 50), we have "
And his'far roar awakens pallid fears, &c."
" Yet even thus, amid the pale alarm, &c."
What shall be said, moreover, of such dissonant rhymes

" Transmuter of base passions to the ore
Of love that leaves the breast no longer poor !"

" To the fair orb of day, with homage due,
In worship bent the Incas of Peru."
Again, is there no lack of grammatic construction in the
following 7

" Whose obelisks retain the midnight lore
Of buried time, which ages have forbore P'

Such expositions of failure as the foregoing, are anything
but hypercritical, since, with the like flaws, no real
eminence in poetry can ever be attained. Mr. Haynes
has endeavoured to breathe through the opheoclide of
metre, and his powers have proved inadequate : let him
restrict himself to the flageolet of metre, and he will
succeed. A passable ballad, or a tolerable canzonet,
would always be preferable to a laboured and abor-
tive epic.

DRAMAS FOR THE STAGE. By George
Stephens. Two Vols.
Our national literature, perhaps, is more en-
riched with dramatic writings than with any
other description of composition. And this cir-
cumstance arises not so much from the num-
ber of our professedly dramatic poets, as from the fact
of almost all our celebrated bards having, without ex-
ception, ambitioned the production of a play. Thus
Milton, with an essentially epic mind, has given posterity
his delicious masque of " Comus," as well as the " Sam-
son Agonistes ;" thus Thomson, though almost solely
endowed with a descriptive genius, produced the " Tan-
cred and Sigismurva, with the " Edward and Eleo-
nora;" thus also Dryden, whose chief capacities were
those of a translator and a lyrist, displayed considerable
fecundity as a playwright. Within our own times
Byron, who rose before the world as a satirical and
meditative poet, with a greater facility in the production
of cantos than of colloquies, of stanzas than of scenes,
was not contented without the publication of " Manfred"
and " Cain;" while Shelley, at first lost in the exalta•
tion of ethical philosophy, ushered into immortal life,
possibly the most glorious of his creations, certainly the
most splendid tragedy of modern times, his " Cenci."
Such as these are, so to speak, the adventitious aids
thrown in, from generation to generation, to our dra-
matic literature. And, what with our great English
dramatists, advisedly so called, our Shaksperes, Jon-
sons, Wycherleys, Sheridans, Farquhars, Beaumonts,
Knowles's, Masaingers, and Talfourds, render Great
Britain in the world of letters second to none other in
ancient or modern times. It is from this very richness
and splendour of our dramatic compositions that, we
conceive, may be derived the decadence of the popular
passion for theatrical amusements—the decadence at least
as far as the representation of new plays are concerned.
The Shaksperian drama can never, it is true, become
distasteful to the public, as long as the language in
has written,
hassaid
sdn his
continuesi
gsyra hp
iwnheicxhisttehnecger;eafotr,TaistatnheolfexPiocoe
bltehisacinkntehyeemd,odbetl beautifuldnortamles.sth.tthe h
p
pore wrote not for an age, but for all time."
histrionic art
r:hSash afko-r
a long period been exhibiting tokens of a scarcely re-
parable decay ; and this, because we are already so
inundated with masterpieces in that style of literature
that we have become fastidious beyond measure.
We have awaked to a consciousness that time
may be employed to infinitely better ad-
vantage in studying and restudying the chef d'ceuvres
of our many matchless dramatists, than in frittering
evenings away in company with the O'Keefes and the
Reynolds, and the Dimonds. That, we take it, is the
whole secret of the so-called downfall of the stage. The
people will never fail to relish the repetitions of the
book-shelf plays, such as are performed at the Hay-
market, at Sadler's Wells, and occasionally at the Prin-
cess's. But notwithstanding all the epigrammatic sparkle
and keenness, and dagger-like flashing of wit, which is
the principal characteristic of Jerrold ; notwithstanding
the jocund and rollicking bonhonzmie of Bourcicault, or
the stern reflectiveness of Spicer, the modern drama,
looking at it in its general aspect, cannot by any means
flourish. This is not in consequence of a deficiency of ster-
ling dramatists, for we can boast a Talfourd, a Sheridan
Knowles, and (vide "The Lady of Lyons," and "Riche-
lieu," and " Money,") a Bulwer : neither is it from a
paucity of histrionic talent, while Macready, and Miss
Faucit, and Farren continue before the footlights. It is
rather from that spirit of the age, to which we have
already referred—a spirit of intense thoughtfulness,
and hence a spirit of fastidiousness. The motto of
this generation might aptly enough be Cui
bond?" We are therefore persuaded that Mr. Stephens,
in publishing two large volumes of tragedies and
comedies like the present, has adventured too much.
He has adventured too much in presenting to public
criticism a collection of plays which, while they evince
the scope of his intellect, are nevertheless too crude
and precipitate to acquire him any solid or imme-
diate popularity. We regret this the more as in several
portions of his work we recognise a very considerable
aptitude for dramatic invention, and a very nervous flow
of ideas and expression. Had he restricted himself to
the composition of a single play instead of attempting so
many ; had he pruned exuberances and scrupulously
collated the manuscripts of that one performance ; had
he in fine concentrated his very admirable powers upon
a solitary theme, and thrown his whole imagination
and his whole judgment into its execution,
we are convinced that he might more readily
have secured the attention of his contemporaries,
and through them of posterity, than by the laborious
production of these two volumes. Will he redeem his
vantage ground ? Ile has, we feel, the innate capacity