The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-14 00:00:00

not by any means exaggerating when we are
so speaking of the audacity of the singular volume
here submitted to our scrutiny—witness the truth
of what we declare in its re,,,,ard, those astonishing
chapters relating to Horary Astrology, to Mundane
Astrology, to Atmospherical Astrology, and to
Medical Astrology, to Planetary Influences, and to
Genethlialogy ! Chapters explanatory, according
to the all-believing astrologers, of how, in regard
to the planets, the influences of Herschel, and of
Saturn, and of Mars, aro all evil, while those of
Jupiter, and Venus, and Mercury, are all more or
less advantageous, if not actually benefit ! Inform-
ing us how, in regard to the signs of the Zodiac,
one born in Aries will have dark eyebrows, and
one in Taurus a broad hand, and one in Gemini
black hair—(o Gemini !)—and One in Cancer, a
pale face, and one in Leo a firm step, and one in
Virgo a weak voice, and one in Libra eyes blue and
beautiful, and one in Scorpio a thick neck,
and one in Sagittarius a ruddy complexion,
and one in Capricornus along chin, and one in
Aquarius a comely person, alicf one in Pisces round -
shoulders—truly very wonderful morsels of infor-
mation ! Inducting us, moreover, most good
naturedly into the mysteries of trine, and square,
and sextile, and conjunction, and opposition. 0 !
the wonderful book that it is—even the clear-
sighted sceptics of Household Words must allow
the sceptics who visit so unmercifully with their
unbelief, and their hard-headed common sense, and
their hard-fisted ridicule, the astrological soot's-
sayers of our own in-credulous, all-credulous gene-
ration. A generation in • which steam-engines are
contemporary with spirit rappers, and electric tele-
graphs with table-turning—an age in which sound
astronomical knowledge is sold for a few copper
coins, and in which, every year, Zadkiel's
sixpenny Astrological Almanac circulates to the
number of some thirty or forty thousand !
Wonderful, we say, the book before us unques-
tionably is—as the age in which it makes its ap-
pearance is wonderful too in its incongruous way—a
book laying bare to the public eye the twelve houses
in the famous figure of the heavens conned, cen-
tury after century, by astrologer after astrologer.
With the fruits of their conning (or, as it may be
otherwise termed, cunning), visible in so many
marvellous revelations. lining through angles,
cadents, and succeedents, we find the twelve
mysterious houses influencing respectively-1, per-
sons, health, and constitution ; 2, property • 3,
short journeys; 4, lands, houses, and inheritances'
5, pleasures and amusements ; 6, bodily affections ;
7, marriage ; 8, death ; 9, distant voyages ; 10,
trade, profession, or employment ; 11, friends ;
12, private enemies. Enlightened with these
lambent gleams of knowledge, the student in
astrology may apprehend readily enough how
it comes to pass that " The Figure of
Birth" is thus indicated. A circle being drawn
to represent the heavens, within this anothr circle
to represent the earth—a straight line through the
outer circle to represent the horizon—E. signifying
the east, where the sun rises, and W. the west,
where it sets—another line being drawn to repre-
sent the meridian, at right angles with the first
line marking the herizon—S. the south, where the
sun is at noon, N. The north, where the sun is at
midnight—the four paints being the angles or
crosses where the 1,4, 7, and 10 houses commence
—each of the four quadrants being then divided
into three spaces by oblique ascension—and thus
the twelve houses being completed ! A little
more, in the way of these mystic inklings of the
Ptolemaic lore, and the novice soon begins to fancy
himself becoming a proficient in the mysteries of
the awful science of astrology. And so the reader
carries on his eccentric researches aided by the fitful
light vouchsafed to him by our erudite and facetious
author—dazed, bewildered, astounded by his won-
drous volubility about magic crystals and animal
magnetism, about sympathies and antipathies,
and " Vanity Fair" and the " Corsican Brothers,"
and Mr. Boswell and the Emperor Napoleon, and
the Times among morning newspapers, and Vie
Salt among
wrecks, and the cholera and drunkenness—" every-
thing by turns and nothing long "—flitting before
the dazzled gaze of the reader as in the medley of
a wild and 'wildering phantasmagoria. Strangest
token of the variety jumbled together in these fan-
tastic pages, we find the anonymous sage quoting
in a foot-note, now Ptolemy's inEyaX7l .vvrai-:tc, now
Reynolds's ilrewspaper, now the Family _Herald,
and now the Tetrabiblos or Quadripartite ! Qua-
vering down from the wisdom of Anaximander and
Anaxagoras to the predictions of Raphael and Zad-
kiel, and the vagaries of Master (.fussy and Dr.
Porcupine ! A wonderful book we reiterate this
" Plea for Urania " to be beyond all manner of
question—a book seriously insisting upon the int-
policy of the law which is supposed to prohibit the
practice of astral science in the present age—en-
forcing its argument by the strangest mixture of
trifling and philosophy.

Russia : its Rise and Progress. By the Rev. T.
Milner, M.A. Longman.

This is one of the many histories of the Russian
empire that the events of the last few years has
called forth. It does not present any very original
features, but it is written in a clear and concise
style. The author asserts that be has endeavoured
to preserve the thread of his history unbroken 4
omitting what is unimportant or uninteresting,
and dwelling only on leading incidents, so as to
give a definite view of the general Fortunes of the
empire and of the more remarkable chapters. To
those unacquainted with the features of Russian
history this volume offers considerable advantages,
as it does not confuse the reader's mind with a
long list of unknown names and events. It sim-
plifies the early history, which is generally so per-
plexing, and introduces the reader at once to a
more modern period. The type is excellent, and
the whole appearance of the work coincides with
its claims as a standard volume of historical refer-
ence. The author proposes to notice the reign of
the late Czar, that eventful epoch in Russian his-
tory, and to complete a general view of the policy
and prospects of Russia in a second and subse-
quent volume.

Lessons •in General Knowledge. By R. 4. Mann,

M.D., F.R.A.S. -Longman.

This is a very useful and practical little work,
admirably adapted to the' purpose for which it is
designed. They are intended to farm a simple in-
troduction to the principles of science, as well as to
be reading lessons to familiarise the pupil with the
use and meaning of words. They treat of the for-
mation and movement of the earth, animal and
vegetable life, scientific biography, &c. We doubt,
however, whether they will be comprehensible to
children of seven, as the preface anticipates. This
will not be a very material drawback, as few chil-
dren of that age are sufficiently advanced to com-
mence so many different departments of learning.
To older and more intelligent pupils, however, it
offers every facility, and may especially be com-
mended to the attention of teachers, as it smooths
the first steps in the acquisition of scientific infor-
mation by presenting them in clear and simple
phraseology.

The Year Book of Facts in Sciencs and Art. By
John Timbs, F.S.A. David Bogue, Fleet-

street.

A valuable handbook, exhibiting the most im-
portant discoveries and improvements of the past
year in mechanics and the useful arts, natural
philosophy, electricity, chemistry, zoology and
botany, geology and geography, meteorology and
astronomy. An engraved portrait of Sir Roderick
Impey Murchison, D.C.L., MA., F.R.S •, c•,
Director of the School of Science applied to Mining
and the Arts, fronts the title-page, and will be wel-
comed by the admirers of the learned knight. The
,g Year Book " is one that should be in the hands
of every intelligentindividual.

Here and There in Portaged. By Hugh Owen.
Bell
A readable book and
off
offering
nl dg y.
a
fund of ta. ten er in-
tuent and instruction to all parties interested in
the past and present condition of Portugal. The
writer is a close observer, and what he has seen
has the ability to set down in a manner sufficiently
graphic to command attention. His tour, theug_h
of a desultory nature, appears to have been suffi-
ciently comprehensive to enable him to furnish the
materials for forming a pretty accurate notion of the
habits, manners, and customs of the people, "well
as the general characteristics of the land of the
olive and the vine. Numerous anecdotes enliven
the work, the value of which is further enhanced
by a number of illustrations, by eminent artists,
from photographic pictures by the anther.

THEATRICALS AT rAIITEHAVEN.—The lessee of this
pparetrtotynshattnleopthpeoartturenitcoring
ylofwtihtenelsa;it wugek thee peaffperformancesance.ded i:
of Mr. and Mrs. Hermann V emu. The impression
made by Mr. Vezin by his highly effective rendering of
the character of the cardinal in Sir E. B. Lytton's play
of "Richelieu" was immense—certainly nothing equal to
it has ever been seen at this theatre before ; and at the
termination of the play he received a complete ovation.
The local papers speak in the highest terms of the per-
formance, which they designate as an effort deserving
to be compared with that of the great tragedian Mac-
ready. They also pay the Same compliment to the great
ability of Mrs. Vezin, the principal characters repre-
sented by her being Miami in Bnekstone's ,r Green
Bushes," and Pauline iv. the " Lady of Lyons.' The
engagement of these arifistes has really proved a prize
to the lessee.

The terms of the Royal charter to be granted to the
Ottoman Bank will, it ie. understood, be preoiselyraimi-
lar to those of the charter of the Bank of Egypt.