The Sun.
London, England, 1834-02-01 00:00:00

ME TR 0 P OLI TAN.

" Jacob Faithful" is here again in all his
glory—garrulous, yet by no means tedious, and
giving us a shrewd insight into the character of
a pedantic Dominic.. Captain Marryat has
the pen of a ready writer, and, considering this,
it is surprising what little need there is for
blotting in his pages. We always read him with
interest, his style and sentiments are so straight•
forward and unaffected. " Sicilian Facts" con-
tain a fine melodramatic mystery, that would
make the fortune of the Surrey. " Turkey
and its Relations" is treated eloquently, and with
much acuteness and discrimination. It is far
superior to the general run of such Magazine
essays. The sketch of the Sultan's character as
a reformer, tallies with all the accounts we have
read of him in Madden, Macfarlane, and some
others of our travellers in the East :
" Dreadful indeed has been the past history of Mah-
, mood's reign. The annals of the seraglio contain a rapid
succession of public massacres and private assassinations.
In contemplating the monarch's character, we shudder at
the man who could, day after day, sign the firman of
death. He evinced some sympathy with human feelings
towards his dethroned brother, but that sympathy was
checked the moment it crossed his personal ambition. Not
in the madness of passion, but prompted by cool calcula-
tion, be sealed the fate of the imbecile Mustapba. With
a perseverance unparalleled in history, he hunted down
the family of Ali Pacha. Even to the infant nephew, he
punished the rebellion of the Albanian chief. All the
services of Halet Effendi could not arrest his master's
hand, when his death became an act of policy. Yet it is
from the blood-stained Mahmoud, fratricide and destroyer
as he is, that we must expect the regeneration of Turkey.
His remorseless disposition, unhesitating firmness, and
singleness of view, are the requisites of a successful re-
novator. Not wanton cruelty, but un undeviating line
of policy, has filled the niches of the seraglio with disse.
vered heads. Poison, the bowstring, the executioner's
axe, and the assassin's dagger, have been unsparingly em-
ployed ; but not in rsne of the hundred cases where these
means have been adopted, was personal malice the motive
of the imperial mandate. Mahmoud has never acted
from caprice; he corresponds little with the vulgar idea
of an eastern despot. It is not from fits of jealousy, or in
the recklessness of dissipation, that the bloody warrant is
issued. He neither wars to crowd his harem with cap
five beauty, nor pilfers his subjects to surround his throne
with luxury. His court is unostentatious, and his habits
simple. One great but distant object is ever in his view,
and to attain it, be cares little in what path he treads.
To this firmness of purpose he adds an indifference to
public opinion. His personal reputation does not influ•
ence his actions. Renown, be it for good or evil—the
pomp of a mighty monarch—or the fame of a national
benefactor—are not the unsubstantial rewards his vanity
thirsts for. He neither seeks to win golden opinions from
all sorts of people, nor to engrave for himself a fair name
on the pages of history. He toils in silence, and secrecy
is one of the characteristics of his disposition. Proud,
but not vain, he consents to imitate, and has successfully
f 'flowed, the example of :even a subject. Judging from
the features which the regal purple allows us but lover-

tly to discriminate, we consider Mahmoud's charac'e'
s well calculated for ti < aiduous task he has undertaken.

" Sir Goodly Clumsy" is a clever caricature.
" Chit-Chat" is sprightly gossipping, and con-
tains one amusing anecdote, which we subjoin :

" Ed. Is it true that the Literary Union Club is going
o be dissolved ?
" Vol. I believe so—but a new club will start into
life with new claims to approbation. We are now in an
age of reform and improvement. By the bye, t dicing of
clubs, the Garrick goes on capital!y—is it not 83, ?
" Don. Certainly, thanks to a set cf clever fellows,
such as myself.
" Ed. Well said. I suppose you'll allow James Smith
to be one of those same clever fellows : have you beard
his last jeu d'esprit?
" Don. No—what was it ?

" Ed. Why, Poole was reading from the police re-
ports in the Morning Chronicle, an account of a youth,
named Richard Zachery, who was imprisoned for en
assault. Whereupon Smith embodied the narrative
thus A boy, called Dick, ever fighting, get hand-
cuffed in jail, kicking lustily, minding nobody—oh pray
quit rebellion ! surely to use violence w.m't xtricate you,
Zachery !' and by way of elucidation, exclaimed, when he
had finished—

" ' There, alphabet, thou wayward wizzard,
" ' I have thee fast, from A to Izzard.' "

COURT MAGAZINE.

Is embellished with a very lovely portrait of
the Hon. Mrs. Stafford Jerningham. "
Women" is a prettily told anecdote, by Haynes
Bailey—a writer of ability, whom we should be
glad to see leave " Butterflies," and grapple
with more manly themes. " Getting into Society"
is an amusing bit of gossip; but we pass on to
some " Particulars of the Death of the well-
known Monk Lewis," who, in concert with the
late Mrs. Ratcliffe, had the rare merit of fright-
ening a generation into fits. We ourselves have
read the romance of the " Monk" alone, in a
school-room, at midnight, till absolutely we have
been afraid to snuff the candles.
" It was erroneously ass-rted, many years back, that ti
late Matthew George Lewis (otherwise known by the
title of Monk Lewis) died of sea-sickness on his passage
to England from the island of Jamaica,—but the malady
that carried him of was off a far more awful description.
It was yellow fever, which had been raging for a long
time at Black River, where he embarked the Ist of May,
in the year 1818, on board the ship Sir Godfrey
Webster, commanded by Captain —, who now trades
to India with the Coromandel. For some days previous
to Mr. Lewis's decease, the weather had been blowing a
strong gale, which subsiding all at once into a dead calm,
left the vessel as it were spell-bound in the dog latitudes.
Here the heat became intolerable; and the change in the
atmo,pbere visibly affected Mr. Lewis's general health and
spirits. He grew restless and impatient, continually
pacing up and down the deck, and spouting forth Italian
and German poetry in a wild and impassioned tone of
voice, accompanied by violent gestures. On the 13th of
May, these serious symptoms rapidly increased on him.
and becoming every hour worse and worse, at six o'clock
the following morning he expired in the greatest bodily
and even mental agony; for such was his delirium, that
loud and bitter groans and fearful imprecations burst
from his lips whilst suffering the last pangs.
Captain then proceeded to read over the burial ser-
vice, several of the passengers and most of the crew being
present; after which, in obedience to his commands, the
deceased was committed to the deep. At the first plunge
the coffin disappeared entirely; but rising again,
the sheet that had been fastened round it became ,par-
tially disarranged, and the air introducing itself between
its folds, inflated them, and buoyed the coffin up,
so that it floated on the surface of the waters, just like a
boat with its sails full set. It was first observed by a few
of the passengers from a window in the front cabin, where
suddenly to their surprise and terror, they beheld this
novel and spectre-like obj,ct borne up by the swell of the
sea almost on a level with themstives. Never shall I
forget the thrilling sensation caused by so appalling an
apparition—imagination can scarcely picture any thing
more horrible—coming as it did so unexpectedly. I was
at that time a mere child, almost an infant, but such im-
pressions pass not away ! Around the vessel that coffin •
bark danced like a fearful mockery ; then heaving heavily
over the surf, as if unwilling still to part from the living
world, it bent ifs course towards the shores of Havanna!, ;
and was soon lost to the straining sight of the awe-struck
spectators; whether it ever arrived at those shores, or was
swallowed up in the whelming waves, we have never been
able to ascertain."

[The remainder of the Magazines we must
give at some future opportunity.]

The General Steam Navigation Company's
mail-packet the Sir Edward Banks, from Rotterdam,
arrived off the Custom-house early yesterday morning.
The Lord Melville, from Ostend, arrived at 10 a.m.

COMPETITION.—At the door of the Com-
mercial Coach-office, Manchester, there is a large placard,
thus inscribed :—" Beat this who can: inside or outsida
to Sheffield, what you please !"

AN HEIR EXPECTANT.—A paper of Fri,
day contained an advertisement from " a gentleman of
good education, affable manner, and pleasing address," who
offers to inh"rit the property of any affluent nobleman or
gentleman who has no issue ! Being, be says, "disgusted
at some family differences," he " wishes to relinquish his
connections," and having no objection to change his name,
will, therefore, most considerately, accept the appellation.
and fortune of any rich landed proprietor who wishes to
transmit his name to posterity. The advertiser is not
particular as to title.
_ _

Many of the most curious and interesting
particulars in the Countess of Blessington's new novel of
" Grace Cassidy, or the Repealers," are understood to
have been derived from the personal observations of the
noble authoress during ber residence in Ireland, so that
some portions of the story assume the character of autc-
biography. As the scene shifts to London, and the reader.
is introduced into the circles of the elite, the same spirit
of keen observation has evidently furnished forth the inci,
dents, and *lc Ached the personages of the drama. A key
to the latter has lately been published, and curiosity bas
thus been in a measure gratified by ascertaining the ori-
ginals of the parvenu family, the political intriguer, the
roue lord, the titled and married coquette, the gastrono-
mic baronet, &c. &c.
THE NUMBER FIVE.—The Chinese ha e a
great regard for this number. According to them there
are five elements—water, fire, metals, wood, and earth
five perpetual virtues—goodness, justice, honesty, science;
and truth ; five tastes—sourness, sweetness, bitterness;
acidity, and silt ; five colours—azure, yellow, flesh colour,
white, and black ; they say there are five viscera—the
liver, the heart, the lungs, the kidneys, and the stomach.
They count five organs of the senses--ears, eyes, moutb,
nose, and eye-brows. A Chinese author has written a
curious dialogue between these organs:—The mouth com-
plains that the nose is not only too near, but above her;
the nose in reply defends its rsition, by stating that but
for it the mouth would eat tainted meats. The nose in
turn complains of being below the eyes ; they reply that.,
but for them men would often break their noses.

NECESSITY OF MAKING A Goon \AB-
PEA RANCE. —ln the spring of 1796, my brother not being
in good health, we hired a small store ; havingsaved about
a hundred dollars we laid it out in small hardware, and
got fifty dollars' worth more on credit, consisting of pins,
needles, scissors, knives, &c. My brother was to attend
the store, while I was to mike nails, to support us both.
When I began to place our hundred and flay dollar's worth
of goods on the shelves, I found they would make a very
poor appearance; and I was just beginning to find out
that appearance went a great way in this world. I pro-
cured a number of brick hats and round sticks of wood :
the wood I sawed in lengths and covered it with ironmon-
ger'sabsox:ws,o jduoszteans
realthe s'orteletsligshot
on
ne
paper, having one shaving-box or snuff-box attached
to one end. Thes., when laid on the shelves, occupied the
space,
.and appeared to be six, twelve, or twent
scissors,t. i ck batlBclues.
l covered,the
having a knife and fork outside, looked as well on tLe shells
;wiathb
shelves were decently filed, and the store made a respects-
b'
,e appearance. I procured a glass case to stand on the
counter, in which I kept four, six, or eight of a sort for
retailing; and as they sold off I procured hallo dozen more
by wholesale, so that I had no occasion to discompose my
brickbats nor wood blocks. By mistake I had tied a round
shaving-box on a brick ; a sleekie old Seorchman,,,who
used to step in for a crack, observed it. " Aye, man, says
he, "but ye hae unto queer things here; wha ever saw a
square shaving box?" I let him into the secret—we bad
a good laugh. Says he, " Ye're an auld fa!ratit chap ;
Os doubt but ye'll do vary well in this country."— Grunt
Thorburn.