The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-25 00:00:00

FEBR UARY 25, 1851.

12 o'clock. Subjects—The Crestomathies of Kosegarten
anti De Sacy, the Koran, Tuhfa':.o Iklivranis-Gala, the
Maka ant of Hariri.

Striscuit daily at 1 o'clock. Sub,jocts—Nals; the law.;
of Mane; the Ilitopade3a; the Ramayana, Books I.
and IL

Gothic on Mondays, Wedoeuisys, and Fridays, at 2
o'clock. Subjects—The Gothic New Testament; tho
affinities existing between the Gothic and other Indo-
European languages.
A

srnoNomi.--The Plurniar. Professor will commence
a course of lectures on practical astronomy and astro-
nomical instruments on Monday, March 10, at half-past
one o'clock, in the Observatory.
MAGDALEN COLLEGE.—Mr. W. Raymond has been
elected to the open scholarship at this college.

LITERATURE.
DAHOMEY AND THE DAHOJIANS. By F.
E. Forbes, Commander R.N. 2 rols. Lonpnans.
The enterprising Commander Forbes, who in 1849
and 1850 performed two missions to the Court of Daho-
mey, has now published the results of his experience, and
presented us with a most vivid and interesting glimpse
of Dahomey and the Dahomans. Many circumstances
combine to render this work as valuable as it is inte-
resting. As affording another chapter in that " proper
study of mankind," the history of man, these elaborate
and evidently accurate retails of savage life cannot fail
to be welcome to the physiologist and philanthropist ;
while, again, its relations to slavery and the slave trade
invest " Dahomey" with a peculiar importance. "As the
King of the slave trade and its merchants," observes the
author of these volumes in some introductory remark',
" the Dahoman monarch has become a word of com-
mon use ; whilst the position of his kingdom, and
the habits, manners, and customs of his people,
equally with the resources of its Sovereign, are incor-
rectly, if at all, known. Lying inland on the
Guinea coast, this great military kingdom extends
almost from the banks of the Niger to those of the
Volta, and domineers over, if it does not possess, the
entire land that lies between the coast thus cut off be-
tween the mouths of these rivers and the bases of the
Kong mountains." Thither Commander Forbes and
some other Englishmen repaired in 1849, in conse-
quence of a conversation which took place one evening
on board her Majesty's ship Cyclops, in which it was
remarked by Captain Hastings, that "great benefit
might accrue from the visit of a naval officer to the
King of Dahomey at a time when the death of that
King's chief agent and principal merchant, Da
Souza, left him more at liberty to exercise his huma-
nity, and to listen to the oft-repeated appeal to sup-
press the slave trade in his dominions." Mr. Forbes,
having long desired to visit the interior of Africa,
volunteered his services; his offer was accepted, and
the two volumes just published contain a journal of
the wonderful incidents and discoveries consequent
upon that mission. "It is the object of the author,"
we are told, " in giving publicity to these journals,
to illustrate the dreadful slave hunts and ravages,
the annihilations and exterminations consequent on
this trade I have seen," Mr. Forbes goes
on, " the slaves toiling in South America, and known
that the labour of these was a matter of calculation
to the master whether, by continual toil and short life,
he would gain more money than by light work and
protracted miserable existence. But what are all
these to the tragic scenes that introduce the slaves to
slavery ? A country living in peace with all around,
and pursuing trade in the endeavour to become rich,
is suddenly surrounded by a ruthless banditti, and
how changed the scene! The old would be rejected
if brought to market—they are sacrificed ; the whole
nation are transported, exterminated, their name to
be forgotten except in the annual festival of the con-
querors." Such horrible practices being the delight
of the military Dahomans, who consider an annual
war as a popular right, it becomes doubly revolting
to find a considerable portion of the Dahoman army
composed of women ! The Amazon regiments con.
tain about 5,000 females, who glory in their en-
tire abnegation of their sex. "We are not
!vowel), but men," is their motto and their boast, and
in courage, severity of discipline, and cruelty they set
an example to their brother soldiers, the Amazon
regiments not unfrequently turning the fortune of
battle. For an interesting account of these extraor-
dinary soldiers, as well as for many similarly marvel-
lous peculiarities of the Dahomans, we must refer the
curious to Mr. Forbes's attractive volumes—attractive
volumes we may with justice call them, yet the themes
of which they treat are occasionally most repulsive.
Witness, for instance, the horrible picture of the
human sacrifices. The most effectual, and, indeed,
,e only sure means of putting an end to those in-
quities, and abating the horrors of the slave-trade, is
;he introduction of Christianity and the encourage-

ment of commerce. Commerce is not only
the result, but the precursor of civilization ; and
Mr. Forbes remarks, in furtherance of this argument,
that the inhabitants of a vast extent of coast have

been led to give up the slave trade, because they have
learned the vast increase of the value of the palm oil
trade over that in slaves. " There are kings in the
Camaroons and Bonny rivers whose ledgers, kept by
themselves, would grace any counting house in this
country ; and whole minds, expanded by education,
have made them bold enough to declare that the old
superstition of the Eboe should no longer exist,
setting the example of becoming Christians. When
the slave trade is checked, other trade should be sub-
stituted, or it will soon revive. To insure success,
education should be first planted, and then trade intro-
duced ; thus, becoming enlightened, the African
would sicken at the horrors he has hitherto
encouraged." Full of sound a©d practical wisdom
are the remarks of Mr. Forbes on these matters.
He illustrates the immense importance of education
in effecting the suppression of the slave trade by the
fact " that if a man spoke only a few words of
English, he would be gladly turned out of a barracoon,
being deemed by his unlawful master an educated
and dangerous man." The self-esteem of the
Dahomans as a nation is somewhat ridiculous.
"how often," says Mr. Forbes, "have I been told in
Dahomey, you make war on the Portuguese and
beat them, we on the Attapahms and others with
equal success." These,' said the mayo, pointing to
two tumblers on the table, are alike in size, in make,
in shape ; this is Dahomey, that England ! See, I
turn round and looking again I cannot dis-
tinguish; they are co-equal, the greatest white
and the greatest black nations. Your Queen
can conquer all white nations, Gego can take all
blacks !' " Leaving much unsaid, we have yet said
enough to indicate the interesting nature of this
work. The chapters relative to the manners and cus-
toms of the Dahomans will well repay the trouble of
examination ; they are full of curious information.
The appendix gives a vocabulary of the Dahoman
language. The numerals seam to be arranged after a
curious fashion; some are simple and concise, such as
Woh-10, and Koh-20 ; and others are compounds
of many numbers, such as 16 —Ah fau tong noo koo
noo deh poh. No trouble or expense has been spared
in the getting up of this work, which is illustrated
by many curious coloured lithographs. Among these
is a portrait of Gego, King of Dahomey. its
sable Majesty is attired in a hat and feathers,
and a magnificent blue mantle passing] over one
shoulder, an attendant holds over him an immense
crimson umbrella. Umbrellas of gorgeous colours
and large dimensions seem the fashion at Dahomey;
they are conspicuous in the representations here given
of " receptions" and other public festivals. Another
portrait in these volumes is that of Sarah Forbes
Bonetta, the little black princess recently presented to
her Mjesty, and brought from Dahomey by Com-
mander Forbes.

THE GOLD MINES OF RUSSIA
A letter from St. Petersburgb, of the Btb, says :
" The quantity of gold produced in 1847 was 1,741
ponds, or about 95 millions of francs; in 1848,
1,726 ponds ; and in 1849, 1,587 ponds. The amount
for 1850 is not yet known. In 1848 and 1849 the
exportation of gold was prohibited, and in 1850
the position of the exchange did not permit it.
On the contrary, a part of the loan in London
was paid in gold and silver. Yet the circula-
tion of gold pieces does not seem more abundant,
and gold appears but very rarely in the daily
transactions at St. Petersburgh and Moscow. This
state of things cannot be explained, except by the LW-
cumulation of gold in the fortress, and by the dis-
semination of gold coin to the most remote provinces
of this vast empire. The contracts for articles fur-
nished in the army being generally paid in gold,
Russian half-imperials are tolerably abundant in
Germany. The increas.a of the population, and the
greater amount of comfort and of luxury in
Russia, explain also a more considerable absorption
of gold. The production of gold in Russia has
been decreasing since 1847, which circumstance
is to be attributed to a progressive tax levied since
that period on the produce of the mines. As the Go-
vernment exercises the monopoly of the smelting of
the precious metals, the produce of the mines of
private persons, which give more than three-fourths
of the general amount, is always delivered up to the
Government, which coins it, or otherwise disposes of
it. The Government has naturally paid attention to
the changes taking place in the circulation of gold
throughout the rest of Europe. The recent prohi
bition to export silver seems to intimate that it w'
not interfere with the position of gold."

The printing press of a daily piper in Boston,
United States, is driven in a manner of which there is nu
ex-ample in any other city in the republic. Through a two-
inch lead pipe, a stream of Chochituate water is introduced
into the meter, which only occupies twenty-four square
inches. The fall of water between the Boston reservoir and
this meter is about a hundred feet. 1 his two• inch steam
stream will discharge eighty gallons of water each lower
and and in passing through the meter will giv a motive pow
e
equal to what is called three-horse power. This is mote
than sufficient fur driving the press. It is less hazaraous
than a steam-engine, requires no attendance, and is always
in readiness.
The subscriptions in support of the Manchester and
Salford new educational scheme exceed 7,000/.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
Three young men, named Illonstcas, Leo, and List
were brought before Alderman Wire by George Scott,
the etlicer, charged wi'h having prowled about the
streets for the purpose of picking pockets, and appropri-
ating any property which might tempt their Skill and
experience. _ _ .

the prisoners had made various unsuccessful efforts
upon the careless passers-by in the crowded streets, and
at last they fixed their atlentions upon a shop-window
in which there were several valuable articles, and one
of them in an instant, with the hand of a master,
" starred the glaze " (cut out a piece of glass) while the
others covered him, but not from the vigilance of the
officer. Just as the hand was introduced at the broken
pa❑

_ e a young lady stepped down from the top of the
shop. and the three thieves slipped aside, but were im-
mediately secured.
Alderman WIRE—Are these men known to the
police ?
Finnis and several other officers particularized se-
veral occasions upon which the prisoners had operated
together in collecting silk handkerchiefs sod been coin-
mittid, and (ach of them was described as being rapid
in his movements whenever an opportunity 1-,ccurred.
The prisoners said they were hardworking men at
trades very different from that which they were accused
of exercising by the police, but they did not deny that
they might have been falsely accused upon former occa-
sions.

Alderman WIRE sentenced each of them to be impri-
soned for six weeks in Bridewell, and to hard labour.
MARYLEBONE.
Thomas William Thomas, alias Williams, alias Johnson,
was placed at the bar, charged with the following rob-
bery:—
Several witnesses were examined, and it appeared
that about a month ego, the prisoner entered the
shop of Mr. Harris, Union-place, New-road, and re-
quested to know what he should pay for the making up
of a suit of clothes. He was told that the price would
be 305., and upon his receiving that information he
quitted the place, promising to call on the next morning
and bring with him the cloth. In a short time after his
departure a coat, value 3/. 103., was missed from the
counter, and information of the robbery was communicated
to the police. Tottman, 393 A, apprehended the pri-
soner on Saturday afternoon last, from private informa-
tion which he had received, and found the stolen coat
upon his (prisoner's) back.
The prisoner was asked what he had to say, and he
alleged that he bought the coat of a man whom he met
with in a skittle-ground.
It was shown that the prisoner was an old offender,
and had previously been convicted.
He was sent to Newgate for trial.
THAMES.
Rosina Herbert, a sempstress, whose name has been so
often before the public, was brought before Mr. Yardley,
on remand, charged with pawning six linen blouses,
value 4s. 6d. each, the materials of which were given to
her to be made up by a poor woman named Elizabeth
Mercer, of No. 10, Storer-street, Stepney.
In answer to questions by Mr. YARDLEY,
The prosecutrix said she first became acquainted with
the prisoner last April, and gave her slop-work to make
up. Last July the prisoner raised money at the pawn-
broker's upon a coat which the witness gave her to make
up, and as she did not redeem it or make good the loss,
she refused to employ her any longer, and lost sight of
her until a few weeks ago, when the prisoner called upon
her and paid the value of the coat which had been
pawned, and said that, owing to the publicity given to
her examination at this court on a charge of illegally
pawning seven cotton shirts more than 201. had been
sent her by various benevolent persons, which she had
expended in providing a home and clothes for her-
self, her husband, and children. The prisoner also
said that she was most anxious to obtain employment as
a needlewoman and keep her home about her. The wit-
ness, who had just buried her husband, and was on the
eve of her confinemeet with a posthumous child, took pity
on the prisoner and gave her more work. Tho prisoner
had made about two dozen blouses since the latter end
of November, and on the let of February she had six on
hand, which never had been returned. The prosecu-
trix had sent for them previous to and in the course of
her confinement with her last child 20 times, and at last
went to Somesford-street, Mile• end, where the prisoner
and her husband had lodged, and found they had ab-
sconded. Subsequently to this the prisoner's husband
sent a letter to Mrs. Mercer, intimating that the blouses
had been pawned. The prosecutrix, who was in utter
despair at the prospect of losing her employment, and
who was obliged to give unexceptionable security,
sought the prisoner in all directions, and met with her
on Wednesday morning in Rosemary-lane, when she
taxed her with her ingratitude. The prisoner accom
panied Mrs. Mercer to her dwelling, and said the blouses
were not pawned for much, but refused to give any clue
to the place where they could be found, and the conse-
quence has been that Mrs. Mercer, who only obtained a
profit of Id. each on the blouses, has been entirely de-
prived of employment.
Police-constable Smith, 415 K, said, he had been un-
able to trace the blouses pawned by Rosina Herbert, but
he had brought forward a woman, her landlady, of
whom the prisoner bad borrowed a shawl under the
pretence that she wanted to raise money upon it for the
purpose of redeeming the blouses. The prisoner raised
Bs. upon the shawl, sent her landlady the duplicate, and
then absconded with the money,
Mr. YARDLEY asked the prosecutrix if she had heard
of the prisoner's conviction at that court in October last,
when she last employed her and intrusted her with the
blouses.
Mrs. Mercer said she knew all about it, but as the
prisoner had made good the less of the coat pawned last
July, and had been originally recommended to her as a
poor and deserving woman, she took pity on her, and
gave her another chance. She was the more disposed to
do this as she was very poor herself, and had just lost
her husband.
Mr. YARDLEY—Do you know anything of the pri-
soner's husband, or how he and his wife contrived to get
rid of so much money in so short a space of time?
Mrs. Mercer said she did not. The Herberts had only
two young children, and the husband had been employed
in the docks since his wife's last conviction.
Mr. YARDLEY said the prisoner had committed this
offence under circumstances of very considerable aggra-
vation. The prosecutrix, who was almost as poor as
the prisoner herself, wished to give the prisoner another
opportunity of getting her living, and had kindly forgiven
a tormer wrong. The prisoner, however, who was de-
void of the common feelings f gratitude, pawned the
property. The prisoner was a most shameless woman,
who had repeatedly committed a similar offence, and was
totally unworthy of the sympathy which had been ex-
tended towards her, or, indeed, of any pity whatever.
The publicity given to the proceedings in October last,
when the prisoner was charged with illegally
pawning seven cotton shirts, caused a large
SUM of money to be sent for her relief; but
it was proved that she had been convicted more
than a year before of a similar offence, and ho and
his colleague did not think proper to bo made the
medium of giving money to a woman twice convicted of
crime, and therefore hold out a premium to others to
commit offences. They withheld the money, which was
transferred to the poor-box. Notwithstanding this,
many benevolent but ill-judging persons—kind-hearted,
no doubt, and disposed to do good, but very weak-
minded—had forwarded money to the amount of 201.
through other sources, and clothes and food were also
forwarded to her dwelling. Within a few weeks the
prisoner was again found committing a similar offence,
and acting with the most black ingratitude. Most pro-
bably she had done so under the idea—ho hoped a mis-
taken one—of again arousing public sympathy in her
behalf. Sitting in that court as he did for the preven-
tion of crime, he felt bound to visit this case with great
severity, and he sentenced the prisoner to pay a fine of
51. for illegally pawning, and 275., the value of the
goods pledged, and in default of payment committed
her to the House of Correction for two months, and to
be kept to hard labour.
LAMBETH.
Edward Williams alias George Miller, the companion
in several desperate robberies of George Hackett, who.
effected so extraordinary an escape from the Model Prison,
Clerkenwell, was placed in the dock before Mr. Elliott
on the charge of stealing an easy chair, of the value of
2/, from the shop door of Mr. Charles Kedge, a furni-
ture broker and salesman, in the Kent-road, as far
back as the 21st of September, 1849. From the
evidence it appeared that the robbery in this instance
was effected in the same daring manner as many others
by the same gang, namely, by two men driving up in a
light cart, a third man handing in the property, and all
driving off at a speed that insured escape. In the month
of November following the prisoner made an attempt to
get a portmanteau from the top of a cab, in Bond-street.
but having been closely watched by a constable, he
could not effect the robbery, but succeeded in getting
into the cart with his companions. In driving away
at a desperate rate the cart came in contact with
a lamp-post, and the prisoner, who was much stunned
by the fall, was secured, but his associates, George
and John Hackett, succeeded in getting off. For this
offence the prisoner was brought to Marlborough-street
Police-court, and sentenced to three months' imprison-
ment. At that time the prisoner was fully identified as
being one of the persons who had stolen the chair from
Mr. Kedge's, and it was the intention of the officer to
have taken him when released from prison, but he mis-
calculated the time, and by this means the prisoner again
became at large. On Friday night he was taken 111.
Mint-street, in the Borough, on a charge of being on
corned with a young fellow named Goodwin.in
to the old
mission of two acts of sacrilege in breaking
Protestant church and a Dissenting chaps
On these charges the legal evidencecvaa s s
discharged, but
_0
his
Croydonidentity
was not sufficiently strong,
ment. The testimony as tiller.
f Kedge, was quite conclu-
the chair, the property o
his companion was sentencedantthdoehtheprreiesomneornthhasvi' inmgprsittolenn-
officer, in addttion, said he was
theJ o John
rHmaecrk
wase tt
sentenced
sive, and Storey,
vinarfiusiolynmee)mntMitted for trial.
convicted
fe when e thelo felony,
)a.p, prisoner ed- n e
whenand
to
prisoner
ihnee

THE MARBLE ARCII.—The extraordinary exer-
tions which Lave been made to erect the marble arch in its
Appointed place, at the Oxford-street entrance to Ilyde-park,
are visibly evident in a very remarkable degree. The arch
is in a very advanced state, and is in fact fast approaching
towards completion. The workmen have frequently been
employed until a late hour at night, when practicable, and
the operations have been visible, owing to the glare of light
thrown around by the gaslights at the very top of the
works. The works are so far advanced that the massive
gates have been fixed in their places, and the whole of the
superstructure is in a very forward condition. It is the
generally expressed opinion that the arch shows to greater
. advantage than its former position, in consequence of
the present site being much more elevated, and, owing to
its prominent position, the elaborate ornaments and devices
on the front of the arch are now seen to the greatest pos-
i sible advantage.