The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17, 1851.

again formed line, advanced, covered by the light compani ' C tton—The transactions since last month have been con-
of the different corps and by the P:11118, formed square to re- siderable, and at improved rates. Bombay quoted Ts 9to
ceive cavalry, again f,irmed line, then columns of companie,,, Ts. 9 9; Bengal, Ts. 9 4to Ts. 9 8; Madras, Ts. 9 5 to 'Ps.
the cavdry advancing, charging through the interval:, and 10 3. About '0,500 bales have been sold. Stock, say 41,500
retiring under cover of a fire from the artillery. The review
concluded with the general salute, after which the Governor-
General and the Maharaja returned to their respective
camps, and the troops to their several quarters. It was r
fine breezy morning,' says another corespondent, ' diversified
with a few mares' tails, as sTamen call the light floating
clouds that portend wind. The hills between this and Cash-
mere, at not 50 miles off, with their sides covered with snow,
added to the brilliancy of the scene.'

Laies.
Cotton Yarn—Owing to the firmness of holders the sales
have been small. Quotations show an advance for the higher
numbers. Nos. 16 —24 quoted 29 dolls. to 30 dolls.; Nos.
28 32, 31 dolls. to :33 dulls; Nos. 38-42, 34 dolls. to 37
dolls
Shirtings—Prices for greys and the better descriptions of
whites have improved somewhat. Greys ase quoted 2 dolls.
50,t. to 3 dolls. sc. ; whites, 2 dolls, to 3 dolls. 10c. Sales
of both kinds estimated at about 56,000 pieces.
WoollensSpanish Stripes—Stock in Chinese hands is
large. Prices remain as before 90c. to 1 doll. Long ells,
assorted, 6 dolls. 80c. to 7 dolls. 30c. ; scarlet, 7 dolls. 85c.
Iron—The sales are reported at 8,000 peculs; stock large.
Rat, 2 dolls. 40c. to 2 dolls. 70c per pecul; bar, 2 dolls.
10c. to 2 dolls. 20c. ; round, 2 dolls. 80c. to 4 dolls. 30c.;
hoops, 2 dolls. 60c, to 2 dolls. 80e. Tin plates, 9 dolls. to
9 dolls. 513 c.
Cochineal-90 dolls. to 115 dolls.
Turkey Opium-340 dolls. per pecul, and stock large.
Tea—During the month there has been a fair amount of
busineSs done in black tea. About 26 chops of congou have
been settled at Tl 6 and T 18. Of the new greens 200,000
packages have arrived, but no settlements of consequence
have taken place.

CHINA.
The following is our correspondent's letter, dated
Hong-Kong, December 30, 1850:
" The mail steamer arrived here on the morning of
the 18th, bringing dates from Ertglaad to the 24. h of
Oct then
" Notwithstanding the cold and bracing weather we
now have great sickness still prevails among her Ma-
jpeta 's 59th Ftegiinent—upwarda of 200 being generally
in the hospital. It is confined chiefly to those who
were laid up last summer; but it is evident that, there is
something radically wrong when, at a period of the ye it
when all other invalids rapidly recover, sickness and
mortality still exist to so great a degree among one
regiment, and is confined to them.
It is easy to conjecture what the results of ano-her
hot season will be should a proper inquiry not be instituted
into the causes of the sickness, and suitable remedies not
be immediately adopted. The manner iu which you have
called the attentien of Government to the subject has
given general satisfaction to all in this settlement; and
the same feeling must exist everywhere—that a serious
responsibility rests upon those who neglect the melan-
choly facts brought to their knowledge, and thereby sa-
crifice lives for want of proper treatment and proper re-
medies.
"The Statesman has left with 92 invalids, of whom
58 are of the 59th Regiment, after having been only one
year in the East. Three military doctors are among
the sick, and have left, and those remaining are per-
fectly inadequate to the duties devolving on them, par-
ticularly as the compounding of medicines, keeping of
accounts, and making returns, form part of their duties.
"It is generally reported at Canton that Commissioner
Lin is dead. He was sent by the Emperor to put down
the rebels in the Kwangsi district, not very far from
Canton. From the energy of his character, and the
dread entertained of him by his countrymen. his death
may be considered a loss to the Empire. He is well
known to foreigners by his acts in 1839—by the durance
he kept them in for six weeks, and by the seizure of
the opium.
" Two Swedish missionaries at Foochow, returning
from a vessel with a small amount of money for their
personal wants, were attacked a few weeks ago bj
pirates. One (Mr. Fast) was killed, and the other was
severely wounded, but escap, d by jumping into the
water and swimming ashore. The Chinese authorities
were very prompt on this occasion in discovering the
perpetrators and inflicting punishment.
" Some months ago we alluded to the duty of two
mace that had, contrary to the spirit of the treaty, been
put upon tea by order of the Viceroy at Canton. We
understand that Lord Palmerston has written for all
particulars connected with the question. The merchants
at Canton have deposited with the consul there a formal
protest against the tax and this violation of the treaty,
and a copy of this document will no doubt go forward to
his Lordship.
" At Canton the Chinese holy days, which coanmanced
early in February, are expeet,i to pass over quietly.
" There is an active demand there for most ar ides of
import, and the advices from Shanghai, which reach to
the 23d of December are also mote favourable.
" At both places there has been a good deal done in
tea. The total exp rts, to date, to Great Britain are
41,000 000ib., against 39 000,000;b. last year. The
transactions in silk have hen hmited. Total export
from Shanghai, to date, 12,500 bales, aguin:t e,soo to the
same period last year.
" Her Majesty's screw-steamer Reynard returned
with the Bishop of Victoria, on the 19tn. from Shanahai
and the other f, a ports. Captain Ince, t f her Majesty's
brig Pilot, died here en the 11:h. Lieutenant 'matey,
of the Hastings, is appointed to the coweaaud.
" Her Majesty's brig Contest leaves to-day for Shang-
hai to relieve the Pilot. Her Majesey's steamer Sphiex
returned from the north on the 26th inst.

Black.

Green.

Total.

Export from Canton from July 1,
1850, to liec. 24, 1050 26,112,000 3,097,000 29,209,000
Export from Sharghai from July 1,
1850, to Dec. 18, 1850 •• .. 11,019,000 1,321,000 12,340,000

37,131,000 4,418,000 41,549,000

Export from Canton from July 1,
1849, to Dec. 24, 1849 .• •• 27,651,600 2,971,000 30,621,008
Export from Shanghai from July 1,
1819, to December 24, 1049 8,245,060 184,000 8,429,000

35,896,000 3,145,000 39,050,000
Exchanges on England—First class paper and American
credits, ss. 14. and ss. 11/2d. India—Company's accepted
paper, 232 r. to 233 r. per 100 dolls.
Freights nominal. Some vessels are offering at 11. 103.
for immediate dispatch.
Our advices from Shanghai are to the 23d inst. There
had been a good amount of business done in imports, but
prices showed little improvement. Shipments of produce
continued heavy.
Tea—Large purchases of low Cengous had been made at
rather higher rates, The settlements of green were estimated
at 160,000 packages. of which about. 35,000 packages were
for the English market.
Silk - Prices remained without change, and the business
done had been inconsiderable. The market was nearly clear
of the finer sorts. No. 1 and 2 Tsatlee, nominal at 445 dolli.;
No. 3, 380 dolls. to 410 dolls. ; Taysaam, 270 dolls. to 330
dolls. Export since Ist of July last 12,120 bales.
Shirtinga—The demand for the better descriptions of
greys had been good. Greys quoted 1 doll. 88c. to 2 dolls.
83c. ; whites, 2 dolls. We. to 2 dolls. 60c. The sales of both
descriptions about 125,000 pieces.
Spanish Stripes—About 4,000 pieces were sold at 85c. to
90c. for assorted.
Exchange on England—Oriental Bank and first class
paper, ss. ; American credits, 58. Id. India—Company's
accepted bills, 236 r. per 100 dolls. . .
Freights-41. for tea, and 4/. 10s. for silk.
SHIPPING.
ARRIVALS FROM GREAT BRITAIN.
At Hong-Kong—Dec. 7, the R.jasthan. from Liverpool;
Dec. 9, the iilargaretra, from Hall; Dec. 14, the Investiga-
tor, from London • Dec. 25, William I. (Du.), from Newport.
At Shanghai—bec. 12, the Catbaya, from Liverpool ;
Dec. 16, the John Dugdale' from Liverpool; Dec. ;9, the
Confucius, from Liverpool; Dec. 19, the Viscount Sandon,
from London.

DEPARTURES TO GREAT
From Hong-Kong--Nov. 28, the Pilgrim, to London;
Dec. 5. the Wisconsin (Am.), to London; Dee. 29, the
Statesman, to London.
From Whampoa —Dec. 6, the Crisis, to Liverpool; Dec.
12. the Esperanca (Hanover), to London.
From Shanghai—Nov. 11, the Sir J. Beresford, to Liver-
pool; Nov. 12, the Pilot Fish, to Cork; Nov. 21, the Shah
Jehan and the Brahmin, to London; 'ov. 23, the James
Turcan, to London ; Nov. 30, the Duke of Portland. to
London; D..c. 3, the Iris, to London; Dec. 4, the Lord
Ashl-y, io London; Dec. 18, the Ann Lockerby, to Liver-
pool.— Times.

In Harbour—Her Majesty's ship Hastings, steamer
Sphinx, and her Mai, sty's brig Contest.
"At Whampoa —The screw steamer Reynard.
" At Canton—The ste.tmer Phlegethon.
•' At Amoy—Her Majesty's brig Serpent.
" At Shanghai—The Pilot.
" Our latest dates are—from England, October 24;
United States, October 13; Calcutta, November 8;
Bombay, November 18; Singapore, Decemb,,r 7; Ma-
nilla, December 2; Sydney, September 30; and Port
Philip, October 9.

COMMERCIAL IN lELLIGENCE.
(From the Telegraph and Courier.)
BOMBAY, JAN. 17.
The Bombay market for British manufactures has during
the fortnight under review been unusually dull. Indeed,
business has been almost entirely suspended; and the few
sales made have in most instances been forced, and the native
dealers exhibiting great reluctance to purchase. This state
of matters has arisen chiefly from the monetary pres-ure in.
the Bazaar—the banks having increased their rates of dis-
count to 7 and 10 per cent. on Government and private bills
respectively.
The yarn market is greatly depressed.
Money continues very scarce. The banks have raised
their rates of interest another i per cent. all round, and are
understood to be very unwilling to increase the accommoda-
tion already granted to their constituents. The tightness
in t'.e Bazaar is said to be greater than for a length of time,
and is accompanied by an unusaal amount of distrust, as the
stoppage of D. and r.J. Pestonjee has caused an uneasy feel-
ing. Government securities and Bank shares are difficult of
sale at the following quotations :—New Fives, 96i to 97;
Sicca Fives. 1011] to 102 ; Company's Fours, 80i to 81; Sicca
Fours, 84 ; Transfer Loan, 110 ; Bank of Bombay shares,
14 to 14i per cent. premium; Oriental, Y.O per cent. dis-
count ; Commercial, 12 to 13 per cent. discount ; Agra, 1
per cent. disc unt. he tendency of English each Inge has
been rather downwards since the date of our last report, and
sellers are now firm at 2s. 2id. to 2s. 2 9-61 d. ; for China drawn
six months' eight bills, 2s. ; eight to 2s. Sd., for local bill
with documents; and 2s. 2id. for Scotch bank credits at 60,
amount sight.
Freights we quote at 2/. to 21. 5s to London and Liverpool,
and 13r. per candy to China
Grey Skirtings, 40 inch.—Only ..!,o'o pieces of these have
been sold at 4r. la., and a small lot of 45-inch at 4r. 14a. to
5r 15ic c per. piece.
G. ey Madapollams—These have been influenced favour-
ab:y by the fact that imports have fallen off, but only
about 7,000 pieces have been sold at 2r. sa. since the last
mail left.
Grey Jacconets—ln these no sales have come to our know-
ledge, and there is no demand whatever for them.
For Domestics and 'I cloths there has been a little in-
quiry. We under,tand that 4,000 pieces of the former and
6,500 pieces of the latter have been sold at about former
rates.
Bleached shirtings and madapollams are very dull, only
a few boxes having been sold at 4r, 12i. and 2r. 3a. per
piece.
Bleached jacconets are in very feeble request, only 500
pieces having been disposed of at a very low rate.
There is no demand whatever for prints and woollens. A
few sales of Turkey red cambrics, 24 by 33, have b-en made
at 84r. We also near f a sale of li0) pieces of Turkey' red
mule, 38 in., at sr.

Cotton Yarn—The market for yarns is very much de
pressed. It is repined that o'o bales of water No. 33 have
been sold at I('aa. A few bales of mange have been disposed
of at 10a. per lb.
Metals have also partaken of the general dulness.
Beer—There is no beer of B..ss's brew in the market, but
it is in good demand, and the first arrivals are expected to
bring high rates.
Cotton—Dhollera cotton may now be quoted at 113 r. to
114 r. ; and Compta at lOBr. to -109 r. We hear that contracts
have been made fig new Broach at 115 r. per candy.
Opium - Holders of Malwa opium are giving way, and the
price of the best Mundlaisar may be quoted at 1,020 r., and
Indore at 9.0 r. per chest. The operations for the China
steamer, which leaves to-morrow, are on an exceedingly
limited scale, say about 150 to 200 chests. The Marwarries
are sending forward the drug on their own account. The
present stock is estimated at 5,400 chests.
(From the Calcutta Englishman, Jan. 7.)
The Hindustan, witt the mail, bringing London dates to
the 25th of November, reached her rm orings on the after-
noon of the 4tb, and the mercantile advices being of a less
encouraging tendency than they were by the previous dis-
patch, we cannot look forward to any increased activity in
our export, market, which since our last issue has been in a
quiet state ; particularly during the past week, the daily ex-
pectation of the receipt of later home news proving detri-
mental to any free course operations. The value of the leading
staples has, however, n t experienced any material altera
the continued very moderate supplies indueing the generality
of holders to maintain firmness, though some, passed
by the tightness of the Bazaar money market, show
a willingness to meet slightly easier offers. On these
terms sugar has met with extended sales, with a decided
show of inclination to proceed upon more important transac-
tions. Saltpetre again looked after for home shipments,
while a fair demand for America and France continues, and
prices have thereby been kept to the extreme value of the
previous week. Rice in general inquiry, and large business
done at very full but generally unaltered rates. The indigo
market has been in an unsettled state, the want of later home
advises determining h 'lders to refrain from sales, and buyers
to act on the reserve in their biddings. In silk business has
been on a limited scale, supplies of the new bend continning
small, while purchases are less eagerly pursued. Corahs have
met with a moderate inquiry at last week's rates. Shell lac
arid lac dye continue in demand, with prices looking up. Oil
seeds atill command extensive inquiry at extreme previous
rates. Jute in general request, which is stimulated by a
slight concession in prices for the middling and lower quali-
ties. Under the influence of a tight Bazaar money market,
and the last little se. isfactory China accounts, opium has
further receded 10r. to 15r.
The slackness which prevailed in our import markets when
we last wrote has continued without any intermission. The
market for cotton piece-goods in particular has remained ex-
tremely dull. Mule twist is also flat, and has sustained a
further slight decline in value. Turkey red yarn has again
fallen 6 pies per lb. Copper improved a little after the de-
parture of the last mail, but it has again slackened. Iron
continues extremely low. Spelter is at 6-4. The demand for
pig lead is dull at 6-0.
In our money market the demand is increasing, and the
Bank of Bengal has raised its rates of interest 1 per cent.
per annum.
Exchange has been more largely dealt in than for some
time past, which t ended to lead rates slightly in favour of
sellers, negotiations ruling for six months' sight credit, bills
at 2-2 to 2--2 h; document drafts, 2-2 i to 2-2 i.
Freights have been kept to last week's improvement, with
an upward tendency in requirements, to which, however,
general shippers have not acceded.
Indigo—The demand has, since our last, been less brisk,
mainly owing to the continued absence of later home news,
and the transactions by private treaty have been confined.
Public sales offering the undermentioned quantities, for
which prices in the middling and lower sorts ruled at the
cheapest previous terms, and in some instances sr. below, the
market being in an unsettled state determining holders to
refrain from sales and buyers to act 012 the reserve in their
biddings.

CANTON MARKET REPORT.
HONG-KONG, Dzc. 80, 1850.
During the month the demand for import, bee continued
itCllll.

LITERATURE.

and the Quarterly; your neighbour, the Radical, reads '
the Daily News and the Westminster. You associate
with Tories; he with Chartists. You imbibe political
wisdom at agricultural dinners; he at demonstrations
for the ballot. That is to say, you both seek for infor-
mation just where you are sure to find your own opinions
glorified, and your neighbour's misrepresented.
" The consequence is, that each of you knows as little
as possible about the real opinions of the other, and
nothing at all of the grounds on which they have been
formed. Yet you treat each other as if you knew them
perfectly, and knew that they were evil.
" Can you say that in this mutual distrust and dispa-
ragement you are not bearing false witness against your
neighbour?
Or again; perhaps you are a Churchman in religion.
You acknowledge the creeds and the catechism; you
have faith in the efficacy of sacratnents ; you bow to the
decision of councils, and respect the apostolical succes-
sion. You take much interest in the building of churches,
and you reverence time•honoured ceremonies and autho-
rized forms.
" Your neighbour is a Dissenter. He accepts no creed
but the Bible, aid no interpretation of it but his own.
He loves simplicity, is indifferent about architecture, and
sees the dress of antichrist in a bishop's gown. He ex-
pects no heavenly graces from the services of another,
and looks to obtain them only by the prayer and travail
of his own soul.
"You call him a schismatic, and he calls you a bigot.
You are satisfied that his opinions are the result of a
presumptuous will; be is sure that yours have sprung
from the influence of a blind prejudice. You will not
believe that any humble and devout mind could arrive at
his conclusions; he is quite as certain that honesty and
common sense are incompatible with yours.
"If you could but know each other's spiritual history.
If, with the searching eye of that God to whom yon
both appeal, you could gez j openly upon each other's
souls. how different might your judgment be!
"You would see, perhaps in each the same thirst for
truth—the same dread of error—the same consciousness
of sin. You would find that, in both cases, belief had
grown up out of many tears and prayers, many doubts
and struggles,—through the discipline of lite—by the
bedside of death; with the same sense of God's presence
and of man's eternal responsibilites."
Among a variety of odd conceits scattered through
the pages, the following may be taken as the one de-
scribed with possibly the most animation. Conway
is depicting to Jenny the circumstances under which
he painted the likeness of Helen for Harry Farnley.
"It was about a year ago—a month or two before
you left the South—l was in this neighbourhood for a
short time, and was visited by a fine young fellow, an
officer in the army, who declined giving me his name,
but told me he wanted a miniature likeness of a lady
who refused to sit for it. It was therefore to be done
by stealth, at a concert to be given in the town next day.
I have reason enough to remember it! The day was
hot and the room was full. To screen me from observa-
tion, I was placed behind the kettle-drums. The dis-
tance was too great. I was compelled to use an opera-
glass to see the features of the subject. The concert—
alas! that I should call it so—had begun before the lady
arrived. The little drummer in front of me rapped
away as if he would crack the parchment; the mouth
of a huge trombone was bellowing an inch or two
above my ear,—most men would have thrown their
pencils at the kettle-drums, and kicked the brass abomi-
nation through the window, under similar circumstances;
they affected me indifferently, however. For a minute
I was almost mad; my fiugers shook with the heat and
the noise. I drew a line that was as much like a grass-
hopper as Miss Farnley's nose, or any nose in the uni-
verse. Then a sudden frenzy of enthusiasm seized me;
I shook my fist at the trombone, and defied all the drams
of Islam to interrupt me— a grand chorus, in which
every instrument joined with redoubled fury, seemed to
be the acceptance of my challenge. ' Ha, ha I' I
shouted in the midst of it, and fell to work more fiercely
than ever. It was a splendid victory. The portrait
was a masterpiece."
Once, and once only to our recollection, does the
novelist attempt anything like a humorous descrip-
tion. Here it is. He is speaking of summer in the
metropolis.
"It was morning in London—a fine, hot, dusty, sum-
mer's morning. The street a full of bright sunshine and
dreadful smells; the walkers very dry in their throats,
and very moist upon their faces; the shopmen unusually
pale, and much given to sighing; the horses stew:ling
with lather on their necks, as if waiting to be shaved; or
trotting hopelessly over the stones, with lolling tongues,
whipping their own sides unsparingly with their dis-
contented tails."

THE FIRST ANGEL. A Novel in Two Vo-
lumes Saunders and 0 tley.
Whoever may have written this agreeable fiction
has, in it, d;epleyed abilities deserving of every en-
couregemeet. I'o pretend that the work is altogether
unblemished by evidences of immaturity would be a
mere affectation of compliment. Nevertheless, these
very tokens of immaturity are the precise features
which win for the effusion the reader's interest, and
extort, however unwillingly, the reviewer's sym-
pathy. For they indicate rather clearly the absence
of that skill in composition which is alone capable of
acquisition by practice in authorcraft, that adroitness
in style which, in many instances, practice degene-
rates into mannerism, but which, when that practice
is accompanied by critical judgment, becomes ripened
to the perfection visible in the masterpieces of our
literature. Had we taken up one of the volumes hap-
hazard, and glanced through a single chapter, we
should have recognized with facility the hand of a
student-novelist, an adventurer upon' the career of
letters, an aspirant for those intellectual honours
which in their highest manifestation crown the scho-
lar with bay-garlands in the capitol. Without as-
piring to compete thus literally with the fame of
Petrarch, the writer of now-a-days, be he poet, or
romancist, or playwright, or historian, aims at
achieving for himself a success quite equivalent to
that most illustrious of all coronations—the success
of a wide and genuine popularity. Ambition has
been called a " glorious fault," but an ambition
like this, so peculiarly innocuous of its kind, can
scarcely be regarded as a fault at all, partaking,
on the contrary, as it does, rather of the character-
istics of a virtue. Whenever; therefore, we perceive
any indication of hopes having this particular ten-
dency, our regard is enlisted at once in the cause of
the aspirant. When coupled with these yearnings for
popularity we detect, through the unavoidable flaws
and weaknesses of a first work, the ardent spirit and
crude powers of a youthful imagination, that interest
is in a manner redoubled. But when added to all this
we find the tyro exercising his partially developed
abilities for the inculcation of a pure and evangelic
morality we instinctively turn towards him and his
efforts that genial warmth of welcome which of all
things is the best calculated to incite him to arouse
his dormant energies. Such adolescence of intellect,
such generosity of ambition, such depth and sweet-
ness of morality, we recognise in the author of the
volumes before us, the half-grown but still blooming
fruits of a mind capable, we conceive, of better and
loftier achievements. " The First Angel," taken as a
first work, is removed from the iron and inexorable
grasp of ordinary criticism. It appeals to the gentler
feelings of the reviewer, demanding at his hands for
every merit the applause which leads to larger
excellences, for every blemish the hint best
tending to prevent the possibility of their recurrence.
Fortunately not only for the writer of the story,
but for ourselves in like manner, there are of these
merits not a few in the coutse of the narrative. For-
tunately we say for ourselves, seeing that of all the
tasks imposed upon us in our capacity as critics that
of tomahawking a young and ambitious writer is the
most uncongenial and repulsive.
" sit and laugh in Rabellaia' easy chair,"
is delightful enough when the subject of our annota-
tions happens to be scene mature and callous book-
maker, whose sensibilities to ridicule have been
blunted by frequent disappointmentse.and whose self-
esteem is defended, so to speak, by an epidermis as
impenetrable as the scales of an armadillo, or the skin
of a hippopotamus. With. regard to a young writer,
such as we believe the anonymous author of "The
First Angel" to be, our sentiments are altogether dif-
ferent. In his instance we acknowledge at once that
our principal anxiety is to discover,. if possible—not
blots, but beauties. We open the volumes vigilant
for all that can extort our admiration. Respecting
the novel at our elbow we may say that our solici-
tude in this particular has been not eenfrequently gra-
tified. We have found the tale simple in purpose,
and for the nonce sufficiently unaffected. What ap-
pears to us to be the principal merit of the production
is the structure of its machicety. The plot is
at once ingeniously complicated and naturally
elucidated. Here the romancist has shown himself to
our thinking to be especially successful. Shifting
a dewy lawn at
his scenes from Africa to Europe; from a provincial
village to the great metropolis, from
daybreak to a London ball-room in the height of the
season, and at midnight—he has contrived to diversify
the interest, and to bring out in broad lights and sha-
dows the principal personages introduced, by sug-
gesting appropriate yet contrasting back-grounds.
His dialogue, moreover, generally speaking is na-
tural enough, whether it be articulated in the heart
of a desert, or in the bosom of a dotnestic circle. Se-
veral of the imaginary character are especially good,
as the creations of a beginner. 'The villain of the
book, above them all, is entitled to commendation as
a study from the Varney of Sir Bulwer Lytton.
Like the profligate in " Lucretia," Roger Conway is
an artist, but, unlike his extraordinary prototype,
Conway repents before his dissolution. In his in-
stance, the heart's blood of the reader is not curdled
with horror by a description of the earthly hell of
Norfolk Island, where felons are transformed into
devils incarnate by the hopeless prolongation of their
sufferings. Seeing that the fiction opena with the
betrothal of Helen and Harry Farnley, we are led to
imagine for a while at its outset that those are its hero
and heroine. A little, progreke in the narrative
assures us to the contrary. We then discover
the heroine in the person of a young girl named
Anna Morville, the daughter of a refugee from the
first French Revolution. Her father dying in the
wilderness from inanition and fatigue, Anna is res-
cued from death by Harry Farafey, who bas strayed
from the army, in which, as a
junior officer, be had
proceeded to Egypt under Aleatcrombie. Upon a
casket of jewels, containing a will,
written in sympa-
thetic ink, the fortunes of the chief personages in the
romance are dependent, and this casket is saved to
Anna Morville by her rescuer from destruction. The
hero of this story we have yet mentioned ; and
this is about the most elaborately drawn character in
the volumes. His name is simple and plain enough
in all conscience, being nothing More euphonious or un-
common Morris Smith, before we
comics to secure to himself
cthhoaemv
ecmhoien followedtphortrnt
portion
niati of
ofot
long, r
sermpethies. His happiness
at the commencement of the tale has in it some-
thing terrible, from its serenity-and completeness, and
is contrasted horribly with his sobsequent calamities.
The rapid demise of poor ,Jeriaii, her twin sister Mary,
and their gentle-hearted mother, invests the narrative
with a strange and oppressiVe melancholy. After-
wards,
he however,ho , 'relieved by a return of
jay to again is dissipated by the
wertthhoeugghloothmis is
sudden death of his long-loved and dearly- purchased
bride. What appears to us the prominent blemish in
the work is a certain. over-celsniring in the sentiment.
such a length as to de-
heess. The badinage
gSeonmeeratituelesiotthoismiesrcearirnie4dwktei,4
between Jenny and Morris, again, is in the highest
degree unnatural and ridictOtte—brother and sister
never coquetting in any suet absurd manner in real
life, or only, doing so, we shone opine, when conspicu-
ous for frivolity and sillitieeS;,,'Xr. Forland, likewise,
attracting towards
intaaryPagillinsg of interest. Con-
hitsriamtshtseehlvfimenr°ieWsi;nhsetthrhicek°r 14r. Dale Of Bulwer Lytton's novel
in Blackwood, and the inadequacy of the portraiture
becomes painfully appreciable. Notwithstanding,
however, this occasional weakness of portraiture, the
production before us is adorned with many agreeable
limnings of character. Anna Marville especially, the
First Angel, so called from her casual appearance in
childhood, is conceived with a true and exquisite ap-
preciation of esthetic beauty. Her temperament
throughout is shown to be right womanly, and not
a merely fantastic idealism. Once or twice the charm
of interest
ieeof
tiu
excitement, her fortunes rises to the
height
her history when she apparently becomes the victim of
the n
Rogernign particular at that portion of
Conway. Of the novelist's
losscui arterrntoilusetnad t!
style of composition we can speak in terms of ap-
proval, seeing that, although unmellowed as yet
by cultivation, it betrays a capacity admitting
of very large development. His diction,
almost always elegant and perspicuous, is at times
even eloquent and picturesque. Here, for example, is
a rich and poetic simile regarding sunset on an Eng-
lish landscape—the writer describing the house
of Helen Fernley as being situated with a westerly
aspect, " BO that the setting sunbeams fell full upon it
in summer evenings, turning the windows into fiery
beacons, and pouring rubies upon the large, sloping
lawn in front when the dew began to fall." Subjoined
is a specimen of the author's powers in didactic com-
position. His argument runs to the effect that the
divine commandment Thou shalt not bear false wit-
ness against thy neighbour," is more frequently
broken than any other law of the Decalogue. lie
says:—
" You are, perhsps, a Conservative in politics. You
think that authority is the right of the few, and obe-
dience the duty of the many. You have a reverence for
kings, and a contempt for mobs; you see that change is
dangerous, and public opinion fickle, and you sigh for
golden days that are departed.
" Your neighbour is a Radical. He thinks there is no
rightful authority save the will of the people. Ile dis-
claims obedience and turns up his lip at kings. Instead
of the danger of change, be can see nothing but its be-
nefits. The past is to him all misery rind corruption,
and all his hope is in the good time coming.
" You dislike one another, and avoid one another.
You think him a deeigerous fellow; a friend to violence
and commotion. He thinks you a selfish obstacle, a
lover of tyranny and a foe to human improvement.
" You convey these improvements to others while you
act on them yourselves, and the truth meanwhile is pro-,
bably this—that you are two very honest and very ill-
informed men; that you equally desire the good of your
country and of the world, and that you differ chi Ay beeau:e
eeucatien, and taste, and circumstance, have led each of
you tees Only one side of a very difficult question.
" You would soon learn this if you took any pains to
do justice to one another, but you do nothing of the
kind. You, the Conservative) reed the Morning Post

Such are among the principal characteristics of " The
First Angel "—a fiction which, with care and industry
on the part of its author, may prove only the lire-
cursor of many brilliant romances.