The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-11 00:00:00

_EVENINLI_,

FLOREACE SACKVIGLE; or SELP-DE-
PENDENCE. By Airs. Burbury. 3 Vols.
Smith and Elder.
This is a❑ interesting and striking autobiography
of a young lady who is placed through life i u most
trying circumstances. With a selfish and extra vi Igant
father, an indolent and unjust mother, and a vain,
helpless younger sister, Florence Sackvillc i ndeed
requires self-dependence. Her father's affairs b !come
hopelessly embarrassed, the family property is sold,
and they are left almost penniless, deserted b y the
unhappy cause of so much misfortune. Hele) 3, the
youngest child, is the mother's favourite, which
affection carries her to the improbable extre me of '
refusing thanks or encouragement to her self. sacri-
ficing eldest child, to cherish an-I commiserate th ,ts sel-
fish and thoughtless Helen. Vre cannot help re; ,net-
ting that the talented authoress did not choose 3 some
other field of action for her heroine than the one w hich
she has drawn. There might hive been less that ; was
painful in the story,' and more that was attracti, 7e in
the plot. Florence Sackville herself is the chief fea-
ture of interest, and certainly her misfortunes e: cite
the strongest sympathy. Mr. Temple is a despit :able
character and quite unworthy tie position of a ] lero.
The episode of poor Milly is very painful, thou] ;h it
seems a style of subject which is to be found in most
novels. 'Why, it might be difiictlt to say, as it can
scarcely prove attractive, and theend is always pls ,inly
foreseen. The incidents in "Florence Sackvi .11e
are striking and varied. Some cf the figures in tro-
duced are, it is to be feared, very natural, though not
always to be admired. The heroine has ani
though undisciplined character, rnd the misfort ones
and depreciation she so constantl7 meets with 'only
increase the admiration of the realer.

KOSSUTH DEMONSTRATION IN
BIRMINGHAM.
Birmingham was yesterday the scene of what was
generally admitted to be the most important and
general popular demonstration that hsd been witn eased
there since the memorable year 1832, when the r t ieet-
ings of the working classes of that great manufactur: ring
town had so beneficial an influence or, the progre s s of
the Reform Bill. But although Birmingham i tself
was the great scene of excitement, the progres sof
Kossuth and his friends might be cbemed a trim nph
almost from their departure from London. Owin gto
misinformation as to the time of departure, which had
appeared in the weekly papers, there were comp; ira-
tively few persons assembled in Euston-square, wl iere
Kossuth and party arrived at 9 o'clock ; but f rom
those present the illustrious exile received a n cost
warm and enthusiastic reception
Mr. Stu art,
secretary, Captain Finish, manage', and the tr, affic
superintendent, received the visitor. The direr;tors
had attached the carriage originally built for the
Queen Dowager to the 9i express train, and :in it
Kossuth took his place, accompan.ed by M. Pu;lski,
Mr. Toulmin Smith, and M. Hajnicke
the Hungarian police.
By the time the train had arrived at Wolverti:in it
late prefee .1 of
would appear that the electric telecraph had don.e its
work, for the station and all the adjoining emb; ank-
ments were crowded with spectatcrs. So great was
the crowd on the platform that it wt's with the gre fittest
difficulty the railway police could obtain a passag t 3 for
Kossuth. He was tremendously cheered on his 'way
to the refreshment room, where he remained for a few
minutes, and on his return to his carriage the crowd
actually clung to the doors, anxious to catch a parting
glimpse of the distinguished stranger.
At Coventry the excitement was still more int( inse,
as at that place there must have been several thou mud
persons congregated about the station. The Hut nga-
rian colours might be seen in every direction
cockades, in bonnets, and on the costumes of the lei lies.
Several ladies rushed together to the carriage doors,
and presented bouquets, which, we need hardly a eld,
were most gracefully and
grateful :y received. E A:6-
suth bowed his acknowledgments repeatedly, and as
the train glided away from the station received 1;wo
or three distinct rounds or cheering.
All these demonstrations were, however, eclipsed
by the triumph that awaited the exile in Birminglaitm,
the capital of the " small masters," with whose ho-
nesty and independence of spirit Kossuth had shown
himself so intimately acquainted by the allusions made
to them in more than one of his speeches. The station,
although situated in a remote and inferior part of the
town, was completely surrounded by the people, who
cheered vociferously as the party alighted on the
platform. Kossuth was received by Mr. Geach,
M.P. for the county, Messrs. Scholefield and Muntz,
the two Members fur Birmingham, and Mr. Wright,
Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Reception.
The party proceeded at once to partake of an elegant
dejeuner, which had been provided by Mr. Bacon, of
the Queen's Hotel, and, after a few minutes spent in
refreshment, repaired to the carriages in which they
were to form the head of ono of the most imposing
processions ever seen in the town of Birmingham.
Kossuth, Mr. Geach, and Mr. Toulmin Smith, took
their places in an open barouche drawn by four
greys,
the postillions in scarlet jackets, and wearing
the Hungarian colours, and the remainder of the
party were accommodated in carriages of a similar
description. As they drove eta smart pace down the
Green Lanes every moment added to the length of the
cortege, until by the time it had reached Small-heath
all resemblance to a procession had disappeared, and
the whole of the road, the hedges, the trees, and the
houses, appeared swarming with people, or densely
blocked up with vehicles of every description. All
the working people of the busy hive of skilled indus-
try hadhearobtainedtv English ag
general holiday, and turned out to
lish welcome to the best exponent
give a
in our days of the true principles of political and so-
cial freedom. It would be impossible to do justice to
the appearance of the line of road from henceforward.
Every hedge,wail, and tree, every window and house-
top was crowded with people. On every side the gay
banners of the various associated trades fluttered in
the air, and as the operatives passed on in dense
headed by their standard bearer,
masses, each body
we could recognise inscriptions of welcome, of sym-
pathy,
and of sentences extracted from Kossuth's
various speeches. Bands of music played Hungarian
airs, and at every corner where the density of the
crowd occasioned a momentary stoppage a deafening
dis-
tinguished stranger.
At this point the mass of the
cheer arose as the people caught a glimpse of the
dually congregating
from eight in the morning; at
about eleven o'clock the crowd appeared to have
people had been gra-
dually
reached its limits, inasmuch as at that time there was
about six miles of space—from the village of Yardley
to the Bull .rin
house-top, every tree, and every lane seemed alive
g—one mass of human beings ; every
with life. From windows streamed flags with ap-
propriate devices, and from hundreds of carriages and
vehicles were displayed the Hungarian colours.
At eleVera 0'0194 the maram' keg" to fc/m the

came forward alone, and, in the Syrian tongue, said
Thou dost not affright me, devil, with all that bulk
of body—thou art one and the same, in a little fox or in a
carael ; '
and so he stood firm, with his firm stretched
out, and, as the beast advanced towards him, furious
and ready
to devour him, it presently fell down, with
its head to the ground." On this legend Dr. El-
liotson remarks :—" Now Middleton would not regard
this as a most ridiculous story, were he alive at pre-
sent, and acquainted with the power exhibited by the
Duke of Marlborough on two ferocious dogs, by
nicking passes with his hands before them, and by
the Rev. Mr. Bartlett, over a savage bull on staring
fixedly at the animal. A more striking instance of the
power of mesmerism over brute never occurred."
The cause of true science is under infinite obligations
to Mr. Chandler fur having thus opened up a, new
test of mesmerism, and the more numerous and more
stringent are the tests to which it may be subjected,
the better for the cause of truth and of science. Here
we have mesmerism practised by one who was utterly
unacquainted with tho science. St. Ewald knew. that
by putting himself in certain positions, and per; 'mil-
ing certain actions, he produced certain effects, and
we who are acquainted with mesmerism know VIII it
was by the development of mesmeric power conse-
quent upon those poSitions, and those actions, th he
produced those efleti. There can be no doubt but
that the old picture
a faithful representation or the
attitude of the Saint, as handed down by tradition;
and that all ancient pictures of miracles repress at to
a certain degree,
and in general with tolerable a you-
racy, the relative positions of the worker and of the
patient at the time of the performance of the mit side.
Now, if we find in our examination of these an cient
pictures that the miracle worker is always represented
in a pcsition which would develop in a great de-
gree mesmeric force, we may confidently assume
that the effect on the patient was produced
by that force, in fact, that the miracle worker was
acting in accordance with, and not contrary to the
laws of nature. We commend this investigatio n to
the consideration of all scientific mesmerists. In, ad-
dition to the above most valuable contribution to
mesmeric science, the present number of the Zoist
records many cases of the application of mesmerism
as a medical means for the cure of disease, and as a
means of rendering painless those operation& of nature
which are ordinarily attended with intense suffering.
Among these papers we would particularly direct
the attention of the public—for it is only tterough the
public that the bigotted prejudices of the profession
can be overcome—to a case of " Painless I'sirturition
during the Mesmeric State, recorded by 31r. S. D.
Saunders, of Bristol," and we strongly r: Neommend
all persons, if they find, which is too often the case,
that their medicalr attendant refuses to use n e esmerism
in a case in which the patient or his friends as ay desire
it, or to meet in consultation those who do se it, to
at once dismiss such medical attendant, and send for
one who is more conscientious or less :bigotted.
Were this course generally adopted, patient s would
not much longer be condemned to suffer unnei ;essarily
years of agony because the monopolisers of tt le prac-
tice of medicine are too idle to study their pro fession,
and to make themselves acquainted with recent dis-
coveries in science.