The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-05 00:00:00

TTIE SUN,

lite was heard for several days. It was most anxiously HER 3IAJEST 'S THEATRE.
neidered, and the Court ultimately pronounced a must lucid On Saturday evening Madame Sontag made her re...entre for
and elaborate judgment, which he had carefully lead and the season, in the character of Maria, in the most lively cf
•"'„,'3' concurred in.
kr. R operas, La Figlia del Reggimento. Madame Sontag looked
oEnth K said he was about to submit to their Lord- more charmingly ann sang more sweetly than ever, her act-
pa' consideration new matter, but in doing so he must
t:s_rt that new matter within the various items of evidence in in the first act was the very perfection of naiveté, and in
tZ.L,sere already before the Court. He proposed to treat the second act the singing lesson was one of the greatest
rietertic vocal triumphs ever aceieved. G delorti was the Tonio, and
i'oemke.%.o:urt not in its character of a court of justice, but as a gave the duet in the first act with S ,ntag exquisitely. F.
guarani, who were called upon to try the moral cha- Lablache made e glorious Sergeant; and the chorus singers
of one of its officers; aud, treating the Court in that were admirably drilled in every sense of the work. Between
4, he should ask their Lordships to receive in evidence the acts of the opera Carlotta Grisi danced the Truandaise ;
i5.e,.10 case matter which, though it could not be considered and the beautiful Watteau ballet, L'lle des Amours, with
t.2egal testimony, was yet sufficient to carry with it a Amelia Ferraris as the heroine, concluded the evening's
74'..11±1 convictiOn, which no just or even common sense amusement. The house was crowded.
charge could resist. He shouet dismiss at once the
r•ge of malpractices which were vamped up
44st Mr. Barber before the criminal charge came out,
petause he took it up to the period of this transaction the
c_Ort held his character to have been highly respectable.
"L'l2,r. Mr. Barber's conduct, eubseque itiy to leaving Eng-
,7,71 was evilently such as to induce a belief that there
),""u have been no collusion between him and Fletcher ; and
7.110 man could be suddenly made a criminal he wanted to
bed before their Lordships the proceedings of Barber atter
t_l reduc d from a situation of respectability to that of
4‘,o,nvicted criminal. It should, however, be understood that
saiDer's practice, when he was in business, was not of that
I,llre as to make him at all acquainted with our criminal law,
noel e he should again impress upon the Court that the posi-
; he
wished now to take up was that of simply inquiring
,a moral character, just as if he had been acquitted on
je° criminal charge. Now he understood the Court, in giving
S.° judgment in theformer motion, pronounced an opinion
Lett Mr. Barber was wilfully blind to the nature of the trans-
itions iu which he had been engaged for Fletcher.
WlThe LORD CDIEF JUSTICE—The Court said he was wilfully
ad) and did not choose to inquire into the character of the
transactions.
thMr. ROEBUCKsaid, just so, and he had now to show
Mr. Barb r was not so wilfully blind as the
°tilt supposed. The supposition of the Court was based upon
ppp
arestantial evidence, but the confession and couduct of
Fletcher were sufficient to prove that such evidence was
fallacious. The Learned Gentleman proceeded to argue at
length in favour of the allegation, insisting that
wetther so artfully concocted his romances that the most
tete attorney might have been deceived by them, and re-
bhiading the Court that it was utterly impossible for any
E"Men being to believe hat Mr. Barber would have same-
!Act his future hopes in life had he been in possession of the
'ernotest clue to the real nature of the transactions he was
&aging in his capacity of an attorney. It should
i 7 distinctly borne in mind, that the only intereet
:ar derived from the transactions were the fees due to him
fit the exercise of his professional services; but it might be
undertake
that it was not altogether creditable for an attorney to
',!Ulertake such a questionable species of business. Fletcher,
the concoctor of these schemes, had been extensively engaged
glO ferritin out owners for unc aimed Give:lends in the Bank,
and lance he had brought fuur genuine cases to Alr. Barber'e
office, how could he refuse to undertake the others, which,
t
elaut the face of them appeared to be equallylegitimate? No
tlbt there were some professional men who would have re-
fused them, but it must not be inferred from that fact that
d.O practitioner who accepted must be considered as a
talionest and dishonourable tutee. If such a dictum as thi-
ere to prevail, how many gentlemen now practising at the
bar, as well as attorneys who accepted a class of business
Which
he and others would reject, must be set down as dis-
honest? Away then with that objection. The Learned
Counsel dwelt for some time upon the circumstance of Mr.
Zikrchani having been kept out of the way by the parties
""0, prosecuted Mr. Barber. That gentleman, he said,
i have proved that Mr. Barber exhorted Fletcher, when
the fraud
t a fraud first came to light, to go into the witne s-box and
all that he knew of the case; but the absence of Mr.
iream
gave the prosecutors an opportunity of insinuating
against Mr. Barber that he and Fletcher had been together
attempted to concoct an answer to the charge.
ue Learned Gentleman who spoke ;or nearly two hours,
e_
ncluded by entreating the' Court to do this last act of jus-
tice to Mr. Barber, and permit that unfortunate gentleman
to obtain his former position in society.
aidTbeLotto CHIEF JUSTICE said this was a case of con-
ard e difficulty erabland delicacy, but nevertheless esr. Roe-
tick had discharged his duty moat efficiently, aud had
made his statement with great perspicuity, force, and pro-
, peaty, The Court thought, however, that the most fitting
coarse now to be followed was to take ,time to look into
te `ue affidavits, and reserve the decision of the Court for come
ktue d
• e

BAIL COURT.—(T HIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. Justice COLEBIDGE.)
CRIMINAL INFORMATION AGAINST THE " MORNING
ADVERTISER "
Mr* Serant SHIM said, he was instructed to move for a
title to show cause why a criminal information should not be
against Mr. David Scutt, the printer of the Morning
lavertiser, for certain libels that appeared in that jouraat
oh the t2th and 10th of March last. The Learned Counsel
!lade the application on the affidavits of a considerable
„"Inber of the inmates of a religious institution or establish-
rent known as the Convect of Notre D,me, in Bedford.
Clapham, as well as on the affidavits of the
sister auperioress, the spiritual advisers or directors,
til the medical attendants belonging to that society,
,
.tth had been established under the provisions of the 10th
it.kzeo. e. 7, entitled an Act for the relief of his Majesty's
raan Catholic subjects. These affidavits set out that on
the
12th of March a paragraph was published in the Morning
advertiser„, under the title of " A New Order of Nuns."
*lch stated that very great commotion had lately .taken
place in a convent on the south side of the Thames, in the
.einity of a well-known common, to the suprise aril con-
Trnation of the sisterhood, in consequence of a nun of in.
Pantile age, or rather of no age at all, suddenly making her
appearance among them. The paragraph then went on to
sax
, that the custom of taking the veil had been dispensed
lila on the occasion, that the nun made her appearance
I lithont preparation of any kind, and amidst sounds made
I'Y .heraelf, which ill accord- d with the laws of the place ;
and concluded by referring the readers of the journal for fur-
ther particulars to the medical gentlemi-n, who, instead of the
rvieit; had assisted in bringing the interesting little strange,
1140 the convent and the world. The second alleged libel
consisted in what was stated to be a correct report of a
speech delivered by a Mr. Edward Turner, at
meting, held at the Bridge-house Hotel,
Loudn-bridge,e for the purpose of petioning Parliament
for a more effectual Bill against the designs of Popery. Thi.
gehtleman, Mr. Turner, after alluding to the detention of a
i°ung !My in a convent by the Earl and Countess of Shrews-
ur3r, was represented in the Morning Advertiser to have ad-
' "Med to the demoralizing nature ot these institutions, and
to have said that he had good authority for believing the
truth of the ease of child-birth which was reported to have
ea place at a nunnery at Clapham. The affidavits now
statedl4
that these libels were intended to apply to the convent
,of Notre Dame, in Bedford-lane, Clapham, and were meant
o
assert and insinuate that a sister or member of that reli-
f"lll3 society had given birth to a bastard child, and that
tlmmoralities were practised by the inmates of that cornmu-
,,
:4Y. Clarissa Noel, the sister superioress in her de-
geitions, gave an account of the convent since
establishment in .848, and also the • names
,of the different persons who ever had been or were now
and in.
mates ot the convent, as well as the names of the priest
,medical gentlemen who had at any time access to it. She
!Rated that the " sisters" bad originally come from the con-
eat of Notre Dame, at Namur, and settled, in the first in-
-It4ficv, at Penryn, in Cornwall, but moved from there to the
i,Cavt-nt tiny are now resident in, in the month of Septern-
tkr.lB4B. She then went on to say that no persons beyond
:`065 she had mentionedivere resident in the convent at the
time she made the affidavit, except certain scholars who
sere placed under her care for the purpose of education, and
casionally certain visitors, and that during the time she
had mentioned no child had been born of her, or, to the
t r of her belief, of any member of the said community, or
o
i„ any person at any time residing therein, or
t" any way connected with the establishment ;
(4. had any other pers,n been pregnant with
child nor had there been any immoralities of any descrip-
tio
xi. ' practised in the said community by any member of it
or
Person connec'ed therewith. The affidavits of the lady
• Visitors at the convent, who it appeared had been inmates
°f convents bearing the same name at Blackburn and Liver-
Pool of the twenty " sisters," who had been resident at
the
since 1848, of the two reverend gentlemen, and
a two medical practitioners, who were occasionally in the
habit of visiting the establishment, denied the trutri of the
assertion as to the birth of a child, in somewhat similar
terlfla, but confining their statements to circumstances within
their own knowledge and belief.
Mr. Sergeant SHEE, having alluded to the usual affidavits
asking his
publication and printir.g of the paper, concluded by
his Lordship to grant a rule to show cause.
air. Justice ConaninaiE;—You are entitled to a rule ; but I
would suggest to you that nothing is said with regard to the
age of the scholars. They maybe, for what appears on the
lifidavit, fifteen or sixteen years of age. You should make
" affidavit more comolete, because one of the medical gen-
tlemen confines himself to the members of the society, and the
Other says he only occasionally attends on some of the
scholars.
• Mr. Sergeant SHEE—We can make that more complete.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE You are entitled to a rule.
Rule granted accordingly.
ti4I`4IICAL INFORMATION AGAINST THE "MORNING HERALD."
Mr. Sergeant SHEE then said that he had to move for ano-
ther criminal information against the printer and publisher of
0 Morning Herald, for a libel published in that paper on
the 20th of March, and arising out of the same circumstances.
The alleged libel was a comment, in the shape of a leading
iktticle, on an explanation which the Weekly Dispatch pub-
i
shed of the transaction, that journal stating that the
• Young lady who gave birth to the child was in no way con.
• s• liklected with the convent, but was a stranger, whose situation
had been
the commiseration of some of the inmates, and
'?„44 been received into the convent during her confinement.
statement the Morning Herald treated as coming from
' rDr. Wiseman, and observed that it made the matter worse
Instead of exculpating the parties. The affidavits were
"early the same, word for word, as those in the above case.
Learned JUDGE granted a rule.

HAYMARKET THEATRE.
Douglas Jerrold's new comedy Retired from Business;
which was produced here on Saturday evening, is one of
character rather than of plot—of witty, sparkling, sarcastic
dialogue rather than of startling incident; it is a comedy of
humours, such an one as Ben Jenson would have written had
he lived in this our day ; a comedy which to be appreciated
properly' must be seen three or four times, a comedy
to be studi d ; a play not for the stage only,
but for the closet also ; in every sense of the
word, a thoroughly English play. England, and Eng-
Luel alone, could produce a Puffin, a Pennyweight, a
Cackle (an old " Salt" of the genuine Smollett school) or a
Gunn. A Jubile_; or a Creepmouse might perhaps be found in
France, but even they are modified in so many particulars as
to become almost as thoroughly and peculiarly English as
the characters among whom , hey live and move and have
their being. We give below the notice of the comedy which
appears in the Times, in which a full detail will be found of
the plot.. The play wes admirably put on the stage. and the
acting of Wallack, Webster, Bucketone, and Miss Peyn-lds
was perfect as, indeed, was the acting of Mrs Fitznilliam,
although she did not look exactly like a young gentleman is
his teens. The house was very well attended, and the piece
was announced for repetition amidst loud applause. The
p performe7s were called on at the conclusion, and
;here were loud calls for Mr. Douglas Jerrold, who bowed his
acknowledgments from a private box.
(From the Times.)
Saturday evening was marked by an event generally
deemed interesting in the dramatic world—the production of
a new comedy by Mr. Douglas Jerrt'ld. His name is one of
the few now connected with the stage that carries with it a
uaraltee that the work to be exhibited will have something
ood about it in some shape or other. If the plot be not
arriel out with Gallic skill, and if the characters be too fan-
a nically coloured, we may feel certain that there will be
bandaece of pungent repartee that th e re will be soe
oat combination combination of images that, has never been previouslyv
conceived. This time Mr. Jerrold makes his play in three
sets a happy sign. When peed dramatists are but few it
has an unhealthy influence when a writer like Mr. Jerrold
takes the side of a superstition that, as much as any other,
has checked the modern English drama—the superstition of
five acts. Mr. Jerrold's own successes with the fewer num-
ber of acts have been brilliant ; his five-act produstions have
seldom attained a permanent theatrical existence, and we
are glad to see him return to freedom from a shackling con-
vention. If dramatists would but lay it down as a maxim
that the form of a production should be regulated by the
material, a whole host of fallacies which now encumber the
dramatic atmosphere, warping opinions and generating prac-
,ical difficulties, would be swept away into non-entity.
air. Jerrold, albeit much more a writer of kindliness than
satire—for he only deals hard blows at generalities just to
show his epigrammatic power, while he evidently speaks
trout his own bea t when he utters a benevolent sentiment—
neve thele,s constantly assumes the satirist's habit, and on
this occasion he would exhibit the follies consequent on the
daltry distinctions of rank observed by those respectable citi-
zens who, having made their fortunes, seek the otium cum
aignitate a few miles from the metropolis. Retired from
Business is the title of the piece, and the imaginary village of
Pumpkinfield is the place of action. In this cockney para-
dise society is divided into two factions by the iron law of
gentility, and the " bill-ocracy," or quondam merchants, hate
the " till-ocracy," or tradesmen, with as much virulence as
an ancient Guelph hated an ancient Ghibelline. To use the
very happy words of the author, " Raw wool doesn't speak to
halfpenny ball of worsted, tallow in the cask looks down upon
sixes in the p and, and pig-iron turns up his nose at tenpenny
nails." Mr. Puffins (Mr. Rogers), a Russia merchant, his
wife (Mrs. Caulfield), and sail Paul (Mrs. Fitzwilliam), to-
ether with Mr. Creepmouse (Mr. Buckstone), an army
tailor who assumes the airs of a military man, belong to the
bill ocrats, while a lighthearted pawnbroker, Mr. Jubilee
(Mr. Selby), who iudulges in affectionate reminiscences of a
deceased wife, is the representative of the till-ocracy. The
Pennyweights, who have recently come to the village, and
nave 'dubbed themselves the " Fit zpennyweights," oscillate
between the two fictions. Mrs Pennyweight (Mrs. Stanley),
having carefully concealed the fact that their fortune was
made in the greengrocery line, aims at admission into the
most exclusive circle, but her husband, who does not value
tbe "Fitz," still retains plebeian propensities. She thinks
she gives the greatest praise to the pineapple by calling it
the " nobleman of the garden ;" he declares that " titles, to
be the real thing, should be like potatoes, and turn up with
a lot of land about them." The families of Pennyweight
:nd Puffin are chiefly brought into contact by the love of
Paul Puffin and Virginia Pennyweight (Miss Annie
Romer), a mere boy and girl, who commit all sorts of
juvenile extravagancies, to the annoyance of heir
less parents
con-
.
But by tar the best portion of the pla that
y is t
nected with the title, viz., an episode of semi-serious in-
terest, in which the principal characters are a half pay mili-
tary officer, Captain Gunn, and his friend Lieutenant Tackle,
ef the navy. The story is exceedingly simple. Amy, niece
to Captain Gunn, has been governess to a high family, and
has had the misfortune to captivate a gentleman whose hand
was an object of ambition to one of the daughters. Her
situation becomes so unpleasant that she returns to her
uncle's house, when it is discovered that Mr. Woodburn
(Mr. Howe), the gentleman in question, is the nephew of
the army tailor, who being a bond creditor or Gunn's can
crush him in an instant. In spite of the consolations of his
maritime friend, the poor captain is driven almost to despair,
while Creepmouse, anxious to break off an undesirable con-
nexion, uses his power in persuading Amy to accept a situa-
tion in Russia, offering to cancel the bond if she will con-
sent o the proposal. The distress of the good people is
ultimately dissipated by a change in the hard nature of
Creepmouse, who is touched by Amy's goouness, and not
only cancels the bond, but consents to her union with his
nephew. The characters of the two old officers are
.drawn
with exceeding vigour and freshness. The lieutenant, with
a weakness in favour of gardening, about which he knows
nothing, is endowed with a constitutional good.humour
that no difficulty can overcome, and an open heartiness of
expressiou that no circutnstauces can restrain. The old
soldier, on the other hand, is more sensitive, while more
stately in his demeanour, and retires from the assistance
which his jovial friend would thrust upon him. The idea of
the author with respect to this group was perfectly carried
out by the actors. Lieutenant Tackle could not have been
better looked, or acted with more hearty geniality, than by
Mr. Wallack, and the nature of the captain, subdued partly
by tralAiug, partly by misfortune, was most ably set forth by
Mr. Webster. Amy, with her weight of feminine sorrow,
and with a mind strong enough to contend calmly against
it, was in Miss Reynolds's best style. Let any imp .rtial
spectator compare this portion of the drama with the rest,
which is occasionally tedious, and he will find a confirmation
of the opinion which we have just expressed, and which differs
trom that commonly entertained, that it is in he utterance
of kindly sentiments rather than of satire that Mr. Jerrold
excels. In the construction of the play there is, though in a
tens degree, the same fault which has marked Mr. Jerrold's
more recent productions, and which is the more singular in-
asmuch ai nothing of the sort is to be observed in the House-
keeper. The fault we mean is the want of that tact in managing
a story which makes the audience constantly feel that t ey
ate pn.gressing to a definite point, and which we find de-
veloped to such an extraordinary degree in pieces like Use
Bataille de Dames. Mr. Jerrold is the moat thoroughly
English writer now working for the stage, and while he has
all the luxuriant fancy and vigour of language which belong
to our old prose dramatists, he has also in common with
them that looseness of construction which the French have
ever avoided. But balance the account fairly, and where
shall we find his equal among the playwritcrs of the day ?
If he is occasionally led from the path of probability, it is by
the sport of an unequalled fancy ; if his personages, like
those of Ccngreve, utter more good things than is consistent
with their position, let us bear in mind that they are " good
things" notwitstanding ; and if he has not the quality of
neatness in point of construction, he has other qualities,
which though they do less towards forming the tinish,cl
dramatist, are truer exponents of the poetical nature. Who
would quarrel with a Jean Piul because he does not go as
straight to a mark as an ordinary correct essayist? At the
conclusion of the piece, which we would add was excellently
put upon the stage, a general call was raised for the author,
who bowed from hie box, and Mr. Webster announced the
work for repetition every evening amid loud and unqualified
-platens.

THE CENTRAL AFRICAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
—We learn by letters from Tripoly, in Barbary, to the 4th of
April, that the latest intelligence of Mr. James Richardson
and his party only reach to the 26th of October, 11850, at
which date he was in good health at Aier, in the Tuarik
country, and contemplated reaching Bournon 144 Canci
and Sachetu, not, however, without entertaining some fear
that the principal scope of his mission would eventually
prove a failure. Much money had been already expended,
and he had forwarded to Tripoly a 4501. b;11 for negotia-
tion, with orders to have the proceeds forwarded to him in the
interior.
READING CATTLE, HORSE, SHEEP, AND PIG FAIR.
MAY I.—This fair yesterday turned out the most satisfac-
tory for the breeders and dealers in live stock that has oc-
curred at Reading for the last six years, both as regards
prices and demand. The store beast of all decriptions, and
barren
.cows, for grazing purposes, were much required, and
changed hands in rabid succession, at a very considerable rise
above the prices at previous fairs, and fill. 101. per cent. over
the price of this time twelve months; milking and in-calf
cows and heifers sold well at very satisfactory prices. There
was a large show of store sheep, for which sales, were easily
effected at improved prices. Good couples made from 365. to
THE GREAT EX H IBIT lON. 425. per couple. Horses were plentiful, but very few of good
(THIS DAY.) quality, •but the trade in them was brisk at high pAces.
This morning being the first of the reduced prices, the 'there was an immense quantity of swine, from the little
buildingfilled by a large number of visitors, to 1 Buckler to the large bacon hog, a good business cone, and few
sehs was early
vra the treasures of the Crystal Palace were for the first ' left unsold.
time unfold,d. We observed a greater propdortaimononogf
thefo \
reign visitors were i USECM.
HE BRITISH.
its painted
wing
T M —The new west of
seas
°a
present this morning than appeare
• tured on the Museum, with its painted ceilings and walls, was, of
czon ticket holders, and the number of young
pictured coarse, an cbjest of attraction. This gallery is built ac-
,,,, greater. Amazement and delieht . was : cord ng to the design originally prepared by Sir R. Smirke .
au" face for none knew where first to begin their insp.ection
h 't. the northern end of it was erected by him about twenty years
tick hurried about to every departmentv to catch a sig t o .
82Uee : the southern end ha, just been erected under the su-
e nen
Ert,, st prominent objects. N e suspect that all wil'. speedily perintendence of Mr. Sydney Smirke, under whom, too, the
of the wing is now being decorated. The general
the Great
a season-ticket is by far the cheapest mode of. v.isiting whole
~ Great Exhibition, since not one nor twenty visits will .
. . width of the gallery is 41 feet, widening at the centre to 50
feet, and at the south end to 80 feet. The clear height is 31
-11;f4ce for a satisfactory' inspection. The din of hammers is
fbeueitit
mTehaesulreersig.it9h6isfe2,4B.s feet, of owfbwohleichot.tthheispgoartliloenryreweielnllblye
1141 heard in various parts of the building, and especially in
"e rear of the French departments, where packing-cases
ars lyingoccupied by Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities; but the per-
t:, , about, and much, to all appearances, still remainsll
manent arearlaltenhrgeyeFaoes‘neyt of the sculpture cannot be made until
a, "e done. A notice was posted up this morning, that a
tiitalicnoeuxrsteyoetaer.re erection
eisocuomr
ipalsetteNd,i,swit,htichhe
feerkmen lounging about the building would be required to
1111 j!, while those who continued hard at work would re- twhiellsnidoet bg
painted red, with a black Etruscan
bu",,undisturbed. The committee are desirous to get the walls in part have been
L'ung free as soon as possible. 1
, border around each space, and lo ik very well. Westmacott's
Ist ot. A!"Y's but very soon after. They
i sculpture for the tympasum of the por ico will probably not
property LITERARY GAZETTE.--I all other literary 'be completed I:y\tlheh
-„,Pa,r,t3', this publication has been suhjected to fluctuations, were holSting ' 1 at FTatlcs when we were there _a sitting
0 -"leh its editor has been necessarily involved. For some , figure of seven or eigut„taonnsi weight. The central statue,
)I;e_a•ra it was pre-eminent amongst many rivals, and was then standing, is ‘sNatronotsly,
boldlyaarbeout2 feet high.d These
De, and
it is expected, about
;•aluable property to the partners who possessed it, and to are all of Portland
.an effectivle
whose tradin e connexions and influence mooch of its celebrity sculptured. The enelolsvuirile,bi:
tiGutiesahtedlt, Russell-street, which
was nw 1.,
mg. At the time referred to MessrS. Longman and sculpt to be of ponderous character (the central piers in par-
t, Co,had one-third share, Mr. Colburn another, and the editor ticular are immense).
from
remainder; and their profits were very great, arising Midsummer next.—Builder.
La7vill the extensive sale of the work and the high charges for IV 00D-PIGEONS.—The very great destructive
liveePisements. Many of the rivals it created were short- powers of wood-pigeons have beta shown, but another in-
lived, and failed to affect its popularity ; but one became stance is worth recording. The keeper at Conon, Mr,
powerful by its low price and the daring expenditure and Alexander Cameron, last a eels shot a number of these
Is,TAY of its proprietor. Hence that acquired a large circus birds, and out of curiosity examined the crop of one of
il'eone whilst the Literary G azette gradually lost ground. them. Iti it te found not fewer than the enormous nutnber
shares, great publishing establishments resigned their of 654 grains of tares, and 90 grains of oats, besides 24 small
ss.but the original editor continued for many years to
struggle stones and a quantity of sand. What a sad loss to the
aassgle against increasing difficulties, till the close of last farmer the consuming a Such an amount of Ned must be.—
~. When he WAS compelled to leave it.--Builder. 1 Inverness Courier.

LONDON,

'THE MA GA ZINES, Sze.
BLACK WOOD.
A delightrui criticism un." tioetum AtiWrican Poets"—
imluding Llue,fellog,. Bryant,. W tattier, Lowell, and
Holmes, and strangely oinittieg Poe, Willis, and Emer-
son—opens the May number with a seasonable gossip
about green leaves and Shadowlausl. Space permitting
us, we would gladly transcribe into our columns the
beautiful little allegory with which Maga consoles some
unnoticed poets of our generation. The metaphor is
that of a butterfly on a railway. Pisistratai Caxton
contributes only a small adilitional instalment of his novel,
but what there is of it is written charmingly enough,
though it scarcely advances the story in any perceptible
degree towards its, of course, inevitable complication.
Harley L'E:trange promises to be a delighttul addition
to the number at the imaginary personages introduced
into the narrative. His mode of proffering assistance
to an old brother officer is exquisitely imagined; and
the incident which occurs to Richard Avenel in regard
to his inexpressibles is told with the quietest but most
irresistible humour. M. Matraier and Mr. Taylor have
by their .recent works upon America suggested to
one of the Blackwood reviewers the subject of a
capital paper entitled " Transatlantic Tourists." One
M'Corldtidale writes a somewhat dry but pithy letter
to Dutisbunner; in which he di-courses upon certain
" Onward Tendencies ;" and the next article shows how
much the great Edinburgh Magazine still continues to
be puzzled by the " Ecclesiastical Titles Assumption
Bill." -After a well-deserved eulogium on Mr. Stephens
masterly " Book of tbo Farm," Thomas Aird eives us
some quaint but noble, verses called "An Evening
Walk." In the lag sto.rza he says very beautifully—
" In sleep we lapse and lose ourselves away,
And thus each night our death do we rehearse."
Besides the lor*goiug there are in th.-, curreet number
of Blackwood another chapter on" Modern State Trials,"
and a brier but significant allusion to the dinner recently
,given to Lord Stanley. With articles of this varied de-
scription Maga contrives to render itself worthy of
maintaining its predominance among periodicals.

BENTLEY.
Bentley is illustrated this month by a life-like portrait
of Joanna Baillie, beautifully engraved by Robinson
from a painting by Sir W. Neatni. This portrait is
accompanied by a well-written biographical sketch.
Among the most interesting of the pipers in Bentley
for the present month is an original Letter from Wash-
ington Irving t., Jesse Merlin,. of Kinderhook, the ori-
ginal Ichabod Crane of the Sweepy Hollow Legenti,
in which Irving indulges in some pleasant vssipping
reminiscences of his schoolboy days. We have
a pleasant paper from the pen of poor Max-
well, entitled " The Sportiog Outlaw," and a
pathetic tale of the Irish frireine, by Loftus Foxo
Buhhe, entitled " The Irish Debtor." " Z ,ological Notes.
and Anecdotes" are continued, the Fuhject of the present
contribution being the giraffe. Mr. Wilkie Collins re-
lateg, after his own pleasant fashion, the history of his
pictorial tour to St. George BaAerville; and the author
of the " Monks of diseerts very learnedly upon
Pope Joan. The "Fla.ii" Attorney is an admirable and
minutely faithful portrait, mental and physical, of a most
contemptible and di,gusting original; but it is drawn by
the 'mind of a master—it ii quire ala Bruyerism. This
is a very good number of Bentley.

kI?AJER.
Fraser this month opens with a genial critique of
Alphonse Kan's delightful book, Voyage Autour de men
Jardin, and follows it by a savage and ferociuus toma-
hawking of a batch of modern poets; the paper is en-
titled " The. Prevailing Epidemic," and if an epidemic
can be stayed by knouting, then most assuredly will the
prevailing epidemic cease to prevail. There is a savage
earnestness in the onslaught of the wielder of the knout
which tells with immense force, but justice compels us to
admit that in'too many of the instances adduced the
knout was as richly deserved as it has been well
laid on. We are sorry to learn from the delightful
leaves from the " Note-bock of a N.tturalist" that the
monster tortoise, who last summer constituted one of the
principle attractions of the Regt-nt's Park Zoological
Gardens, has fallen a victim to our climate. This pa-
triarch of the tortoise tribe died in the month of Fe-
bruary. Under the title of " Scenes at Maltnaison" we
have an interesting biography of Josephine ; the author
of this paper has made excellent ute of the materials
provided for her by M. Leon Gt zlan. '‘ The History of
the Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles V." is con-
cluded, and the tale, entitled "Phantoms and Realities,"
is continued. The present number concludes with a
piquant review of the Parliamentary campaign up to
Easter, to which the writer has given the very appro-
priate title of "Legislating under Difficulties."

•
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.
This magazine opens fur the merry month of May
with a very readable and tasteful article, " A
May-day Feast," noticing various illustrated pub-
lications which have recently appeared, such as
Matvy's " Sketches after English Landscape
Painters," with notices by that terror of snobs and
Gulliver of Lilliputian vulgarities, W. M. Thaekeray;
Hall's " Vernon Gallery," Wells's " Spanish Annual,"
and others. Critical papers are also devoted to Sir
Emerson Tennent's "Christianity in Ceylon," to Meri-
vale's " History of the Romans under the Empire," and
to Gillies's " Memoirs of Literary Veterans." " Maurice
Tierney" waxes more and more adventurous. Impressed
on board a British man-of-war, he swims clandestinely
ashore at Genoa, and imparts some valuable informa-
tion to Massena, by whom ho is appointed to the staff.
What valorous feats he has to recount, achieved at the
close of • the siege of the proud city of the Me-
diterranean, will, we presume, burst upon the
world in the ensuing number. Jonathan Freke
Slingsby confines himself to a version of a German alle-
gory, entitled "Death and Sleep," a sweet and solemn
poem, which, together with the introductory prose, will
not serve to detract from his high reputation. " Leaves
from the Portfolio of a Manager" recount the dates and
successes of the popular dramas founded on the Waverley
Novels. Of these Lob Roy has had the most extraordi-
nary run. The writer, who himself personated the bold
outlaw 173 times, states that it has been acted in Edin-
hurgh 400 nights, and that he remembers seeing the
500th representation announced in a play-bill at Perth,
as far back as 1829. " A Yarn about our Forefathers"
is continut d. Whoever the author of this story may be,
he is a graphic and shrewd writer; as, for example, is
evident from his illustration of the frequent unreality of
a strong appearance of sympathy, which is often but the
emanation of hypocrisy, politetse, or partiality :
" The minister of religion, rapt, excited, ecstatic, pouring
forth to a crowded tea-party .his. views, and feelings, and
fancies, and meeting no contr diction but silence or flattering
attention, is apt to persuade himself that his audience sym-
pathise with him and consent to his doctrine; while, in fact,
many of them have no disti ct notion of the subject matter
of his harangue, and some don't care about it, aro some
prudently de,line expressing their di,sent for fear of incur-
t log odium and unpopularity, and injuring their worldly in-
terests; and some, cleverer than the rest, affect enthusiastic
assent to doctrines concerning which they have neither
thought nor feeling, and so get a reputation for sanctity and
knowledge, which they do not merit. And using this repu-
tation as an engine, V ey set up for oracles, and managers,
and dictators; and the unsuspecting minister, whose self-
love is flattered by Untir attentions, counts them as very
excellent and superior people; and in this scene of humbug a
man who humbly and honestly seeks for truth, and will not
affect a sympathy which he does not feel, will be despised
and insulted."
The remaining pages are given to papers on " Dublin
University Reform," and on the proposed extension of
the jurisdiction of the Civil • Bill Courts in Ireland.
The writer of the latter is evidently no friend to local
courts and "cheap justice," nor have the Irish assistant-
barristers any especial reason to pay him a large tribute
of admiration, as he by no means places them in the
category 'of A 1 for extent or profundity of legal attain-
ments. . Whether he in reality despises, or rather envies,
those learned functionaries, we cannot possibly deter-
mihe; but the " sour grapes" feeling is pretty generally
prevalent in the. present day.