The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-21 00:00:00

2.11 E STAFF COLLEGE.

Ile following General Orders have been issued :
" Horse Guards, S.W., Jan. 12.
" The undermentioned officers have passed the examina-
tion for ad mission to the Senior Division of the Staff College,
for a residence of one year only, under paragraph 13 of the
Staff College Regulations, dated 17th Dec., 1857,--viz., 1.
Captain the Hon. W. Fielding, Coldstream Guards, 1,416
marks : `2. Brevet-Major W. Hartman, half-pay, 1,327
marks ; 3. Captain N. Goddard, 17th Foot, 1,206 marks.
" By order of his Royal Highness the General Command-
ing-in-Chief.
" G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant-General."

" Horse Guards, S.W. Jan. 13.
" The subjoined supplementary list of officers who were
successful at the examination for admission to the Staff
College for the full period of two years is published with
reference to the General Order dated Nov. 29, 1859, their
examination papers not having been received from India in
litime to
on t admit
hat date, viz. of their names: being included in the list pub-
shed
" 2* Captain R. A. Leggett, 69th Re?.,lment, 1,879 marks,
passed ; 11. Lieutenant W. R. Lluollyn, Royal Artillery,
1,595 marks, qualified, but there is no vacancy for a 4th
officer of the Ordnance Corps.
"By order of his Royal Highness the General Command-
ing-in-Chief.
" G. A. WETIIERALL, Adjutant-General."

o " Horse Guards, S.W., Jan. 14.
" His Royal highness the General Cmmanding-in-Chie
has much satisfalon in publishing to the Army the sub-
joined list of officers who passed the final examination at
the Staff College, in December, 1859, viz.:-1. Captain W.
Congrevo, 4th Foot, 3,730 marks ; 2. Captain A. Gammen,
16th Foot, 3,165 marks • 3. Captain E. M. Jones, 20th
Foot, 2,940 marks; 4. Captain' H. B. Coathupe, 72d Fc ot,
2,707 marks : 5. Captain W. Palliser, 18th Hussars, 2,L 9 )
marks ; 6. • Captain A. C. Bruce, 91st Regiment, 2,555
marks; 7. Captain P. A. A. Twynam, 15th Regiment,
2,523 marks; 8. Captain W. Heywood, 14th Regiment,
2,458 marks; 9. Captain P. W. Jebb, 67th Regiment,
2,289 marks; 10. Captain J. C. Weir, 2d Regiment, 2,191
marks.

" By order of his Royal Highness the General Command-
ing-in-Chief.
" G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant-General."

LITERATURE.

The Cousins' Courtship. By John R. Wise.
2 vols. Smith and Elder.

Without any pretence or affectation, here is a
very readable work, which possesses many attrac-
tive features, and presents some scenes that, if not
new to the pages of a novel, are given with such
spirit that they forcibly impress the reader. The
hero, Reginald Neville, is a fine, high-spirited
youth, who was early left an orphan, and whose
father's cousin and mother's brother, vied with each
other as to who should be the most heartless in
demeanour towards him. The scenes in which
Reginald and his cousin Minnie appear are most
charmingly pourtrayed, and seem to breathe the
freshness and beauty of the rural retreats they so
delightfully describe. Minnie is the best cha-
racter in the book. Her portraiture is per-
fect, as the representative of a gay and
gladsome maiden, to whom earth offers her fairest
gifts of youth, beauty, health, and affluence, and on
whom heaven sheds its choicest blessings of kind
friends, a happy home, and freedom from care.
There is something refreshing in such a light-
hearted damsel wandering through the highways
of this weary working-day world, and though the
picture is too bright to last, and even while we
read clouds arise to shadow her path ; while she is
in the glad sunshine of her peerless youth, Minnie
Neville is a fascinating heroine. The two selfish
men, Aston Neville and Colonel Ancaster, are most
skilfully described. Aston is a mean and despicable
man, who is totally destitute of any fine feeling or
high principle. The colonel was the higher grade
of the two : he possessed more manly sentiments,
but the blindness of his prejudices and the tyranny
of his actions rendered him obnoxious to society,
and he affords a good specimen of what intolerance
and arrogance will perform. The cruelty which
characterises the conduct of some haughty, fine
ladies is cleverly satirised in the case of the
unhappy Miss Garland, and the sad state to
which she is reduced typifies only too truly
the condition of thousands who in this
prosperous land are compelled to resort to the un-
remunerative drudgery of needlework, owing to the
sinful barriers raised by a prejudiced society against
their employing themselves in a more suitable man-
ner. An effective passage is that which refers to
the search ineffectually made for her by Reginald.
He supposed, at one moment, that she had perished
among the unhappy tribe who-seek a shelter in the
dark waters from the darker path of life. On be-
holding the corpse, whose description resembled
the object of his search, Reginald found, to his re-
lief, that she was not Miss Garland. As he gazed
on the sad spectacle, he thought, " Who else may
seek this medicine before sunrise—some other sis-
ter of her wretched family ? Kindly oh Thames.
dost thou receive them into thy bosom! When the
sea and the rivers shall give up their dead, the
most wretched and most miserable will be thine !"
Life at college has been often described in works of
this class, but there is a vivacity in the details met
with in these pages that imparts a freshness to the
oft-recurring tale. Altogether, " The Cousin's
Courtship" is a very ably written and amusing
work, which will surely serve to wile away an idle
hour, at the same time that it suggests thoughts
which may well occupy our graver moments, and
engage our serious attention.

• .
Quakerism, Past and Present. By T. Stephenson
Rowntree. Prize Essay. Smith and _Elder.
The Peculium. By Thomas Hancock. Prize
Essay. Smith and Elder.
These two volumes consist of two essays on the
causes of the decline of the Society of Friends. In
the year 1858 a liberal and enlightened member of
the society offered a prize of 100 guineas for the
first essay and 50 guineas for the second essay on
the subject, expressing his regret that although the
population of the kingdom has more than doubled
itself during the last fifty years, the society of
which he was a member had decreased in number
since that time, he desired that the causes and
origin of this decay should be boldly inquired into.
The adjudicators of the prize he selected with sin-
gular liberality of feeling from those who were not
members of the society, and the names of his chosen
judges testify the sincerity and impartiality with
which he wished the subject to be discussed. They
were the Rev. F. D. Maurice, tho late Professor
Nichol, and the Rev. C. Pryce, of Gravesend. The
illness of the late lamented Professor and various
other causes have occasioned some delay, but at
length the decision was made, and the prizes
awarded to the two essays before us. As the adju-
dicators had some difficulty in assigning the first
place, the donor with great generosity immediately
raised the second prize to an equality with the
first. The number aid quality of the contribution,
appears to have been highly satisfactory, and ther
specimens are well worthy of thoughtful peruse„"
It appears that since 1800 the number of Friona'
has decreased
pre
one-fourth,senttimeonly one i
and that there
is at the
every eleven hundred of the population
of the United Kingdom where there wag
once one in every one hundred and thirty.
The causes may easily be found in the progress d
education, enlightenment, and toleration; in the
increasing dislike to narrow doctrines and phars-
saical rigidity ; in a better perception that " every
good and perfect gift cometh from above," whether
intellect or affection, art or science;; and a, wider
sense of the claims and capabilities of honest
human feelings and necessities, as opposed to the
asceticism and intolerance of earlier times. These
two essays, both clear, luminous, and unbiassed,
regard the subject from different points of view.
The first sympathises with the fundamental prin-
ciples of Quakerism, while granting its dead
ciencies and decadence. The other openly opposes
its isolation and " formalism of no forms," and
asserts that its decay is natural and inevitable,
and a subject of rejoicing rather than of mourn'
ing. At the same time, he would impress on the
Quaker that there are fewer obstacles than be
supposes to his union with the Church. Witb
the tolerance and elevation above all pharasaille
which distinguishes this essay, he reminds- thew
who look with scorn on their Dissenting brethren
" that the Separatist mentioned in the Gospel was
casting out devils in • the name of the Saviour
when the Apostolical College could not cast them
out." The other essay, " Quakerism, Past and
Present," is also extremely liberal in tone and
sentiment, rejecting entirely the Quaker doctrines
of the negation of the human intellect and fine
arts. Both these volumes are well worthy of an
attentive perusal, and can scarcely fail to interest
the thoughtful and unprejudiced reader.