The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-04 00:00:00

nervations made during the two great wars of our
times—namely, the war in the East and the late
Italian campaign." Furthermore, he observes, "We
see on these, two occasions the four most powerful
nations of Europe, besides two second-rate Powers,
display their military resources in the field after
40 years of peace." He reminds us that " Each
of these nations had had, indeed, one or more
smaller wars during that long period of peace—
England in India, France in Algeria, Russia in the
Caucasus, against Turkey, Persia, and in Hungary ;
Austria against Piedmont and in Hungary ; but,"
he adds yet further, " in each of these cases the
strength between the two combatants was so dis-
proportionate that it does not offer a fair compari-
son as to the real advantages and shortcomings of
their military organisation, which could only be
judged of in a trial where the forces were more
equally balanced." And now what is the con•
elusion deliberately arrived at by this keen-witted
eyewitness ? Eyewitness especially of the working
of the rival systems in the Crimea, and afterwards
at remote points in India and in Italy. It is a con-
clusion stated quite clearly and uncompromisingly.
It is this :—" The only Power," writes Dr. Rus-
SELL, " which stood the test on both occasions
[that is in the Crimea and in Lombardy]
was France." And he take care to remind us
particularly that upon those two occasions
the trial was stood by the French military
system under entirely different circumstances.
"The military organisation of France," he says,
and says most truly, " proved good in a long siege,
carried on at 2,000 miles from her shores, and it
proved itself efficient in a short and brilliant cam-
paign in the open field." And he adds, "These
two occasions offerei almost every species of trial
to which an army can be subject--camping out
in a severe winter on an inhospitable shore,
subject to all kinds of privations, forced
marches under an Italian sun, tedious trench
duties and roadmaking, brilliant attacks, and ob-
stinate defences ; and through all these trials the
French army passed successfully enough to insure
ultimate victory." Having recalled these facts to
recollection, this able and competent writer then
goes on to ask point-blank the Why and the
Wherefore ? The Reason of this painful and
at the first blush, perfectly inexplicable
difference between the admirable working
of the French, and the utter and deplorable break-
down of the British scheme of Military Organisation.
The deductions drawn from these premises in
the course of the immediately ensuing argument
are of such obviously vivid and vital importance
that to direct attention to them by another word of
xeference were surely an act here of the merest
supererogation.

LATEST

THE MAGAZINES.

N NV S.

The following telegrams have been received at
Mr. Iteuter's office :

PARIS, J.N. 4.

A decree of the Emperor confirms the nomina-
ons of Secretaries of the Senate of the preceding

year for next session.

The Constitutionnel, in a note signed by its
secretary, M. Boniface, says :
" We are authorised to give a denial to the asser-
tion in the Parisian correspondence of the Indepen-
dance Beige that the Archbishop of Paris had ad-
dressed to the Metropolitan Chapter words full of
profound uneasiness on the state of the Church.
The Archbishop, alluding to the present occupa-
tion of the Catholic States, on the contrary exhorted
the members of the Chapter to prayers for obtaining
tranquillity and peace, recommended them to have
confidence, and reminded them of all the proofs of
devotedness the Emperor had given to the Church."

MARSEILLES, JAN. 3.

Letters from Rome to the 31st ult., state that
Cardinal Antonelli had announced that he would
leave for Paris on the 12th of Jsnuary next, and
that no counter order was yet positively known.

In reply to a demand of the Financial Consulta
the Pope said that he had received offers amounting
to 12,000,000 Roman scudi, made by Catholics, but
that he had provisionally refused them.

NAPLES, DEC. 31.
The general amnesty had been deferred, but 50
LndiN idual pardons have been granted.

The following telegram was—very unintelligibly
-transmitted to Mr. Reuter, and he gives it under

reserve :

PERA, DEC. 28.
BOMBAY, DEC. 15.

Two thousand rebels and their leaders, Mammoo
Thadoor Benimah (?), and his sons, were made pri-
soners at the frontiers of Oude. The Begum

THE BRAZILIAN MAIL.

SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY,

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's ship
Tyne has arrived with the Brazil and River Plata
mails.

Amongst her passengers arc Mr. Stuart, H.M.'s
representative at Rio; Mr. Fagan, charge d'affaires
of Monte Video; Prince Hohenzollern Sigmaringen
and suite, from Lisbon.

The Accrington, from Liverpool, with soldiers'
wives, put into Pernambuco on the 4th December,
in charge of the second mate, the captain and
chief mate having died from poison administered
in their food. Surgeon recovered. Scarlet fever
on board-69 dead. Ship under Consul Cooper's

inspection.
BUENOS AIRES.—The news of the conclusion of
peace between Buenos Ayres and the Argentine
Republic is confirmed. Treaty of peace signed by
Commissioners of both parties, countersigned by
General Lopez, and ratified by General Urquiza.
A disbandment of the National Guard had com-
menced. The election of deputies to convention
was fixed for the last Sunday in December.

Parties at the head of affairs bound up in peace
and tranquillity the Argentine provinces, now one
Federal Government.

Business is improving daily.
Doubloon, 365 to 42. Last quotation on balsa
3 46. Exchange on England, 695. to 695. 6d.

INDIA AND CHINA MAILS.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY.
The Delta, Captain Black, with the heavy por-
tion of the Calcutta and China mails has arrived,
and brings 90 passengers, a general cargo, and news
from Gibraltar to the 30th ultimo.
The Indus left Gibraltar on the 28th for Alex-
andria.

The schooners Dreadnought and Resoloido and
the brig Carolina were ashore.
Gibraltar Exchange on London as last quoted.
THE WAR. IN Mouocco.—The action on the 25th
December was the severest yet fought. A Spanish
General jampod from his horse and led his men
against the enemy's positions, and took them at the
point of the bayonet. The dead bodies of 38 Moors
were found on the spot.
Ten Spanish ships had been ordered from
Havannah to Morocco.
The Spanish army was to be increased to 80,000

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 4, 1860.

_4._
Blackwood's Magazine.
There is a new story commenced in this number
entitled " Norman Sinclair." It begins well,
and displays some capital descriptions of character.
The bachelor recluse, Di. Alexander Buchanan, is
admirably pourtrayed. His idle hanger-on Jaap
is a likely sketch—his final discomfiture is most
satisfactory. There is likewise an account of George
the Fourth's visit to Scotland, which forms an ex-
citing chapter. There is every reason to expect
that this tale will prove an attraction to the readers
of Blackwood. " The last French Hero" is a very
amusing sketch, initiated very successfully from
the French, in which the extravagant ideas that
characterise continental fictions are aptly copied ;
and altogether these chapters are deserving of
notice, from their smart sketches and piquant
anecdotes. Besides these new instalments, the
old story of the " Luck of Ladysmedo" is con-
tinued in some very exciting chapters, which re-
late the dangerous capture of Lady Gladice, and
the opportune arrival of Waryn Foliot, who for-
tunately arrived in time to rescue her. Also we
meet with the discomfiture of the wily and un-
scrupulous Prior Hugh. There is some historical
incident mixed up in the story, relating to the
schemes of Prince John to obtain the Crown during
the absence of Richard in Palestine. As it ap-
proaches its conclusion, this tale, which in the
earlier numbers was heavy, has become much
more attractive, and, in its peculiar style,
is a decided SUCCQSS. There is an article
on " Ruskin's Elements of Drawing," which
is well worthy of perusal, containing much good
sense in some of its arguments ; it is, however,
rather too severe in its strictures regarding the dis-
tinguished subject of its criticism. Those who read
the extracts hero taken from Mr. Ruskin's works
will regret that so brilliant a writer cannot be more
consistent, and combine more solidity with his
rhetorical flourishes. The paper on " The Public
Service" takes a most gloomy and unsatisfactory
view of our public affairs, and it is not easy to find
out what is intended to remedy the deficiencies. It
is always easier to discover errors than to find out
the means of rectifying them. However, nothing
can be done without trying, and therefore remarks
like these before us are not without their use in
bringing the subject under notice. The concluding
passage of this article is noticeable—
If the public require, as they unquestionably do, the
best servants in the world, they ought to be the best mas-
ters in the world. But it is very questionable whether they
take proper steps to obtain the best servants. They have
a vague impression that they are not well served, and every
now and then there is an unmeaning cry against one of the
public departments, or against some unfortunate statesman
who happens accidentally to be at its head. And then there
is a demand for • the right men in the right places ;' but no
one suggests that the way to got the right men is to hold
out sufficient inducements for them to enter the public ser-
vice, and sufficient encouragement for them to work zeal-
ously and energetically when they are at it. But a profes-
sion, in which neither wealth nor honour is to be obtained,
is hardly ono that can command the best available capacity
in the market. The command, however, of this capacity is
at the bottom of all cheap, as of all good government. Tho
prizes of the public service should be the highest drawn by
the intelligence of the nation. An incapable public servant
may cost the country more in a year than it would require
to command the services of scores of capable men for a quar-
ter of a century. Financial reform does not consist in re-
ducing public salaries, any more than administrative re-
form consists in depreciating public men. If we want our
work done cheaply and well, we must elevate the public
service. At present it appears to us to be unwisely and
unjustly depressed. The real working members of the great
Government firm are not in their proper position ; and until
they are, although the work may be, as we believe it is,
crone well, the Administration of the country cannot attain
to that point of vigorous efficiency which might be reached
under a better system.
" Rambles at Random in the Southern States" and
" The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas" are
the subjects of the other contributions. We have
before adverted to the admirable poem, " St.
Stephen's," which is the most attractive feature
in the contents of this month's number, that
begins the year in a most promising manner.

Dublin University Magazine.
" Vonved, the Dane," is a very exciting narra
tive ; the first part of it is at the commencement
of the contents. Tho most remarkable incident is
that in the cabin of Captain May, in which he
questions the shipwrecked stranger his crew had
just rescued from the waves. The answers returned
to him were very enigmatical, but the most asto-
nishing thing was that, while both deplored the
loss of the vessel from which the stranger had been
the only one saved, he had really been its destroyer,
and not, as the captain thought, the rocks of the
Jomru reef. The conclusion of this man's career
will most likely contain other passages of marvel-
lous occurrences and daring adventures. The
second part of the criticism on Thackeray is here
met with, and will be found very interesting.
This summary of the life of the " Great Satirist and
Humorist" renders a well-deserved tribute to his
superior attainments, and it is is especially welcome
at the present moment, when he is appearing before.
the public in a new capacity. This essay relates
his rise to the authorship of " Vanity Fair," which
work many regard as his masterpiece. It is ob-
served that, " the serial issue of the narrative began
almost unnoticed ; it was scarcely midway, however,
when throughout all the various literary circles of
1 the metropolis it had become the theme of wonder-
ing and delighted conversation. " Artist and Crafts-
man " is continued, and presents some pleasing
chapters. The energetic Mark Brandling obtains
a great triumph in his daring enterprise of making
the tunnel; and, though there is nothing remark-
able in it, the tale is well carried on. " A Rainy-
day with Tennyson and the Poets" is au excellent
article, and one that contains much to attract the
reader. The most delightful quotations are those
from Kingsley's works. It is said that songs and
ballads suit his genius best ; (" the mingled firmness
and delicacy, suggestiveness and concentration")
which can condense a tragedy into a line are there ;
the admirable ballad of "The Three Fishers" is
quoted, and it is a complete illustration of the
words above, for it is more forcible in its terse
expression than volumes of every-day poets. It is
truly said that Mr. Kingsley is one of the most
pleasing of our contemporary poets. "Some of his
songs will, we suspect, only perish with the language
in which they are written." The lines in praise
of the East Wind are most characteristic of their
peculiar author. Of the South Wind he says :
" What does he but soften
Heart alike and pen,
'Tis the hard grey weather
Breeds hard Englishmen.
What's the soft South-Wester
'Tis the ladies' breeze,
Bringing home their true-loves
Out of all the seas.
But the black North-Easter
Through the snow-storm hurl'd-
Drives our English hearts of oak •
Seaward round the world. '3!
Come as came our fathers
Heralded by thee,
Conquering from the eastward,
Lord by land and sea.
Come : and strong within us,
Stir the Viking's blood,
Bracing brain and sinew,
Blow, thou wind of Goi."
" The Czar and the Sceptic " is a ludicrous re-
cordof the adventures of a Frenchman who had
the hardihood to doubt the veracity of the im-
perial bulletins. To revenge this insult ho was
taken at midnight in unsuitable attire to
behold for himself the glorious position of
the Russian troops at Silistria. M. de
la Jobardiere proved that seeing is believing,
but he would rather have done so in any other
fashion, and the memory of his compulsory journey
must have been a nightmare in his recollection to
the last day of his life. " The Season Ticket," in
its tenth number, continues its sparkling career,
furnishing an inexhaustible fund of laughable
reading. In the remarks on "The Improbability
of a War with France," there is much truth met
with. In the course of its observations it is truly
Said, that they mistake who think that the British
character, when z oused, is not so warlike as the
French. The last article, on " Edmund Burke," is
a good one, and in it there arc some allusions to
remarkable events that demand attention.

Fraser's Magazine.
The agreeable writer who has furnished so many
pleasant essays to the pages of Regina contributes
another, bearing the suggestive title of " Concern-
ing Disappointment and Success. It is written in
the author's usual dreamy fashion, wandering now
here, now there, fluttering over his subject like the
butterfly over a flowerbed, yet withal extracting
honey with the ability of a wiser insect. A slight
tendency to repetition and diffuseness might be
avoided with advantage, but the liberality of feeling
and extension of sympathy displayed arc highly
commendable. A paper on British novelists tracas
the history of our national fiction from its earliest
appearance to the close of the reign of Scott. Some
curious statistics respecting the publication of this
class of works arc given :

Some statistics given in Professor llasson's volume on
British novelists atli)rd what is probably a correct notion of
the actual achievements of recent English authorship in
the depariment Of the novel. By resorting to a process of
stocktaking in that vast warehouse of books, the Library of
the British museum, it has been ascertained that the num-
ber of novels printed in the year 1820 (taken as the year
when the Waverley novels wore at the height of their
popularity) was 26, consisting of 76 volumes. The produce
of the year 1830, ten years later, as indicated by the num-
ber of books deposited on the shelves of the Library, was
increased to 101 works, or 205 volumes, and this year is
taken as the time when the Waverley series was nearly
completed. In 1850, twenty years later, the yield was 98
works, or 210 volumes ; and for 1856 there were 88 works,
or 201 volumes. The result is, that since IS2O the number of
new novels coming out has been nearly quadrupled, and that
the recent issue has been at the rate of about 100 a year, or
nearly two for every week—in 4113 ahoi4t 3,000 novels,