The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Twice Round the Clock ; or, the Hours of the Day
and Night in London. By George Augustus
Sala. Illustrated by Wm. Houlston
and Wright.
" Half of the world does not know how the other
half lives," says the adage, and certainly but a very
small portion of the denizens of London are aware
of the strange scenes and eventful stories hourly
taking place within the wonderful circle of the
same metropolis. The motley combinations and
appalling contrasts which a few hours reveal within
the circuit of a few miles are brought vividly before
us in these felicitous sketches, drawn by the graphic
and vigorous hand of George Augustus Sala. An
enumeration of some of the " hours " will give an
idea of the varied character of the collection. The
day begins at four a.m., with the arrival of fish in
Billingsgate market, and concludes at three a.m. of
the following day with a bal masque and the night-
charges in Bow-street : the contrast is sufficiently
striking and significant. At seven a.m., we wit-
ness the departure of a Parliamentary train ; at
nine, we follow the clerks on their way to the
Bank ; at ten, we are in the Queen's Bench ; at
eleven, we take part in a marriage at St. George's ;
at one, we contemplate " dining London ;"- at three,
an auction at Debenham and Stores; at four we
stroll to Tattersall's, and at five we drop in at the
fashionable club, and then take a glimpse at the
prisoners' van ; at six, we stand amazed by the
windows of the Post-office, -while a storm of news-
papers are being thrown in amid clamour and con-
fusion almost incredible ; at eight, we visit her
Majesty's Theatre, and look in at a pawnbroker's.
After attending an evening party, a dancing aca-
demy, a discussion at the Belvidere, and an oratorio at
Exeter-hall, we venture at midnight into the
sanctum of the sub-editor of some morning paper,
but, finding no rest in that scene of bustle, we stroll
to Evans' Supper-rooms at one, and then to a debate
in the House of Commons, being startled on our
way by the turmoil of a fire. These are only some
among the scenes illustrated with great life and
spirit by Mr. M'Connell, and described with Mr.
Sala's customary vivacity. The reader, following
the hours on the dial with this marvellous because
truth-telling commentary, may well close the book
with the reflection, " Ah, day and night, but this
is wondrous strange."

The Merchant's Polyglot Manual, in nine lan-
guages. Compiled and Edited by E. H. Michel-
sen, Ph.D., of the Board of Trade. London :
Longman and Co. 1860.
We live at a time when commerce is not only a
source of wealth and prosperity for nations, but
also the best means of rendering tighter the links
that unite them to one another, and of establishing
among them the reign of peace, which ought to be
the perpetual state of the civilised world. Placing
ourselves in that point of view, we hail with joy
every attempt made to facilitate the communica-
tions between the various trading countries; and, in
our opinion, few have been as successful as that.
made by Dr. Michelson, of the Board of Trade, who
has just edited " The Merchant's Polyglot Manual,"
in collaboration with Mr. Sasse, of the Foreign
Office. That most valuable book contains in a
small compass the substance of eight dictionaries,
with this especial advantage that, being exclusively
intended for the use of the mercantile classes in
their international intercourse, it gives to every
article its proper technical name and appellation.
The work is divided into three parts. The first
embraces, in alphabeticel order, all articles of com-
merce and industry; the second, an index (also in
alphabetical order) of all these articles for each
language separately-, with a reference to the number
corresponding to that in the first part, each index
forming thereby a complete 'dictionary of itself;
and the third all technical terms in use in trade
and commercial transactions, together with separate
indices for the same. This work, full of judicious
learning, appears under the highest patronage.
The Treasury and the Board of Trade gave encou-
ragement to the authors, and the Foreign-office
subscribed for 150 copies, which are to be distri-
buted among the consuls, a class of functionaries to
which this work is particularly useful. We need
not dwell upon the importance of such a book : we
only wished to announce its appearance to our
readers, and to give to them an idea of the plan on
which it is conceived. Now, having fulfilled our
task, we leave the polyglot " manual" to await its
infallible success. " liabeut sua fata libelli !"

Buchan. By the Rev. John Pratt, M.A. Second

edition, illustrated. Blackwood.

The microscope reveals more wonders than the
telescope—the concentrated examination of details
excites far more interest than a general glimpse of
some stupendous whole. What battlefield ever
excited the beholder's sympathy like the contem-
plation of a hand to hand engagement ? But the
fact is well known, and needs no amplification. It
has been recalled to us at this moment by the
volume before us, in which we are surprised to find
so much matter of interest. A district of Aberdeen
forms a subject of some 300 or 400 pages, art, it
found capable of arresting the reader's attention
throughout. Its natural peculiarities, its old tra-
ditions, tales, and ballads that ever abound on
Scottish soil, alternately arrest and attract us, while
the skilful pencil of Mrs. Pratt has doubled the
work by the introduction of a series of most charm-
ing and romantic illustrations.

Land Sharks and Sea Gulls. By Captain Glas-
cock, R.N. Knight and Son.

The author has endeavoured in these pages to
combine the exposure of some of the short comings
of those high in command in the British navy at
the beginning of the present century, with a
romantic tale. As regards what appertains to sea-
manship and sketches of naval character we have
no fault to find. Captain Glascock is at home when
he is at sea, and he is certainly at sea when he
enters the Court of Common Pleas. It would seem
that the learned profession is going to the dogs
altogether ; Sir Robert Peel will not suffer it to
meddle with firearms, and Captain Glascock in-
sinuates that to bring any nautical dispute into a
court of law is equivalent to tossing up
.for a ver-
dict. Plot the story has none ; the heroine makes
her debut about fifty pages from the conclusion ;
and the father of the hero, who the reader is led to
believe has been murdered, and on whom a coro-
ner's inquest has been held, suddenly reappears on
the stage ; which event might havn led to unplea-
sant consequences, his wife having, after seeing his
supposed body comfortably interred, married again.
But the author, foreseeing this difficulty, conveni-
ently brings about his death a short time before the
resuscitation of the defunct husband. Despite these
drawbacks the book has this recommendation that,
Captain Glascock's writings are amusing, and writ-
ten in an off-hand style, therefore the tale having no
particular plot, the reader may open the novel at
any page and while an odd half-hour away.

Netley
frail; or, the Wife's Sister. Smith and

Elder.

This is a story of domestic life, which turns upon
the vexed question of the legality of marriage with
a deceased wife's sister, which has lately engaged
so much of the attention of the Legislature and the
public. The author is strongly in favour of the
proposed alteration in the existing law, and the
case is, of course, put in the strongest light. The
objections which are by some conscientiously raised
on moral grounds are altogether slighted, but the
legal and scriptural arguments are thoroughly en-
tered into. Ancient authorities are cited, the doc-
trines of the early fathers of the Christian Church
are examined at length, and those who are occupied
in the consideration of this question will be much
interested in the perusal of these arguments. The
characters introduced are, many of them, pleasing
and ably drawn, and the general style of the work
promises well for the author's future success.

031NIBUS ACCIDENTS.

TO THE EDITOR. OP TIIE

SIR,—It is by no means an uncommon accident
in London for one of the horses of an omnibus to
fall down, in which case great difficulty is experi-
enced in unfastening the traces and giving the
animal liberty to rise. It is impossile to advance
the omnibus, to slacken the traces, on account
of the chains connecting the horse's collar to the
pole, and nee versa, the vehicle cannot be backed
on account of the traces. All this inconvenience
could be obviated by a simple mechanical contri-
vance to disconnect the traces without the necessity
of slackening them. It is needless to propose any
particular plan, there being already more then
twenty different ways of performing this simple
operat ion. If omnibus proprietors would only loot
to this matter they would consult the convenience
of the public, and prevent injury both to their cat-
tle and their rolling property.
W.

FOUNDERING OF ANOTHER STEAMER AND LOSS
OP FOURTEEN LIN-Es.—A telegraphic despatch, received
on Saturday from Malta, at Lloyd's, reports as follows :--
" The Pomona, a screw steamer, Capt. Penn, master, from
Odessa for London, laden with wheat, foundered on Thurs-
day morning during a heavy gale of wind. The passengers
and 11 of the crew were saved, the remainder, 14 in number,
were drowned. She only left Malta the previous day. The
Pomona was a new iron steamer, about -700 tons burthen,
and was chartered by Messrs. 1{ obinson, of Mark-lane,
charterers of the screw steamer Ondine, which vessel was
in collision on Sunday morning last in the Channel, and
immediately sank with many lives. The loss of the
Pomona and cargo is roughly calculated at upwards of
,10,000."