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

AMERICA.

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

QUEENSTOWN, WEDNESDAY MORNING.

The steamer Nova Scotian has just arrived with
dates from Portland to the 24th December. She
brings the mail of the Ocean Queen, of the Havre
line, that vessel having been withdrawn.
The Asia arrived out on the 22d.

No speaker having as yet been elected, the Pre-
sident's Message still remains in abeyance. It is
rumoured that it would not be communicated until
the 3d January.
Advanced copies of the speech had been sent to
New York, but had been retained by the post-
master.

Later news from California states that Judge
Terry had been arraigned for killing Senator Bro-
derick.

The steamer Diligent was aground above St.
Louis. Eighty persons on board were without
food, the ice preventing any communication with
the shore.

NEW YORK, DEC. 23.

Money active. Stocks active, and higher. Cot-
ton unchanged. Flour dull, and lower. Wheat
quiet, but firm. Pork firmer. Beef and lard dull.
Bacon quiet. Sugar, coffee, and molasses are firm.
All other articles are unchanged.

NEW ORLEANS, DEC. 23.

Cotton market steady. The sales of the week
amount to 61,000 bales. The receipts of the week
are heavy, and 33,000 bales in excess of last year.
Sugar has declined cent.

MONTREAL, DEC. 24.
Flour firm, but business in general is dull.

THEATitE ROYAL, LYCEUM.—Madame Celeste,
the sp rited proprietress of this elegant place of amusement,
has succeeded, not without considerable difficulty, in re-
newing the engagement of the celebrated Spanish dancers,
La Dona Isabel Cubas and Don Juan Ximena, whose
appearance every evening is hailed with the most enthu-
siastic marks of approbation. This evinces a determination
on the part of Madame Celeste at least to deserve success,
and we trust her endeavours will lead to that end,

THE IVA G. 4. ZINES.

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, Dr. 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 Ladysmede" 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 success. There is an article
ox " 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 here 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 tho 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 get 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 one 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. The
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,
done 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. The 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
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 an 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 ho says :

" What does he but soften
Heart alike and pen,
'Tin the hard grey weather
Breeds hard Englishmen.
What's the soft South-Wester'
"'ls 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.
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 God."

" 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 he 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 roused, is not so warlike as the
French. The last article, on "Edmund Burke," is
a good one, and in it there are some allusions to
remarkable events that demand attention.