The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The _Land of the Kelt. A tale of ler ne, in the days
of the '9B. From an unpublished manuscript, by
Peter Paradox, M,D., deceased. 3 vols. Saunders
and Otley.

This tale refers to the stormy scones that took
place in Ireland last century, and it will be found
that it has been narrated with considerable skill,
although, of course, the chief characters meet with
tragic ends; but there are throughout the story many-
humourous passages introdu:'l,d, and the renan-
tic events connected with the shipwrecked youth
form an agreeable episode in the book. There is
much to interest one in the sad fate of the chief,
Fitz-Edward, and notwithstanding his precipitate
and ill-advised course, the reader cannot but feel re-
gret at the base treachery that betrayed him, and
the sad fate that awaited him and his unhappy wife,
who had before so devotedly interfered to save
him from ruin. Roderic O'Connor is another in-
stance of the best intentions being- thrown away
from infatuation in adhering to an. impracticable
cause. It is sad to reflect, though so long a period
has since elapsed, how many were untimely cut off
in this unequal struggle, how many promising
young spirits passed away to their account, who
might, if spared, have done good and. glorious ser-
vice to their country and their kind. Incited by
the unreasoning vehemence of demagogues, led
away by inspired visions of national regeneration,
they rushed to their doom, beckoned on by the allur-
ing gleam of a triumph that was never to be theirs,
but which like the ignisfatuus irresistibly attracted
its destined. victims. Roderic and Fitz-Edward were
of the first rank of the sufferers, they firmly be-
lieved in the right of their cause, they were, to
fight against oppressors, and to rouse up their
deluded and degraded fellow•citizens; their war-cry
was for freedom, and their fervent adjurations are
well expressed in the lines of the poet—
" Let Erin remember the days of old,
When her kings with standard of green unfurled,
Led the Red Branch Knights to danger,
Ere the emerald gem of the western world
Was set in the crown of a stranger."
Irene, the heroine, is a charming character, but
she does not appear very prominently on the scene.
Those who desire to peruse a life-like sketch of per-
sons of that time, and a stirring chronicle of striking
events that belong to a dark page of history, will
do well to possess themselves ox' the romantic re-
cord of " The Land of the Kelt."

7he Gordian Knot, a Story of Good and Evil.
By Shirley Brooks. Illustrated by John Ten-
niel. One vol. Bentley.
Mr. Shirley Brooks and Mr. John Tenniel—
for the merit is fairly to be divided—have
kere presented the lovers of fiction with a
charming addition to their stores—a tale
full of interest and originality, illustrated by a
series
imaginable:
engravings the most excellent and felici-
tous Rarely hare we met with a
volume where the pencil has come so happily to
the aid of the pen and ink portraitures. Turning
over the pages of the yet unread work we
are irresistibly drawn into its perusal by a
glimpse at its delightful pictures. The heroes
and heroines are so natural and so grace-
ful, especially Margaret, the heroine, as charm-
ing a portrait, as womanly a character as
artist ever delineated or novelist ever described.
the little domestic scenes are depicted with so much
gracefulness in the grouping, with so much reality
in the details, that the main features of the story
are forcibly imprinted on the reader's mind by a
glance at these truth-telling pages. Two pictures
especially let us particularise as samples of the
effective character of the whole. They are taken
at the period when Philip's devotion to his young
wife begins to relax, and the clouds are gathering
in the horizon of Margaret's life of sunshine. The
one entitled " Inattention" represents a morning
scene in a charming home-room ; the breakfast-
things are on the table, and a smart little maid is
just removing the tea-urn, watching with sympa-
thetic interest her mistress's proud delight
as her little year-old boy, for the first
time, stands alone with a tottering,
trembling step, his little fat arms stretched out
while he trembles forward towards the anxious ma-
ternal hands held aloof, but ready to catch him as
Margaret kneels before him, looking up in beaming
triumph in her husband's face. Little sympathy is
visible in tha half supercilious smile with which
the young father, lounging in his arm-chair, with a
cigar in his mouth and Bell', Life in his hand, raises
his eyes for a moment from the paper which en-
grosses his interest. In the companion picture
" Attention," the same Philip, behind the scenes of
the opera, is engaged with elaborate politeness in
arranging the cloak of a ballet dancer, while an at-
tendant sprite in demoniacal costume, sugges-
tively eyes them from the back-ground. Yet
more vivid is the portraiture of Margaret's
face of agony and surprise, as she peruses the " mis-
delivered letter." The individualisation of Mar-
garet's appearance throughout the picture has
been as happily preserved as the individualisation
of her character throughout the story. She is natu-
ral and loveable throughout :

" A creature not too bright and good
For human nature's daily food,
For artless pleasures, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles."

We will not betray the interest of the story by a
further revelation of its details; it will find favour
with many a reader. Its style is bright and viva-
cious, and at times even brilliant. There are, how-
ever, some portions of the story—those, for example,
relating to Margaret's parents and to Philip's
former mistress—which we could wish had been
less prominently brought forward, and the fate of
Margaret's mother is altogether too improbable and
melodramatic, ruitable rather for the audience of
some minor theatre and quite beneath the notice of
Mr. Shirley Brooks. Many passages we might
quote which would justify our commendation of the
vivacious style, and felicitous manner of the narra-
tive—here a happy and original thought, there a
humorous description ; but while Mr. Gladstone's
political " Gordian Knot" of more than Gordian
intricacy is in process of unravelment, we cannot
afford more space to the denouement of any other.

Tales from Bentley. Richard Bentley.
A collection of amusing tales, which have pre-
viously appeared in "Bentley's Miscellany." Some
of them are very laughable, vide " A Marine's
Courtship," in which the hero of the tale has to
retire on half-pay, in disgrace, for having made
free with a goose belonging- to the mess, as a pre-
sent to a lady love who lives in a besieged town
where provisions are scarce. He has the goose in
his pocket when the fact is brought to light, by the
hungry dogs that make a dead set on him. " What
Tom Binks did when he did not know what to do
with himself" contains good advice to coroners'
juries.

" Temporary insanity' is uniformly the verdict of your
erowner's 'quest' on such occasions ; even a physician of
any repute will honestly state on ordinary occasions, par-
ticularly when the patient has the benefit of his skill and
experience in helping him to leave this wicked world, that
he died of such and such a disorder, and will manfully state
the name of the disorder, and the world gives hira.creditfor
his skill and integrity. Would gentlemen serving upon
crowner's 'quest' imitate this heroic example, instead of
recording the foolish verdict of ' temporary insanity,' they
would say, The deceased didn't know what to do with
himself ! ' This would be intelligible, and the faculty might
stumble upon a remedy; but 'temporary insanity' is too
transitory, too fugitive to be grappled with, two vague and
indefinite in its very name ever to do any good, and the
patient is generally past all surgery' before one suspeets
he is attacked with insanity, be it ever so temporary er
evanescent : but in honestly recording that he didn't know
what to do with himself, and thereby came by his death,'
it would be but doing justice to that interesting malady.
Thus it could bo easily observed in all its stages, from its
incipient symptoms at the gaming or any other well-gar •
nished table, where it sometimes takes its rise, through all
its phases and evolutions, till the malady comes to a head,
and a man blows out his brains. The disease, through each
of these changes, might be stayed in its progress, and society
might be benefited by the honesty of the verdict."
We think that, notwithstanding the multitude
of the feline race to be found in the metropolis,
Mr. Binks must have Sam Weller's patent optics to
count sixty " tail" of cat between May Fair and
Temple Bar. The romantie and Poetical tale of
liaroun-Al-Raschid is original and well written.

A Key to the Attainment of the Full Term of
Life. By Joel Pinney, Esq. Longman.
This work deserves extensive circulation among
the middle classes, notwithstanding its extrava-
gances. It is collected from the author's various
works on the infringement of the organic laws.
Like many other theorists, he starts from sound
and excellent principles, but attempts to carry them
to an impracticable extent. While there is un-
doubtedly much truth in his strictures on the want
of exercise and close rooms that are such fruitful
sources of sickness and bad health among such
large classes of the community, we cannot help
thinking he attaches too much prominence to the
habit of eating too much among the less wealthy
classes. His rules would be only suitable to a very
robust unstitution, and would be positively in-
jurious to the large numbers who are naturally
deficient in strength and endurance, while their
frames are exhausted by fatigue, anxiety, or long
attendance on business. To such persons the
prospect of rising at sunrise, with a bath in cold
spring water, and a long walk into the country
before breakfast, would not be very inviting, while
if they have a small or delicate appetite, they are
not likely to disregard the caution of being sparing
in their consumption of animal food for
their morning meal, but the prospect of
dining at five or six with a " dry crust
midway" is not encouraging. A strong in-
ducement to the early rising recommended
is afforded in such weather as we have at present
by a hair mattress in a well-ventilated bedroom,

I without fire or curtains. Nevertheless, in spite of
these extiones, there is much in his book that is
well worthy of attention. The following passage
on the necessity of a general diffusion of physiolo-
gical knowledge is excellent :
" We are considered capable of investigating nature, so
far as our faculties will carry us. We study the regions of
space, and there, to our astonishment, view worlds on
' worlds and systems on systems, all maintaining their dis-
tances from each other, fulfilling the laws of their respec-
tive revolutions, May we not ask, then, who has drawn
this line of demarcation as regards our study of the human
frame, and said, • Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther ?'
Is it He -who sits upon the circle of the heavens, and who
has made and preserves and regulates the whole ? No.
The Almighty, in his unbounded goodness, has thrown the
whole range of nature open to our view. and invites an in-
vestigation whether it be upon our own frame, or any other
part of his vast domains ; and, if, by the study of nature
generally, we increase our knowledge, expand our minds,
and raise our thoughts • from nature up to nature's God,'
why should we not more particularly direct our inquiries
into that masterpiece of his own handiwork, a know-
ledge of which, besides making a valuable addition to our
general knowledge on other important subjects, would
afford security to our own health and life.
" Does a person wholly decline the study of music, of the
languages, or of any art or_ science, because he despairs of
becoming aprofessor of it ?Is the study of astronomy to be
neglected because we may not all acquire the knowledge
and penetration of a Newton ? Or are the commentaries
of Sir William Blackstone to be read by those only who are
intended for the profession of the law I'
The advice contained in the subjoined passage
&serves a wide circulation—
" The man too ardently devoted to learning, to science,
or to worldly business, in order to keep him in health and
preserve his life, must have exercise and rest, if not, he
suffers, and in a few years premature old ago is announced
by decrepitude, decay, and lastly by death. Many, when a
groat parpose is to be accomplished, consider that A spare
allowance of sleep will materially assist them. Let such
rely on it that they commit a great mistake. Two hours'
work, when the powers aro vigorous and elastic, is worth
treble the application, obtained by green tea and cold wet
towels wrapped about the head, or even by the resolute will
(as is often the case), to go on in spite of fatigue ; to say
nothing of the injury health sustains from such unnatural
stimulants and inordinate study."
In conclusion, we commend the work before us to
the attention of the public, for it is clear and com-
prehensible in style, with no technicalities or
learned perplexities to confuse the inexperienced
reader While we cannot advise the wholesale
adoption of his rules by all classes and constitutions
(which would indeed be impossible, from their
exacting nature), there is much sound sense in his
remarks on ventilation, exercise, and mental exer-
tion, which we should be glad to see more exten-
sively recognised.

Many Happy Returns of the Day. A Birthday
Book. By Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke.
C. Lockwood and Co.

This work is well adapted for presentation to
young people on birthdays. It is written entirely
in the conversational style, which is most likely to
interest children, and, in the course of a series of
Walks, drives, and excursions of all kinds, such as
generally take place when family friends assemble
in the country to commemorate some happy event,
the rudiments of many sciences,instiuctions how to
perform athletic exercises, and the rules of the games
of amusement most in vogue are given. Of course
no solid information is to be obtained, but enough
is given to sow the seeds of desire for more. To
attempt to induct a young person into abstruse
theories is to create dislike. We begin with a nar-
rative of the way in which birthdays are observed
in the different countries of Europe, then follows
the zoology of the farmyard, from bees to horses,
with some very sensible hints as to their respective
management :

" Among all the wonders of creation," replied Mr. Single-
ton, "perhaps not one comprises a greater complication of
marvels in itself than the bee. The machinery of a bee's
foot alone contains the most admirable contrivances-
for the different kinds of work it has to perform, such as
the two hooks with which each of the six fist is fur-
nished to enable it to hook itself with its companions
in clusters, while they take repose, and the little thin
appendix between these hooks generally folded up out of
the way, but, when extended, used in assisting them to
walk on polished bodies, such as glass ; then, think of the
wonderful formation of the proboscis, or trunk, of a bee, by
means of which it extracts the honey from the flowers, and
which, we are told, involves a whole delicate apparatus of
invisible muscles. And, besides this miraculous confor-
mation of the little creature's own body, think of its skill
in architecture, its well. ordered government, and a provi-
sional management which almost argues forethought and
judgment."

But some of the hints thrown out are rather
outre, such as advising the would-be horseman, when
it is not convenient or easy to obtain a horse, to begin
_
with a chair; we would recommend a donkey. We
come then to sailing, rowing, swimming, 4cc., but
in these matters precept, unless joined to practice,
is of little account. No one can learn to swim if
he endeavours to follow exactly the rules laid down
in tho most correct treatise on that accomplish-
ment. The following extract on geology is a fair
sample of the style in which a great part of the
book is written :

"With even a moderate knowledge of science, a man
may be changed from a listless idler into an inquiring and
useful observer," said Mr. Warden, " and may gain the
power of converting a dull and dreary road into a district
teeming with instruction and pleasure. He will soon ac-
quire such habits of observation as will lead him to appre-
ciate what he sees, and to express what he feels ; and thus
he becomes master of a sort of mental alchemy, transmuting
things of low price' and slight estimation, into subjects
of rich thought and value, by minute investigation and
close regard."

"As Witness the ineffably trivial topic selected by one of
our most elegant essayists," said Mr. Singleton, " who has
written a brilliant and eloquent dissertation on a pebble.' "
" And to the mind of a geologist," said Mr. Warden,
" this very pebble suggests images of the probable structure
of our earth, strange secrets of its revolutions and changes,
hints of its wondrous self-contained treasures, and indica-
tions of its true age and history."
" It has been well said," remarked Mr. Singleton, "that
those fossils and petrifactions that were formerly collected
as mere curiosities, are now to the globe itself what coins
are to the history of its inhabitants ; they denote the
periods of revolution, and ascertain, at least, comparative
dates."
The laws laid;down for billiards, chess, and cards,
can, of course, be obtained in greater detail, but
what is given will assist the beginner, and perhaps
be less likely to moider his intellect :

" Whist is indisputably the finest of all games of cards,
said Mr. Rose, " although we are told that it was formerly
considered a low game, and confined chiefly to the servants'
hall, until it was played and studied on principle by a set of
gentlemen who frequented the Crown coffee-house in Bed-
ford-row, about 1730. They laid down the following rules :
To play from the strongest suit ; to study your partner's
hand as much as your own ' • never to force your partner un-
necessarily ; and to attend to the score.' These simple rules
have been increased since then, and many clever and ela-
borate instructions now exist concerning this very popular
game ; but there is one precept I have hoard a friend of
mine insist en greatly as a means of playing well, and which
I agree with him in thinking a maxim essential to be ob-
served; this it is, 'look on the board, more than into the
hand you hold."

"As a contrast to the useful axiom youhave cited, Rose,"
said Mr. Warden, " let ins tall you of a pleasant thinf
once heard Charles Lamb say to an old friend, his partner
at whist, who happened to have brought not very deli-
cately-washed fingers to the card-table, 'lf dirt were
trumps, B-, what hands you'd hold l' "
After a dissertation on music, dancing, singing,
and oratory, this interesting volume winds up with
the maiden speech of William Warden, the hero of
the tale, in which by following the advice of his
father "not to attempt a set speech, bat just to trT
and express his feelings in common-sense English,
he, of course, succeeds. The illustrations are good
and well-arranged.

F_i7AL ACCIDENT ON THE EASTERN
COUNTIES .R4ILIKAY—(This Day.)

We have received the following letter from Mr.
Owen, the secretary of the company :

Dear Sir,—l regret to have to inform you that a
serious accident occurred at the Tottenham station,
this morning about 9.20 a.m., to the up Cambridge
train, believed to be in consequence of the tire of
one of the leading wheels having broken while the
train was passing the station.

So far as has been ascertained seven of the pas-
sengers and the engineman have been seriously
injured, some of them dangerously, and the fireman
killed.

FEARFUL COLLISION IN TILE CRAN-
NEL-SUP.POSED LOSS OE FIFTY LIVE 3.

DOVER, SUNDAY.
This morning, about three o'clock, as the steamer
Ondine, Capt. James Hunt, from Dublin to Lon-
don, was abreast of Beechey Head, she came in
collision with the schooner Heroine, of Bideford.
She was struck just abaft the beam, and immediately
began to sink. So great was the injury, that in
less than 20 minutes no traces of her were visible. A
portion of the passengers and crew, 21 in number,
were saved in the jolly boat, and landed at Dover,
where the Sailors' Home was at once opened for their
reception, and every possible comfort afforded that
their distressed circumstances required. They were
lauded perfectly destitute. About fifty of the pas-
sengers and crew are missing. Some of them, in-
cluding the captain, took to the starboard lifeboat,
but it almost amounts to a certainty that they were
swamped, as they could not reach the Heroine. In
the darkness of the night one fearful ,thriek was
heard, and no more seen or known of them. The
On dine was a very unfortunate vessel. She is the
same steamer that a few months ago ran down, near
the South Foreland, the Robert Garden, a Dover
collier, whereby the pilot and several of the crew
were drowned.

SUGAR, TEA, AND COFFEE.—The total amount of
duty paid upon sugar in the year ending Jan. 1, 1860, was
,E 5,936,095, against £3,936,589, paid in 1820. The duty
paid on tea in 1859 was £5,406,110, against £3,689,805 in
1820 ; and on coffee, £429,335, against £305,997 in 1820.
The consumption of tea pca head in 1820, in a population
of 20,398,000, was 171 b ; Tat in 1859, in a population of
29,014,000, 341 b.