The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-25 00:00:00

LITERATURE,

The hon. gentleman proceeded to address the house,
__
observing Wet he did not expect an answer to his ques-
tion, , —.............
which was of a hypothetical character, when he wee
The Moors and the Fens. By F. G. Trafford. 3
called to order by the Speaker.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said vols. Smith and Elder.
the number of absolute questions her Majesty's Govern- This is a cleverly constructed story, and displays
ment were obliged to encounter were now so numerous . great skill in the working out of the design. It is
:hat they had creme to the general rule to avoid as much true 'hat misers hive often before figured as im-
a, possible hypothetical question , and be thought from Portant personages in the pages of fiction ; but the
the intimation the hon. member bad conveyed, be would .character of Sir Ernest Ivraine is in many respects
not take it as uncourteous to him if he (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer) expressed his inability to respond to liar one. On the ' ' eof hems non
a pecu principl
the question. (Hear, hear.) lucendo, the abode in which he "starved and sinned"
Lord JOHN RUSSELL asked whether her Majesty's was called Paradise. His two sons vary in disposi-
Government bad received the opinion of the law officers tion as much as it is possible to suppose. Ernest, the
of the Crown relative to the legal or illegal capture of ' elder, was timorous and nervous ; he seemed as
the Cagliari! (Rear, hear.) 'if the shadow of the fatal spot in which he was
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it born bad blighted his spirit and darkened his mind.
was usual ler hon. members to give notice af absolute Henry, the younger, was in nothing iudieenous to
queetiene. (Hear, bear.) He, however, had no hesita- the spot ;he pined for freedom, and so, n obtained
tion in answering the question. Her Mejesty's Govern- it. With uo friend, te help or fortune to aid
ment had not received that opinion. him, Ire started fo'th to create for himself an
GREENWICH HOSPITAL. independence; he et last gained honour, but by
%ir G. PEC'dELL eskr-d tee Fir-t Lord of the Ad- no royal need, az too often is the case with the
miralty, if his attention had been drawn t' the memorial her,
es
of
romance. Stern reality and hard tol are
of the captain, lieut.na, ts, and masters of Greenwich •
described as the ordeal through which he passed
Hospital, praying that, in consideration of their wounds triumphant.
and eervicse, they may not be deprived of their half-pay; He might have said of himself—
and whether it was intended to concede the claim they "My noontide, India may declare,
had set forth, and thereby place them (as regarded half. Like her fierce sun, I fired the air 1"
pay) in the same position as the other naval officers of While his brother was vegetating among the
the establi-hm-et ? swamps and fens of Lincolnshire, Henry was e ork-
Sir J. PAKINGTON said that since the hon. and ins out his destiny with a vigour and brilliancy
gallant baronet had given notice tf his question he that b fitted a plant fostered by a tropical sun.
had looked into the subject, and be was unable to find The heroine, Mina, is a charming creation. She
any sufficient reason for the difference that had existed was a
child of the Highlands, end 'he alternation
with reference to the two services, It was, therefore,
from the fens to the meors is a staking contrast,
he intention of her Majefey'e Gevernment to allow to
and contributes to the (ff L''
ect of the story. The
the captains, lieutenants, and masters of Greenwich
Hospital, who had so memorialized her Majesty's Go
author remarks that latieue a seems • -
_ - g nower
vernment to receive their half-gay of the 1 west rank i f less to express the change frolic "the ceaseless
each in addition to their allowance at Greenwich Hoe- hustle and turineil of man's work to the mejestic
pital. (Hear, hear.) gr aideur, and awful tru'h of God's ; from the
THE CRIMINAL STATUTE LA W. I great city, to the lonely country, fa m the flush of
Sir H. KEATING asked the Attorntm -General England's roses, to the glow of Scotland's heather."
whether it was the intention trf her Majesty's Gevern• Mine matriee the miser's soil, and the life she led
merit to introduce the bills for the consolidation and may be imagined, she was a true impersonation of
amendment of the Criminal Statute Law, which were the Highland character, and with the love of
prepared by the Statute Law Commission, arid an- country burning in her heart—with the mem .ry of
nouuced by the late Government? its grandeur and poetly, lingering iu her mind,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said it was his inten- with its visions of the maintain and the fbrod
tion on an early day after the Eider recess to move
haunting her day dreams and hovering over her
the first reading of those bills, and in the event of that
sleep, she was immersed infor body
being wilderness,
being complied with to move to refer them to a select
and t a •
and soul, oninee - with people with whom
committee, and with them the consideration of the
better preparation of bills ( f Parliament. she had no idea in common. The child of the moors
STAFF APPOIN TMENTS. was no more out of place in the fens, than was the
Viscount GODERICH asked the Secretary for War daughter of warrior chiefs and high-souled matrons
whether, under the seventeenth paragraph of the regu- wh )se jewels, like the Roman motkers of old, were
lations f-,r the Staff College at Sandhurst, issued upon the sons who should shine in their country's
the 17th day of December, 1857, captains and lieu- history, isolated among sordid misers and gro-
tenant-colonels in the Guards, who shall have at- yelling spirit's. It is sad to dwell on this page of
tamed that rank before the Ist day of January, 1860, Mina's life, the reader is glad to leave it behind and
will, after that data, be eligible to be appointed to the see her out on the world, for even she could not en-
staff without having gone through the Staff College, cr r dure at last to -remain longer. It is a solemn thing
passed the final examination of that college. to behold the death-bed of a miser, " the ruling
Gen. PEEL said the officers referred to would be
passion strong in death," is never stronger than
eligible for staff appointments. when the posit, ssor feels that he is vanishing away
THE MILITARY AT THE CAPE, from his possessions for ever. Some earthly feel-
Sir D. L. EVANS asked the Secretary for War . full perfection.
t look to Heaven for their
itit;s rt:ttis
what number of regiments had been sent from the Cape
The highest and purest emotions of our nature here
of Good Hope garrison to India ; the dates of departure
of each of those regiments to the latest accounts received below need not beextinguished when the summons
shall call the mortal to put in immortali
from thence, exclusive of any regiments which may .y. Ambi-
have been diverted from other destinations to India, tion may behold its perishing chaplet exchanged for
such as New Zsaland, Ceylon, China, &c. ; and how an unfading crown. Affection has all to hope and
teeny British regiment-4remain4 at the Cape ? nothing to dread from the translation to above.
General PEEL said the following regiments were " The harvest sceue of love is then e;" but in whose
sent from the Cape of Good Hope to India—the 13th in paradise, from the hunting grounds of the Indian
August, the 95th in September, the 6th in November, war chief to the sublimest vision of the enlightened
and the 80th in December, and 230 ' f the artillery in believer, has the miser found a place ? The last
August. Trio reeiruents remaining at the Cape were
hours of Sir Ernest end his sister are awfully de-
the 45th, 85th, 12th, the second battalion of the 60th,
scribed ; and the peculiar horror that all sordid
and tithe 731. dispositions manifest at the thought of others em-
ploying those shining heaps they would fain carry
•

INDIA.
Mr. CHEET HAM asked the Secretary of the Beard
of Co trot it it was the intention of her Mej stye
Go-
vernment to censiitute a Board of Public W each
Presidency ~f 'lndia, distinct from those Boards now
there, whose special duties salad be tne c nstruc•
tion of roads, ef works of irrigation end navigable canals,
and the inerroverneet of the navigation f rivers ?
Mr. 11. BAILLIE -aid it was not the int, ntion of
her Majesty's Government to adopt the course referred
to by the bon. member. If it could be shown that the
Department of Public Works did ntt discharge the
duties required of them, her Majesty's Gevernmeet
would consieer the best means of providing a suitaule
remedy. (Hear.)
THE CAPTURE OF DELHI.
Mr. KINNAIRD asked the Secretary for War
whether it was in contemplition to issue medals to com-
memorate he capture of Delhi to all those engaged in
that memorable siege.
General PEEL said her Majesty had directed that a
medal should be granted to all the tro pa engaged in the
suppression of the mutiny io India, with a clasp for tne
capture of Delhi— cheers)—and also for the capture and
relief of Lucknow. (Oneer..)
LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.
Mr. ROEBUCK moved that, in the opinion of this
house, the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ought to
be abolished, and the office of Secretary ef State fer Ire-
land at once created. The hon. and leareed g ritlemen
denied that he was an enemy to Ireland by pu, suing the
present course. He had always done his utmost utmost
for Ireland, and by doingaway with thisbadge of slavery,
and appointing a Secretary of Steve, he was advocating
Ireland's being a portion of this great empire in reality.
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland cost 50,0001. a-year,
without any corresponding benefit. The only pers ins
interested in it,: continuant:a were milliners and tailors,
why supplied Court dresses.
Mr. GILPIN seconded the motion
Mr. S. B. MILLER move 1 the previous question, on
the ground that no valid reason had been given f ‘r this
change, and secondly, that her Majesty's G oiernment
were net in a position to give the matter, from pressi, g
business, their beat consideration at present. He
considered such a change should originate with the Go-
vernment, and not with a private member. A central
resident authority in Dublin was essential to the welfare
of Ireland, and he quoted the opinion of the late Duke
of Wellington to that direct. He protested against the
revivals and incessaat renewals of this motion for piece-
meal legislation.
Mr. VANCE seconded the amendment.
Col. FRENCH condemned the course pursued by the
mover of the amendment. The previous question
was an ingenious device to get rid of a matter to which
he (Col. French) considered a tacit admission that the
mover and those who voted with him were unable to re-
sist the truth and force of the original resolution. He
was surprised the previous question bad been moved
from the Ministerial side cf the house, because Lord
Eglinton on a former occasion declared that the abolition
of the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland would be
beneficial to that country, an opinion in which that
nobleman was j oined by many of his present colleagues.
The gallant colonel then referred to the system of exclu-
sion of Irishmen from the office of Lord Lieutenant and
Chief Secretary, that bad been adopted, though Irish-
men in all quarters of the world, and in every station
had shown themselves equal to E"glishmen or
Scetchinen. Toe cost of the Lord Lieutenant had
been wrongly stated at 50 0001. a-year. It was only
35,000/., and he found t 'et the H-one Seer tary's office
for England east 24.0001., the Celeuial 29,0001., and
the War-office 121,0001
[LEFT SPEAKING

them into the dark unknown awl bu. y for ever
in the night of the grave, exemplifies in, s. empha-
tically th it whet e the tie isur is the, e will the
heart be al,o. There are other passages in the stoty
that increase its interes, ; and the disclosure c, nice: fl-
ing Wesiwo, d isvery ingeniously c ,ntri vt d. Withthe
promise and prost:eci of two fo,tune-, Mina had to
en ture years of penury. It is satisfactory to think
that she was at last endowed with some portion of
wealth. In their free and happy home among the
mountains of Mina's beloved I,nd, the son of Sir
E= nest might feel ail the happier frona the thought
that his competence bad been secured by the mer-
chant, and not toe miser. Away for his early
a s aiations, he was another man, he might be said
to renew hie youth, as time, in his flight, bore
away still farther the impression of the horrors of
the past, and le I him to bless the day he left the
fens for the moors.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, WEDNESDAY MORNING.
THE COLLEGE ELECTION. . __

Although it would be rather premature to specn•
late on the result of a contest which mAy be per-
severed in until the last day of the current week,
stili it may be stated as the general impression that
Dr. Gayer's chance-; of ultimate success have been
materially and unexpectedly dimiu,stiel by the
issue ti the fir-t day's polling. The learned gentle-
man is the undoubted fay .rite of tie heads and
corporation generally of the University, and every-
one supposed that at the start, at least, ho wou,d
hive headed his opponent, as he reside, t voters
were by an overwhelming majority pledged to sup-
port him. Mr. Lefroy's great strength on tin
contr try, lay in the non resident or out voters, and
it was not anticipated that they would sh.,w in any
considerable force until the second and subsequent
days of the election. It was reported yesterday
that Mr. Lefroy's m jority might have been much
larger, but that it was deemed better poli y to keep
down the numbers, lest parties resid ng in the
country should come to the that the
issue was virtually decided by the fwures of Tues-
day, and that, therefore, the journey to Dublin
might be s•tiely avoided. Such a notion, if enter-
tained to any extenr, might materially alter the
relative positions of the candidates, and that, too,
before the close of the second day.

The Life of Mahomet, and History of Ram. By
William Muir, Esq. 2 vols. Smith, Elder,
and Co.
This laborious and valuable producion forms
the commencem-nt of a work ou the rice and pro-
gress of the Mahometau faith, which is likely,
thaugh somewhat tedious to the general reader, to
become a ,•tandar,i work of reference for the scholar
and the student. The peculiar character of the
country and it: inhabitants ,he absence of any
great events or striking characters such as have
lighted up the rages of most ratio al annals, the
enWiglewent of ,ho dynas ies, and the petty con-
flicting powers, joined to the isolation of the coun-
try and its comparatively unknown langulge, have
rendered the early records of Ar.bian history one
of the leant known in either hemisphere. It was
far ot:,erwise in later years wh-n the Moslem name
was a terror to Europeans, and when the vict uious
army of Aliderrahtnan swept over Aquitaine and
Bordeaux. The patient and laborious author
endeavours to carry back the Arabian records to
the earliest possible traces, and he searches among
the dust of ages with which they are overlaid with
commendable perseverance, though we roust con-
fess without always meeting an adequate recom-
peuse. The work before us only carries down the
life of Mahomet to the era of the Hegira, or flight
from Mecca to Medina, which took place about
A.D. 622, and therefore the most exciting and
extraordinary part of the narrative is not yet
reached. A great portion of this first instalment
is occupied by the introductory history, and com-
ments on the various sources from which the bio-
graphy of Mahomet is derived, their comparative
value and authenticity, whether historical, tradi-
tional, or legendary. The author promises,
bh"llid events permit him, to comtlete the life and
career of the Prophet. He is fully capable of ap-
preciating the has ins and reflections which may be
drawn from and traces the rise and orig,u of the
idea of conversion in Mahomet's mind, in an able
and sat isfaet, Tv wanner. We are glad, th •t he pur-
post.s completng a work Fo laboiious in iti charac-
t r, and ro valuable in the extent of its intormat ion,
for thouh tie subject be somewhat tedious, and
cannot be said to approach the r mance of most of
the early eastern annals, the pr. -I-lamite history
is useful to the student, and en .bles the reader to
comprehend the dtsjoaated and conflicting circum-
stances which afforded such ready opportunity for
the advance of the Mahometan supremacy. The
author apologise, in a note, for any errors that
may have crept into the latter pages of the work,
as being a member of the Bengal Civil Service, all
his hooks of reference had been secured from the
att cks of the mutineers, and were inaccessible.
The labour and research whili has been bestowed
on the work must have be n considerable ; indeed,
the author is rather too lavish of his notes, from
which th, re is start-ly a page that is fie-. It would
have been better to have tuterpelated a few with
the text, or to have placed them at the end of the
volume. We trust th a the speedy set tl-ment of
the Indian ddEcul:ies will twine the author to
gain his literary property, and to conduct ha ardu-
ous undertaking to a satisfact. ry conclusion.