The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-12 00:00:00

,CONEY MARKET

illustration, we will give yet another passage from
that same at once intensely rhetorical and highly dra-
matic poem—the closing passage of all, leading
Zaraides and his warriors down the "Secret Way"
into the banqueting chamber of the beleaguered
Ring Omartes—at the very moment when Argiope
(at the instance of her father) is about, cup in hand,
to select from the assembled chiefs the future partner
of her throne and life, with whom she is to escape
from warlike durance along the Secret Way into
the guardian solitudes of the Scythian wilderness.
Argiope, more than ever we may fancy 4g shame-
faced and blushing to be born so fair," has but
Just discovered, upon the unlooked-for entrance
of Zariades, the mysterious lover whom she has
hitherto only beheld in her dreams :
She passed along the floors, and stooped above
A. form, that, as she neared, with arms outstretched,
On beaded knees sunk down

And took the wine-cup with a hand that trembled ;
A form of youth—and nobly beautiful
As Dorian models for lonian gods.
"Again !" it murmured low,
"0 dream, at last! at last! how I have missed thee !"
And she replied, "The gods are merciful,
keeping me true to thee when I despaired."-
But now rose every guest,
Rose every voice in anger and in teator ;
For 10, the kneeler lifted over all
The front of him their best had fled before—.
"Zariades the Diode "
Rang from each lip : from each sheath flashed the sabre:
Thrice stamped the Persian's foot : to the first sound
Ten thousand bucklers echoed back a clang ;
The next, and the huge walls
Shook with the war-shout of ton thousand voices :
The third, and as between divided cloud
Plames fierce with deathful pest an angry sun,
The folds, flung rudely back,
Disclosed behind one glare of serried armour.

On either side, the Persian or the Scyth,
The single lord of life and death to both,
Stayed, by a look, vain strife ;
And passing onward amid swords uplifted,
girl's slight form beside him his sole guard,
8e paused before the footstool of the King,

And in such tones as soothe
The wrath of injured fathers, said submissive—
" I have been guilty to the gods and thee
Of man's most sinful sin,—ingratitude ;
That which I pined for most
Seen as a dream, my waking life rejected;
" Now on my knees that blessing I implore.
Clive me thy daughter ; but a son receive,
And blend them both in one
As the mild guardian of the Scythian River."

The mode in which the development of the plot is
Wrought out, in which it is ravelled and then un-
ravelled to the climax of this bewitching incident, we
have purposely refrained from in any way indicating
--preferring rather to leave the fairy windings of
the labyrinth to be revealed by the clue vouchsafed
to the reader's hand by the fabricator alike of clue
and labyrinth. Constructed though the varied
Stanzas in this volume are upon principles of
rhythm which are accurately enough defined by Sir
Edward Lytton, as exceedingly simple in them-
selves, the charm of the novel experiment in English
pdetry thus adventured upon lies especially in the
fact, the perfectly indisputable fact as it appears to
us, that no such scheme has over before been applied
to the purposes of narrative. Suggested by, rather
than imitated from, the metres actually in use among
the ancients, the various metres, or some, at least,
among the various metres here contrived by Sir Bul-
Wer Lytton may be said, in the strictest meaning of
the word, to have beenby him actually in a manner
invented ! They are no mere echoes caught up by
him and adroitly imitated. It cannot be said of the
author of these " Lost Tales of Miletus," that like
the untutored " Oread's Son," of whom he sings,
he Can be in any way described as one merely—

" Breathing a soul into the hollow reed !"
It IS. rather as though, while—

ii • • . . there flashed into his hand
A. shell-like instrument with golden strings—
* * * * * *

------ Carelessly he swept the chords,
And the lyre spoke ; spoke as if all the thoughts,
Passions, and powers, and dreams,
Coiled in the brain or smouldering in the bosom,
had found long-pined-for egress—As a bird
Caged from its birth content, abruptly hears
One on wings poised in heaven,
Blending with days, its own melodious gladness.
And yet, after all has thus been said, there is never-
theless one other adventurous employment of his mas-
tell over the world of harmonies latent in the golden
strings of that shell-like instrument that we cannot
but regret his never having once attempted, his
having, in truth, throughout the volume, purposely
abstained from attempting—a circumstance arising
either,, we presume, from an over fastidiousness or
'4l°m a lack of temerity : the avoidance, we mean,
throughout the whole volume of any one at-
tempt to employ the hexameter per se, or
the hexameter alternately with the pen-
tameter. Sir Edward Lytton in a manner
excuses himself no doubt towards the close of his
Prefatory remarks, for inasmuch as he has, in point
43! fact, intentionally avoided both hexameter and
pentameter. But he so excuses himself we cannot but
tilMk inadequately. " For certain kinds of poetry,"
ha Bays, the hexameter, when in the hands of a
blaster, is, no doubt, admirably well suited." Why
not in this ? Why not in the hands of this master
of many metres ? For—frankly let us say at once—
We fail to recognise the force of his assertion when
he observes that " Neither the hexameter nor the
alternate hexameter and pentameter would be ap-
propriate to my mode of treating these stories, in
Which, for the most part, I have sought to bring
out dramatic rather than epic or elegiac elements of
interest, not without aim at that lyrical brevity and
compression of incident and description, which is
less easily attainable in the metres referred to than
41 composite measures of shorter compass and
and more varied caesura." Again, we must
heeds protest that we altogether fail here to recog-
nise the force of the argument thus emphatically
insisted upon. The very reference made imme-
latelybefore this to Whewell's charming translation
of
the "Herman and Dorothea," to say nothing
Whatever of the prior allusion to Longfellow's " Evan-
geline," defeats, as it appears to us, Sir Edward's
"111 argument as directed against the employ-
faent of the hexameter in narrative poems, no mat-
ter of what length or brevity. Dramatic force and
irriea.l compression, as it seems to us, are hardly
else attainable in the rhythmic flow of the hexameter
-and certain are we that it would have proved
8° in Sir Balwer Lytton's own hands if he bad
but adventured upon this one additional experiment
than in any one of the rhymeless stanzas he
.44 here contrived for his own immediate
PurPoee so very ingeniously. Extending to no
.1.,?131 .
re than eight poems in all, " The Lost Tales of
as they are here recounted, are as widely
ritrasted in their character as well could be. To
t/iv° cmly would we take exception as of compara-
velY inferior excellence'—the remaining six having
eh of them exceptional merits peculiarly their own.
r enthralling interest and dramatic power we
prid still give the palm to " The Secret Way."
re r delicate and refined graces of fancy, graces
hirkable for what may be termed their contem-
_lve and introspective suggestiveness commend
4
commend
the Legend of Sicily. For the rare ingenuity
b,"Lenced in the intricate elaboration of the plot of
einoalf-forgotten story the meed of commendation
cc 1:1g8 to " Cydippe or the Apple." For a sweetness
musical as is Apollo's lute" to that mournful legend
breatheda anew as from the mystic reed over the en-
ho,silee to the Grotto of Pan at Ephesus, in the brief
in dedicated to the history of " Corinna." Be-
yond all the seven companion poems, however, com-
rißecl withinthem the compass of the volume—beyond
li. in originality, in power, in the
Leredhti ng memory of it when once mas-
a - would, upon mature consideration,
-ceorcl
poei, highest praise of all to the remarkable
commemorative of the mythical story of
Ypaus.
it. A Death and Sisyphus" is the title of
tiona-of nd. it is extraordinary if only for this excep-
able
8° 611btrle
aln heas°ll—that it combines in so vivid yet
in. an mtaninser the Humorous and theb
rible.
'Voluptu respect it is alone compar-
of the way to that wondrous combinationous
and the Pathetic, of Love
iu and Rerror •
, in " The Bride of Corinth" of Goethe,
Which +l,
e thought of Zavier de Maistre is
n
realised i
creatures creatures of blooming flesh and blood,
most
beyond
au once beautiful and ' loathsome,
the power of utterance—

HER MAJESTY•

-4.-

OSBORNE, Saturday.
The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, ac-
companied by Princess Helena.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, with the
Countess of Macclesfield and Major Teesdale in
waiting, attended Divine service at the Chapel
Royal, St. James's, yesterday.
The Communion Service was read by the Rev.
the Subdean, the Rev. J. V. Povah, and the Rev.
Dr. Vaughan.
Anthem—" I have set God" (Goldwin).
Sung by Messrs. Barnby, J. Foster, M. Smith,
and Lewis Thomas.

Mr. Goss presided at the organ.
The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr.
Vaughan from Isaiah, ch. xxi., verses 11, 12.

Parliamentary Banquets.

The Earl and Countess Russell entertained the
Earl of Minto, Viscount and Viscountess Amberley,
Lord and Lady Dufferin, Lord Eliot, Hon. Henry
Cowper, M.P., Mr. George Trevelyan, Miss Peel,
Mr. Fonblanque, &c., at dinner, at their residence
in Chesham-place. . . _

The Right-Hon. the Speaker gave his first Par-
liamentary full-dress dinner on Saturday evening
last to the following noblemen and gentlemen :
The Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the Marquis of Hartington, Lord F. Cavendish,
Right Hon. Viscount Castlerosse, Viscount Enfield,
Lord C. Paget, C. 8., Right Hon. Sir George Grey,
G.C.8., Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, Right Hon.
W. Cowper, Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, Hon. F. G.
Baring, Right Hon. Milner Gibson, Right Hon.
William Monsell, the Judge Advocate-General,
Hon. T. Austin Bruce, Right Hon. G. J. Goschen,
Hon. Henry Brand, the Attorney-General, the
Lord Advocate, the Attorney-General for Ireland,
the Solicitor-General, the Solicitor-General for
Scotland, the Solicitor-General for Ireland, Mr.
Childers, Mr. Layard, M.P., Mr. W. E. Forster,
Mr. Stansfeld, Colonel Kingscote, Mr. Dodson,
Mr. Graham, Rev. Charles Merivale, Chaplain ;
Mr. Alfred Denison, the Secretary.
The Right Hon. B. Disraeli ga►e a Parliamentary
dinner on Saturday evening, at his residence, Gros-
venor-gate. There were present the Larl of
Tyrone, Viscount Royston, Lord Eustice Cecil, the
Hon. Frederick Stanley, the Hon. Gerard Noel,
the Hon. Thomas De Grey, Mr. Baillie Cochrane,
Colonel Loyd Lindsay, Mr. Guinness, Mr. Graves,
Mr. Walsh, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Hodgson, Mr.
Eaton, Mr. Williams, Mr. Campbell, and Mr.
Walrond.

SURREY THEATRE.—That the unwonted depres-
sion of Miss Avonia Jones on the first performance
of " East Lynne " on Monday last may be duly explained,
we are authorised to state, what is not generally known,
that the lady, though she has never changed her profes-
sional name, is the widow of Mr. G. V. Brooke, whose sad
fate in the London must be familiar to all our readers.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—The last " spiral ascent" of
the surprising globe-roller, Senor Ethardo, was
made on Saturday; at least his last performance for the pre-
sent. Mr. Manns previously gave one of his excellently-
arranged concerts, including selections from Mendels-
sohn's "Lurley," Vincent Wallace's " Lurline," and
Silchers part-song " Lurley," with Madame Rudersdoff,
Mr. Wilbye Cooper, and Mr. Patey as principal vocalists.
The palace was illuminated at dusk, and upwards of 6,000
visitors bore witness to the attractions of a Crystal Palace
Saturday.

PASTORAL BY ARCHBISHOP MANNING.—Dr.
Manning, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster,
issued his Lenten Pastoral yesterday. It was read pub-
licly in all the Roman Catholic places of worship in the
district of the metropolis under his spiritual care, and
treats particularly of the " three evangelical good works—
fasting, alms, and prayer." At one part of the address the
Archbishop writes :—" Signs of evil are everywhere.
The words spoken on the first day of this year by
the Sovereign Pontiff warn us of the perils which hover
about his sacred presence. No two nations of the
world are in amity; between almost all a secret and in-
tense animosity exists. Mutual resentments and defiance
keep old wounds open. Sedition is undermining every
people. The modern spirit of nationality is bearing its
own fruit. It has been used as a lever to wrench fragments
from tho unity of the Church, and to overthrow the
government of the Vicar of Christ; it must now be ex-
tinguished within our own borders. All the States of the
Old World and the New seem to be sick at heart; and
there is little wisdom in rulers, and little confidence in
the power and stability of Governments. Besides all this,
the hand of God is visible in shadow. A murrain wastes
our herds, destroying and tainting the food of man, and a
pestilence which walketh in darkness, for no man can
discern or control it, hangs over us, suspended for a mo-
ment, to descend upon us unless God avert, when winter
is gone. Add to all this, the sins of this land, past and
present, against the faith and the church of Jesus Christ,
against His precepts, and the honour of his Blessed
Mother ; the multitudes who are dying every day out of
the fold of salvation, without sacrament or pastor; the
millions who lie in the unconsciousness of spiritual death,
corrupt and corrupting one another ; the monsters and
portents of crime committed day by day among us ; and,
lastly, our own unworthiness of
,all great graces. ' For it
is time that judgment should begin at the house of God.'
The sins of Catholics are darker than the sins of other
men, for their light is greater, and the grace they have re-
ceived is enough to make them saints."

PEACOCK AS A WRITER OF FICTION, says the
Athenzuni very charmingly, is too little known by
the readers of our generation ; but Shelley's executor, the
author of "Headlong Hall,' 00 " Nightmare Abbey,',
" Maid Marian " (with its charming lyrics), ‘` Crotchet
Castle," " Melincourt," and, the other day, "Gryll Grange,"
—the friend and collaborator of Bentham, and Mill, and
Grote, must not pass to his rest, at the patriarchal age of
eighty, without a tribute to his racy wit, his quaint read-
ing, and his quiet command of mother-tongue. Rated
among novelists, Peacock, in one respect, counts for little.
He never tried for plot; he had small descriptive power.
Rated as a satirist who shot Folly as it flew, and could
exhibit the philosophies and paradoxes of the time with an
epigrammatic keenness, and withal a genial recognition of
all that is best, highest, and most liberal, he demands no
common praise, and will hold no common place whenever
the story of ultra-liberal literature shall come to be written.
One brief, whimsical volume comprises the best of his
novels; but there is more in that book than in the seventy
volumes of those prolific folk who lay stories—six a year
as fast as circulating-library readers will devour them, to
be forgotten as soon as devoured—[ls the Athenaeum tnink-
ing of Mr. Anthony Trollope?]—Peacock's tales will be
returned to. They are, in some sort, already classics,

AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE,

TWELVE O'CLOCK.

The Money Market is active, and for the moment
the tendency is not, as was expected, easier. The
rates for first-class bills continue to range from 74
per cent. _

_
An amount of bar gold equal to £21,000 was
taken to the Bank on Saturday.

The half-yearly report of Barned's Banking Com-
pany recommends a di7idend of Zs. per share, free
of income tax, being about 6f per cent. per annum
from the dates of the calls.

The half-yearly report of the European Bank
recommends a dividend of 6 per cent.
From the manufacturing districts the accounts
for the past week have generally been favourable.
At Manchester moderate transactions have been
effected in both cloths and yarns, and a slight
recovery has taken place in prices. The woollen
trade of Leeds, Bradford, and Huddersfield has
continued seasonably active ; while at Birming-
ham, Sheffield, and Wolverhampton there has been
increased activity in most departments, owing to
large orders for home requirements and for ship-
ment, chiefly to America.

Two O'CLOCK.

According to .Reuter's telegram the French
Three per Cent. Rentes were quoted at 68f. 77c.
Inanimate

With a more confident feeling the Funds and
other Securities have improved. The amelioration
is not of magnitude, but it denotes a better tone,
though the transactions have continued to be of a
limited character. Consols are 1 higher at 861 87
for money, and 874 1 for the Bth March. The
New Threes and Reduced Annuities are 861 87 ;
Exchequer Bills, 7s. to 2s. dis ; Bank Stock, 247 ;
India 5 per Cents, 1021 1 ; ditto Enfaced 5 per
Cents., 101.
The quotations for Foreign Stocks generally
share an upward tendency. Turkish 5 per Cents.
are 381 1; Mexican, 211 22 ; do. New, 19 4 ;
Greek, 13 ; Spanish Passive, 27 ; the Certifi-
cates, 151 16 ; Italian, 604 ; the Confederate
Loan, 41 5j- ; Brazilian Scrip, 1 11 prem. ; and
Egyptian Railway Scrip, 1.1 prem. United States
Government 5-20 Bonds are 671; Erie Shares,
51i 52 ; and Illinois, 7414.
Business in the Railway Share Market has been
inactive, although, in some instances, prices are a
shade firmer. Great Eastern have improved 4, and
Great Western and Manchester, Sheffield, and
Lincoln each 1.
In the Foreign and Colonial lines there is not
much variation, but Grand Trunk of Canada have
advanced 2 per cent., to 49 50.
Bank and Miscellaneous Shares remain very
dull. London and County are dealt in at 79i ;
Alliance at 264 ; Hudson Bay Company at 161
171; Joint Stock Discount at 4i 0 ; and Overend,
Gurney, and Co., at 191 1. Charles Lafitte and
Co.'s shares are quoted 3 31 prem.

BRITISH FUNDS—ONE O'CLOCK.
GOVERNMENT FUNDS.
3 per Cent. Consols
Do. Account, March 6 B7
3 per Cent. Reduced B6}
New 3 per Cent B6f 7
New 2f per Cent. Jan. 1894
Do. 5 per Cent. Jan. 1873
Annuities, 30 yrs, expire sth Jan., 1880 --
Do. for 30 yrs, expire sth April, 1885 —
Do (Red Sea Telegraph), Aug., 1908 —
Exchequer Bills, £1,000,3 per Cent. 7 2 dis
Do. £5OO 7 2 dis
Do £lOO and £200
Bank of England Stock, 5 per Cent
INDIAN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES.
Indian Stock, loir per Cent., April 1874 —
Do Account
Do. 5 per Cent. July, 1870
Do. 4 per Cent., Oct. 1888
Do. Certificates
Do. Enfaced Paper 4 per Cent
Do. 5 per Cent., Jan. 1872
Do. 51 per Cent., May 1879
Do. 4 per Cent., Aug. 1866
Do. Bonds, £l,OOO
Do. under £l,OOO
FOREIGN FUNDS—ONE O'CLOCK.
Austrian'Bonds, 5 per Cent, 1859
Brazilian 5 per Cent
Do. 41 per Cent., 1852-58-60
Do. 1863
Do. 1863 771! 5
Do Account
Do. Scrip, £35 paid
Buenos Ayres 6 per Cent B2,
Do. Account
Do 1 per Cent. (Deferred 3 per Cent.)
Milian 6 per Cent

Do. 44 per Cent —
Colombian 6 per Cent. --•
Cuba, 6 per Cent.
Danish 3 per Cent., 1825 —
Do. 4 per Cent., 1863
Do. 5 per Cent., 1773-77, £25 paid —
Danubian Principalities

Do Account -
Equador New Consolidated, 1 per Cent
Do., Provisional Land Warrant —
Egyptian 7 per Cent
Do., Second Issue —
Do £lOO Bonds
Do. 1864 921
Do £lOO Bonds
';reek 5 per Cents., 1824-5, ex Coupons In-
Do. Account
Do. Coupons
Do. Account
Tuatemala 5 per Cent. —
-talian 5 per Cent, 1865
Do Account
Do. Maremmana Railway —
M e=ican 3 per Cent
Do. Account
Dn 1864 —
1)o 6 per Cent. Anglo-French
Montevidean 6 per Cent., £3O paid
Moorish Imperial 5 per Cent
New Granada —
Do 2 per Cent
Do Deferred
Do Land Warrants (Hectares)
Do. 6 per Cent, 1864 —
Do Guaranteed, 4 per Cent —
Peruvian 5 per Cent., 1865
Do. Account
Do 3 per Cent. (Uribarren) —
Do 44 per Cent., 1862
Portuguese 3 per Cent., 1853
Do 3 per Cent., 1856, '7, '9, '6O, '62, '3, 45f
Do. Account
Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St —
Do 44 per Cent. 1850
Du 44 per Cent., 1860
Do 3 per Cent. 1859 - '
Do 5 per Cent. 1862 II
901, 14
Do 5 per Cent. 1864 94
Sardinian 5 per Cent
Do Account
Do £ICO Bands
Do. 14 per Cent
Spanish 3 per Cent
Do. Account
Do New Deferred

Do Account
Do Passive 261 .1
Do Account —
Spanish, Cert. of Coup not funded l5l
Do Account l5l 1
Swedish 4 per Cent.
Do. 4} per Cent. 1864 —
Turkish 6 - Cent. 1854 —

per
Do Account.,
Do 6 per Cent. 1858
Do Account
Do £lOO Bonds
Do 6 per Cent. 1862
Do Account

Do £lOO Bonds
Do 6 per Cent., 1863
Do 5 per, Cent., 1865, paid up Scrip 3Bl
Do Scrip, £35 paid
Do Account
Do. 4 per Cent. Guaranteed
Venezuela 3 per Cent.
Ditto account
Do 6 per Cent, 1864 36
Dividends on the above payable in London.
Austrian, 5 par Cent., Ex. 10 Florins
Belgian, 44 per cent., Ex. 25f.
Dutch 2i per Cent., Ex. 12 Gull 6l+
Do 4per Cent. Certificates 96i
French Rentes 3 per Ceut.
Italian 5 per Cent., 1861, Ex. 25f. ....
Do Account
TWO O'CLOCK.
Consols for money
Do. Account B7l 1

A RICH BALE OF COTTON.—Many cotton bales
arriving in New York have to be overhauled, dirt and
stained cotton thrown out, and then rebaled. The other
day two labourers in discharge of this duty found in one of
the bales $27,000 in gold. One of them proposed to the
other to divide and keep mum, but the other said he would
report, to the boss. The purchaser of the cotton claimed
the gold, and the seller claimed it because the cotton was
not delivered, and for other reasons, and probably the
court will decide to whom this rich mine belongs. The
purchaser gave the two labourers $4OO each in green-
backs.

AID TO THE OREGON RAILROAD. —Recently
Representative Bedwell introduced a bill granting lands to
aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from
the Central Pacific Railroad, in California, to Portland,
Oregon, and which will probably soon be favourably re-
ported on by the Select Committee on the Pacific Rail-
road. The bill also authorises the Puget Sound and
Columbia River Railroad Company to construct a road to
unite with others on the Pacific coast. The usual grant
9f lauds and other privileges are conferred.