The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-20 00:00:00

a riding-whip. They wore stiff stand-up collars, and ful
trousers, showing the boot at the instep fastened with
straps. The prince was scarcely to be distinguished from
a well-dressed private English gentleman, except on State
occasions, when his display threw that of the greatest
magnificos into the shade.

Lord Alvanley's stout proportions and round face, with
its little nose, immediately attracted my friend's attention.
From him ho glanced to the tall figure and smiling features
of Lord Petersham. The others, in turn, came in for aft
share of his scrutiny.
w .s

My friend's attention was again absorbed by'the convex'
sation. In a few minutes he turned once more, and again
4 noticed the dandies clustered about, gazing on his person
with as much wondering curiosity as so many learned
savants might have exhibited at suddenly having presented
to them a wild specimen of the genus home of an entirely
new species. They ravidly moved away, and began to
look at other things as soon as they found they had at-
tracted the stranger's observation.
He had, he said, taken especial pains to be wall dressed,
when he made up his mind to attend the levee of such a
connoisseur in personal decoration, and the beau's friendlY
manner of bringing him amongst the most select of his
little court had not only particularly gratified him, but put
him entirely at his ease. Noticing, however, the singular
behaviour of his companions, he could not help feeling
rather annoyed as well as somewhat alarmed.
"Remember," continued my friend, "that my career a°
a man of fashion had scarcely commenced. I was but a
youth. I felt a morbid anxiety growing upon me that non`
shaped itself into a fear that I had committed some egre-
gious blunder while making my toilet, and at once grew
very rod and uncomfortable.
"I speedily moved to another part of the room, end,
tried to quiet my disturbed thoughts by an examination et
some rare Dresden on a side table. From this I was pre'
sently aroused by an exclamation of surprise from my host,
and looking towards him had the satisfaction of perceiving
that he and Prince Esterhazy were intently observing me
through their eye-glasses, the rest of the company doing
the same thing, and that he looked with an expression of
mingled concern and amazement.
" My dear fellow," he exclaimed, advancing nearer to wet
with his glass to his eye, the others following example'
" Aw, where did you pick up that extraordinary affair you
have put on your back. I protest I never saw anything so
singular."

"Most singular, indeed," cried Lord Yarmouth.
" May be it's an heir-loom ?" suggested Lord Fyfe.
" Coeval with Alfred the Great, at least," observed Lord
Alvanley.
"Exactly !" said Lord Wilton.
"Exactly," echood another.

The Prince laughed good-humouredly, as he added, "It
is not your fault, mine goot sir ; you shall not be to blame,
because a devoid-of-conscience-influencing tradesmen de-
ceive you when you do him the honour to purchase of him
his delusive fabrics."

"Is there anything the matter with the coat 2" my friend
inquired, in a dreadful state of confusion.
" Coat !" exclaimed Beau Brummell.
" Coat !" cried his friends in chorus, all in extreme
astonishment.

"For Heaven's sake, sir, don't misapply names so abomin-
ably ! ' cried the host loudly, and every one continued to
scrutinise the garment ; " it's no more like a coat than 6
cauliflower—if it is, I'll bed--d."
There was a wild laugh, which enraged the young araa'
teur of fashion more than the extravagant commenting ;
and he was meditating a hasty retreat from his unpleasant
position—indignant with what he considered insurmount-
able criticism—when the door suddenly opened, and tb°
valet announced some very great lady, whose name I haV
forgotten.

" I was piqued, perhaps," continued my friend, " for 04
must have known whose son I was, and the rank, too, to
which one day or other I must attain ; the intervieNct
however, had the wholesome effect of curing one of
dandyism ; and though, as you know, I was a servant:
man-about-town, I thought more of politics, sports of al'
kinds, and hunting and racing, than of the pupperies of
useless folly."

Every now and then there is in the midst of all
these random recollections a naiveté on the part of
our author quite refreshing in its way. As
where speaking abort Lord Byron, he re',
marks —" When Byron and myself commenow
our several careers, we had a good many tastes
and feelings in common, however much we mg
have differed in other respects. Although never
approaching his talent for poetry"—surely a noble
and affecting admission on the part of Mr*
Grantley Berkeley !—" I was fond as a
youth of poetic versification." And so on. IV°
might multiply instances like this one very readilli
upon merely lightly turning the pages of either of these
two concluding volumes of the work, 'twixt finger
and thumb. The passage just given about Byron,
however, will surely suffice. Towards the close
of the work the veil of the inner mein
of the sanctuary of home is dropped : and our ante'
biographer allows himself in direct violation of ell
the instincts of his own genial and cordial nature to
indulge in taunts, sarcasms, and vituperations veil
much akin indeed to the hallucinations of gr.
Whalley, M.P. for Peterborough. It is upon 3
theme, however, that to some minds appears to be
always somehow suggestive of what Mr. Cobden
happily termed a craze. We pass it by, therefore,
with a sense of wondering regret. We prefer
looking back to the world of agreeable pages Pre-
ceding these same final pages of the last volume
of the work—these pages darkened by till)
shadow of a domestic trouble out of vibi'
has sprung up this most fantastic hallucination:
We prefer listening to Mr. Grantley Berkeley when
he is in his kindlier moods, when he is not splutter-
ing personalities over his blotted pages, as if from
an ill-nibbed pen with ink darkened beyond its as'
tomary depth with the gall of bitterness ! We like
him best when the smile and not the sneer is on big
lip : and when in his racy telling of an anecdote, we
can almost hearfrom the printedpage the contagious
peal of his laughter. Regarding him solely that
light, his name is borne by us very agreeably in
our remembrance.

FRENCH WlNES.—Messrs. Mann Nephews beg tO
announce the Third Edition of Mr. W. Ray Smee's Pam-
phlet on " French Wines at One Penny per Bottle Customs
Duties" is out of print, but the Fourth Edition will be pub-
lished as soon as possible, with a preface, showing the re-
duction to one penny for all light cheap wines is preferable
to 2d., as decided upon by the Governments
DEATH OF MRS. GERALD MASSEY.—.We have tO
record the death, on Tuesday last, of Mrs. Jane Masse,
wife of Gerald Massey, the poet, who at the time of her de-
cease resided with her husband and their two children 5t
Water End, near Berkhampstead. The deceased lady was
possessed of rare accomplishments, and was only the
prime of life, being between 30 and 40 years of age.
- DEATH OF MR. S. WILDERSPIN. We announce
with regrot the death of Mr. Wiklerspin, which took Place
at his residence, Westgate, Wakefield. The deceased was
one of the pioneers of the educational movement. For years
before the importance of the subject was acknowledged he
laboured to obtain an extension of infant schools for thepor*
His efforts were restricted to no portionof the kingdom, but
extended to all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. For
a long time his labours were carried on under great diffieni-
ties and obstacles, but they obtained recognition from the
late Sir Robert Peel ; and an annuity; which was partly
from Government and partly the result of public subscrir
tions, was obtained for him.—Leeds Mercury.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.—This morning a fire took_
place in the premises of a block-maker and smith, situated.,
in St. George-street, St. George-in-the-East, and destroyed
the basement and considerably damaged the upper portion
of the building. A number of inmates were rescued 11
the fire escape men, after much exertion. Another &°
also took place at Mr. Holmes's, a carpenter, at Pottery-
lane, Notting-hill, and was not extinguished until the
contents of the workshop were destroyed. And a file
happened in the coachhouse of Mr. C. Fox, a carman, I;
9, Seymour-yard, Marylebone, which also did considers w
damage. In
PARLIAMENTARY REPORTING IN AUSTRALIA."'"
addition to the reports of the proceedings of the Pasha:
meat of Victoria, Australia, which are given in the A
bourne daily newspapers, there is in future to be an
inde-
pendent record published at the Government Printing-
office. To furnish this special report three reporters, Prc
viously connected with the staff of the Melbourne Ara'
have been engaged by the Government. The arrangr-of
meat was to come into operation at the commencement
the session of 1866. From the aspect of political affairs 1.0
Victoria at the date of last mail there is every prospect
that the session will provide them with plenty of word
The
The Government reporters will be perfectly untrammel ed°
ill the discharge of their functions, their sole duty beingt
give a faithful report of the discussions, free from any.
political or personal bias. Messrs. T. R. Radii* 11r.
Robinson, and H. Willoughby are the reporters wise lie'
undertaken this responsible task.—Leeds Intelligences.
FIRE AT THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, GORDr
SQUARE On Sunday night some alarm was caused in.tx,ur..
n,
don-square, Tottenham-court-road, owing to a report"' 5
eb
ullt°tYl e
sraised
yths aets ticcha
pe
eApostolice
nCghi
nuer cs hp
rwo
ma spot
lny
afltrtee.ndeld'h,
fire was confined to the destruction of some linen 0n1y..,0
Mr. Westland Marston's new comedy, lit
" Favourite of Fortune," has been produced by Mr. Sotheeran
at Glasgow, with success. This comedy is to be rep
in
atuhdeiseenpereoovninEciasaltreerhmeaol:dalasy,
hill 1)e
nfidently reported that a libel will
piparroelsstee cnui st
Liverpool,
te eddctaoogainst the Rev. Dr. Macleod at the next meet:.
of the Presbytery of Glasgow.—Glasgow ..Iforning Touri