The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-21 00:00:00

LITERA2'URB.

The Broad Arrow, being Passages from the History
of " Nada Owynnham :" a " Lifer." By Oline
Kreese. 2 vols. Bentley.
These two remarkable volumes can hardly
fail to arrest attention. They do not belong
to the class of novel readers, but they contain
scenes and chronicle characters that affect the vital
interests of the community, and appeal to the
sympathies of the world at large. All who are
capable of feeling at all deeply must sympathise
with that sad race of the children of mortality,
who are doomed to bear the penalty of their sins
throughout the long life that seems to many a
protracted death. If some of these hapless out-
casts could speak at the close of their existence,
they would doubtless inform us that theirs has
been an earthly purgatory, and that the miseries of
their position, the burden of their sins, and the
monotony of their lives, have anticipated in this
world the terrors and anguish that belong to that
state where the worm dieth not and the _fire is not
quenched. It is not possible, nor even desirable,
that this should be altogether altered; for the
safety of society requires a solemn retribution to
be awarded to the offender against the welfare of
nations, and the violator of the commands of God
and the statutes of supreme justice. It is to be
considered, however, that many are condemned
who have been more sinned against than sinning,
whose abettors may be now walking the highways
of the world as free as ourselves, while their
victims groan in the anguish of their inflicted
sentence, aad, in the sleepless watches of the night
on some far-off shore, beyond earth's central
line, breathe curses on the name of their destroyer,
or implore for death to accord that mighty
release, which causes the chains of the dungeons
to falloff, and the gates of the prison to fly open.
Of such was Maida Gwynnham, whose career was
early blighted, and whose passage through the
valley of the shadow of convict life is here
powerfully narrated. In the preface the authoress
remarks that she will deem herself happy
in having written, " if but one sister now trembling
on the brink of ruin, read it, and enter into her
Ibelief—that loss of virtue is in most cases the first
and fatal impulse towards those depths of sin whose
end it has been her painful lot to witness in Tas-
mania." She also observes that this work was
planned and partly written years ago, which pre-
cludes the possibility of its being suggested by the
numerous works that have recently appeared on the
subject of convict life. Some might suppose at first
sight that there was a similarity between the
" Broad Arrow" and " Never too Late to Mend,"
but, after perusal, the reader must acknowledge
that a vast difference exists, for while the latter
reveals the secrets of the prison house at home, the
former relates to the convict system abroad, and
especially in the female department. It would be
well if in actual life such startling warnings could
be afforded to the deceiver as that which befell
Capt. Normell when he entered the dead-house of the
hospital, and found Maida, whose bright youth he
had overshadowed, and whose hopes for this world
he had irretrievably blighted, stretched before him.
Being dead, she yet spoke to his guilty conscience,
and seemed to whisper of that after meeting at
another tribunal, where the sins of the strong
would not be visited on the weak. At the thought
of the disclosure of the secrets of the heart, well
might the arch-deceiver and subtle plotter tremble,
and none can pity even his awful fate, when the
terrible calamities he had inflicted on innocent
trust such as Mary Doveton's, and self-sacrificing
devotion like Maida's are remembered. There is
much written, about the mode of dealing
with the convicts, and great dissatisfaction
is expressed' in many instances. In some
cases, perhaps, this idea may be exaggerated,
as it is difficult to argue on this subject without
taking a one-sided view of the question, either the
prisoners are regarded as objects of unqualified
animadversion, or considered too much in the light
of martyrs. Between these extremes few look
upon them as men like themselves whom it is a
duty to hold under restraint, and to punish if ne-
cessary, but whom it is no less a duty to protect
from needless suffering. It would be well if those
who regarded with self-complacency the felon array
ever dwelt on the fact, that if tempted as these had
been, they might have not come out immaculate,
and asked themselves the question whether if all
was known, their conduct under the pressure of
business in the grinding of the poor for money,
the needless ruin of struggling brethren, to add a
mite to their hoarded thousands was not as really
sinful as the starving man who stole for the means of
sustenance, or the uneducated and misguided wretch
who joined the gang of housebreakers. In their
pride of place and power, they should reflect, that
the day will come when the Judge of the thief will
be theirs' also, and that many of the actions of their
respectable lives will be ranked with the sins of
the outcasts they scoff at. Another point here
mentioned is the treatment of convicts by the
various grades in authority over them. This is a
difficult question to decide upon, as those not con-
nected with a place cannot be accurate in forming
a partial opinion. As a general rule it is certain
that calmness and kind treatment are the wisest and
the best. It may be difficult to follow out the plan
under cases of provocation and in moments of ex-
citement, but it is an awful responsibility for any
to take upon themselves to avenge private wrongs
or personal dislike by wielding the power delegated
to them in an unfair manner. The spirit of this
work is well described in the words of Portia—
" Though justice be your plea, consider this, that
in the course of justice we none of us should
see salvation," and those who do not agree
with much that is said on the subject
in these pages cannot in their hearts deny that the
principle is right, which urges the maker, and the
enforcer of the law, to remember, that earthly
power the most rese nbles heaven's when mercy
tempers justice. "The Broad Arrow" is therefore
no mean endeavour to serve the most afflicted of
the human race, the sinner, and if by its perusal,
one mind becomes more impressed with the im•
portance of the matter, one heart more deeply feels,
not misplaced sympathy,. but holy pity for those
Who have strayed, the design of the authoress will
be in some measure fulfilled, since it is evidently
her lofty ethprise to spread, as far as may be, the
reign of that blessed charity, which hopeth all
things, and whose missionaries we know can never
fail, for mighty in humility, and spotless in ex-
cellence, her ways in this world are pleasantness
and peace, and she has also the promise of the
world that is to come.

Letters of Lieut.- Colonel Sir Augustus Si►nzon Frazer,
K. 0.8. Written during the Peninsular and
Waterloo campaigns. Edited by Major-General
E. Sabine. Longman.
This interesting collection of letters renders a
worthy tribute to the moral excellence as well as
the military abilities of one who was a just and
kind-hearted man, as well as an eminent com-
mander in campaigns of extraordinary importance.
Sir Augustus Frazer filled the honourable and
responsible position of commander of the Royal
Horse Artillery of the army under the Duke of
Wellington: • His high reputation and firmness
of character induced the Duke to permit him to
make an important alteration in the department of
the service under his command. He substituted
9-pounders for 6-pounders in the Horse Artillery
serving with the army, and to, this change much of
the success of the day of Waterloo was subsequently
attributed. The editor remarks, that at the pre-
sent time the advantage of such a change will not
be doubted, as the importance of the employment
of heavy field artillery is universally recognised,
but at that time Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer had
many difficulties to contend with in making the
alteration. An . interesting sketch of his eventful
life is given in the editor's preface, from which it
will be seen that his military career had not been
without distinction before joining the Peninsular
army :
In August, 1790, he was admitted as a Gentleman Cadet
into the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich ; from
whence he obtained the commission of Second Lieutenant
in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, on the 18th of Septem-
ber, 1793, and in December of that year joined the army in
Flanders, commanded .by his Royal Highness the Duke of
York. In January, 1794, he was promoted to First Lieu-
tenant, and was attached with two field- guns to the 3d
Regiment of Foot Guards, with whom he served until the
return of the army to England in May, 1795 ; having
during that period been isresent at, the affair of Mouvaux,
April 14th, 1794, the Battle of Cateau Cambresis, April
26th, the affairs •of the 10th, 17th, and 18th, and 22d of
May, near Tourney, the affair of Boxtel, in September, and
the recapture of Fort St. Andre, in the November of the
same year. In May, 1795, Lieutennt Frazer was appointed
to the Royal Horse Artillery, and in September, 1799, re-
ceived the commission of Captain-Lientenant, being still
continued in the Horse Artillery, with a troop of which he
embarked the same month for North Holland ; and was
present at the affairs of September 19th, neap Bergen, and
of the 2d and 6th of October, near Egmont and Alkmaer.
In November, 1799, he returned to England with the troops
employed in the service in North Holland.
In September, 1803, Captain Frazer received the com-
mission of Captain of Artillery, and was appointed to the
command of a troop of Horse Artillery, with which in
March, 1807, he' embarked for South America, where he
commanded the Artillery of the expedition against Buenos
Ayres, and was present at the assault of that city in July,
1807. _ .

In June 1811, Captain Frazer received tho brevet rank of
Major; and in November, 1812, Joined, in the Peninsula,
the army under his Grace the Duke of Wellington, having
made a temporary exchange of troops with Major Bull, who
was under the neos3eisity of returning to England from
severe illness. The letters in this volume commence from
this date,
In April, 1813, Major Frazer was
Appe,t4ed to command
the Horse Artillery of the Duke of Wellington's army, and
was present at the affairs of Salamanca and Osma in May
and June; at the battle of Vittoria (on which occasion he
received the brevet rank of Lieut-Colonel); at both opera-
tions of the siege of St, SelPsticlitl Wtlec9 tte commanded
- • -

the batteries of the right attack ; at the passage of the
Bidassoa, on the 7th of October ; of the Nivelle, on the 10th
of November; at the affairs on the Nive, on the 9th,.loth,
11th, 12th, and 13th of December, 1813 ; at the crossing of
the Adour, on the 23d February, 1814 ; at the investment of
Bayonne, on the 27th February (where he received a severe
*mound) ; and at the battle of Toulouse on the 10th of April,
1814. Hostilities then ceasing., Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer
returned to England, receiving for his services with the
Peninsular army a medal and two clasps, and the distinction
of a Knight Commander of the Bath. Soon after his ar-
rival in England, Lieutenant -Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer►
K.C.8., was appointed to command the Artillery in the
eastern. district of England ; and on the 20th of December,
1814, was promoted to a Regimental Lieutenant-Coloncicy
in the Royal Artillery.
On the return of the Emperor from Elba Sir
Augustus Frazer joined the allied army in Flan-
ders, and resumed his command of the Horse
Artillery. We-have before alluded to the important
change he effected in his department. His letters
all through this campaign are full of interest. We
extract the following, written on the very day of
the victory :

How shall I describe the scenes through which I have
passed since morning ? lam now so tired that I can hardly
hold my pen. We have gained a glorious victory, and
against Napoleon himself. I know not yet the amount of
killed, wounded, or prisoners, but all must be great. Never
was there a more bloody affair, never so hot a fire. Bona-
parte put in practice every device of war. He tried us with
artillery, with cavalry, and last of all with infantry. The
efforts of each were gigantic, but the admirable talents of
our Duke, seconded by such troops as he commands, baffled
every attempt. For some hours the action was chiefly
of artillery. We had 114 British, and some 16 Belgian
guns, 6 and 9 pounders : never were guns better served on
both sides. After seven hours' cannonading, the French
cavalry made some of the boldest charges I ever saw
they sounded the whole extent of our line, which was
thrown into squares. Never did cavalry behave so nobly, or
was received by infantry so firmly. Our guns were taken and
retaken repeatedly. They were in masses, especially the
horse artillery, which I placed and manoeuvred as I chose.
Poor fellows I many of them—alas, how many I lie on the
bed of honour. Failing in his repeated attacks of can-
nonading and movements of cavalry, Napoleon at length
pierced the left of our centre with the infantry of the Im-
perial Guard ; the contest was severe beyond what I have
seen, or could have fancied. I cannot describe the scene of
carnage. The struggle lasted even by moonlight. I know
not the losses of other corps, nor hardly of our own ; but
Bean, Cairnes, and Ramsay, are among the horse artillery
dead. Whinyates, Bull, Macdonald (junior), Webber,
Strangways, Parker, Day, and, I am sorry to say, many
others, including Robe, are among our wounded. Many of
my troops are almost without officers, and almost all the
guns were repeatedly in the enemy's hands ; but we retired
from them only to shelter ourselves under our squares of
infantry, and instantly resumed our posts, the moment the
cavalry were repulsed. I have escaped very well. Max-
well's horse, on which I rode at first, received a ball in the
neck, and I was afterwards rolled over by a round of case
shot, which wounded my mare in several places, a ball
grazing my right arm, just above the elbow, but without
the slightest pain ; and I now write without any incon-
venience. In a momentary lull of the fire I buried fly
friend Ramsay, from whose body I took the portrait of his
wife, which he always carried next his heart. Not a man
assisted.at the funeral who did not shed tears. Hardly had
I cut from his head the hair which I enclose, and laid his
yet warm body in the grave, when our covulsive sobs were
stifled by the necessity of returning to renew the struggle.
Pray get me two mourning rings made ; but I will de-
scribe them when I write next. All now with me is con-
fused recollection of scenes yet passing before me in idea,
the noise, the groans of the dying, and all the horrid reali-
ties of the field are yet before me. In this very house are
poor Lloyd (leg shot off but not yet amputated), Dumaresque
(General Byng's aide-de-camp) shot through the lungs and
dying ; Macdonald, Robe, Whinyates, Strangways, Baynes.
wounded. Sir T. Picton and SirW. Ponsonbyare killed. So
many wounded, that I dare not enumerate their names-
Bolton of ours is killed, so is young Spearman. What a
strange letter is this, what a strange day has occasioned it
To-day is Sunday, how often have I observed that actions
are fought on Sundays. Alas ! what three days have I
passed, what days of glory, fasely so called ; and what der
of misery to thousands. The field' of battle to -day is
strewed with dead ! never did I see so many. But let In;
turn from all that is distressing, even in description, and
lay me down, which I shall do with a grateful sense of
mercies vouchsafed. I might have got a decoration for you,
but the officer of the Imperial Guard who wore it, and who
offered it as a prisoner, looked so wistfully at the reward I
of
many a gallant day, that I could not think of taking it.
made an acquaintance in the field with a French lieutenant"
colonel of the 7th Dragoons, poor fellow, sadly wounded
and prisoner. How misery makes friends of all. My friend
Lord Saltoun is well. I hear he alone escaped of two com-
panies of the Guards under his command. Lord Fitzroy
Somerset has lost an arm. Lord 'Uxbridge has a ball in the
knee. Delancey severely wounded.—Adieu : I will send
you a more connected account of the battle when I am able.
Even in the moment of triumph he cannot
forget the misery caused by the final vic-
tory. Writing two days after the battle to his
constant correspondent, he says—" Are you not
tired of battleS? Are you not sick of the sanguin-
ary description ? Judge then what must have
been the reality. The Duke himself said in the
evening he had never seen such a battle, and hoped
he never should again. To this hope we will sal
Amen." He describes the whole proceedings of the
day of battle tersely, yet comprehensively. Speak-
ing of the concluding struggle, he says—" The
horror of the scene strikes me now; at the moment
its magnificence alone filled my mind. Several
times were critical ; but confidence in the Duke, I
have no doubt, animated every breast. s Twice
have I saved this day by perseverance? said his
Grace before the last great struggle, and said sc)
most justly." The chief features of that memorable
conflict, the magnificent charges of the French
cavalry, and the unflinching steadiness of the Eng'
lish squares, are familiar to most of us; but the
simple narrative of an eye-witness and actor in
those great events is full of fresh and vivid interest.
As our good friends the Prussians are inclined to
claim a large share of the honour, it may not he
uninteresting to have the opinion of one who was
certainly not ignorant of the movements of the day"
as to their share in the struggle :
I may seem to have forgotten the Prussians in this battle.
I saw none ; but I believe that on our left they did advancer
and the knowledge of their position might certainly induce
Napoleon to withdraw, when his efforts against us were
unavailing. We expected their co-operation early in the
day, and earnestly looked for it ; but' it was not visible
from any point where the Duke was till dusk, when we
had swept the enemy from the plain in our front. I sraS
then separated from his Grace, whom I have not seen
since.
His account of his subsequent visit to Paris, and
the movements of the allies, is full of interest ; an:
the simplicity and absence of ostentation with
which he speaks of his own share in any remaw
able
highly t r aant
tsraacct
tin iove
reevidencecord o tfl
de a true
yswsoldier.ho whose
vivid
rest hwa
hs
inn
ho t
proved
died v
ed
inout
many of the
noblen national t iionns at
al
nnmemory'ns hs
England has no less cause for pride in the high
principle and ready humanity of her soldiers thsli
in the victories of the Peninsula or the final chair
at Waterloo.

His Royal Highness Prince Alfred Ernest Albert.
J. Mitchell, Bookseller and Publisher to the
Queen.
A fine lithograph of our sailor prince, takeolle
he is standing in his midshipman's costume at
foot of a rock, with the waves breaking on Zia
beach beside him. He looks quite at home in r
sailor's dress and stands in a position well befittl
one of England's Royal sons. The picture 111_,1
prove a very suitable companion to those publishau
last year of the Princess Royal and the Priece
Frederick William. It is dedicated by permissLe
ri
to her Majesty, to whom such a spirited repre9els
tation of her second son would prove, we shoolis
imagine, a very acceptable offering.

MEMBERS RETURNED TO SERVE IN
TILE NEW PARLIAMENT.

-
(From the London Gazette)
•
CROWN-OFFICE, MAY 17.
County of Waterford—Captain John Esmonde, of alter
brokestown, county of Waterford ; the Honourable
Cecil Talbot, of Ingestrie, Staffordshire.
Borough of Dungarvon—Francis M'Guire, o••
f Grenville
-
place, Cork, Esq.
Dr
County of Sligo—Sir Robert Gore Booth, of Liss] of
'
county of Sligo, Bart. • Charles William Cooper, Esq.' -
Coopershill, county of Sligo. A ur
Borough of Sligo—The Right Honourable John 4Jtll
Wynne, of llazlewood, county of Sligo.
.„e
County of Armagh—Sir William Verner, of CiL"'", 11 of
county of Armagh, Bart. ; Maxwell Charles. Close'
Drumbauagher, county of Armagh, Esq. d of
Borough of Armagh —Joshua Walter M‘Geough 13031
the Argory, county of Armagh, Esq.
one
County of Berks—The Honourahie Philip tleydell
verso ; John Walters, Esq. ; Leicester Viney -Vern
Esq.

MAY 18.
Borough of Wallingford—Richard Malins, of Lonleg-
square, Middlesex, Esq.
V
v'lliatu
County of Limerick—The Right Honourable t.
Monsell, of Torvoe, county of Limerick ; Lieu
Colonel Samuel Auchmuty. Dickson, of Croom C6st
county of Limerick. of
County of Roscommon—Colonel Fitzstephen FrenoL,
Lough Erill, county of Roscommcn ; Thomas Mruu----
Goff, of Oakport; county of Roscommon. le
County of Galway—Sir Thomas John Burke, of gebr of
Hill, Galway, Bart.; William Henry Gregory, Esq.'
Coole Park, Galway.
MAY .
County of Louth—Chichester2o Samuel Fortescue, of Red
House ; Richard Montesquieu Bellew, of Barn:Leath, b°`
in the said county. iu
Borough of Dundalk—George Bowyer, of Radley par—,
the county of Berks, Esq,

a the
magistrates of Westmeath has been held,matewhicl
THE WESTMEATH of eting --
the ":
Ina-
rious circumstances connected with the murder of TlDusly
Jessop wore fully discussed, and a msolution unanird° was
passed and forwarded to Government. A resolutioanb_
.‘,. hor-
admitted being present at the murder,
also adopted declaring that the meeting viewed wo''',,aving
rence the conduct of the three men, farmers, who have
t 0
secure the assassin, assist the wounded man, or give ed. it
alarm whereby the murderer might have been captur , the
reward of t5OO has been offered for the detection or
assassin.
Aus-
Among the passengers by the Indian andestertralian packet Pera, which arrived at Southampton L.4oan
day, was Captain -Burton, the famous Arabian and 11:1"the
'traveller, who has made some wonderful discoverieshinever
neither atoll oi
interior of Africa and who is the only European without
visited Mecca, the sacred city of the Mahomedans, ',!,,..A.11
disguising his religious faith, and escaped with his life.
other European travellers have lost their lives for tum.filho.
surnption, or have 'saved themselves by professing.'"
_ „
medanism . . , . : .