The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-14 00:00:00

Farina, a Tegewl of Co:ogne. By Geo. Meredith,
Author of "The Shaving of Shagpat," 85c.
Smith, Elder, and Co.
j" The Shaving of Shagpat" was, as its raader3
will remember, an oriental tale, distinguished by
its vivid originality and luxuriant imagination..
The present volume posse:meg much of the same cha-
racter, and the reader who delights in novelty will
certainly be gratified. It is a tale of German life
some centuries ago—of the wealthy and hospiJable
Gottlieb Groschen, and his fair daughter Maro•arita,
and his prim sister Lisbeth ; of Farina, the dis-
tiller of essences ; of the bold Guy the Goshawk-,
the stout English soldier ; of the outlaw Baron
Werner and his lawless band, and similar charac-
ters. It may be easily
be conjectured what a var:e.l
drama the author's vigorous pen. C 331 evoke
from such -materials, not to mention the
White Rose Club, Father Gregory, and Sathana!,
the Kaiser himself, and many lesser mortals. The
narrative occupies but a few days, but wonderful
are the adventures chronicled. The old merchant
has his life and property threatened, but .escapes
uninjured. Tne fair Margarita is captured by Wer-
ner's band, and rescued by the bold Goshawk. the
devoted Farina, and a mysterious Wateir Lady.
The White Rose Club contrive to render themselves
ridiculous. Farina gets into a series of ,lifficultie3,
from all of which he is happily extticAted by his
admirable invention ; and a happy -wedding re-
joices the inhabitants of Cologne nearly m much as
the new discovery. The mere facts, however, give
no idea of the thorough adoption of Crerman life and
legends which particularly distiuguishee the book.
The very mysticism and disconne of the parts
help to render it complete iu thi.s respect ; and no
inconsiderable degree of. talent is evincel by the
maintenance of its characterist'ic features. Taken as
what it professes to be, a leg-cmci of German life in
olden clays, it does the author great credit by i.*_s vivid
adaptation of national feat arcs. We are glad to
meet him again in this ne-w path, in which he has
already taken some adveu.turous steps, and should
he proceed iu the samr, style his success will no
doubt be commensurate, with his abilities.'

Autobiography of Lutfullah, a Mohantedan, Gen-
Vonan. Edited by E. B. Eastwicke, F.R.S.
Smith and Elder.
This is a very curious and interesting volume
which commends itself to the attention of the
reader, both from the importance just now attached
to the real sentiments and opinions of the Mahome-
dan population of India, and from the singular cir-
cumstance of the author having written it in Eng-
lish. He gives an account of his life and adven-
tures, interspersed with saga 'reflections. He
entered various kinds of political service, and was
finally engaged as secretary and interpreter to Mir
Jafir Ali, an Indian prince, who visited England
to obtain some compensation from the East India
Company. The office of interpreter he was well
qualified to fill, as by his abilities and perseverance
he had mastered several languages, and was familiar
with many European works. It is curious to meet
with quotations from English and Latin write; s,
all of which, we are told by the editor, are of Lut-
fullati's own insertion. Here is his account of
his study of the English language While employed as
Minister to an English gentleman, the Bheel agent
at Natcha. "At night I enjoyed the good society o'
Abba Miyau, of whom I learned the English alpha-
bet, and enabled myself to make out the words
from dictionaries, and read Hindustani and Persian
fluently in the Roman character. From this time
until the end of 1829 I never went to bed without
learning ten words of Englith by heart, and read-
ing a few pages of the eminent Dr. GilchrisYs
grammatical works with full attention by myself.
Thu's, after the hard labour of full eight years, I
learnt English, the most difficult language in
the world." That his learning was not of a
superficial character is evidenced by the style and
grammar of this work. There are Orientalisms
and curious phrases, but much of it might have
been written by an Englishman, and it reflects the
highest credit on Lutfullah. On their way to Eu-
rope he and his chief visited Mohamed Ali. Their
interview is thus described :
"We were conducted by a state officer, splendidly
dressed, to a spacious room at the northern corner, and
there we saw the old famous prince, Mohamed Ali Paslir,
plainly attired in a red Turkish cap and a blue cloth
coat descending to his knees ; and then being introduced
to him, each of us touching his highness' right hand with
his, kissed it, according to the Turkish form of compli-
ments, and then seated ourselves on the divan, in line to
the right of the old prince. Two pairs of valuable Cashmere
Shawls were then presented by Mir Jafir Ali Khan, and
were kindly accepted by his highness. Now three heads
and tongues were employed to interpret, i.e., I explained
my young master's expressions to Mr. Tibaldie, in Eng-
lish, and Mr. Tibaldie to his highness' principal dra-
goman (or interpreter) in French, and the interpreter to
his highness in Turkish. The mutual compliments were
but very short, and then my young master began ad-
dressing himself to his highness in the usual flattering
mode of the English princes. He observed that he had
always heard about the well-regulated good Govern.
went wisely constituted and personally conducted by his
highness ; that he thanked heaven ha had now an
ocular demonstration of the same, and found that all he
had heard was nothing but truth. To this the old
Pasha replied, "Something is done, but a great deal
more remains to be done." After this, his highness put
several questions on the system of the English Govern-
ment in India, which were duly replied to in short but
comprehensive answers. The coffee then being ordered,
was brought in, and being presented to each of us, we
rose in turns, and kissing our own hands to his highnese,
as a Turkish homage, we drank it in the same way
an Englishman drinks his ft iend'e health, and then get-
ting our leave, returned home well satisfied with the in-
terview with an extraordinary man, who, although an
unlettered soldier once, yet had raised himself to the
summit of sovereignty, like the European Cromwell and
Buonaparte and our own Haidar and Ranjit."
His opinions and impressions of London life are
very amusing. Here is an account of his first
entry into the metropolis.
" In a few minutes, two nice carriages, drawn by
horses of gigantic make and power, being brought near,
we got up into them and drove into the far-famed City
of London. Street after street and square after square
that we passed through for about three-quarters of an
hour, were all pave.), clean and regular, thronged with
the busy inhabitants of both sexes, almost all the females
good looking, and the males well made and active. Pe.-
laces of nobles and dukes are distinguished by their large
porticos and superior construction. In one of them I
saw two well-dressed men with ashes sprinkled over
their beads, and thereby concluding that some death
might have occurred in the house, I told Mr. Scott,
who sat by me, that a mournful event might have been
the cause of the dust on their heads ; but the young man
laughed at my beard, and said it was the old custom
still preserved by some of powdering their hair. Upon
the whole, one might imagine that this vast city, whose
population is no less than 20 lakhs of inhabitants, con-
tained the riches of the whole world. Surrounded by
such wonders and curiosities, we travelled on to a qua --
ter termed Brook-street, and alighted at a magnificent
house, called Mive7t's Hotel.
"Supplied with all kinds of luxuries suitable to
princes, we lived in this inn for three days, and then our
chief being frightened at the enormous charges of about
two hundred rupees per diem, engaged a private lodging,
No. 7, Sloane-street."
Their visits to the Museum and all the sights of
London are carefully recorded, and their reception
appears to have been cordial. They went back
having obtained their object, but it is with
regret the reader learns, after all bis wander-
ings, that the adventurous Lutfullah finds
" his domestic cares aggravated, his years advan-
ced, and his income inadequate to coverese f
s•
penses of a large family." Heh comforts the
hi
phi
vlooshunop
eyw
'll afford
him more substantial consolation. ,
trust
.and e
with
thlismt entertaininguttuisalvelViryaliedan

---
The New Law of Marriage and Divorce Popularly
Explained. By W. A. Holdswcrth and R. T.
Tidswell, 8.A., Barristers-at-Law. London
Robert Haviwicke, 26, Duke-street; Piccadilly.
1857. Pp. 70.
To be popularly intelligible, an act of Parliament
requires a popular commemary and explanation.
Tho recent Divorce Act stands peculiarly in need
of tbis, not more from the interest a wh'lwhichat'' cbes
to it than from the intricate character of the sub-
ject to which it relates. Many of its
provisions
are not to be understood. without reference
Ecclesiastical law to which they refer, whit© others
require for their correct appreciationl the guidance
with thea
of those whose professiort
dered them familiarrs
which our legitsolatacviroccuaittiooinme
Ehnagvieisrheui;
important mewasritrteeuw envelope their meaning. To
all who wish make themselves master of this
before us. recommendefocanti
i tobiejevrolutirh.oe
object of the authors hars beeengteoneesraplairn, -in clear,
popular, but, at the same time, accurate language,
what will be the real effect of the new act ' - what
will be the rights of the birkand or wife, not only
iu regard to the ultimate remed.y of divorce, hut
to the less stringent one of a judicial separation.
While, with respect to the powers of the new court
in protecting the earnings of a deserted wife, in
decreeing alimony, and previdng for the custody of
the children, the introductory treatise throws all
necessary light upon the text of the act, which is
appended for those who wish to peruse the ipsi.ss;ina
verbs of Parliament.

THE MURDER IN THE QUEEN'S PnisoN.—The case of
De Salvi for the alleged murder of Mr. Robertson in
the Queen's Prison will be a Government prosecut of at
the session of the Central. Criminal Court, c, rad
mencing on to-day. Tue depositions were laid before
the Attorney-General, and he decided on prosecuting
inAcal of leaving the matter as a c)untry prosecution
on the coroner's inqui4ition.