The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-23 00:00:00

ciates the earnestness and decisiou with which he
sets forth his cause.

The Interpreter ; d Tate of the War. By G.
White Melville, author of " Digby Grand," Ike.
Parker and Son.
This very clever and interesting story is by an
rtu'hor, who has already written several works of
fiction, and is reprinted from the pages of Fraser's
Magazine. It is a tale of the late War, in which
the hero plays a conspicuous part. The public
events of the day are cleverly interwoven with the
narrative, which possesses much interest of its own.
There are a variety of characters introduced of
various. nations. The hero, Vere Egerton, is an
English officer, who assumes the office of interpre-
ter to Iskender Bey, and he has been from child-
hood the friend of Victor de Rohan, a young
Hungarian, who plays an important part• in the
tale ; then, there are numerous sketches of English
officers and soldiers patiently doing their duty in the
dreary trenches, or charging at Death himself in the
valley of Balaclava. Ropsley, one of these, is also
on intimate terms with Sir Henry Beverley, an
old family friend of the E're: ton's and is the moans
of separating Vere from Constance Beverley, to
whom he is deeply attached. The heroines are
drawn with equal Success, and, contrasted with
great skill. Constance Beverley is a charming char-
acter, with deep feelings and high principles, and
well worthy of the life-long devotion of Vero Eger-
ton. Tho fair Hungarian, Countess Valerie, the
sister of Victor de Rolian, is:equally captivating,
with her high spirit and patriotism, her frank gaioty
and true heart. Ro,e, Princesse Vocqsal, is the
evil genius of the unfortunate Victor, and the very
opposite of these two fair ladies, though she is not
altogether without feeling, and time testifies the
sincerity of her repentance. There .are crowds of
minor characters, Russian, Turkish, Hungarian,
and English, mingled with true dramatic variety.
Tho following extract is from a description of the
charge of the Light Brigade :
Not a child in England at this day but knows, as if he
had been there, the immortal battle of Balaclava. It is
needless to describe its situation, to dwell upon the
position they were ordered to carry, or the fire that
poured in upon front, flanks, ay, and real, of the a'-
tacking force. This is all matter of history ; but as the
valley stretched beneath us, fresh, green, and smiling
peacefully in the sun, it required but little imagination
to call up the stirring scene of which it had been the
stage. Here was the very ground on which the Light
Brigade were drawn up ; every charger quivering with
excitement, every eye flashing, every lip compressed
with the sense of coming danger. A staff officer rides
up to the leader and communicates an order. There is
an instant's pause. Question and reply pass like
lightning, and the aide-de-camp points to a dark, grins
mass of artillery bristling far away down yonder in the
front. Men's hearts stop beating, and many a bold
cheek turns pale, for there is more excitement in un-
certainty than in actual danger. The leader draws his
sword, and faces flush, and hearts beat high once more.
Clear and sonorous is his voice as he gives the wed-
known word ; gallant and chivalrous his bearing as he
takes his place—that place of privilege —in frotti—
' Noblesse oblige,' and can he be otherwise than gallant
and chivalrous and devoted, for is he not a gentleman I
and yet, to the honour of our countrymen be it spoken,
not a man of that six hundred, of any rank, but was as
gallant and chivalrous and devoted as he—ho has said
so himself a hundred times.
So the word is given, and the squadron leaders take
it up, and the Light Brigade advances at a gallop ; and
a deadly grasp is on the sword, and the charger feels
his rider's energy as he grips him with his knees, and
holding him hard by the head urges him remolately for-
ward—to death
An-1 now they cross the line of fire : shot through the
heart, an aide-de-camp falls headlong from the saddle,
and his loose horse gallops on, wild and masteries!, and
wheels in upon the flank, and joins the squadron once
more. It Las begun now. Man upon man, horse upon
horse, are shot down and rolled over ; yet the survivors
close in, sterner, bolder, fiercer than before, and still the
death-ride sweeps on.
" Steady, men—forward !" shouts a chivalrous squa-
dron-leader, as he waves his glitterinz se o-d ab )ve big
head, and points towards the foe. Clear and cheerful
rings his voice above the tramp of horses and the rattle
of small-arms and the deadly roar of artillery. He is a
model of beauty, youth, and gallantry—the admired of
men, the darling of women, the hope of his house.
Do not look again. A round shot has taken man and
horse, he is )ping rolled up with his charger, a confused
and ghastly mass. Forward I the squadron has passed
over him, and still the death-ride sweeps on.
The gaps are awful now, the men told off by threes
look in vain for the familiar face at right or left ; every
trooper feels that be must depend on himself and the
good horse under him, but there is no wavering. Officers
begin to have misgivings as to the result, but there
is no hesitation. All know they are galloping to de-
struction, yet not a heart fails, not a rein is turned.
Few, very few are they by this time, and still the death-
ride sweeps on. They disappear in that tolling cut-
phurous cloud, the per-al of another world ; begrimed
with smoke, ghsstly with wounds, comrade cannot
recognise comrade, and officers look wildly round for
their men ; but the guns are still before them—the object
is not yet attained—the enemy awaits them steadily
behind his gabione, and the fire from his batteries is
mowing them down like grass. If but one man is left,
that one will still press for ward : and now they are on
their prey. A tiemendour roar of artillery shakes the air.
Mitigled with the d .sh of swords and the 'dole of
horses, oath, prayer, and dealoshiiek fly to, heaven.
The ba teries are reached and carried. The death-ride
sweeps over them, and it is time tat return.
.
In twos, and threeA, and sirgle files, the few survivors
stagger back to the ground from whence, a few short
minutes ago, a gallant bend and advanced in so trim,
so orderly, so soldierlike a line.
The object has been attained, but at what a sacrifice l
Look at yon stalwart trooper sinking on his saddle-bow,
sick with his death-hur', his head drooping on his bosom,
his sword hanging idly in his paralysed right-hand, his
failing charger, wounded and feeble, nobly bearing his
master to safety ere he fallslto rise no more. The sol-
dier's eye brightens for an instant as he hears the cheer
of the !steamy Brigade completing the work he has
pawned his life to begin. Soon that eye will glaze
and close for ever. Men look round for those they
knew and loved, and fear to oak for the comrade who is
down, stiff and stark, under those dismounted guns and
devastated batteries ; horses come galloping in ,without
riders ; here and there a dismounted dragoOn crawls
feebly back to j ,in the remnants of what was once his
squadron, and by degrees the few survivors get together
and forums something like an ordered body once more.
It is better not to se mut them, they are so few, so eery
few. Weep, England, for tby chivalry ! mourn and
wring thy hands for that disastrous day ; but eucile with
pride through thy tears, thrill with exultation in thy
sorrow, to think of the eons thou canst boast, of the
deeds of arms done by them in that valley before the eyes
of gathered nations—of the immortal six hundred—thy
children, every man of them, that rode the glorious
death-ride of Balaclava.
From the double interest attaching to the work
from the story itself, and from its sketches of the
campaign, it will no doubt be favourably received
by the public, and will add to the reputation of its
able author.

The History of England, from the .Accession of
James the Second. By Lord Macaulay. Vol. 1.

Longman.
It is with great satisfaction that we see Messrs.
Longman commencing a new edition of this admi- •
rable work, which will place it within the reach of
a large circle. Without entering into discussions.
on its historic impartiality, there can be but ono
opinion as to its literary power and its position as
a standard work in our literature. It is, therefore,
desirable that it should be published in a form at-
tainable by many mule's, and the present edition
admirably supplies that deficiency. It is much
smaller than its predecessors, and will consequently
occupy a larger number of volumes. The present
volume just contains the introductory portion, and
indeed, might stand by itself as an essay on that
time. Beginning, as the reader_ will remember,
with a summary of the history of the English. Con-
stitution, and rapidly tracing the events of the
Civil War and the reign of Charles the Second, and
describing the state of parties, it ends with the
highly interesting comparison between the England
of the seventeenth, and the nineteenth century.
There is little doubt that this valuable .work, in its
present commodious form, will be eagerly sought •
after.

The Family Friend for 1857-58. Ward and Lock,

Meet-street.

This is a most attractive little miscellany for a
domestic circle. Tales for the young, receipts for
the housewife, statistics for the head of the family,.
poetry for the romantic, pastime for the schoolboy,
the Work-table for the industrious, with an inter-
minable variety of miscellaneous information,
sketches, and paragraphs, leave nothing to be de-
sired by the most extgeant. It is edited with such
judicious care, that nothing is inserted that the
most careful guardian of the y oung could wish
omitted, and it is especially qualified for the amuser.f
ment and entertainment of a domestic hearth. We
are glad to find, from the preface, that its, success
has been commensurate with its merits.

Elgin
Mr. Grant Duff was returned on Saturday for the
ilhout opposition, Sir James IVeir Hogg
Laving late on the previous evening retired from the
contest in eonsequenoe of the overwhelming local infln-
coca of his opponent. The nomination passed off amidst
much interruption, and L the crowd was very disorderly,
the newly-elected member and his friends having been
rather roughly handled in leaving the hustings.
PABLIAIOINTARY PAM:W.—The following parliamen-
tary papers were issued yesterday :—Report of the
commissioners appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, to ascertain the equitable amount to be repaid
by the counties in Ireland transferred to other lunatic
asylum districts. Copies of correspondence with the
Governor of British Guinea, with referee ce to the ordl-
nonce passed by the legislature of that colony imposing
a registration tax. Copy of a letter by the Secretary of
State for the Home Department to Lord CaMpbell and
the Common Law (Judicial Business) Commissioners, on
the subject of their report of July.