The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-15 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Parish. La powers and obligations at law, as
mg-Ards 'he welfare of every neighbourhood, and •
in relation to the Stare; its offiyers and com-
mittees ; and the responsibi ity of- every
• rishioner. With illustrations of the practical
working of this institution in all secular affairs,
and of Fomo modern attempis at ecclesiastical
encroachment. By Toultnin Smith.' Second
•edition. Pp. 682. 11. Sweet.
Pre-eminently among V- e institutions of our
country, and one of those affording the fullest scope
for sound and useful local. action, sands that of
the Parish. It is the one which has fallen least
into disuse, and the opportunities and powers under
which only need to be more widely known to
be again as a, tively and valu,ibly exercised as they
were formerly, and have been until a very late
period. To extend th knowledge of. these oppor-
tunities and powers, the above W ,rk has b, en
written. In it will he found .something that con-
cerns every parishioner, as well't hose who:aire out of
office as those who are taking their share in the
duties owing by all towards their neighbourhood.
Mr. Touhnin Smith shows us that it is the duty,
as well as to the ben-fit, tf every man to take an
interest in the welfare of his perish.
But the o‘tjects of the book will be best shown in
the author's own words :

" The parish, as a practical institution, is the sub-
ject of this book. Its object is to shoi the practical use
and value of the parish in all the social and secular re-
lations of men • the ntaotical duties and rights of every
parishioner; and how best that use and those duties may
he habitually realrsed."
Mr. Toulmiu Smith begins at the beginning, and
goes to the bottom of the whole mater. He traces
the history of the parish, showing that it was secu-
lar in origin, and that ecciesias ical arrangements
were adapted to "the pre-existing secular divisions
of the land." He points out the importance of
local action in small communities, and the need for
the adaptation—by some of the overgrown parishes
of the metropolis, for example—of the ancient sys-
tem of self division into wards and townships.
The powers of pat ishioners, in vestry assembled,
are stated and explained, and are also illus-
trattd by a variety of quotations from original
records of the proceedings -of, different parishes in
England. These powers are much larger than is
now commonly supposed ; and are shown to em-
brace the ordering' the removal of nuisances, the- •
executing works of drainage and sanatory improve-
men's, the making of any needed rates, the punish-
ment of officers, &c. ; so that it is the fault of the
parishioners themselves if they be not well go-
verned, or have not wholesome dwellings. . .
Toe history and duties of each of the parish
officers are gone into, but more particularly those
of the churchwardens and surveyors of highways,
these being now of the greatest importance. The
chapters ou " Constables" and "Watch and Ward"
will he found very interesting and instructive,
especially at the present, time, when the subject of
public prosecutors is before the public. The neces-
sity f,,r keeping responsibility as the fundamental.
principle of a con-tt sbulary is very forcibly pointed
out ; and the great utility of the coroner's inquest
to a true system of watch and ward, and to. the
public safety, is clearly shown.
The original purposes of Church Endowments,
and their later perversions, are treated on at some
length, in connection with points of immediate
general interest and importance. A mass of origi-
nal authorities aro also quoted to prove=what will
astonish some of our readars no doubt—that the
consecration of burial grounds is illegal by the las/
of England. The practical importance of this sub'
ject is now being deeply felt in very many places,
under the New Burial Acts.
Very interesting, to lovers of the "good 01d,,.
timts, will be the chapter on " Parish Records,
where, among other quotations, more authoriti3s
are collected together on the subject of parish festi
vals, and their social benefits, than we have been
able to find elsewhere.
The sale of a large edition of this work in twa
; years, shows the appreciation of its merits by till,::
, public ; and we sincerely hope, for the benefit .0
society, that the large additions made in this sec_ and
edition will-make its usefulness still more felt, an',
that it miy have a widely-spread circulation.

We are informed that, in consequence of repreeell'
tations which have been made to the Colonial-office;
two companies of the Royal Canadian Rifles have bee°,
ordered to proceed to the Red River settlement; to main':
tam order among the 9,000 British sufjects who live
under the arbitrary and anomalous rule of the iludsoaA
Bay Company, and to restrain the access of those Cause"
(liana oiho, in defiance of the supposed restrictions f`
the compaLy's chart( r, are determined to trade with':
the territory. With the example of Newfoundland
unanimousr . aboucwhiesrhee
as hoof utlhde bceacnaardeifaunl
people.before ILe
i; beforeor
shtimbe
Morning Post.
DISTUttBANCES AT MALAGA.—GIREALTAX, A pril
Private letters from Malaga, received by the French
steamer Ville de Li-bonne, report that martial law wila
proclaimed in that city on the evening of the 25th
Rtheours of conspiracies had prevailed, and unustOt
precautions observed amongst the troops for a fortnight
before. All the taverns were ordered to be closed 013.
the 25th, and the same measure was adopted on the f.°l
lowing day. The proclamation of martial law was mo*
with a band of music and a strong escort. Fourteen P°r
sons had been arrested, and part of the troops had occu;
pied the ea,tle. On the 26th everything was quiet ; thA.
only vbange observable in the city being an unuso
number of sentinels. Arrests hava also been made and
martial law proclaimed in Jean.

HOLYHEAD HARBOUR.—A. grand lblading operatioll
is to be executed ire the works of Holyhead Harbours",
Thursday next, the 21st inst. The elevation of tbi
quarry face to be operated on is 120 feet, the Holy bfk,
mountain itself being 780 feet above the sea level. Thu
quartz rock to be operated on is estimated at 120,0 v"
tons ; the total charges of gunpowder, divided into foe'
will be 18,000 pounds; the power of the galvanic 1)0'
tery 48 cells. Messrs. Rigby, the contractors, WI
given every facility for informing the public of this gross
display of explosive power, which creates much intersad,
among engineers. Sir John Burgoyne, Colonel Sas,
ham, and other officers from Chatham and Woolvrism
besides several eminent engineers, British and foreie
are expected to be present.
ot
A GIRL ofFOURTEEN KILLED BY A BOY
FIFTEEN.—At Kirkham in the Fylde, about nine yak;
from Preston, on Tuesday last, about seven o'clock It
the evening, as some children wore playing in the etre%
a quarrel arose among some of the g.rls, and a stone si4
thrown ty which a boy named John Howell, about
years old, the son of a hawker, was in some way
yoked. He was at the moment cutting ouii" cat," 0 ti3a,
toy is called, with a clasp knife, and turning round sur,
denly he stabbed a gill near him, of the name of Tide,
iogton, in the neck. The poor girl, who was ad'i
daughter of a labourer in the village, walked toicajha
her home, but bad not got far before she fainted. P',„
was then carried home, where she died almost irool
diately, without saying a word. The boy decamped spa
hid himself in the fields till Wednesday morning, wbe
he gave himself np to the police.
SALOON OMNIBUS COMPANY.—One of the nurner-
ntlO
meetings which have been lately held in the suburbs bit
omnibus travellers of the outlying districts was held!,
the Britannia Tavern, Hackney, last evening -
Richardson, of Bishopsgate street, in the chair. .1-4
speakers, who were principally resident in Hackney
its neighbourhood, complained of the inadequate ace° f,
modatioe provided by the General Omnibus Con3o";ti
who have neglected the repeated applications which loa,
been made to them to increase the number of their lag
hicles, and to improve their condition. The result si
this meeting, which in numbers and euthusiastr Of;
passed any other that had been held on the subject.
resolution was unanimously passed pledging the uses°
ad
to support the company by taking shares (several huae..
dreds of which were taken in the room), and to iad'l,4
their friends to follow their example. It was acriousfb-0
that the re.•ult of similar meetings already held was 'ill
ordering of upwards of 50 omnibuses, which Were
course of construction. of
SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.—From a statemen-
receipts and txpeuditure in the current half-year on
venue account it appears that the receipts on this Vail
pany's railways for four weeks ending the 25th of -'ll-rto
amounted, for rettesengere, parcels, mails, goods, tte"de,
69,117/. 4d., less collection and delivery of V°oo
&c., 2,1551. lls. 11d., leaving 66.9611. 14s. 5d- 6e,
receipts for rents and sundries amounted to 1,4781'd.;
7d., and for the steampecket service to 3,116/. gs-
together 71,865/ I.N. 61. The expenditure, inclouof
rater, taxes, tolls, Government duty, and expes'eiog
steampacket service, amounted to 36,2151. 16e., isa„'otal
the net profit on working 35,6401. 14e. 61 The to to
receipts for the eight preceding weeks amounts 60,,
116,7491. 11s. 73., which, added tetbe 71,8561. 10'' the
makes the to,al receipts for the 12 weeks enthps'
25th of Aprii,lBB,6o6l. 2s. ld. Ftom this must leopbt
ducted 76,5401. 12s. 21 for the expenses of the B:be
preceding weeks, and the above 36,2101. 16s. for 0
four past weeks, making together an expenditurae tbe
112,7561. Bs. 2d., and leaving 75,849/, 13s. lid- s'''apcl
net profit on working the company's railwaYso.
steamboats for the 12 weeks ending the 25. h of AAPpordi
LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS.--'`, 000
experiment aas tried by Mr. Kuapton, of the 030.
Foundry, York, which threw ens to revs utiont'e egg
system of lighting railway eat-141(2,e5. Some si%l,4ios
ago Mr. Kuapton t)ok out are tlnt fcr an invert be
called a "dry gsaome;er," and this co, trivarter7as,
has now fixed to the bottom of a railway s3„exibis
Toe gasometer can be filled by means of gb jots'
tube from any of the station mains. The gas 'lv al°
duced into tie compartments of the carriaage, Jag iv,
ordinary piping, and can be turned on an hots
bots
pleasate. The Great Northern Railway CareFaZge
given directions to Mr. Knapton to fit up a c3I, a gas!
this manner, and should the plan be adopted The
saving will be effected at d a brilliant light se.c;!_"for the
,:asomeier will con ain more gas than is requisit_ei I bur.
j mrne.y t‘i m York to London. Three liOrt.
nine feet of gas in the hour, and, taking the Jci"..te Ist
sot
oit
and
costs ix hoofn little a cmonosruetutphtai onn2rd'f., 54
4s
faegeta iwnsi til atapkril:fev,
compared e dT withha is
i tan
th immenseexpense
s4o
of saving
ge
tgoa stohme ect°t:Pi:trlfliat