The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-27 00:00:00

COLONIAL.

TEA.—The market has been very firm, aid some excite-
ment has been caused by the news by the overland mail.
Nearly all the common congous have been bought up at ls.
ld. to ls. lid per lb., the latter being the current quota-
tion. _ _ _

SUGAR.—There has been an improved demand for most
descriptions, and prices have advanced about 6d. per cwt.
Some large parcels are advertised for public competition
during .the week, and full prices are expected to bo rea-
lised. Tho supplies of both colonial and foreign are ex-
tremely limited. In the refined market there is a good
demand for home consumption, and full rates are main-
tained. '
COFFEE.—There has been an active demand for all de-
scriptions, and the stocks generally being exceedingly light,
with short supplies, prices are very firm. Both Native
and Plantation Ceylon were in demand, and in some in-
stances brought advanced values.
RIGE.—A very fair demand for the low and medium
qualities at fully former values but the finer descriptions
have been neglected.
Rum.—The market is inactive, but prices are firm.
TALLOW.— A rather firmer appearance has been apparent
on the market, and considerable business has been done
for spring delivery. P.Y.C. on the spot and spring deli-
' very 62s to 62, 3d, last three months No 6d to b4s per cwt.

wild

LITERATURE

Adulterations Detected in Food and Medicine
By Arthur Hill Hassall, M.D., &c. Longcnar

and Co., London.
' Important and excellent in its character as this
work is, we would scarcely advise the possessor of
a 'dainty stomach to study it very deeply. It is'
Most sensibly efficient for the desirable purpose of
exposing the gross cheats thruit upon our confid-:
ing appetites and Civilised necessities, but itis not
agreeable to be assured, on unquestionable autho-
rity, that while sipping a simple cup of tea, we are
imbibing indigo and sulphate of lime. Parental.
anxiety is acutely aroused when we see our little
" blessings in disguise" energetically reducing the
weight of a highly-ornamented twelfth cake, and
are very certain that red lead and sulphate of copper
are being swallowed therewith. The matin relish of
choice potted meats is not enhanced by the 11C-
knowledged presence of bole armenian. A glass of
porter becomes a veritable llaokdraugh t vvhen we are
fully aware that nux vomica and coculus indicus
are among °its integrals. When we ask for p;ckles
with our cold beef it is not pleasant to think we
shall be supplied with acetate of copper. Our lips
falter over a glass of wine when it is thelared to ba
the popular medium of lead, laurel water, log-
woo I, and cream of tartar. It spreads a sort of
" Old Bogey" feeling through us to have a constant
conviction that our milk is chalk and-sheep's brains;
our toast and rolls replete with alum and bone
dust ; that our bottled fruits, candied preserves,
rich spices, and luxurious sauces, are all more or
less identified with the tragic incident so prominent
in the classic history of " Vilikins and his Dinah."
However, while we would scarcely recommend '
the perusal of this work to an imaginative or ner-
vous invalid, we most warmly estimate and ap-
plaud its intention, as tending to enlighten the
public,'llti a sound and competent manner, on the
important point of the nefarious and obnoxious
adulteration of our daily food. The detective and
analytical processes advised are plainly detailed,
but we fear can be scarcely available for non-
professional consumers ; therefore we suppose we
must be content to continue swallowing all sorts
of injurious compounds until that which the talented
author of this mark suggests be adopted, viz. :
" An effective scientific organisation for the dis-
covery of adulteration, and the adequate punish-
ment of the offence."

Bermuda : A Colony, a Fortress, and a Prison.
By a Field Officer. Longman, Brown, Green,
Longman, and Roberts.

" A Field Officer," whoever he may be, writes
with all the frankness of a soldier, and if he now
and then gets a little out of his depth, or ventures
on irrelevant matter, will be none the worse liked
for it. He has produced a readable book, hand-
L somely illustrated, and enlivened by entertaining
gossip. As a colony, he shows us Bermuda claims
interest from its remoteness, primitiveness, beauti-
ful scenery, salubrity of climate, and its having
been our first in the western hemisphere. la a
naval fortress—its present state, we are told, is
incommensurate with the importance of its position
in case of a war with America. As a prison, it
would seem, under proper regulations and an im-
Iproved system, to be well adapted. At present the
convict is better off than the soldier, so much so
that soldiers have been known to commit offences
in order to qualify themselves for the more
comfortable position of the convict. To this
penal establishment Mitchell, the Irish con-
vict, was originally sent; and here Kirwan,
the painter, whose wife lifts so brutally murdered,
questions the justice of his sentence, with very
little ground of complaint, as many will think who
learn how leniently he is treated. His miti-
gated term, it is intimated, will before long have
expired. The distribution and supervision, of the
convicts, who are located, by the way, at Boaz and
in Ireland Island, and work at the dockyard and
on the roads, though improved, are very far from
satisfactory. The number of convicts is seldom
more than 1,200, about one-eighth of the popula-
tion. They are described as most useful and effi-
cient workmen. Chains, save on an emergency,
are never used. About nine hours of labour in
summer and eight in winter are the maximum of
actual work. Not without reason does the writer
remark-46 How many thousands are there of good
character in London whose houra of labour exceed
those of these condemned felons ?" The general
impressions conveyed by the perusal of the work are
that the colony is deserving of more attention than
it has experienced, and that penal discipline may
be carried out in it much better than ht present,
and not without beneficial results.

Landmarks of the History of Greece. By the Rev.
James White. Routledge.

This is an excellent little work, intended for
those who have not the leisure or the opportunity
of studying a history in many volumes. It was
originally written for the Ventnor and Bonchuroh
Mechanics' Institute, and is admirably adapted for
such an institution. It traces the history of the
Greeks in a clear and concise summary from the
mythic histories of their earliest legends to their
final subjection to the Romans. The wonderful
events rand characters of that famous record ars
sufficient of themselves to rivet the attention of any
readers, but they are told in a style, forcible, and
occasionally eloquent, that must interest the most
indifferent.- The only fault that could be found
is the slight mention made of some of the greatest
names in ancient history. Plato, Socrates, Aristetle,
Pindar, receive but little attention by the side of
the warriors and statesmen. Readers better in-
formed in history than the members of an institute
need not scorn to consult this little volume, while
for a book of reference, for dates, &c., it is espe-
cially valuable from its brevity. The following
extract from the conclusion affurds a favourable
sample of the style. The author has been remark-
ing on the brief extent of time occupied by the
Grecian history, when considering its immortality,
and finding the explanation in the greatness of the
individual actors : •

"Now the earliest and best historians wrote in the
Grecian tongue. In all the walks of intellectual effort
they furnished the most perfect models. Napoleon bor-
rowed lessons from their statesmen, and Wellington from
their commanders. The very names of the places where
their actions were performed have become emblems of the
spirit that gave rise to them. Thermopylae has encouraged
the patriot in his resistance to au overwhelming invader.
The desertion of Athens by its people set flames to the
Kremlin of Moscow. We look across the centuries that
divide us from those great event's without perceiving the
medieval battles, and even the more modern conflicts that
lie in the darkness between—as we see the watchfires on
a distant hill without observing the towns and rivers
that are hidden in the level plain. Platma, Salamis,
Leuctra, Mautinwa, Chxronea, and a hundred others,
are nearer to us, by the clearness of our view of them,
than the battles of Louis the Fourteenth or Frede-
rick of Prussia. And why with this vigour in action,
and this unequalled power of description, was their
glorious race interrupted ? The reason is, that the exer-
tions they made were above their powers. There vigour
was the strength of frenzy, not the calm self-confidence of
health. The fire was burnt out by its own warmth.
Their mode of government was not calculated for endur-
ance • for the stability of its power depended on the for-
tunate accident of possessing a great man. Everything
depended on the individual, and nothing on the general
mind. A republic, without the steadying accompaniment
of a representative and controlling chamber, is a mob.
When a Themistocles, a Miltiades, a Pericles, led that
mob, it became a monarchy unknown to itself, and ad-
vanced with the concentrated energy of a single will ;
when it fell into the hands of an Alcibiades, a Cleon, or a
Charts, it became an anarchy, and went to pieces by its
own disunion. It is this which gives such a personal in-
terest to the history of Greece. It consists of the lives of
heroes ; but heroes ceased to arise—jealousy hindered their
appearance, or partisanship put them to death. How
few, indeed, of theirillustrious leaders were treated as they
deserved ! Victory in those unreasonable communities
were as dangerous as defeat. Death and exile were the
rewards of their deliverers from foreign thraldom. Gree-
diness, arrogance, selfishness, were the characteristics of
the great body of the people ; and it was impossible that a
continual succession of Cimons and Epaminondases should
rise to save such a degraded populace from the conse-
quences of their vices. Dorian manliness, lonian grace,
were equally lost in the slavish adulation poured upon their
masters when they had ceased to find champions and defen-
ders among men of their own race. Rome, 'Venice. Turkey,
alternately trampled on the shapeless remains of what once
was Greece. Battle, deportation, banishment—immigra-
tion of the barbarian and intermixture of race,
Plato." have so
altered the population, that I do not believe there isa re
Greek alive. Yet the climate is the same ; the
und about
rivers
keep
their course ; the bees hum with the same
u Alpheus, after
Hytnettus, the olive trees grow with thoesame richness in
Bound
Attica ; the language also, like
their w
with the same purity
as before; and ifithe modern inhabitants were to add to
disappearing for awhile, gushes forth
a more nited
all these these advantages the benefits of,
f indeendence,u we might yet
ment and a prouder spirito
of a
glorious nation—to listen
hope to see the resurrection
again to the eloquence of another Demosthenes, and gather
'sdorn at the feet of another

Bander s Messish—Mozart's Requiem Mass. Edited
by Alfred Novell°. Deau-street, Soho.
These ce;ebrated compositions form a portion of a
very cheap and very excellent edition of the works
of our leading masters in sacred composition. The
opportunities for hearing the performance of such
productions are now frequenti
estimation
in occurrence,
meansurrenee, and
within the reach of all with moderate ; and
the full enjoymentand
Han-
del, Mozart, or Haydn, will bebyo thef lian -
insured
pos-
session and study of these volumes—volumes desery
ing of commendation for b • eing accurate in score,
compact in form, and h c eap in cost.

The British Workman. Partridge and Co.
This deserving broadsheet, designed and calcu-
lated to instruct and profitthe working classes,
has accomplished another year without, we are
sorry to add, returning tbo benevolent editor the
money he has expended on it. This certainly
ought not to be the case, for not only is he worthy
of encouragement in the field of labour to which
his efforts have been directed, because of the cha-

ratter of these efforts in a literary point of view,
but the " British Workman" is so prettily illus-
trated as to be an ornamental appendage to the
working man's table. The balance-sheet at t ;fit
close of the present year, it is to be hoped, wale
of a more encouraging nature. That it may be gc,
depends mainly on the countenance and support
afforded in the interval by the classes ini
whose welfare he has shown so unmistakeable an
interest.

Poems. By Eliza Rogers. Hurst and Blackett.
This is au unpretending volume of poems, which
certainly do not display any great degree of talent
or originality, but which are nevertheless simple
and pleasing. The volume is dedicated to Mrs.
Sidney Herbert, and we are told that the motive
which led to its publication was the hope of raising
money towards the erection of a church in.a very
poor and populous district in the suburbs of Lon-
don. When the object was so praiseworthy criti-
cism would be invidious. The first
.part of the
volume, which contains many of the best pieces, is
from the pc.n of the authoress's sister. There is a
pleasant variety in the suljects and simplicity in
the expression, but the author should be more
careful in the selection of rhymes. Such a rhyme
as the following would spoil the finest stanza
Thou guardian of onr fairest flower,
And lovely as the dat)n,
Ke9p thou tte lily in thy helyt
When this is dead and gone."
It is but just to the author to say that the above is
an exceptional case. In future efforts she will, t o
doubt, avoid similar errors.

Poems. By Emmeline Hinxman. Longman.
This is another book of poems, from the pen of a
lady. It contains many graceful thoughts pleas-
ingly expressed, but it seldom rises far above me-
diocrity. The writer has not been very ambitious
in her choice of subjects, and from not attempting
too much has seldom failed. The poems are ele-
vate,' in their tone, and breathe a thoughtful and
aspiring spirit. The following verses are from a
poem called " Early Death," and afford a favour-
able specimen of the writer's powers.
" She &meth down from the green hill tops—
From the golden slopes of wheat ;
From the leafy depth of the summer copse,
Where blossom and herb are sweet.
From the nooks in tne meadows, dewy and cool, •
Where winds the clear dark river;
Where the willows shadow the glassy pool,
And the rushes bend and quiver.
She watcheth no more the steps of the dawn
Pass over the mountain's brow;
She standeth no more on the household lawn,
Made rich with the sunset's glow.
She turneth away from the home whose eaves
The vine with the rose surroundeth ;
And all the sweet haunts of her youth she leaves,
Where the voice of joy resoundeth.
Slow and silent the maid departs,
For the downward way is steep ;
And the friends of her childhood, with aching hearts,
Press round her steps and weep.
And fainter comes, from the distant bowers,
The sound of the woodbird's lay ;
Ever more faint the scent of flowers,
And the smile of the summer day."

Fairy Gold for Young and Old. Milted by H.

P. Chorlsi. G. Routledge."
This little volume consists of eighteen tales,
translated from the French of Savinien Lapointe.
They are pleasant fairy tales for little folks, occa-
sionally somewhat fantastic, but attractive flora
their novelty. Their very titles are sufficient to
excite the curiosity and awaken the interest of
juvenile readers : such as " The Awful Little
Finger," "The Man who Last his Memory," "Got J.-
man Gold-drop," STc. Oue or two of the original
tales have been omitted by the editor as unlikely
to suit English tastes, but otherwise they have
been very little altered. The volume is prettily
bound, and adorned with numerous illustrations.
Drawing-room Charades. By C. Warren Adams,

Esq. Newby.
This is an amusing little volume, adapted for
amateur performers, by one evidently conversant
with their difficulties. It is lively and sparkling,
the words are not too difficult, and the part 3 evenly
divided. The subjects are not all original, as "The
Sleeping Beauty ' and " Cinderella," of famous
memory, are among them, but they are old friends
with new faces, and the rest of the sketches possess
novelty as well as variety. All who are desirous
of enjoying this pleasant pastime duffing the
winter season should avail themselves of the ad-
vice and assistance which this little volume will
afford them.