The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-13 00:00:00

China, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. By
J. D'Ewes, Esq. Bentley.

In a concise and p'easantly written narrative Mr.
D'Ewes has given us his impressions of a number
of very different places. We can compare the un-
settled active progression of the Australian colo
nies with the prim and antique civilisation of the
Celestial Empire, or we can find a contrast to both
in the semi-barl'atiam of the Islands of the Pacific.
His first destination was Port Philip, where he ar-
rived towards the middle of the year 1853, after a
somewhat tedious passage. His cbject was to re-
cruit his health and fortune by a colonial sojourn
of some years, and he accordingly endeavoured to
obtain a Government situation. He was fortunate
enough to succeed, and was appointed police ma-
gistrate at Ballarat during the absence of that
official. This temporary appointment was after-
wards rendered permanent, and the author gives
us some graphic acc;unts of his life at the diggings.
His stay there was not I.,ng, for, owing to an
awkward case in which he was involve 1, and which
gave r se to some serious riots at Ballarat, he was
deprived of his situation. Besides his place of re-
sidence, he gives a description of Ivlelhourne and
Sydney. His information on colonial matters may
be useful to some of his readers. The statistics of
the sudden increase of Government expenditure
are very curious. We subjoin a few :-
1851. 1852. 1853.
Post-office 211,165 £17,362
Public Works. 32,697 51,163 719,924
Police

In the following year the expenditure increased
still more, though the revenue did not rise iu pro-
portion, consequently a strict system of official eco-
nomy was put in practice, and the salaries, &c.,
reduced, a circumstance that appears to have given
little satisfaction. The author, subsequently,
visited Nov Zealand, of which colony be gives a
favourable picture. The natives, especially, con-
trast advantageously with other aborigines. On
qUitting Australia, he went to the Friendly and
Navigator Islands, and he gives a glowing account
of their gorgeous tropical wealth of climate, though
the inhabitants, as is so frequ3ntly the case, derive
no benefit from the Livish gifts of nature. The
auth,r recommends the Navigator Islands espe-
cially to the notice of the British Government,
pointing out their advantages, if cultivated, in sup-
plying the markets of the populous Australian
colonies. China, though the fir t name on the
title page, was almost the last spot that he visited.
He does not tell us much that is new respecting
that singular people, but he shows them to us in
favourable colours, as employed in their trades and
markets. He visited the North of China, where
the people are said to be much more friendly to-
wards foreigners than their southern countrymen.
He was particularly struck with the extraordinary
perseverance and industry of the people, who, as he
justly observes, are "educated under the grossest
superstitions, and living under the most despotic
Government." Speaking of the agricultural dis-
tricts, in the neighbourood of Shanghai, he says,
" The grain-fields of Europe, or even Egypt, sink
into insignificance beside the crops that here cover
immense space, forming as it were one vast field.
The 'most laborious, artificial irrigation, minute
system of manuring, and everything that can pos-
sibly tend to the culture an I improvement of the
soil is praciised to the highest pitch of perseverance
by the inhabitants. Not a single foot is allowed
to lie waste, and the very embankments of the
canals are all under cultivation." What a clntrast
these indefatigable agriculturists present to their
neighbours of the Pacific. On his way back from
China, the traveller 'Aid a visit to the Dutch
Indies, and speaks highly of the beauty and
luxuriance of Java, which advantages are un-
fortunately counterbalanced by its extremely un-
healthy climate. The author, after an absence of
about four years, returned to England, and if he did
not realise the expectations with which he started,
ho has succeeded in giving his readers a more satis-
factory journey.

The Artist's Family. A novel. By the author of
" Saville House." 3 vols. Newby.
This story is interesting, and in many respects
out of the common line of compositions. It seeks
to represent the life of an artist struggling against
*many adverse circumstances, but he, was his own
worst enemy. Mr. Ashford is a forcible example
to those sons of genius who consider themselves
peculiarly privileged, as they are highly gifted, and
not content wi h letting their fellow men appre-
ciate them, over estima' e themselves, till atlast they
disgust the critical, and even wear out the friendly
with their waywardness and capzice. The purport
of this tale would tend to show that whatever
allowance or indulgence may be felt for the heirs of
fame, such feelings have their limits, and that ner-
vous irritability, sensitiveness, and susceptibility
may be carried to such an extent, that they render
the infatuated individual a torment to himself, and
a burden to others. How 'different it would be if
one, fired with more than common energy of mind,
or refined with a purer sense of feeling, regarded the
world's meaner things as dro is un w orthy of his notice,
whose high destiny it was mould the perfect
metal to a shining use, and the immortal issue of
whose labaurs was to create lasting landmarks of
human progress. Of such it might truly be asked—
" Oh, should he not study his mind to divest
Of the vanities, trifits, and follies of earth I"
Notwithstanding his many faults the reader cannot
fail to be interested in the artist, and his melancholy
death is sad and touching. The subsequent misfor-
tunes that befell his family are graphically narrattti,
and form a second story, as it were, of a more ro-
mantic and striking style. Some of the events are
certainly exaggerated in description, which fails in
adding to the effect, but altogether the records of
the " Artist's Family" are attractive in their vivid
'sketches of suffering, and their forcible and superior
rendering of character in some important scenes of
existence. We meet with many subjects of study
in the course of the fitful changes of the work, of
whom Mr. Badger, the usurper of Mr. Ashford's
inheritance, is perhaps the most life-like portrait.

The Pedlar ; a Tale of Emigration. By Charles
Delerme. 3 vol'!.
The Medora ; a Tale of the Sea. By the author
of the " Warlia,wk," k.e. 3 vok Newby.
The first cf there stories consists chiefly of scenes
of emigration life in America, in which great skill
is displayed in recounting the various perils and
perplexities into which the wanderers are plunged.
The hero as3umes the disguise of a pedlar, and in that
character, he is of essential service to the family of
the emigrants herementioned, tli.Brainsoft3. There
are some events in England which aro of an excit-
ing nature, when Clavering returns and finds his
father in the power of a perfidious cousin who
has contrived to spread abroad a report of his
insanity, and keeps him in close confinement. After
many miAlap.s and some amusing adventures, the
narrative is brought to a prosperous trininaticn.
The second novel, named " The Medora," is of a
stiiking, and brilliant style. It is interesting to
peruse, on account of the critical positions in which
its heroes and he: nines are constantly placed ; and
it is further rendered attractive ifrom the scene
being laid in the period of the late war, and some
real characters being introduced into its pages.
Some of the escapes are cleverly contrived, and the
passages which relate to the sea adventures are
sketched with a freedom and freshness in keeping
with the subject, and proclaim that the author has
entered fully into the spirit of his work, which has
evidently been performed con amore.

Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. By Currer Be:
New Edition. Smith, Elder and Co.

This is the first volume of a new and completo
series of the works of Currer, Ellis, and Acton
Bell, about to be published in a cheap and commo-
dious form. -Whatever its faults or deficiencies,
Jane Eyre still holds its place as a novel of remark-
able power, and in its present form is likely to have
an extended circulation.

Akenside's Poetical Works. J. Nichol, Edinburgh.
This handsome edition of the Poets is continued
with credit. The poems of Akenside e givn
complete in the present volume, and, therefore,
endent
those who wish to procure his works, indep
of the seties, can avail themselves of this oppor-
tunity. The type is excellent, and the bindinc,
handsome and durable.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
LONDON AND SOUTII-EASTERIT RAlLWAY.—Traffic re•
turn for the week ending Aug, 8, 1857 £23,415 3 7
Corresponding week last year . 25,250 12 8

Decrease in 1857
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY.—
Traffic return for the week ending Aug. S,
425 10 0
220
1857 ......
Corresponding , ....................... ,
week last year 20,962 14 9
Total of the half-year to this date, 1857 110,750 9 8
Total of the half-year to this date, 1856 114,076 19 10
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—Traf6 o
return for the week ending Aug. 9, 1857 E74,171 0 0
Corresponding week last year
70,359 0 0
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.—Traffi e return for
the week ending Aug. 9, 1857
Corresponding week last year £7,314 0 0
7,25 G 0 '0
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAlLWAY.—Traffic re-
turn for the week ending Aug. 9, 1857 £27,850
5 8
Corresponding week last year
GREAT LUXEMBOURG RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the
week ending Aug. 9, 1857
£BO2 18
Corresponding week last year
790 13 1
LONDON GENERAL OMNIBUS COMPANY.Troe re-
-5
. turns for the week ending Aug. 8, 1857 ...... R 12,792 lilll