The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-15 00:00:00

ment we can pay the author is that we feel confirm-
! ally inclined to cast his work from us disappointed
at the stupidity of his hero, and again to take it up,
just to see if in the next chapter it was possible
for Mr. Nogo to do worse. Many of the secondary
characters introduced are well delineated; and,
in many parts, the advice given to our hero by
some sensible friend would prove beneficial to many
who in some points resemble Mr. Nogo too closely.
The worst feature of his character is that of allow-
ing his intimate friend to marry the daughter of a
card sharper and swindler, from whose tender
mercies he has himself recently escaped, the result
of such a union is, of course, misery. He himself
marries a sleep-walking window, who, after the
bridal day, wears the continuations. Years roll by
after marriage, his wife is a confirmed invalid at
Bath, and himself an older, if not a wiser, man ; he
thus reflects upon his past life :
Like many a wiser and better man, I have been the vic-
tim of an unworthy ambition—not the noble infirmity
which urges the aspirer to be great—not the heaven-born
sentiment which impels him to be good ; but the paltry and
unmanly thirst for frivolous distinction, which, originating
in vanity, finds its end in disappointment and disgust. Not
satisfied to take the sports and amusements of life as I found
them, it has been n y desire to raise for myself a kind of
spurious fame for proficiency in pursuits which, after all,
deserve but to be the pastime of an idle hour ; and even
this worthless distinction I have failed to attain. When
the man who had spent a lifetime in learning to balance
peas on the point of a needle was brought before Alexander,
the conqueror of the world ordered him the appropriate re-
compense of a packet of needles and a bushel of peas.
Alas ! my proficiency has not even deserved the Macedo-
nian's sarcastic guerdon. Money, time, and perseverance
have been wasted, and I cannot balance the pea on the
needle after all. In vain have my stud eaten their heads
off at Melton, and I myself <rone to the height of personal
inconvenience, not to say bodilyb peril, to achieve a first-
flight character on the grass. Can I lay my hand on ray
heart, and tax my memory with one single instance on
which, after hounds had been running hard for ten minutes,
I was present in the same field with them ? I have ridden
a two-hundred guinea hunter, and been pounded by
young Graceless on a forty-pound hack 1 I have placed
ray horse's head at Lord Rapid's tail, and vowing to
stick to him throughout the day, have lost him in three
fields. No 1 High Leicestershire was no arena for my
prowess; and hopeless as was my success in the pas-
tures, the turf was even wm se. What availed it to
elbow my way into the waving mass which constitutes
the Ring at Epsom ; or to swagger, with open betting-
book, and pencil daintily fitted between my front
teeth, down the sunny slopes at Ascot? The "make-
and-shape " backer jumped at the odds I offered
against his favourite, and showed his judgment by the form
in which his selection swept past the goal an easy winner,
and " the only horse I stood to lose by in the race ;" or the
better-informed leg, with his liberal investment against the
Flyer that broke dcwn this morning, gave me another op-
portunity of what is playfully termed " paying and looking
pleasant. Shooting, deer-stalking, sparring, cricket, hare-
hunting, rowing, fishing, etc., not forgetting my first and
only appearance as a jocey at Weatherley—l have had a
turn at them all—and if this be what is meant by " sowing
wild oats," I can only say that in my case the crop has failed
to pay the expenses of cultivation. My trip into the west
of England, though in itself the accident of an accident—
the consequence of a fracas in which I had no business to
be concerned—was in its effect not the least important of my
vagaries; and that, too, originating in my ambition to ob-
tain a certain share of ame as a sportsman in that out-of-
the-way locality. Of my visit to Squire Topthorne, I
confess there did spring some very decided consequences ;
but with my conviction that, in the words of Shakspeare,
" your marriage comes by destiny," I forbear to make any
reflections on that unavoidable catastrophe. And what
has been the result of thus wasting the golden, the irre-
trievable years of early manhood—that important period in
which alone can be laid the foundations for a future super-
structure of utility and self-content, if not of distinction
and renown—an edifice to which success in the more trifling
pursuits of life should be but as the carving which decorates
its pillars, the ornamental work which softens the severer
grandeur of the whole ?
A brief period of hollow excitement, constantly embittered
by dissatisfaction and disappointment; a consciousness of
time misspent and opportunities thrown away ; something
very nearly akin to remorse for the irremediable past ; and
above all, the degrading conviction that though age is
steadily and surely stealing on, wisdom is still as far distant
as ever, and the experience which makes " even fools wise"
has in my own case been entirely thrown away.
The descriptions of the hunting field, the race
course, and other sporting scenes, are described
with the ability of a sportsman.

The Book of Good Counsels. From the Sanscrit of
the Hitopadesa. By Edwin Arnold, M.A.

Smith and Elder. -
This little volume can certainly boast the merit
of novelty. It is a translation of Indian moral
saws and fables. Mr. Arnold informs us that the
chief object in presenting this translation to the
public is to excite in the minds of the people of
England a desire to explore the literature of India.
lie says that although no one listens now to the
precipitate ignorance which would set aside as
heathenish the rncient civilisation of this great race,
justice is not yet done to their past development
and present capacities. Many of the fables are
curious, and are proofs of the sagacity and fertility
of imagination of a people who boasted a high civi-
lisation long before the Christian era, and when
the greater portion of Europe was a wilderness
peopled by savages.
ti

Bohn's Illustrated Library.

The second volume of the " Poetical Works of
John Milton is now published, and it contains much
to engross the reader. "Paradise Regained,"
" Comus," minor poems, containing " 0,"
"Il Penseroso," " Lyeidas," etc. There are the
Latin Poems also in this volume, the Odes, Sonnets,
and Translations. It is an admirable book on the
whole, and will form an elegant addition to the
libraries of all who desire standard books at a
moderate price. This new edition contains an
Index Verboruni to the whole of Milton's Poems.
It is also ornamented with engravings by several
artists of eminence, and a memoir by J. Mont-
gomery, with critical remarks on the genius and
writings of Milton. This forms a very complete
work altogether, and will be sure to be appre-
ciated as belonging to a series so useful and
elegant as that of the illustrated library of Bohn
which has furnished so many first-rate productions
at a reduced cost, while they are brought out in 0.
handsome form.

Something for Everybody and a Garland for the
Fear. By John Timbs, F.S.A. Lockwood and

Co.
Mr. Timbs does not claim the merit of originality
in this volume, but rather that of collecting useful
and agreeable information from the works of others,
and certainly in this respect he deserves great credit.
It would be quite impossible to give a description
of the various subjects treated of in this compendious
collection, which embraces dyeing of hair, the Trans-
figuration, St. Valentine's Day, whitebait, the
classic history of the rose, curiosities of bees, and
many other topics too numerous to mention.
Some useful information is to be gathered under,
the head of "Prompt Remedies and Small Service%
and whether as a means of passing an odd vor
minutes in waiting for a wife to put a bonnet 011
-
a husband to change his boots, or obtaining prac
tical information, this work is equally to be recom-
mended.

The _Handbook of Angling for Scotland and the
Border Counties. By John Robertson. Houlston

and Wright.
This is not Mr. Robertson's first appearance in
print, and the present little volume is a republi-
cation of the " Trout Fisher's Manual" in a re-
vised and extended form. In the former work he
took Edinburgh as a centre or starting point ; but
in this volume great additions regarding convey-
ance, accommodation, and routes are made. Gene-
ral instructions to the young angler are given, but
the author wisely remarks that the science of
angling has now reached such a height of perfec-
tion that but little instruction is needed b9the matured angler, and that all the additional
notions to be acquired must result from expe-
rience. He says that if he added another sentence
it would be his conviction that careful observation.
and experience at the water-side were worth all the
rules that ever were penned.

By J. T. Blight,
---
aWronfdhtlitMisstout-of-th
A Week at the Land's End.
Longman.
Although the extent of country herein described
is of but small dimensions, it nevertheless contains
many points of interest. The area comprised in the
map appended exteoanubdniseefsßroaßmyaythe Bay of St. Ives on
the Land's-End 011
superstitions and traditions of the primitive'
the S.E. Tb°
lle catnedd ,
the
ee
thetinh inhabitants
variousaNbsi.. Etlays.
nu,
:ops e r
ancient history of the pie"
turesque rocks and cliffs toeb-Nevafoyudnidstarilcltrhouavnedbtehe been
a ccidents and tragedies, to
carefully
rugged
which they owe their
names are interesting. Th°
work is illustrated with many woodcuts, and the
variety of detail proves that •the author did noti
waste time duringa
his short sray at the Land's-En

The Foot and its Covering; with Dr. Camper's
ITTork on the Best Form of Shoe. By Jameo
bowie. Robert Hardwicke.
The sterner sox have always found fault with
the ladies for tight lacing, but many young any'
certain elderly gentlemen might with advantag
look at home and down at their feet, and correct
their own failing in regard to tight boots. Mr.
Bowie has taken much pains to explain the injury'
caused to the human foot by ill-fitting shoes. The
construction of the foot and its various peculiaritieo
are considered and illustrated with several diagrams,
and those who desire to walk according to rule,
and to bring the pressure equally upon all
the foot, may attain their object by a careful per-
usal of these pages. parts of

OXFORD, July 13.—UNIVERSITY COUNSEL.'
The Chancellor bas appointel Mr. ltonutlell Palmer,
of Magdalen College (her Majcsty's Solicitor-General),
counsel to the university, in the room of Sir Richard
13ethell, adyahcicl to the peerage,