The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-30 00:00:00

and conclude our notice with the author's final
W Or (1S-

In the "business" of the stage, Elliston was alwaya
popular. Ile was, what is called a "fair actor,"—nevor
appropriating the scenic effects of others, but always
playing in such a manner as might bring into best opera•
tion the professional merits of those around him. Thin
fact, and a total absence of jealousy towards rising actors,
rendered him always popular with his brethren. One
thing further we may be permitted to observe (for with.
those at all acquainted with theatrical life, it will doubt-
less be a claim to commendation) : Ellistou never was
guilty of the coarse and ungentlemanly act (to say the
least of it) of common swearing. No one ever heard an
oath pass his lips ; and th,.:ugh be lived in too great
neglect of religious observance,,, no man was readier to
respect those of better example than himself, and he WAS
the very ast to treat with levity any question L.f a sacred
nature.

We may, in fine, term him as a kind of dramatic Alci-
biades ; great vereat lity, eccentric enterprise, strange
inconsistencies, with a fervent devotion to the public
duties to which fortune had called him, constituted hint
in his time, if not an exemplary general, at least a bril-
liant sul

The Press and the Putic Service. By a Distin-
guishA Writer. Rontled,re and Co.
There is a large amount of truthful and powerful
writing in this work, whether the author be dis-
tinguished or not. He handles subjects of impor-
t:int and vital interest to the pubic, under the
headings of " Lihtrty of the Press," '' Anonymous
Writinz," " Personali:ies," " Oflieal Secrets,"
(I7c. We are not prepared to admit all the writer
advances, but we are far less at to refute the pre-
ponderance of his arguments and assertions. Most
of his opinions are clear, &cider], and just ; and a
liberal torte, combining popular sense and constitu-
tional policy, pervadt,s the whole of the work. Few
of our readers will deny the plain accuracy of this
statement

I "Let an English Government always take care to
make its administration correspond with the true spirit
of the constitution, and nothing will ever endanger it.
Let ft seek to maintain ahu• es by seventy and coercion,
neither laws nor arnie will long support it. It is never
in such fear of being brought into ridicule and contempt
as when disfigured by the indiscreet zeal of ignorance,
and fanaticism. It had bAter adopt almost any course
of conduct tan that which shows it in no other light
than tax'ng, punishing, and restraining."
"If Government suffers sometimes severely from the
effects of popular ignorance, this arises simply because
it has taken away the Ley of knowledge. If it is ever
assailed with blind fury, that is only because it has re-
quired an equally blind submission. The people are
generally right in their disputes with Government; they
have no interest in disorder. Whenever, therefore, they
make complaints, they should be heard at least with re
spectful attention. If they judge one way and Govern-
meut another, it is the duty of a representative ministry
to accept the judgment of their countrymen. If they
have any objections to offer, the pen should settle the
controversy, not the sword. Power applied to influence
opinion is merely a means of upholding fallacies, and
no English Government will surely profess to study
Arbuthnot's art of`convincing people of salutary false-
hoods for some good end.' Swell they do so, it will be
well to keep their design a profound secret, for the people
will naturally ask, To what end ? To an end which ap-
pears good in the eyes of authority or in the eyes of the
people ? The Opposition a'so in ikuch a case would be
entitled to ask whether the right of coining political
falsehoods was a monopoly belonging exclusively to the
Government, as the right of print,ng almanacs was for-
merly reserved to the universities."

a very competent essay on " Public Service,
speaking of promotion, the author says :
" The mau who first pulls down the house of fraud and.
nonsense; who seeks to bottom his reputation upon
doing good ; who uses the gifts of reason and the efforts
of genius to rectify those evils which all the genius and
talent of his profession have previously been employed to
support and protect ; who turns jobbers into honest
men, scares away the plunderers of the public-, and is a
terror to wrong-do,,rs ; such a man is surely the fittest
min who can be chosen for advancement.

"The hope of renown is the instinct of great souls.
Are public servants to be taught that for them the tem-
ple of Fame shall be merely an inner chamber in the
palace of Indolence ! Away with so enervating a cheat.
Tne shortest road to riches and preferment should be
over the straight rough way of toil and thought."
A chapter on " Subordination " conveys some
valuable discussion on palpable facts—too lately
and. too frightfully illustrated. ; and we regret we
cannot afford space for a more lengthy extract than
the following :

" Men placed in situations for which the strongest
talents would not be more than adequate, have fre-
quently no talent at all. The furniture of their minds
is often made up of discordant prejudices ; and they fol-
low that prejudice by which their interest or the gratifi-
cation of their humour for the moment is most promoted.
So soon as an employment becomes a source of conside-
ration and of power, it is sought after, bought and sold,
or tricked and intrigued away by sharpers who have
neither inclination nor power to render themselves use-
ful in it. Such places are the mere appanage of jobbery,
or even the prize of some act too shocking to speak of.
Sin snugly have matters been managed by jobbers, that
some of tr,e most considerable offices in our empire are
not less clear of obligation than a seat at the opera.
When they have been begged or bought, all the occu-
pants have to do, after they have once taken possession,
is to enjoy. _ _

" Such persons may exercise their power, without the
scnal'est regard for the public welfare, in whatever man-
ner may be most agreeable or convenient to themselves;
and it is the influence they exercise, and the use to
which their influence is put, which constitutes the great
political disease of our times, and which must ultimately
in ing about some sweeping reform as a remedy.
"It is impossible to feel re,pect for a man merely be-
cause he fills high office under such circumstances as
these. It is a melancholy thing enough to see some mean
and cunning intriguer fed and lodged at the public ex-
pense, endowed with a rich portion of the product of
other men's industry, using all the influence of a great
situation, perhaps, to deepen the ignorance and inflame
the fury of his fellow-creatures. It is sad enough to
know, that in times of trouble and difficulty, the greatest
obstacle in the way of every settlement will be found in
those to whose counsels the country ought to look for
dignity and peace. There is something quite revolting
in the power given to such wen. Officials, who have
with the utmost ins Bence and in the face of day com-
mitted the worst acts of injustice and oppression, whose
incapacity has been repeatedly testified by the grossest
blunders, may unblushingly avow their guilt and inca-
pacity, and punish any one who has conscientiously ex-
posed it to the country. They have persecuted such
men with a cold-blooded ferocity, the more determined.
because they have been conscious that the truth only
has been proclaimed against them.
" But shall the nation look on apprc,vingly while
criminals are protected from the slightest breath of cen-
sire, and their accusers, wh have gallantly risked every-
tring t., bring them to justice or stay their mad career,
are pot to the rack with imuunil

The Night Side of London. By D. Ewing Rikohies.

Tweedie : Strand.

The night side of Louden is doubtless dark
enough ; but we trust that Mr. Ritchie's general
denunciatory tone is somewhat exaggerated by th©
"one idea" which evidently occupies his brain and
rules his pen—viz., that no source of sorrow, suf-
fering, or wickedness exists, save iu "drink." If
our author pursues his well-intentioned subject with
more expansive percepticnis and deductions he will
probably arrive at numerous ethical points of poli-
tical and educational defalcations which demand
the first and fullest attention of all true "re-
formers of the people." Mr. Ritchie very justly
deplores and condemns the moral fungi of intem-
perance, but appears not to notice tha more latent
social heap of foul subsoil which promotes the poi-
sonous growth. The advancement of "Teeto-
talism" is unquestionably the aim of this little
work ; but we have a notion that far more power-
ful and practical levers must be applied to raise
the mass f ur population, before public-houses,
police-courots,o and lunatic asylums will becoiu'
tenantless.

'Wild Adventures in kcstralia and New South
Wales. By Fiederic Do Brebant Cooper.
James Blackwood, Paternoster-row.
This little volume contains some startling inci-
detat a ;scar,!ely less startling, by
the northern
more,thernpart of Australia, where tin
land,
remains of the Aborigines are arid met. and afford
ample opportunity for the full gratification of those
who are eager to seek a strange and exciting exis-
tence in far-off lands. Hunting, fighting, gold-
digging, and hasty sketches of savage and bush
life are bountifully scattered through the pages,
and will no doubt be wereome reading to those who
revel in the bold and wonderful.

Aldershot, And all About It. By Mrs. Young-. Author of " Our Camp in Turkey," ttc. &c.
Routledge and Co., Farringdon-street.
lf.rs. Young has entered with considerable spirit
into tio doings and sayings at Aldershot. She gives
us lively- sketches of public barracks. privats
theatricals, IZ.VaI coaations and regimental balls,
with some accoupt of the surrounding country and
objects of interest. The iliustrations by the author
are very fairly executed ; and, altogether, the
book is very readable.
_ _

The Angler in, the Lake District. By John Davy,
M.D., F.R.S. Longman and Co.
The disciples of Isaac Walton will find in this a
most attractive and charming work, The book is
full of sound piscatorial inform
ation
Those who woal
possess a recherche volume on their favourite pu
suit .of " hunting for silver in a sapphire tide,"
cannot do better than secure Dr. Davy's produ,
tion, as its refined and. classical tone recommentia
it as much as its practical excellency.

A SELF-ELECTED PROCTOR.-- the election of con.
r
vocation pron,or at Nor* ich, on Tuesday, the Rev.
canon Hopper, who was returned by a majoity Of 011116
voted for himself.