The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 28, 1861.

remains only an eighth volume, shortly to form an
independent issue, to complete a work that many
able men might have been proud and happy to re-
gard as the one achievement of active literary life."

The other works of which Mr. KNIGHT has been
the author, editor or promoter, are too numerous to
mention. They are all, however, of the same high
class, animated by the same excellent purpose.
The Cyclopedia which is now attracting the
attention of the literary world, is one of the most
useful works of the day. Amid the multitude
of our dictionaries, chronologies, and works of
reference it preserves its pre-eminence, and fulfils
its promise of being " the only complete cyclopedia
of reference in our language." The comprehen-
siveness of its range, the character of its authors,
and the judiciousness of its editing, all rank it high
above ordinary works of the class. Each of the
four divisions is a complete work in itself, and com-
piled by our greatest modern authorities. The
department of geography embraces the physical
features of every country, with its statistics and
history to the latest period. The Cyclopmdia of
Biography, in six volumes, fully supplies the need
felt so constantly by all intelligent readers or
writers. It contains as much matter as forty octavo
volumes, and includes the names of living
celebrities. The division of Natural History,
under the editorship of Dr. E. LANKESTER,
claims many of our principal naturalists among its
contributors, and botany, geology, zoology, com•
parative anatomy, and physiology have each their
share of attention. The concluding division is,
however, the crown of the work, from its extent,
its utility, and the vo-rt-+y _c
subjects it discusses. On this point we may refer
the reader to the interesting analysis recently
issued by Messrs. BRADBURY and EVANS :
" The Cyclopeodias of the last century were strictly Dic-
tionaries of Arts and Sciences. They include'l no names
of persons or of 'places. Their Natural History was directed
to the uses of vegetable and animal substances rather than
to their scientific characters. In these practical objects
our Cyclopssdia of Arts and Sciences' follows in the steps
of these early works, upon -which all Cyclopssdias, with the
exception of the' Penny Cyclopesdia; have been founded.
But its range is far more universal. The difficulty of obtain-
ing completeness in this age of rapid progress is far greater
than at a period when the influence of science upon the
productive powers of industry was comparatively small.
It is impossible to give an adequate idea of the character
of this, the most important of the divisions of The
English Cyclopiedia"—to show the vast amount of new
matter that has been required to bring up its infor-
mation to the present day—to point out how this
mass of detail has been supplied—without requesting
a perusal of the analysis contained in the enume-
ration of its contributors and of its more important articles,
especially of those which are either wholly new or have been
subjected to the most elaborate revision. Not an article,
not a page, not a line, has been reprinted without revision.
Whether correction or not has been required, the labour of
the reviser has been compensated. A cyclopaadia may
make high pretensions, and yet use its old stereotype plates
with a few alterations and new articles. That is not the
course which has been pursued with The English Cyclo-
pedia.' To judge of the extent of the division of labour
required to produce the Cyclopedia of Arts and Sciences'
alone it will be seen that t includes sixty contributors in the
original Penny Cycloptedia,' and that thirty-six new con- ,
tributors and revisers have assisted in the production of the
present.eight volumes."

If an extended reputation, and the establishment
of a standard work in English literature be a matter
of gratification, Mr. KNIGHT has reaped the reward
of his labours; but the gratitude due to the pioneer
of popular education might find a more substantial
expression. In any case, we congratulate the editor
and contributors to this magnificent work on the
termination of their truly national undertaking.

Her Majesty is expected to visit the camp at
Aldershot early this week, when some grand reviews and
sham fights will probably give a brilliant wind-up to the
past drill season.
Their Serene Highnesses the Prince and Princess
Edward of Saxe-Weimar are on a tour in Ireland, and are
at present on a visit to the Earl and Countess of Bess-
borough, at Bessborough House, Kilkenny.
The Duke of Newcastle arrived in London from
Clumber Park on Friday. His grace left town on Satur-
day for Brighton.
The Duke and Duchess of Manchester are ex-
pected in town to-day from a tour on the Continent.
The Duchess Dowager of Richmond is expected
in town on Thursday from Highcliffe Castle, Hants, the
residence of Lady Stuart de Rothesay.
The Marquis of Donegal is about to marry Lady
Ashworth, widow of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick
Ashworth, K.C.B.

The Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter arrived
in Grosvenor-square on Friday from Burghley House, near
Stamford.

The Countess Frances Waldegrave comes to town
to-day from a tour of visits. The Countess of Rothes and
the Hon. George Leslie Waldegrave are passing the season
at Leslie House, Fifeshire.
Lord and Lady Cecilia Bingham are expected at
their residence in Portland-place in a few days from a tour
of visits.

Lady Truro leaves town to-day on a visit to Lady
King at Woburn-park, Chertsey, Surrey.
Lady Bailey has left her mansion in Belgrave-
square for the south of France, her physician having recom-
mended her to pass a second winter at Nice for the benefit
of her health.

The projected marriage of the Princess Anna
Murat with the Prince of Orange, son of the King of Hol-
land, is now said to be off.
ILLNESS OF THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE, —This
venerable nobleman is seriously indisposed at Bowood, in
consequence of an accident.—Observer.

ILLNESS OF LORD BROUGHAM.—We are glad to
be able to announce that the indisposition of Lord Brougham,
though of a serious, has not been of a dangerous character.
His lordship has now nearly recovered, and his medical ad-
visers are of opinion that his health will be sufficiently re-
stored next week to allow his proceeding to London.
THE MET ROPOLITAN RAILWAY.—On Saturday
morning the miners employed by Mr. Jay, the contractor
to form the tunnel between Guildford-street, Clerkenwell,
and the far end of the Clerkenwell workhouse, succeeded in
forming a junction. This is considered very satisfactory,
as this is by far the heaviest part of the work, the top of
the tunnel at Exmouth-street being about 60 feet from the
surface of the roadway. The tunnel is now complete froi-n
the workhouse to Guildford-street, although the brickwork
is not quite finished. The other parts of the works ar•
progressing very satisfactorily, and the tunnel and open
cutting is complete from St. Pancras Church to Swinton-
street.

THE CONFEDERATE FLEET.—The Bermuda,which
has recently attracted so large an amount of attention upon
American waters, in connection with the operations of the
navy of the Confederate States, is a Tees-built steamer.
She was built some time this year by Messrs, Richardson
and Duck, of Stockton. She is a double-plated iron vessel
and will, no doubt, give the Federals a deal of trouble be-
fore she is got rid of, After being launched she proceeded
to Hartlepool, and there obtained a crew from the thiee
towns of Stockton, Hartlepool, and Middlesborough. The
head engineer belongs to Stockton. The men, the local
papers state, were paid two months in advance, and the
usual " pay-tickets" when vessels are going on long voyages
were withheld. She took in part of her cargo at Hartle-
pool, which port she left some nine weeks since, and pro-
ceeded to Liverpool, where she was loaded with stores,
ammunition, cannon, rifles, &c., and thence proceeded to
America. The local papers state the vessel changed cap-
tains at Liverpool, and when the men left they were not in
the least aware of the expedition on which they were sent
out. All the business connected with the Bermuda has been
conducted in the most secret manner possible in this country.
COLLISION ON THE LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE
RAILWAY.—A serious accident happened on the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway on Friday evening last, between the
Eastwood and Todmorden stations. An express train, which
starts from Halifax at a quarter to 5 o'clock, had just passed
the Eastwood station, the time being about 20 minutes past
5, when a luggage train was observed in front going at a
speed of about 18 miles an hour. The speed of the express
train was so great that it was found impossible to check it
so as to avoid a collision, and the luggage train was run
into with great violence, many of the trucks being thrown
off the line and the engine displaced. The passengers
in the express train were much shaken, as was the breaks-
man of the luggage train, though it does not appear that
any bones were broken, The passenger carriages sus-
tained no damage, but the engiad*as so disabled that the
train had to be taken forward by another locomotive after
the line had been cleared of the scattered 'wreck of the lugi
kagel tr ualui, iThe Oeouraime 4Ailittillostekli Vynttliirlgle fott4tbf
gugg tvitolzwea*,o4)-WfteimitttE44o¢Pfl, la dttiii4:494l/IWilgig
axelahr:koiwprel gbt to work immediately, and the traffic was
not log impeded.