The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-12 00:00:00

st. 111
st. ID

ta.fl.7eußEl,

Captain Mayne Romances. J. and C. BrcAra

and Company.
Conspicuous among the popular reprints pouring
from the press of hoe in all directions, are the e
four really beautifulvolumts, comprising tleise four
remarkable woi ks which, beyond all othLrs from the
same hand, have made for Capt. Mayne Reid his
high, and deservedly high, reputation. " The
Rifle Rangers"—the earliest of his literary per-
formances. "The Scalp Hunters"—the best among
them all, at any rate in our estimation, and certainly
the most brilliantly imaginative and adventurou:.
" The White Chief "—full from first to last of fasci-
nation. Finally, to crown all, the latest of these
singularly original narratives, to wit, "The Quad-
roon "—long the principal attraction of Chambers's
Edinburgh Journal, and now for the first time
issued from the press as a separate and complete
publication. Altogether the series can scarcely by
possibility prove o'herwise than eminently succss-
ful. Each volume is in cost so comparatively
trifling, at the same time that it is in mere external
appearance peculiarly worthy of preservation. The
works are admirably printed, and beyond this—
thanks to Harvey's pencil plentifully embel-
lished with appropriate, and some of them wonder-
fully clever and striking illustrations. Witness
this the astounding vengeance of the " White
Chief " towards the close of the fiction so entitled
—where the two horsemen, with their chargers
blindfolded, have plunged sheer down into the abyss
from the brink of the appalling precipice.

Children's Story Books. J. and C. Brown and
Company.
These are several charming little tales for young
children, written by various hands, and published
by the Messrs. Brown simultaneously. They
are of the same class, for the most part, with.
Bogue's 'pretty child's story " Alia and Char-
lie." They are, one or two of them, in na-
tural grace worthy of Mary Howitt, and
in moral elevation of tone not unworthy of Har-
riet Martineau. Foremost among them in interest
is one entitled "The Young Marquis," by Amelia
Edwards. It is "A story from a Reign," and re-
lates to the first French Revolution—the Revolu-
tion—always an enthralling epoch for the roman-
cist. Another—" a story for youth"—is by Mar-
garet Pinchard ; and is called "Prevarication."
Another, of larger dimensions, designated
"Blanche's Wanderings ; or, the Guiding-Hand,"
comes to us from the guiding-hand of Mary Hall.
The last mentioned narrative is inscribed by the
author to Sir E. B. Lytton, " with permission." It
comes before its young readers therefore under ra-
ther alluring auspices. A fourth volumette yet re-
mains to be particularised. It is a miniature
fiction by a well known writer, by no other thin
Leitch Ritchie, and is simply headed " The New
Shilling." It occupies only, however, one third
of the little volume—the remaining t wo thirds being
dedicated to the maiden work of Miss Grace Nor-
man Ritchie, a sweet little child's story, entitled
" The Little Heroine"—over which many a little
heroine will linger delighted.

The Highlanders of Glen Ora. By James Grant.
Brown and Co.

Another " Romance of War," by the author of
the same—an author by this time both popular and
voluminous. It is in many respects a fiction wor-
thy of the writer of " Tne Aide-de-Camp," and
" The Yellow Frigate," and those other tales of
Scottish Chivalry, among which " The Highlanders
of Glen Ora," wilt occupy no mean position. The
story is full of adventure ; and—remembering Mr.
Snobleigh, and Sir Horace, Minnie, and Mr.
Ephraim Snaggs—full also of clearly-defined and
nicely-discriminated. character.

Autumn Leaves : Poems. By Dunsterville
Brucks. Hogg and Sons.
Leaves newly fallen—prematurely withered.
Blossoms that have dropped long before the fruit
season—pale for the most part, yet hectic here and
there with the canker in them. The significance of
the little brochure (of just 76 pages) is soon told.
It is explained by the simple inscription upon the
fly-leaf, immediately after the title-page : an in-
scription as follows—George Alexander Dunster-
ville Brucks, son of George Barnes Brucks, Captain
and Senior Officer in the Indian Navy, and of Mar-
garet, his wife, born April 12, 1834, died February
3, 1857. Upon the fly-leaf following—this brief sen-
tence, written, one might conjecture, from the
may deathbed upon the eve ofdissolution.
" I must leave my little book to the
friendly considerations of those who take
an interest in such young authors, as lay
their feverish ambitions to rest under the cool sods,
of premature graves. D. B." As such the tiny"
book is offered—as such it is accepted. And it is
worthy of this consideration. Let "Ilespera Gray"
attest this, if nothing else. A tender Edgar-Poe-
like love-lay, beginning—
" I leaned on the village stile,
Watching the star of even,
When a maiden, a sweet maiden, a rare maiden,
Came toward me beauty-laden—
Came toward me with a smile,
Left a light on all the place—
Came toward me with a smile
That drew all my thoughts from heaven
To the heaven of her face."
So seen, and so loved—.
" Gown'd in virgin white,
With her steps so airy,
Thridding the green evening
Like a twilight fairy."
One of the sweetest things in the book is a little
" Spring Song," beginning—
" When primroses in knots appear,
And violets open their buds of blue ;
When willows grow green round the lonely mere,
And bees wake to hunt for the honey-dew;
You may hear
The blithest voice of the dawning year—
Cuckoo ! Cuckoo !
And echo sustaining the music clear—
Cuckoo !"
A pretty thought closes the volume—" The Broken
Vase : Fragments of it''--1-and closes it most appro-
priately. Several of these fragments, mere frag-
ments though they are, have about them a strange
grandeur or a stranger beauty—as it might be with
a torso of Venus or of Hercules. Remember
Moore's verse—
" You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will,
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still."
So is it here with the perfume of this pure soul—
now vanished from among us wad " exhaled to
heaven !"

CURIOUS MODE OF DISPOSING OF DEBTS.--,fit the
hearing of the insolvent cases, on Monday, at the
Manchester County Court, before Mr. R. Brant, R.
Bowker, who described himself as a "corn and flour
dealer and operative joiner and cabinetmaker," came up
for hearing, and was oppcsed. No assets appeared in
his schedule ; but the insolvent admitted that he had
sold debt 3 amounting to 1301. to a Mr. Crowther,
described as an agent, for 201. The learned counsel
soon elicited from the insolvent that debts amounting to
1601. had been included in the sale, and was proceeding
to add to this amount, when he was stopped by the
judge, who said he was perfectly satisfied with the
nature of the transaction between the insolvent and
Crowther, and at once dismissed the petition.—Man-
chester Guardian.

THREATENED CLOSING OF THE ROCHDALE WORKHOUSES
BY THE POOR-LAW BOARD. —The Rochdale guardians met
on Friday, to consider a letter from the Poor-law Board,
in which they stated that, except some alteration wore
made in the workhouses, they would close them. Mr.
Heap presided. In July, Mr. Manwaring, the poor-law
inspector, reported the workhouses to the Poor-law
Board, as having no receiving wards, and without any
provision for the sick and infections cases, or classifica-
tion of the sexes. The paupers, he also reported, were
allowed to associate together out of doors, and their
clothing, in some cases, was in a very ragged condi-
tion. The guardians, in answer, told the Board they
were doing all they could for the comfort of the inmates ;
and the present letter was the reply of the board. Mr.
Livesey said he thought the guardians had a just cause
of complaint against the Poor-law Board ; for, by their
sanction, they had made large alterations. Therefore,
the Poor-law Board had acted the part of deceivers.
They would not be satisfied until they had driven the
Rochdale guardians to a hostile ; but be hoped they
would take no notice of the Poor-law Board, but act as
one man—and if the Board did anything, then resign,
and see if the ratepayers would support them. This
important
course was approved of by a full board, who directed the
workhouse committee to make any improvements that
would be for the comfort of the inmates.—Manchester
musicalbelbelieved
ve dd
up
•
aysthteiPmae,yst,h'a`
thatshjeurset breeemnamineadde
nothing
ttVhinenice
in the library
of
MUSICAL Dcits:VMEßaYr.:—"lt Anwae
generally
tcGoo uv ate
hrr
yd:i n
s.
ibrary
present
Stradella's compositions but the famous hymn which he
was singing in the Sixtine Chapel at the moment when
the three assa9sins despatched against him by the patri-
cians of Venice were about to murder him. Last sum-
mer, however, two French gentlemen in examining
unclassed manuscripts in a library came on a collection
of 19 songs in Stradella's own handwriting. There are
love songs which the celebrated musician composed in
the palace of Contariui, when he was ealmoured of the
daughter of that patrician, who instigated the other
s
nobles against him. The 19 pieces are aid to bea
rem
able for their melody and elegance; and what seems
to prove their importance is that M. H alevh
the
composer of the
"'hive," has not disdained to write
for them a pianoforte accompaniment, in order to render
them accessible not only to musicians, but to simple
a nateurs.'
A mysterious crime, bearing some affinity to the Wa-
terloo-bridge tragedy, has just been discovered at Choisy-
le-Roi. About 10 months ago a barrel arrived from Paris
at the railway station, directed " Bureau Restant—Pro-
visions." As no one has since come to claim it, orders
were given the day before yesterday to the railway clerks
to open
it, when to their horror they found that it con-
tained part of a female body completely dried up. This
bead and arm are wanting. An ungtigat:on has been
ordered.