The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-11 00:00:00

and every now and then some huge limb would suddenly
break like glass from the weight of the ice, and fall to the
ground, scattering myriads of sparkling fragments in the
air.

An amusing description of Saratoga, the fashion-
able watering-plaee is given. Like other such loca-
lities, dress and etiquette are much studied. One
lady arrived with fifty trunks ; she had one
hundred dresses, and when each dress had
been worn once she left for some other place.
This being known to be the habit of some' ladies
the probable length of their visit v4ts frequently
reckoned upon from the number of dresses they
appeared in, and when one of these belles was seen
in a dress she had previously worn, her speedy de-
parture was anticipated. Of their numerous steam
boat voyages some amusing anecdotes are told. One
of the passengers on going into her cabin once saw
a strange man covered up in her berth. She called
for assistance, and on inquiry he proved to be a
political refugee who had escaped and had suc-
ceeded in entering the ship unobserved. Fortu-
nately for him none of the officers of the ship were
near, and his secret was preserved by his dis-
coverers. On another occasion voyaging from New
York to Newport, a day boat was substituted for
the regular steamer in consequence of an accident.
The travellers had therefore to submit to various
inconveniences, but expecting to arrive speedily at
their destination retired to their beds, which were
ingeniously manufactured by stretching sacking
on upright poles. They were aroused by the
steamer coming to a standstill, and asked if they
had arrived, " Arrived ?" replied the man, they
asked, " Why it is only half-past one, don't you see
it is storming ? We have run into New London
Harbour and here we shall remain till daylight,"
adding as consolation, " This boat is not fit for this
work, it has hard work to live in a sea like this.
I guess, we may be lose!" Fortunately the predic-
tions of this Job's comforter were not fulfilled.
There is not much said on the painful subject of
slavery. An interesting account is however given
of an attempted escape after a novel fashion,

" During our residence in the south, a negro man, who
is now free, and the head waiter of one of the principal
hotels gave us a very interesting little account of his at-
tempt to escape.
" This man and a friend of his had saved about 200 dols.
(D 10), and with this sum they were determined to find a
means of escape. They at last came to the conclusion that
they would consult a white man whom they knew upon the
best means of arranging their escape. He said if they would
give him 150 dollars, he would manage everythinc, for
them. After a short time the man informed them that
everything was in readiness. The men met him at the ap-
pointed place, and there the negroes saw two large wooden
boxes, with some small holes arranged,* such a manner as
not to be visible. The poor creatures were ordered to get in,
and the white man, before nailing the boxes up told them
they were to go in these boxes by railway, and that when
they arrived beyond the Slave States, a friend of his would
be there to convey them to a place of safety. They were
now nailed up and put on a cart and conveyed to the rail-
way station. _ _ _

‘-‘ The officials at the station thought the boxes had p
suspicious appearance, and the man who had nailed them
up seeing this, did not wait to see them put in the luggage
van. Instead of putting the suspicious boxes in the van,
they were placed on a truck and malved a considerable dis-
tance down the line ; some time after the truck was brought
back to the station, as the head officials wanted to look at
the boxes, in order to find out, if they could, what they
contained before they were sent off. One of the men, with
his knuckles, began tapping against the box, and to their
astonishment a stifled voice from the box exclaimed—
" have We arrived ?" As may be supposed, the boxes were
broken open in a moment, and there were the two poor men
so stiff from the cramped position they had been in for the
last four hours that they had to be lifted out; but their
disappointment may be imagined when they saw where they
were, and not, as they had fondly hoped, in one of the free
States. However, poor fellows, if they had arrived in a
free state packed up in those boxes, it would have been with
the loss of life, for if they had been placed in the luggage
van they must have' been suffocated, as it is almost air
tight. The white man was pursued, and made to deliver
up and return to the negroes the greater portion of the
money he had obtained from them.

" These negroes belonged to two different masters, and
one of them as a punishment was sent to New Orleans and
sold ; the other, after being reprimanded, was forgiven,
and he has by great care and saving, purchased his own
freedom. Masters who are kind to their slaves generally
make a reduction in the value when the slave is going to
purchase his or her freedom."
The enterprising authoresses have illustrated their
own work in a manner creditable to amateurs, and
we doubt not, many will derive entertainment and
information from their vivid and life-like photo-
graphs.

Lord Byron's Poetical Works. Part VII. Boswell's

Life of Johnson. Part VI. Murray.
These two commodious reprints are rapidly ap-
proaching completion. Lord Byron's Poems have
reached the seventh part, and will be concluded in
two more instalments. The one before us contains
the Occasional Pieces and the commencement of
"Don Juan."—" Boswell's Life of Johnson" is now
at the sixth part, and will be terminated in four
more numbers. We are glad to see such a work
as this biography brought out at a price that puts
it within the reach of most readers.

The English Cyclopedia of Arts and Sciences.
Conducted by Charles Knight. Bradbury aria
Evans.

The fourth section of this valuable work is fully
equal to its predecessors. The time and labour
which must have been required for its compilation
render the public largely indebted to its indefati-
gable conductor. Mr. Charles Knight has added
another to his many claims on the public by the
successful continuation of the most arduous of the,
four divisions of his great undertaking. No library
should be without a work so authentic in its charac-
ter
and so comprehensive in its information.

The Art Journal.
' The principal plates in this month's number 14
from Schaeffer's picture of " The Nun" in the l'°3ll
collection ; from a picture of Drachenfels, lb.
Hammersley ; and an engraving of a statue 4
Maidenhood, G. T. Hancock. The prose tits
are as usual full of artistic interest. Mr. and ,llrs.
C. Hall continue their narrative of
South Wales,", with spirit, and describe the 011.
rons of Tenby. Some of the vignettes
are l'ery
pretty. The fourth number of the late Mr,lti__
pingille's " Personal Recollections of Great ktist;,,
" ExcursioN in
treats of David Wilkie. " Rome and her V
1 °tics of
Art" has reached the third part, Which describes
the columns and sculptures of the Etern,)
Lit City.
The engravings of these illustrated„
-r".ntli.elts add
greatly to their attractions. The
expo-
Manufactories" detail the impressions
dition to the Royal Porcelain Works at lit.
orccster.
()IC 'S to Art
Subjects of artistic interest and art tll
met with, and the number fully maintacii;the high
n
reputation of this journal. sms are

MISCELLANEOUS MAG.A.ZINS*
Tait's Edinburgh Magazine has an awt
Peace, arriving at the conclusion that
on the
and the War are alike alarming and Oght, the Pehce
with danger. A paper on " Going '.IY
hound Cape
fraught
Horn," forms the seventh of the seri
Austra-
lian Sketches, by the Hon. T. M'Cotoiei. of
le, and will
repay perusal,' as it treats of a vane
including the Law of Storms and tie questionof subects,
of
Penal Settlements. An essay o.
"poets and
Poetry" discusses the merits of t
rival Burns'
. Centenary odes, gives copiousa ego-acts from the
Laureate's new poem, and Pwa Ys
rvil tribute to the
ability displayed in the Trer. "Middle
Class Men" is a brief paper on a
fruitful subject,
recording the names of sono of
those who have
achieved eminence in spite of the
Pbstacles of birth
and fortune.—The Eclectic ha
topics. A paper entitled,
i!som,:% interesting
kero Woi:!thip of
recent historians," criticises r.l
Froude for their partisanship i Carlyle and Mr.
rick of Prussia and Henry the `lefence of Frede-
tion not altogether untnerit ''ighth, an accusa-
writers. "Town and ForZd by those eminent ,
1 7, the interesting I
story by the author of " Afar t'
con-
tinued, and narrates the des ..Y' Powell," is
missionary, who falls a victj tii of the heroic city
exertions among the crovi to his indefatigable
dwell-
ings of Hopkinsville.---7, and unhealthy
variety of articles, and " Getting4in contains its usual
with. Another tale, entiti On" is proceeded
ed. 64 In and Out," is
brought to a conclusion. '
kekunierous extracts from
new works of interest
the Philosophy of Lit given. An article on
Forgeries is worth
perusal.—The National Zan"zine p
attractive table of contents,laresents a very
seeks entertainment wiii and the reader who
find much to gratify him.
The woodcuts are so
kewho,t improved in style.
The animated story Of
i ' Miles Cassidy's Contract"
is continued.—Le poi
let displays its usual array
of elegantly-attired 1
aclies, and furnishes its fair
students with full ,
in the mode._fiele'tieulars of the recent changes
,le _London Journal of Arts
and Sciences recor4
gives a list of all ti the progress of invention and
a recent patents. Tbs opening
paper is on the hli
Port nt topic of The Fiscal Re-
forms of Great II • a ,
titain --Ihe Freemasons' Maga-
zine is a publican 'ti : on whose size and style
mony to the .11i -ofthe bear tes-
timony
bas commencedi new and enlarged series, and has
Papers on sel:eki
subjects of general interest as
well as on toPts
~„_tnore immediately. connected with
freemasonry'. l'he .Knapsack is a new serial
chiefly intended for country
gentlemen. It has
papers on g s
ro, .
0.
a 0 shooting, on elephant shooting in
India, jibbio,
.., „b; 6 horses, the recoil of fire-arms, and
similar 0- gets. A, new penny weekly familya--
paper has appeared the title of
under The Parlour
Journal. It does not appear to differ much from
the others Of its class, having the usual amount of
tales allci sketches, answers to correspondents,
paragraPqa,, and jokes. "The Mermaid's Lament"
is a Pathetic lamentation by the naiad
the ri`ltries in which she deplores having
of
lost her Com-
b in the mud, and asserting
Sabrirla
had taken up her abode in similar that if
waters,
instead of knitting her hair with twisted braids of
Elie s,e would have donned an oilskin
cap.
. . .

" Sketches of `Remarkable Women " are worth
reading.—Plain or Ringlets, by the author of
" Sponge's Tour," is continued in its author's usual
style. The illustrations by Leech are among its
chief attractions.—Tales from, Bentley proceed
with spirit, and the cheap reprint of M. Thiers's
History of the Great French Revolution will No
acceptable to all who wish to become acquainteil
with foreign classics, as well as to improve theix
knowledge of a most eventful epoch.—Routledgeo
Illustrated Natural _History proceeds to describo
the habits and characteristics of the feline racc.
The illUstrations are large and numerous, an d
some, of thd anecdotes given respecting the comma=
cat may induce some readers to treat the m
in future with more consideration.—The Trild
Flowers of England are continued in monthly
parts. All who admire these little denizens of
field and woodland should avail themselves of tb.is
opportunity of obtaining a popular description. of
their classes and qualities.

CHARLES DICKENS'S; NEW WORK•

A Tale of Two Cities. By Charles Dickens.
Nos. 1., IL, and 111. Chapman and Hall.
A cordial welcome 'is at all times certain to be
accorded to any work from the hand of Mr. Dieken4B
It is his due. He has earned a right to this wel-
come by volumes upon volumes that have bees I
nothing less than benefactions to his generation--
volumes that are more truly Household Words than
the nineteen volumes of his lately discontinued)periodical. But a peculiarly cordial welcome is the
,
due, we cannot but think, of the new romance, of
which these three numbers before us form the
.ex-
quisite commencement. Although only. threei
number, these instalments
than
in reality
more, considerably more, than what by ordinary
acceptation might be regarded as a commencement.
They complete, indeed, more than one third of the
entire production. According to the adve.r-
tised announcement the story will end 1n
.
eight monthly parts—less than half the CUfr
tomary dimensions of the serial novels by Bot
So that in estimating the value of 'the Nen re•
now, we cannot be regarded as in any wll.l
pronouncing an opinion upon its merits
turely. As far as it has yet, gone, it gives ever f
promise of taking high rank among the happi"gt
masterpieces from the pen of our great novels sty
It is not unworthy of him as incomparably tbe
greatest of all our great English humourists. It
illustrates anew, and in a remargable manner, Ads
extraordinary command over our emotions as:
pathetic narrator. It yields additional avd
startling evidence of his rare and comparative ,ly
speaking but recently developed genius as
master of Terror. The Tale of Two Cities—mes si-
ing Paris and London—opens at a period already
brought vividly to light by the luminous track of
the same radiant imagination. "The Epoch" hi !re
depicted, in Chapter One, by a series of rapid 1 rot
masterly touches, is, as nearly as possible, the epoch.
of " Barnaby Rudge"—the time of the powdered
peruke,
the gold laced coat, the long-flapped and
embroidered waistcoat, the shoebuokle, and the
" old cocked hat like a three-cornered spittoon." :It
is familiar ground both to Mr. Dickens and to his
readers—and they enter upon it together with 'en
instant and agreeable sense of its familiarity. But
the historic turiloil attracting them again in t bat
direction is no t nger the din and hubbub of the
famous Gordo.7 Riots of 1780—it is a sound far
wilder, and me.e solemn in its nature—the stave
and clangour of that grand and awful French 3E:e-
volution. Thefirst of the Three Books, into wh inh
the narrative is subdivided, begins, it is true, i five
years earlier ban the date at which Lord Geo- ege
raised that ft atical cry of "No Popery," which
led, in Londpn, to so much bloodshed and to so
many disastiens conflagrations. But this first book
_impressivtly and, at the outset, enigmatically
entitled, "Recalled to Life "—is very brief ill
itself, is comprised; indeed, entire, in the first
monthly ilbtalment ; it is the merest introductioni,
but a verj essential introduction. It is a pictu-
resque
relinder that history is little better thaia
a se
ries of repetitions—that' our vaunted progres,
sosmrlehe:wds but very little progress, indeed, after
all.- Thi (saith the very first page of the narra'
tive) in that year of our Lord, 1775—"Spiritua
revelatiihs were conceded to England at that
favoured period, as at this." Apart from Mrs .
Southete, for example, then but recently arrived
at her,;five and twentieth blessed birthday" "Ever
the
~qck-lane Ghost had been laid only
rounudozen of years, After rapping out its mes-
sages) as the spirits of this very year last past
(supernaturally defficient in originality)" observe s
gr. Dickens in one of his delightful little pare:ce-
thesi, "rapped out theirs." England—then ruled bry
it a ting with a large jaw, and a queen with a pleb a
face4as France yam? _simultaneously ruled by " 11.
kik with a large jaw, and a queen with a fair
fan_was receiving from the opposite shores e f
tie Atlantic " messages in the earthly order Cof
e'ents" which,' says th,..1 writer humorously,
'strange to relate, have proved more important to
Clihumant race than any comunications yet TV'
vedo through any of the chickens of the Cock
ane brood." As to the " situation" on the other
(de of the channel we would gladly here—but for
is length—give Mr. Dickens's vivid, grizzly, ug-
ionic De Balzac portraiture ! With the Wood'.-
man, Fate then marking probably trees some
/where in the woods of France and Nor
way, trees that were "to come down an d
be sawn into boards, to make a certain move-
able framework, with a sack and a knife in it
terrible in history." With the Farmer, Death
setting apart "likely enough in the rough out-
houses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent
to Paris," rude carts sheltered there from the
weather, " bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed
about by pigs, and roosted in by poultery"—setting
them apart already "to be his tumbrils of the Re-
volution." In the midst of this memorable epoch,
when so many dread events were secretly, but
rapidly and inexorably in preparation—the Tale
of Two Cities opens in a dense fog surrounding the
mail coach and itS team of horses as they toil up
Shooter's Hill, on the road to Dover, upon one
Friday night late in November. The vividness of
this introductory description would be matter of
surprise to us, but that we remember who it is
we have as the narrator. And so we follow, quite
as a matter of course, the four horses as " they
mash their way through the thick mud, with
drooping heads and tremulous tails, floundering and
stumbling between whiles as if they were falling
to pieces at the larger joints." Occasionally (with
a touch of equine individuality even in this team)
the near leader "violently shaking his head and
everything upon it—like an unusually emphatic
horse denying that the coach could be got up the
hill." At last they do get up to the top of it never-
theless. And then while they pause there in' the
darkness for the approach at a gallop of some
horseman, who turns out to be a messenger, but
who may, for aught they know, be a highwayman—
what a master stroke that is, realising the whole
incident to us so vividly l—" The stillness conse-
quent upon the cessation of the rumbling and.
labouring of the coach, added to the stillness of the
night, made it very quiet indeed— the pant-
ing of the horses communicated a tremulous
2nation to the coach, as if it were in a state
of agitation." The messenger proves to be
Jerry Cruncher—one of the genuine Boz creations.
Here is a characteristic description of a bit of him.
Jerry has just taken his hat off to scratch his head,
which has "stiff black hair standing jaggedly all
over it, and growing down hill almost to his broad
;lint nose." " It was so likz?, smith's work," writes
Jerry s historian, "so much more like the top of a
strongly-spiked wall than a human head of hair,
that the beet of players at leap-frog might have
declined him as the most dangerous man in the
world to go over." Jerry is one of the hangers-on
at Tellson s Bank, near Temple-bar—of which esta-
blishment we read' no less whimsically than we
have done but just now in regard to its retainer—
" Tellson's was the triumphant perfection of incon-
venience. After bursting open a door of idiotic
obstinacy, with a weak rattle in its throat, you
fell into Tellion's down two steps, and came to
yourself in a miserable little shop with two little
counters, where the oldest of men made your
cheque shake as if the wind rustled it, while
they examined the signature by the dingiest of
windows, which were always under a shower bath
of mud from Fleet-street." Not to loiter over the
minute touches of humour which are as usual scat-
tered abundantly about him by our novelist—bring-
ing out localities and individualities with all the
distinctness of photography when viewed through
the stereoscope—let us, before we close this notice
of the three first instalments of this charming Tale
of Two Cities, enumerate briefly a few of the inci-
dents already depicted in it, and the "pick" of some
among the principal characters introduced. The
incident of Book the First—intimated by its mys-
terious title, " Recalled to Life,"—is the release of
Dr. Manette from the Bastile, where, as one of the
victims of the infamous lettres de cachet, he has en-
dured, before the story opens, the awful torture of
eighteen years solitary incarceration. " The Wine
Shop," and "The Shoemaker," the two chapters in
which the unfortunate prisoner is restored to the
world, and drawn, at last, to the recognition, and
into the arms, of his young daughter, are among the
most exquisite things Charles Dickens has ever yet
written. We read words like these through our
tears—we have for them no less spontaneous a tri-
bute of appreciative admiration. Scarcely less
pathetic, or less beautiful, in its way (though the
pathos is here in a lesser degree) is the incident de-
scribed in the third number—the number for this
current month—" The Stoppage at the Fountain!'
Besides these Parisian incidents there are others