The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
DOILY ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY—
Lodge's Portraits. 'Vol. 111.
The third volume of this beautiful edition of
Lodge's valuable work has just appeared. Among the
notable personages of whom we have here an excel-
lently engraved portrait and a brief but very interest-
ing biography, are Queen Elizabeth, Sir Thomas
Bodley, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lady Ara-
bella Stuart, Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke
(" Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother"), Sir Waiter
Raleigh, Francis Baum, George Villiers, Duke of
Buckingham, and many others—the number of por-
traits and biographies in this volume being no less
than thirty. When we consider the careful execution
and delicate finish of the engravings, to say nothing of
the excellence of the letter-press, the cheapness of
this edition is very manifest. Some of the biogra-
phies in this volume are necessarily very interesting,
as for instance that of the gay Villiers, the especial fa-
vourite of Fortune and of Kings. King James, it appears,
was "delighted almost to f-escinalion by a tine figure
and graceful carriage," and these were Villiers pass-
ports to favour. The King, charmed by his appear- I
" imparted to Graham, with strict injunctions
of secrecy, his intention to bestow on thii young man
the place of favourite." Villiers' upward career was
almost unparalleled in its facility :
"James commanded that Villiers should be sworn his
servat,t, and gave him the office c f Cupte firer; within a
few wt eks a't on tie twenty -third of April, 1615,
app it.tA him a gentleman of the bedchamber, and
settled on him an annual pension of one thee-
sand pounds out c f the Court of Wards;
and on the f Jurth of the flllowing January,
made him master of the horse, an office
before and since his time always held by one of the
prime nobility, and which the Earl f Worcester then
resigned, at the King's instance, to make room for hire.
Such was the fortune of his first year. On the 23d of
April, in the second, 1616, ho was elected a Knight
of the Garter, and the next day named Justice of the
Forests north of Trent; on the 27th of August created
Baron Whaddon, at which time the King gave him the
rich lordship of that name in the county of Bucking-
ham, and very shortly efcer Viscount Villiers; on the
sth of January, 1617, Earl; and on the Ist of the next
January, Marquis of Buckingham. In the course of the
same month, in the succeeding year, he was appointed
Lord sigh Admiral of England, Ireland, and Wales, and
immediately after sworn of the Privy Council, and made
Chief Justice in Eyre of the Forests south of Trent.
Master of the King's Bench-office, High Steward of
Westminster, and Constable of Windsor Castle; and
all this_before he had reached the twenty-sixth year of
his age."
Truly did Shakspere say " some men have great-
ness thrust upon them ! "

BOH 2V' S STANDARD LlBRARY—Letters of
Junius, Vol. 1 ; Schlrgel's Lectures on Modern
History.
" The Standard Library," says the advertisement to
the letters of Junius, " would have been imperfect
had it not included among its elect the most cele-
brated of political gladiators." Accordingly the
Standard Library this month presents us with the
first volume of this remarkable work, edited by Mr.
Wade, the author of "A Compendium of British His-
tory." This first volume contains the whole of
" Woodfall's Junius," as originally published, with
illustrative notes. The second volume is to contain
an inquiry into the authorship of Junius, a question
of such intense interest to the curious. And also we
are informed that "since the present volume
was put to press the publisher has become
possessed of some manuscripts relative to
Junius by the late Sir Harris Nicolas,
destined, it is believed, towards a new edition. This
acute scholar had devoted his mind to the subject for
years, and had drawn up an ingenious analysis,
which will be presented to the reader in the next
volume." The second volume will thus be invested
with a special interest, but this volume contains that
rare epistolary collection which has rendered the
name of Junius so celebrated. As specimens of a
terse and nervous style, rendered sublime by the elo-
quence of indignation, these letters are as attractive
now, in the reign of Queen Victoria, as they were
terrible in the days of the Duke of Grafton. There
is something magnificent in the calm audacity of
that fearless man, who hesitated not to denounce in-
quity in high places irrespective of the dignity of the
throne and undeterred by the threats of the law.
The frontispiece of this volume contains a fac-simile
of Junius's letter to Garrick. The essays of Schlegel
scarcely require comment. The volume recently
published in the Standard Library contains " Lec-
tures on Modern History ; an historical comparison
between Caesar and Alexander," and an essay on "The
Beginning of our History, and the last Revolution of
the Earth, as the probable effect of a Comet." The
first article opens with a beautiful panegyric upon
history.

SCENES OF THE CIVIL WAR IN HUN-
GARY in 1848 and 1849 ; with the Personal
Adventures of an Austrian Officer in the Army of
the Ban of Croatia.
We opened this volume anticipating little interest
from its contents, seeing that its hero is an Austrian
officer, and the translator speaks of the Hungarian
war as " a rebellion." Nevertheless, in spite of its
author's predilections, the book is interesting, and in
no slight degree. The per,onal adventures of the
writer are necessarily full of vicissitude, end his fats
of arms, accidents, weary marches, &c., are detailed
with.much animation and seeming fidelity. Although
the writer is an Austrian, his revelations incidentally,
and p-rhaps unintentionally, redound to the credit of
the Hungarian patriots. In one place he extols their
soldier-like qualities. "It is not to be denied that
the greater part of the insurgents, and their cavalry
in particular, fight valiantly, and display a courage
and an address which are the prominent characteris-
tics of the good soldier. What are those prating,
boasting, cowardly Italians to these bold Mag-
yars and death-defying Poles ?" At another time
the narrator meets face to face old friends
who had served in his regiment before the breaking
out of the civil war—one of them calls out to him,
" Formerly you were my brave officer, and I was
attached to you ; now you are the enemy of my
country, and I'll shoot you !" The shot, however,
missed its aim, and after the close of that same en-
gagement the generous Magyars voluntarily sent
their old officer some provisions, his troops being in
very great distress. The writer is severely wounded,
and tended for many weeks by an Hungarian family.
Oa his departure he offers the mistress of the house
payment for her trouble. " She looked proudly at
me, and said, ' How can you, a German, offer a
Magyar money for her entertainment? But, hold,
our country needs money just now for war; give a
ducat per week— I will send it to the military chest."
Owing to his wounds, the author retires from the
scene of war before the disastrous conclusion of the
campaign. Whether the record of these adventures
be real or partly fictitious does not appear, but the
volume is full of adventure, and the adventures full
of interest.

EXETER HALL.—We perceive Mr. Allcroft gives
his grand monster concert this evening at the above
spacious hall, and, from the great array of Wert he Las
brought together for this grand occasion, there can be
little doubt but that it will be one of the most brilliant
and entertaining concerts that has been given since his
last. On these occasions (annually) he collects:together:all
the available talent in London, perfectly regardless of
expense ; and the only thing that astonishes us is,
how it is possible that such an assemblage of first-rate
talent can pay the expenses of getting it together, as
we are aware of the enormous outlay attending it.
All we have to say further on this point is, that the
programme which is before us is the most judicious
and attractive in talent we have ever seen, and advise
our readers to secure tickets as early as possible.
KNUTSFORD SAVINGS' BANK.— We have before us
a report, presented on Tuesday last by a committee of
managers, appoint-3d by the annual meeting of the trus-
tees and managers of this bank to examine and compare
the pass-books of the depositors with the accounts kept
at the bank, and we are glad to find the result most sa-
tin actory. Each depositor's book on being presented
was examined by one of the committee, and the balance
due as it appeared in the book ascertained ; then the
balance as it stood in the ledgers of the bank was ascer-
tained by another of the committee, and the two ba-
lances were then compared together, and the result, with
the depositor's name, entered in a register. Out of 729
pass-book's 659 were presented and thus compared, and
in every instance a per feet agreement was found to exist
between the pass-books of the depositors and the ac-
count-books of the institution. The total of the balance,
with interest due on the 20th ( f November last to the
depositors cf the bank, was 28,352/. 3s. 61d. To meet
these engagements the sums in the hands of the Com-
missioners for the Reduction cf the National Debt and of
the treasurer were 28,803/. 14e. 3d.; leaving a surplus,
after paying every depositor in full, of 4511. 10s. 9id.
The committee conclude their report by eulogising the
excellent and accurate way in which the accounts of the
bank have been kept by the actuary, and by expressing
their persuasion that there exist most complete securi-
ties fa. depositors against any misapplication of ththe! rt
funds. We may add to this pleasing ir f wreatioe,
the operations of the bank have steadily increased ever
year sirce its formatior.—Munchester Courzer.
GREAT MATCH AT BILLIARDS.
evening, aga ne f asp
of tbleaY Union Club, and
nee its, between M. RuberTan— yes tede ridnayt
h(eFrkdtahy,)_
match was made a few clays ,
and. the stake 1001.
Mr. S a -Ir, the famous 4.mer
abt iltlhi rierdG-alarij,cekr;s
HTeande,
Ther pSrtiaurcki I able ienognadmiiht,ieo :asni
and
werelettngateth tfri.t
sshould s
should
al d
ban America' g
lir. Roberts 100 out of 1,000. The game commenced
at half-gait five in the evening, and lasted about three
hours. In the early portion ~f it the American took
the lead, and kept it for a while, but was eventually
worsted by his adversary, as the f)llowing return will
show:—

STARK. ROBERTS.
Half-put six
Half-past seven
Hal.f-past eight
A f%,er this achievement Mr. Roberts may f iirly be con-
sidered as one of the greatest billiard-players in the
world.—Manchester Courier.