The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 25, 1868.

he referred to the existing state of things in con-
nection with financial and commercial interests.
Concerning these, he expressed a fear that in fu-
ture there might be an important reduction in the
Customs revenue, but they must look forward, he
said, to a reconciliation being effected next Parlia-
ment between these interests now at variance. On
the whole, this speech was far more conciliatory in
its tone than those which bis MAJESTY has delivered
on former occasions, and so far it is welcome after
the very high-flown and dominating speeches that
we have met with. It may be so that the hints of
late conveyed to the KING and his Ministers have not
been without effect, and that a more sensible tone will
be adopted in future in the addresses to Parliament,
and such like measures. At any rate, we find at
the close of this speech a very marked difference of
expression to that feeling which has hitherto ani-
mated some of those Royal discourses. " Not the
power which Providence has placed in my hands,
but the rights upon which I:have agreed with my
allies, and the constitutional representatives of
their subjects in free treaties, will both now and
in future serve as the guide of my policy." This is
certainly a new regime, and if acted upon it may
inaugurate a better policy, which is much to be de-
sired in all respects, for the constant collision. that
has taken place for years between the Government
and the representatives have produced much evil.

The prosecution of ex-Governor EYRE engages a
good deal of attention just now, and it is not sur-
prising to find that the indignation on the subject
is becoming stronger, and that, as their plans un-
fold themselves, the Jamaica Committee meet with
more and more reproach. It has, indeed, been sug-
gested that the prime movers in the matter ought
to be indicted for conspiracy, they seeking to " in-
jure a man by a false charge ;" but without going
so far as that, it is certain that public opinion has
already declared itself most strongly against the
course pursued by these individuals. To-day,
in the House of Commons, Mr. DISRAELI will
be asked if any assistance is to be given to
Mr. EYRE, and we feel assured that if the answer
of the Prime Minister be in the affirmative it will
occasion the greatest satisfaction. Suppose he were
to say that the Attorney-General should defend the
ex-Governor of Jamaica, that would save a great
expense to the distinguished man, who is bound to
make good his case against those who cast such
aspersions upon him, and it would also give a moral
support to him that would be of great importance. It
does not seem right thata man who has done so much
for his country should be ruined to please the preju-
dices of a few perverse politicians, and those who do not
altogether approve of the course pursued by Mr.
EYRE during the insurrection in Jamaica are most
surprised and indignant at the line taken by his
opponents at present, and at the cruel and unjust
persecution to which he is being subjected. We
hope that these considerations will weigh with the
Government, and that to-night we shall hear that
some assistance is to be given to Mr. EYRE.
Hitherto he has stood alone, and nothing at all has
been done in any way to aid him in the very trying
position in which he finds himself. If no notice
whatever be taken of the situation in which
the ex-Governor of Jamaica is now placed,
it will be a very bad look-out for our
colonists whenever a disturbance takes place, for
who will be sufficiently self-sacrificing as to emu-
late MARCUS CURTIUS in suppressing a tumult, and
then falling a victim to the consequences? For
many reasons it is to be hoped that this will not be
the case ; and we feel sure that the House of Com-
mons and the public generally will approve of and
sanction the determination of the Government, if
it should turn out that Mr. EYRE is not to be let
alone to take his chance in the emergency in which
he finds himself.
Mr. BUXTON has written a letter to one of his
constituents, in which he alludes to the part he has
taken in this prosecution, and be says that be does
not belong to the Jamaica Committee, but he seems
from his remarks to share their opinions very fully,
and to be giving them all the support he can. At
any rate Mr. BUXTON seems to be pretty well
aware of the feeling on the subject, for he says that
Mr. MILL and his coadjutors will be subject "to
an almost overwhelming torrent of public indigna-
tion," and he also declares that he shall be glad to
hear that the present Government has undertaken
the defence of Mr. EYRE. Still, with all these ad-
missions, Mr. BUXTON thinks that some inquiry
should be made into the affair, and therefore he
approves of the trial taking place, in order that all
possible inquiry should be made into the case.

That monopoly is a bad thing is so well known
a fact that it may be called a truism, but if there
were any doubt of it remaining in the public mind
it would be most unpleasantly removed by the con-
duct of our great railway companies. No sooner is
the wholesome check of competition removed than
the public are made to feel the evils of monopoly,
and the consequences will be sufficiently disagree-
able and oppressive to most of us in these days of
busy traffic and living out of town. The union of the
South-Eastern, Brighton, and Chatham and Dover
lines has been talked of for some time, and the bill
providing for it has passed the House of Commons.
Happily, as the old Tories of the Reform days used
to say, we have a House of Lords, and we must
look to them to be a little more vigilant over the
public interests than the Commons have been.
What the members of the Lower House were about
to pass such a measure may well be asked in blank
amazement. They have often enough broken up
monopolies and thrown out mischievous bills,
and why or how they should now suffer them-
selves to be so misled is a perfect marvel.
The bill provides that every passenger travelling
less than six miles shall be charged for six miles,
that every person coming into a station within four
miles of Charing-cross shall pay ls. 9d., and 6d.
each for the use of the stations, that the directors
shall have the power of charging what they please
for express trains, and that the fares generally
shall be greatly increased. Here is a fine result of
all our railway reforms, and inner and outer
circles ! We must look out for the resuscitation of
the old stage-coach and its four horses, if
the directors of railways are to enjoy such
limitless powers. The charge for the use of the
stations is as preposterous as it is novel, and if the
members of Parliament sanction such an innova-
tion, they deserve to be charged for the use of their
houses.

Mr. W. 11. Barrow, M.P. for South Nottingham-
shire, has been for some time past seriously ill. The hon.
gentleman was born in 1784.
Mr. Mark Firth, the master cutler of Sheffield,
is about to erect and endow 36 almhouses, at a cost
of £24,000. The houses are to be erected on a site
of two acres of land, at Ilanging Water, Ranmoor,
a beautiful neighbourhood, and a favourite quarter
of the Sheffield well-to-do classes, and are to ac-
commodate 24 single persons, either men or women,
and 12 married couples. The charity will be open
to natives of Sheffield, without respect to religious
belief. Each single inmate will receive 7s. per week,
and each married couple 10s. A chapel will be
erected for the use of the inmates, and there will be
a house for the governor. Each house is to be two
storeys high, and will contain a living room 12ft.
square, a bedroom of the same size, and a cellar
divided for pantry and, coals, and gas and water
will be laid on to every house.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, SUNDAY, May 24,

To•day's news is contradictory. On the one hand we
hear that your Government has taken an important step
in order to bring about a disarmament, and has ad-
dressed the various Courts of Europe to that effect ; on
the other hand, we have a multitude of unpleasant items
which certainly do not tend in the direction of peace. French
military agents have been purchasing a large number of
horses at Pesth ; Marshal Bazaine is going to inspect all the
strong places on our Prussian frontier; the Eastern
question becomes more serious every day, and a large
quantity of Prussian guns have been received at Bucha-
rest ; a Danish camp is to be formed in Jutland ; the
German Customs Parliament are going to make a trip to
Kiel ; General de Failly, who made the speech at Chalons
which has caused so much comment, is, rumour says, to
b 3 made a marshal. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no
improvement in trade ; the Bank coffers are still choked
with specie ; there is no confidence anywhere, and there
will be none until Lord Stanley or some other diplomatist
can persuade Napoleon to reduce his armaments.
The latest political item is the simultaneous publication
in Paris and abroad of a pamphlet, entitled " France,
Poland, and Prince Napoleon," the purport of which is to
re-establish the kingdom of Poland, and to put the Prince
on the throne which is to be set up at', Warsaw. His
Imperial Highness will, it is now said, put off his
visit to Vienna until June, if indeed he makes it all.
General Gondrecourt's visit to Paris is supposed to be con-
nected with some negotiations between Austria and this
country, for the General has been employed before on the
eve of important diplomatic events. The semi-official
journals, however, declare that he comes here merely to
assist at the marriage of a member of his family.
The Emperor and the Empress have put off their visit
to Rouen until June 1, and the State ball which was to
have taken place on that day is postponed until Tuesday.
It would seem, therefore, that the Emperor had aban-
doned his intention of opening the International Maritime
Exhibition at Havre.

The report that General Dumont had threatened to
punish those French troops who refused to wear the
Mentana medal is denied.

There is certainly great room for improvement in some
of the public departments of France, accustomed as you
Englishmen are to vies.' them with envy. Certain members
of the Socia6 des Gens de Lettres determined to ask Victor
Hugo to place himself in nomination for the presidency.
M. Augu wrote to Guernsey on March 5, and the letter
reached its destination on May 19, two days after the election
took place. M. Hugo has now replied that he has given up
explaining the irregularities of the post, but he supposes
that his letters are persecuted like his works. Here is
another instance of delay. The Paris evening journals
complain that they do not receive until the afternoon the
reports of the debates in the Chambers of the previous after-
noon. The editor of the Moniteur replies that this cannot be
helped, for the debates do not conclude until six o'clock
p.m., and the speakers sometimes are correcting their
proofs until seven a.m. This was actually done by M.
Thiers last week. The editor goes on to say that the
Paris journals are much better off than those of London,
for the latter publish on Monday the debates of Friday.
Clearly, the London papers are not taken in at the office of
the Illoniteur, nor is the editor aware that the debates
last till one or two a.m., instead of being over by six p.m.
The system of official reporting is as bad as had can be.
No journal dares condense or omit a speech, and as it
cannot omit the debates altogether, it is obliged to
give them in full, a very serious encroachment upon
its space, especially when, as lately, important
debates have been going on simultaneously in
both chambers. Supplements are inevitable, and as
the Government insists upon charging for a stamp
upon these no less than on the principal sheet, the cost is
very considerable. In fact, the Temps announces to-day
that it can no longer bear this charge, and must lay it
upon its readers, by increasing the price of the paper 4fr.
a year. In an article explaining the matter, the manager
says that during the seven years the Temps has existed
its capital has been increased from £16,000 to £40,000;
that is to say, the excess of expenses over receipts has been
£24,000. The manager goes on to say that the journal
was not founded with a view to prof t ; " it must seek its
best and most enviable dividends elsewhere than in
material profits. But one law is common to all enter-
prises : they ought to be self-supporting ; it is only then
that they are definitely established." The Temps, I
should add, is the organ of the French Protestants.
Here is a new idea, which your mute Hiltons and hidden
Raffaelles would do well to borrow. There has just been
started in Paris a co-operative society in order to enable
artists and authors to make their debut, a matter always
of some difficulty. It is to be called the Avenir, and to be
divided into four sections—Literature, Sculpture, Paint-
ing, and Music. The first section contains some of
the most distinguished names on the literary roll—
Sainte-Beu ve, R6nan, Dumas (pere), Laboulaye, Littr6,
Paine, Thiers, About, and Hou.ssaye.

Morning Post, which makes foreign affairs its speeialite,
confirms the statement of the .Neue Freic Presse, that the
British Government has entered into negotiations with
the various leading Powers of Europe with a view to ob-
tain a general declaration in favour of peace. Our con-
temporary says : " The tendency of the overtures of the
English Government is towards a general disarmament.
The negotiations, however, present several difficulties
which are felt to be almost insuperable. Whether, how-
ever, their result be successful or otherwise, the step is
one which the Administration will not fail to take
credit for at the approaching elections." No doubt
Lord Stanley finds in this highly-creditable attempt a wel-
come diversion from the chronic humiliation to which the
Government are exposed in the House of Commons.
There is no one but will heartily wish him success.

It perhaps with reference to this matter that the
Austrian General Gondrecourt has undertaken a mission
to Paris. The Paris journals refer to it as something
mysterious and sinister. The Paris correspondent of the
Herald says that although he cannot unravel the
tangled web of the diplomatic relations between
France and the rest of Europe, there will be no
war this year. In spite of the herculean efforts of
Marshal Niel, the reorganisation of the army and the
organisation of the Mobile Guard have not progressed so
rapidly as his Excellency anticipated. On paper it has
been completed fast enovb, but in reality it is not more
advanced than it was three months ago, the first attempt
at forming the Mobile Guard contingent having proved a
dead failure.

We have already mentioned that the long-drawn nego-
tiations between Austria and England for a commercial
treaty have proved abortive. The failure appears to have
been due to the great jealousy of Baron von Beust
which is felt in Austria. He is a Saxon, and has no
influential relatives, and so everything that he proposes
encounters strong opposition from the Austrian party,
especially from Herr Herbst, the leader of the
independent majority of the Reichsrath, who
views with aversion a commercial policy not of
his framing. Meanwhile, a commercial treaty with
Prussia has been negotiated; and one of the objects of the
parliamentary party seems to be to have this treaty pub-
lished and put in force previously to that with England.
By the favoured nation clause, every concession granted to
Prussia must be granted equally to us, and, commercially,
therefore, we are all the more secure of obtaining what
we desire. But to the undiscerning public it will appear
that Austria has granted greater freedom of tra 7.e with
this country only supplementarily and of necessity, and so
the Opposition will deprive the Minister of the prestige
which he would have derived from the succ .ssful negotia-
tion of the treaty with England.

- -
The city of Berlin has just given a dinner to the
members of the Federal Council and of the Customs Par-
liament. There were 500 guests who represented all
parties in the Parliament. Count Bismarck made a
speech which was frequently interrupted by " frantic"
applause. He said: " I wish to express here the sentiment
which induces us to give a farewell salute to our brethren
from South Germany. The short time that we have
been assembled together has passed asquickly as
a spring day. May
its effect in the future be
like that of the spring upon future seasons. Our South
German brethren may, in their faith in the solidarity of
German interests, bear with them the certainty that they
have here brotherly hearts and brotherly hands ready to
receive them under all circumstances. May each new
meeting .strengthen these relations. Let us take care of
material well-being and of family life, and utter, in this
sense, to our brethren of South Germany, a cordial au

revoir."

Prince Ilohenlobe, Prime Minister of Bavaria, and repre-
sentative of that State in the Customs .Parliament, replied
as follows " The enthusiasm to which the words of the
Federal Chancellor have given rise in the hearts of the
South Germans must spew you that there has been a
drawing together between the South and the North, and
that, far from being diminished, it has been increased by
the labours of the Customs Parliament. I believe that
everyone will be of my opinion when I say that the work
of the German spirit has rendered snore firm the ties of
the different tribes. This agreement of German spirit has
a mission more noble, more magnificent, and more elevated
than other pretended civilising missions. Let us remain
faithful to this spirit and to this mission. In this sense,
and with one united voice, let us drink to the union of
the German tribes."

It is understood that this matter is likely to be arranged
by an international convention presided uver by France.
Under these circumstances the rumoured resignation of
the *tug*, clo Illoustier will not take place.

LITERATURE.

Jeanne Darc, and other Poems. By Robert Steggall.

One Vol., pp. 199. Alfred W. Bennett.

If the world ever witnessed the apparition of a
heroine of romance, it did within the first half of
the fifteenth century. Fcr then it was that a young
peasant girl of Lorraine, "clad all in complete steel,"
surpassed by her deeds of prowess in the field the
warlike achievements of the most daring knights
of the age. Joan of Arc, as we English call her,
Jeanne Darc, or simply La Pucelle, as she is
called among her compatriots, Du Sys, as she
was dubbed by her King when he ennobled
her whole race as a public attestation of his
gratitude, Maid of Orleans, as she is termed
by the generality, born at Domremy in 1410,
the daughter of cottagers, herself for a while the
servant at a wayside hostelry—within au in-
terval of a few radiant mouths won for
herself glory, for her country liberty, for her
sovereign his coronation. She defeated the English
army under the Duke of Bedford—raised the seige
of beleaguered Orleans—conducted her monarch
Charles VII. in triumph to Rheims, where iu the
grand old cathedral he was crowned and anointed,
robed, and sceptred, and enthroned, and where
Joan, Jeanne, Du Sys, Darc, D'Orleans stood
beside him, bearing in her hand the glorious banner
with which she had led his lieges to victory. Taken
prisoner by the E❑glish while heading a sortie at
the siege of Compiegne, she was, to the everlasting
shame of her captors, cruelly and infamously burnt
at the stake as a sorceress at Rouen in 1431—being
then scarcely of age ! Born at Domremy in 1410
—burnt at Rouen in 1431: behold the narrow
span of her existence

"A simple maiden in her flower,"
sings the Poet Laureate in one of his famous love
ditties—

" A simple maiden in her flower

is worth a hundred coats of arms."
Joan of Arc, in another sense (and in the Poet
Laureate's sense, too) was worth a hundred thou-
sand. Pure, brave, loyal, sublimely self-sacrificing,
beautiful in face and form, open-handed, large-
hearted, tender-souled, sinless in spirit—in every
sense, in a heavenly as well as in an
earthly sense, truly heroic—she is the very
paragon, the ne plus ultra, the acme, the supreme
presentment of ore's ideal of a heroine of romance.
No wonder, remembering all this, that her story h
been the chosen theme already of many a memor-
able celebration both in verse and prose. No wonder
that Southey wrote an elaborate poem on " Joan of
Arc," recounting her history, a poem for which he
received fifty guineas from Cottle, the Bristol pub-
lisher : that Schiller in 1801 penned his great
tragedy of " The Maid of Orleans" : that Cassimir
Delavigne sang in her remembrance one of his most
exquisite elegies ! No wonder all this ; we say it
again, no wonder ! But, marvellous on the contrary
beyond all comprehension, is it, must it ever be, that
intellects like those of Voltaire and Shakspere could
degrade themselves to the vile office of traducing,
maligning, bespattering with base and deadly vi-
tuperations the stainless memory of that pure and
virginal heroine of romance. Shakspere's only
excuse is that in writing about her he was dis-
traught with patriotic ardour, and simply described
her as a foe. As for Voltaire's excuse—he has
absolutely none. A Frenchman, though not
a Christian, he should have refrained, sim-
ply by reason of his being a Frenchman,
from defiling with his sneering and cynical derision
the spotless reputation of a maiden who, with her
lily hand, had lifted the gonfalon of France out of
the dust—giving a kingdom to its King and a King
to his kingdom. Having no particle of sympathy
in his nature for a tale so " wondrous sad and pitiful"
as that of Joan of Arc, Voltaire, who had not shrunk
from even casting his profane gibes into the
sanctuary, into the tabernacle, into the very cibo-
rium itself—must needs write of this peerless
maiden—what ? A Burlesque and Immoral Poem !
One of the most baneful and poisonous effusions of
his irreligious and sacrilegious philosophy. Revert-
ing, however, alike from the eulogists and traducers
of the bright-eyed young adventuress, born at
Donaremy, burnt at Rouen, to Jeanne Darc her-
self, we, as English, cannot but remorsefully call to
our remembrance the fact that we have expiation to
make at her glorious shrine. Of England's doings
at Rouen, when she infamously burnt Jeanne Dare
there as a sorceress, we may, in truth, cry aloud,
in the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as she
herself did in lamentation over England's Inmn-
ness of revenge, during six cruel and acarsed
years, towards the glorious Captive of St.
Helena—

"For oh, it was not well, it was not well,
Nor tuneful with thy lofty chanted past !"

St. 'Merle—Rouen : of each one might say, as
Beranger said in allusion to Mont St. Jean--

" Co nom jamais n'attristera mos vers."

They are names significative of the deadliest cruelty
on the part of England—here towards a young girl
who was treated by the English as though they
had been devils rather than men—here towards a
dauntless foe who, coming to U 3 as he himself
said, like Themistocles, confided himself to our
honour and (as the consequence) was immolated 1
England, so far as may be, has long since matile
expiation for St. Helena by delivering up the
dead body of her glorious victimto be buried
t, on the banks of the Seine in the midst of
the French people whom he loved so well"—
asking, through the lips of Lord Palmerston, at the
dine she did so, that all animosity might be buried
in the tomb of Napoleon, but being apostrophised
simultaneously by Elizabeth Browning, in her
poem already quoted—" Ask a little room, too,"
in that tomb of Napoleon
e Ask a little room too—for thy shame!"
Expiation, however, England can proffer none to the
outraged memory of Joan of Arc-..none at least
beyond votive offerings, garlands laid upon her
shrine, as it were, asphodela and amaranths of
poetry conceived in a spirit as different as possible
from that inciting Voltaire to his detestable scur-
rilities, and Shakspere, even our godlike Shaks-
pere, to his unmeasured and scathing vituperations.
Remembering the latter, it cannot but be some satis-
faction to Englishmen when they observe another of
their blood, another lyrical Panegyrist of the Pucelle
_fired by the same zeal on her behalf which nearly
seventy years ago kindled the enthusiasm of Southey
at the dawn of the present century—step forth
into the lists of literature, having bound upon his
crest the sleeve of the maiden of Domremy. The
author of this charming volume has the ad-
ditional satisfaction, moreover, of knowing that
his book makes its appearance just at this
moment in a manner singularly apropos. For, it
has been but very recently bruited abroad among the
co-religionists of Jeanne d'Arc that preliminary
measures are now being actively taken at Rome for
her solemn beatification. Columbus, the disco-
verer of the New World, and with him Joan of
Arc,one of the most radiant champions and saviours
of national liberty in the Old, having the homage
of posterity thus signally evidenced in their regard
by the enrolment of their names among those who are
most venerated throughout the length and breadth
of Christendom. Altogether, apart from any coinci-
dence of time, however, in regard to the moment in
which it makes its appearance, Mr. Steggall's poem
challenges opinion by right of its own intrinsic merits.
It is written throughout in blank verse, flowing, ten-
der, and mellifluous. In reference to the mere struc-
ture of the poem, as a work of art, it is worthy of
note that the author has divided his theme into
five significantly entitled sectional parts—Dom-
remi, Chinon, Orleans, Beaurevoir, Rouen. Our
only regret, upon this point, being that
among the localities thus conspicuously com-
memorated no mention has been made by way of
subtitle of that royal Rheims which was the scene
of La Pucelle's most signal triumph, Charles VII.
having there under her auspices been crowned. The
very designation of those five divisions or cantos of
the poem will serve to indicate clearly enough the
order and progression of the events, here re-
counted by Jeanne's latest celebrant. To our mind,
Mr. Steggall, manifests greater vigour and larger
capacities as he advances in his narrative, warming
to his wo.:k—his voice, so to speak, gaining new
strength and sonorousness when he comes to the deli-
neation of the warlike scenes iu which his heroine
leads the chivalry of France again and again through

the storm of battle on to victory. Nothing could
well be more delicately indicated than the first
budding forth of that fair blol,sotn of Lorraine
"A pure white Lily from the common mould
That perfumed all the land with Liberty."

As affording, however, at once a brief but signal
evidence of the vigour with which Mr. SteggAll
can write of deeds heroic, we would instance
one among the many battle scenes described by him
when the French and English armies fought against
each other a l'outrance under the beleaguered walls
of Orleans.

"Yet once again they met in all their might,
Like madden'd torrents from opponent hills,
That, pale with breathless rage, pour headlong down
And dash together iu the plains below,—
Awhile swayed to and fro alternative

Amid the Whirl, the tumult, and the fume,
The cries and groans of those who struck or fell,
The inhuman clang, and, through and over all,
The fulmination that from verge to verge
Made the earth tremble and the air with awe

Of its almighty dominance, as when
The loar,,fue-hoord thunder strides from alp to alp ;
Till broken and beaten back, the English hordes,
Like ebbing billows spattered with spent foam
And stained with blond of the slow dying sun,
Retreated towards their trenches."

Other illustrative passages might readily en3ugh b 3
adduced : yet, though we were to multiply our quo-
tations by so doing almost to an infringement of
the laws of copyright, we should still be affording
but an inadequate notion of the prevailing charm
of a poem that, to be judged aright, should be read
completely as a whole, should be scanned, as
every true work of art ought in reason to be, in
its entirety. So scrutinised, it will be found in
many ways pre-eminently deserving of that scru-
tiny. Let the Poem but once be commenced and the
reader of it is, as it were, entrapped within a magic
circle—he needs must tarry until the wizard hath
had his will. And it is in lee I a true wand
of wizardry the pen with which Robert Steggall has
here first of all most delicately sketched in, and
afterwards with vigorous dashes and erratic
strokes of genius, delineated with a won-
derful vigour of chiaroscuro, that ten ler
but heroic central figure Isf Joan of Arc,
which is here last of all revealed to U 3 in the
midst of a lurid glow that long haunts the
imagination, and in the mere remembrance
of which her pure and virginal fame is in a man-
ner virtually transfigured. For the success with
which he has accomplished what has manifestly
been to him throughout a labour of love, Mr.
Steggall•is fairly entitled to, what we would hereby
offer to him very cordially, our earnest congratu-
lation s.

The Gentleman's Magazine. Entirely New Series.
No. I. Bradbury, Evan 3, and Ca.

The Elixir vita!) after all cannot be so very fan-
tastic a day-dream, for here comes to us Sylvanus
Urban—a venerable gentleman now in the one-
hundred-and-forty-ninth year of his age—with not
a sign of decrepitude about him. On the contrary,
it is Sylvanus Urban Redivivus? Transform
with the bloom of youth upon his cheeks ; with locks
flowing, abundant, and ambrosial; with a step and
stride buoyant: and elastic ; a beau garcon every
inch of him—a veritable and radiant exemplar of
la Jeunesse Dore'e! However the marvel has been
accomplished, accomplished it has been : and Syl-
vanus commands our welcome accordingly. He
must for certain, by this time, be " up to a wrinkle
or two," but physically at any rate there is no sign
of it. Never were youth, strength, vitality, esprit
restored so instantaneously. Without meaning
any disrespect to Mr. Urban in the latter part
of the previous phase of his existence, we are
almost tempted to say that his sudden rejuvi-
nescence seems to us almost as wonderful in its
way as the creation of a soul under the ribs of
death. And now that he is transformed, we can
only trust that his youth, and strength, and vigour
will all of them prove perennial. As it is, in its
new shape, The Gentleman's Magazine may take
rank at once with the very bast and ablest of
the other shilling magazines its contemporaries,
with the Cornhill or St. Paul's, with Tinsley's,
Temple Bar, Macmillan, Belgravia, or London
Society, each of which appeals to an audience pecu-
liarly its own. With not one of them, with not the
best and ablest amongst them all, we repeat, need
The Gentleman's Magazine, now, shrink from the
ordeal of direct comparison. We never remember
to have seen a better first number of a New Series
or a New Periodical. Externally it is pleasant to
the eye—the ornamental border of the c wer being
really worthy of minute examination. Internally
the contents are as varied and exhilarating as could
reasonably be wished. The contributions (admirably
printed on excellent paper) extend to 128 pages—
beginni❑g with a brief but sufficient preface, and
ending with obituary memoirs, among others, of
Lord Brougham and King Theodore. Two serial
stories are commenced in this first num-
ber—one called " Not in Society," the o. her
"The Memorial Window." Tom Taylor gives
us the first instalment of an outspoken criticism
"Among the Pictures." Shirley Brooks contri-
butes a delightful, sparkling dialogue between
"Two of Our Early Subscribers"—a loving couple
billing and cooing in their honeymoon, some
century and a quarter since, forming a wondrous
contrast to his immortal " Naggletons." Through
a capital Stable Fragment about " Lord George
Bentiuck" we obtain a vivid glimpse of
the time when, as the writer says, "If we
had to choose nine characters, all unique in their
way, from the ' silk and scarlet' side of nature, our
lot should rest upon Lord George as the turf leader,
the late Sir Tatton Sykes as the old country baro-
net, Mr. aibaldeston as the all round sportsman,'
John Scott as the trainer, Ransome as the stud
groom, Jem Mason as the steeplechase rider,
Charles Davis as the Huntsman, Jack Goddard
' as the whip, and Jem Robinson as the jockey."
William Sawyer has a charming little poem called
" Celadon." There is a chapter on " Croquet ;"
another, drolly illustrated, on " Court Costume ;"
and a thoroughly readable political paper, entitled
"My Last Session." Is not that enough ? If not—
there is more yet, " pippins and cheese to come," but
that it were unnecessary, here, to particularise. In
answer to a query in the Correspondence, we would
remind Mr. Urban for his next (No. 2), that the
jeu d' esprit ending—

"But easy writing's curst hard reading,"
was Richard Brinsley Sheridan's. Altogether the
Gentleman's Magazine in its new form is a literary
phenomenon.

Mr. John Hardy, at present M.P. for Dart-
mouth, will, we believe, in the event of that borough
being disfranchised, be invited to offer himself as a candi-
date in the constitutional interest for Maidstone.—Lnyerial
Review.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND.—
Mr. Le Gros Clark, F.R.C.S., surgeon to St. Thomas's
Hospital, the newly-appointed professor of anatomy and
surgery at this institution, will commence a course of six
lectures on the " Principles of Surgical Diagnosis, espe-
cially in relation to Shock and Visceral Lesions," on Mon-
day, the Ist of June. These lectures will be delivered on
each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at four o'clock.
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURG[I•--Mr. Gladstone,
M.P., has consented to allow himself to be proposed for the
office of Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. Sir
James Y. Simpson is chairman of the committee engaged
in promoting the election of Mr. Gladstone.
BOAT ACCIDENT AT MARGATE.--At about noon
on Saturday, a coastguardsman observed that one of the
Margate pleasure-boats had capsized near the Margate
Station. Lieut. Hart, the chief officer, immediately pro_
ceeded to the rescue, and found that the boat had contained
two ladies, a gentleman named Horn, and a Waterman
named Emptage, who were clinging in an exhausted state
to the boat. They were soon sufficiently recovered to be
conveyed home.

A PRINCELY " SELL."—The arrival of the Great
Britain iu the Mersey on Saturday last was the occasion
of one of the most perfect " sells" which has taken place
in Livorpoool for some time. On Friday or Saturday the
representatives from Scotlaud-yard and Dublin Castle,
accompanied by local guides from the Liverpool de-
tective force, were on an eager-look-out for the ar-
rival of the " Dunclrum" favourite from the Anti-
podes. Some parson had informed the Home Office
that several of the Australian Fenian head-centres were
on board—the men who plotted the recent attempted
assassination of the Duke of Edinburgh—and that they
were coining to this country to make further attempts on
the life of royalty. Ono of her Majesty's gunb ate
awaited the Great Britain, and we understand that after
an active "rummage" the would-be head-centres wore
non est. Considering that the Great Britain left Mel-
bourne in the early part of March, it was almost impos-
sible that the Cloutarf conspirators could be on board.

HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL CASTLE, May 22.

. _
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise,
drove out iu the morning ; and also in the

afternoon.

The Prince of Wales and Prince Arthur went
out fishing.

LATEST INTELL IGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AUSTRALIAN MAIL.

GALLE, May 15.
The Avoca, from Sydney April 23d, arrived

to-day.

OUTWARD MAIL OF 20TH TO 26T11 FEBRUARY.
The Bombay arrived at Melbourne on the 15th,
and Sydney on the 17th.

OUTWARD MAIL OF 4TH TO 10TH APRIL.

The Surat reached Galleon the sth May.

OUTWARD .MAIL OF 9th TO 15TH MAY.

SUEZ, May 24.
The Columbian sailed this morning for Bombay.
Clears off all cargo.

BERGEN, May 24.

The German North Pole Expedition left this port
at three o'clock this afternoon. Wind very favour-
able.

SOLITIIAMrTON, May 25.

. The North German Lloyd's steamer New York,
from New York, passed the Needles at 10.5 a.m.

to-day.

FRANCE.

Bo URSE, May 23.—Three o'clock.—The market
closed as follows :

41 por Cent.
End of month... Its Pan Loan —
3 por Cent
End of month 69 55 Mexican Loan ... 21 50
Credit Mobilier
Eud of mouth... -- Spanish Throes
Credit Foneier ...1472 50 Home Debt —
End of month._ Deferred —
Cash
Orleans ... 8721 •
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern..... 5831
Western
Eastern • • —
Sardinian
Austrian
Lombard 373i
North of Spain
Saragossa
Itoina,n 43

RAILWAY