The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 2 1844.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERsALL's.—yEsTEEDAy.

So many of the habitual frequenters of the subscrip-
tion room attended the great public trial at Westminster
between Orlando and Running Rein, that, although the
" select few" betters round who were present evinced every
disposition to accommodate the backers of horses, very
little businest was done. The late and ensuing Derbies,
the Goodwod Stakes and Cup, and the Doncaster St.
Leger were touched upon in the Course of a long after-
noon (made more so than usual by a heavy thunder-
storm, about six o'c'ock), at the following prices :

TIM LATE DERBY.
4 to 1 on Orlando—taken

GOODWOOD STAKES.
12 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Red Deer
14 to 1 agst Lord G. Bentinck's Croton Oil—taken
17 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's the Best of Three—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's The Pride of Kildare—taken
20 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's The Currier—taken
20 to 1 agst Colonel Anson's Parthisin
20'to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Franchise.
11r. Greviville has declared that it is his present intention
Lot to start Gunter.

SIR JAMES GRAHAM AND THE

POST-OFFLCE.
•
Yesterday evening a large meeting was held at Saville
House, Leicester-square. It was convened for the purpose of
considering the conduct of Sir James Graham, relative to
the breaking open of lettere. The large hall was densely.
crowded long before the time announced for the commence-
ment of the proceedings. A majority of the persons present
were tradesmen of St. Anne's, St. Martin's, and the adjacent
parishes. About 1,600 persons were present.
It was announced that Captain Peelle'', M.P., would take
the chair, but the Hon. Member was compelled to leave town
early in the day, and sent a letter, apologising for his non-
attendance.

Mr. SYMF: presided, and offered some preliminary remarks
on the subject for which the meeting had been called, and
which has engaged the attention of the people from one end
of the country to the other. The manner in which this pro-
ceeding of Sir Janes Graham had been received, would
afford him, and all who would follow his example, an oppor-
tunity of knowing that there was a limit beyond which the
patience of the people would not go.—(Hear, hear.) To-
morrow evening the subject would be brought before the
House of Commons by Mr. Duncombe, and he trusted that
all who felt strongly on this subject,whether in or out of Poi-
hament, would render the Hon. Member for Finsbury their
hearty and undivided support.—(Cheers )
Mr. CLUER eulogised the conduct of Mr. Thomas Dun-
combe, contrasting him with " the border slough hound " of
Cumberland.—(Laughter and cheers.) When he (Mr.
Cluer) first knew the present Home Secretary, he professed
himself a Radical, and appeared to be sincere in the advocacy
of his opinions. At that time the Right Hon. Baronet, with
the present Lord Brougham, visited the cottages of the poor,
seeking their support in the promotion of liberalism. Such
was Sir James Graham some years since; but no sooner did
place and power appear to his view, than away went his poli-
tical opinions—away went his liberal sentiments—and the
Right Hon. Baronet became a Tory of the first water. From
step to step in tyranny the Home Secretary had gone on,
until by. his recent conduct in opening letters addressed to
private individuals he had brought upon himself such a storm
of indignation that he would not soon get rid of.—(Hear.)
Mr. Cluer concluded by proposing a resolution supporting
Mr. Duncombe in his attempts to put an end to such tyranny
as that practised by the Home Secretary.
Mr. STALLWOOD seconded the resolution, which was put
to the meeting, and carried by acclamation.
Mr. O'CONNOR moved the second resolution :—" That this
meeting considers that Mr. Duncombe, by his having so
fearlessly and magnanimously exposed the base, ignoble con-
duct of the Home Secretary, in having opened, without
special warrant, the letters of peaceable and innocent indivi-
duals, has rendered essential service to the British public, to
whose confidence and gratitude' he is eminently entitled."
That resolution expressed.atrongly his own opinion on the
subject of Sir James Graham's conduct. It had been alleged
that, in what he had done, Sir James Graham had acted
legally and constitutionally. There certainly was a law
which might be twisted into an exculpation of his conduct.
If the people of the age in which that law was passed were
base enough to submit to it, the people of the present day
would be determined to oppose it—they would be determined
no longer to submit to the infliction.—(Hear.) During the
last few weeks many. letters of his had been opened, and
only a few days since three letters were delivered to
him, every one of which had been previously opened at
the Post-office, and carefully re-sealed. There was a
sanctity in a private letter, and any honest man
would rather cut his finger off than break the seal of
a letter to which he had no claim. The system attempted
to be introduced was a most dangerous one, and, so long as
he had life and energy, he would not cease to exert himself
to uproot it.—(Cheers.) The whole blame of this foul trans-
action had been cast upon Sir James Graham. Let the
country remember, however, that " Qui facit per alium facit
per se," and then some of the odium would be cast upon the
leader of the administration. If Sir Robert Peel determined
on keeping a malicious dog, let him be responsible for any
injury he might inflict.—(Hear, and cheers.)
Mr. CUFFAY, in seconding the resolution, trusted that the
people of this country would never allow the present Govern-
ment to be at peace until they were completely ashamed of
their atrocity. That Sir James Graham would ever be made
ashamed was perhaps visionary.—(Hear.) The sooner the
modern Fouche was ousted from the Cabinet, the better for
the interests of the country.
The Rev. Dr. WADE offered some appropriate remarks in
support of Mr. O'Connor's resolution, which was put to the
meeting, and carried without a dissentient voice.
Resolutions denouncing the conduct of Sir J. Graham were
agreed to, after which a petition was framed for presentation
to the House of Commons, and received numerous signatures.
Thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the meeting dis-
persed, after a long sitting

LITERATURE.

AIE2IIOIRS OF A BABYLONIAN PRINCESS.
2 Yoh. Coburn, London, 1844.
The work before us is a translation, and the
original was written by the Princess Maria Theresa
Asmar, daughter of the Emir Abdallah Asmar, who
was born in 1804 amidst the ruins of Nineveh, and

lived for several years of her life in the utmost
splendour at Bagdad. Her family, which was one of
distinction in the East, professed to derive its origin
from the Brahmin, and her father professed the
Chaldaic rite in communion with the Church of

Rome. By her own account, the Princess seems to
have been of a serious and devout turn of mind, and
says of herself," from the age of six I had been in the
habit of reading the Lives of the Fathers, and I formed
a determinati ,n to imitate their example. I betook
myself to the histories of saints, hermits, and martyrs,
and the more I read the more intense was my desire
to share in their sufferings and their glory." At an
unusually early age she was engaged in marriage to
a young Sheikh : but disliking the notion of matri-
mony—a very singular prejudice, by the bye, for an
Eastern lady to entertain—she addressed herself to
her intended husband, with a view to induce him to
cancel their engagement, stating that it was her wish
to become a nun. Upon this, with infinite com-
plaisance, he resolved to take the vows of a Trappist,
" and now lives," says the author, " in a hermitage on
Mount Lebanon, at the foot of the cedar mountain,
on a ledge so precipitous that a bird would hardly
dare to make her nest on it." Soon after this, the
Princess's father and family were cruelly persecuted
for their faith, by the newly-appointed Pacha of
Bagdad; at length, when the tyrant's avarice and
bigotry w ere satiated, she herself, accompanied by her
mother, during her earlier progresses, set off on a
tour to some of the more celebrated provinces in the
East, a narrrtive of which is contained in these
volumes. The authoress appears to have seen much,
and what she saw she has the happy art of describing
with such vividness, as to place the scene imme-
diately before us. There is a tinge of melancholy
pervading her work; but is informed with a truly
Christian spirit, and will be read with interest, if only
for the eloquence and evident truthfulness of the de •
scriptions. We quote her account of a repast served
up to her on the occasion of a visit which she paid to
the daughter of the Pasha of Mosul :
As many of my readers may be unacquainted with
the detail of Oriental gastronomy, I will briefly describe
some of the haut-gouts served up on the occasion of my
visit to the palace of the Pasha of Mosul. First of all a
tray, containing twenty dishes, was brought in and
placed upon a large round salver or stand, of copper,
about six feet in diameter. Among these dishes were
soups, one made of rice and herbs, the other with green
corn and chickens, a favourite dish of the present Pasha
of Egypt. Amongst the dishes which succeeded to these
were a lamb, stuffed with all sorts of herbs, rice, and pis-
tachios, which was served up whole, saffron being added,
for the double pUrpose of giving it colour and flavour; a
number of roast fowls ; stuffed gourds; two or three large
dishes of a vegetable, called " bamia ;" anti a dish made
of a veal hash, enveloped in vine eaves ; " coobba,"
which is a crust made of green corn and hashed meat,
filled with a hash of beef and herbs, called " shar al
ajouz," or old woman's hair, of delicious flavour, and
made up into globes, as large as a man's head ; many
dishes of " kabap," or "kabob," as it is more usually
written, which is a kind of sausage meat, cooked on an
iron rod ; together with a host of other recondite prepa-
rations, the names of which have passed from my
memory. When the solid portion of the dinner had
been disposed of, a profusion of sweetmeats, of the most
delicious flavour, were put upon the table, and with
which the repast concluded. Of ccrurse, no wine was
introduced ' • but we managed to console ourselves with
drinking a liquor made from the juice of the pome-
granate, which was handed to us in goblets of massive
gold.
During the whole time of dinner, fifteen slaves were
in attendance, some of whom fanned us continually.
Having brought in the necessary vessels for the perform-
ance of our ablutions, and accommodated us with our
pipes and nerghilahs, they were permitted to withdraw,
and regale themselves on the remains of our repast. I
had almost forgotten to mention the " nuckel," or
dessert, which, in its way, was in no wise inferior to the
dinner. There was a substance having the consistency
of snow, which is found on the leaves of trees, of a green
colour, having a delicious sweet taste, called in the
Chaldean language " gasgoul," and in Arabic "man al
same." There were also the figs of Jebel Sinjar (a
mountain to the north-west of Mosul), of enormous size,
some of them being not less than six inches in length ;
the " laimoun halou," or sweet orange, from Bagdad and
Bassorah, a fruit almost as large as a shaddock, greatly
resembling the orange in size and appearance, but far
excelling that fruit in smoothness of skin and sweetness
of flavour. So abundant is this fruit in Mesopotamia
that twelve are sold for a penny. " Hammas," a sort of
kernel, resembling a dried harvest bean, which is roasted
after the manner of coffee ; to which may be added pis-
tachio nuts, promegranates and grapes.
The repast finished, we were conducted upstairs to
the " tharma," an apartment on the first floor, corre-
sponding, in some manner, with the Iwan below. It was
paved with marble, and looked out upon the gardens.
In the centre of the room was placed the " serrir,"
large ottoman, covered with yellow satin, on which re-
clined the chief wife of the Pasha, and around which
several cushions were ranged. On the side, towards the
garden, were hung a number of cages, filled with
beautiful sinning-birds, sending forth notes of every de-
scription. In this earthly paradise we enjoyed our
" nerghilahs" and sipped our coffee. This being over,
the sultana, or favourite wife of the Pasha, composed
herself to sleep, according to the Oriental fashion ; an
amiable weakness which, I greatly fear, is not calculated
to secure for my illustrious friend the approval of her
own sex in this colder climate, where, as I have been

given to understand, the practice of taking a nap after
dinner is confined almost entirely to elderly agas, who
have laughed at the beard of the prophet, by partaking
of the condemned juice of the grape.

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS
TIMES. 2 Vols. Colburn,London,lB44.
. _

We noticed this work some months since, at con-
siderable length, in The Sun, when it first made its
appearance, in two large octavo volumes, and spoke of
the skill with which it was executed, of the great
variety of its details, the affluence of its anecdotical
matter, and the clear, and, in some instances, entirely
new view which it gave of the public and private cha-
racter of its hero, Frederick the Great of Prussia. We
mentioned also the frequent diffuseness and slovenli-
ness of the writer's style, as defects that should be
remedied in a second edition ; and we are pleased to find
that our hint has been taken in good part, and that in
the duodecimo edition before us, the author has re-
trenched much of the luxuriance of his manner, and
moderated a few opinions which, as originally put
forth, were somewhat too strong and decided in their
tone. Thus diligently revised, and republished at a
price within the reach of the generality of readers,
we have little doubt that the work will become a
lasting favourite with the public, for the period of
which it treats, and the events which it records, are
of the most eventful and stirring nature, and the
hero, the Great Frederick, whom Voltaire has so
grossly calumniated, was, beyond all question, the
most consummate soldier and statesman that the
eighteenth century produced.

THE MYSTERIOUS MAN. 3 Vols.
Newby, London, 1844.

The " Mysterious Man," who gives the title to
this novel, is a good-natured, thoughtless, young
Irish adventurer, by name Sullivan, who, like many
of his enterprising and not eminently diffident coun-
trymen, comes to London for the purpose of getting
a wife, and so securing a fortune on easy and pleasant
terms. Aware, however, that there is a strong pre-
judice among the cockneys against Irish adventurers
of all sorts, Sullivan, notwithstanding his desperate
Tipperary brogue, passes himself off for a German
nobleman, Count Bundledoff, and under this assumed
alias, meets with a variety of adventures, some of a
humorous, others of a more serious character, which
are duly set forth in the volumes before us. Ulti-
mately he is successful in his matrimonial specula-
tion, and marries Lucy Atherley, the daughter
of a country farmer of the blunt, honest, old
school, to whom the reader is introduced in
the first chapter, as also to the good-natured, light-
hearted Count, who is her, travelling companion on
her journey from Oxfordshire to the metropolis.
There is some quiet fun in the story, and it is penned
currente calamo ; but, as a whole, it seldom rises above
mediocrity, and is uniformly deficient in strong,
earnest, graphic portraiture of character. The most
finished and natural sketch is that of Josiah Jenkin-
son, of Euston-square—" one of those unfortunate
individuals," says the author, " who are the most
miserable of mortals, because they have nothing on
earth to make them unhappy. lie had an easy tem-
per, an easy fortune, an easy wife ; he had no mise-
ries, and therefore he had the trouble of making
them ; and this is one of the greatest troubles on
earth. Such was Josiah Jenkinson, a stout, comely
person, but a settled and established misery-maker."

WESTERN BARBARY. Murray, London, 1944.
The very amusing little volume before us forms the
ninth number of Murray's " Colonial and Home
Library." It is an account of Western Barbary, its
wild tribes and savage animals, and was undertaken,
as we learn from the introduction, i y Mr. Drummond
Hay, for the purpose of procuring for her Majesty
Queen Victoria a barb of the purest blood from some
of the breeders of horses in the region round La-
niche. In this undertaking the author, it seems, was
not so successful as he could have wished, but during
the course of his expedition, " he saw," as he tells us,
" such striking pictures of Arab life, and heard so
many anecdotes illustrative of the peculiarities of cha-
racter, customs, and manners in the various tribes,
that he was tempted to commit them to writing." His
volume is certainly prolific of incident in an unusual
degree, and much of this incident is of the most
stirring and romantic character; especially the stories
which are introduced in the course of the narrative,
and which in wildness are nearly equal to some. of
those marvellous ones which are of such constant oc-
currence in the Arabian Nights. The following
curious-particulars connected with the subject of lions
may perhaps amuse our readers
Mallon named had spread our carpets tinder the thick

foliage of the Kharrob, or locust-tree ; and there the
water-melons and grapes—which were placed before us
—soon disappeared amongst the numerous party.
The sport of the day was discussed : and the old
hunter who had wounded the boar told us that -he had
been in some danger ; for the beast rushed at him as he
fired, and it would have gone hard with the veteran, if
he had not sprung behind a tree.
" In truth," said the man, "I am an old lion-hunter ;
but I have found more danger in hunting the boar than
in pursuit of the sultan of the forest ; since with the lion
one is always more or less prepared for his attack."
He went on to tell us that in the country of Reef,
where he often hunted the lion, each man goes armed
with a gun, a dagger, and three or four iron-tipped stakes.
A hole about four feet in depth is dug, just wide enough
for each man to crouch down in. The stakes are then
driven into the ground with their iron points slightly in-
clined outwards ; each sportsman, as in boar-hunting,
takes his station in these places of safety, which are dug
in the tracks of the lion.

The beaters, making a great noise with drums, and
shouting and firing of guns, drive the game towards the
hunters : should they wound the lion, he generally
springs at the man that fired, who immediately stoops,
and the lion, falling on one of the stakes, is dispatched
with their daggers.
" You have," said I, " many lions in the regions of
Akkalaya. I suppose it is dangerous to be out after
dark ?"

" They rarely attack a man, if unprovoked," replied
the old Reefian : " I have met them when alone ; they
have stood and lookel at me. But in such cases a man
must go on his way without appoarinfc to notice the
beast, and then he will almost always quietly walk away
also."

" The best caution I can give," continued our grey-
bearded guest, "in case you ever meet a lion, is, that
you should keep on your own path with all the coolness
you can command, until you observe that the yellow-
haired has passed out of view, or has ceased watching
you ; then turn sharp to another direction, and pursue
it rapidly, lest the lion, having noticed the line of your
march, should proceed to meet you, at a distance on the
track, as they often do with all the'cunning of a cat; and
you may then have some difficulty in evading his wan-
tonness or anger.",
This advice somewhat reminded rne of the story of the
old peer, who, being asked what he had done on meet-
ing a lion in the Strand, which had broken loose from
Exeter Change, replied, with great composure—" Do ?
I called a coach." Nevertheless I treasured up the ad-
vice against a future emergency.
To my question, whether it was not very dangerous to
hunt lions without the precaution of the pit and stakes,
our guest replied, " Yes, Christian, it is : you carry your
life in your open hand."
" I remember," continued he, " a son of the sheikh of
our village returned home one evening trailing along the
skin of a huge lion, which he laid at the feet of his
father, and showing the hole where the ball had pene-
trated the skull, he told the sheikh that he had, alone,
met the animal face to face in the wood, and killed him.
My son,' said the sheikh, with which finger did you
pull the trigger ?'
" The young man held his fore finger up.
" Seize and bind him,' said the sheikh, and drawing
his knife said, I cut off that finger, my beloved, that you
may remember for the future, never to attack a lion
when you are alone ; for I would not lose you, my son,
for a thousand, no, nor for ten thousand lion-skins.'
" In vain we all cried out to the sheikh to spare the
youth, who stood calmly obedient ; but though the big
tears rolled down the father's rugged cheeks, the finger
was cut off."

MAGAZINES (CONTINUED).
SPORTING MAGAZINE.

We have here two embellishments—one, a like-
ness of the famous rage-horse " Running Rein," the
late winner of the Derby—and the other of two
" Russian Setters," which are pourtrayed with much
spirit. Among the literary contents we find an
amusing account of an evening spent at a village inn,
together with a copious and accurately drawn-up
digest of all the sporting intelligence of the month.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND REVIEW.
There are several elaborate articles on religious
subjects in the current Number of this periodical,
and one, especially, on " Modern Religious Poetry,"
deserves praise for the truly catholic spirit with which
it is informed. Among. the miscellaneous papers
two of the most entertaining are the critical no-
tices of Mr. Horne's " New Spirit of the Age," and
of Mr. D'lsraelies " Coningsby.' In the latter criti-
cism, while the occasional defects of this brilliant
novel are pointed out with skill and acuteness, ample
justice is done to its merits, and the praiseworthy
object which the author had in view in penning it.
The Reviewer is clearly not an advocate for " Young
England " principles of policy, but neither is he alto-
gether a dissenter from them, but, if we may judge
from the tone and bearing of his criticism, seems as
yet not to have made up his mind on the subject.