The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-06 00:00:00

PAY.IVE'S UNIVERSUiII; OR, PICTORIAL

WORLD.
This is the commencement of an illustrated
work of a superior kind ; it will contain fine
engravings of " views in all countries, portraits of
great men, and specimens of works of art of all
ages and of every character." The plates given
in the first Part are three in number—" Whalers
attacked by Bears, on the Ice," by A. H. Payne,
after Biard ; a View of Terni, by the same en-
graver; and the " Ave Maria," which, in its
large form, is so popular at present, if we may
judge from the frequency with which it appears
in the stock of the best printsellers. This, and
the first-named plate, are, we think, the beat.

THE CHEMIST.
In this cheap and well-arranged scientific
work, there are two papers, by Professor Liobig,
one—" Investigations concerning the Bile ;" the
other, "On the Distribution or Appropriation
of Land."

THE ART UNION.
This periodical commences the new year with
a Number of great merit, both in its literary and
pictorial departments. The proprietors announce
several improvements in their plan, which will
be developed immediately, and of which some
are visible in this Number. The first article,
" On the Mercantile Value of the Fine Arts," is
of the kind exactly calculated to produce a good
effect among a mercantile community like this,
and we are glad to perceive that the subject is to
be followed up. The Number derives a general
and permanent value from a very spirited litho-
Lraph of one of Wilkie's sketches in the Holy
and, " Hebrew women reading the Scriptures
at Jerusalem," a beautiful subject admirably
treated. It also contains a portrait of Overbeck,
the historical painter of Germany, and two fine
specimens of the finished outline illustrations to
the new edition of the song of the Nibelungen.
The Number is a credit to our periodical litera-
ture.

THE PEOPLE'S PHRENOLOGICAL
JOURNAL.
Mesmerism, as connected with Phrenology,
is attracting much attention at present, and those
who have engaged in the controversy on either
side will find some interesting information in the
present number of this Journal.

THE CURRENCY.
TO THE EDl7'Ol? OF THE SUN.
Six,--The appearance of an article in The Sun, signed
" Beirniard," has led to the following questions. Can your
Correspondent answer them satisfactorily, the question of " de-
preciation or no depreciation" may, perhaps, be considered as
decided.—Your obedient servant, GERMANICUS.
A, a banker, issues notes of the value of twenty shillings
each, promising to repay them, on demand, in gold, at the
rate of 123 grains, standard fine, per note. Presently war or
political circumstances, or a demand for gold, causes geld to
advance to 6/. per ounce. A, the banker, during the advance
of the precious metal finds his stock of gold continually dimi-
nishing, until at length necessity compels him to petition the
State to restrain him from haying his notes in gold according
to the original contract. The State grants the prayer of the
petition. Now if B, the holder of a note of twenty shillifigs,
cannot exchange it at any of the London bullion offices, for
more than 80 grains, standard fine, or 12.11 i, does not the
difference, namely, 43 grains, cause a loss to the holder of the
note, and is not the banker's note thereby depreciated?
Manchester, Jan. 5, 1844.

The whole county is groaning with gold. It
requires a perfect spendthrift power of squandering to get rid
of a sovereign. Peel, ever changing in his principles,:has, by
way of counterpoise, taken all power of change out of the sove-
reign. On all sides we bear the most bitter complaints of
tradesmen, whose interests materially suffer by this lingering
embarrassment. One would have thought that a strong Go-
vernment could at least have settled tills question at once. Bu.t
twelve months have passed over since the annoyance first began.
—Western Times.

ROYAL ARTILLERY.—Major-General J. Webber
Smith, C.B, has been appointed Director-General of Artil-
lery, vice Major-General Sir Thomas Dowman, C. 8., who
has succeeded to Colonel Commandant of the 3d battalion.
Major-General J. W. Smith is expected to assume his duties
at Woolwich on Tuesday next.
AFFAIR or lloNouu.—The following mysterious
communication has been received:—" An affair of Lamour
took place at an early hour on Thursday morning, within WO
miles of town, between a Mr. D-- and a Mr. P--, in con-
sequence of Mr. P—. having made some remarks in a billiard-
room reflecting upon the character of a young lady to whena
Mr. D— is much attached, when Mr. D—'s ball passed
through Mr. P—'s hat, within three-quarters of an inch of
his head. lam authorised to state, the same parties had Lad
a previous quarrel about the same matter last spring."
LOVE AND MURDER.—On Wednesday night a
young man named Sumner, who was paying his addresses to a
girl named Shelton, both of Arnold, was talking with his lady-
love in the town street, when her father came to them, and
told his daughter to go home. She refused, when he went and
fetched a bill-hook or hand-bill, and inflicted such a severe
wound upon Sumner as to fracture his skull. The brutal fel-
low has absconded, and his vicAini now lies in a most dangerous
state.—Nottingham Journal.
CURIOUS WAGERS.—On the 15th inst., a bet came
off at Downham, the Isle of Ely, between a farmer of that
village and a Penman, living in the Third Drove in Fodder Fen.
The bet, which was for a sovereign, was, that the fenman
should find his way home from a certain house in the Second
Drove blindfold, a distance of about three furlongs, across
several fen drains, one of which was ten feet wide, ditthes,
&c. ; the widest drain he accomplished with a jumping pole—
this wager wa 'cell won. The second bet, for another sove-
reign, was, that he was to start from the same place, blind.
folded again, without a pole, to his home again. About half-
way on his journey he was at fault, being out of the line of
the ditches some ten or twelve yards ; but he again faced the
wind, arid retrieved
.his place, and won his second wager.
The second time he performed his journey on his hands and •
knees all the way, using the sides of the ditches as his guide,
some of which were eight feet deep and full of water. He was
accompanied by above a hundred spectators, anxious to see the
performance of so novel a feat.

CAUTION TO HOTEL AND TAVERN-KEEPERS.—
On Tuesday evening, the 2d instant, a person of most gentle-
manly address and appearance, entered the York hotel, corner
of the York-road, Lambeth, inquiring if he could be aceoan-•
anodated with a bed. After partaking of refreshment in the
coffee-room he retired to bed, and in the mining when abut
to leave, the waiter requested payment, when he stated he had
agreed with the proprietor to occupy his bed for several nights,
and was only going out to breakfast with a friend. When the
chambermaid entered the room it was discovered lie had, with
instruments, attempted to force open a chest of drawers, but
the locks being very superior, had resisted his efforts, but ho had
much injured the wood.
'I'IIE LATE LORD LYNEDOCIL—The mortal re-
mains of the late venerable and gallant Lord Lynedoch were
disembarked on Friday morning last at Dundee. Mr. Robert
Graham, who inherits the deceased Nobleman's property, and
Mr. A. Murray, also related to the late Lord, having, in the:
performance of a duty of respect, accompanied the body to
Scotland from London. In going through Perth in the after-
noon, as the mournful coW9e approached, the city minute guns
were fired, and the bells of St. John's tolled. Many of the
inhabitants closed their houses, in testimony of their regard for
the memory of the gallant deceased. The body remained in
state until Monday evening. On Tuesday, shortly before,
twelve, the customary religious ceremonies were performed by
the Rev. Messrs. Buchanan and Liston ; and all the necessary
preparations for the interment being completed, the funeral
procession formed. On the funeral cortege leaving the grounds
of the cottage, a large body of the principal tenantry, who had
assembled at the home farm, joined in the procession, and at-
tended it to Metliven, where it was the will of the late Lord to
be buried. A vast concourse of persons from all parts of the
county had gathered at the romantic village, and as the funeral
passed to the cemetery, a general feeling of regret for the de-
parted pervaded the entire congregation. Although so many
persons had met, not the slightest confusion arose, and the be-
haviour of all classes was characterised by becoming decorum.
This exemplary county of Devon bath been much
scandalised by a young clergyman, who, having paid his ad-
dresses to a young lady, broke off the snatch, in order, it is
said, to take to another of a larger fortune. The ease is said
to be one of scandalous cruelty, as he obtained the young lady's
affections before lie began to inquire about her fortune, and
coupled with his religious professions, it has raised a great
outcry against one who, in the garb of sanctity, goetla to anti
fro as a pedlar trading for gain on his own personal attractions.
Western Times.

The Duke of Manchester and Sir W. Rohiwon
have adopted the allotment system, the one at his estates in
Huntingdonshire, and the other at Stretton Hall, to the society
of which district he has given 100/. for the benefit of the agri-
cultural pour.

On Tuesday an association was formed at Dunmow,
in Essex, for the protection of agricnitarc from fire, when a
letter was read from Sir James Graham offering 1001. reward
for the detection of persons supposed to have been concerned
in the late incendiary fires.
The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England have just appointed Dr. Playfair consulting chemist
to the Society. Dr. Playfair is about to establish a laboratory
at the Royal Institution, Manchester, for the study and practice
of agricultural chemistry.
To prove that the monopolists do not monopolise
all the agricultural talent, the Aylesbury News mentions the
fact that on Wednesday last, at the annual meeting of the
Tring, Agricultural Association, the prize of a silver cup t• the
occupier of the best cultivated farm, was aviarded to a Mr.
Paw, a staunch free trader.