The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-01 00:00:00

AINSWORT.H'S MAGAZINE.

" Revelations of London" continues as full of
mystery as ever. Mr. Ainsworth must have a de-
cided taste for the horrible and marvellous ; he seems
animated by the same feeling as Crebillon, when he
exclaimed, "Corneille s'est empare du ciel, et Mo-
liere de la terre, rien ne m'etait laisse que les Enfers
et je m'y suis jete." Whether imposed by necessity
or choice, he fulfils his task with vigour, and has
doubtless many admirers among the lovers of ro-
mance. "A Bit of Still Life" is an amusing
adventure at an illicit still among the hills of
Connemara. Mr. W. F. Ainsworth's "Travels
in the East " are as interesting as ever;
the present Number, entitled " The Habor, Re-
hoboth, and Saladin's Castle," is full of information.
We subjoin a description of the last memorial of the
mighty Soldan :
•• It is remarkable that this chieftain, who became the
bulwark of Muhammadanism, at a time when it was
seriously threatened by the enthusiasm of the Christian
nations, who was the greatest terror of the crusaders,
and whose name, indeed, belongs as much to poetry and
romance as to history, has l&t few monuments behind to
commemorate his power and prosperity. It was a part
of that character, which he assumed, when his talents
and energy had established him as defender of the faith,
and in which he was throughout as consistent as he was
in that humanity and chivalrous moderation which has
earned to him the applauie of history, that he never
allowed himself to be dazzled by his great elevation and
successes : his garments were of coarse woollen, his
drink, water, and he uniformly discountenanced all pomp
and vanity. Hence his works were consecrated to public
use. Cairo was fortified with a wall and a citadel, and
mosques, colleges, and hospitals, were endowed in every
city of Arabia and Syria ; but for himself he never built
either a palace or a castle. At the presnt day a hall,
with noble monolith columns of red granite, some rude
granaries, and a solitary well, still preserve his name in
Misr al liabira ; a fort on the confines of the desert, ce-
lebrated in the annals of French occupation, a suburb of
Damascus, and the ruins now first resuscitated from
darkness and oblivion, are among the few existing remi-
niscences of the noble Saracen.
" The ruins now before us formed, indeed, in their
utter desolation the most fitting monument to that self-
ii.lt:,nying warrior, who commanded at his death that no
soleninities should be observed, but that his 'shirt should
be made fiv.4t to the point of a lance, and carried before
his dead body, as en ensign, while the public crier an-
nounced to the people that Saladin, Conqueror of the
East, of all the greatness and riches he had in his life,
carrieth not with him after his death anything more
than his shirt.' A sight,' says an old historian,
worthie so great a king, which wanted nothing to his
eternal' commendation more than the true knowledge of
his salvation in Christ Jesus.'"
The following account of the combustible pro-
perties of asphalte is worthy of attention, with regard
to the facilities it may afford in the navigation of the
great rivers :
" We obtained at this place—the inhabitants of which
were very friendly and well-disposea—large quantities
of alphalte, or solid bitumen, and the Colonel determined
upon remaining the next day, to experiment upon its
qualities as a fuel. The experiments were made on
beard the Tigris, and it was not found to answer well,
alone, being so fusible as to cake and extinguish itself
for want of air. The great quantity of combustible mat-
ter also caused so much smoke, or of carburetted pro-
duct, to be given off before complete combustion had
taken place, as to choke the vents, and add to the impedi-
ments already existing to a free supply of air. These
inconveniences were, to a certain extent, obviated, by
mixing it with other substances ; but we had only earth
and stones and dry dung. -to experiment with. It natu-
rally answered best with the last, which is the ordinary
fuel of the Arabs. It would answer still better mixed
with cinders, and a fuel has been lately patented in this
country, which is made of the refuse cinders, used in
brickfields, and earth, cemented with oil of tar, which is
a fluid bitumen, or petroleum.
" I have been the more explicit upon this subject, be-
cause so highly combustible a substance exists in con-
siderable quantities in various places on the Euphrates,
Tigris, and Persian Gulf, and it may become of high im-
portance in any future steam navigation of the rivers ;
also because the result of the experiments was made the
subject of special reports to Government, not all of a fa-
vourable character ; while it is quite evident that it
would require the exercise of but trifling ingenuity to
overcome obstacles which positively take their origin
from the excess of combustible matter presented to us."
The " Forger" is a translation from Alexandre
Dumas, written in that abrupt and vigorous style for
which all his productions are remarkable. The fol-
lowing simple tribute to the lamented Laman Blan-
chard must be admired by all, for all must feel its
truth :
Vijrnpmr oebdt se etvi
tjmu,s tsunsrs, jiancoepti
nhai c f
n;
. qta vixit honest 6 ;
Supra alios homines, scribendi doctus in arte
u; .
Quo(' scripsit, pulchruna est ; utile, et rn ocum
inte-
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