The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-25 00:00:00

-GOvernment has ever practised the right of visiting
every ship, in order to ascertain whether she be a
pirate or a true vessel, and it is only, we affirm, when
and where piracy prevails that such a right, or rather
such a duty, is required.
Our author's principle, and it is worth notice, be-
because it is the claim of the Government, would
lead to endless mischief. How is the captain of a
merchant-vessel to distinguish a true man of war
from a true pirate ? We know of no means, for there
are many small men of war, the shape of which a
pirate might assume to suit his purpose. He could
not well get a ship to look like a seventy-four, but
he might get plenty, of cutters, schooners, and brigs
to look like those of her Majesty. If it were once
allowed that men of war might stop all vessels to
make them prove their nationality, under that cover
much abuse and much piracy itself would be practised.
During war, which always serves as a cover for out-
rages, more piracy is always carried on than during
peace. Then, in spite of convoys, merchant-ships are
stopped and plundered, Such would he the case in
peace ; the pirates would assume the character of
ships of war, were the maratirue states once to esta-
blish a police of the sea. We need not go to Spain
and Gil Blas to be convinced that thieves plunder in
safety, by assuming the garb of officers of justice.
Whether the writer refute General Cass or not we are
unable to judge ; but if he refute the General, both
must be wrong, for a more untenable position than
this writer has-taken up it is not easy to find.

NEW FRENCH AND ENGLISH LEXICON.
Bally, London, 1842.
The compiler of this copious and well-considered
work, is M. de la Voige, Professor of French Litera-
ture at the East India Company's Military College at
Addiscombe. He has, we understand, spent many
years in the compilation of his Lexicon, and his time
and labour have not been thrown away, for he has
succeeded in producing a work upon a most ingeni-
ous, and practically useful plan, comprising, besides
the usual number of words found in the best diction-
aries extant, an extensive addition of commercial,
nautical, military, and other terms, together with the
novel introduction of the singular and plural persons
of every tense and mood, belonging to all the regular
and irregular verbs in the French language. Abbre-
viations, elisions, contractions, and combinations have
also been explained in their respective alphabitical
places.. For schools, this work is specially useful,
inasmuch as it curtails, by one-half at least, the labours
of teachers and pupils, and contains more general in-
formation and more words, by many thOusands, than
in any dictionary. of the size ever published. We
have examined it with some attention, and have been
struck with the exceeding care and pains-taking that
are manifest in every page ; not. only are the words
given, with all their various significations, as We find
them both in prose and poetry ; but all the popular
idiomatic expressions are also explained, so that the
labour of the French student is -very considerably
abridged. Such a valuable and laborious compilation
has only to become generally known to be as generally
appreciated.

ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY.
By Hugo Reid, Lecturer on Natural Philosophy.
Siniphin, Marshall, and Co.
This little work, which is illustrated with fifty-six
engravings on wood, is well adapted for beginners in
this interesting and useful. science. It gives an ample
outline of the phenomena connected with the fixed
stars and the solar system, including, of course, de-
scriptions of the sun, planets, satellites, and comets,
the seasons, trade-winds and tides, eclipses, &c. The
language is simple and intelligible, and well calculated
to convey to the youthful mind suitable impressions
of the great works of creation.
The following brief extract from the chapter on
fixed stars will give an idea of the manner in which
Mr. Reid has carried out the plan :—" There are
about 20 stars reckoned of the first magnitude, eleven
of which are visible in Great Britain. Sirius, the
dog-star, :is the brightest of the stars of this class ;
there are sixty of the second magnitude; and about
21,000 including those of the seventh magnitude.
Altogether there are myriads, infinitely more than can
be reckoned. The milky-way is composed of innumer-
able stars, whose average number is about the eleventh
magnitude, and > whose joint light is separated
only by powerful telescopes. Every increase
of the powers 'of the telescope brings new stars
into view, and as their distances are so
great, it is possible there may be myriads so remote
from our system, that their light has never reached
the earth, while others whose light still reaches us,
may have been long since extinguished. At the con-
clusion of the work the author has given short
biographical notices of the principal astronomers,
from Thales, who lived 600 n, c., down to
Sir William Herschell. The present view of
the solar system was first promulgated by
Pythagoras, who flourished 500 years before the
Christian era; but this opinion was not generally
entertained, and afterwards the popular notion pre-
vailed that the sun, planets, and stars revolved daily
around the earth, till the restoration of the true sys-
tem by Copernicus, the celebrated Polish astronomer.