The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON DON, MON DAY MOR

LITERATURE.

HECTOR O'HALLORAN. Part L By W. H.
Maxwell. Author of " Stories of Waterloo, 4-c.
Hector O'Halloran, and his foster-brother, Marc
Antony O'Toole, promise to be two of as adventur-
ous and amusing companions over a jug of smoking
poteen, as ever crossed the channel which separates
us from that region of fun, frolic, and adventure, the
Emerald Isle. We are in this Number merely intro-
duced to them ; nevertheless, we can predict that each
of them will approve himself the " broth of a boy,"
whether in fighting, love-making, or punch-making—
all Hibernian qualifications for greatness of the very first
order. The story opens with great spirit. Col. O'Hal-
loran, the father of our principal hero, having lost an
arm in the service of his country, settles upon hik pa-
ternal estate in a lonely part of the county of Done-
gal in the year 1795, when disaffection in the North
of Ireland was at its height. With a young wife, an
infant child, and the straggling household of an Irish
gentleman, he occupies the Castle of Knockloftie,
where he gives mortal offence to the peasantry, by
granting refuge to persons suspected of betraying
their leaders in rebellion into the hands of the Go-
vernment. A midnight attack upon the castle is re-
solved upon, but the One-armed Colonel, who fights
like a hero, triumphs over force without and treachery
within. The description of the night attack of the
rebels is excessively vivid and picturesque. We pre-
fer, however, as a specimen of the story, Mr. Max-
well's account of the " birth and parentage "
of the future illustrious Marc Antony. O'Toole :
In a short time "the heavy tread of marching men"
ceased, as a party of ten or twelve soldiers halted imme-
diately in front of my father's barricade.
" Stand! who goes there?" was demanded from the
loop-hole.
" A friend," repled a voice, redolent with the richness
of the Shannon.
" Advance, friend, and give the countersign," retureed
my father, whose phraseology, from military habitude,
still retained the parlance of the camp.
" Countersign!" responded the leader of the belated
wayfarers; "devil a countersign have I but one. If my
ould Colonel's above the sod, he's spakin to me now fair
and asy from the windy."
" Who are you?" demanded my father.
" Oh! by Jakers, you'll hardly mind me, Colonel ;
Private Phil Brady of number eight' when you had the
regiment; but now,
,glory be to God and good conduct,
lance sergeant in number five.' "
" What is your party, Brady?"
" Upon my conscience, Colonel, a quare one, enough;
tin invalids, a dyin woman, and a fine man-child."
" Unclose the door, Father Dominic."
The priest lifted a heavy key from the side-board, and
proceeded to give admission to the travellers, when
Hackett, who had been hitherto an anxious listener, ven-
tured a remonstrance. "Why not," said he, "give
them meat and whisky before the door ? Every room
was already crowded with idle people, whom nobody
would have harmed had they remained where they ought
—at home. If the house was to be turned into an hos-
pital for sick trampers and their trulls, why every ser-
vant would quit a place liker a jail than a gentleman's.'"
Colonel O'Halloran preserved an ominous tranquillity;
and Hackett, mistaking the cause, became more inso-
lent as his speech proceeded without interruption. But
the storm burst at last.

1" said my father, in a voice which induced
the chief butler to recede some paces backwards, •`dare
you, a menial, prescribe to me, your master, who shall
be received and who rejected ? Tell me that a comrade
shall be turned from my door, and recommend that the
weary soldier be ejected from the house of him ander
whom he has fought and bled ! Off—we part to-morrow.
The roof of Knockloftie shall never cover for a second
night a sneaking scoundrel who has neither welcome for
a brave man nor pity for a helpless woman ;—show in
the sergeant !"
Without venturing to reply, Hackett shrank from the
presence of his angry master ; and in another minute
Sergeant Philip Brady made his military salaam, and,
with a capacious bundle in his arms, stood full front
before his former commander.
" Phil 1" said the Colonel, as he examined the sol-
dier's outer man, "if I judge rightly, thou, like myself,
art but lightly indebted to the Low Countries ;" and my
father held up an empty sleeve.
" Feaks 1 and ye may say that, Colonel," replied the
sergeant. " All that I have gained in Holland—barrin
the stripes—is a slashed cheek, a threadbare jacket, and
a fine child."

" Your kit, however, seems extensive, Phil; that
which you carry looks to be a well filled bundle."
" It's only the child, your honour ; the night was
cold, the mother wake, so I wrapped the baby in this
ould coat, and for it's fathers' sake kept it, the cratur, as
snug as could be."
"It's not your own, then .?"
" Divil a wife or child has Philip Brady," returned the
honest sergeant. "Ye may remember Corporal O'Toole
—he was one of the finest men in the grenadiers when
your honour had the company.
" Perfectly ; a better or braver soldier was not in the
regiment. What became of him ?"
" He died at sea, God rest his sowl ! on the second
day after we left Ostend. He was badly wounded when
put on board, poor fellow 1 and we were all, men and
women, bundled intq the transport like so many hounds,
short of water and provisions, and in the hurry they
forgot the surgeon too. Well, his wound mortified
I'm off, Phil,' says he; you'll not forget the poor wife,
for my sake, and may God look down upon the orphan !
Give me your hand upon it, Phil,' says he. and he
squeezed mine with all his feeble strength. When I
came down again, his wife was hanging over the dead
body. They coaxed her away to see the child,. and
when she returned to have some comfort in crying over
the corpse, it was already overboard with two others,
who had dropped off the hooks that evening. From
that hour Toole's wife (we called him Toole for short-
ness) has pined away, and the life was barely in her
when your Honour, may God reward ye ! let us in."
" Why were yOu so late upon the road ?" inquired
the Colonel'; " in the present state of things soldiers are
no favourites, and the chances are considerable, had you
proceeded further, that you would have been waylaid
and abused."
" Peaks ! and I believe your Honour. We were de-
layed partly by accident, and partly through design.
Our car broke down, the horse lost a shoe, and the rest
of the party pushed forward, laving us at a forge to get
the cart mended, and the baste shod. The smith—divil's
luck to him, the ruffin !—kept us three hours, I think on
purpose, and then they directed us astray. So when I
found the night falling, and the poor woman all but
dead, as I heard there was a gentleman's not far off, I
heads the party here on chance, little dreaming, the
Lord knows, that I had the luck of thousands, and was
coming to my ould Colonel's, and no other."
My father was a man of prompt toltion and few words.
The bell was rung, the soldiers sent to the kitchen to
refresh themselVes, the child committed to the care of a
female domestic, and carried to the apartment whither
its dying mother had been previously removed. There,
my mother and the woman-kind of the establishment
used every means which simple skill suggested ; but al-
ready the decree had gone forth, and within an hour
after the arrival of the party the crisis came, the widow
of the dead soldier was at rest, and her babe an orphan.
" The struggle was brief," gaid the priest, as he re-
entered the room, from which he had been so hastily
summoned

By a dying woman to pray.'
May God receive her in mercy! She went off so gently,
that though we were all about the bed, no one could tell
the moment when she departed. My lady is crying over
her as if she were a sister, and the baby sleeping soundly
in Sibby Connor's arms, as if it were still resting on that
bosom which had been designed by God to be its pillow
and support."
My father, as was his wont when anything particularly
excited him, sprang from his chair, and strode thrice
across the chamber.—" Tell me not," he exclaimed,
" that there is not an especial providence over every
thing—ay, from the sparrow to the soldier's child. That
orphan has been sent to me,—mine it is,—mine it shall
be. Pass the wine, Doctor. Here comes madame."
My mother timidly approached the side of her hus-
band's chair, and laid her hand upon his shoulder.
" Denis," she said, " will you be very angry with me?"
" Angry, love 1" replied my father, reproachfully.
" You never were angry with me yet. But—but—l
have done' something, upon which I should have pre-
viously obtained your sanction, love."
" What was it, Emily?"
" I promised," said my mother, " the dying woman,
that her helpless child should find in you and me pro-
tectors. Hector's nurse has taken the orphan—and shall
he not be our own boy's foster- brother ?"
" You did, my dear, precisely what I had determined
to have done myself."
" Before the sufferer's voice failed totally," continued
the lady, " she said that the child was still unchristened,
and prayed that rite might be performed when conve-
nient."
" There will be no difficulty in complying with her
request " replied my father ; " there are now two learned
Thebans in Knockloftie. To which of the professors
does the poor baby belong ?"
" His parents were Roman Catholics," said my mother.
" Then, Father Dominic, a cast of your office will be
necessary. Ring for Sergeant Brady—and then parade
the child."

In a few moments the non-commissioned officer and
the soldier's orphan were introduced.
"What name shall I give him ?" said the priest.
" His father's," rejoined the colonel.
" That was Marc," observed the sergeant.
" What's in a name ?" said Dr. Hamilton.
" More than one would suppose, Doctor," replied my
father. "Our red-headed adjutant married a Bath hei-
regs almost at sight, for after but a two hours' siege she
surrendered at discretion, declaring that it was utterly
impossible to hold out against a lover whose appellatives
were Julius Conan" .

" Then add A, stony to his patronymic, and your
protege will prove irresistible."
" Marc Antony be it then," replied the priest ; and in
five minutes the ceremony was complete. The sergeant
retired to finish his supper below stairs, and the orphan
was returned to the nursery, named after that amorous
" for a queen of fifty" gave up a world.
Roman, who

THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF

SCOTLAND. No. XXXVL

The character of this work is so well known, that
further comment on the plan and details is not re-
quired, and we shall, therefore, give two extracts
from this number which contains many interesting
references to the rebellion of 1745, the victories of
Montrose, and the numerous battles fought by hostile
clans in Inverness-shire and the neighbouring coun-
ties. The following is only one proof among fifty of
the ardent devotion of the Highlanders to the house of
Stuart.

On the 16th March, 1746, (a month before the battle of

Culloden,) Lord Loudon with the King's army was at
Inverness, and understood that Prince Charles Stuart
was to sleep that night at Moyhall, the seat of the laird
of Mackintosh, which is eleven miles south of that town,
with a guard of 200 of Mackintosh's men attending him.
His Lordship, with 1,500 of his men, proceeded imme-
diately to Moyhall, in order to take the Prince by sur-
prise, and thereby to put a speedy end to the rebellion.
Mackintosh himself was absent in Ross- shire, in the
King's serviee. but his lady, who was a daughter of Far-
quharson of Invercauld, entertained the Prince, and was
so enthusiastic in his cause, that she raised a regiment
of her husband's clan and followers to support him. She
got private information in the forenoon of that day, of
the intended advance of the King's forces, and having
consulted with Donald Fraser, blacksmith, at Moybeg,
clever and active man, he agreed to go along with five
other men whom she named, reconnoitre the royal
army along the high road to Inverness. Donald having
armed himself and his party, lost no time in proceeding
upon their expedition. It was in the dusk of the even-
ing when they reached the pass at the hill of Craig-an-
oin, at the boundary of the parish of Daviot with that of
Moy. Here there was a quantity of feal and divot set up
t dry. Donald and his men, in order to watch the
motions of the enemy, placed themselves a few hundred
yards asunder, amongst these heaps ; soon afterwards
they perceived Loudon's troops coming forward, and,
when the army came within hearing, a command was
passed by Donald, and then from man to man, in a loud
voice, along a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile, "the
Mackintoshes, Macgillivrays, and Macbeans to form in-
stantly the centre, the Macdonalds on the right and the
Frasers on the left,"—all this in the hearing of the com-
mander-in-chief of the Royal army. Fraser and his
party fired a few shots, when a soldier of the advanced
guard was killed. Lord Loudon, suspecting in the twilight
that the heaps above noticed were the Highland army,
and that the whole of the Prince's forces were ready to
attack him, instantly faced to the right about in great
confusion, and retreated with the utmost expedition to
Inverness ; awl, not thinking himself safe there, he con-
tinued his route across three arms of the sea to Suther-
landshire, a distance of seventy miles, where he took up
his quarters. This affair was humorously called the
Rout of Moy.
The greater part of the moor upon which the battle of
Culloden was fought on the 16th of April, 1746, and the
spot where the Prince stood during the engagement, a
little to the north-west of the farm-house of Culchin-
nock, lie in the parish of Daviot.
After the Prince's defeat at Culloden, he left the field
with a few attached friends, crossed the River Nairn
above the mains of Daviot, passed by Tordarrcch, and
proceeded to Gorthleck in Stratherrick.
Here is another extract fearfully descriptive of the
thirst for revenge, which so often sullied the 'character
of a brave people.
The Cummings, conceiving they had received some
offence from the Mackintoshes, were determined to be
revenged, and,., concealing their bloody purpose, invited
the Mackintoshes to the Castle of Halt, where all ani-
mosities should be buried in oblivion at the festive
board. One of the Cummings, from compunction of
conscience, or regard for one of the intended victims,
sent private notice to one of the Mackintoshes to meet
him at the grey stone, to which, addressing himself in
the audience of his friend, he disclosed the bloody and
treacherous intention of his clan. The Mackintoshes
being thus made aware of the design of the rendezvous,
nothing daunted, repaired to the castle at the appointed,
hour, and before the Cummings could'give the signal for
attack, each Mackintosh plunged a dagger in the bosom
of a Cumming, and only saved the life of the man who
communicated the treachery to the grey stone.

MAUDE'S DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE,
LITERATURE, AND ART. Part XL

Another number will complete this work, and in
the course of the present month the twelve parts will
be published in one volume. The price (3/.) is con-
siderable, but to those who can afford the money, and
who take delight in acquiring general knowledge,
the acquisition will be found worth the money, both
as a source of information and amusement. It fur-
nishes a clear and succinct history and description of
every branch of human knowledge, with the deriva-
tion and definition of all the terms in general use, the
whole illustrated by some hundreds of engravings
and diagrams in wood, many of them beautifully exe-
cuted. It is printed in a small clear type, and will
extend to about 1,350 octavo pages. Mr.
Brande the well-known chemist, is the edi •
tor. he has been assisted in the various
departments by Cauvin, Galloway, Gwilt, Lindley,
Loudon, M'Culloch, the two Merivales, and
Owen, all distinguished in their respective pursuits.
And looking at the character of the contributors, and
the style of execution, it will be found the most use-
ful book of reference yet published. The present
number possesses one remarkable feature, as it con-
tains descriptions of three of the greatest discoveries
of modern times " Steam-engine printing," under the
head "Stereotype" and "Telescope," as well as two
articles of consumption brought into use only
.two
centuries ago, and now producing about one sixth
of the whole revenue of the country, namely,
" Sugar" and " Tea." Brief extracts from these
articles will be read with interest, and at the same
time enable the reader to judge of the work.

STEREOTYPE (Greek -
o' ?E EOS solid, and Tor,os
a figure) masses of letters, called letter-press plates of
the size of a page, cast from a plaster mould, in which
an exact representation of the types has been made,
and thus forming the permanent plates from which-
books are afterwards printed. As the art of printing
began with the impression of whole blocks, it may be
said that in its progress towards- perfection it has
again reached the same point by the introduction of
stereotype plates. (The invention and process are
then described.)

STEAM ENGINE.—The nature and properties of
steam were altogether unknown to the ancients. Some
accounts have come down to us bearing a very early
date of engines ; such, for example, as that proposed
by Hero of Alexandria, in which the mechanical
agency of steam was more or less used; but it does
not appear that those who invented and applied these
machines comprehended the properties of vapour, or.
had any correct notion of the phenomena produced
by the application of heat to liquids. The article ex-
tends to 17 pages, and includes, steam-engine, steam-
boiler, steam-carriage, and steam-navigation.
TELESCOPE (Gr. rikl distant ; axOIrEW I look
at).—An optical instrument for viewing distant ob-
jects. The invention of the telescope has been ascribed
to various persons ; by Sir David Brewster, to Roger
Bacon or Baptista Porta ; by Descartes to James Metius,
a citizen of Alkmaer, in Holland, and by others to
Lippersey or Jansen. Lippersey,
who was a spec-
tacle-maker at Middleburg, in 1608, however, ap
pears to have the best claim to this great discovery.
The different kinds of telescopes are described, from
that of Galileo, to the great telescope of Herschel,
erected at Slough, in 1789, illustrated with seven dia-
grams, and reference given, as in most of the articles,
to the most approved writers on the subject.
SUGAR—(Fr. sucre, Germ. zucker).—Sugar is to
be ranked rather as a necessary, than as the most desir-
able of luxuries ; and a larger sum is, we believe,
expended on sugar in this country than on anything
else, except corn and butcher's meat. The sugar con-
sumed in England is all derived from the sugar-cane,
and was, for a lengthened period, almost wholly sup-
plied by our colonies in the West Indies ; but,
latterly, we have derived very extensive supplies
from the Mauritius and India. Foreign sugar is vir-
tually excluded from our markets by the prohibitory
duty with which it is loaded. It is raised also in
South America, Java, Siam, the Philippine Islands,
&c. An account is given of the different processes
for refining sugar, with a table of the quantities en-
tered for home consumption, the amount of duty,
and the differential duties from 1830 to 1840. The
net produce to the revenue, in 1840, was no less than
4,449,0701.
TEA.—The late rise and present magnitude of the
British Tea trade are the most extraordinary pheno-
mena in the history of commerce. Tea was wholly
unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and even to our
ancestors, previously to the end of the 16th, or the
beginning of the 17th century. A brief history of
the trade is given, with the quantities imported, and
the duties, since 1784, when the great increase in the
consumption of the article took place. In 1841,
36,396,0781b5. were imported, and produced a gross
revenue of 3,978,1981.

SECRECY OF INCOME TAX COMMISSIONERS.—PeeI
has boasted that no facilities will be afforded by his
income tax commissioners for ascertaining the profits
and circumstances of those against whom the inquisito-
rial powers of his new act are to be exercised. The em-
ployees of the Government are to be sworn to secrecy ;
but they are to consist mainly of the old machinery.
fNrow,be formed
A gentleman, residing in Ken-
dal, happening to call, some time since, upon a friend in
Now, some
fnllolving opinion
foaaft the old machinery ma
Sedbergh, was informed that this friend had formeriy
purchased, for waste paper, and kept by him and still
werereal-
ising
parties
that he remembers the collectors' books being sent to
the bookbinder's, in Kendal, in whose office thy lay for
some days, open to the inspection of all the journeymen.
The old living machinery may be secret enough ; but
who shall answer for the silent machinery ? "It be-
hoves us," says Milton, "to look how books demean
just next to
themselvesa matter
of s wellimpossibility as e
.n..! ;"K ena ndda
l secrecylifercuriys.
THE PROVISION TRADE.—Mr. Gladstone's reply
to the Cork merchants is anything but satisfactory :
" Whitehall, 26th March, 1842. Sir,--I am desired by
Mr. William Gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of
your communication of the 23d instant, on the part of
the Committee of Merchants of Cork. Mr. Gladstone
apprehends that you are mistaken in saying that coast-
ing vessels only use fresh meat ; but it is unnecessary
for him to enter into detail upon that. point. With re-
spect, to lard, I am directed to acquaint you that Mr.
Gladstone cannot hold out any hope of the Government,
consenting to raise the duty on that article to Bs. I am,
Sir, your obedient servant, R. W. RAwsom. J.J.
Murphy, Esq." We can only repeat that our country-
men engaged in the provision trade must not allow the
disheartening appearance of affairs to prevent them from
making the utmost. of the time • and opportunity still
open to them. Let them meet—anemoralize—petwon..,
.Dublin Mail (Tory paper). •,, JO bits .;;:,, thija (vat if