The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-13 00:00:00

pel one to be constantly referring to the dictionary'..:,
but it is written so as to be intelligible to the most
ordinary capacity. The introductory chapters, where-
in the author endeavours to show that national pros-
perity depends on geological position, are argued with
great urgency and acuteness, and:contain the fellow- r
ing statement, which is quite new to us:—
" Not less than nineteen of the largest and most
portant towns in England, from Exeter to Carlisle, are. I
all situated along the line of one geological formation, ,
the new red sand-stone, which, in addition to its own
mineral treasures of rock-salt, gypsum, and
ores, usually covers the invaluable deposit of. coal, "
once yielding an incentive and supply to the vast and
ea
terprising population of this favoured district."
In an interesting passage on the subject of mining?
Mr. Richardson, while speaking ofthe different 01401'
of metals, and the torms in which they are found, tells:
us that gold offers an exception to the general rule o!"
,
metals occurring in veins, for that it is disseminated'
in minute quantities throughout those rocks, usuallr
of a quartzose character, in which it occurs, and
chiefly obtained in alluvial gravel, resulting from thoci
decomposition of such rocks; or from the sands?
rivers which, flowing over them, have washed nuj.
the particles of gold. In discussing the question'
the modern date of man, as compared with that of tht
world, the author shrewdly argues that, had 014
human race been really the aborigines of the physicj
history of our planet, had they actually existed ivi,ll),,
primeval times, their remains would unquestionably
have been found scattered throughout its various der,
sits, from the oldest to the most recent in the series.
" No impediMent," says Mr. Richardson, " exists o
their conservation; our bones, compost d of the same elsements as those of the animal races, are equally oalni
fi
of being kept from destruction ; he same battle•„e
has preserved the bones of the horse and his rider ;' :71
same cavern which, in earlier acras, gave shelter dur7
life to the hyena and the bear, and retained their ske'''..;
tons after death, has alike preserved the relics of tile
human. occupants, who, at a later period, found, in t.,
same retreat, a refuge and a tomb. But it is obvinwii,
that if man hai really been an inhabitant of the earl
during its early history, his skeleton, or' the mere 17a
meats of his osseous structure, would have constitin
the least of those relics, which he would have bequeatflii
to the soil, of which he was an inhabitant. We sin
have discovered his mighty and majestic works,
Si) far transcend in duration his ovvn ephtmeral existence'
We should have found his Cities and his structurvs ocert;
whelmed in the waters of ancient seas, or buried bent°
the ejections of primeval volcanoes ; his majestic pg.::
tuids sunk in the bed of early rivers ; his monatit,,,,
temples hewn on the surface of the deepest and.v,
oldest rocks ; we should have encountered his britif
„
of granite aed of iron ; his palaces of limestone 80 Loi
marble ; the tombs which he reared over the object6o:
his affection ;- the shrines which he erected in honnctrt
his Uod. Bat in the absence of these or any other tr.`o
of man, in any, save the most superficial of depOsif'',lol(
are compelled to acknowledge the chronology of "4
Writ ; to recognise the conlpiOtP and satisfactory nencia
ance of science with reVelation ; and to admit that, ,f
existence of Irian has not extended beyond those Vero
six thousand years upon the earth, which the ScriPtu
assign as the period of his creation.
This is a forcible and eloquent passage ; but ott
are many such in the volume, which--though, 1114
the nature of the subject, it might be supposed tip,
somewhat dry and heavy—is in reality as entert
As it is instructive in its details. The chert
in particular, on the fossil remains of extinct aid
abounds in curious matters of information. l'i'e
not often met with a Volume professedly scien'til
which blends so happily the useful with the agree.fi

AMBAS SADO: k"8 WIFE.-3
Bentley, London, 1842. riorl
Though far from being the best of Mrs. v,,fi
novels, the " Ambassador's Wife" is decidedly
rior to any that she has produced since the P°1,11:
get," whith was published, if we remember rig
litbctikit two or three years since. The subject is
~A 0
eliosen, and the authoress's intimate and sari'
quaintance with fashionable life, both here and
Continent, has enabled her to give point and 70
and, above all, an appearance of reality, to her nrous sketches of character. Her portraits
pompous old German Baron, Von Rehfeld,
seem, from its truth and minuteness, to hito
draw direct from some Jiving original ; and.LSO
an individuality in the carefully sustained lanW'ill
of his intriguing and ambitious second Wi rld
would lead us to the same conclusion. The
daughter, Ida, is less skilfully delineated ; too
generality of heroines in modern novels, she is
ful, accomplished, sentimental, &c., but exhibi'er
distinctive peculiarities. From the first chaP,v
the last, the tale trundles easily and hurriedi.
and as the scene of action is constantly varying'fra
new personages appear upon, as others disappeooo
the stage, it is very likely to be in request
nov.l readers.

RECREATIONS OF CHRISTOPHER .Nt
Vol. I. Blackwood, London and E'din6ui gh. 1
We have been a long time expecting the rel)°,l
tion of Christopher North's admirable series 011
cies in " Blackwood's Magazine," and cannot irn
how it is that it has been so long delayed. o°:,oi
better late than ever ; here it is, and a capita:l.l,
it makes—full of fun, frolic, and pathos,
quent description, and criticism of the acute'
most enlightened character. The republicatioo4
seems, to be confined to three volumes. 01111 .`o
why, we were in expectation of three tinicslo
and cannot consent to be put off with a sorlicjio:
when we were looking forward to an ample„o.
Are we to have no " Noetes"—none of those
ccenaque Deum," which, duly as the rnoilwil
round, used to give such delight to the
readers of Maga ? These papers alone will th
volumes ; and then what space remains Iva ff
masterly essays on the Elizabethan drama, 110(
especially on the genius of Homer, which s°4(iit
or twelve years since excited such genera.
tion ? We must really bargain for at leas' e,lO,
lumes, for the genius of Christopher North.rp
plenty of elbow-room, before its moveMe
eel
be seen to advantage ; it will not do t 0 cid,
down and pack it up in a An
you might, with quite as much proPrideV,l
hope, of success, attempt to pack up a 91 in(J':'
in a fiddle-case. We know no living autheZliA
who will less bear abridgment than Ci`ose,
North. True, he is diffuse, but he is aiif
Burke, from the abundance of his intellectual!" if,
and to curtail his writings is not to. curt,o,
words, but thoughts—to cripple a fancy r'"-
culiar privilege and character it is, like a
libertine," to run riot in its strength. Shavoltif
and his power is gone—abridge Kit Nord ?+ tooi
freest and boldest of imaginative writers btmr,eo4
tamest of twaddlers. The volume before 45:Pltc;i
propriately with " Christopher in his Sportkue,
—a production ofso versatile an order—now r
with its pathos, and now splitting. our 51119
outrageous humour; in one passage stigges )
striking, original thought, and in auotherOtrf) ,
in scenic descriptions such as combine thy jr/
the poet with the lustrous colouring of the roi-64
that it would seem to be the production °,
but of a dozen, minds. In this deligh;fili"
the author lets us into some of the 5 101
his unbewhiskered boyhood. He leacls
infer indirectly that yhe was by 11,e
a paragon of prim propriety—that bod:;',
himself up with gunpowder, before he thr,
pleted the first year of his • breeches' to 0,
Latin Grammar was no favourite with hi 4 4)0„
than as it supplied him with wadding for JiieV,of
shoot cats with—that he was Partial' to 5 oll'utPl
schoolmaster to his chair with pitch, so 00,11,4'110
good man rose, he left the seat of his bowi,itc
behind him—that he was no stranger to thefekti
cane, the flavour of which, however, straotio
never agreed with his constitution—that! iltf
by the Devil, he was more than once l 0';
heinous atrocity of kissing pretty youl oj
hind the hedge on half
one remarkable occasion; he was t";
midnight by his agonized guardians '),01
tially eclipsed or obfuscated, on the gilbeli 06'3,
garden gate, looking up at tke
and quite electrified by the sight of two 'fis 04,
Such, 'it seems—or somethi'.l like it'm,,.'bttbt°4
pher, the bOy ; but increase 01 years brolbchris/t1
and wisdom, and fancy in their train, anpliegilc`
the man, became the poet the phil°3 t ice "I
moralist—the critic. He is now—alas, thle of
11011;::
have to say so —far declined into the 107 bely,
eighty winters have shed their snows 13° roip, r
head, or rather left it as bald as a to
digging wrinkles as deep as cart-ruts 000',
eye ; and the " old man eloquent" may 0 0.101,t1
informed, be occasionally seen creeping' ° broe
mer evenings with his crutch towards Ara of itooll?,
to indulge in the unsophisticated luxurtfeeilto (113,1,'
and toast-and-water, for he is a deckle ices
and when his infirmities will permit, lOW
•ty I" ouch
at more than one Temperance Some toti
The article headed " Cottages" abound. :$ ,er
"Christopher in his Sporting Jacl'cr,h hig.'"ofy4
of fantastic humour, not unmixed 1 -‘cietailicottli
rarer requisites. How racy are the
.hi„cl theidsl
annoyance occasioned by a dead rat nen its op 115
wall, and of the sufferings inflicted on ill ,k`j
the grubs, moths, slugs, gnats, „soinind thr',o!
d
harboured in the honeysuckles and
31101,,he°'
riou, ‘:g.tor
twined so picturesquely round the F 0
their officious branches in at the p3_, 000_00
. our 0 olio',
Not less grotesque is the account °l'VeWf°ll"
own adventure with a bee-hive• a the
dog," observes the venerable sage,---
" Once upset a hive in his " gut)
tri zie,s;oalsi;re° 111)053,efei:
swarm unjustly attacked us.
allives "'et 014 :10!
roar, and for the first time in °lvan ,
cloud. Suoh buzzing in our hair !
es° "_,,,u,st tilou
fifty-times washed nankeen breeches
we"orrclecr`ole6o,
dyi", in
lancers ?, With our trusty crutdnd
the I°`.% tilerbd
;belie,! our
re the dust uasitld;
sbtuutngtheusv,,-.oruaeir_oll:ienri
At last we took to flight, and f 0,1: beetii„ria
house. But it seemed as if a new d out, sc, ,
in ve salue ..dora
in that cool grotto. i„ puris. .
gtinnent after garment, ; •

.~., .. 1•f'~.