The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-27 00:00:00

a scientific journal within the past twelvemontll
bruit forth the hoary fiction as a realityVentela
quists, without doubt, are not buriat alive se
were in the sixteenth century; and I\l"arter r. C
pummel his lions or tigers without being pun
with an ignominious death for a supposed col
!:
with the darker powers ; yet ignorance and credo
are still far from being entirely dispelled : "d ie;
with the intention of assisting in their dispel lion
Albany Poyntz has written his "World of Woadeilti
There is something curious and laughable in theee.
natural explanations given to many of our antio
bugbears—as the goblin, on a closer examisa„,
resolves itself into a finger-post or a mile-stwlei
Thus, through the asaaectacles`pf science we allee°a
that the showers of biood mentioned by Pliny
Solinus were simply masses of Fain water impregnf,
with red earth. As an unra\'el'er of these esigw;
Albany Poyntz proves a delight: companion, r-0
doubtless to many people his revelations will pro'
startling as the style of narration is agreeable. sri
only, for example, does he explain the viej°l3
existence of the Wandering Jew, and chow, bey d
question, that Justinian never put out t:le e 3 tole'
Belisarius, but he very clearly testifies that the
brated Pope Joan was only a cnimera of the iantla
tion of some factious enemies to the Papal C oaf
that her name is not uttered by a single contemP°
the
historian ; and that "not till sixty years after od
period assigned as that of her adventures, do Ow
the monk Radulphus relating the scandalous, eivee4
nicle of her pretended pontificate." While, 1nu.,0(
we may permit ourselves to cherish the more rib
less fables of poetry, such as the suspension of ffis.as
met's coffin, or the reality of centaurs and merneht,
it is but due to common justice and raaional enugia
enment that such fabrications as the ono abnired 0
ferred to should be utterly laughed to scorn; an.. 4
honour Albany Poyntz for the candour and
displayed in this instance. Some, however, of the
arguments we conceive might be classed an:lo4oa
number of "self-evident propositions," as i'lLoter
dente of which we may particularly name his eLwerval
upon the capacities possessed by negroes form tee
and moral improvement, the whole of which eloPor
might have been summed up in the mention of hear
saint L'Ouverture individually, and the presen!,o
stitution of St. Domingo collectively, as practiesl_arOf
that the blacks may be moulded to any deVtie
civilization. On other points the writer is, ell
lye
contrary, sometimes very incomplete; thus, i°
instances which he adduces of what is ("oilers'!! ing
garded as the prophetic language used by if
people, he snakes not the slightest allusio co°1:
sibly, the most remarkable instance on rn,
refer to the death-bed of Charles Bonaparteels, of
of the Emperor, who, when raving in the delirls"oo
his dissolution, called out for Napoleon to Imo
with his " great sword," and beat off the Phrtaae
of death at the bed-side, Napoleon being at the.saos
many miles away, and a mere boy. The dieser' be
upon the fickleness of popularity, which Illaae
identified as one of the finest passages in the / cold
before us, forms an excellent homily against trisij
ambition, and will amply repay even the Pettit vatt
the worldly-wise ; while it is delightful to moored bf
sentiments so genial and humane as those utte'"
s.
our author, when defending from stripes anclea the
cution an animal which he calls aptly enong'aer
war-horse of the poor "—the ass. Before, e feel
ever, we take leave of this production, por
it imperative on us to stigmatise onearroP
tion of the book as frivolous and nsecijos
minded to the last degree ; it is the„ the
devoted to a sickly and atrabilious attack bete"
temperament of the French as a people- icratiti-i
with submit the paragraph in question to theciir o•
of the reader, appealing to the national wing
to oe°r.
his disposition to reply whether the folloritrier
04
tences are not as applicable to ourselves as
neighbours :
ral
" The prevailing weakness of the French, 0° $
and individually, is to esteem themselves the tiftive,,irie
model of perfection ; the standard by which the ;sell;
ought to be regulated. An Italian author onee cot,
that the face of man was not made after tdthatospei.4
but that the face of the Creator was to be imagi";ittOn
that of man. The French consider all that Pi-
them right ; all that differs from them wrorthetber
prejudice entitles foreigners to laugh at them, `'
unjustly or not." I'lei°o4
ais°
Yet, notwithstanding this littleof -A
morsel of si
bigotry towards a great nation, on the part dep'' $
Poyntz, we consider hi; " World of O°
useful book, a good book, and an amusing 13°4.

_
MEMOIRS OF THE JACOBITES.2
B, Mrs. Thomson. the
Although English history has bee nric ea Dy
• f the struggle°, die
most copious details descriptive o
the
calamities, the loyalty, the devotion and
daunted perseverance of the adherents to the 02d,
n e
dynasty, from the flight of James the See°l
1688, to the Battle of Culloden, in 1746, thi)..,srOl
hitherto remained a gap in the annals of thl cobite
ihe names and • the various actions of the
rliover:
leaders are undoubtedly to be found scattere".ti
vast number of volumes, but, until the rooltidm-
the present work, no succinct account produce
brated and unfortunate men had ever been atte-oiisis'
From the mass of biographies and state Dori; -to°
and scarcely legible manuscripts which hi" oh'
sifted before any accurate knowledge could be
tamed of facts, and from the conflicting opinions
cold
had to be balanced before any just conclusiore °_ll
be arrived at, the labour of such an undertaking _non
have been very considerable indeed; but , 11 PI
her pages we obtain a correct view of the Peery
Mrs. Thomson acquitted herself of the task. filrerttlio,
nages who rendered themselves the most
'J
js
meV
spicuous among the partizans of brag bb
and his family. From the subtle and Wiliest
Earl of Mar to the lawless freebooter, Rob Raal,lictioo
character is analysed with care, and that in up re'
which, if not in every instance well-chosen, caber
markable for its perspicuity. if we reuse that
rightly, it is Tertullian who somewhere obseroetoricsl
the historical past is but an index to the iIiAL4 cor,
future; whether this principle in the abstract 'ds et
rect or not, there are circumstances in the reotrs'
nations which bear to each other the most le Ott
nary analogy, and among those perhaps; a" l
singular resemblance is traceable in the d° the
tbe
subsequent vicissitudes of the Stuarts a both
Bourbons. Charles I. and Louis XVL relio Pg°
annihilated by revolutions t
, which merge" tbese
States into that political chaos—anarchy; bcP""f for;
revolutions were reduced to order by soldiers fi
tune ; both the families of Oliver Cromige'ear
Napoleon Bonaparte were driven from their vof the
acquired dignity by a temporary restoration
cote
old dynasties. Charles 11. was followed in igigilf.in
succession by his brother James IL, Louis the
direct succession also by his brother Charles .1..;,a $
two dynasties being then again abolished, the
collateral branch in both cases raised tfairss
kingly office. Throughout these wonderful oTtselfr
on either side a faction developedripe
which by its misfortunes, its long' of
it. 4
and its constancy, challenged the syniPatt., bitts;
bitterest opponents—on the one hand the "-°cloill"
on the other the emigres or refugees. Without ilea
the motives by which these two parties were iniFfetbo,
varied according to the position or moralitY"). of
individuals concerned in them, and the materlAogie
this political combination were, in truth, soil.
pure, some base, some noble, some mean and *HO
lating." To disclose the motley characteristics o'ot.
former faction, to commemorate the virtuous clii.l3o. of
ency, or cover with opprobrium the mere cupictiltiet
its principal actors—to collect together in somegqvito
the gleanings of a well-reaped field—to demon. ito'
the reality of facts that had been hitherto 0000.itli
verted—and to discriminate between authorities bept
impartiality and judgment, were duties ince
-ylthese
upon the historian of Jacobitism, and of all eti
duties has Mrs. Thomson acquitted herself in 13 to
able manner. The work is a necessary additOorp
the many singular episodes in our English hilotit
and the book-shelves devoted to the memoirs
most celebrated countrymen, cannot be constlue
complete without these-two volumes.

THE POST-OFFICE LONDON DIRECT°S'
for 1846. o.e 00
This work has now reached the forty-se'the
annual edition, and, to the credit of Mr. Kelly, 10
proprietor, who has spared no expense or laboer4j
the compilation, keeps progress with the titneStre'ot
marks, more than any similar publication, the g itt
changes which have taken place, not nelloce
our trade and commerce, but in the aPPeti'iloe
and extent of this vast metropolis. No other Oho
could furnish materials for such a work, and to of
is the compiler partly indebted for such a tria,;os
useful information, useful, not to a few %here
only, but to the whole community. .1013
not one class in the community to
some of the directions are not absolortgeo,
necessary. A mere outline of the most :striking' the
tures will confirm our statement. It embracei Oo
whole of the metropolis, including the environs, t°o,
extent of fifteen miles from the Post-office, and cc'irj,
prises, besides a
.great deal of other copious,„-fif
formation, an official directory, a street dire"-
a commercial directory, a trades directorf±..4
law directory, a Court directory, a Parliamenwoo
directory, a postal directory, a City directory, e
veyance directory, and a banking directory. It Ad
tends to 2,074 pages, printed in a close, but clear 'te,
bold type, and is accompanied by a beautiful, mirijog,
and, as far as we have had an opportunity ofjl.l4‘ity
a correct map of all the streets of London, Wit'aell
names of each distinctly marked. The Pcit
directory will be found of the greatest servicev
has been greatly enlarged and improved, and ''Ett
rashes the hour of the delivery of London letters 0;
every town and village in the United Kingdole.cii
which there is a post-office, and the time at Whi/
the letter-box from London closes at each Pl3ce,ol
also the distance of each from the post t 0
through which the London letters are
mitted. We may state that no other eg