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

TWO PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.

This is the title of a sketch just brought out by
H. B. It represents Sir Robert Inglis and Mr. Thomas
Duncombe walking arm-in-arm. The Baronet, who
looks very grave, does not seem to like his company,
and is evidently anxious to shake off the new ac-
quaintance. The other is in a very gay mood, and
enjoys the joke wonderfully.

THE MAGAZINES-CONTINUED.

COLIJURN'S UNITED SERVICE.

The presont Number opens with a brief history
of " Kolapoor and SawuntWarree," the disturbed dis-
tricts in Southern Mahratta, which are at present the
scene of a " little war" in India. The article con-
veys information which cannot but be useful at the
present time, and is drawn up in a plain and under-
standable style. The "Spirit of Military Institutions,"
by Marshal Marmont, is continued, as are Captain
Ilippesly's " Reminiscences of the War of Succes•
sion in Portugal." Felix Grummel concludes his
" Reminiscences of a French Prison." The history
of his escape is well told, and is full of interest. Capt.
Smyth O'Conner gives us the first chapter of
" Twelve Months' Service in Western Africa." This
chapter is devoted to an account of the colony of
Sierra Leone, and of its capital, Freetown. The
following account of the causes of its insalubriousness
is well deserving the attention of the Colonial-office :
" From the position of Freetown it i 3 and ever will
be suited on7y for African constitutions. Placed at the
base of a circle of hills, after heavy rains the surplus soil
is washed down, forming a compost of red mud and ve-
getable rubbish, intersected by pools of stagnant water,
which latter, were it not for the admirable drains run •
ning in every direction to the sea, would inundate the
houses in the lower part of the town. The action of a
vertical sun on a mass of decomposed matter superin-
duces dense heavy and deleterious exhalations, and pro•
duces thosefearful fevers that occasionally devastate the
capital and almost depopulate the colony of its European
inhabitants. In traversing the town, the effluvia from
stinking fish, rancid palm oil, rotten vegetables, garbage
of the most filthy description, and fcetid smell of naked
negroes, concocts a villainous odour requiring a brazen
nose to encounter. •

"The supply of fish caught in the lagoons and bays
near Freetown being considerably greater than is re-
quired for daily consumption a vast surplus remains un-
sold ; this is stewed, baked, or boiled with palm oil, and
hawked about for sale in baskets or trays, or piled up in
heaps in every direction, poisoning the atmosphere, and
rendering a drive or walk through the capital of Sierra
Leone by no means a recreation, or •an appetizer for a
seven o'clock dinner.
" Freetown and its•vicinity is insalubrious, not only
from local ciuuntitances, but also from effects produced
by the neighLoaring country and coast, effects which are
beyond our control, over which we have no power, and
for which there is no probable remedy.. I refer to the
vast forests, uncultivated plains, deep jungles, and ex-
tensive swamps, covering the Bulom shores on the oppo-
site side, and ranning parallel to the promontory of Sierra
Leone. hen the wind blows from this direction dis-
ease and mortality are snre to follow, ard the scourges
which have periodically visited the colony may be easily
and truly traced to this source. Nor do I see in what
way, or by whit means the evil can be removed ; we
hold no claim, authority or command over the Mending°
country ; the natural indolence of its inhabitants forhids
the idea that they would clear away these primaeval
woods, to benefit or please the European ; their interests
jar with our desire to enter their land, and consequently
they are h stile to our making settlements in it. No-
minally they deal not in slaves, and the trade is by
treaty abolished, but actually the hateful commerce
flourishes rife as ever, and forms a vast source of revenue.
Cunning. selfish, and bigoted, the Mandingos tolerate
the Eaglish, only as long as they can give presents, or
afford by cajolery or cheating, the means of acquiring
money.'
The author considers that Sierra Leone never can
become an emporium where steady capitalists will
risk their lives and constitutions even with the pros-
pect of acquiring rapid fortunes. It is, has been, and
will be, the " white man's grave." Lieut.-Colonel
my. The publication
Wilkie, in an article on the " Defensive Force of the
British Islands," suggests that more attention should
be paid to the enrolling and disciplining the militia,
so as to make it an efficient means of internal defence
against an invader, and, as it was during the time of
I
of this paper is exceedinglywell-timed, and the sug-
Wilkie merit gestions of Colonel the attentive
consideration of the Government. This is an excel-
lentthe last war, a nursery for the army.
Number, and most of the articles are of permanent
national interest.

.11001YS AI4GAZIIVE.
This magazine improves as it advances. The pre-
sent Number is one of the most interesting we have
seen, yet amidst the numerous amusing contributions
we miss the animated productions of the Editor. We
cannot mgArd this work without a feeling of sorrow,
when we reflect that he, td whom we owe so many
happy hours and pleasing thoughts, should now lie
powerle,s on the bed of sickness, unable to exert
those brilliant talents with which he was wont, not
only to charm the fancy, but to touch the heart. The
magazine for April announced the mournful tidings
that the life of Thomas Hood was in the utmost
danger ; the present Number adds nothing to confirm
our fears, and from its silence we venture to hope that
our sad anticipations will not be realized, and that
at some future day however distant, we shall again
be cheered by the inspirations of his genius. The
other contributors have done their utmost to make us
forgot his absence. The first subject is a continuation
of " the Tales of the Colonies, by Charles Rowcroft;
it commences with a very interesting account of the
daring escape of some convicts from Van Diemen's
Land. " On the Picturesque" contains an instruc-
tive description of Etrasean Vases, and the Fine

Arts among the ancients. The " Sword of Zuniga"
is klegend of Hungary, founded on that romantic
theme, the wars of the Moors and Christians.
" Chronicles of the Fleet is the introduction to a
series of tales relating to the unhappy inmates of that
once crowded prison. The following remarks prove
from experience that " Time" indeed " works
wonders :

" How vast and extraordinary have been the political
events even in our own time ! Two great revolutions
in France ; .the co.iital of Austria twice occupied by the
victorious troops of a soldier of fortune, and saved from
dismemberment only by the propitiatory sacrifice of the
daughter of a line of kings ; Prussia twice conquered ;
Russia invaded, and her capital burnt to save it from
the occupation of the enemy ; Paris, the city of war-
riors, twice taken ; Portugal, Belgium, Greece, and the
whole. of South America, revolutionised ; Spain re-
volutionised half a dozen times. To come nearer home :
our own country,' he continued, may be said to have
undergone two revolutions within the last sixteen years :
The admission of the Roman Catholics to parliamentary
and other rights,—a cone, scion undisguisedly declared
by its Conservative propos( rs to be unavoidable to sate
the nation from civil war and dismemberment ; and the

Reform of Parliament in 1832, than eshich no more re-
markable revolution has taken place in history—the
triumph of the national will over the hereditary pos-
sessors of parliamentary power. We are too near to
the events,' he sail, to understand filly their extent
or their results.'

Do not forget,' said I, the social changes and im-
provements of the last few years—steam navigation and
railways; and take into account also the wonderful dif-
fusion of information which has taken place during. the
last half century, in the multiplication of books, and
newspapers, and all sorts of cheap publications.'
" It is impossible,' said my friend, with much
earnestness, 'in considering all these political and social
advancements and developments, to come to any other
conclusion than this—that society is on the eve of some
greater change than has ever occurred on earh. The
spreading of information among the labouring classes,
and the wonderful facilities which exist for the diffusion
of knowledge, cannot fail, in a short time, to have a
prodigious effect on the masses. With the moral power
of intelligence ad led to the physical power of numbers,
it would be idiotic fatuity to suppose that they would
consent to exist in the state of wretchedness in which
they now are;—then the change will eome, but whether
by some means of social re-organisation which we
cannot yet clearly see, or by some terrible social and
political revolution, wilder and more devastating than
the world has ever witnessed, is beyond the reach of
human wisdom to divine.' "

"The Fat Ox" is an amusing fable, illustrating the
state of the currency ; the ox, while it was fed on
paper rags, increased daily in strength and beauty,
but when, through a fatal mistake, its food was
altered to gold and silver turnips, of which the whole
world did not contain enough for its support, the
change in its condition was sudden and awful, the
over-fat ox suffering for want of food, had hardly
sufficient strength to support its undiminished burdens.
"The Press" is on the subject of the Duke of 'Wel-
lington's supposed illness, and his angry letter to the
Morning Post. Speaking on the subject of the re-
spect due to the Press, the writer observes :
" In these times it would be absurd to attempt to deny
the prodigious influence of the press on all classes of so-
ciety, from the highest to the lowest; that it has be-
come the daily mental sustenance of hundreds of thou-
sands; that it has power to set up or to pull down the
strongest Ministry. These are truths not to be denied ;
and those few who deny it with their tongues confess it
by their fears.
"It becomes a matter of the highest importance, there-
fore, that the controllers of this mighty engine of good
or ill should be of a class and of a character commensu-
rate with the high duties which they have to perform;
and it is clearly the duty and the interest of society to
assign to them that social position which is due to the
talents which are necessary for their vocation, and to
the influence which they exercise upon the minds of the
people. Anything that tends to degrade the conductors
of the press pollutes the source from which only truth
and virtuous thoughts should follow; and the mistaken
neglect of society re-acts on society itself with most per-
nicious effect."

" The Philosophy of Plagiarism " is an interesting
discussion in extenuation of this species of theft. After
alluding to the various authors from Virgil down-
wards, who have thought it no degradation to borrow
from the works of others, the writer comes to the con-
clusion that they only are to blame who blindly copy
others, without thinking for themselves. He admits
that it is lawful to seek materials from foreign
sources, but then it must only be for the purpose of
fashioning them anew.
" For it must never be forgotten that no man can be
original in the vulgar sense of originality ; no man can
draw solely from his own resources. • Sir,' said Dr.
Johnson, man can coin guineas only as he has gold.'
This is the point. Give the poet materials, he will
fashion them : give him rough gold, and he will
return you guineas. The greatest genius,' said
Goethe, will never be worth much if he pretends to
draw exclusively from his own resources.' What is
genius but the faculty of seizing and turning to account
every thing that strikes u; ; of co-ordinating and
breathing life into all the materials that present them-
selves ; of taking here marble, there brass, and builling
a lasting monument with them."