The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-26 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
THE MISER'S IAUGHTEI?. 3 Vols.
Cunningham, London, 1842.
We have so often noticed this tale when it ap-
peared, from time to time, in detached portions,
in the pages of "Ainsword's Monthly Magazine,"
that it would be superfluous on the present occa-
6ion to say more than that it is now re-published
in three volumes, with all George Cruikshank's
illustrations, some of which may rank among the
best specimens of this prolific artist's genius.

POLYNESIA.
Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1842.
There is a great deal of useful practical infor-
mation contained within the boards of this unas-
suming little duodecimo volume, which forms
one of the numbers of the "Edinburgh Cabinet
Library"—one of the most successful miscellanies'
of the day. The work, which is illustrated with
a map and vignette, gives an historical account
of the principal islands in the South Sea, includ-
ing New Zealand, together with curious and
minute particulars respecting the actual condi-
tion of the inhabitant's in regard to civilization,
commerce, and the arts of social life.

SPI1?IDION. Fox, London, 1842.

This is a translation from the French of George
Sand, one of the most popular novelists of
"young France." The version is rendered with
spirit, and will give a very fair idea of the origi-
nal, which is a story by no means wanting in ab-
surdity, yet full of redeeming touches of genuine
feeling.

PARENT'S HAND-BOOK.
Longman, London, 1842.
A useful, unpretending little work, containing
much serviceable information on the subject of
placing out young men, and of educating them
with a view to particular occupations.

PRINCE OF THE MOUNTAINS.
Gladding, London, 1842.
A poem referring to the hacknied period of
the Crusades, penned in an easy, flowing style,
though modelled somewhat too closely on Lord
Byron and Sir Walter Scott, of whose produc-
tions it is easy to see that the author is an
enthusiastic admirer.

THE CZARINA. 3 Vols. Colburn, London, 1842•

In the leading incidents of this story Mrs.
Hofland has adhered with tolerable accuracy to

historical truth. The period of which she treats
is the commencement of the eighteenth century,
and her scene of action lies for the most part in
Russia, which, under the auspices of Peter the
Great, was aspiring, and not without a show of
justice, to a foremost rank among the nations of
.Europe. The chief personages of the narrative
are the celebrated Prince Menzikoff and his
family, whose chequered career is traced with
much minuteness and animation. The Prince,
as all readers of Russian history must know,
was originally an apprentice to a pastry-cook,
but having attracted the notice of Peter by his
melodious voice, as he cried his cakes about the
streets, he was educated at the Czar's expense ;
and his intellect proving to be one of a very
superior order, he was raised by degrees to the
highest offices in the State;
.and at his Royal
master's' death had obtained such ' over-
whelming power, that he procured the ele-
vation of his widow Catherine to the
throne, despite all the opposition that could
be offered by several of the proudest and
most influential nobles. His next step was to
affiance his daughter, Mary Menzikoff, to the
young Emperor, Peter the Second; but before
he could bring his ambitious schemes to a full
and satisfactory completion, misfortunes, and of
the most crushing nature, overtook him ; his ene-
mies at Court triumphed, and he was banished,
together with his whole family, to the deserts of
Siberia, where he, his wife, and one daughter
died soon afterwards of grief. In the first volume
we find the Prince at the summit of his power
and glory, and bis character at this trying season
of prosperity is delineated with no ordinary skill.
The remainder of the work is occupied with de-
tails of his conduct while in exile, and of the ef-
forts of his high-minded daughter to redeem his
fortunes. The heroic girl is ultimately successful
in restoring her family to rank and affluence, but
not until her father has sunk under the weight of
his afflictions. His death-bed scene is pourtrayed
with genuine pathos, and is fully equal to the
most touching incidents in Madame Cottin's
" Elizabeth." But the gem of the tale is de-
cidedly the character of Mary Menzikoff, in
whom, in fact, the whole interest of the story
centres. We care little, comparatively speaking,
for the other personages; her lover, Theodore
Dolgorouki, is something of a nonentity, and
Brukenthal a well-intentioned Bore, but Mary—
gentle, affectionate, beautiful Mary—is a pearl of
price, and will be sure to excite a deep interest in
the hearts of all novel readers.

THE ANATOMY OF SLEEP.
Churchill, London, 1842.
In this work, someportions of which evince no
ordinary research, the, writer gives the following
receiptforprocunngsleep:—" Let the patient turn
on his right bide, place Ins head comfortably on
-the pillow, and then, slightly closing his lips,
take rather a full inspiration, breathing as much
as he possibly can through the nostrils. Having
taken a full inspiration, the lungs are then to be
left to their own action. The attention must now
be fixed on the action in which the patient is
engaged. He must depict to himself that he
sees the breath passing from his nostrils in a
continuous stream, and the very instant that he
brings his mind to conceive this, apart from all
other ideas, consciousness and memory depart;
imagination slumbers; fancy becomes dormant;
thought subdued ; the sentient faculties lose their
susceptibility; the vital or ganglionic system as-
sumes the sovereignty; and he no longer wakes,
but sleeps!" This is, without exception,
the drollest and most original receipt for
procuring a nap, we ever heard or read of.
Imagine a man coaxing himself at midnight into
a conviction that lie sees the breath passing out
of his nose in a continuous vapour ; and the
instant he has become convinced of this striking
fact, dropping off into a slumber as profound as
if he had just finished the perusal of the " Om-
nipresence of the Deity !" But this is not the
most comical part of the receipt. The pa-
tient, it seems, is to commence his experi-
ment with a snore—a melodious occupation,
and exceedingly agreeable, too, especially
if he happen to have a wife for a bed-
fellow, who is of a nervous and irritable
temperament ! This author appears to entertain
no doubt of the efficacy of his receipt; but we
question much whether it would answer in the
case of a man of business who had a bill to make
up on the morrow, and no means of meeting it ;
we tear that an individual so situated would
have little chance of obtaining sleep, by merely
fancying that be could see his nose smoke like a
brewery ! If any gentleman is sincerely desirous
of procuring the luxury (if a sound nap, we re-
commend him, not to fix hi:, " precious eyes"
on the steam at the tip of his snout, but to go
through a course of Sir James Graham's pam-
phlets on the Corn-laws.

SUDDEN DEATII OF A BOY.—SINGULAR FATA
LlTY.—Yesterday Mr. Carter, Coroner for Surrey,
held an inquest at the Sea Lion, Wootton-street,
Lambeth, on the body of Robert Fitzgerald, aged 14,
of 22, Little Windmill-street, Cornwall-road. Eliza-
beth Fitzgerald, sister of deceased, said, that on Sunday
last she went to St. Thomas's Hospital to see her
mother, who had een in that Institution since the pre-
viuus Wednesday, and found that she had just died,
of dropsical disease of the chest. On her return
home she found the deceased, who had been ailing all
the week previously, suffering from pain in the
chest and various other parts of the body. At bed-
time he complained of cold, and at eleven o'clock
he threw up about a quarter of a pint of blood. He
continued to grow worse, and at two o'clock next
morning he expired in his father's arms. On account of
the lateness of the hour she could not find a surgeon
until after deceased's death, which affected her father
so much that after bewailing he ran out, taking
the direction of Waterloo-bridge, off which he
would have jumped had it not been for the interference
of three policemen, who brought him home. Soon af-
terwards he again attempted suicide by throwing him-
self from the window, but the witness prevented him.
A witness, named Mary Clarke, said she saw deceased
on the afternoon of Sunday, when he appeared ailing,
but that he had injured himself about twelve months
ago by jumping over a post in the street, which had
affected him ever since. By the Coroner—l was
present when the surgeon, Mr. Avis, came, who
pressed deceased's chest, and caused water to issue
from it through the mouth, and said that deceased had
died of water on the chest, the same complaint of
which the mother died but a few hours before.
Verdict, "Natural death from disease of the chest."
AWFULLY SUDDEN DEATII OF A BRIDE.--011
Monday morning Mss Peers, of Fontenoy-street, was
to have been married at St. Augustine's, and was on
her way there in a coach. She was suddenly seized
with a fit, and although she was immediately taken
home, and medical assistance rendered, she neve
rallied, and died in an hour or two, in her bridal dress.
The poignancy
conceived from this sudden visitation of Providence.—
of grief of the wedding party may he
Liverpool Times.
_ In a proclamation of the Emperor of China, called
forth a few years since by the troublesome
increase
appeals from the provinces, his Celestial Majesty en-
joined " strict search to be made to discover all law-
suit-exciting blackguards, and when found to
opun of
punish
them severely."