The Express. — London, England, 1857-07-11 00:00:00

irs ,, •''''' .- LITERATURE. Bi.graphies Distiegotislud &kali* Men. By Ease cirri AR M;•ITIWT of the Institute. Trans latest by Admiral W. IL SMYTtI, & Rota. Rev. Batas Pownts NIA-. ER-So he- ; d on : L o n GIANT, Esq., M.A. , F .R.11.8. Long man and Co. 1837. This is • book which the general and the scientific eerier will lay hold of with expectations of great thawsl and their eagerness will be increased when they Idea *sing the columr, that Arego is him self among the scientific men " whose memoirs are here ealleeted. His autobiogrlphy occupies the first • pages. under the title of 'The History of my Tooth ;" but it extends to 1830, when he was 44 years et age, so that the reader sits down to it as to • rare treat. Everybody likes autobiography ; and the history of such a man as Arago justifies the highest anticipations. We fear, however, that readers of all orders will find it a disappointing book. English habits of mind may be answerable for scene of the distaste which grows upon the reader as be advances ; but the rest of the blame mast be divided between the writer and his trans lators. In the first place, the English arc not accustomed to the open 'expression of such self-complacencies as were natural to Arago, and the oonsional reprecation and lip -humility under which they are conveyed do not render the vanity more agreeable. 'rhe French form of Ave in presenting the biography of eminent men does not suit the English taste. It is hardly probable that we shall learn to do our neighbours complete justice in regard to this form of composition, but if we ever do it must be by reading such works s in the authors' language. Every trundation of pduc tions so peculiar must be an injustice and a failure. In the present case, the translation is throughout so remarkably bad that, to say the truth, we do not know what to make of it. Three eminent name* stand in the title-page as eesponsible for the transla tion ; yet there is an uniformity in the badness of the version which would lead auy reader to suppose that the cheapest hock procurable had been charged with the serNice. The French con struction and idiom are reproduced as broadly as in the meet hasty versions from French journals in our newspapers; and this literal ness in the rendering of sentimental eulogy is sin =displeasing to English readers. The volume in even gross mistranslation. We have not the original before us ; bat the errors are abundantly obvious without reference to NI. Arsgo's own lan- Thus the cock (in the basrecour, the poultry F ., called " the king of the lower court." (P. .) A disposition which is not , and health which is akerh, is said to be " altered." A man who adapts himself to circumstances " takes the ear of MR is • right direction." Galileo's celebrated method sentence is given as "e per mi wattore." We have the everlasting "knew how," "attract a look,"' "devouring arenas," "sacrifices full of glory," and soon. A sentence or two, presenting itself wherever we open the book, may justify our complaint. Foarier's decision in favour of the military school instead of the cloister is thus commented on. "It would be necessary not to know the human heart to suppose that the monks of St. Benoit did not feel =l., upon finding themselves so abruptly to imagine especially that they should rive sap without lively regret the glory which the order might have expected from the ingenious col league who had just escaped from them . (P. 246.) Again. "Unfortunately these struggles of the forum, in which so many noble lives there exercised them selves, were far from having always a real impor. tone'. Ridiculous, absurd, and burlesque motions injured incessantly the inspirations of a pure, sin cere, and enlightened patriotism." (P. 249.) The most - familiar names are given wrong, es Eseassilli for Bernouilli, and Wyndham for II ineh beis. when the Minister-at-War is spoken of This b meengh. In n will be evident to all readers OM BOUT Arago . or the great men wham he describes tea be fairly judged through such a maim se ifs Mime es. The memoir of Arago himself is an odd piece et isknee, with enough of levity and extravagance is Tia UM to memo a rospiciou that It is par tly a j o k e . WO believe him to be in earnest, however, Wt.... bane at the outset that his reason for giving hie Wee, is this—" Some biographers, venting off bed and without authority, having given details . t 1•1 this subject utterly incorrect, and of a nature to negligence on the part of my parents, I con myself bound to put them right."—(p. 1.) TM levity of his manner, also, though most Wain is has narrative of his youthful adventures, beteht tleesgh the restraints of the style of the aim mei dersoially where his active and ready spirit of ten ui ftda news There is sincerity, too, in the in the emenit of glory, which is the hereto et widebieraghical strain. On the we believe it le be a imseine autobiography, it IS libeessamly Tie a burlesque novel, the Urea( which is mob to tell hie own tale. A good idea et ear hero's gamier may be obtained from hie method et his examination as a candidate for admit• die le the Polytechnic Selo& nem Ibis =met leedl mutt tor the Astllhey WI" th thee elm ssi Ydr awl es 1 W bed Art IS /110/1•11104 =Welled m le e% s bathe, mod deweeP I deemil me &et beers dash to sele et um asermadmieln The eset mo thee tbe I weal veties s= walking la the Eris et the OW et Piedmin waft by thee thee Awe& warbler to par on INN woks to rxabir, sour Is be sea d bike We le slieettlia isewiseirboto tet aq *Mee led bees emboli At bat the moths et ctrl mike ealvet i and I wet to Tethers is ellit • theillthe Who bed studied at the paths seams. was tbe bet Melba pupils ken theykrale MI seemed at the =rMy MW m ade vas cempiedy iles I mild saw - to the bred, • way *Om asimaillea tett shies beim 11. Moms (the themlow) rl ma per s zle. terater like year coalisito, it b ostler kr anis Wag tieneserthee• weak wee Ara le bee thews; begs men le arm temete *ea le; lithwhat palate jthit NU tor thishe weN oat Elyalth me at n=lly Y shears the errs et the imemat ;tt is is moo yea bon the *me at • diet Art - 1 meth yes the proposal at eth estrabilecth." - "1 how dna molar door than that whkh ages new best masa ' yes be et good ea to gar usf lity row deity." Tea may game Iblgh, eta. We shall sot pro aoMg odsathar ilia la(pine grids." Aced, dr; I wit Ith yea" tiro yes to the • 1 eseve la web troy se Cl= is Pion sada la swedeo Iso a gosedaa Algihrtsha maw lima a anialrissi emeekre. IMI Mee* et eizj.dM tai; I mimed all the Loa Sid their siquervidadildids. Notheetsmsibel, of neemelay eras, is medal of ft mar, the anew d orthread keetlase--en wee IMO& tmew hod Wad • sokslaser. Maim ever -w helm jmet lded ra . 4 hem th. , neasa at as era ell, sea Mem% ea ` tea awe girdle& lie Melee et • waned to the = le • begeat war noshed_ ape Ate min am olio therm et eaeMethese vtieli 1 WI =re °Paselbee Arlykre" se, hew to yes Islamise* teia thee alga at width • hinter media le sir NAM th reline eceaseleg the othell I ' ethe it s teasigeo Andynees." le It was elm , cin ch ed el the coos se mg ses, .Aen beam sal aas at the beard. X. ssa ems semis is es Wear, got erase al me, sad sem* deems. that u I p, should 4 1 1. fieltes sa his eh Mel I mei it f Ma cßae email 1 bed bard the Ton , emillistem semeg se way lesearshe mom= au r leralessa, sod vas meelpally fee ths le my _ em lova astX. None, baba- A isar di seimi l em ummeemed For his adventures in Spain, Algiers, and on the Mediterranean, we must refer ear evaders to the --- where they will find incidents sad descriptions looked for rather in the itedly Maws of a i-ecaram youth, seeing the world before be , than in the narrative of such a man as written when he was, as he says, "old and ..., my legs scarcely able to sustain me, while thoaOta revert involuntarily to that epoch • life when, young and vigorous, I bore the t fatigue The best consolation which the ass have, if disappointed to find such wow adventures told in somewhat braggart style` or in mind that the hero's erran d one d o inquiry, and his bottom that of eemplete trisacalation cut sheet by Or alb at in epain—a remmkable trait to be _to a youth of twenty. It mph* Wert to remember this as we are led tee, adventure to another and invited Is R ll lig st Ile soma SOW le Wiese m illibs r em e a reer 11. wig the em= elate ins m poled ?" I lei empeawdel la that Lep. • ▪ limitless I 3111".. ••= 1 wag ho e = Mika midi do pages he ellaitmami Vim est deal For hie id Nediterrane book, where to be looked !Arum-es:arc eettlea, tha Arago, writ infirm, ray thooih 0 or my lite ' greatest Eat reader can dared ads* is to bear it nimbi& in int the tr Wails LI sodded t same doe ea fres cc THE EXPRFSS, SATURDAY EVENING, JtLY 11, 1857. admire the boundless resources of the Crichton who kads us on. We have not room fur the scene mo destly described in the head s u re The Gift of Tongues" ( pp 2S-ffill, but wc can e mur readers that they would find it difficult to identify the gay &Meter, mystifying everybody who accosted him, sill the Arago whose name is identified the "reld with the history of philosophy. The latest remembrances of him by his eontreiC pararin are honourable and animatiug. His fidelity to his republican principles through all political and personal changes, is the grand point in cha racter—the great fact which covers and hides many foibles, and makes us lenient to some real faults. When the principles which he had held all his life raised him to the dignity of • place in the Provisional Government in POR, and to the Ministry of War and Marine, he did his utmost to restrain violence and to establish moderation; but be was not greater at that moment than in his sub , sequent "disgrace," as it is called, when he persisted in his smoke to give up the Observatory rather than take the oath of allegiance to the author of the Coup d'Etat. He was ready to be sent adrift in his old age, rather than compromise his republi canism. The virtue was not the less that he was spared the penalty he was ready to incur. It was the greatness of the virtue, in fact, which awed the ruling powers. They could not afford such a spectacle as an Arago deposed and impoverished for his repub licanism ; and the usurper specially exempted him from the obligation to take the oath. It is believed that though no personal penalty wee exacted from him, his grief and deeper at the turn public affairs had taken hastened his death. In leas than two years after the shock of the accession of Louis Napo leon, Arago was in his grave. These are the things that should be remembered amidst the disappoint ment which cannot but be caused by this book. Oue of the most interesting passages in the volume is that which introduces the memoir of Fourier, and which marks the time and mode of the transforma tion of the academician into the patriot and the sol diera phenomenon especially remarkable in modern Frame : la nom dor ems anderldes diced from another only la the swaher, asemb sad the ley of his disco* wens. Thar &en draws bi same sweets tato the maw ▪ swietel at war tide resew of serirk. A boy hood wow w slain= ; seentswonewfWess sl ow, wine. Orr seWd; inellnadeas thwifetel by ftsgdetwas a; shoo =ts ; losiwascy otwasee, no sawilese which is Nelsen ; thing yard • lebethas profes seeinpaml alba airdisr-wisk were the dereas from Ala We aludahle ildmis sit the early serretarion of the efthantwore eland le awe* thew portraits, so pionant, de BOWL sad :*oleo ireil erlant beet me of the poncipal mamma of w oldradma. (P. 242.) la short, achismised et eiddlited the same con ditions sad the NM Mundemede character which belongs to a lit istallealwal weak everywhere, till political revolutions mmarioned ability of every sort to the conflict, and was patriots and soldiers of men who had dreamed of a lifetime spent in the liberty, in the observatory, or the laboratory. In the first revolution, Badly was at the head of the Na tional Assembly ; and from that time to the latest conflict, the Academy of Sciences has sent out great men aa national exigencies required them. Arago lays, after speaking of Bailly's career : Whew at alder weak senewed urope laandad egoist 'twee aim el eider ; rhea ft Maws ssmiaple agars* brae Mishear= arres, it me the whir et the "Hard ear be Wiehmar sal Os Odendtrie des Paddmir air illsoneed ah alma war tbs. It wae, agrainsi=sahrigabsnomila SIMOMPIII• who =~the asodies whisk Frei M e e a visee la the seell= =Med 416\101.W was vism la am aid heel awls" ambushed GM item MOM pima eel Spe end dirty/Me sehable, asetalril ear sernsh trldi her thmest ewes end we= thismid amirs, seek a imbed themmi aimed the this et the Ismail with Wry lbrhty is the or time the awash, the Femme" she the Berteddre, sls• dr debase et iamb lehms =yams al iber amessided him ear mil, by msdlehe et the "my last OW et mllpseta - whei essidalk others tsmdamkg, by the aid et ear Ida maw La the the Mlle a the botos i _Olhoeb aid smiler lawbrehts • headishol a iaranyi widdieframeis owes& as Weed Ow de sight to swam tee sow dsphel ai the WE dWs esesdey_ Saeger, weer seadsrbess. tbe maw sod brand timsese, Naar sir sewed ell sees • arrestr et St labisermy. Ha to lint dissingebb istassitbilem mooweedsd KMIP•1111. 10 •• • %le le Ina 41611•11 111 h* Jar e6 ol•lt i. at the age tit fiery yews may, having rr arid the parer& Is • lance abusta shone the Asher ths limurgye, the Haw, the lbw gelid I heir here the ha escestary of the original andssay t Maw him isi• • addrard reribly, sato that esawralar the awrisery air= et whisk tee sigh Wiest be isethied perlen, Ara we call as Mal hew *des* With laser mil pa will shoo see the IlloOkos C eacluslvely with the gnat Wools et rows lad Weemoity. (P. 242.) No name on that honourable list will be brighter in the eyes of posterity than that of Arago. lie appears to advantage whenever he treats of the function mad the attributes of the intellectual shenieter fm modern France; and nothing in the bask ma be law interesting to the Engliab. reader dm dm wow which Marts the methods by sehish in sad cultivatioa descry kind ham ad vanced of labs in a Wigs remarkable foe its intel lectual acoompliahmenti Tim knowing amemet of the expansion se the holism d the eihmstar may I well fix the atbation Of friends of odimation to England, sad may be et se ion importance in the United Stater whom the inhoisrity of tha auracter and position of the ths midst al every provrion for reneeal Oat misty am de vise, is • great peopissity esol dismasessmset to =alio-spirited ahem Hum is • piston dm pro et leashing is hawk before and after the selabilthasisa d that porisatons institatimi the Naomi lishosL sem um maspierea the ablempliers ameasi edelisolos d whose emilldal howdy la i•••• 11 • dm as &OW lien d the By s. =Si& minalllA the het sad the dW well to lo the voodoo threw war Wee agestbs el the wham =hinneeet Mei Mt la dr moms. la the Was midis seimp, • Mle relish • Menage, • =• liessys, • BerdMot bad b Imes s e a le the der tides. if miler the =. th e P - We lisbadessatel swag Ns ram lam stets* gibers, mil the Proideas et the Ilsmia, yea Err babe the anglaraiss el tble ark the logubs stem by ihe mi liebssL You we we la Os sadost mut mimeo pesftesees emeamial in sows amiss baded psesiellm maw as hem • =M s the rapes" A ud i lli sod WOW+ st Oh . = Olt pot Year, rower vow her Os two Iwo Iteratog delis NO atlas"es thelfeenell Sisal and Weer sloe woe r Owe =The tothestOs ma oat o Ow se teve ee r . ens soar erpciated to the tea et ties the howl promise never ts mite my helms oblelt they might boo Wesel by Mort. Pier tbat We As dr* Ilseme •It obese the podheeor, WOOL se to spa, with Ws esilmse, meta their loclui, lath* paws, It air eitimessesesi mrsdeses the sesserty toe peemelleg at pram spud, 11106111" ea the cerzery, the sisendly et armskw tie reps, of wiratag the the 1 . 71 ... ar e. beeduard Warriehems, et drills. fs • am Is. the rid* visa Ibit eagesssal. Iled WI some hob= ride et Wsmillema AM de rot amps. that the breast tweimpas Weer with With the isssbabser • of the Plea SOW wombed odium te the polik. absOlool Titters, paid by the sel . meeted them The she" ellise=weltet by the we sot as the Masa pupils, Is mob= ski mama ihni le the week mi lamb of ths espablis la help esvenris, 'Midas. nos ma Is um writhing et risks await with Os pool westses ma mesa deer Ilmo Sanity, bassowr, wee& cow lo AO espeeit, boom skit a hey wpm, it I we voila is pit eas la this rig illusidans eashnlibm white mithmsrm peke wee soloed by the haulm of the Memel &Mal h is Wear Midst Ws. (PAM) Om eft Os Ord questions that will be caked about this whims is, how does Arno treat the illustrious contemporaries who are htie celebrated ? We have already referred to the distaste which exists among us to the French form of Ave. We must add that, in the hands of Arago, there is a per contra of satire and occasional disparagement offered to the reader, not much more acceptable than the high-flown eulogy. The panegyric prevails, of course ; but we find - frequent evidences that the calm and impartial temper proper to philosophy was not always Arag:o's temper; and there is touch of spite in the levity with which he Mlle anecdotes like the following. The situation of permanent secretary to the Aca demy was to be balloted for, the three candidates being Fourier, Biot, and Ar ago. The latter was an unwilling candidate, and he tells us that his protests against being voted hr, and his declarations on be half of Fourier, are supposed to have largely con dueed to Fourier's election : The meth was se loamy.: M. Towne waved thirty eight vows, and K. Blot tin la a ewe a/ this nature malt ism centens ceasmis me& bode ast tem ths risk a tutus, assopesemot aim vie my Inessiel wish the sa whhh ei Me Ando/a ei 4" l ret i =k ita . ; sno of Wales MA *Rd wrote do d bOlk raMTl:l7l* LIU (oldies thus ept./L wat tb s =MO book it, sad stes is tats moo moor "Yea sm tom mama sue ppm; I tea iihrg _to tee; up eau shell pat de elbardle ern hue be =MN omens air dish el the two esameene I boos estsL" Al noise re lle esiskierd essisolssa 101 l aid; ally Ask/rosy Gm lore di* esdabit lot lib vita been de Yams" • sad the admit as petsbiliths was la so oacheasoMay tor .rdelog st ids moat. (P. It) essat striking instance of unphilosophical prole" is perhaps in the treatment of Bailly's in quiry into the theory of Animal Magnetism put forth by Mesmer. Ilailly is abundantly eulogised; but, en the other hand, the whole subject is treated with a violence of tone which is incomprehensible, if the commission of inquiry had only shadows to fight with, as our author masts. We need not go into this. Everybody has heard of Mesmer . ' theory, his devices, and his dupes; and it matters little now whether the man was a complete impostor, or not an impostor at all, or partly deceived by a bewildering aimed of phenomena, and disposed to make the best of such an accident for the benefit of his own fame and fortune. As the man himself is not in question we need not touch on his history or character ; and we have no inclination to quote Armco's denuncia tions of that particular extravagance of a disturbed time, nor his coarse satire on all who believed what they thought they saw. Anybody can laugh, in the middle of another century, at the diverse em pirical methods by which it was attempted to sub ject the sick to a new and most subtle curat ive a g ent, believed in on far stronger evidence than philoso phers usually require for starting a hypothesis. Any body can despise the morbid , the ignorant, the silly people who are always carried away by any new marvel, and sure to make fools of themselves. An).body can declaim about the madness of Ms.. mount SO years ago, as about the madness of Seeds Sea speculators in Great Britain, and of the pens cuter. of witches in New England; but it is ant usual for the narrators to grow angry, fiercely see erotic, and broadly disingenuous in the treatment of persons who have hem half-a-century in their graves, and of a mania which is pronounced too *nous to affect any rational person. Yet M. Amp is thus angry and sarcastic ; and, we must add, hs is disinge nuous in his account of Bailly's investigation and re port. He conceals the fact that Dr. Franklin protested against being put on the commission, that he was never present but once at its sittings, and that he always declared that the use of his name was merely formal. Arago fails to point out the main fact of the whole case—that the business confided to the commissioners was simply to examine the theory of an animal-magnetic fluid, and not the genuineness of the phenomena asserted beyond what was necessary for that object ; and he conceals the facts that the commissioners admitted the genuine ness of many of the most remarkable phenomena, while pronouncing against the theory proposed by Mesmer for their explanation ; and that a subtle- irent commission, appointed to fill up the defi ciencies of the first, reported in favour of the facts asserted, and of the conclusion that a new a ge ncy must be admitted as the cause of them. M. Arago does not mend the matter by the provident caution with which he at last intimates, in a vague and mysterious way, that there may be facts of the human frame now and then disclosed, by which we are warned that a new world of discovery may some day open before the asto nished vision of physiologists. This saving word, put in to rescue himself from possible future charges of unphilasophical prejudice, is "polled in an attempt to cut off the men of the last century from any be nefit from it. While obscurely admitting that cer tain states of somnambulism offer very remarkable phenomena, he says they are in no way connected with the proceedings of Bailly's and Franklin's time bemuse they belong to " an entirely new world. of width those illustrious learned men did not even Gasp* the existence That was the pity. That " sew wide as peedely the region which the Mir&was appointed to explore ; and it is pra. dis gentlemen whom M.Aragu UMW. ni it 'ssissial_sorpttse -7MM. de Sigur, de Lafayette, sad might have had some thing le MA if listened to, about finding the may late it. The kind and degree of intemperance numiheleil by Amp in this matter must necessarily horde the valued his decisions in other COMM, and this diSculty remains, whether his pseionate invec tives against Mesmer and his followers were adapted to the temper of the academy, or a simple outpour ing of hie own feelings. Billy's is the first biography after Ames own. It is followed by Memoirs of William Herschel, Laplace, Fourier ' Carnet, Fresno!, Thomas Young, and James Watt. The substance of all of them is valuable, though the style is not altogether agreeable ; and to the English general reader the memoir of Yesft will perhaps be the most interest ing, with its tedsot justification of the claims of an injured man, and with the following anecdote to wards the close : la do yaw IRS 1 stab a tsar la balm& with my salsa tide Idsa4 li. thrtassaa llsamd_lod jut dra 'Mood aasisalles wog I domed toned seril'this "lam& sa Dletasike." This wadk, mdoMid. la sedisa, maddsla @mad amomast losollis will the demssim dory st deld, team, rim* do I lot "dirt el err hemedea with De. Time. Ile way sideithel at amassass mollisadme Midi la re upon em piney It, mg at Milli la staled le us that de very =witch we se red smiroodel bad Is pelt hag slam as INC is his dodo as oltalaro Plikseily." This smestisadd ma sera is mwalloodd. It emonsd !log sad Wads daseelea. Team wo Castut 111:rk=1:: rhtsZklitireb±:"ar.ii: me. the Maim lIMIKIMM fli im-tie memos Wld sit eery semesdtotes mmmaset llsolgests; tor meet et ddssmsrat ail Mee as till de so mas whoa Ito.. Thug Os* gild bee else: we the. Masa to stamp' MOMS aMEbEslmmk OM, her soma., the mem eserytag maw lot a • ham mot. mime. This see ths do mama dr " YAW Phi =." do plass& it ea tha Ws, sad Maim melee • g amest st ism 7117_, pshM4l MI6 her isur dmeam widikilsernmsmessulestthe /Mod( brads, ca 'kick the alissolsa dna% ems thestedsolly otehdhed. (P. 616.) The translators explain in a preface that they have annotated certain passages which seemed to them more or less incorrect at unfair. This is very well. It now remains for the publisher to guard the guardians—to set some one on the tract of the translators, in order to repair their errors. This would improve the book ; but we doubt whether anything that could be done with the existing ver sion could make it acceptable reading to those who have been accustomed to admire the life, and expect great things front the works, of Francois Arago. The Awtobiogrophy of Elkabeth Doris, a Bala. clans Nurse. Edited by JANE WILLIAM& Lon don : Hurst and Blackett. The story of government mismanagement in the Crimean war, the neglected soldiers, tie rotten stores, the melancholy hospital deaths of men who can never be replaced, has been told by more pens than one. The book before us —the autobiography of one Elizabeth Davis, a true Welshwoman, and a Balaclava nurse, corroborates the truth of all that has before been written about the lamentable Oats of the hospitals in the East during the war. Mrs. Dacia is s woman of high temper and strong prejudices, and three fifths of her autobiography is occupied with details about her early life, that are only interesting in so far as they show the rise and progress of a self-re liant, strong-willed, and conscientious character ; but the latter portion, which refers to the nursing organisation in the East, is valuable as • contribution to the history of the more homely, but not the less heroic, occurrences of the We war. We shall take art2Mrs. Davis's beak at the point when she for the Cria c inter the gniisaise of Miss Stanley. Miss N' she Nom to have con seised a strong Against from the first. She speaks of the ...,J meat of the nurses ; Ids clear la es oad esSant be three who agg sed her wad to w do. Two pm, woe ma dbdsai I woad= eat, sad dided wq sea bodge, bite I awe beilt s: r. Ms MINN oho Wags eels slue de bat does ammo mot base Ira Melly of ohs WI ate • d dodo d Asir owe. She middies a mod: W% Weems Italy Awed sas osall box apiece tr way of sad woe ast asset to orun it until vo g 4 to t)ietMVIOL I candle dome of Hasa is a bag, but by - the lesildrilnr; ileeerin. tee broad in the bottom. We had a leastmens voyage in her some thought the wee not elf w ar tibia& that was the este or ant, the fruit wee la bit ltdlitkl. She arrives at Therapia, and becomes discon tented : I was very me& disappointed, like the rest of Mies Stan ley'. party, at being seat to Therapia instead of having em ployment at ones is some military hospital. I was ready to go to the Crimea, end to do my best for the pour soldier. ; but I wee left without knowing want I yam to do, or whether I a t ould ever be set to the work for which I had hired my self; and, like the rest, I was discontented and &comfort- I knew that this state of things would be harder for Mice Stanley then for any of un, for she had not only her own dinppointinent to bear, but ours tim ; beside■ the ill-bo baviuur of two or three of the party, who dial,-need them aloes by drunkenness, as well as the discontent and slur ' swing of all the ladies and nurse*, who, knowing that their eervicee were really . and Pally wanting at Scutari, were kept sway front their proper work. which they had quitted home and friends to do; and left either to per their time in utter idleness, or to while it away in doing things of a sort which they had never engaged or intended to do. When Mina Stanley needle go to l'era and Coentantmople to see it there woe any opening for tet, the nuns would watch for her return, and flock around her like a swarm at bees, questioning and teaming, and spooking repreechfelly I among themselves, on purpose thvt rho might overhear them. Mire Stanley bore it wonderfully. I honoured bee for the patient, resolute way in which she eufferedit all,end kept her own counsel without condescending to complain, or to toll us tne trouble she was in. She used only to say— "ldo my best to get you employed. I hope you will not have to wan long. I cannot name the day." What a picture of the stores, though, unhappily, we have been made familiar with it before : I never era allowed to visit any of the wards, but I saw the patients in the long corridor, through which I passed in and out. On Friday morning . Mrs. Bracebeidge came to me, and sad abe wanted me to go into the stone from two o'clock until five, to sort the linen with other nurses. I think there were five of them. When I got into the stores, really I was shocked to see the condition they were in. If there wee a pound of rotten linen, there were thirty tons. I do net speak at random, for I am used to the weight of goods. I remarked to one of the nurse, " What • sin and a shame it was to see so much Bin spoiled." She answered, " Don't talk about that. Go to the mar guard stone, you will see everything, from a baby's shirt to a man's great cost—a hundred tens, if not moro—not wadi I • " What stores are they P" Irked. " They call them Mims Nightiogele'estores," abesaneeses& I never win in them, but I believe what she told thous I saw had water tinder them, sod wear war se it thawed that day, and the melted ice and new ems Iswa through the roof. The linen, good and bad, no la b bees mined together, was all rotten. Mr. Brasisidges cony was there. It woe Ins stable. Here is a slight tiff with Miss Nightimak t On Monday, at noon, Miss Nightingale ages Y malt speaking very politely, and telling me to sit down, is mill I understand that you have been upsetting my roman s I said, "No, I bare nothing to do with anybody but my self, but I want to ga home if I can't go to the Cameo." She inquired "Why 1" I said, " Bearer I deal like this place, nor anybody in it, nor do I like the eysteen." " You don't like ma, _then?' ohs said. "No, I don't," I said "but I never saw you before." " Before I go any further," said Mies Night imen, "I want to impress one thing particularly on your mil. If you do gu to the Crimea, you go against my will." This she repeated over and over again, adding, "Another thing which I wish to impress upon your mind to, that, if you misbehave younelf, there will be nohow for you here, and you will be sent straight to England from the Crimea." This put up my Welsh bleed, and I told her that neither man nor woman dared to accuse me of misbehaving myself. I had too much regard fur my employers to do that, even if I had none fur myself. She informed me that the bad made me over to a new superintendent, and I said (my Welch blood being up again), "Do ymt think I am • dog. or sn animal, to make me ovee P I have a will of my own." I persevered in my intention of going to Balaclava, and she ...nerved "Well, Mrs. Davis, Inuit let you go without some one to overlook you. If you do go," ate added, join ing her open hands sideways together, and then forcibly dividing than, and spenaingout her arms by her aide, " I have done with you end your new superintendent entirely." She arrived at Balaklava, and gives another awful testimony to the state of the hospital wards : On eetting out, the superintendent told me that I was not to speak to the When I got to No. 6 ward, pour _ „ _ ...„ _ • The Snit saying Ws ems odor cloths. 41 the leg i we wale • vt.l7 dindaillganoe acting upon the working of dirty-looldeg est. We we= by railway to Folkestone =derailed the Ctl to Boulogns. Wellies went tl PeebVebere we weee ss _ s _wer l e Tennis. By GEORGE MArlhrottn, author of be meet well we eteded there over Seal' On eeewwei we " Within and Without." London: Longmans. seat to Lyons; we pissed from thence own the Rho= to Vetoes, and west on by railway to Avignon sad Monial!e.. Some years nd Mr. Albert Smith is pritt- Tbere I west le the gutty, and *eked which of the obi.. cipallv amounts= the fact that our simile does we Inn le take oar passage by. not hold good in the present day—the good old The Egypt= was pointed out to rae, having stldnrs us board. classiest Parnassus very much resembled the now I ss a . t_iim a d at , i s a ped,l rol I i ft, 7 pip ~ " I haw it Cockney-haunted Nont Blanc. For, while very few Lit- - • 'in - ' - We adventurous - - surmounted the difficulties of youths the Mar de la cote, and stood triumphant on the culotte of the monarch of mountains, hundreds of tourists who had adventured so far as Montauvert and the Mcr de Glace took credit to themselves as Alpine climbers, and were received in awe and wonder by their friends at home : so, while but two or three gifted spirits had within our generation trodden the higher regions of Parnassus, its sides and base were thronged by minstrels of very various powers, who yet rejoiced in announcing themselves to the world in general as poets. When will these young men, who—directly they institute a rhyme between " mine" and " thine;' " heart " and " dart," and " heaven" and " given " become possessed of a frantic desire to rush into print, learn to know the difference between poetry and versification? When will they discover that to he prolific is not necessarily to be inspired, and that there is a want of respect to his r ea ders and an in ability to perceive either the real importance or the high prize of his calling in the poet who throws his first thoughts imme diately before the public, warm as they come from his head, and before he is himself in a condition to exercise a cool judgment upon them? Mr. George MacDonald, whose volume is now be fore us, is evidently in no condition to answer these queries, for what man in his senses could have printed and published a thick octavo volume of nearly 400 pages had he not imagined himself one of the yenta irritubile,who are "dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, the love of love." It Is not a pleasant task to undeceive any gentleman on to his own merits, but, in truth, it is a long time since we have met with such extremely bud' attempts at verse as those contained in Mr. MacDonald's volume. Heading it, we are re minded by a faint, far off jingle—a kind of spurious echo—of some of the best works of modern poets, fragments of blank verse after (oh, how long after!) Tennyson, sonnets by Hood, and ballads by Longfellow. These remarks may seem harsh, but we think our readers on judging for themselves, will acquit us of all malicious intent. Take the poem of two stanzas, which is called "An Old Story , for example : They were limited at last, although Each was tenderly dear; its ersosselsr tAar eyes did go, Whew first slate and near. 'Ti. an old story this— A trembling and a sigh, A gsse in the eyes, a Inas— Why will it nor go by P What on earth does it mean ? Two persons' eyes, which at first had been alone and, near, went asunder! Is that it? If so, it would be an in teresting case for the Ophthalmic Hospital report; and why will not what go by ? a kiss ? a gaze in the eyes? both? no • then the plural pronoun should be used. Our no; will excuao our pur suing the subject further—that way madness lies. Our next extract is a Scotch song, stated by the author to be sung by a lady " in the rough northern tongue of Aberdeen." We need only remark that after reading this gem, the proprietors of Burns' copyright have determined upon stopping any further issue of the poems of that highly over rated man. Yell bee me yet, yell lac me yet, Sae lang sn' braid, as never • hame I It'. ass the depth I fear a bit, But oh, the vacates, aye the same! The jaws* come up, wi eerie bark; Cryin I'm creepy, cauld, an' reen; Come done, cense he's ly i n ' stark, Come doom an' desk hie glowed's' ern. gyve triobt .1 they baud their weary roar, An' slide awn', on' I grow sleepy Or tang, they're up shoot my door, Yowlin', I'm could, an' weet, an' creepy! O doel, dool I ye are like the tide — Ye oak' a feint awe to gang; But I - awe* ye scions bide,— nisi - fallow. I "Ciol yea they oat. - me _ lam 1 aid bow be wee. She scolded or doings; aw l seinstel oder, that I should not spook to Oez joules le elm saws of thdr sainnh , The ant that I ma • sae Of tont Ws. The tem of both the man. het MI Weft the brasses. The had draw ors NI of at the Ina. t we • henight, es then rd le du weeks, nom the wounds of many_of those met hal ism looked at and drawl. What became of =my of the stores sent out by a sympathising nation, in addition to the government shipments, is sufficiently shown by the following statement ; what was intended as a solace to the wounded soldier became a splendid bargain for the eager Jew : I Misty paid • visit to • friend of mitre at Wools eh. I Toad that government stores sad free gifts were selling then by wholesale. Crowds of Jews and dealers cruse from hr end near to purchase tam. Articles of clothing had been ramrod from the Crimea to Woolwich: sad articles of feed, such a four, biscuits, eocos, to. to Deptford. I went to • chop at Woolwich, and listed if they had needs me rale from the Crimea ? The man answered Plenty." Ile showed me various thing*, and I bought of him as mealtime several articles of wearing apparel, both linen and eafteo—the mat of clothing of rich peop le— from among the fres gilla I ham also bought new clothes and haridker• which I knew to be foe gifts. Ziodeletrial and Social Position of Women in the Math and Lower Ranks. London: Chapman and Hall. The man who undertakes the remustruction of society as regards the gentler sex, accepts the r e sponsibility of a task which most of great social organisers would shrink from. Difficulties of no ordinary kind meet him at every step—inexperience —domestic prejudices—accumulated sentiment of ages—poetic objections—the anathemas of theology —and the recognised principles of political economy. Melancholy enough, no doubt, is the picture of the superficially educated girl with no earthly hope under heaven for a prospective subsistence than that of meeting with an eligible husband. Melan choly enough, no doubt, is the picture of the saute young lady, disappointed in her prospects, and thrown upon her remourees—the old, old story—a dressmaker or a governess. Let our author or authoress (for wso are ignorant which) speak for himself or Unreel! on these points: The dependenee at women on mania" ea the only mid andeihiga eamintehle settlement in life, most I=ll(Zmersiss wry peseealeiel bellesnes on her early on the Meath& se bar obaterter. And In the asst plea these is a striking Mara, given to her Woken* by Its unsettiednem of aim. It is like gambling. her fernmae Ise nay be geed is a day. and no won= bat is conesions et tab in seta el herself. So = iisi therefole, as the dimes et mange is open, the and kw of the expeolatka will occupy the mind more or Mai, sad interfere with appileation to soy other pursuit. If the lot fell right, the wwheeitss purpose of life is regarded is NOM, and a enemy Is kit In the mind ever after; if the lot fail, there is loft no tar or spirit to turn the mind and permute into another elawnsi. However, as an evidence that industrial occupa tions are not wholly neglected by the female sex, a series of Bores are given in the work before us, extracted from the census of 1851, exhibiting the employments of women of twenty-one years of age and upwards—an interesting document. In connexion with that document is a subject that cannot, from any false delicacy, be ignored; and our author very properly alludes to it. It is a melancholy fact that, if from ignorance, overpopu lation, or want of judgment, female labour persists in crowding into a market already overstocked, the rate of wages will fall, even below mere sustenance point, and prostitution become the inevitable re source. Pamphlets, volumes, and newspapers may fulminate against this; but there are but a few practical remedies—early religious training; fore thought and prudence ; abstinence from imprudent marriages ; education as applied to extend the area of female occupations, and to overcome the repug nance to emigration. Our author, who has much to say at every step of this interesting and difficult subject—the social and industrial position of women—devotss the close of the volume to the omsideration of their political status. But any of the questions which he dis cusses are bejmd the power of my government to control, and must depend for a satisfactory or un satisfactory solution upon the advance or retro lang ye o. An' better greet than aye fang. We will conclude by extracting a translation from Ultland, which, for sheer badness, we back against anything that has been ihmied by a respectable pub lisher for the last ten years: In a lovely garden walking, Two lovers went hand in hand; Two wan, sick figures. talking, They eat in the flowery land. Oa the cheek they limed each other, Mg they kissed upon the month ; feat diagad they one another— And but ewe their health and youth. Two habilis mig shrilly, And the drum went with the hoar She lay in the cloister stilly, He tar in the dungeon tower. 71.aralated from Maid. Shade of Catnaeh, from thy nook in Hades, look down upon this effusion, and see what a splendid contributor thou halt lost ! • Jaws EnglioA, breakers. Tat LIKE or C0r0..-We are at Como, on the i lake—that spot to beloved of opera dancers—the day-dream of prima donor—the Elysium of retired barytones I And with what reason should this be the Parodies of all who have lived end sighed, and warbled end pirouetted, within the charmed circle of the footlights ? The crystal waters mbror ing every cliff and nag with Intense distinctness ; the vege tation variegated to the very verge of ezheveganoe ; c trees overlosded with fruit; arbutus only too murl n be spangled with red beeves; vines, more coquettish than ever sceoe-peinter caraived, with vistas of rooms within, all redolent of lardy ; tensor, and statues, sad vase., and fountains, sad marble Weenies, steeped in • thousand balmy odours, make up • picture which well may &winede those whose ideal of beauty Is formed of such gorgeous groupings. There is something of unreality in the briWant °Glowing and variety of the scene suggesting the notion, that at say moment the tenor may emerge, velvet mantle and all, from the copse before you; or a pima donna, in all the evel ment of her back hair, ruah madly to your feet. There is not a portal from which an angry father may not issue • not • shady syak that might not be trod by an uicensed biro I The rustic bridges •0001 made for the tiny feet of short potticoeted damsels, daintily tripping, with whito-napkin covered baskets, to soft music ; and every bench appears but waiting for that wearied old peasant, in blue stockings, etaff, and a leather belt, that has vented his tiresomeness in this same spot for the last half century. Who wonders, if the distracted Princess of " the scene " should love a pie tare that raisin the most enthusiastic triumphs of her auc efts ? Why should not the retired " Peri "like to wander at will through a more enchanting garden than ever she pirouetted in ?—„Darrsport Dem. No. I. A new story by Charles Lever. INCREARE IN BRAIN Diskttitt.—lt is a question entitled to the mime consideration of the practical phy sician and medical pathologist, whether there baa not bum of late years a marked increase in the number of cases of diaries of the brain and nervous aystem? We think the fact is indisputable. Physicians, who have favourable op pmtunitiee of investigating this subjoct not only agree in opinion that ouch dimessee are of more frequent occurrence, but that certain unfavourable (but in its incipient stage, certainly not incurable) type of cerebral dborgante . ation develops itself In the present age, at a much earlier period than formerly. Softening of the brain, for example, now often manifests, itself at the early age of thirty and thirty-five! It is indeed lamentable that the brain and mind should yield to the influence of certain noxious moral and physical agents, at a time of life when the intellect ought to be in an active and vigorous condition of mercies and health. That the brain in the present day is overworked—dot its physical (motions are unduly eser deed, sitrainedoned taxed in the great effort required, n the severe struggle and battle of life, to obtain intellectual eupeemary, professional emolument and statue—is a fact which the ployeician epecially engaged in the treatment of this Clare of maliultes cannot ignore. It is difficult to say why that portion of the delicate nervous tissue ao intimately and mysteriously associated with the phenomena of mind should be more amenable, in the present epoch, to the influ ence of those cause. which are known to exercise an inju rious influence upon the organ of thought. Has the brain deteriorated in Pa structure ? has it lees power of resisting the effects of airente brought to bear upon its (unctions P It is an admitted fact that the type of nearly all dares of disease boa, within the last fifteen or twenty years, under gone a material modilication.—hertidt of .Peyeholofical Medicine, for July. FOREIGN-OFFICE, JIILY 7.—The Queen has been Ilisamed to approve of Mr. Henry diehard Van der Spar as maul at Point de 011ie, in the Island of Ceylon, for his Mejesty the King of the Netherlands ; and of Mr. William Thomson as coned at Sou.thenaptcut for ihp United BMWs of THE WEEKLY PRESS. We reed in the Lrado r :—" The defalcations with respect to the Regiion Ikhdlli in Ireland amountwl to about 30,0001., those in Buckingham l'alacis w 12,0001., those in the Adotirslty Registrar Office to 60,0001, those iu the Council Oh ice to about 3,001/. The amount of those in the Treasury, Intestate Edate, and Escheats were of sat unknown amount. Four years tgll, a tV11111.111211 wan sent down to an important provincial town, t o examine the accounts of a parson suspected to bo in wean. •For four years,' said a witness, last week, before a parliamentary committee, ' the wtole of the system was one great fabrication. The accounts sat up and audited, and loaned according to the usual forms of audit, were perfectly fabulous.' It may be added that . . rumours were afloat 'moo months ago of an estensite • dm,s upon the Secret Rorie Fund. Perhaps there fr•qr tral auggest to liberal members the neceerity of a searching inquiry into tha financial administration of the public de. pattments." By the majority of Wednesday week, the MUNI of medical reform, says the Lane( t, landed t f unaseelably on an eminence, where it rests no longer threatened by destruction, either from the interested maehinations of individuals, or from the mistakes of select committees. A greet principle wan established when the voice of th e liouae of Commons pronounced emphatically against cen. tralintion and government dictation in the affairs of ny medical profusion, and decided in favour of wolf-government. That the country is with the profesaion—that it a, know ledge, their superior judgment in the matter of eelf•edaca. lion, and in all regulations pertaining to their own efficiency, and therefore to the interests of the public—could not have been more strongly enunciated. A majority of one hundred and forty-seven, or these to one, in support of a profession, who are backed by no great aristocratic influences, is a triumph to Mr. Ilendlatua bill, which might well excuse some exultation on the part of its supporters." The Thames Conservancy Bill, which practically continues the control of the river in the corporation of London, has passed the Common,. The Wkly hivete.A observe.;—" Not a singleeit. , trading or mercantile interest, is represented at the Board of Conservators, although the bill empowers the tanservaturs to tax, at their discretion, the whole shipping and merchandise of the port. The river has been so scandalously neglected by the very conservators appointed by the bill, that in place of its being widened, deepened and purified, the teen in the dock' come up sick and fevered with the stench and malaria they encounter, and persons going up and down the river find the noxious effluvia floating around them not less dangerous than disgusting. So many places are silted up, and so many shoals are suffered and accumulated, that the navigation has been impeded. In fact, nothing bas been dune for the trade. and heavy taxes have been taken from it. We trust the bill will be amended in the Lords by enforcing the representation of the trade and shipping at the hoard. Surely the chairman of Lloyd's, of the dock companies, of the Eut India Associa tion, and other bodies, know as much about the subject es the lord mayor or the common council." The Press remarks that a session like the pre sent is not remembered by the passing generation. "A Premier without a party—liberals without lestlers—a minister without me cures, describes the condition of the successors of the reform party. Only for the election com mittees there would scarcely be a ripple on the parliamentary surface. Something of a faint political interest is still pre served in the anxiety to know what report wan made in certain cases of asserted intimidation and imputed treating. It seems to be the age of a lounging liberalism. Nothing is done now, becauee in the next session we are promised a reform bill, and quidnuncs specu late an to whether the Prime Minister really means to intro. duce any innovations in parliamentary privileges. Against this ministerial lassitude there will be a strong political re action through the country. In this year the excitement of the general election occurring at an awkward period of the session interrupted the regular working of parties, and absorbed a large portion of popular interest. But such excuiles cannot last for ever, and political questions of a serious character must be again cubtnitted to the public mind. Eventualities of the highest importance may occur before m• other session has paused ►way, and the force, wealth, num bers end organisation of the conservative body may be en abled to command that official influence due to its great In the course of a debate in the House of Commons but Tuesday night, Rear-Admiral the Hon. Arthur Dun combs made an attack upon Sir Charles Napier. The mar admiral is reported to have said, that he "entirely disagreed with all the observations of the gallant admiral. He, fo r one, did not wish to see ships run away ; and as to fighting, the gallant admiral had given them little chance of doing that when he had a test under his command." Of this the L'nited Service Casette indignantly "aye, "Imagine a speech of that sort coming from an officer who never saw a shot find in anger during tho period of his naval service! Rear-Admiral Duncombe's career has been one of M. linnet professional prosperity. He has sailed on a sea el glass, and never Imew a difficulty. He joined the navy is 1819, and in 1826 he was made a lieutenant, in 1829 a aom mender, and in 1834 a captain. In all this officer chaos thirteen years full pay service, or six year. commiesicad time only. lie never hoisted a pendant as a captain, nor in any way served her Majesty until the Duke of Northumber land made him a Lord of the Admiralty. He has, therefore, been filling his pockets with money, making no return for ft in the way of servitude, and has been bottling up wrath against a venerable officer who, with all his faults sad eccentricities, has seen shot fired, and has shown no incur siderable amount of real for the good of the navy." The Economist condemns the attempts which it appears are being made to induce the public in the mendato luring districts to enter into a combination against the gal of sugar, in order to frustrate the machinations of speculators. " So long as the great demand which exists in the toad States, on the continent of Europe, and in other parts alga world continues, the only effect of such an attempt ed bo to divert from this country the supplies which otherwise would have reached it, and to that a toll limit our trade of import, and to some a• tent our trade of export in return for such imports. If the high price arises from artificial canna, we may bears it does not require any combination to correct it if feats natural causes, any attempt to limit the demand by led means can only aggravate the scarcity by discouraging ON supplies which would otherwise reach this country. Weld hoped that the &yelled long gone by when any such brit• less attempts would find favour with any classes in that country : we shall regret if it shall prove otherwise, u that Seals could not fail to inflict a prejudicial influence cps ur general trade." The Record would be glad to find some membe if the legislature ascertaining front the Archbishop of Con terbury or the Attorney-General why the scale of fees chard by bishops' secretaries In ems of ordinations, licenses, ion" tutions, bas not ban published for the informational the clergy. "We have constant complsints... add the Record, "of the encroachments of bishops' sector* and Otero is one of very recent origin to whil venture to call the attention both of the Arcbbisleg of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. We hare heel that some of the Bishops' secretaries, availing rho:maned I the demand for occasional services in schoolrooms and oils ' unconsecrated places, have discovered that it would be acol I convenient and lucrative source of revenue to require. st for every such piece of worship a bishop's li c ense 'boa IS taken out at rho expense of a guinea fee. This is s num emus attempt against which both the clergy sod WR should present an uncompromising front of resistance The John Bull is informed that it is the Bank d England that holds the wires by which the poppets d government legislation are moved on the question of tot Probate Administration Bill. "The Bank authorities Mk it into their heads that the country officials would be womb inferior in the performance of their duties as compared Ildt the London officials, that they apprehended serious jetfoil to their establishment from the possibility of stock bog transferred to the wrong person in virtue of a loci probate, in which case the Bank would of Comm la called upon to make good the loss. They consented by yri of a compromise to run this risk in smaller amounts, tahl i g 1,5001. as the limit : but beyond this they insisted on the sap' posed security of the London functionaries. e old led ! of Downing-street was fain to succumb to lady aa Throsdneedle-street, and of coulee when awe jected the limitation, away goes the bill. We think Bank of England was mistaken in its alarm, and Met best • are just likely to be perpetrated in London is is 11/ country," able t* Mr. J. B. Gomm—We are happy to be . inform our readers that Mr. Gough .111 Ire America di the 16th of this month by the Niagara , for Ese k. . Weekly Record.