The Press. — London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

r 330 OPIERIPP • • . 111 So speaks a fair girl shut up within the Laurel ; and the Laurel opens its leaves. • The maiden springs out, and descends dancing into a flowery valley. The pale betrothed of the Sun shines softly through the clouds, and the nymph flits throughthe valley, light as the breeze when it passes over the flowers. Her large eyes reflect the soft and loving light of the stars, and her long hair breaks in a golden flood upon her shoulders. "Listen, sweet girl," says a young and handsome stranger. " Your locks are more beautiful than the beams of the sun npon a lily ; but accursed be thy loveliness, for it has troubled my life and my youth " At these words a blush burns on the cheek of the maid like drops of blood from a wounded bird, fallen upon the snow of the morning. The young stranger tries to embrace the beautiful Daughter of the Laurel, but the fair-haired maiden flies fast through the pale shadows of the night. When far from the traveller she stops, and seems to defy him ; but when the youth approaches she flies again, and both at length disappear in the flowery groves. " The Star Queen sleeps in her palace of clouds ; sleep also, gentle and lovely girl; try to calm thy sighs." So sings the handsome stranger. From this specimen, which constitutes more than half the first poem—altogether there are nearly forty—the reader can form a fair judg ment of the rest. Explanatory notes follow. Six national airs of Roumania complete the volume. The third, in the plaintive key of E fiat, bears a resemblance in many passages to the national music of Ireland. We cannot conclude without expressing our opinion that " Songs and Legends of Rouma nia" is creditable for a first attempt. The introduction contains useful information, while the music, with " dreams of sunshine and " flowers, of moons and stars, and silver seas " —though the last are, as Mr. Macaulay has elaborately proved, viewed in an educational and geographical light, objectionable—may yet secure for this work, with its plain, brown binding, a place on those drawing-room tables where erst the gorgeous annuals bloomed. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. The Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review is a full number. It contains eight articles, besides the usual literary information. The first, entitled " Re sults of the Census of 1851," is an interesting paper on the census in connection with the history of the progress of English society; the second, " Manners and Fashion," is an attack, in which there is much that is true, upon the des potism of fashion ; the third is a criticism on Archbishop Whately's treatise on Christianity, which is tantamount to requiring proof of every proposition stated, without reference to the proofs which may have been adduced by the author or others elsewhere. Passing over "Criminal Legislation and Prison Dis cipline," we have, in the fifth article, " Lord Camp bell as a Writer of History," a damaging onslaught on the Chief Justice, though, as regards the charges made against Bacon in respect of Essex, Mr. Ma caulay might have been included in the same indict ment. " Schamyl, the Prophet Warrior of the Cau casus," supplies the title of the sixth article, which is a condensation of all the recently-acquired informs• tion on the subject of the war in the Caucasus, most interesting and important at this moment. In a :per on "Thomas de Quincey and his Works" it is cidentally remarked that America, being separated mi us by space, is not influenced by our jealousies d fashions, and, therefore, stands to us somewhat the relation of posterity, whose judgment in literary criticism it will in general anticipate:— " Of this fact the English public is becoming gradually aware. It cannot but remember that Carlyle was recog nised in America long before England had perceived his genius and his strength. It knows how the most graceful 'very de society' in the language lay forgotten among musty periodicals and reviews till Amer►ca had collected the poems of Mackworth Praed. It was America who first collected and reprinted the admirable miscellanies of James Martineau, and it was America who firstrepublished the vagrant articles of the ' English Opium-Eater.' " In " The Balance of Power in Europe," which is the last article, we find the following in reference to the negotiations with Russia and the conduct of the Mi nistry, viewed with the advantage of the light thrown upon them by the secret correspondence : " With respect to the part which our own Government has taken in the reply to these overtures, we think we might have expected a more decided tone of moral repro bation than we can discover in the letters of Lord John Russell and Lord Clarendon on this occasion, and we think that public opinion will ratify our judgment. But we are now utterly at a loss to understand on what ground credit could have been given to the Czar in the course of the recent negotiations for magnanimity, moderation, and good faith. His designs had been avowed to the Envoy of Great Britain and. were known to the Government ; and it was inexcusable toendeavour to delude the nation into the belief that they thought him sincere in his pacific profes sions, or that any of the resources of diplomacy could meet the emergency. The Ministers of the Crown, while deal ing a deadly blow to the character of their adversary, have, we fear, not a little compromised their own." THE PRESS. Blackwood has eight articles, forming altogether an excellent number. The second, on the " Puppets of All Nations," is both learned and entertaining. The readers of the PRESS may, from a review which re cently appeared in our columns, be aware that the Huguenots repaid those lands which sheltered them from fire and sword by displaying as citizens an in dustry and intellect above the average ; but the ingenious author of the article in Blackwood sug gests that amongst the benefits they conferred on England may be specially numbered the introduc tion of the great Mr. Punch : - " ' Some have imagined I know not what secret and fan tastical connection between Punch's name, and even be tween the fire of Punch's wit, and the ardent beverage of which the recipe it is said came to us from Persia. It is going a great deal too far in search of an error. Punch is simply the name of our friend Pulchinello, a little altered and contracted by the monosyllabic genius of the English language. In the early period of his career in England we find the names Punch and Punchinello used indifferently for each other. Is it quite certain that Punch came to London from the Hague in the suite of William III.? I have doubts of it. His learned biographer admits that there are traces of his presen'e in England previous to the abdi cation of James 11. . . . Certain passages of Addi son's pretty Latin poem on puppet-shows (Machine Ciotti culantes) prove that Punch's theatre was in great progress on the old London puppet-shows in the days of Queen Elizabeth.' The personal appearance and some of the cha racteristics of Punch certainly induce a belief that he is of French origin ; and, even though it be proved that he was imported into England from Holland, may it not be admitted as highly probable that he went to the latter country with the refugees, who for several years previously to the revolution of 1688 had been flocking thither from France ? We risk the question with all diffidence, and without the slightest intention of pronouncing judgment on so important a matter." Neither shall we ; but we may add that Addison fre quently refers to Pulchinello in the Spectator. "What shall we Collect? " is the title of an article in which Mr. Dyce's proposal to convey instruction in the his tory of art by purchasing pictures not solely with reference to their excellence, but rather as they illus. trate chronologically the progress of painting, is dis cussed and severely censured. The critic contends that the primary object of those to whom the funds for advancing national art is entrusted should be to procure good pictures, not a series in which many must necessarily be bad. In the " Reform Bills of 1852 and 1854 " a comparison most damaging to their noble author is instituted between those measures, and the last few years of Lord John Russell's career are thus graphically sketched " We see him, session after session, blabbing about fu ture schemes, and pledging himself unconditionally to their introduction. This is really intolerable, and it is full time that the nuisance should be abated. If the noble lord is of opinion that, notwithstanding all which we have heard and seen, he has still power and reputation enough to head an independent party, let him leave the Cabinet, and then, as a plain member of Parliament, he may pledge himself to his heart's content. But while he remains a minister and servant of the Crown he is bound to maintain the dignity of his position, and preserve a due decorum, instead of acting like a popularity-hunter anti a partisan. Of late he has let himself down wofully. We are not ac customed in this country to see Ministers, while in office, engaging in literary squabbles, and exposing themselves to damaging rejoinders by petulant paragraphs and abso lutely deplorable sneers. Their duty is, not to write or edit gossip and scandal, but to devote themselves heart and soul to the affairs of the nation and the service of their So vereign ; and, if they are not willing to abandon their favourite pursuits, they ought at once to withdraw." The " Blue Books and the Eastern Question," with its supplement, the " Cost of the Coalition Ministry," the former written before, the latter after, the publi cation of the secret correspondence, read together, constitute an excellent article. Fraser is a good number, containing eleven articles. In the first an exposition, not a criticism, is given of Professor Maurice's theological views. The writer expresses an opinion, in which we cannot concur, that Mr. Maurice is emphatically a " great man." Few men are entitled to the epithet great whose powers are confined to only one department. Omitting mere fiction, the scientific articles deserve notice. " The Electric Telegraph" is a lucid summary of the pro gress of that extraordinary instrument, which, though glimmerings of its possibility seem to have visited the world long before, it was reserved for the nine teenth century practically to apply. The writer should have mentioned that in Addison's Spectator the principle of the electric telegraph is described. " Glaciers" is an interesting review of Professor Forbes' work on that subject. It announces no new discoveries, but strongly corroborates former theories. From the summit of the Jung Frau the professor saw a cloud ten thousand feet in vertical diameter. " Old Stores" is the title of a paper which, though we cannot agree with many of the opinions expressed in it., is a good specimen of what a magazine article should be, —amusing and instructive, giving us the salient points of several works recently published: the whole is pleasantly introduced under the false pretence of being a treatise on the commissariat de partment, but the author pleads in defence that no• SATURDAY, thing has now a chance of being read which is not supposed to have some relation to the war. In the political article, "The Reform Bill and the War," the writer seems to be puzzling himself with the refine ments and distinctions of his own reasoning, and finally a rives at the consistent conclusion that the Reform Bill is an excellent measure which ought not to be passed. He even cautions Lord John Russell against being misled by the "malignant eloquence," &c., of this journal. There is no occasion to caution any one, in return, against the Peelite drivel of Fraser's April politics. The Dublin University Magazine for this month is too grave and archaeological. We were attracted by the title of an article, " A Fresh Start in the Gold fields of Discovery," referring to Orientalism and an tiquarian decipherings, and not to Australian topics. Then we have a long essay on " Nubia and the Nile,' and an article that should have been printed last year, on " British Rule in India." The visit to the " Garrick Club" concludes the compiled anecdotes about the subjects of the pictures on its walls. The best things in the article are a well-penned tribute to the talents of Miss O'Neill, which we believe to be perfectly just, and a very curious account of the for geries of Shakspeare's portraits, which is so interest ing that, though pressed for room, we will extract it : " It ought to have been stated before, that in this col lection are two portraits of Shakspeare ; one, a reduced copy by Ozias Humphreys, from the Chandos picture ; the other a suspicious-looking original without a pedigree, pre sented by H. Broadwood, Esq., M.P. All collectors should be on their guard against the army of pseudo-Skakspeares with which Zinke, a well-known and clever picture-cleaner and repairer, inundated the world, and gulled the credulous. His favourite subjects for conversion were old women, with high caps, to leave room for the capacious forehead of the bard—or discoloured James the Firsts! The celebrated Bellows forgery, by which Telma was swindled, and which he obstinately believed in to the day of his death, may be quoted as the finest emanation of Zinke's genius, and worthy to be classed in bold effrontery with the Ireland fabrications. Talma gave two hundred pounds sterling for this precious relic, painted on the exterior of an immense pair of bellows said to have been the undoubted property of Queen Elizabeth. Neither was them wanting an appro priate legend in good old English, also supplied by the prolific brain of Zinke. It ran thus "Whome have we here, Stucke onne the bellowes? Thatte prynce of goode fellowes, Willie Shakspere. Oh! curate untowarde lucks, To be thus rueanlie stucke." " Poins." Naye, rather glorious lotte, To hymme assign'd, Who, like th' Ahnightle, rydes The wyngee oth, winde." " Pystolle." The enthusiastic French tragedian bestowed upon his purchase a sumptuous decoration, lined with velvet, the whole being enclosed in a mahogany case. On the sale of Talma's property at his death, all the Parisian fashionables attended, the grand object of attraction being the Bellows picture. During the sale it was stated that the painter was a Flemish artist of the name of Porbus ; that M. Telma had refused a thousand napoleons for the portrait ; and that on one occasion, when the tragedian had been visited by Mr. Charles Lamb, the latter, being shown the picture, fell upon his knees, and kissed it with idolatrous veneration. This was an unskilful parody on what James Boswell actually did when the Ireland manuscripts were placed be fore him, and he had satisfied himself that they were genuine. The bellows portrait accordingly was knocked down, after much competition, to a fortumate bidder for three thousand one hundred francs, about one hundred and thirty pounds sterling, and was transported back to Londor, where it may stillbe obtained as the only authentic likeness of Shakspeare. At a corresponding price, Zinke first sold it to Mr. Foster, the well-known dealer in curiosities, who die• posed of it again for five guineas, not as an original, but avowedly as a modern antique, intended as a mere memento of the bard of Avon. The picture is, undoubtedly, an old woman in a high cap, decorated with blue ribbons, and ha been twice transformed into Shakspeare—the second time even snore skilfully than the first. W'hether there is really in existence any genuine portrait of Shakspeare is a question that has been so often discussed, and so vehemently dis puted, that it would be idle here to plunge anew into the contrcvcrsy. None can be considered as entirely proved, though evidence preponderates in favour of the following, which may be authentic, although they do not strongly re semble each other. 1. The Felton portrait. 2. The Chan dos portrait. 3. The Jansen portrait. 4. The miniature lately in possession of Sir James Bland Burges. 3. The miniature lately in possession of C. Auriol, Esq. To which may he added, what ought to have been placed first. in the list, the Stratford bust, and Droeshout's engraving prefixt d to the original folio of 1823, the painter of which is un known. Whatever faith nifty be placed in all or any of these, the rest are decided impostures." The other articles call for no particular notice. The New Monthly Magazine opens with the continua tion of " The Flitch of Bacon, or the Custom of Dunmow," from the editor's pen. Mr. Cyrus Red ding contributes a hastily-penned notice of a gossip ing character on the late Sir Thomas Talfourd, " whose talents," says Mr. Redding, " were rather " the result of unwearied industry than the gift of " nature" (p. 413)—a curt expression of an incor- IMENWOMP , ‘ RINNI