The Press. — London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

42 attribute the conduct of the Emperor Nicholas to a desire to extend his dominions when he has promised to retire " from the principalities as soon as the " Sultan complies with his requisitions." The jour nals are indeed dull not to see the beautiful dis tinction between an acquisition of territory and an acquisition of authority over the population of a ter ritory. But the following extracts will give a better idea of this strange performance than any words of ours : " The friends of peace and progress, however, were speedily consoled by a quiet observation of Lord Aber deen, in reply to an Opposition peer, that no treaty ex ists by which we are bound to assist Turkey, iu case of war with Russia • ." • " The demands of Prince Mentschikow, followed by the occupation of the principalities, was a grievous offence towards the powers, who were bound in union with the Emperor of Russia to the independence of Turkey, and to its integrity, such as it existed at the time of that agree ment ; the occupation being an overt act in direct oppo sition to the chief object of that allianc3; and the offence having been aggravated by the second note of Count Nes. selrode." The rest of the pamphlet is similar. From its conflicting and confused propositions, which it would require logic of a peculiar kind to reconcile, from the pedantic accuracy with which the Russian names are spelt, and from its Russian and Ministerial leaning, we were in some doubt whether to attribute it to the Baron Brunow, the Chanceller of the Exchequer, or the Cabinet, On consideration we think it must have been conceived by the first, executed by the second, and revised by the last. Pictorial Calendar of the Season, &c. Edited by Mary Howitt. London : Bohn. THE titlepage tells us that this work exhibits " the " pleasures, pursuits, and characteristics of country " life for every month in the year, and embodies the " whole of Aikin's Calendar. of Nature. " It is, indeed, a charming nulange of poetry, anecdote, and description, culled and gleaned from various sources, including many of our popular authors and some of our best poets, Shelley, Wordsworth, Southey, Burns, dc. The illustrations, of which there are 1(K), are, with few exceptions, all good, and some superior. A snowstorm in Scotland, which lasted for thirteen days, is described : " At the termination of the storm, on the thirteenth day, there were many farms on which not a single sheep waslelt alive. Misshapen walls of dead bodies, surrounding a central knot of other sheep, also dead, was the sight which in too many instances met the eye of the ruined shepherd or farmer. On those farms which were situated in the glens between mountains, many of the sheep survived the storm, but their constitutions suffered so severely that few ultimately recovered. Nine•tenths of all the sheep in the south of Scotland are supposed to have perished II this snowstorm. In the pastoral district of Eskdale Muir, out of twenty thousand sheep, only forty young wethers and five old ewes were preserved. Many of the fiums were so utterly ruined as to become tenantless and valueless for several years," This was certainly very dreadful ; but when we read, " indeed it is said that even now the mention of this " period to an old shepherd on a stormy winter's " night seldom fails to," dm., frighten him in fact, we notice this because it is an imaginative kind of writing which Mr. Macaulay has made fashionable, and is entirely opposed to facts. " The neighbour " ing villagers long remembered," dc., " Old people " whose grandsires, dm, still can tell," dc., are expres sions thickly scattered over Mr. Macaulay's works, and he is corrupting our lesser writers by his ex ample. The snowstorm of which Mary Howitt speaks occurred in 1660 ! and she might as well say that we are afraid now when the wind rises because the greatest storm of wind ever known in this country swept over England in 1659. Instead of being influenced by past dangers, men treat them as if they could never recur. Cottages cover the slopes of Vesuvius, and the Swiss peasants cannot be induced to quit the mountains which move and will one day surely fall, as others did before. Our criticism is directed more against a style of writing than against the " Pictorial Calendar," which is a delight ful volume of nearly 000 pages. The Coming Era of Practical Reform. By James Silk Buckingham. London : Partridge, Oakey, and Co. _ . - - - WI-MN an author commences a prospectus of his intended publications with an allusion to his "in " creasing age and decreasing physical powers . . . . " with several recent and emphatic warnings as to " the insecurity of health," &c., it is an appeal which almost disarms criticism. Still, when Mr. Bucking ham tells us that "sixty years of his life have been " passed in a more than usual activity," we cannot refrain from observing, not only that he was well entitled to repose, but that, if the book before us ( which is the first number of a projected series) is a fair specimen of what we are to expect from his pro- brres=ss THE PRESS. tracted labours, a grateful world would not distill.") him were he to take the rest he needs. As the original MS. of the present essay was burnt in the fire that destroyed the Royal Exchange, the views expressed in it are sufficiently old to possess the charm of novelty. The original dedication was mo destly addressed to the Queen, and is dated "on the Atlantic Ocean," but the latitude and longitude a. e not given. However, we learn that "it was written " . . . on board the ship President, on her way from " England to America, and the greater portion of it " was penned amid the profound stillness of the " midnight watch, when the greater part of the pas " sengers were buried in deep sleep." The pages thus impressively introduced are fifty-six in number, whereof fourteen are prefaces, addresses, d•c. The rest are occupied with pointing out and suggest ing remedies for defects in the first Reform Bill. Mr. Buckingham would admit every one to the fran chise except minors, women, drunkards, and paupers —lunatics he does not except.. But, though he would open the door so widely, he yet demands qualifica tions from those who would enter. One is a know ledge of the four first rules of arithmetic, which, if old tales are true, would have excluded many accom plished orators. Another is " good moral character "for sobriety and integrity." Were these sugges• tions to be adopted, Mr. Coppock would soon prove the Radical part of the population to be saints, ascetics, and profound arithmeticians. But two more " remedies " proposed we cannot refrain from giving, and Mr. Buckingham shall do it in his own words:— " l t would be well to give to every voter who should have obtained a degree in any of the public schools, col leges, or universities, authorised to grant the same, an additional vote for each degree conferred, as Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Laws ; and the same for Fellowships of any of the Royal Socie ties, as those of the Royal Society proper, Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, the Royal Academy of Painting, the Royal Society of Literature, Geography, &c., mem bers of the bar, registered solicitors or attorneys, and authorised professors of any of the various branches of literature, science, or art, actually engaged in teaching the same at. any of the public schools or colleges of the kingdom. - - - - - • - • " And, on the same principle, the claims of property, and its contribution to the revenue of the State, might be legitimately recognised by an additional vote for every twenty pounds per annum contributed to the local and general taxa•ion of the country, in county rates, parochial rates, and assessed taxes." If the latter proposal were to become law many men could return themselves to Parliament : they would only have to keep a sufficient number of hounds without compounding for them, or in any other way to render themselves liable to a 601. cient amount of taxation. As the tax would swell the revenue, it would be perhaps better expended than under the present system of bribery. We have said enough to show that this essay on Reform is only one of those butterflies which Pope at first thought it unwise "to break upon a •• wheel," but afterwards changed his mind, ex claiming— " Vet I sill lash this bui; with gilded s tugs— This thing of Silk." To which we may add, " So raueli for Tuokingham!" The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison. With Notes by Richard Hurd, D.D. A new edition, in 4 vols. Vol. I. London : Bohn. THE title prefixed to the familiar name of Addison almost excites a smile in the days of Queen Victoria, so little are we accustomed to associate him with politics, Holland-house, and the Countess of Warwick, and so well do we know him as the short-faced, taciturn, observant Mr. Spectator, haunting the coffee-houses of " the town," or meditating amongst the tombs in that abbey at Westminster where his own image in Poets' Corner is now the first that meets the eye of the meditating spectator of to-day. As the Addison of " The Spectator," the polished yet genial humorist, with his delicate raillery and playful wit, with those sketches and nice diseriMina tions of character which aro always fresh, because they will never die, a reprint of his works was very much wanted, and so far Mr. Bohn has done well in bringing out this new edition. But a selection from his works would have been sufficient, for of them it may be said that "a part is greater than the whole." The present volume contains his "Italy," " Medals" (with eight plates), " The Campaign," " Cato," &c., which are well enough ; but who is likely to read the transla tions, occasional verses, and Latin poems which fill the remainder of the volume ? Addison is a delightful writer, and was, in the language of his day, " the learned and ingenious Mr. Addison," but he was neither a profound scholar nor a poet. His works, however, contain so much that is excellent that we are glad to obtain them, even if in a bulkier form than was absolutely necessary. SATtTRDAY, The Past and Present Ministries. A Political Essay, in Two Chapters. London : Harrison. This is a condensed history of political changes, parties, and tactics, during the last two years. Le ga l and social questions are touched upon, and no event of material importance is omitted. Agreeing as we do cordially with the author in his conclusions generally, and especially in his estimate of the match less judicial abilities of Lord St. Leonard's, we must yet be permitted to suggest that he has been a little too hard upon Lord Truro. That noble and learned lord certainly consulted his ambition more than his capacity when he accepted the chancellorship, but it is surely not just to say that " no triumph " w as gained, "no laurels " acquired, by one who, under great difficulties, forced his way from a low grade in society to that of a baron, and an alliance with a re cognised member of the Royal Family. We point out this little blemish the more freely as the author of the useful compendium before us pays a warm, we hope merited, compliment to the PRESS. Maephail's Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal and Literary Review. London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. Tins number for the current month contains, besides literary notices and ecclesiastical intelligence, seven articles. The first, the fifth chapter of the "Jour nal of a British Missionary in China," is interesting. The missionaries are so much respected in that coun try that when an American missionary was about to be killed by the natives, during hostilities with the English, his life was spared on his character being discovered. "Justice to Scotland," the second arti cle, is written in a lugubrious strain. It claims that all the peers of Scotland and of Ireland should be created peers of the United Kingdom ! if in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom, it is no less true that we may have "too much of a good thing." Article II I. discusses the merits and defects of Grecian and Gothic architecture, ipropos of Mr. Ruskin's recent lectures at Edinburgh. The reviewer again takes a gloomy view of his subject, and sees no good in Mr. Ruskin, who advocates the superiority of the Gothic style. The truth seems to be, that the beauty of either order is not abstract, but con sists in its harmony with surrounding objects. Rising amid the spiral cypress-trees, backed by the violet sky of an Eastern clime, there the straight lines of Grecian architecture may be the perfection of beauty. But so is Bosslyn Chapel, with its thou sand wreaths of tracery—no two leaves or flowers alike —encompassed by the wild self-sown woods that cover the sides of the deep glen on the brink of which it stands, while from beneath comes the re ar of the foaming Esk, and above is the cold grey sky of Scot land. Illustrations of Scripture from Botanical Science. By David Gorric. London : Blackwood. A VERY pretty little volume, in which much varied learning is condensed, to prove that the allusions in Scripture to trees, plants, flowers, &c., are scientifi cally correct. We fancy, however, that the author's knowledge of English trees has been derived more from books than personal experience. The work contains ten illustrations, all good except the last, the cedar. The characteristics of this noble tree are stateliness, and straight, dark green, unmoving lines. In the drawing before us it is almost as feathery as a beech-tree. Janus, Lake Sonnets, tee., and other Poems. By David Holt. London : Pickering. Tins volume of 207 pages contains nearly eighty separate pieces, but in devoting himself to verse the author has mistaken his vocation. Prefixed to "Janus" (a poem in blank verse) are these two lines from Shelley : " We look before and after, And pine for what is not," and the thought condensed in this couplet is ex panded by Mr. Holt into many lines. When Byron gave to the Jura and the Alps life and voice, the image was thought to carry boldness to the verge of burlesque, and a clever satirist ridiculed "Child° Harold" in a poem in which the mountains of Europe were represented as conversing familiarly on the current topics of the day. Mr. Holt couhl scarcely have been aware of this when he wrote, " With a kingly thunderous tone Helvellyn shouteth to Skiddaw, Over the vale of St. John, And Saddleback, that standeth between, Listeneth with a reverent mien." The idea is further pursutd the lake below' " Looketh up with a gentle eye" at old Helvellyn/ her husband. Mr. Holt, in two sonnets, appro priately expresses admiration for Kossuth and pro phecies respecting him. ..