The Press. — London, England, 1858-08-07 00:00:00

•-• Le P 1 w e' fc C ti C 1 • THE PRES 5, AUGUST 7, 1858. bachelor, who would keep young to the last, there is no place so sunny as the hearth of an old school-friend. But h ous e of cards is blown do wn—talk of it no more—'tis lonivainful subject. You met Lionel Haughton here the last time you celled—how did you like him ? Fraser opens with another of Mr. Froude's excerpts from ancient documents and MSS. The following is an account of the present one:— In the Library at Balliol College, Oxford, there is a manuscript which, for want of a better name, I may call a Commonplace Book of an English gentleman who lived in t he beginning of the sixteenth century. Its contents display, beyond any other single volume which I have met with, the mental furniture of an average-educated man of the time. There are stories in prose anti verse, collections of proverbs, a dissertation on Horticulture, a dissertation on Farriery, a treatise of Confession, a Book of Education, a Bcok of Courtesy, a Book of " the Whole Duty " of Man ; mercantile entries, discourses of arithmetic, recipes, pre scriptions, marvels of science or pseudo-science, conun drums, tables of the assize of food; the laws respecting the sale of meat, bread, beer, wine, and other necessaries ; while above and beyond all are s collection in various hand writings of ballads, songs, hymns, and didactic poems of a religious kind, some few of which have been met with elsewhere ; but of the greater number of them no other copy, I believe, exists. The owner and compiler was a certain Richard Hilles. From the entries of the births and deaths of his children Ain a fly-leaf, gather that in 1518 he lived at a place called }Mien& near King's Langley, in Hertfordshire. The year following he had removed to London, where be was apparently in business ; and among his remarks on the management of vines and fruit trees in his " Discourse on Gardens," he mentions incidentally that he had been in Greece and on the coast of Asia Minor. A brief " Annual Register " is carried down as far as 1535, in which year he perhaps died. One of his latest entries is the execution of Bishop Fisher and of Sir Thomas More. Some other facts about him might perhaps be collected ; but his per sonal history could add little to the interest of his book, which is its own sufficient recommendation. It will be evident, from the description which 1 have given, that as an antiquarian curiosity this manuscript is one of the moat remarkable of its kind which survives. The extracts here given embrace several curious copies of versas and interesting entries relating to public events. Among the former is a capital drink ing-song, of which we give the concluding stanzas : Sirs, by all these causes ye should think, Quee sunt rationabiles, That good wine should be best of all drink, Inter potus potabiles. Fill the cup well ! Beliamye, Potum jam mihi iogere, I have said till my lips be dry, Vellem nuno vinnm bibere. Wine drinkers all with great honour, Semper laudate Dominum, The which sendeth the good liqaoar, Propter salutem hominum. Plenty to all thst love good wine, Donet Deus largius, And bring them soon when they go hence, Übi non sitient amplius. The second paper is entitled " Telegraph-cable Laying in the Mediterranean, with an Excursion in Algeria," and is uncommonly entertaining, pictu resque, and even useful. " Hints feu Vagabonds," from which we gave an extract last week, is unques tionably the production of " a bowl-fide traveller," and is brimful of humour, and radiant with what Mr. Clough well calls "the glory of shooting jackets." " Hanworth " certainly improves. We feel towards it something like Lucy Bertram towards Julio Man nering when first introduced to her—" I shan't like her; and yet, on second thoughts, I rather think I shall." " Catarina in Venice" comes to rather a commonplace conclusion. But we must take the opportunity of protesting against the very uncommon place language of the writer on the subject of Catarina's morality. We are sure that our regular readers will bear us out in saying that this Journal bas never erred on the side of prudery ; but the fullest recognition of the other virtues which may still exist in a woman who has lost that one which, by the way people too frequently speaks of it, seems in her to include every other, is quite compatible with our condemnation of passages like the follow. ing : As it happened, I do not think she knew exactly what guilt was; her style of life she considered in all respects proper and becoming ; and it would have required the attestation of a very hearty and vehement passion, or habitual contact with a white and virginal life, to teach her what that purity was which she did not know that she had lost. This estimate of Catarina's character will, I know, be deemed untrue by those who believe that when a woman falls she must perish. We are not one of those who believe that "when a woman falls she must perish." We have the strongest objection to apply the phrase " a virtuous woman " to a woman who possesses but one virtue. But for all that we do deem this estimate of Catarina's cha racter untrue. Books would teach her what guilt was .even if womanly instinct did not detect it in the lidon e demeanour of men towards her. But the 8 tit ) passage is beaten hollow by the Quixotic sbsurdity of the following. Lettice, be it known, is a pretty young English widow of one and twenty; frequently described as a good, honest, unaffected English girl, without a spark of hightiown sentiment, or the slightest sympathy with the school of Mme. Dudevant Catarina, after a career in the Hay. market, has become the mistress of an English nobleman, of whose murder she is now unjustly suspected—favete linguis And Lettice had taken the bruised form into her spotless arms, and told her with passionate tears that she believed her sinless as one of God's angels. The paper on the Indian mutinies contains some sound sense, though we cumot forbear censuring the garbled quotation from Sir Charles Napier, who more than once spoke in the most emphatic and unmistakeable terms of the probability of a mutiny. The Dublin for August gives us the best instal ment of " Gerald Fitzgerald " that we have yet seen. 'The story is now brought down to the period of the French Revolution, and we may expect it to become more exciting every number. " Indian Commerce " is a good, substantial article based on the late work of Mr. Irving, which was recently reviewed in these columns. The writer, however, is wrong in accepting without inquiry Mr. Irving's statement regarding the Massacre of Amboyna, for the true account of which we may refer our readers to TirE PRESS of April 17th. " Cheap Security " (a recommendation of the estab lishment of rifle corps) would be a good article if not written by Mr. Tupper. " Artist Life in Rome " is a very interesting tale ; and the paper upon the Oxford Essays is on the whole a just piece of criticism. It is chiefly remarkable, however, for what we do not remember to have seen elsewhere—i.e., au analytical examination of the Oxford class•list, with a view to ascertain the number of distinguished men who have proceeded from the first, second, third, and fourth classes respectively. The list is suggestive of one or two cautional observations. In the first place, the compiler seems to have been somewhat generous in his admission of claims to notability, as we see many names given which cer tainly require an explanatory note to record their achievements. In the second place, it is question able how far the introduction of names of purely academic note was lawful. Such names, for instance, as Garbett, Johnson, Marriott, Rawlinson, Manse], and Conington, are those of men who, whatever their ability to shine in other spheres, have in fact merely rushed their class list acquisitions a little further. Thirdly, we must remember that even at the present day academic distinctions are in many instances accepted as a passport to preferment, without any further public evidence of ability having been shown. Twenty or thirty years ago this was still more true. So that of many eminent men here quoted we may fairly suppose that a certain proportion are possessed of no higher order of ability than any average class man. They got on because they took honours. They did not take honours because they possessed any peculiar talent for getting on. Bentley this month has a memoir of Thomas Stukely—rather well done ; the beginning of a tale entitled " Twice Avenged," either by the author of " Ashley " or an exceedingly good imitator ; " Coming out of Exile," by the veritable " Great Unknown," possessing that writer's usual faults and merits ; a sketch of Madame de Pompadour—one of the best papers in the number ; and a readable page or two on Voltaire by Monkshood. Mr. Thornbury's ballad (why does he call himself Walter ?) is in his usual Rupert•like style; and an average instalment of Mr. Dudley Costello's story make up a number that on the whole is rather above the average. We congratulate Titan this month on coming out with an excellent bit of " Behind the scenes in Paris." We trust all the plums of the story have not got together into this lump ; but it is very good. The remaining papers are of the usual stamp. Tait and Colburn both give a promising table of contents, but they arrived too late to enable us to do more than glance at one or two articles which do not belie expectation. The principal novelty in Davenport Dunn is Davis's disclosure of his real character to his daughter, and his proposal to Annesley Beecher to marry her. 755 and valet were supported by Mile. Didiee and Ron colii with liveliness and humour, and all the acces sories of orchestra, chorus, scenery, and docora tions, were everything that they ought to be. As to the piece, the subject is a bad imitation of Don Giovanni. The hero is a libertine of noble family, who, having seduced and caused the death of a lady, sees (like Don Juan) the statue of his victim, and, by way of a jest, puts a ring upon its finger, pledging himself to make her compensation by mar riage. Afterwards be marries another lady by force ; and his career of crime is arrested by the appearance of the statue, who sinks with him through a trap door amid blue flames—and the curtain falls. This opera, in short, whether we regard itF. subject or its music, is far from a work of distinguished merit; but still we have seen worse things better received. DESPATCHES FROM THE ST. GEORGE'S CHESS CLUB.—No. 11. THE American champion seems nowise inclined to disappoint his backers. Mr. Lowenthal has, I fear, all but lost his match. Mr. Morphy has already scored six games to two against him, and is in a fair way to win the seventh, owing to something very like a blunder in his opponent's last move. The truth is. Mr. Lowenthal has not nerve for a match. He has twice refused to draw a game which he subsequently lost, and has more than once contrived to fritter away a winning position in a very simple game. Had he the steady endurance of Harrwitz there would be yet time for a rally ; as it is, our hopes are small. So confident is his opponent., that immediately on losing his second game he betted even against Lowenthal's winning another! As he had him self four to gain, this was virtually betting fifteen to one. C'etait un pen fort ! THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH EXPEDITION. THE following despatch has been received by the Directors of the Ad antic Telegraph Company : TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. VALENTIA, Aug. 5. The Agamemnon has arrived at Valenti*, and we are about to laud the end of the cable. The Niagara is in Trinity-bay, Newfoundland. There are good signals between the ships. We reached the rendezvous on the night of the 28th, and the splice with the Niagara cable was made on board the Agamemnon the following morning. By noon on the 30th 265 nautical miles were laid between the two ships ; on the 31st, 540 ; on the Ist of August, 884 ; ou the 2nd, 1,256 ; on the 4th, 1,854 ; on anchoring at six in the morning, in Doulas Bay, 2,022. The rate of the Niagara during the whole time has been nearly the same as ours, the length of cable paid out from the two ships being generally within ten miles of each other. With the exception of yesterday, the weather has been very unfavourable. VILENTIA, Thursday. Her Majesty's ship Agamemnon arrived off Doulas Head early this morning with the end of the telegraph cable ; the communication between Ireland and Newfoundland complete. Mr. Bright is now making arrangements for landing the end, and thus bringing to a successful termination his anxious and difficult task. From the time the Agamemnon left Queenstown, on the 18th of July, until she joined the rest of the squadron at the rendezvous in mid ocean on the 29th, she experienced a continued succession of heavy winds. The splice was success fully made on the afternoon of the 29th, and the ships started towards their several stations. On the evening of the same day a breach of continuity occurred in the cable which lasted one hour and a half. - - The ship was stopped and the machinery repaired, though not till hopes of holding on the cable had been abandoned. During Friday it blew a head gale of wind, against which the ship, under her full steam, could hardly make way, even with yards and top masts struck. On Saturday, the 31st, the wind shifted round to the south-west, and during that day, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, it continued to blow hard, with frequent violent squalls, the sea running tremendously high the whole time, and no one expected the cable to hold on from one minute to the other. On Wednesday the weather moderated, but the swell was still high. About four a.m. the change from the lower to the upper cable was suc cessfully made, and during the afternoon shallow water was gained. The second change from the upper to the orlop deck coil was made about nine o'clock in the evening ; after which all went well until the ship anchored at six a.m, in Doulas Bay. The Niagara is either landing her end in Trinity Bay, or is about doing so shortly, though some little delay must necessarily arise before the instrunlente are made for signalling through America. A Vusit. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. THE attempt to revive Herold's Zampa on Thursday proved unsuccessful. Its announcement drew an in different house ; it was received from beginning to end with extreme coldness, and the curain tell at its con clusion without a hand being lifted in the way of ap plause. Its ill success must have been owing w its own demerits, and motto any fault in the performance. Mlle. Parepa acted the part of a very insipid heroine with great propriety, and sang some pretty music charm ingly. lamberlik played the hero, a reprobate of the Don Juan stamp, with great energy, and exhibited much vocal power. The parts of a comio soubrette • = A S I