The Press. — London, England, 1854-06-03 00:00:00

I 522 I PERIODICAL LITERATURE. Blackwood opons with a review of Mr. Morley's " Biography of Jerome Cardan," a work which was re cently noticed in the PRESS. Our monthly contempo rary gives rather a history of Cardan than a critique on the work. The article is carefully and agreeably written. Essays on miscellaneous subjects, by Shoshee Chunder Dutt, is the text of an interesting dissertation on India, of which " Young Bengal " is the title : " A large section of the intellectual classes in Calcutta and the neighbourhood (where the English character has had more momentum and more scope for its action) have earned the name which stands at the head of our paper by baldly discarding the past, and endeavouring to give their unhappy country a new civilisation, based pro fessedly on foreign principles. It is to this class that we must refer our author himself, who has devoted to his fellow-labourers a long and fervent treatise, in which he confers on them the synonyme of ' the Hopes of India. To those who have ever frequented the taverns, the billiard-rooms, the racecourse of Calcutta, the name of Young Bengal' will call up associations of turbans, top boots, and trumpery trinkets worn by persons naively de scribed by our Baboo as ' men of licentious habits and dissipated character; and a love for food proscribed by the Shastras are the chief causes of their liberalism.' These members of `Young Bengal' are unfortunately those of whom the European resident sees the most, but they are not the fair type of the class. It can boast of names dis tinguished in literature, in society, in patriotism, in law, physic, and even in Christian divinity. Many in this country may remember the earnest Rammohun Roy, who unhappily sought for truth in the broken cisterns of Deism, and the magnificent Dwarkanauth Tagore, who, like him, died of our ungenial climate—victims both to a love of knowledge, which rarely breaks through the bigoted con bervatisin that binds the Hindu° to his native shores. To these may be added the names of Prosamoeomar Tagore, the munificent patron of education ; of Ramgopul Ghose ; and of the whole family of the Dutts, sons and nephews of Baboo Russomoy Dutt, a well-known and deservedly respected judge in Calcutta. No less than five of these gentlemen have relieved the active pursuit of the various avocations of the schoolmaster, the lawyer, and the clerk, by the production of English poetry of very considerable excellence." Some specimens are given which fully justify the praise. " Mary Russell Mitford," the next article, is a pleasing subject, but the composition betrays care lessness. "A Letter from Madrid," by Vedette, written with force and viva.:ity, gives a lamentable account of that unhappy country. The misconduct of the Queen—" the innocent Isabel"—in whose cause half Spain took up arms, is described without the slightest ambiguity. According to Vedette the banditti of Spain are not the picturesque brigands of the Sierra Morena; but here is a picture of one of them:— " Observe yonder stately gentleman, rolling by in a well appointed carriage with coroneted panels. He is still a young man, and, but a few years ago, was an unknown clerk in a private office, poor, and not of very good repute. Gifted with audacity, and with that slippery, unscrupulous, sleight-of-hand cleverness which in Spain is often a pass. port to power, although in other countries it would lead a man at most to that sort of distinction attained by Barring. ton the pickpocket, or Robin the conjuror, he has ascended in the social scale by huge leaps, passing over the heads of hundreds of better men than himself. He is now titled and a millionaire, his breast is covered with stars and decorations, and he is the councillor nearest to hie sovereign. It is certainly not out of a Spanish minister's salary that he has economised, during the short time that he has received it, the princely fortune he is well known to possess. Your simplicity will excite unbounded astonish. ment in any Spaniard of whom you inquire how this fortunate adventurer accumulated his wealth. If Ministers of State are not to make their fortunes, who, in the names of Mercury and Plutus, are so to do? It seems considered here that a statesman's paramount and first duty (to him self), when he is so lucky as to attain office, is to get rich. And it may truly be said that it is a duty in which few are here remiss." There are 103 ex-Ministers at present in Spain, all receiving pensions, including the members of one Cabinet which only held office for twenty-four hours. Th ese pensions are paid with the utmost regularity, those who have the custody of the purse never know ing when they may be in the condition of the reci pients. " The Recent Growth of the United States of America " is a valuable statistical contribution, whilst Mr. Ruskin's recent "Lectures on Architecture and Painting" affords the critic an opportunity of maintaining the ancient character of the magazine, Ly dealing out trenchant strokes in defence of the archi tectural glories of the modern Athens. THE writing in Fraser has lately assumed a good practical character. The papers, though we may dissent from their views, seem the work of competent hands, and are usually distinguished by original thought and good information. The able article on Cronstadt in the last number is followed up in this by remarks on "Russian Ships and Russian Gun ners." Information is rapidly collected in England upon any subject which interests the public. Six months ago little was known of Cronstadt, save that it was a fortified island at the mouth the Neva; THE PRESS. now we have, from a number of independent sources, minute particulars of its forts, guns, and the sur rounding waters, together with details of the Russian fleet and all matters relating to it. Even since Old Charley's departure public opinion has much changed as to the operations to be expected from him. A dash at Cronstadt, with consequent destruction of its bat teries, capture of the Russian navy, and bombard ment of the capital, is no longer looked for. If Cronstadt be not impregnable, it is certainly suffi ciently strong to require great caution in approaching it ; and, so far as this principal outwork of the Rus sian empire is concerned, the great question of wooden versus stone walls is not likely to be speedily decided. Of the result of a tight between our ships and those of the enemy there can be no doubt; but the question is, how are our gallant fellows to get at them ? Some remarks here (suggested by the attack on Odessa) on the strange manner in which, to this date, the war has been carried on deserve attentive perusal:— " A reference to the Russian plan of the city shows that the barracks and military establishments are almost, with out exception, in the rear of the town ; it is, therefore, foolish self-gratulation to bout that Odessa is no longer a point d'appui for the imperial forces. The attack was, let it be granted, as far as it went, crowned with perfect success, and the manoeuvres executed by the British and French steam-frigates reflect the highest credit on their inventor, for the citizens of Odessa have, undoubtedly, witnessed a performance which must be considered to belong to the pure mathematics of naval science. " But now that the public find that the admirals did not avail themselves of this beautiful combination (which suggested to one writer, even amidst the din and smoke of battle, the elegant and timed movements of a waltz), except to dismount eight or ten guns, to destroy twenty or thirty merchant•vessels, and to blow up a powder magazine and a few sheds, and that the consequences of their forbearance have been already terribly manifested, it is beginning to exclaim against such useless forbearance. War is not an end but a means to the attainment of peace, and that is the moat humane and Christian policy which cuts short the train of its attendant horrors. But the prevalence of slaughter and bloodshed may be limited by time as well as by place, and a blow struck quickly and fiercely at the heart of a nation is surely a greater peace maker than an injury inflicted on an individual or a class. The ships and armies of a barbarous people belong to the sovereign, and their loss or defeat is a mere personal calamity to the owner, while the destruction of great mercantile cities is felt by all his subjects. It is absurd to say that the ruin of traders is not the humiliation of the enemy : of those who maintain this doctrine we would ask, with what feelings (we ourselves should contemplate the prospect of this war if it had opened by the burning of Liverpool, of Manchester, of Marseilles, and Bordeaux? • • • . • " He who bids us save the trading city, and has mercy for the enemy but no pity for ourselves, speaks in tones of mawkish and illogical humanity. If we spare the houses and stores of the merchants of the Dwina and the Dniester, on what grounds do we spread ruin amongst the ship owners of the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Azof ? And why do we proclaim that a bale of goods on a beach is sacred from attack, when the same bale of goods, trans ferred to a boat on that beach, is lawful prize for our cruisers ? To be consistent, we should reserve our powder for vessels of war, renounce onr blockades, and permit, by sea, the commerce which we do not molest on land. Else let out sword be thrown boldly into the scale, let our etc vials be thundered from the cannon's mouth, and so shall we quickly conquer the peace we are resolved to dictate." Another paper contains information on " The Per. sonnel of the Russo-European Question," and a third exhibits the influence of Russian diplomacy on the Continent. The catechism taught in the Rus sian schools shows how absolute is the devotion required to the Czar as " the Vicegerent and Minister of God to execute the divine commands ": Q. How is the authority of the Emperor to be considered in reference to the spirit of Christianity ? A. As proceeding immediately from God. Q. Mist duties — does religiim teach us, the humble subjects of his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, to practise towards him? A. Worship, obedience, fidelity, the payment of taxes, service, love, and prayer. the whole being comprised in the words worship and service. Q. Wherein does this worship consist, and how should it be manifested ? A. By the most unqualified reverence in words, gestures, demeanour, thoughts, and actions. Q. What kind of obedience do we owe him? A. An entire passive and unbounded obedience in every point of view. Q. How are irreverence and infidelity to the Emperor to be considered in reference to God? A. As the moat heinous sin, and the most frightful criminality. The other articles—excepting the continuation of the tale by the author of "Digby Grand "—are of a critical character, and carefully penned. THE Dublin University Magazine has ten articles. The first, on Sir Archibald Alison's " History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon," is laudatory of (the work. " French Dramatists and Actors " is the continuation of a lively and amusing collection of facts and anecdotes relating to the French stage a hundred years ago. The following is new to us:— SATURDAY, ...-__ "An anecdote is told of numesnil, connected with he r performance of Cleopatre in Marmontel's tragedy of the same name, which came out in 1750, and was ever one of her favourite representations. When preparing for death, in a frenzy of passion, she exclaims • Je maudirois lea dieux, r its me rendirent le jour.' ' I should curse the gods, if they restored me back to life' An old officer, seated immediately behind in one of the balcony boxes, was so carried away by the reality of the scene that he struck her violently on the back, exclaiming with great vehemence, ' Infernal cat, go fu the devil at once ! ' " Next Dr. Hooker's " Himalayan Journal," lately re. viewed in the columns of the PRESS, is culled to fur. nish an instructive article on India . " Sir Jasper Carew" is closed in this number, and we scarcely re_ gret it, for the subjects on which the author especially loves to dilate are those from which most persons revolt—crime and criminals. The hero is the claim ant of an estate, and within the last few pages of the end occupies much the same position as the soi disant Sir Richard Smyth did at Gloucester some months since. Whilst he is in the dock and on board the transport-ship the writer lingers fondly over him ; but when—more fortunate than Sir R. Smyth—his inno• cence is finally established, the guiltless hero is ab ruptly dismissed in a few short sentences. " The Reprieve," a tragic tale of revenge and murder, is preceded by some sweet musical lines, called the " Dirge for Little Mary," by Mrs. Acton Tindal. The reviews and notices of novels and poems which fill up the rest of this month's number maintain the character of the magazine. Tait bas ten articles. A brief notice of the late Pro fessor Wilson appears to us to be just, and the praise which is awarded to him all the more valuable be cause it is not indiscriminating. " lltid Sraith" is continued. " Letting Lodgings "is an article in which the ordinary manner of treating the subject is inverted. Instead of a pilfering landlady we have defaulting and penurious lodgers. PUBLICATIONS lIECEIVED. BOOKS. The Young Prima Donna. Mrs. Grey. Routledge. Si/uria ; the History of the Oldest-known Rocks. Sir IL J. Murchison. Murray. The Russians in Bulgaria and Rumelia. Baron von Molkte. Ditto. The Pirates' Fort. Louisa M`Nally. Hodges and Smith. _ Transcaucasia. Bator In von Haxtgausen. Chapman and Hall. A Hero of our own Times. Lermontof. Bogue. Annotated Edition of the English Poets. Cowper. Vol. 11. B. Bell. Parker and Son. Appollyon and the Reaction of the Slaronians. Colonel F. L Buller. Partridge and Oakey.. The National Debt, and How to Pay It. Longman and Co. PAMPHLETS. Baptism. Bosworth. The Administration of Justice in Southern India. Madras. Bowie. Self-government for the Metropolis. Viscount Ebrington. Ridgway. The Ground we Tread. J. S. I'akington, Esq. Hatchard. Speeches on University Reform. Ridgway. The Three Warnings. J. Clipham. Mitchell. Military Sketch of the Danube and Constantinople. A Map. Wyld. ACTION BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH SUPS IN 1810.—Before arriving at Revel a small bay is passed, the scene of one of the most brilliant exploits in the annals of the British navy. In 1810 a Russian squadron of nine sail of the line was sighted off Hango Head, the western end of the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the combined force of ten Swedish and two English line-of-battle ships. The two latter, the Implacable (Sir Byam Martin) and the Centaur (Sir Samuel Hood), outsailed their colleagues, and the Implacable attacked the stern most Russian vessel—the Sewolod—and made her haul down her pendant after an action of half an hour's duration. The enemy now bearing down to the rescue, the two English ships made for the Swedish fleet, then ten miles to leeward, when the Implacable's prize was taken in tow by a Russian frigate. On this the Centaur and Implacable made a fresh attempt to secure the Sewolod, and drove off the frigate, but had again to retreat, in consequence of the Russians bearing down a second time upon them. The enemy now stood in to the harbour of Port Baltic (Rogerswick), and the Sewolod running aground at the entrance, our two ships for the third time returned to the attack, and after a sharp con test took possession of and burnt the Russian, making the whole of her crew prisoners. This (with the exception of two gun-boat actions in 1809) is almost the solitary occasion on which English and Russian vessels have come into hostile contact . In the succeeding year the presence of two of our liners, with a frigate and sloop, was sufficient to clear the Gulf of Finland, and to strike such terror into the , enemy that he never ventured to leave his harbours • —Cronstadt, reprint from Fraser's Magazine. V