The Press. — London, England, 1858-07-03 00:00:00

r.7~ 6:3,3 of Foote's contemporaries was unfavourable to it. His theatre was thronged to overflowing after his quarrel with the Duchess, whose own character, as well as that of the instruments she employed, rendered any amount of false swearing on their part perfectly credible. Her chaplain made an affidavit before Sir John Fielding, the magistrate, to the effect that Foote had used the words attri buted to him. And certainly no contradiction of this affidavit, which was published in the Evening Post, is to be found in the newspapers of the period. But, as in the case of the somewhat similar story about Pope and the Duchess of Marlborough, we prefer to take the character of the parties implicated against any evidence which has yet been brought lbrward. Mr. Massey's concluding volumes will, he tells us, be shortly given to the public. But we can scarcely imagine he will complete his work, as originally proposed, in four volumes; for the two first have only carried him through twenty years, and forty more remain, which are pregnant with momentous events. A New Yorker in the Foreign-office, and his Adventures in Paris. By henry Wikoff. London : Trabner. A PERSONAL explanation which has not been actually demanded by the public voice is seldom a wise measure, even in the case of a man who has achieved notoriety and success ; it is almost certain to be an imprudent one in that of a man who conies forward for the first time as a vindi cator of his own character. Yet such is the part which Mr. Wikoff has now chosen to play on a second occasion. lie is the hero of a volume, which may be in the recollection of many of our readers, entitled " My Courtship and Its Conse quences," and which was as resolute a self exposure as we ever remember to have met with. To have made an audacious and pertinacious at tempt to secure the hand of a lady of fortune — to have hunted her over Europe, bribed her servants, and generally persecuted her after a fashion not exceeded by Mr. Deuceace or Barry Lyndon, and to have signally failed after all—is an exploit which Mr. Wikoff appeared to consider rather a feather in his cap, and to have deemed worthy of commemoration in a full and circumstantial narrative. To have under taken a task requiring a certain amount of deli cacy and address, but for which he knew himself to be by no means fitted—to have neglected to ascertain the wishes of his employer with regard to it—to have wielded the weapons of diplomacy purely according to the light of nature—to have attempted to pump and circumvent that "old, old bird," Lord Palmerston (need we say with what success ?)—and finally to have retired ig nominiously from the contest—are matters which the curious may find set forth at length in the volume before us, and by the relation of which he fondly hopes to excite a certain amount of sympathy and admiration? Mr. Wikoff was employed by Lord Palmerston in 1850, at a salary of 5001. a year, in a kind of secret mission, "to make known clearly through the medium of the French and United States press the liberal, and especially the pacific, cha racter" of the English Government at that time. Of this duty he acquitted himself entirely to his own satisfaction, and we are desired to believe that he changed public opinion on the above sub jects both in Paris and New York. The Foreign Secretary, however, not so well pleased with him, gave him his dismissal in the course of about a year. Finding himself at liberty, he pursued his matrimonial scheme with such pertinacity that the lady was finally induced to give him into the custody of the Sardinian authorities for an attempt at abduction. The English consul, he tells us, did his best to forward the prosecution, and the result was that the unfortunate Mr. Wikoff passed fifteen months in a Genoese pri son—a consummation which he conceives him self to owe to the hostility of Lord Palmerston and his subordinates, whom lie had exasperated by frequent attempts to obtain some explanation of the cause of his dismissal. On the recital of these facts, it may perhaps seem that Mr. Wikoff was rather hardly used ; and that the least thing the Foreign-office could do, even for a discarded servant, was to save him from the dangerous consequences of having brought his heiress to bay, and forced her into as aggressive position. let we are persuaded L THE PRESS, JULY 3, 1858. that every one who reads this book will admit that, by the evidences of his character and tone of mind which it affords, Mr. Wikoff has sup plied the strongest possible justification of his rejection, both as a lover by the lady and as an agent by the Minister. It is extremely amusing to know a great many things for the narrators of which, however, we do not entertain any very profound respect. Our Transatlantic cousins are famous for their descriptions of English house holds, and we have heard of a celebrated American authoress who, while on a visit to one of the leading writers of the present day, occupied herself with taking notes of his conversation while he talked, and when he was silent, in sketching his cat, his arm-chair, and the general aspect of what a Frenchman would style his "interior '• " and, finally, wept tears of real sorrow at being warned on her departure to sup press these revelations. Mr. Wikoff has a good deal of this spirit, which will no doubt make his book ex tremely popular in his own country, but the fol lowing sketch, however entertaining, is not such as would induce any other English statesman to " put him up" again in a hurry. Ile has been invited to Broadlands, and thus describes his experiences : On my return to the house I found its noble owner waiting for me in the library, and he welcomed me with all the easy familiarity of a finished man of the world. My preconceived notions of his appearance and manners were ludicrously disappointed. Instead of the venerable man of imposing mien and solemn gravity—the conjoint result of high distinction, English formality, and advanced age—l encountered a very pleasant gentleman of some fifty years, apparently, perfectly offhand and unaffected in his demeanour, and singularly vivacious and playful in his remarks, which were accompanied with a sort of running chuckle. After a few moments conversation, bis lordship, suggesting we had but a few minutes to dress Sur dinner, rang for a servant to conduct me to my room, whilst be hurried off, saying he would see me directly in the drawing. room. On repairing thither, I was presented by his lordship to the celebrated Lady Palmerston, formerly Countess Cowper, and once the belle of her epoch. She was a tall, finely formed woman, with a handsome countenance, very elegant manners, and, apparently, still in the prime of life. There was the same polished ease and freedom from restraint of tiny kind that distinguished her noble husband, and which indicated in both that to high breeding was added the long habit of wide and conataiit intercourse with society. There was only one other lady present, the Hon. Mrs. NV. C—, a member of the family. When dinner was announced Lady P— rase, and with a charming mixture of affability and hauteur offered me her arm, saying, she '' would take the stranger into dinner," an honour I certainly would not have ventured to aspire to. The dinner passed off delightfully; my Lord Palmerston talking, joking, and laughing, as though he passed his time doing nothing else. He related several anecdotes, full of point and admirably toil On returning to the drawing room, the Minister left me with the ladies, sating he would join us at tea; and I learnt afterwards that he was in the habit of retiring to his cabinet for an hour or snore altar dinner to glance over his despatches, flowing in upon him every day front all quarters of the world. He came in again about eleven o'clock, drank a cup of tea, chatted awhile in his pleasant way, anti disappeared once more. Ile had returned, I found, to his study, where I was surprised to hear he frequently passed part of the night at work. I have since discovered that Lord Palinerston's capacity for labour is prodigious, anti his energies, mental and bodily, never flag under any pressure of business. His intelligence, experience, and activity enable him to accomplish every thing without appearance of haste or loss of time. Whether tt be that his task is congenial, or that his nature demands constant occupa'ion, certain it is that Lord I'al• merston labours as incessantly as any operative or firmer's man in England. Ha requires no recreation, is never seen at places of amusement, and is free from all those fashionable vices so common arnougat statesmen and diplomatists of all countries At tcn next morning the family were punctually assembled at breakfast, but I found his lordship more reserved in manner end less inclined for conversation, as though his mind was already intent on the business of the day. After breakfast every one, accordinl to the mist sm in English country house., betook themselves to their own mode of amusement, but in bidding me good morning his lordship aske•l me to accompany him in his usual ride at four in the a:ternoon. I accompanied the ladies in a short ramble over the grounds, laid out with exquisite taate, in both the French and English style; gay parterres of flowers, massed together in the greatest variety and profusion, relieved by sloping lawns and graceful groups of trees. I had Sue views of the house from various peitita, which is au ols'ong in shape, with winga, and constructed with a nice peNeptinn of architectural effect. It is of great dimensions, con• tanning on the lower floor alone three spacious drawing rooms, library, biltiatd•ruom, and a dining-room worthy or a palace. We fear Mr. Wikoff is what the Scotch would call a "soft." lie had not Mr. Earey at his elbow, and the following extract will prove that the noble Viscount was his superior in other things beside diplomacy : At four I proceeded to join his lordship for our ride and I found him ready at the hour named. As we were about to mount he " I will give ym a turn in the New Forest." Having re marked nothing of the kind in the neighbourhood I asked, with WTIle distrust, what the distance might ? "Only ten miles, " returned his lordship, pulling on his gloves. Ten miles there, ditto back, thought I, in a sober spirit of computation, besides the turn proposed. I felt I had better come out with a plain statement, whilst there was time. " If your iordship is serious," I said, " I shall beg the favour of carrying a pillow along with me, for I am sure to spen I the night in the Forest. " " What !" exclaimed the noble lord, " will a gallop like that f a tigue you ? " `• I have not strode a horse for these several years past," I expostulated. " In that case," returned his lordship, " let us take a walk over the farms," to which I readily assented, and the more so, that the playfulness of the " thorough-bred " in ten•ted fur me inspired me with secret mit,g►vinga that we should soon part company in mutual disgust. To say no thing of fatigue and insecurity, I greatly preferred a pro menade a pied, since it would elf ,rd me better oppor tunity for conversation with his lordship, which I ardently desired. Off we started at a rattling pace, which soon made me suspect I had gained little by the exchange. I was really astonished at the extraordinary bodily vigour of my noble host, which fur exceeded mine, though some thirty years his junior, and in sound health. Mr. Wikoff has devoted two or three chapters to the career of the present Emperor of the French whose rise to power he professes all along to have foreseen, but on whose acts subsequent to the coup-d'etat he has discreetly forborne to enlarge. He tells how he tried to worm out the views of that inscrutable potentate, and how com pletely he was baffled in the attempt. And as he has more or less shown up in a similar manner every person with whom he describes himself to have associated, we imagine that ills diplomatic exertions will for the future be confined to a rather restricted circle. It would be lost labour to endea vour to make the author of this book compre hend how he has sinned against the laws of reti cence, to the observance of which a man is bound by accepting .confidential employment. Evell supposing his grounds of complaint to have been well founded, ft does not appear to have struck him that there are certain kinds of retaliation which at once lower a man to the level of his adversary, and stamp him as socially dangerous. Admitting that his imprisonment was a somewhat heavy retribution, we cannot but think that both the lady of Portland-place and the gentleman of Downing-street have had a fortunate escape from further commerce with such a character as the pages of the " New Yorker" reveal to our notice. The People in Church: their Rights and Duties in Connection with the Poetry and Music of the Book of Common Prayer. By Josiah Pittman, Organist of Lincoln's-inn. London : Bell and Daldy. Church Reading : the Services of the Church Accented. By the Rev. J. J. Holcombe, 8.A., Assistant Curate of Hanover Chapel. London : Bell and Daldy. A MOVEMENT is visibly going on—a movement which we rejoice to see—for the enlargement and improvement of the Church of England. It is a movement in which the laity themselves are taking a forward part. The gentry throughout England are busily engaged in restoring or re building their parish churches. In many places new churches are reared up, parsonages built, and endowments provided, at the cost of single individuals. The ecclesiological societies are chiefly formed and supported by laymen ; and laymen are now frequently found among the writers on Church enlargement and improvement. One of these, the first writer now before us, is in deed an organist, and may therefore be said to have a professional interest in the question. But we notice in him a praiseworthy exception to the too common rule, by which men make, and sink into, a deep rut of routine duties, from which they have neither the power nor the wish to escape. This hindrance to improvement—the sinking into a deep professional rut—is, we believe, the chief cause of the long endurance of many evil habits and systems amongst us. We have often felt astonishment at the power of habit, and long accustomed routine, in forming men's opinions, and bringing them gradually to tolerate what formerly they would have condemned. One par ticular instance of this will never be effaced from our memory.