The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

7(32 worked bard to impress upon the bystanders the peculiar characteristic which she chose to adopt as her becoming individuality. No professional young woman could have been more assiduous and diligent at her calling than these amateur young ladies at their trade of self-exhibi tion ; yet each of them could, upon occasion, inveigh against actresses, sneer at singers, and scorn artists of all kinds, It is only fair to say that our interest in Kate Ireton increases as the story advances, and, on the whole, we derived pleasure from reading her adventures. Report of Twenty-one Years' Experience of the Dick Bequest. By Allan Menzies, W.S. London : Blackwoods. THE late Mr. Dick, of Finsbury-square, n native of Scotland, amassed a considerable i,,rtune as a West India merchant. He bequeathed nearly all of it to the maintenance and assist ance of country parochial schoolmasters in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray. In 1833 his bequest amounted to the sum of 113,1471. 4s. 7d., and the annual income now appears to vary from four to five thousand pounds, expended in gratuities and rewards to the more meritorious parochial teachers of the district as indicated in the will. The bequest was well intended, and is doubtless productive of advantage, but the effects can be only partial. The sums allo cated to each schoolmaster are small, and the incitements to successful teaching do not seem to be much increased. What is really wanted to raise the position of the educa tor, and draw forth all his powers, is to give him a chance of some of those social prizes, which operate with such effect in the pursuits of law and medicine. When educa tion shall be made a recognised profession, and when more of the much-coveted "respec tability " be assigned to it, society will be better served than now by the teachers of the youthful population. How such an end could be attained, or what chance there is of reach ing it, we cannot here discuss. To a certain extent, educators of a high rank have had their services recognised in England, and many of them have been promoted to the episcopal bench. But their cases were in all respects exceptional. They were for the most part eminent scholars who had acted as private tutors in royal or noble families, or who had conducted very select establishments for teaching the children of families of conse quence. When we think of the vast impor tance of the functions of a schoolmaster, and observe the worse than dubious position gene rally assigned to him by society, we feel that the loud-speaking friends to education have not for the last fifty years adopted very prac tical methods for achieving their objects, On the dignity of the schoolmaster's voca tion we may quote from the report before us the opinions of two illustrious intellects, working in different spheres, and both re nowned in their special callings. Hear how honest Martin Luther speaks on this great subject : I will say briefly of a diligent pious school-teacher or magister, or of whomsoever it is that faithfully brings up boys and instructs them, that such an one can never be sufficiently recompensed or paid with money ; as also the heathen Aristotle says, yet is this calling so shamefully despised among us as though it were altogether nought. And we call ourselves Christians ! And if I must or could relinquish the office of preacher and other matters, there is no office I would more wil lingly have than that of schoolmaster or teacher of boys. For I know that this work, next to the office of preacher, is the most profitable, the greatest, and the best. From Luther, the man of moral action, turn to Niebuhr, the historical investigator and speculative philosopher : The office of an instructor of youth especially is a most honourable one, and one of the happiest callings in life to a noble heart, despite all the evils which mar its ideal beauty: it was once the object of my voluntary choice. We need not mention the opinions of Arnold and others cited in this volume. Their reflections, and we may add their regrets, on the low rank assigned to the educator echo the expressions of the two great men from whom we have quoted. The provision made for their elementary education has been one of the causes why so many humble citizens of Scotland have ad vanced themselves in the social scale. It was finely said by a man of genius, while making a THE PRESS. tour in that country, " What a piece of work the twenty-four letters of the alphabet have to show for themselves here—the sowers, and still more the great weeders, of the human mind !"—(Curran.) One reason why the paro chial schools of Scotland have worked so well is because their teachers in numerous cases have been enabled to rise into the Presbyte rian ministry. Yet, as was remarked by Adam Smith in " The Wealth of Nations," the learned professions in Scotland are always draining the Church of its cleverest members, while in England the Establishment, with its splendid prizes, draws into its service many minds that in other countries would aspire to eminence in lay pursuits. The compilers of the voluminous " Report of the Dick Bequest' have forgotten that education returns, with critical remarks there upon, are no novelties, and that they occupy, in various forms, a considerable space in our parliamentary literature. The greater part of this volume is composed of matter which points to no new conclusions on the subject of popular education, and we confess to a feeling of disappointment on its perusal. Lord Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh. By the late Macvey Napier, Esq., Editor of the " Edinburgh Review " and the " Encyclo pa3dia Britannica." Cambridge : Macmillan and Co. OF these essays the first was contributed to the " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edin burgh," and the second to the Edinburgh Review. They are written in the tone of the Scotch philosophy, and exhibit qualified and in conclusive determinations on moral questions. The value of " logic " in the discovery of phy sical truth, and the worth of Raleigh's charac ter, are left by Mr. Macvey Napier nearly where he found them ; though certainly much industry is shown in the collection of authori ties proving the estimation in which Bacon's writings were held by his contemporaries, and by the eminent minds which followed him in philosophical speculation. The value of Bacon's system, however, is a question quite apart from the attention it excited, and on this subject very little is said. We do not admire those "conclusions" in which nothing is concluded. We once asked a very eminent literary person (bred at an English university) "how he liked Mr. Dugald Stewart?" whose lectures he had assiduously attended ; and his reply was, "Ah ! he was very clever, and " sometimes very brilliant ; but he was always " about it, and about it, and would never solve "it Too much of the Edinburgh school of literature might be characterised by the phrase .we have here quoted. Even in the preliminary " notice " to this volume we are told that these reprints are only to be regarded " as sketches of more extensive works pro " jected by their author." And the editor admits that the sketch of 'Bacon is "not so " much an exposition of his philosophy, of " which it gives only a slight and general out " line," &c. We confess that we are a little tired of these " speculative" essays, and we prefer a style which with less ambitious aims attains more solid and enduring results. The view of Raleigh taken by Mr. Macvey Napier, while attempting to soften, does not really diminish the force of the imputations against him, and leaves his character where it was before. The essay on Bacon, though of limited de sign, presents materials which may be care fully consulted by those who would form a just idea of the extent of his influence. Military Achievements of the Duke of Wellington Contrasted with those of Alexander, Pyrrhus, Hannibal, Casar, Marlborough, Napoleon, and other Celebrated Commanders. London : Hope and Co. THESE volumes are by an old Peninsular and Waterloo officer, and partake of the eccentri city of an old soldier who writes for his own amusement, and who has an intense conviction of the truth and importance of some peculiar notions which have occupied his brain for a number of years past. It is his aim to show in what respects the Duke of Wellington's SATURDAY, character and achievements agreed with, and in what respects they differed from, the long line of famous commanders beginning with the great Cyrus and ending with the great Napoleon. As the author has been a diligent reader of military records, ancient and modern, his lore enables him to supply many curious parallels, and to show that, after all, the lead ing principles of warfare, and by consequence the qualities necessary to form a great com mander, have not greatly varied since Cyrus issued his " general order " to his army, pre paratory to the battle of Thymbra. Those parts of the work, however, are likely to prove most welcome in which the author draws from his personal experience. The success of tho Persians at Thymbra, he says, was mainly owing to the fact that their troops formed in line, while the Egyptians formed in column ; and the proceedings at Waterloo, he urges, prove the soundness of Cyrus's judgment in this disposition : The first operation to which I have to advert arose out of Napoleon's first grand attack on the left and left centre of the allied position, which I cannot better describe than in the language of Mr. Cannon, in the " Record of Service of the 92nd or Gordon Highlanders," published by him under the authorities at the Horse Guards:— " The moment the Belgians were seen running past the regiment, to the rear, the 3rd battalion Royals, and 44th on its right in brigade, moved to the point abandoned, and for some time maintained their ground in a manner becoming British soldiers. The 9.nd was at this time reduced to less than 300. A column of 3.000 was in position in front of the regiment, which was concealed by the nature of the ground. The French commander, having possessed himself of so advantageous a post, and teeing the troops give way, considered everything gained, and ordered arms. " This was the state of affairs when General Pack galloped up to the regiment and called out, ' 92nd, you must charge ; for all the troops to your right and left have given way !' Three cheers from the regiment expressed the devoted readiness of every individual in the ranks. The French did not show a large front. The regiment formed four deep, and in that compact order advanced until within twenty paces, when it fired a volley and instantly darted into the heart of the French column, in which it became almost invisible in the midst of the mass opposed to it. " While the regiment was in the set of charging, and the instant before* it came in contact with the enemy, the Scotch Greys came trotting up in rear of its flanks, when both corps shouted,' Scotland fur ever !' The column was instantly broken, and in its flight the cavalry rode over it. " The result of this dash, which only occupied a few minutes, was a loss to the enemy of two eagles and 2,000 men ; those + that escaped doing so without arms or knap sacks. " After this brilliant affair, Sir Denis Pack rode up to the regiment, and said, ' You have saved the day, High- landers ; but you must return to your position ; there is more work to be done.' " The issue of this inimitable charge—the total rout and entire destruction of a French column of 3,000 picked infantry, 20 to 30 files in depth, by a force not a tenth part of their number, formed four deep—proves in a most striking manner the folly of sending troops into action formed in such masses, however slender the ranks of the opposing force may be. Columns of 3,000 or 4,0(t) men, when moving to an attack, must invariably suffer great losses from the fire of an opponent, while they can inflict but little loss in return—for he must be a bad marksman indeed who cannot hit so prominent a target, whether his weapon be a nine-pounder, a common musket , or a m ime rifle. At Quatre Bras the 92nd, about 000 strong, charged, by the pers mal order of the Duke himself, a French column estimated by the latter at front 1,200 to 1,400, many files deep; the consequence was the immediate re treat of the enemy, almost all of whom falling by the fire of their pursuers, not more than from 200 to 3110 effecting their escape—a fact which General Lord Raglan, the pre sent Master-General of the Ordnance, can testify. Passages like these, which are scattered thickly through the volumes, must always be interesting ; but we fear that, from our gallant officer's comparative inexperience in literary composition, his circle of readers is likely to be a small one. His decided views on certain subjects will probably he received as evidence of monomania ; and we wish, while acknow ledging the sincerity of his piety, that he had been more reserved in his decisions on the interposition of Providence in military mat ters. • It was after the 92nd came in contact with the enemy that the Greys so opportunely arrived and cheered, a fact which the author can attest, he having been knocked down by the horse of one of the privates in front of the hedge, and on the ground oc• copied by the French, when the 92 nd charged , and within a couple y of yards of where three French officers were I) ing severel wounded, but whc, despite their wounds, could not resist the t em ptation a ff orded them of enjoying a laugh the expense of the unfortunate. 4. Of the 3,000 one officer only escaped, afact which the author received from that officer himself, who, being severely wounded in the leg. crawled on his hands and knees upwards of half a mile, until he got out of ra n g e of shot. On being shown the 92nd regiment at I'aris, and assured that it was not quite 300 strong when it charged, lie became very much excited, declaring that nothing of so disgraceful a character had ever occurred in the French army before.