The Press. — London, England, 1854-06-17 00:00:00

JUNE 17, 1854. advance into the mine. Scattered in particles through the body of the rock, it ends by be coming imperceptible. The great resource of the gold-seeker will always bo the gravel, de tritus, and superficial clays, into which the older rocks have been dissolved, and hence early exhaustion has been the inevitable cha racteristic of all gold-producing countries. The concluding chapter is devoted to gene. ral considerations, and treats rapidly of the theories of the progress of creation. The dis covery of great laws is not within the power or even the aim of the writer. He still deals with the clumsy machinery of successive up heavings and depressions of the soil, and the other time-honoured and less impossible sup positions of his predecessors he explains in full detail. It is a good abstract of the opinions commonly received, and, as such, is of value to younger geologists. Tho rest of the work, notwithstanding very many technical points more than doubtful, will be, for a long time to come, a textbook on its special subject. Official Handbooks to the Crystal Palace. London: Bradbury and Evans. THESE handbooks, sixteen in number, serve to mark the magnitude of the enterprise and in part to ex plain its wonders. The general guide to the palace and park, by Mr. Phillips, will of course be the book most in demand. It is concise, well written, and pleasantly conducts the visitor through the courts of the palace, and thence through the grounds, direct ing attention to the most noteworthy objects. It is illustrated with a ground plan of the palace and with numerous engravings. With the additions which will doubtless be made to it from time to time, and with greater care in the printing, it will be a handy book for the million. The price—one shilling—is the proper figure. A superior edition, enlarged so as to embrace the principal contents of the other guides, might form a compact volume and present the visitor with quite as much information as he is likely to require. In the introduction to this general guide, a sketch is given of the origin and gradual progress of the enterprise. To the sagacity of one gentleman, a solicitor, is the public indebted for this stupendous work. When the Hyde-park palace was doomed, be foresaw the probability of commercial success by re moving and reconstructing it as a permanent place of public resort ; and, as soon as those magic words took a consistent shape, the result became assured. A charter was obtained from Lord Derby's Govern ment, "binding the directors and their successors to " preserve the high moral and social tone which from " the outset they bad assumed for their national in " stitution "—a provident ministerial act; and the commissioners sent to the Continent to procure ex amples of the principal works of art in Europe were " fortified by Lord Malmesbury, then Secretary of " State, with letters to the several ambassadors on "their route, expressing the sympathy of the Go " vernment in the object of their travels "—a liberal one. Some notion of the magnitude of the under taking may be formed from the fact that at one period 6,400 men were engaged on it. The second handbook, by Mr. Phillips—the " Por trait Gallery "—is of doubtful utility. The aim is to characterise the various persons whose statues and busts appear in the palace. This characterisation is done in a dashing, Sir Oracle style very unsuited to a handbook. The dogmatism would be offensive were it just, but it is often false and strongly coloured by political prejudice. Louis Philippe, for example, is described as " a sovereign who had been suckled " in the lap of despotism, and fed for ever afterwards " upon obsequious flattery and all the other dainty " diet of a Court." Lord Eldon was such a nuisance that " enlightened men felt it as a public relief when "he deputed in his ripe old age." The style, in flated and rumbling, is as bad as the matter. In the notice of Ctesar, the civil war of Rome is " a war " wasteful of Roman blood in the field—thirstier for " the flood of the same drear beverage by the axe " and the dagger." Pope brought "intellective pre " vision into poetry, which should feed on the indefl• " nite and the vague, and should flower out into the "softened and the flowing." Plain speech is des pised by the author. He is nothing if not poetical. Pitt, as Prime Minister, held " the place which his " eagle ambition had chosen for its eyrie on the " rock," &c. Louis Napoleon does not simply reign, but "the diadem binds his brow, and his foot is " firmly planted upon the summit of power in tran "quillised France." The book is a mistake. If biographical notices bad been given at all, they should have been simply written, and have been occupied with facts instead of wild opinions. From all this bombast it is a relief to turn to the little handbook by Mrs. Jameson to modern sculpture. A critical introduction, elegantly penned, explains the leading principles of sculpture, and prepares the THE PRESS. reader for the judicious remarks which follow on the works exhibited. Just so much of explanation is given as the visitor is likely to require, and the criti cism, always enlightened, rather quickens thought and suggests ideas than enforces opinions. A litter book for the purpose could not be desired. Mrs. Jameson is at issue with Owen Jones and some other authorities on the important point of the colouring of sculpture. She thinks that " its essential excellence " and real character are diminished in proportion as " it assumes the powers and purposes to itself the " aims of painting." Mr. Owen Jones in his apology for the colouring of the Greek Court maintains that the Greeks coloured their sculpture, and asserts that colour has been found on the hair, eyes, lips, and drapery of fragments. In his little book the his torical and material evidence on the subject has been collected. An admirable guide to the Geological Island, by Professor Owen, will be eagerly bought at threepence ; and a satisfactory handbook to the Courts of Natural History will also be welcome. Ten other books form guides to the various " Courts "—Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, &c. In preparing them the directors have probably calcu lated that the appetite of the public for instruction in the various. styles of art which have prevailed since the earliest monuments will be more eager than it is likely to prove. Most of these books are heavy read ing, and the visitor who, in his thirst for instruction, should laudably purchase the whole series, would find his hands seriously encumbered and his pockets lightened by the process. One general handbook would be much more convenient. As it is, we fancy that visitors in general will find the " Guide to the Palace and Park," Mr. Jameson's " Courts of Modern Sculpture," and Mr. Owen's " Geology " of most utility. Routledge's Shilling Guide to the Crystal Palace. London : Routledge. A WELL-PPINTED volume of upwards of two hundred pages, describing the Crystal Palace, with its various courts and objects of science and art. It is cone• niently arranged, intelligently written, and contains a large amount of information in a popular shape. It supplies, besides, a sketch of the Great Exhibi tion of 1851, with its results, together with some novel details of the origin and progress of the pre sent enterprise. Miscellaneous Works of the Right llon. Sir James Mackintosh. London : Longmans. IN this new edition an attempt is made to give as much order and method, sequence and connection, as can be given to writings so fragmentary and dis cursive in their character as the miscellaneous works of Sir James Mackintosh. Thus his works are clas sified under the heads of philosophy, literature, and politics, and a volume is devoted to each. All Sir James's important works, except, of course, bis his tory of England, are comprised within this compass ; but from his contributions to periodicals only a selec tion has been made of such "as partake most largely "of the character of completeness." The text has been by no means held sacred; on the contrary, " inaccuracies and redundancies of expression • • " have been throughout corrected and retrenched," and in several places parts have been transposed. Works like those of Sir James Mackintosh, for the most part printed hastily, may require considerable revision, but when it is not effected by the author himself, or by his authority, the alterations should be indicated : if this is not done, the reader must either compare several editions, or occa sionally doubt the accuracy of the text. Certainly it is more agreeable to read a work without notes than otherwise ; and on this principle, in ano ther instance, the editor has acted judiciously by omitting long quotations originally appended in that form, so that by these means brevity is attained, and we have in these small volumes an edition of the works of Sir James Mackintosh commencing with the French Revolution and closing with our own Reform Bill. There is also an ample alphabetical index. Are we Bound by our Treatits? A Letter to the Right Hon. the Earl of Aberdeen on the Confisca tion of Berar. London : Allen and Co. A PLEA against the annexation of Berar, deserving notice, though likely to receive little or none. The writer contends, and supports his view by the autho rity of Lord Auckland, that the treaties by which we recognised native States contained au acknowledg ment of the right claimed by princes of such States to elect their successors, after the Oriental manner. This right was admitted without dispute, according to the author, during a period of twenty-one years— from 1820 to 1847—in which time fifteen adoptive sovereignties were actually recognised by us : " In 1848 these same authorities—completely ignorin their own recorded principles, and the acts done - %nadir' 571 them—without any reason whatever assigned for the change, denied that Hindoo sovereign princes had a right to adopt their successors ; that there was any obligation upon the British Government to recognise such adoptions: they claimed for the British Government the right to deal with native sovereigns as it asserted the Moghul emperors would have dealt with them. They resolved that ' heirs and successors in our treaties could have no other meaning than "heirs male of the body '." ' and, by virtue of this new code, they have recently sein ed upon the principality of Berar, embracing an area of 76,432 miles, with a popu• lotion of 4,6:i0,00J souls, and a revenue of half a million sterling, upon the plea that the deceased sovereign of that State having died without heirs of his body it had become an escheat to the British Government. " That is, having by an act of power set aside those who claim to be heirs, the British Government put in a claim to the inheritance as successors to the Emperors of DOA and forcibly took possession of the principality." England treated with the Rajah of Berar on terms of equality in INN : the treaty was next year broken by him, and the territory might then have been ap propriated with some show of justice, as a punish ment of his treachery. This was not done: the traitor way removed, but his power placed in the hands of a native and related prince, the ltajah Ragojee Blionsla, then a minor. The rights cf this prince were fully recognised in 1820, on his attaining his majority. He died, still young, and without chil dren. By Hindoo law the right of naming a succes sor devolved on his widow. This practice is common in India : over and over again we have suffered it to be followed, of which instances are given. But Lord Dalhousie lays down the rule that all native States are to be absorbed at the first opportunity. To this questionable principle of policy all treaties must give way; and the rule, if fully acted upon, applies to between two and three hundred native princes, all of whom foresee the fate of their dominions in that of 13erar. Verily, we have a right to talk of Russian aggression on Turkey, or American buccaneering in Cuba! PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Booxs. Transmutation ; or the Lord and the Lout. Chapman and Hall. Orr's Circle qf the Sciences. Vol. I. Orr and Co. . . .Royal Hotel Guide. Catherine Ashton. Smith and Bon• Longman and Co. The Hero of Ostr Day. M. Lermontoff. Hodgaon • The History of India. W. Erskine. Longman and Co. Ambrose the Bculytor. Mrs. R. Cartwright. Smith and Elder. The Flitch of Bacon. W. H. Ainsworth. Routledge. PAMPHLETS. The Peoples of Europe. J. W . Jackson. Maclachlan and Co. Faith in the Works of the Teacher. IL Moseley, M.A. Parker and Son. The Horticultural Journal. ]'art T. 1 )illon. Thoughts on Education in India. T. A. Wise. Smith and Elder. Indian Irrigation. Lieut.• Colonel C. W. Grant. Ditto. On the Order for Morning Prayer. Rev. J. W. Lister. &slays. Religious Restoration in England. C. Wordsworth, I►.lb. Rivingtons. liOME CIRCULATION. IN spite of the amusing letters from the Baltic, it is said that there is a feeling among the fleet that the brave old commodore is hanging back at Hango Sound. They say that Napier is nervous when first in command—nervous under responsibility, observa tion, and when he is his own master. The London hands are liked on board the Hecla and the Arrogant. Nemesis Hall, it is true, can make sailors of anybody ; but. besides that, the townmen always beat country people for quickness, intelligence, activity, and de• termination. A bricklayer's man is the smartest hand aloft of any recruits. It is cheering to hear of the spirit of all the militia regiments. " The English Glees and Madrigals" at Willis's Rooms are worth going to hear, as they are most exquisitely executed; but the glee is essentially an after-dinner entertainment, and sounds cold, tame, and uut of season in the daytime. ' Ella's afternoons in the same locality are very attractive. There is no doubt about his enterprise : Ernst's engagement shows that. What a fine card it would be if Ella could charm over here the Princess Czartoryski, who is one of Chopin's best pupils at Paris. People who give parties should have the streets strewn with tan : it deadens the sound of vehicles passing better than anything else. Royal Ascot, with its rainy gatherings, com menced on Tuesday; prophecy in most cases, as usual, wrong; the attendance meagre; indeed, the worst Ascot ever seen, the racing good. The Gold Vase was reduced to a match between Hermit, 3 years, let. 71b., and Itataplan, 4 years, 9st. 71b., the young one winning easily, and well he might with two-stone advantage for his year. The Ascot Stakes, with little Wells up on Little Harry, further enriched the Howard and Co. treasury. Master Harry Hill must be making nice nuts this season. Did this race partake of the character of t