The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-19 00:00:00

NOVEMI3Ert 19, 1853. we believe that it is uow utterly exploded, even in the reintatt.‘st districts. But to the tale bet'ore us. Without indicating its plot (which would be unfair in reviewers), we may say that the adventures of Frances Delaney f ro m Snowdon, or Alice Montgomery from Clifton. with Betsy Davies from Aberglasslyn, arc the subject-matter of the volumes. Their stories are woven together, anti their hopes and fears described in a way that young hulks in their teens will be interested about. But more ex perienced novel-readers, of either sex, will desire something more new and striking. We will give some specimens of the style. Frances Delaney (who relates her autobiogra phi-) goes on it visit to the Montgomeriem at Clifton, and Alice Montgomery autd Franees become friends, and are to dress like sisters :-- I was alarmed again. Mice talked of wearing blue that uveninii, and of course, if we were to dress like 'deters. I must wear the same colour: if there was dressing, there must he company expected. I felt painf u lly shy, for there was neither dress nor company at Iteddgelart. 1 asked in distress if I was to meet any stranger at di iiii if so. I begged to be excused appearing, as I bad not been used to strangers. I besought Alice to stand my friend and pew tect me from company. If it was not giving offence, I would rather not enter company, with which I was as little acquainted as with dancing mid singing. I had always lived so retired that the very Millie of company overpowered me. Alice laughed down my fears. " Oh, no, Frances, we have no 1 company to-day. My mother particularly requested we might be June this even. ing as much as poseible, so there will be only 'f e rny Dunevan, whom you will be sure to approve, he is tio quiet, and John WhYte, whom nobody ever looks at, or cares about. That is the reason we shall wear blue today. never care how I look when there are only Henry iiii e ven and John Whyte. All your dresses will fit you, dear Frances, without ally trouble. The loose fashions are very useful in fitting at a venture, are they nut? 1 nmst, attend your toilette for a arson to /WO fair play, or you will be innocently sliding into a Welsh hislgown. which would bewilder Mr. Whyte. Henry Dunevan, I dare say, world not diseover the mistake; but. though a Welsh bed gown is perfection in Snowdon country, it will not do here. My father will dote upon you as you are not a hightlyer. He is so partial to quiet people, Frances, yet he rarely 1.4 '414 one among the young people. I dare say he was noisy enough himself at our age. He often lectures me hir sing ing and dancing alsint the house so touch ; but it is my nature to be happy." Alive rang again for her attendant. " Stanfield, bring Miss Delaney's blue dress and the blue wreath. My dear Frances, give yourself into my hands, and remember I know exactly what to do with you. Now don't start at this poor wreath—it is Very simple, and will become you extremely. All pale faces—that is, such faces as yours—look well in blue." " Perhaps, dear Alice, my white dress will do. I have a white dress without flounces. Shall I nut look so staring in flounces ?" " on will not look alarming in anything with your quiet expreiwion, France,i. People would lir mor4t attracted by your appearing in a white shroud. That novelty would cause emotion. If you do not wish to create an effect dress like your neighbours. lam vrry &minus you should steal hearts this evening, and win Mr. Henry's appro bation." One of "the Roses" captivated an elderly gentleman, Colonel Chisholm, and they are married. Here is the aged bridegroom's mi Mature : Colonel Chisholm struck me as living a very gentlimintly person. There was nothing else to boast of—but that attribute is a very material one. lie was not young—he was not handsome. I did not think he could even claim the appellation of good•looking. I fancied his legs very haw, and his miles a nt or proportion: and I VMS tit Inek with long nose and how teeth. Nevertheless, Chisholm was very gentlemanly, KW looked military and pleasant. his was rather a showy person in a drawing nano, and would be taken for " 1441111 , 6.41 y " in a eniwil. tl ;fit he I-mantled the ewart•martisil very well, though it was evidently an effort. I fancied no lady but " pretty Mistress Mire" would have drawn him from the elder port' of the company ; but it was vain to resist her appeal . _ _ Here we have the description of a young lady's griefs sentimentally described : A long, agreeable visit in a strange land ! Truly I had brought home a diseased heart and a worn-out frame. If young ereßilltrM are in search of ehange,letthem n..t fl wget t hey leave happiness behind them when they quit t he parental roof. Let them osier . hid *lieu to home objects and home enjoyments, though they may he in a far country, awl shut nut from worldly advantages, they will pick up disquiets by the way, and exchange sunshine fur cloud*. When experience has been dearly bought, it rests a dead weight upon hand—no one asks to borrow it, sir loves to bear of it from others. It is easily sought for, quickly obtained. and can never again he shaken off. Oh, I wished my mother had declined the Money stershire visit for me! Wns I not very happy in my simple home? flow happily I spent my slays in my little book-eloaet, talking with imaginary in I thought I was very happy at seatgin, but, on looking back upon that gay period, I eiadd peels:ivy stow it was great excitement. like the rest of the worklly young creatures, I was raising my own airy castles, living is delvaius, and quoirlog 4exply from the cup of plcuouros. THE PRESS. I waa 111141tYcl% ed. like thousand:4—but too l a t e . I had raised my bubbles gaily, and they burst while 1 tt as gazing at them. I was now in my simple home %min, but help'. Ilegb was DO more. My early amusements had no chasm now. AU was too.. I could only feel 1 was unhappy, without a lope to Cheer in. it. to the noun.% Snowd o n looked frowning at me—the hills became gloomy ONeelpi. Wftrl I really set apart to endure a peculiar destiny!' Oh, no--1 was only one in the MAI% of sufferers, who east their all upon a worldly die, mid draw a blank. It is in the utteratiee of such ladylike moralising that this writer excels. Her pen easily runs into this %Ail' of writing ; and her emotional passages have great sweetness, if they have but little strength. Here is a short rithhage highly eharaeteristie of her Milli ner:— 1 have often been surpriaed at novele. They pnifess to display charaeter and exemplify life. Alas ! they end where they should beautiful young woman, con fused among a shoal of ailittin.ni, choosing one whose ample brow or ending hair has horns away the' rise from all ettlitiwiitons, sparkles awhile, creates envy and leasing, and leaves us in a wreath of 'nano flowers; while we twit from the altar to gaze after the meteor, behold her entering a chariot mid four, 011141 " peep an end." Thee flutter hi over, the el • eis made, hat we are not allowed to see tau queue.% of that choke; yet the bride is but then commeneing life. and her sorrows and joys are to eo . It would surely excite many a youthful naiad to ponder if they were put in possession of the knowledge how many prides exchange the orange•flower wreath for Imam of the deadly nightshade, and dolt the splendid lace dress to wrap themselves in the garment of heaviness. others, again, walk with uncertain slept+ anal slow to whisper vow■ in plain white muslin, sod retire unheeded ; yet their lite has been pleasant, and their pleasures past the telling. It is not how lift. is begun, but how it wears anti is brought to nn Call, that we require practieal lessons. Our extracts give upon the whole, perhaps, a ►tttt re favourable impression of " Tho Roses" than wo would %Vital tAI convey. Thu novel ia one of those which, without finding admirers. will " rend very well " at circulating libraries. Its authoress eannot graduate with Mrs. Trol lope, Mrs. (lore, or Mra. Marsh. iler plaeo 11111011gHt female tieti •sts, who are now Jost ling eseh other in eompetition for public favour, is something not so high am Mrs. limy, but superior to Mrs. Mackenzie Daniel and Mrs. Crawfioll. She eannot invent character: Mid Lev illeheripilloW4 of society are f ee bl e . Yet the sweetness of her tone, a certain soft, ladylike utterance, and the variet y , if not the power, of her delineations, combine with du; total absence of aught that is olfensivo or disagreeable to make " Thu Roses" a novel worthy of perusal. Charye to the Graaf! Miry of Birminyhant. By M. D. Hill, Esq., Recorder. Hsi:outwit Mu's charge to the Birmingham jury will be read with interest, as referring to subject which has hardly ceased to occupy our columns, and which placed the administration of renal justice in this country in no flattering point of view. The learned gentleman has, in the plinimeology of certain sects, "improved the occasion." Ile has not dwelt on the pain, ful minutiac of the ease, to 110 could have answered 110 good purpose ; 111141 he has clearly indicated as operating causes of win management the defects of our existing prison system. Under that system, as en forced in the Birmingham gaol, " pain was the " great, if not the sole, agent relied upon." A strictly and exclusively penal discipline Was established, and carried out with no deviation from consistency, though at the cost of much cruelty. What resulted? Punishments were not diminished in number, nay, were largely increased. Offences bred offences. Despair led some weaker sufferers to attempted sui cide : a sense of injury hardened those of more callous tempenunent. Out of doors the effect was yet worse. A deep impression has been produced abroad by these exposures, and the moral power of England to trotest against acts of oppression in m 44 other la is thus weak ened. Throughout the country " the criminal haw become an object of sympathy 1114 against " the ministers of the law." Publie opinion, which usually shows a tendency to become morbid on such subjects, is extensively de moralised : Magiotritleo ari, lowered in popular ehtithatilat, rudely thrust from the twitch to lm• played at the Ipar ; cri 11l i l tabs leme the wk laid tire rtti%e4lo the witneint-b..x, their evi ilenre, in the exeite.l «tide ..f the pokily mind, taping re• eeived without donne doubts and thiagivithga which, in a calmer butte of (rulings, Mould noc.iobruily and properly attach tlstAaarylves to tobtuAturry titairu fruit) %Whit iloiluttal fitflLret: Thus, as regards the two principal objects of I►w►ishinent—efteet on lite l►ul►li►• mind, and impression on the criminal himself—the ►cnal or disciplinarian system has failed. What. then, is the alternative? A return, says Mr. llill, to the opposite praetiee, as re runuuendu►l and followed by Captain MaColle chits :-- The captain proposes to prisoner who has fallen into crime as a penion is treated by soritay whir Isy his in dolence, his pnidigality, and his imprudence. has Men into ailremity. Such a lIIVIII4III IS left lu Wt Isis way out of the unhappy position in %%Welt lie has plowed himself, and the unh difference which the captain would make tee stilts front two one is, that as the thloctinilitet of the criminal is graver, so must his silver slay Iw more profound, and Ins sultvrings, for lass own sake as well as for that of ilociety,iuon•syvere thins those tf his brother in affliction; such seierny essential to his reformation. The remaining cireutustatic e i s , th a t the criminal bring in rsptia ity. his actions a r e m or e e , nar t e , t ,i y , cooler COIKII.I 1111111 is the east• with the indiitintal to whom ryti.reisoe has Iteeu made sallying in a pinition attmswhs ami l og „ us , 'ty re , a tt ain, the ismer tact the criminal, IN. milting toast his tothicetion to the gm ernor, is is' Id' used for pnatioting Ida re onnation, and f o r th a t 0 1,',. c t a t one , - - llut it may be objeeted, do you truNt indivi dual reformation am the bolo _remtit to be lit tainvil ? Is in' terror of tho law upon the unconvieted—to go far nothing ? Mr. Hill. quoting from his brother's treatise, replies that the worst of reformation, under any circumstances, must contain a large in• fusion of the penal element ; in a word, that no comparative mildness of dieeipline ran make a prison other than a glare of pain and suffering— confinement, loss of independent action, compelled labour, and restricted fare, loving severely felt. lint to these inflietions nothing should be added : a prisoner ought to be suffered to see his friends, not indiscri minately, but more freely than is at ]in -meta the ease. llis labour should be such as to produce a useful result, and 50111 e portion at least of the profit derived should be returned to the labourer. So far we concur thoroughly with the lieeorder, but he goes a step Anther than we can follow. Ile proposes to gnu a diseretionary power of shortening or length ening the term of imprisonment, Recording as more Or hiss work has been got through. To this project we content ourselves with indi cating two great objeetiona. First, the gaoler or governor must be invested with this discre tion, mince no one else is qualified to exercise it ; and thus the privilege of judge and jury would praetieally be trenched upon, and the erime differently punished in different gaols. Seeondly, since It is clear that all men cannot do an equal amount of bodily labour, it is imposible to remedy this want of uni formity by with-ming a prisoner to break so many kit or perform any other measured task. I f this Wore attempted a man Of weak frame would twelve double the punishment of his stronger neighbour, which is not reasonable. If thin be but attempted, then the power with which the primal officials are invested becomes purely arbitrary.— a new and dangerous rineiple to introduce. Our suggestion is, to yore the terms of imprison ment fixed as at present, but to allow the pri soner to profit by his labour whenever it ex eeeds has in the rase of MI althorn it easily may) the expenses of his maintenance. Hut this topic is a wide one, and needs careful handling. Mr. 11111's speech rontains tame admirable remarkm on tin duties of governors—on the magistracy—and on the state of our law as re. garde.; convicted eriminala. 11is concluding remarks are more impressive than agreeable : The evil results of s istreian of 'ithrrformed criminals Mailing from the Natoli of our pillions are sorb as I for oily eautiot votitetnplaU: with a steadfast min& The 'retell tr tweet of prey, in comparison with which the most fermatas of the menagerie are gentle aril lustwiless. It is alumni impossible to take up a tiesspaprr ut flue po aiod of the y. nr a ilb..nt the eye renting on ft 'unmake 0.? some 14111• ruigu whirl., if it had twcurreil in Spain or Italy, and if the pensirationi had been called loisoulairo, air by was,. such Ilftlllw of tnysiterious terror, oar countrymen wasoW here been rourteil and ahirmesl from mai esueuiity of our ixbuld le the ot/ier. And let it be remarked that these atrocities are not the offspring of pnblie isiveralty. Never, in any period of our tumid*, weie the tiereasariea and PW•qt the luxuries of life so evenly attainable by honest labour seat ttielweecni moment. Consider then what intwinerynu,whew the uuaa oflawl..a. men sale nanutus the muntry libel' have beim reinbarcisl by the 0414116 mi of all the Alums who for. to,rly pound into Now Smith Wales and Vase Newell's 11141 RA pi:maven whetheithinw 'Aware labuttrtas to awaken the public mind to the aseessity Oar muds.