The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-09 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 9, 1854. The sense runs smoothly and naturally in the trammels of the rhymed verse of an artificial metre not the best suited to the character of oar mother-tongue. There is in the same volume an adaptation, in blank verse, of Alfieri's tragedy of Agante»t non. It belongs to a class of subjects which never excited our sympathy. There is also a spirited essay in prose on the character of Othello ; a version, in our regular heroic couplet, rhymed, of the only epic the French possess, Voltaire's " Henriade "; and some original miscellanies. A man may be able to adequately translate what he could not have written ; but no one who has not considerable poetic feeling could render a great poem into another language without making that poem ridiculous, and, as Captain Nlaegregor's versions are judicious and pleasing, we may fairly congratulate him on the manner in which he has employed his Indian leisure. The Happy Colony. By Robert Pemberton. Lon don: Saunders and Otley. As Sir Thomas More wrote his " Utopia" in the grave spirit of a social reformer, though some of his institutions must now be thought absolutely cruel and barbarous, enthusiasts like Mr. Pemberton may be excused for thinking that they have a patent from Providence for the remodelling of society. This gentleman, assuming the perfectibility of man, pro poses to found a colony in which all distinctions of rank are to be; set aside, money to be abolished, and a fraternity of workmen with payment in kind established in lieu thereof. Men and women of all trades are to go out and found the colony forth with, and the succeeding generation is to be brought up and educated upon a divine and natural system. The course of education is to consist of three stages, each of seven years. In the first period children are to be instructed in the scientific nomenclature of all objects in nature, art, and science, in lectures of one quarter of an hour's duration, by professors of the most polished manners. From seven to fourteen, the second stage, the children, among other accom plishments, are to be taught manual trades, with music, poetry, and the fine arts, and to wash them selves, brush their own hair, and clean their teeth, in a proper and businesslike manner. From four teen to twenty-one, the last stage, they are to perfect their previous system of manual and mental educa tion, and to acquire the art of scientifically depriving oxen and sheep of life. The results of such an elaborate system of education are expected to pro duce beautifully and scientifically educated women, philosophical men, and intellectual children. War, quarrels, fights, inebriation, taxes, and police are to be unknown. There are to be no prisons or gaols, poorhouses or fortifications, in this happy colony : it, is to be one united family, perfect in science, art, labour, and love. It is not likely that Mr. Pember ton will make many converts, though he does ad dress himself to the " working classes," who have so often been the dupes and victims of like schemes tor . their regeneration. These lawgivers are all terribly despotic, though he is but a wretched pedant who supposes that human nature, and especially its intellectual part, can be most profitably drilled and disciplined till it acts mechanically by fixed and cer tam laws. This Utopia, like others projected by wiser men, supposes that individual liberty is a curse, whereas its struggles and contests —weakly deplored as evils—brace the energies and advance the interests of the human race. History of Rome. From its Earliest Period to the Death of Vespasian. By W. C. Mac Dermott, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. London : Groombridge. SINCE Niebuhr and Arnold begait to investigate Roman history, all former works upon the subject have become almost obsolete. Their researches, in the way of verification, comparison, and deduction, have given us so much to add, and forced us to re tract so much, that all our histories of ancient Italy, for whatever class of students they might be designed, must of necessity he rewritten. This task Mr. Mac Dermott has performed for the benefit avowedly of the "more advanced classes in schools," and has done his work with much care and skill. Without adopting largely and blindly the conclusions of any preceding authorities, however high their reputation, he has formed an independent judgment, both re garding the evidences of fact and the bases for infer ence, and has given the result in a history which embodies all the best-authenticated facts, and weighs all the more probable guesses regarding the con struction and character of the great Roman empire. The book is written in a lively but unpretending style. The subjects are well arranged, and the mean is very successfully hit between cumbrous prolixity and dry succinctness in fitting the volume for the class of readers whom it is specially intended to serve. That class is a large one, and among them the value of Mr. Mac Dermott's work is likely to a,tain a wide and permanent recognition. Dangers to England of the Alliance with Men of the Coup d'Etat. By Victor Schoelther. London : Triihner and Co. A PUBLICATION attacking the present Emperor and Ministry of France, iu Victor Hugo's sarcastic tone of Republican bitterness, though inferior in force to the " Napoleon le Petit," which M. Schoel cher appears to have taken for a model. The most pointed portions of the book are those which illustrate the unsteady opinions of our leading journal upon the character of Louis Napoleon at different periods since his accession to power. "Never mind what you say," cried Nordicots once to a young artist, " because one man's word is as good as another's, but always, always, be careful what you write." It is to be regretted that our contemporary, by neglect ing this wholesome remark upon the " litera scripts. manet," Kbould have exposed itself to M. Schoel cher's impeachment. If the Emperor's government was correctly described on the 14th of April last as " the noblest representative of RIGHT and JUSTICE, and " of MORAL as well BS MATERIAL PROGRESS, what is to be thought of the discernment which previously cha racterised it in the most foul and abusive terms ? The expediency of our leading journal during the last thirty years would make a curious volume. Sybil Lentiard. By Mrs : lirey. London: Thomas Hodgson. " SYBIL LENNARD " here reprinted is a tale of the Adelphi school, full of thrilling situations, asterisks, seduction, remorse, disease, and sudden death. The leading characters undergo a fearful amount of suf fering in hysteria, syncope, delirium, and puerperal fever, while drowning, hanging, and murder are in troduced as elements of interest. This accumula tion of physical distress is becoming very much the practice of modern novelists, and although, as Syd ney Smith said of Delpbine, •' we are willing to allow " that there should be a reasonable amount of sick " ness in every novel, and will cheerfully permit the " heroine to be once given over unto death, yet we " cannot consent that the interest which ought to " be excited by the feelings of the mind should be " transferred to the sufferings of the body." Though showing mental culture, the novel is not well chosen for republication. 1. Fish and Fishing in the Lone Glens of Scotland. Dr. Knox. 2. Shooting. By R. Blakey. London : Routledge and Co. - - 7 1. Dn. KNOX is thoroughly national in his admiration of his native mountains and streams, and apt to fall into very unnecessary extremes of contempt for any thing else than a hillside stream or a Scotch glen. His book, he says, is only addressed to those " who are " weary of the commonplaces of every day life, whom " the luxuries of life, social converse, well-carpeted " rooms, dic. &c., have wased to please "—people, in fact, who suffer under a plethora of cash and disquie tude. But notwithstanding these rhapsodical remarks, verging occasionally on the absurd, the book will be found a good descriptive companion to " the lone " glens of Scotland," and may be perused with ad vantage by all who purpose to fish in their waters this autumn or next spring. 2. Of Mr. Blakey's book it is only necessary to say that it is a compilation from well-known authors, without pretension to original knowledge or sports manlike skill, but containing in a convenient shape much information of standard quality. Adventures of Mr. Sydenham Greenfinch. London : Routledge and Co. A HUMOROUS STORY of London life in the present day, and of the impressions such a life produced upon the mind of a quiet young gentleman who had hitherto lived in the country with a maiden aunt. One error common to books of this bort is, that they make their fast heroes exceedingly clever men, and ultimately gaining the highest honours at college. This is quite opposed to general facts, for, although fast men may sometimes possess talent, they rarely employ it to such advantage. The volume is illus trated with numerous woodcuts. Christianity. By Robert Montgomery. London : Woolridge. THE first part of a cheap reissue of Mr. Montgo mery's prose works, carefully revised and corrected by the author. Few divines furnish in their ordinary dis courses so much original thought and poetical senti ment as the reverend author; and in these pages, Notaining the substance of four sermons delivered at Percy Chapel, will be found an eloquent and orthodox exposition of Christianity. THE PRESS. 859 Dogs, and their Management. By Edward May hew, M.R.C.V.S. London: Routledge and Co. BEFORE the days of Blaine and Youatt the diseases which canine flesh is heir to were little known. But the age is improving, and dogs are benefiting, as much as any other class of animals, by the advance of science. Their peculiar diseases and their pro per treatment have now become objects of careful study and professional teaching. Mr. Mayhew's book is the result of much personal experience and scientific skill, and hence forms a valuable contribu tion to the study of canine pathology. It is illus trated with appropriate woodcuts. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. The Queens Before the Conquest. Mrs. M. Hall. Hurst and Blacken. The Handbook to South Wake. C. F. Elide. Hamilton and Co. The Idolatrous Systems of Religion in Ceylon. 13. Boake. The Fall of the Crimea. Captain Spencer. Routledge. Church Furniture and Decoration. Rev. E. Cutts. Crockford. Ida May. M. Langdon. Sampson Low and Co. Modern Flirtation. C. Sinclair. Clarke, Becton, and Co. Library qf Biblical Literature. PAMPHLETS. Aquenterrasque. C. Hancock, Esq., Saunders and (Mei The Males:flies qf Great Britain. Part I. J. O. Westwood' F.L.S. Orr and Co. Freeman • Turkish Vocabulary. W. Knight. Bradbury and Evans. A Treatise on the Sale of Beer Bill. It. Nicholson. Nicholson. Ridgway. Description of the Crimea. M. Gore. cp't glranta. HAYMARKET THEATRE. ON Monday night the Spanish dancers appeared in two new ballets, entitled La Flor de la Marcarena, and Los Manolos de Madrid. The new ballets do not possess a better plot than the preceding ones, or much differ from them; in fact, Spanish ballets possess no plot; a mere thread of story is employed to lead though a series of dances that in themselves, to an unpractised eye, do not appear to possess much variety. But, who such accomplished performers as the Senora Perea Nena and her troupe, we overlook such deficiencies in the novel and strange effect produced by the vivacity of spirit, the daring and rapid charac.er of the movements.,the extraor dinary tours de force, combined with remarkable grace, that are accomplished, and the peculiar brusquerie with which a dance is suddenly concluded. The air of unconstrained native feeling and impulsive excitement which distinguishes the performances of Senors Perea Neua stamps them with a truly national cha racter. If to this be added the enlivening additions of tamborines and castanets, it may be imagined that a novel and fascinating entertainment is offered. The best proof that it is thought so is found in the applauding crowds which, even at this dull season, nightly throng the house. STRAND. A new farce, entitled Never Taste Wine at the Docks, was brought out at this little theatre on Mon day night last. The success of the piece depended chiefly on the absurdity of the incidents, which excited much laughter, and of course left the audience proportionably well pleased at the fall of the curtain. SADLE It'S WELLS. THE inhabitants of Islington seen► determined to encourage Mr. Phelps and patronise Shakapeare. Cymbeline has this week been performed, with Mr. I'helps as Posthumus, Mr. Lunt as Cymbeline, and Miss Cooper as Imogen. The characters were well supported, and the house tolerably attended. g)„mustintnts. THE POLYTECHNIC.-0/1 Thursday last the first of a series of lectures, to be delivered every Monday and Thursday, upon the " Destructive Chemical Re sources of Modern Warfare," was given by Dr. Scoffern at this institution. Dr. Scoffern entered at some length into the vast revolution in the means of warfare caused by the introduction of gunpowder, at the same time giving some interesting experiments upon its manufacture and projectile force. He also refeired to the possible destructive power of such submarine floating shells as are supposed to have been sunk off Cronstadt, and distinctly stated his ()pinion that the effect of such machines, even ex ploding directly under a vessel, would be very limited indeed, if not comparatively harmless, from the explosive effect being so much deadened by the surrounding medium. One or two experiments were given in proof, but on too small a scale to be satin factory. Dr. Scoffern's theory may be currect, but the practice on a large scale, as we have witnessed it, has appeared to effectually fulfil the purposas required.