The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-19 00:00:00

1232 given us a very aniusiug„and probably very popular, stcry. There are three young men and three young ladies upon whom our interest is centred. Henry Norman and Alaric Tudor are clerks in the " Weights and Measures" Office, and Charley Tudor, cousin of the aforesaid, in the " Internal Navigation" Office. At Surbiton Cottage, on the banks of the Thames, dwells Mrs. Woodward, a widow lady, with three charming daughters, Gertrude, Linda, and Katie. The principle of evil is personified in the character of the Hon. Undecimus Scott, an aristocratic speculator and swindler, who provides the misery ; and as there is no good genius, who plays the Deus ex niachina and purveys the antidote, that gentleman's machi nations are attended with a most unfortunate degree of success. These are the principal dramatis persona, but there are numerous minor characters, all carefully finished. A roguish old usurer, who preys upon small fry ; a pretty barmaid, who nearly entraps one of the three servants of the Crown, several spe cimens of the latter, from the highest to the lowest grade, and a few fashionable people — are grouped round the central figures with much skill, and produce a pleasant variety. With the respective characters of the heroes and heroines we are perfectly familiar. Henry Norman—proud, reserved, and honest—with an excellent heart but only a middling head, distanced at first by Alaric Tudor, the clever ambitious man, oscillating dange rously between his waning love of principle and his growing love of power, but found at the close of the book to exemplify the old adage that honesty is the best policy —Charley, the regular fast man, a cross be tween Bob Sawyer and Harry Foker, who smokes the strongest tobacco, drinks the most beer, goes oftenest to the Casino, and owes the most money of any of his set, but is finally re formed by the influence of a virtuous attach ment—Gertrude, proud, self-reliant, and beau tiful—Linda, gentle, ductile, and pretty—Katie, gay, spirited, and witty—are all old acquain tances with whom we can always shake hands at the nearest circulating library. The " Three Clerks " is evidently intended to be a novel " upon" the Civil Service, and displays practical knowledge on the subject. But we must warn our readers that if they expect to find it a controversial novel they will be disappointed. Mr. Trollop° carefully guards himself from expressing any decided opinion upon the recent reforms. He rallies the old school on their slowness, and the new school on their pedantry, but abstains from committing himself to either. The spirit in which these topics are discussed will, perhaps, be understood from the following scene, in which Mr. Oldeschole, the chief of the In ternal Navigation Office, about to be abolished, is interrogated by a newly-appointed commis sioner : They asked him all manner of questions ; but there was one question which they put to him, day after day, for four days, that nearly drove him mad. It was always put by that horrid young lynx-eyed new commissioner, who sat there with his hair brushed high from off his fore bead, peering out of his capacious excellently washed abht collars, a personification of conscious official zeal. " And now, Mr. Oldeschole, if you have had leisure to consider the question more fully, perhaps you can define to us what is the—hum—hrn—the use—hum—h-m—hm —the exact use of the Internal Navigation Office ?" And then Sir Warwick would go on looking through his millstone as though now he really bad a hope of seeing something, and Sir Gregory would lean back in his chair, and rubbing his hands slowly over each other, like a great Akinetos as he was, wait leisurely for Mr. Oldeschole's answer, or rather for his no answer. What a question was this to ask of a man who had pent all his life in the Internal Navigation Office? 0 reader! should it chance that thou art a clergyman, imagine what it would be to thee, siert thou asked what is the exact use of the Church of England, and that, too, by some stubborn catechist whom thou wert bound to answer; or, if a lady, happy in a husband and family, say, what would be thy feelings if demanded to define the exact use of matrimony ? Use! Is it not all iu all to thee ? Mr. Oldeschole felt a hearty inward conviction that his office had been of eery great use. In the first place, had he not drawn from it a thousand a year for the last five and twenty years? had it not gisen maintenance and em ployment to many waithy men who might perhaps have found it difficult to obtain maintenance elsewhere ? had it not always been an office, a public of f ice o f note and reputareputation,putson, with proper work assigned to it? The use of it—the exact use of it? Mr. Oldeschole at last declared, with some indignation in his tone, that ho btul been there fori forty y ii• 1 knew well that the dice was ytity THE PRESS, DECEMBER 19, 1857. useful ; but that he would not undertake to define its exact use. "Thank you, thank yon, Mr. Oldeschole—that will do, I think," said the very spruce•looking new gentle man out of his shirt collars. In examining the cant of the day on the sub ject of " routine," Mr. Trollope lays aside this half-jesting, half-serious tone, and speaks out manfully. No such gigantic system as the administration of affairs in a country like our own can be conducted without routine; and our failure in the Crimea, as he very truly observes, was rather because we had too little of it, than because we had too much. In a review of Sir Richard Airey's Addresses, pub lished in these columns about a twelvetnontl. since, this same position was laid down, and we pointed out that but for the exercise of as much routine as circumstances permitted, there would have been far greater waste and misapplication of stores than actually oc• curred We observe that Mr. Trollope is still inclined to be a little hard upon journalists and critics. But we put it to him whether the justification of the clerk and the justification of the critic do not rest on pretty much the same grounds ? England is so busy and so populous that she requires a class of middlemen between Go vernment and the people ; and for the same reason she requires a class of middlemen between authors and the public. It is mainly due to the rise and progress of criticism that the trash of forty years ago has been exploded. And Mr. Trollope may depend upon it that the class whom he persists in regarding as his enemies are in reality his best friends ; and that but for them his own audience would still be confined to lady's maids, schoolgirls, and milliners. Captivity of Two Russian Princesses in the Caucasus. Communicated by Themselves, and Translated from the original Russian by H. Sutherland Edwards. London : Smith and Elder. LET US imagine the inmates of some quiet English country house, never before disturbed by any greater danger than a riot at ten miles distance which a dozen policemen could ex tinguish, suddenly and without the slightest warning surrounded by a mob of armed savages ; the house burnt, and themselves, consisting of three young and beautiful women under thirty years of age, borne off on the cruppers of the enemy to an impenetrable mountain fastness—half-naked, sometimes short of food. sometimes suffering from corn pulsory uncleanliness, and always in trepida tion for their virtue if not for their lives—and there detained for a period of eight months, and we shall have gained some inadequate idea of the position of the Georgian Princesses whose captivity is here related. The castle and estate of Tsenondahl are situated in that narrow strip of land which separates the Black Sea from the Caspian, about five miles north-east of the town of Telaff, and thirty or forty from Tiflis. Be tween Tsenondahl and the foot of the Cauca sian range flows the river Alazan in a south easterly course towards the Caspian Sea, and beyond that runs the cordon of forts which is the final boundary of the Russian dominions. Within this double rampart the inhabitants of the castle had always felt themselves, and had always been, secure. In the summer of 1834 the lady of the castle, the Princess Chavehavadzey, granddaughter of the last King of Georgia, sometime lady in waiting to the Empress, and wife of Prince David Chavelia.vadzey, a colonel in the Russian army, had arrived with her family at her an cestral home. Her own family consisted of five young children. But besides these there were in the house the Princess Orbeliani, with her little boy and her niece, the Princess Nina Baratta, "a beautiful girl of eighteen;" also a French governess, one Mine. Drancey, whose conduct was throughout characteristic. When this little household first hoard that some of the mountaineers had shown them• selves on the other side of the river, they were troubled with no apprehensions. A few cot tages burnt and a few crops destroyed fifteen or twenty miles off was the worst that could happeu. Prince David departed to take the command of the local militia, and the ladies continued tranquilly at Tsenondahl. By degrees, however, things began to as sume a more threatening aspect. It was rumoured that the present was no ordinary incursion of marauders, but a well-organised expedition with Shamil in person at the bead of it. Some of the wealthier inhabitants of the neighbourhood took refuge in the town of Telaff, and at length the inmates of Tsenon dahl began to grow seriously alarmed. At this juncture, however, a message arrived from Prince David assuring them that all was going well, and bidding them feel no uneasi ness. The Prince had intended these words to apply to himself, but unfortunately the ladies interpreted it of their own situation, and gave up the preparations for removal which they had already commenced. In a short time, however, the imminent peril they were incurring became more and more manifest, and at last the Princess deter mined to send for post-horses to Telaff, and depart the next morning. The event hung upon a thread ; half an hour either way was sufficient to decide it. Fate had determined against the ladies. The horses had arrived and been put to. The travelling-carriage was being loaded with plate and jewellery. The servants had finished packing, and the ladies were dressing for the journey. In five minutes they would have started. But it was too late : the marauders were upon them. One of their party was shot as they rushed at the door of the house, which by checking them for a moment gave time to the ladies, the children, and the servants to escape to the " Belvidere," a sort of upper chamber, in which they locked themselves, and awaited their destiny with what resignation they might : In the above position the family remained as quietly as possible for about an hour, during which time the robbers were fully occupied searching the twenty-two rooms which composed the lower floors of the house. With sickness of heart the Princesses heard, from time to time, the opening and shutting of doors, the unlocking and breaking of boxes, the smashing of glass, and the thumping of the robbers' fists on the keys of the pianoforte whenever it attracted the attention of a fresh party. The robbers appeared so thoroughly absorbed in their work of plunder, that the Princesses became courageous, and began to conceive projects of escape. The Princess Orbeliani opened the door, went down stairs, and suc ceeded in reaching the first floor, intending, if it should appear possible, to let down some of the elder children, such as Salome and Marie, through the window, after which it would be easy for them to run on to the wood. She, however, became convinced that her plan could not be carried out. In the lower rooms a number of moun taineers were engaged ransacking the Prince's cabinet. The Princess took a hasty glance at them from the top of the staircase, and returned to the belvidere. Soon afterwards the. old Princess Tinia Orbeliani went down stairs, and did not return. The Princess Tinia has but little memory, and has never given any intelligible account of her proceedings. It is certain, however, that having met the rubbers, she concealed herself in a cup board, and thus escaped a captivity which would probably have been fatal to her. One of the servants suddenly conceived the idea of bolting the robbers out. She fastened the door of the belvidere,—an orieration which could only prolong the suspense from which they had already suffered so much, for, of course, the door would soon yield to blows. The Princess Chavchavadzey was on her knees, pray ing and listening, when, at last, the robbers arrived. Three or four of them ran up the staircase with a light quick step, and, entering the room adjoining the belvidere, began to throw out of the window the pillows and bed : clothes, which were kept there in readiness for visitors. Having done this, the robbers a pp eared to be on the point of retiring. They went part of the way down stairs ; and the Princesses now began to hope that they would omit to visit the belvidere. But they hoped in vain. The moun taineers returned; and this time there were not merely three or four, but a large party. They reached the end of the staircase and shook the door, but not violently, nor even decidedly ; so that it still remained closed: they pm• bably expected to find the belvidere defended by an armed force. .It, last, more decisive measures were adopted, and the door burst open. The robbers paused on the threshold and broke into a loud laugh, which can only be explained by their amusement at meeting with a group of defenceless women, when they had anticipated nothing less than an attack from a formidable body of men. To this wild and ironical shout the children answered by acre scream. The Princess Anna now st ood up, pared to meet death face to face. The Princess Orbelisni, who it will be remembered was next the door, was instantly seized upon, and then led down stairs with a certain amount of attention. The others were also laid hold of 11, t h e mountaineers, who rushed, each with his captive, tdivards the staircase. The staircase, already weakened by the peasant's saw, g ave way beneath the steps of t he mountaineers, as they crowded down it with their prisoners. The whole party — mountaineers, women, and ehildreu—were mingled in Imp on lie tick): beneath ; and:zany weru Um) iujuries