The Press. — London, England, 1857-04-11 00:00:00

APRIL 11, 1857. hall,—the hall where he was born, the hall of his father and mother; in short, the hall of his near and dear rela• tions, of his immediate associates, and his innumerable a cquaintances. The second tale is a republication. Though of deeper interest, it is not one that we can easily describe in our columns. It is rather fitted for discussion in some scientific peri odical, than an ordinary newspaper intended for ladies' eyes. It describes the formation of a very peculiar character, which was corrupted into something very gross and shocking, but which we must frankly confess we do not wholly understand. The tale however displays great power, and is likely to be read with avidity by all into whose hands it may fall. The Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of .liitun heim ; or, the Week and its Story. By the Author of " Mia and Charlie," and her Sister. London : Bogue. THERE has been no great novelty in recent years in the class of amusing books intended for boys and girls ranging between eight and thirteen years. It is extremely difficult to produce a literature suitable for the young. There must be special study of their capaci ties, and close observation of the xvity in which children read storybooks. The most difficult of all kinds of such works is the composition of a book suitable for both sexes. Boys will delight to read about playgrounds, and matches of skill, and incidents of the sort familiar at all schools; but girls will care little for "boys' books," and vice versa. History would appear to give a groundwork for tales of interest for the young of both sexes; but boys and girls say " they have enough of that " at school," and they do not want it in their " play-books." Like children of a still larger growth, they crave for pictures for the imagi nation to repose upon, and as yet there are few novelists for the young who can be said to have realised ail that might be expected. The French and Germans are, we think, more ingenious in composing books for the young; but the total difference of manners and customs makes their childrens' books of com paratively little value in England. Like their dramatic pieces, they would require extensive " adaptation" before they could be naturalised in it. This work of " Heroes of Asgard" seems to us too abstract to be interesting. It is an attempt to produce an interesting story-book on the legends and mythology of the Scandi world. The objections to the work are candidly stated by the compiler : " Aivtbology has rather a school. sound," said Harry, doubtfully. " But we never hear anything' about Northern Mvtliolocy at school," said William; " and the Urecian and Itomal interesting enough when one has not to translate it. Have you forgotten the Tatiglewood tales or Mr. King' ley's Heroes ? If you can tell us stories as good as those, Uncle Mick, you may depend upon our being quiet." - - - - And Aunt Helen adds sub seqnently:— " I don't quite agree with you there," said Aunt Helen; " we have a great deal to do with the Grecian and Roman gods, because the myths about them have mixed with the thoughts of so many generations, and have come down to us clothed in so many different forms, in paintingz., and buildings, and in the very words of our own English language. The sound of this conversation is too didactic for a book for pleasurable amusement. The author then explains how our Saxon fore fathers supposed the world to be a circular plain, with Asgard, the City of Lords, in the centre, whose inhabitants were Odin and the Gods: At the foot of Asgard was Manheim, the dwelling-place of mortals; beyond that was the sea, encircled' by a gigantic serpent, with his tail in his mouth, a marvellous precursor of another mythical monster reported about in American newspapers. Beyond the sea was Jotunheim, or the land of giants, and this little volume relates to the contests carried on between these giants and the heroes of Asgard. If Defoe had attempted a boys' book on this subject, that consummate master of effect would have resolved to give it a vitalising in terest He would have recollected how the English Loy " Jack " has been immortalised amongst quellors of giants, and he would have in some way associated the subject of the volume with the English affections of the THE PRESS. youth of this generation. But no such at tempt is made here, and there is a lack of art in the presentation of the matter. At the end of the volume there is an alarming appen dix, which must be familiarised to the little reader of the book before its contents can be properly understood. We shall select a scrap from it by way of specimen : _ _ Garm—The dog with bloody breast and jaws who gnarled the way to Helheint. From gerr, " voracious," a word probably cognate with English " gorge." Gerd, Gerda, or Gender—From gero, " to do—make," as in akrgerd, " agriculture.' Gimh—Name of the heavenly city which existed after the destruction and renewal of the world. Signifies " fire," or " gem." Ginnungagap—The space between Nillheim and Mus pellheitn. Literally, " the gap of gaps, the abysm of abysses, the yawning, gaping abyss." Gjallar•bru—The sounding river leading from the abodes of the living to those of the dead. Gjallar-horn From gjalla, " to resound, to clang." Cognate with the English, " to yell." We should be surprised if a book of this nature could become a favourite ; but the name of one of its authors, who is a practised writer, might help it into circulation. Ceylon, Past and Present. By Sir George Barrow, Bart. London : Murray. THE contents of this work are more literary than topographical, and it scarcely realises its title. It is a volume composed upon another work,—" Robert Knox's captivity in Ceylon " from 1659 till his escape in 1670," and Sir George Barrow's composition reads like patch work. We have extracts not only from Knox, but from Sirr, Pridham, Cordiner, Sir Har dinge Giffard, and, last, not least, from Sir Emerson Tennent. The volume is c irious in some respects, but it wants completeness, solidity, and definite result We are distracted while reading it with the variety of vistas opened before the imagination. Material objects, and metaphysical considerations of the Ceylonese superstitions, are mingled toge ther too rapidly; some subjects are glanced at in the most summary style, and undue pro minence is given to others. It would be difficult, however, to produce a volume on Ce)lon which would not have much interest. Histories of Ceylon have been published by Percival in 1805, Cordiner in 1807, Bertolacci in 1817, Davy in 1821, Forbes in 1840, Pridham in 1849, ant Slur in 1850. Sir George Barrow gives the preference to the account published by Knox in 1681. There is certainly some pleasure in reading old books of travels. The wonders of nature beheld for the first time, or when they are not generally familiarised, produce sensations of freshness, and powerfully influence a writer's composition ; and after the lapse of time a new effect is added by the antique air. The earliest accounts of all countries have always an inde finable charm. The preface to Knox's work was penned by Robert Hooke the mathematician, curator and secretary to the Royal Society, and it reads quaintly:— After a general view of the seacoasts he • will lead you into the country by the watches, through the thorny gates, then conduct you round upon the mountains that eneom pass and fortify the whole kingdom, and, by the way, carry you to the top of Hommalet, or Adam's Peak ; from those he will descend with you and show you their chief cities and towns, and pass through them into the country, and there acquaint you with their husbandry ; then enter tain you with the fruits, flowers, herbs, roots, plants, and trees ; and by the way shelter you from sun and rain with a fmn made of the talipat leaf. Then show you their beasts, birds, fish, serpents, insects, and, last of all, their commo• (Mies. From hence he will carry yon to Court, and show you the King in the several estates of his life ; and acquaint you with his way of governing, revennes,treasures, officers, governors, military strength, wars ; and by the way enter tain you with an account of the late rebellion against him ; after which he will bring you acquainted with the inhabi tants themselves, whence you may know their different hiuncurs, ranks, and qualities. _ _ This is like the ►►ld familiar style of "Walk " in, ladies and gentlemen, and you shall " see, &c." It is just two hundred years ago since the incidents occurred which led to the captivity of Knox:-- in January, 16:i7, the Ann frigate, of London, com manded by Captain Robert Knox (the author's father), sailed from the Downs in the service of the East India Company, bound for Fort St. George, and after trading for more than a year from port to port in India, the vessel was biding its goods to return to England in November, ' 113.59, in the road of Matlipatan (Masulipatan), when " a mighty 365 storm" arose, which forced them to cut their mainmast by the board, and so disabled the ship that she could not proceed on her voyage to England. The agent at Fort St. George ordered that the ship should take in some cloth and go to Cotair Bay ( Cottiar, in the great Bay of Trincomalie), in the Island of Ceylon, to trade, and to set another mainmast, and repair other damages which it had sustained by the storm. The Indian merchants of Porto Novo, to whom the goods belonged, went on shore on their arrival at Cotair, lint the captain and crew were ut first cautious in their communications with the natives ; being well received, however, they grew more confident and went on shore whenever it pleased them. The King of Kandv (Raja Singha) hearing of their arrival, despatched a dinativa or general, with his army, who immediately sent a messenger on board to desire the captain to come on shore, pretending that he was the bearer of a letter from the • King. They saluted the message with tiring of guns, and the captain ordered his son, Robert Knox, with Mr. John Loveland, the merchant of the ship, to go on shore and wait on him. The diasaurainquired who they were, and how long they would stay. He was told they were English, that they would not stay above twenty or thirty days, and that they desired permission to trade in his Majesty's port. He re• plied that the King was glad to hear that the English had come to his country, had commanded him to assist them, and had sent a letter, but it was to be delivered to no one save the captain. The party who had previously gone ashore were about twelve miles up the country. They told the digusurce that the captain could not leave his ship to come so far, but if he would come down to the shore, the captain would immediately wait upon him to receive the letter. The dissaura desired them to stay that day, and on the morrow he would go down with them. Their suspicions, however, were raised that evening by his stating that he intended to send the captain a present in the night ; and accordingly they wrote to warn the captain, but the letter we; not delivered to him. The result was, that in the morning the captain came ashore to receive the present, and was told that his son and Mr. Loveland, with the dimaura, were on their way from the interior bearing a letter from the King. The native soldiers then seized the captain and seven men, but without violence or plunder, and brought them up to the otner party, carrying the captain in a hammock on their shoulders. The next day the long-boat's crew, not knowing what had happened, came ashore, and were also made prisoners. This reads with romantic effect; and there is certainly much freshness in the account of Robert Knox. But we are bound to say that in its republished form wo have had it before. In the year 1817 a history of Ceylon (as ad mitted by Sir• G. Barrow) was published by " Philab3thes, A.M. Oxon." The work was a learned compilation, in which free use was made of the contents of the Dutch work of Valentyn. The compiler was the Rev. Mr. Biesett, and he republished in it " Robert Knox's Relation of the Island of Ceylon " Sir George Barrow gives some excerpts from Knox, and adds to them choice passages from various other writers on Ceylon, interspersing the whole with comments of his own. The scenery in Ceylon must be of the most gorgeous description, and we have ourselves heard persons who sojourned there speak with raptures of the magnificence of the land scapes. Nor was it ignorant enthusiasm which inspired 'lose descriptions, for our informa.uts had beheld Swiss and Italian scenery. Here, for example, is a description of the Kadaga nawa Pass, in approaching Kandy. The writer is Sirr A series of views, of the most magnificent and varied character, open forth as the mountain is ascended ; on either side appear cultivated lands, bounded by dense forests and rucks, whilst the clearness of the atmosphere enables the traveller to see the undulating lowlands stretching far into the distance. As the steep sides of the mountain are climbed, ravines and fissures are wound round, and often a perpendicular mountain rears its lofty crest on one aide, and descends in the same manner on the opposite. Sometimes a brawling waterfall appears over the traveller's head, as if threatening instant annihi lation by hurling him into the deep abyss below ; then the road will become so narrow, that there appears to be scarcely room for the vehicle to stand on, and the strongest nerves may be shaken, as the eye glances below at the steep precipice down which some crumbling earth is rolling, loosened by.the coach•wheels. To this circum scribed path, upon turning the next angle, succeeds a wide road and view of the surrounding couutry, terminated by the Blue Mountains in the distance, whose towering heads blend with the azure shy, Adam's Peak tearing his lofty head above his fellows. The cc Tabulation of sublime and beautiful scenery brought under notice during the ascent of the Kadaganawa Pass is nearly incredible; roaring torrents dashing down frightful abysses, from whose side% spring enormous trees, and at whose base are lands teeming with grain. Terrine chasms, and overhanging masses of rock, where bright-coloured flowering shrubs have taken root, rapidly succeed each other ; and when the summit of the mountain is attained, and the boundless extent and beauty of the prospect fully perceptible, many beholders of this magnificent scene carrot find utterance to express their sense of the might, maicsty, and glory of the Al-