The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

DECEMBER 22, 1855. and, at last, "the next moment saw me grasping $$ Ibrahim by the collar and shaking his bead back " wares and forwards vi , lently " Afterwards th e y quarrelled with their cook, their rein, and their whole crew; but even with all these drawbacks Mr. Kennard confesses to a delightful voyage. He ascended above the first cataract to the temple of Aboo Simbel, and was heartily sorry, when he re turned to Alexandria, to take leave of his dahabeeh. He found no difficulty in getting a "party" to join him in traversing the Desert to Jerusalem, was taken captive by a party of bedouins, but soon released, and reached the Holy City safely. Thence he tra velled to Damascus, and home by Beyrout. Th e book is little more than a plain record of occur• mimes ; but, on the whole, confirms all th a t can be said in favour of the Nile voyage, and the Desert journey. It does not seem possible to pass a winter more agreeably. The best parts of the book relate to Palestine : the author, in spite of a rattling style, manifests a strong sentiment of reverence as he moves through the Holy Land, and he possesses a quick eye for natural beauty. He seems to have met with none of the disasters in his Desert travel that be complains of in the Nile voyage ; so, perhaps, the friend cf whose boots poor Ibrahim stood in so much dread may have had something to do with the numerous squabbles which took place. A little for bearance is the best requisite a traveller can take with him ; and in many cases regard for charity, if not for comfort, should prescribe it. From the East we past to the West, from the Old World to the New. Mr. Kingston presents us with a Canadian tour,* undertaken as a wedding. trip. It is written, as it should be, with much brightness of spirit. He arrived at New York early in September, 1853, stayed two nights at the St. Nicholas, where he found too much splendour and too little comfort, then made his way up the Hudson by Lake Champlain to Montreal, and Quebec. From the latter city he commenced a new tour—" West ward, Ho ! " to Sault St. Marie, and there took a steamer wnich went through Lake Huron to Detroit. Thence, by another steamer, he passed by Lake Erie to Buffalo, whence, instead of proceeding by railroad to Niagara, he took steamer to the Canadian village of Chip pewa, and proceeded by rail end omnibus to Niagara. He stayed at the falls for five days, surveyed them from e eery point of' view, and has given one of the most exact descriptions of their sublimity yet pub lished. Thence he made a tour to Hamilton and Toronto, and back by Kingston, Montreal, and Quebec, surveying those magnificent public works which have so wonderfully developed the resources of the Canadas, and insured for them a magnificent future. Having well acquainted himself with the most prominent features of British America, he pro ceeded to Boston, where he made the acquaintance of some of the most eminent literary characters in the United States, and took his passage from that port to England. The peculiar merit of Mr. Kingston's book consists in his excellent deseiip tions of the lake scenery of North America, and his accurate accounts of the social and industrial state of the Canadas. The country is rapidly growing in every element of wealth ; the canals and railroads — perhaps the greatest works ever undertaken in a new country—are rapidly increasing in usefulness and value, agriculture extends, trade flourishes, and the people are warmly attached to the " Old Country " and to the British Government. As to the States ever absorbing or annexing British America, the n ition is out of all bounds of probability. Whatever f ,rm of Government that country may hereafter assume, it certainly will never join the Union. The establishment of an independent republic, when the is )d becomes too mighty to remain a possession of the British Crown, is not improbable. Mr. Kingston's wel'-written and judicious volumes are illustrated with many pretty wood-engravings from drawings made by himself. Mr. Oliphant, in his Minnesota,+ went over much Of the ground traversed by Mr. Kingston, but ad vanced further to the west. His account of the Caned is is very instructive and highly favorable. Beyond the rapids of St. Marie he went in a steamer by ..he south shore of Superior to the head of that magnificent lake, and marks the first efforts at settlement now making upon its shores. Thence he invaded the Indian country by the St. Louis, reached the hued waters of the Mississippi, and descended them till he came to St. Paul, the capital of the new State of Minnesota. It is on the present aspect of t his State, where Yankee enterprise and settlement are developing themselves with marvellous power, and on its prospects, that the author dwells with most particularity. All this part of the book has the charm of complete novelty, and introduces us to a new country, and, so far as Yankee maps and plans are concerned, to grand cities and flourishing town ships. In 1847 St. Paul consisted of but a few trading huts; it is now a city of 7 ,0 00 or 8,000 in- • Western Wanderings; or, A Pleasure Tour in the Canada' By Wm. H. G. Kinguton. Two Vols. 4:bal nom aria Hall. + Minnesota and the Far West. By LawreacelpLaut, Esq. VlC'Moods THE PRESS. habitants, with four or five hotels, half a dozen handsome churches, and four daily newspapers. Regarding the surprising progress made by this new State, Mr. Oliphant thinly. , he would be a rash in dividual who would dare to take the bet of one of its inhabitants : We just set up Minnesota against the rest of the world and all the other planets, and coolly offer to back her with any odds you may choose to offer. Descending the Mississippi to Duboque, another fa'.t-rising town, the author crossed the country to Chicago on Lake Michigan, and thence by an express train acros't the whole breadth of State Michigan to Detroit. Mr. Oliphant is an experienced traveller and skilful penman; all his sketches have great breadth and distinctness, and he makes us as well acquainted with the peculiarities of the country he visited as rapid description can accomplish. To all who would understand the process by which in Yankeedom new States are so rapidly formed, towns built, and districts settled, we confidently recommend a perusal of " Minnesota." Lord Broughton• has published a new and hand some edition of the travels which, as Mr. Hobbouse, he issued nearly forty-tive years ago. He has added to the tent numerous notes embodying the views of Colonel Leake, Dr. Holland, Colonel Mure, and other travellers, on controverted points relating to the topography and antiquities of Greece, and he has in some cases completed the history of transactions which when he wrote were yet in progress, and has commented on the changes which time has made in the position both of Greece and Turkey. In copious appendices he has added papers elucidatory of matters treated of in the text, but with great good taste he has generally confined his additions to the scope and aim of the original work. The plates, though very beautiful, are open to the objection that drawings taken in 1855 are not quite appropriate to travels written in 1810. A few allusions to the politics of the day appear in the notes, as, for instance, at vol. ii., 21. where, speaking of the war now in progress, Lord Broughton declares that " England must ever after speak with the voice of a " master on the shores of the Bosphorus." We do not think sound policy requires any such pretension, as certainly, if it be persisted in—and Lord Brough ton may on this point possibly represent the views of a section of his party—it would involve us in an almost interminable contest. What is required for a solid solution of the question is—not that England shall speak as a master on the shores of the Bosphorus, but that the territory now under the domination of the Porte shall always remain under an independent and sovereign government, and be preserved from the aggression of its neighbours. This is the whole Eastern question. The architecture and sculpture of the Greeks are treated with great care in these volumes. Mr. Cockerell contributes an able paper on the massiveness of the materials used in ancient architecture ; and, in direct opposition to the theory of Mr. Buskin, which would make all architecture consist in ornamentation, says :—" The world is still " deceived by ornament ; and at the present " time especially there is a disposition to accept " ornamentation as a substitute for architecture, and " for the sake of a trivial gratification of the eye to " forego the advantage of the graver elements and " more enduring qualities of the art." The travels themselves have long been recognised as eloquent, scholarly, classic, and, on the whole, extremely accu rate, as well as animated. They relate to a memo rable period in the history of Greece, as the people were at the time meditating the revolution which they afterwards accomplished, though the author seems when he wrote to have had little idea of the struggle which was impending. By the care with which the work is now produced it would seem that Lord Broughton relies on it to carry down his name with honour to succeeding ages. But the reader will marvel what can have become of the intellect, the accomplishments, and even the energy which shine in these volumes. Fur a short time Mr. Hobhouse took a distinguished part in politics, and between thirty and forty years back gave evidence of gladia tonal ability in the contests of the House of Commons. We must suppose Oat an ample fortune and a nature intellectually indulgent won bim from the exertion of public life. Still, it will always be account d singular that the author of these travels, with every opportunity for literary fame, and every talent to win it, should have been content with his solitary laurel. We believe the truth to be, that he has much of the timidity which arises from sen sitiveness, and that he has shrunk from criticism, and perhaps been daunted, as many eminent meu have been before him, from further effort by his own fame. These volumes bear additional testimony to the constancy of the author's friendship for Lord Byron, and show the exertions he made to vindicate his character, and to get Thorwaldsen's statue erected in Westminster Abbey. Yet we think a bolder nature would have prosecuted its object with • Trowels is Albania and other Pt-Princes y Turkey iss lev9 and Islo. By Lord Broughton. Two Vols. A New Edition. Lon- don "fumy, 1221 greater ardour, and perhaps with better auto iss. The tact that the journey these volumes record was undertaken in company with Lord Byron, and con tain many interesting anecdotes and traits of charac ter concerning him, gives the work additional value, and increases its claims to preservation. Other works of travel and adventure on our table we must reserve till another week. Passages in the History of a Wasted Life. By a Middle-aged Man. London: Tweedie. Tius is in many respects a most remarkable little book. The author is one who is said to have moved in high literary socie►y ; and a more complete picture of utter degradation than he has given us it is im possible to conceive. 'l'here is, however, a strange fascination about his story, and we confess to having read it through withont putting the book down. The bulk of it is taken up with the life of that curious race who live in publichousea and write songs in the back parlours to pay their score. The cheap lodging houses— the gin shop—the pawnbrokers—the Holy well-street publishers—and every imaginable haunt to which inveterate inebriety could bring a man of ability, are described with graphic power, and their habitués sketched with a free and practised touch. Either as a warning or an amusement "The History of a Wasted Life " will be found excellent. Du Style et de la Composition LiWroire. Par M. Antonin Roche. Paris: Jules Delalain. London : Longmans. THE imprint on the titlepage of this volume seems to indicate the commencement of a new era in the world of letters. The book of M. Roche is pub lished simultaneously in Parts and London—one of the very first of our publishing hoaxes taking charge of it here. We trust that the precedent will be exten• sively followed, and that French works, of value will in ititure have a recognised house of issue in this country. The sale of them in a short time would probably be considerable. M. Ruche's essay belongi to the better order of educational works. It skil fully treats the niceties of French composition, and gives copious examples to explain or confirm the principles laid down. It will be useful to persons who desire to write French with perspicuity and elegance. The chapter on synonymies might ba made much more valuable by a distinct explanation of the shades of meaning attached by the best French writers to words which at first sight seem to have a nearly similar signification. Nonpariel House. By Henry Curling. Three Vols. London ; Hall, Virtue, and Co. " Nonpariel House " is a story of the civil wan t following pretty closely the disaNters and execution of Charles 1., the Protectorate of Cromwell, and Restoration, The historical part of the work wants strength of colouring, but the sketches of manners and social scenes are done with care, and the effect is agreeable. The fiction is pretty, and the fortunes of the hero, Julian, are romantic, various, and charac • teristic. With little pretension to originality, the tale reads smoothly, and accords with all our conventional notions of the time and the personages, even to the " Ods fish" of the Merry Monarch. R ichel Gray. A Tale. By Julia Kavanagh. London : Hurst and Blackett. IN a tale in one volume, Miss Kavanagh has adhered, she tells us—and we believe her—es closely as possible to actual facts. In portions of her story there is considerable pathos. The resignation of the heroine to the ill-usage of her parent, end the fortitude with which she devotes hei self to him after wards, are touchingly portrayed. The trials of the poor shopkeeper are in a more prosaic vein, though his love of his one child, and his affliction at her lOW, make the otherwise tedious episode of "the teapot" tolerable. Our impression is, that Miss Kavanagh has this time pitched her key too low, and that in her anxiety to be real she has introduced sordid facts, which detract from what might otherwise have been a pretty and affecting story. Faces in the Fire. By George Frederick Pardon. London : James Blackwood. A REISSUE of a very pretty little Christmas hook. Mr. Pardon possesses just the talent for these kind of stories—a lively imagination, which still Dever leads him into extravagance, and a considerable corn. mand of poetical language, which !never degenerates into rant. We have read his " Faces in the Fire" with great pleasure., and, if we are anything of phy. siognomists, they are likely to be public favorites. The Metropolitan Buildings Act ; and Notes of Cases Explanatory of its Law and Practice. By Frederick W. Laxton, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. A USEFUL little manual, which . 14 in ix. hen is pi all pariah authorities,