The Press. — London, England, 1857-03-14 00:00:00

MARCH 14, 1857. Other good passages are at p. 339, on the use of the Liturgy and sacraments, and the whole of Sermon xxvi., on the prayer of the High Priest, where his suggestion of altering the translation of St. John xvii. 9. by using the word " concerning " instead of " for," is good, but has been previously suggested by Alford. Mr. Maurice would be one of our most useful clergymen if he would lay aside his crotchets and act upon the principles he him self has laid down at p. 339. The revival of religious sentiments does not require the abandonment of ancient formulas, but their resuscitation. As Coleridge says in " Aids to Reflection":—" To restore a commonplace " thing to its first lustre you need only trans " late it into action." And if it cannot be translated into action it will gain nothing by a new dress. This may disguise its weak ness, but it cannot restore its strength. A Journey through Texas; or, a Winter of Saddle and Camp Life on the Border Country of the United States and Mexico. By Frederick Law Olmsted. London: Samp- son Low and Co. AMERICAN books of travel increase upon us, but wo are sorry to say that we cannot give them our critical approbation. Wo do not find the personal care, the professional know ledge, and the literary aptitude which marked the writings of Solander (" Cook's Voyages "), Arthur Young, E. D. Clarke, Von Humboldt, and others. In America, we fear that the " run-and-read " system of writing has been inaugurated. reople in that country seem to have imagined that there is some connection between universal suffrage and universal authorship. It is easier, however, to drop a vote into the ballot-box than to dip a skilful pen into an author's ink-bottle. Yet America has produced some good travellers. Stephens, and the " Young American in Spain," could write with force and freshness ; and we could mention some others from the land of the " Far West." Mr. Olmsted has already ventured into print. His merits are an easy kind of graphic narrative, and talent for picking up curious details ; his defects aro that he does not classify his knowledge, and that ho swamps himself in particulars. The be=etting sin of American M liters is long-winded description. On the stage we laugh at their histrionic personators when they gabble forth an inordi• nate quantity of verbiage pronounced with a nasal twang; but in writing, their• multitude of words becomes intolerable. Conciseness is not within their grasp, and they prefer the continuous to the compact. The conse quences ore obvious. We must, however, take things as we find them;. and undoubtedly the freshness and strange variety of life which we meet with in American tatrists • reconciles us to their errors in taste, and their absence of literary finish. Texas has received considerable attention from explorers and authors. One of the best works on the subject is " Bartlett'e Personal Narrative," reviewed in our columns two years ago. (Pans, vol. ii., pp. 1096-7.) Yoakum's " History of Texas " enjoys much vogue; but hitherto that region wants the careful study of a writer like Mr. Laing. Its scenery is most striking, and has received adequate description ; but its social life has never yet been properly detailed. Germans, Mexicans. Irish, Virginians, New Yorkers, political refugees, ruined gamblers from the Old World and heartless speculators from the ,New meet each other in that strange country. There is a large slave population, besides. to add to the complication ; and the political constitution of the State is ultra-Democratic. Here aro die first four sections of the Texas " Bill of Rights" (so actually named) That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognised and estab lished, we declare that— , - - sec 1. All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit ; and they have at all times the unalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of government in such manner as they may think expedient. Bee. 2. All freemen, when they form a social compact, fore eittal rights; and no man, or cot of men, i 3 entitled THE PRESS. to exclusive separate public emoluments or privileges but in consideration of public services. Sec. 3. No religious test shall ever be required as a qua lification to any office or public trust in this State. Sec. 4. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship God accoiding to dm dictates of their own con sciences. Observe the admission, " dictates of their " consciences." We turn a few pages, and we come to the articles whieh treat of " Division "of the Powers, of Government, &c." It is therein enacted : To possess the right of suffrage, a person must have at tained the age of twenty one years, have resided one year in the State, anti the last fa ix months in his voting district— " Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Africans " are excepted. - - So much for the value of paper constitutions, and preambles about all men being equal. In the eighth article " the emancipation of slaves " is provided against in these terms : The Legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves, without the consent of their owners, nor without paying their owners, previous to such emancipation, a full equivalent in money for the slaves so emancipated ; they shall have no power to prevent emi• grants to the State from bringing with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of the United States, so long u any person of the same age or description shall be continued in slavery by the laws of this State. Mr. Olmsted is an ardent Abolitionist, and argues the case against slavery both on the grounds of humanity and economy. His illus trations of nigger life, and his dialogues of the blacks, are often good of their kind, but we are surfeited with that sort of matter. The freshest and best portion of his work is that which describes the boundless resources of Texas ; and assuming that a peaceful state of society could be formed there, and that civil war and dissensions could be banished from Texas, undoubtedly that community would flourish with extraordinary prosperity. But it is not enough that a country has great natural resources. Spain in the Old World produces the finest wool, the most delicious bread, the strongest wine, and the best oil; and of what avail are these resources against a degenerate Executive, a fanatical priesthood, and a long course of civil wars? Mr. Olmsted does not understand considerations like these, and he is rather dazzled (like other travellers) with the wonderful natural resources of Texas. On the climate of Texas Mr. Olmsted ob serves:— In point of climate Texas claims, with at least as mach justice as any other State, to be called the Italy of Ame- Sea. The general average of temperature corresponds, and the skies are equally clear and glowing. The pecu. liarities over other climates of the latitude are found in its unwavering summer sea-breeze and its winter northers. The first is a delightful alleviation of its summer heats, flowing in each day from the gulf as the sun's rays become oppressive, and extending remotely inland to the furthest settlements with the same trustworthy steadiness. It con tinues through the evening, and is described as having so great effect that, however oppressive the day may have been, the nights are always cool enough to demand a blanket and yield invigorating rest. The range of ther mometer in summer is uniformly high, though seldom reaching the extremes that occur at the North. A new comer feels principally in irritating eruptions that he has entered a semi-tropical atmosphere. The northers prevail during the winter months in the western parts of the State, where the sweep of the air down from the great plains is unimpeded by forests. They alternate at intervals of a few days with mild weather, and ca- -e a great and sudden change in the temperature, piercing to the bone by their force and penetrating chill any one inadequately prepared to meet them. There is some exhilarating quality, however, about them that tempers their malice, and with shelter they are easily endurable. No part of his work is more interesting to us than his description of the'German emi• grants, who appear to have settled in Texas in great numbers. Several graphic descriptions of their log houses, their comparative neatness, and their elevated manner 'aro given in his pages. .The author observes : In social and political relations, the Germans do not occupy the position to which their force and character inonld entitle them. They mingle little with the Americans, except for the neceQsary buying and selling. The manners and ideals of the Texans and of the Germans are hope lessly divergent, and the two races have made little acquaintance, observing me another apart with unfeigned curiosity, often tempered with mutual contempt. The Americans have the prestige of preoccupation, of accustomed dominance over Mexicans and slaves, of language, carital, political power, and vociferous assumption. The Germane, quiet, and engrossed in their own business, by nature law abiding and patient, submit to be governed with little murmuring. _ _ Tno " vociferous assumption " mentioned in this extract is highly characteristic of Ameri can life, and is natural to a land of " Universal 257 Suffrage." The German life strongly con trasts with the clamorous eagerness of the Americans, and in reading Mr. Ohnsted's account we confess to a bias in favour of the German modes of life and thinking. Here is an interesting picture : The family whose hospitality we sought were newly arrived German farmers. They had reached Texas in the fall, and had been settled here but abcut two months. Their house, although built merely fur temporary occu pancy, until they could spare. time and money for one more comfortable, was a very convenient long narrow log cabin, with two rooms, each having a sleeping loft over it, two halls .)r rooms open at the ends, and a corn-crib. The cooking was done outside by a camp-fire, but with utensils brought front Germany, and peculiarly adapted to it. A considerable stock of furniture was stored in the hills yet in the boxes in which it had been imported. The w.ills of the two rooms bad been made tight with clay, the doors were furnished with latches. (No man who has tra velled much on the frontier will look upon these indica- tions as trivial.) Our supper was served to us on china, on a clean table-cloth, in one of these rooms, skilfully and nicely. A sofa, occupying one side of the room, bad ev i• dently been made by the women of the family after the building of the cabin. On the walls there were hung a very excellent old line engraving of a painting in the Dresden gallery, two lithographs, and a pencil sketch, all glazed, and framed in oak. So much for the house and furniture. Its inhabitants are thus described : The family consisted of several middle-aged and elderly people, a young man, a young lady, and four very sweet flaxen-haired children. They were all very neatly dressed, the head-dresses of the females being especia ly becoming and tidy. They were courteous and affable, and the tones of voice were amiable and musical. Our conversation with them was naturally left pretty much to our German companion. He went, however, after supper to call on one of the neighbours. An hour or two later, as I returned to the house after looking to our horses, one of the elder women spoke to me in German. I could not understand, and she called to the young lady, who came before me, and, bowing in a very formal manner, addressed me in these words :—" Sire, will you to bed now go, or will you for rest wait " 1 replied that I would at once go to bed, if she pleased. She bowed and walked before me till opposite the open door of the second tight room, in which a candle had been placed, and pointing to it, said ; " There, Sire." There were three single beds in our sleeping room, all extremely clean, and we were provided with washing apparatus, and other bell chamber luxuries very unusually found, even in the " best hotels," in the Southwest. The walls of the room, too, were adorned with some good engravings, and some paintings of religious subjects, of ordinary merit. The mother of this emigrant family regretted only " th.tt the children, who commenced so " well their education in Germany, cannot here " (Texas) continue it." That is an awful draw back, but it applies to most colonial life. In order to show how colonists and emi grants degenerate, we may quote an instance of an Irish lady recorded in these pages. Her own account of herself is thus given 'When she left Ireland she was an abolitionist ; she wouldn't own a slave ; and, bless you, as to whipping one, why she'd just as soon think of whipping a white person. But she very soon had to change her.views on arriving in Texas. She found they couldn't get any servants they could depend on, except niggers, and now she had just as lief whip a nigger as not. She used to think niggers were hard used, bnt now she knew they weren't a bit tuore than they deserved to be. They all deserved to be whipped ; if they were whipped more they'd be better ; unless they was whipped they was good for nothing. She knew and ao• knowledged she didn't whip her own servants half enongh ; they were so saucy, and didn't care a bit for your interests. There was a girl they had owned now four years, and she didn't care a bit more for their interests than she did for anybody else's. The other day a lady called out to her that the pigs were in the garden, and what do you think she said? Why she said they weren't any of her pigs, was they? If the bad grammar of the foregoing passage belonged to the Irish lady, some of our village schoolmistresses would probably recommend that her own medicine should be applied to her cure. The following is significant as to the state of literature in Portions of Texas : In the whole journey through Eastern Texas, we did not see one of the inhabitants look into a newspaper or a book, although we spent days in houses where men were lounging, about the fire without occupation. One evening I took up a paper which had been lying unopened upon the table of the inn where we were staying, and smiled to see how painfully news items dribbled into t.e Texas country papers, the loss of the tugboat Ajar, which occurred before we left New York, being here just given as the loss of the " splendid steamer °car." There is an appendix of several pages in which are "scraps from newspapers," contain ing many curious traits of manners. This is a particularly cool announcement from . an editor : To our patrons, who looked for the prompt appearance of our paper this week, with its usual quantity of reading matter, we have to plead, as an excuse, ths assizes of our J'