The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-02 00:00:00

form in the same country in 1846, when the Whig project of "reproductive" (of loss) " works" was being carried into effect. The civil overseers and clerks were intimidated by threats ; and it was only by introducing mili tary discipline and exactitude into their dealings with the labourers that the sergeants and men of the corps were able to check abuses and carry on the works with some kind of order. A great improvement was made by enforcing taskwork, though at first the system was riotously opposed : The labourers received from 4d. to 81. and Od. a day, and the rough wall-builders Is. Bd., in strict proportion to the work executed. When taskwork was introduced it was difficult to remove the prejudices which set in against the change, and quicken into zeal the indolence which fol lowed. To carry out the instructions of the Board of Works, Private Baker selected some of the mildest men of his party to work at easy tasks, by which they earned lid. a day, 3d. more than formerly. At the end of the week the overseer made a point of this, and paying his choice men first, made suitable remarks as they received their money. Next came the day-men, who, being checked for wet days and lost time, only averaged about 35. 2d. a week. The disparity of the payments had a wonderful effect, and ever afterwards the system of task labour was eagerly preferred by the peasantry. Deception, however, soon crept into the tasks, which it required some tact and alertness to detect. In excavations the labourers frequently came in contact with stone, and for such quantities as they dug out and heaped up they were paid by the cubic yard; but often these heaps were merely superficial. In every such case Private Baker had the mass pulled down and solidly repiled. Acts of repetitition were followed by the dismissal of the delinquents, despite the danger it involved. When this cheat failed they resorted to another, by rolling large stones into the heaps from adja cent places, but, as these always bore unmistakeable evi dence of exposure to rain and wear, the private never omitted to reject them from the pile. We have not directed attention to the mili- tary narrative in these volumes, as they relate to events of general notoriety, ani as the efforts of the Sappers and Miners in civil departments are less known and appreciated. It is enough, however, to say that as the materials on which Mr. Conolly had to rely were varied and valuable he has made of them a very excellent use, and there are few books whose subjects extend over so small a period and embrace so limited a space which present so much variety and information. The illustrations, also, are very creditable to the artist, Mr. Campion, Professor of Land scape Drawing at Woolwich. Moore's Poetical Works. New Edition. One Vol. London : Longmans. Ir Lord John Russell in editing " Moore's Diary " has, as usual, sustained his right to Goldsmith's epitaph reversed, and done any thing but adorn his subject, Moore himself seems in the selection of his fugitive political pieces to have exercised little better judgment. The Whigs in his collected edition are allowed an impunity which he did not accord them in the daily papers, and some of Moore's best and most notorious epigrams and squibs are entirely left out. Here and there, to be sure, one stumbles across a general attack on the party when they have been forced to compli ment their Irish supporters with a coercion act to moderate their enthusiasm for libe rality. Even these gentle reflections, however, are only made with the amount of severity that would reckon Whigs as being as bad as Tories. "My friends the Whigs," as Moore calls them, had not at that time been favored with his other friend O'Connell's celebrated alliterative description, and were gently rated thus in a " moral " to the Joe Miller tale of the Irishman who thought the negroes his countrymen coloured by the climate : 'Tis thus—bat alas ! by a marvel more true Than is told in this rival of Ovid's best stories— Your Whigs when in office a short year or two By a haus nature all turn into Tories. And thus when I hear them " strong measures" advise Ere the seats that they sit on have time to get steady, I say, while I listen, with tears in my eyes, " Good lord ! only think ! black and curly already ! " The entire collection of Moore's works, however, would have certainly been made much more various and amusing by a little more impartiality in the selection of his political verses. One we remember, about 1836, which we look for here in vain, alluding to the well-known soubriquet of "Cupid " applied to a surviving statesman. It ended, as Hamlet says, somewhat thus t-- THE PRESS. We're by the classic sages told The dart that armed the little rover Was one end lead and one end gold, But Palmerston's is lead all over. Perhaps, however, it, is as well that such an unfortunate estimate of eo great a genius should have been put aside, since we see that every night the wit of its subject sets on " some " barren spectators to laugh," and, in fact, that, like Punch in the show, the apparition of his mere physiognomy is sufficient to produce the greatest hilarity. The whole Administration is, in fact, so excellent a joke that the head of it cannot possibly be dull. Though sparing in the insertion of any of his satirical mots against churchmen and the Church, Moore was led, however, to perpetuate by the collected form much that was exceed ingly personal and very often pointless, and which now exhibits but little interest. It is the fate of ephemeral satire to follow its sub ject, a great many of whom referred to by Moore are already forgotten. Of the present edition we need only say that it is beautifully printed in "ruby " type, and so brought almost into the compass of a pocket-volume. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. A BETTER number of Blackwood than the current one has not come before us this year. There are eight articles upon different subjects, and all of them well worth the reading. The first is a discriminating review of Mr. Kingsley and his works. " Aland and the Baltic in 1854 " is a clear description of the Aland Isles, and the story of the capture and de struction of Bomarsund last year is told by a clever and observant eye-witness. The seventh part of the romance of " Zaidee" fulfils the promise which the earlier parts gave of a pleasing and affecting tale. "Once upon a Time" is a gossiping antiquarian letter to Eusebius, suggested by Mr. Charles Knight's recent work ; and "Notes Upon Canada" a continua tion of the same subject in the last number, contain ing a vast amount of practical information on our Canadian possessions. Our old friend Vedette is, we are glad to see, the contributor of a letter from Madrid, containing a full account of the whole of the circumstances connected with Lord Howden's late disagreement with the Spanish Goverment; and giving, moreover, the letter which his lordship addressed to the Clamor Publico. From Vedette's account it appears that Lord Howden, in the first instance, acted upon secondary information without applying to the Rev. Mr. Frith for a confirmation of the statement which had been received at the em bassy ; and, as might be expected in such a case, the information, though proving to be substantially cor rect, was yet exaggerated in detail. In deciding upon the question our Government have neither approved nor disapproved of Lord Howden's proceed ing, and it appears to be yet a doubtful question whether his lordship will resign his post or retain it. The concluding article is upon the " Palmerston Administration." Speaking of the singular decline of Lord Palmerston in public favour between February and May, the writer observes that-- For this singular change many reasons may be assigned. In the first place, Lord Palmerston showed very little dis cretion in the construction of his Cabinet. The tendency of the Whigs, from the commencement, has been to govern by means of a small junta or restricted clique of aristocratic families; in short, to job the Government of Great Britain whenever they could get it into their hands. So pertinacious are they in their adherence to this arrange ment, that no instances of incapacity, however notorious, are considered by them sufficient to exclude a Minister, once admitted, from the family circle. All they do is to shift him to another office when the public clamour rises to a certain height. Thus, for example, we have known Sir Charles Wood as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Presi dent of the Board of Control, and, finally, First Lord of the Admiralty—that accomplished individual being equally eminent for his knowledge of finance, Indian, and naval matters. Very possibly, as we write from memory, we may not be doing full justice to the extent of the right hon. baronet's capabilities. Lord John Russell has been Presi dent of the Council, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Secre tary for the Home Department, Secretary for the Colonies, First Lord of the Treasury, and Premier—these at least, for it is not worth while to mention such trifles as Pay masterahips and the like. Lord Palmerston himself has been Secretary-at-War, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, First Lord of the Treasury, and Premier. Whig states men, it must he confessed, have a butterfly existence-- they flit from flower to flower, and revel in a variety of nectar. Tho whole tenor of Lord Palmerston's policy is then reviewed, or rather the tenor of his life, for we will defy any one to abstract an intelligible policy from the acts of his official career ; and nis gross neglect as Home Minister is remarked : Both as Secretary of State and as Premier (con tinues the writer) he has utterly disregarded the readiest means for increasing the regular army. In our number for 'April last in drew des &e motion SATURDAY, of our readers to the state of the militia, and pointed out how necessary it was that more attention should be paid to this branch of the service. We showed how it might be made a nursery for soldiers, and we urged upon the Government the propriety of taking immediate steps for making up the numbers of the milli* to their full complement. It was Lord Palmerston's duty to have done this at an early period; and in case the number of volun teers for the militia fell short, to have asked Parliament for authority to raise them by the ballot. • • • • • • The English Militia Bill was passed in 18452 by Lord Derby's Government, but it was subsequently altered for the worse by Lord Aberdeen's Government in 1854 ; and the consequence, as we all know, has been the withdrawal of great numbers of the militiamen. Through the incon ceivable negligence , of Lord Palmerston the Scottish and Irish Bills were not passed till the very close of the session in August, 1854, whereas they ought to have been carried through in February of that year. Therefore, during last year, the militia forces of Scotland and Ireland were un available as a resource from which to supply the army. We observe from a parliamentary return that only VAS men from the militia of these two countries entered the regular force ; and these, being absolutely without training, were simply raw recruits. • • • • • • In this neglect Lord Palmerston is principally and directly responsible; and we have no hesitation in saying that we hold him liable to the charge of a gross dereliction of duty. No attention whatever has been bestowed on the militia; and to some of the regiments, though embodied, arms have not yet been issued. Such is the attention which the present Government, and Lord Palmerston, while Secretary of State for the Home Department, have paid to the organisation of the great constitutional force, from which the army can be most readily recruited ! Had the present Premier done his duty last year the whole of our militia force would have been ready at this moment to relieve the home garrisons, and to give an effective force of at least 40,000 well-trained men to our army before Sebastopol. But Lord Palmerston's motto for business is, we should think, taken from that Nestor of diplomacy, Talleyrand, who used to say, " Never do today what you can put " off till to•morrow." The " Story of the Campaign" is well sustained, and is brought down to the date of Omer Pacha's reconnaissance beyond Kamara. Fraser this month opens with the " Civil Service Reform Movement." A competitive examination is the test which Fraser would wish to see established; but because A translates a passage of Virgil into better English than B, is it certain that he, there fore, will prove to be the right man in the right place to the exclusion of B ? After all, the only test of capacity for business lies in the experience of a man's superiors. The character which a man obtains in his office and at his desk is the only safe one, and in all first appointments we can know next to nothing of the applicant. The article is clearly written, though we think in a tone far too "highly expectant" of the good results which the adminis trative reformers are about to educe. "The Memoirs of Sir Robert Strange," and Sir James Tennent's book upon " Wine, its Use, and Taxation," are fairly reviewed, and a memoir of the late Sir H. De La Beebe will be read with pleasure. " Recent French Literature " reviews the memoirs cf M. Dupin, Dr. Veron, Mr. Villemain and M. De Berryer. "The Political Crisis" is a précis of the present state of affairs, repeating the cry for the right man in the right place, with broad hints that the present Premier does not at all answer to the description. The New Monthly has a valuable article upon the Austrian army, in which the whole details, discipline, and organisation of that heterogeneous force are ex plained. Its effective strength is estimated at 539,708 men, and 59,004 horses, with reserves of from 100,000 to 120,000 men. Ensign Pepper's letters from the Crimea are tuo obviously made up, we should imagine, to suit the taste of any reader. Sir Nathaniel's " Literary Sketch of Thomson," makes up a pleasant page or two; and the continued "Diary of a First Winter in Rome" is well written and pleasing. The Dublin, among other papers, has a good article upon the "Arabs in Spain," in which their history, literature, and arts are fairly sketched, and a memoir of Colonel Butler, the instigator of the murder of Wallenstein, contains details of some in terest; while the articles upon the American consti tution, and on geology, religion, and politics, supply sound and instructive reading. The Philosophy of the Fall, and its Remedy. By Rev. E. C. Topham, M.A. London : Bosworth. Tins is a sincere and elaborate book of that class about the utility of which the soundest believers will differ in opinion. The sublime mystery of the fall of man, as it is one of the earliest, is one of the most important bases of the belief of Christians. It is questionable how far it was intended that it should be explained by physical causes, since by the analogy of such causes it is impossible to approach the con sideration of its divine remedy. The following pas sage we select as a fair specimen of ➢ir. Topham's mode of discussion : From what has been already stated, it is scarcely neces• sari to remark ) that tha change made in man's gatim at