The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

MARCH 22, 1856. of how far the entire length of the buildings through out London would reach, if they were all ranged in a line, and others of a similar character, are thrown i n to gratify people of the Duke of Newcastle's class. His grace imagined that he had defended his War Ministry when he showed that he had sent out enough physic to float a line-of-battle ship, and enough lint to spread over the extent of Hyde-park. "London from Different Points of View" is a most interesting chapter ; and the description of the Port of London, seen from the Custom-house, is uncom monly well written. But perhaps the most graphic passage in the whole number is the picture of Rag Fair 7-- Immediately outside the gateway, at the end of the crowded court, stands the celebrated Barney Aaron, the j tnitor, with outstretched hand ready to receive the half penny toll demanded of each of the buyers and sellers who enter ; and with his son by his side, with a leathern pouch tilled with half a hundred weight of coppers he has already received, and ready to give change for any silver that may be tendered. As the stranger passes through the gate the odour of the collocated old clothes and old rags, and old shoes, toge• ther with, in the season, half-putrid hare skins, is almost overpowering. The atmosphere of the place has a peculiar sour smell blended with the mildewy or fungous odour of what is termed " mother "; indeed, the stench is a com pound of mouldiness, mustiness, and fustiness—a kind of "bouquet de mile sewers," that is far from pleasant to Christian nostrils. The hucksters of tatters as they pour in with their bundles at their backs. one after another, are surrounded by some haltdozen of the more eager Jews, some in greasy gaberdines extending to the heels and clinging almost as tight to the frame as ladies' wet bathing-gowns. Two or three of them seize the hucksters by the arm, and feel the contents of the bundle at his back ; and a few tap them on the shoulder as they all clamour for the first sight of the contents of their wallets. _ " Ha' you cot any preaking (broken pieces) ?" cries one who buys old coats, to cut into cloth caps. " Cot any fustian, old cordsh, or old poots? " " Yer know me," Rays another, in a wheedling tone. " little Ikey, the pest of puyers, and always gises a coot prishe." Here a " crockman " (a seller of crockeryware), in a bright-red plush waistcoat, and knee-breeches, and with legs like balustrades, sits beside his half-emptied basket of china and earthenware, while at his feet is strewn the apparently worthless collection of paletots, and cracked Wellingtons, and greasy napless hats, for which he has ex changed his jugs, basins, and spar ornaments. A few yards from him is a woman, enveloped in a coachman's drab and many-caped box -coat, with a pair of men's cloth boots on her feet, and her limp-looking straw bonnet flat tened down on her head, from repeated loads ; the ground before her, too, is littered with old tea-coloured stays, and bundles of wooden busks, and little bits of whalebone, whilst beside her, on the seat, lies a small bundle of old parasols tied together, and looking like a quiver full of arrows. In the winter you may see the same woman sur rounded with hare skins; some so old and stiff that they seem frozen, and the fresher ones looking shinty and crim son as red tinsel. Now youcome,'as you push your way along the narrow passage between the seats, to a man with a small mound of old boots, some of which have the soles torn off, and the broken threads showing underneath like the stump of teeth; others are so brown from long want of blacking that they almost seem to be pieces of rusty metal, and others again are speckled all over with small white spots of mildew. Beside another huckster is piled a little hillock of washed-out light waistcoats, and old cotton drawers, and straw-bt.nnets half in shreds. Then you see a Jew boy holding up the remains of a theatrical dress, consisting of a black velvet body stuck all over with bed furniture orna ments, and evidently reminding the young Israelite of some soul-stirring melodrama that he has seen on the Saturday evening at the Pavilion Theatre. A few steps farther on you find one of the merchants blowing into the fur of some old imitation sable muff, that has gone as foxy as a Scotchman's whiskers. Next seat your attention is fixed upon a black•chinned and lanthorn- Awed bone-grubber, clad in dirty greasy rags, with his wallet emptied on the stones, and the bones from it, and bits of old iron and horseshoes, and pieces of rags, each sorted into different lots before him; and as he sits there, anxiously waiting for a purchaser, ho munches a hunk of mouldy pie -crust that he has had given to him on his rounds. Nomenclature The Charity and the Crime of London," "The Nomenclature of the London Streets," and " The Street Markets," terminate a promising and enter taining first number. Cuzco and Lima. By Clements R. Markam, F.R.G.S. London : Chapman and Hall. THERE is much amusing reading in Mr. Markham's book, and there would have been more had he con fined himself to matters which had some novelty to recommend them. His titlepage is as full as if taken from a folio of the eighteenth century, and he has needlessly mingled historical detail with his notes of travel. His best chapters are those on the Inca Indians and the modern literature of Peru. The account of the latter is not encouraging : The columns of the daily newspapers are almost en tirely occupied in unseemly infective against prominent and influential men ; varied by the paltry squabbles of actors or singers, and bad poetry. Pamphlets, too, fre quently appear at Lima, and other towns of Peru, on Political subjects, full of scurrility and libel. THE PRESS. The most noticeable author of modern Peru, ac cording to Mr. Markham, is a Colonel Espinosa, whose chief work is " La Herencia Espanola," a series of letters to Isabella 11. 7n these letters he traces the misery under which his country groans to the wretched policy of Isabella's ancestors, and criticises the Government of his country and the priesthood with great severity. The two chief poets of Pera are named Marquez and Althaus, the former of whom is only in his twenty-third year. The latter has written, amongst other poems, a "Canto Biblico," which is said to resemble some of Byron's Hebrew melodies. Mr. Markham gives an amusing account of Senor Bustamante's travels in England : The result has been a book of travels full of his own original impressions, which would ludicrously remind the English reader of Goldsmith's " Citizen of the World," or Morier's " Hajji Baba." When in Loudon he went to the Spanish Hotel, kept by Miss Pidman, which he says was a detestable place, at an immense distance from the centre of the city, and Spanish only in name. In the evening he went to hear Jenny Lind, but was turned out for not being properly dressed ; he then got into three cabs one after the other, whose drivers, with incredible malice, all drove him in the wrong direction, and he did not get home till five in the morning. Next day he went to London-bridge to watch the traffic and count how many people could get into an omnibus ; and afterwards going to the West-end he beheld " a splendid coach drawn by two Arabian horses, and driven by a coachman in magnificent livery. Behind, there was a footman dressed in Asiatic splendour; and in side was an old woman uglier than a black-beetle, more conceited than a peacock, and comfortable as a prebendary in his capitular seat. Holy God ! what an insolent and supercilious glance did this decrepid old creature cast on the passers-by !" Altogether the Peruvian traveller does not appear to have been at all pleased with London ; but, on the whole, his book is the most amusing and original that has appeared in Peru. He unfortunately never seems to have got into any decent society, and consequently saw every thing from the outside ; thus, his remarks on the manners and customs of the English, though intended to be profound and caustic, are only very ridiculous. If more of the book had been written in this style, and Mr. Markham had devoted a greater portion of his space to the present state, and less to the past history, of the countries he visited, his volume would have been not only readable but popular. The coloured plates are well drawn, and give a lively idea of the objects represented. The Knights and their Days. By Dr. Doran. London : Bentley. Da. DoRAN's book is much in the style of the lecture at the Panopticon on Whittington and his cat. " The story runs that Whittington, sitting on the bill " at Hampstead, heard the bells of Bow inviting him "to return. As he was what ladies call a ' nice " young man,' and no doubt very popular with the " maid-servants of his neighbourhood, it is probable " that a deputation of their number were the tells " which brought him back to his master's house." Dr. Doran, to take an example, discourses on the youth of Guy of Warwick in a similar manner : Guy was rather given to bird-catching, hare-snaring. &Id gentism generally. He had been a precocious youth from some months previous to his birth, and had given his lady mother such horrid annoyance that she was always dream ing of battles, fiery cars, strong-smelling dragons, and the wrathful Mats. " Well," she used to remark to her female friends, while the gentlemen were over their wine, " I ex pect that this boy " (she had made up her mind to that) " will make a noise in the world—draw bills upon his father, and be the terror of maid-servants." This laboured drollery has at no time much to re•• commend it, but continued through a whole volume it becomes extremely wearisome. The information collected by the author, though very fragmentary, deserved a better setting. Some of his instances are curious, as on duelling The term tencontre was used in France to elude the law. If gentlemen " met" by accident and fought, lawyers pleaded that this was not a duel, which required prelimina- ries between the two parties Jeremy Taylor denounced this practice with great earnestness, and with due balancing of the claims of honour and of Christianity. " You say, but flesh and blood cannot endure a blow or a disgrace. Grant that too ; but take this into the account: flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Candidates for the Garter have sometimes been wary in their desire for the honour In the reign of Henry VI. we hear of the Ambassador from Frederick 111., Emperor of Germany (one Sir Her• took von Clux), stating that his muter wished to know " what it would stand him in if he were to be admitted into the honourable order!" Cautious Austria. The volume abounds with passages of this kind, sufficient to form an amusing selection. Clara; or, SlariLife in Europe. Wit'a a Preface by Sir Archibald Alison, Bart. Three Vols. London : Bentley. " C LARA " is a faithful and adequate translation of the "Europaische Selavenleben " of Haklander, a novel which has obtained great popularity in Ger- 283 many, though less suited to English taste, we ima gine, than Sir A. Alison seems to suppose. It is tainted with the faults and exaggeration of the Eugene Sue school of fiction. All that relates to the baron and his band of robbers seems suggested by " Les Mysteres de Paris." The descriptions of German life, on the other hand, are original, natural, and by turns humorous and pathetic. It is to be regretted that the author did not confine himself to those representations of reality in which he excels. The passages relating to the ballet girls—their pri vate life, poverty, and the temptations to which they are exposed—are written with masterly effect. The motive of the book is to show that the slave life of Europe—the life of its labouring classes, and parti cularly of the lower grade of artists—is more deplo rable than the slave life of America. So far as this notion is intended to excite sympathy for their lot, and to rouse effort for its amelioration, we can ap plaud it ; but, when put forward as literal fact, we shrink from it as utterly false. Freedom, in its ex tremest need, has consolations and humanising and elevating tendencies which slave life in its best estate can never know. The author has often outraged truth to work out his theory, as when he represents the poor author envying the comforts of Uncle Tom's cabin. The book is of a mixed character, but the merit predominates; it shows great original power, and deserves perusal, if only for its lively portraiture of every grade of German life. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—MARcti 20. BOOKS. Maurice Elvington. Wilfred East. Smith and Elder. The Doomed Ship, or, the Wreck of the Arctic Regions. Willoughby and Co. Pneuma, or, the Wandering Soul. Rev. W. Calvert, M.A. Longman. Syria and the Syrians, or, Turkey in the Dependencies. Gregory ➢I. Wortabet. Pirates of the Mississippi. Rose d'Albret. (Parlour Library.) PAMPHLET Recollections of Scotland. J. H. Wain. Liverpool : Hayes. An Englishman's Testimony. W. and F. Cub. J. Madden. Routledge. Hodgson. Notes on the Currency of the Straits Settlements. Singapore: Frederick. Correspondence between the Governments of the United Stales and Great Britain. tc. Washington : Nicholson. " Jacob Onunum " on Military Education. Bradbury _ _ and Evans. On the Present Aspect of Education. G room bridge. The Commissariat in the Crimea. Clowes and Son. Obserrations on the Turkish Contingent. A Field Officer a the Force. Smith and Elder. mnstmtnts, &t. EXETER-HALL.-Mr. Case's annual performance—• to hear which makes us grateful that full twelve months must elapse before we have to endure so trying an ordeal again —took place this week. There is little to be said of a performance which embraces almost every known aria in modern music, and intro• duces about as many performers. Such monster concerts as these destroy all t.tite and appreciation for music. ADELPHI.—Picco, a blind tibicinist, has given a series of performances at this theatre during the week. His instrument is literally nothing but a penny whistle, but the exquisite bird-like notes he brings out in the " Ali non giunge," in Norma, and in the Carnival, reward every one who assists at his concert. The house has been fully attended during the week. THE PANOPTICON.—SeveraI highly meritorious performances of sacred music have taken place at this institution daring the week. Costa's Eli, and The Messiah, with excellent selections from the works of Handel and Mendelssohn, characterise the nature of the entertainment. An efficient chorus of forty per formers, together with some of our best concert solo singers, have contributed to the excellence of the performances. THE OPERA SEASON will open very shortly at tho Theatre Royal Lyceum. Mr. Gye, failing to obtain Drury Lane, and unable to convert Her Majesty's Theatre into a habitable spot in any time under three months, has been compelled to content himself with the Lyceum. The admirable troupe he has collected includes Mario, Grisi, Bosio, Tamberlik, Jenny Ney, Marai, Formes, Lablache, and Ronconi. M. Costa, also, and his inimitable orchestra, are at hand, but will have to suffer sensible curtailment to meet the diminished space of the Lyceum. The alterations are being made with all haste. The house, it is said, will, when finished, be a perfect bijou. The report that Her Majesty's Theatre would shortly open is utterly untrue. MR. CHARLES MATHEWS, on the occasion of a pre sentation last Saturday of a silver vase to Mr. Smith, the lessee of Drury-lane Theatre, being unavoidably absent at the ceremony, addressed the following note to the lessee : My dear Smith—The accompanying vase will, I trust, testify to the general of myself and the whole of your company, the malignity of your scene-painters, and the acrimony of your band towards you, for your tut- MARCH 22, 1856. of how far the entire length of th out London would reach, if they line, and others of a similar chi in to gratify people of the Duke His grace imagined that he had Ministry when be showed the enough physic to float a line enough lint to spread over the e: " London from Different Point interesting chapter ; and the dm of London, seen from the Custo mon ly well written. But perht passage in the whole number i Fair 7-- Immediately outside the gatew, crowded court, stands the celebrat j initor, with outstretched hand row penny toll demanded of each of the enter ; and with his son by his side, tilled with half a hundred weight of received, and ready to give change f be tendered. As the stranger passes through th collocated old clothes and old rag' ther with, in the season, half-putrid overpowering. The atmosphere of sour smell blended with the mildew what is termed " mother "; indeed, pound of mouldiness, mustiness, an "bouquet de mile sewers," that it Christian nostrils. The hucksters of tatters as th bundles at their backs. one after an by some half-dozen of the more eage gaberdines extending to the heels tight to the frame as ladies' wet bE three of them seize the hucksters b contents of the bundle at his back ; the shoulder as they all clamour for contents of their wallets. " Ha' you cot any preaking (brok who buys old coats, to cut into clotl " Cot any fustian, old cordsh, o know me," Rays another, in a w little Ikey, the pest of puyers, an prishe." • • • • Here a " crockman " (a seller bright-red plush waistcoat, and k legs like balustrades, sits beside his china and earthenware, while at apparently worthless collection of Wellingtons, and greasy napless hat changed his jugs, basins, and ap yards from him is a woman, enve drab and many-caped box -coat, with boots on her feet, and her limp-100 tenet] down on her bead, from repes before her, too, is littered with old bundles of wooden busks, and liti whilst beside her, on the seat, lie! parasols tied together, and lookin arrows. In the winter you may see rounded with hare skins; some so seem frozen, and the fresher ones lo son as red tinsel. Now you come; as you push your passage between the seats, to a ms of old boots , som e o f w hi c h have the broken threads showing undersea teeth; others are so brown from I that they almost seem to be piece others again are speckled all over of mildew. Beside another huckster of washed-out light waistcoats, and c straw-lx.nnets half in shreds. Thei holding up the remains of a theatric a black velvet body stuck all over vs ments, and evidently reminding tl some soul-stirring melodrama that Saturday evening at the Pavilion Tb A few steps farther on you find o blowing into the fur of some old imi has gone as foxy as a Scotchman's your attention is fixed upon a black- jawed bone-grubber, clad in dirty wallet emptied on the stones, and I bits of old iron and horseshoes, and sorted into different lots before him anxiously waiting for a purchaser, hi mouldy pie -crust that he has had rounds. " The Charity and the Crime Nomenclature of the London Street Markets," terminate a p taming first number. Cuzco and Lima. By Clen F.R.G.S. London : Chap THERE is much amusing readin book, and th ere wou ld have bet fined himself to matters which recommend them. His titlepa taken from a folio of the eighter has needlessly mingled histori notes of travel. His best chap: Inca Indians and the modern The account of the latter is no t The col umns of the daily news; tircly occupied in unseemly insect and influential men ; varied by tl actors or singers, and bad poetry. " entl Y appear at Lima, and ottn Political subjects , full of s currility at