The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-05 00:00:00

430 between what is natural and what is exaggerated, and then a great deal of training and taste to get beyond the mere mechanical part of art and to judge correctly of composition and colour. Select a jury from the ploughtail to decide on the merits of a gaudy signboard and the cartoons of Raphael, end the former would have an unanimous verdict in its favour. The conversation between " Hyperbolus," a young Democrat, and " Tlepolemus," a Conservative, in the article on " The Cold Shade," tends to show us that of all forms of Government,—royalty, aris tocracy, and a Commonwealth are the best as opposed to a tyranny, an oligarchy, and a democracy. Tlepolemus believes that our military disasters are traceable to the effects of the Reform Bill: That most pernicious measure never gave an inch of power to the people—that is, the independent freemen of the State. It merely substituted an oligarchy for an aristo cracy ; it made wealth the only standard of fitness for go vernment—exactly realising Aristotle's oligarchy ; deposing birth and virtue and intellect—ay, intellect, from the high places which they held in the days of Burke, Pitt, Fox — and forensic eloquence. Since 1532 our Government has not been growing more popular, but more democratical ; and democracy, as we have seen before, cares not for free. dom. Freedom can only be where the best men rule and keep watch over it We have lost the criterion of political worthiness by imagining that we were liberalising our con stitution. We all groan now under a tyranny of Mammon, and as " Convention " was the name of the " dwarfish demon" who, as Byron says, " foiled the knights in Marialva's dome," so was Mammon the gigantic fiend who has brought to the dust the heads that wore the laurels of Alma and of Jnkermann. The hardest case is, that the oligarchy of Mammon is confounded in the abuse of the democratical party with the true aristocracy, which I must be excused if I pronounce only In a lower sense than the Church—the very salt of the earth in these unsanitary and unsatisfactory times. Not the aristocracy, but the commercial interest is, according to Tlepoleinus, to blame for our present position In fact, it is not the cold shade of our genealogical tree that has stunted and blighted our army ; it is the cold shade of the upas of commerce—yet best symbolised not by a tree, but by a ghastly Manchester chimney, vomiting nitric acid, inuriatic acid, and a thousand putrid abomi nations, shutting oat the sunbeams from the face of once fair Britain with its o'ershadowing smoke, and making the earth, where grass and wild flowers grew in the memory of our fathers, into a blackened and blasted wilderness, like the sites of the cities of the plain. There are several reviews in the number. That on the " Longevity " of M. Flourens concludes that from 90 to 100 years is the natural length of ordinary human life—a comfortable d striae for septuage narians, but sadly contradicted by all experience. The " Notes on Canada," being the result of personal observation, present a lively view of some aspects of the country. Colburn's New Monthly affords in this issue even more than its usual variety of entertaining matter. " The Military Resources of Germany " contains some valuable statistical information on the force of the German States. The effective strength of the Austrian army, without including the depOts, is stated to amount to 4711,000 men, with 1,140 guns; that of the Prussian army, without reserves, at 299,500, with 732 guns ; and of the Confederation, also without the reserves, at 403,362, with 592 guns. With reserves the effective military force of Germany• may be con sidered as equal to 800,000, with 2,400 guns ; while within six weeks an • additional 400,000 could be brought into the field. The paper on the "Zouaves " is compiled from the able article in the Revue des deux Mondes, known to be by the Duo d'Aumale. The origin of the term Zouave is curious : • This word is fearfully mutilated in its tranfot•mation into French. Zawawatt is the name of a very ancient Berber, or as the French have it, Kabyle tribe in Morocco Out of Zawawah, we might by elison make Zawaws or Zuaves ; but we cannot make Zouaves, if the ou is to be pronounced as in out, ounce, hound, mound, or as it is indeed com• monly pronounced in English. The word, however, with its French pronunciation, is now so universally accepted, that after protesting against its correctness, we must accept it, as we do Bombay fur 2ilambij. The paper concisely gives the facts relating to the organisation of this now famous corps. It yet re mains to be seen how far these troops, mainly recruited from foreign sources, can be depended on for the complex operations of regular warfare. Some 'sensible remarks on " Military Promotions by Pur chase " show that we must almost accept the system as a necessity. " The Diary of a First Winter in Rome" has many passages of eloquent descrip tion. " Sketches of the Italian Revolution " supply authentic details from the personal observation of the writer. There are many other light, sketchy papers in the number, that on the " Habits of Young France" being one of the most amusing. The first article in Fraser is devoted to an analysis of our " Regimental System," and points out, in a clear, practical tone, the advantages and defects of the mode by which our army is trained and main tained remedies are suggested for what the writer oonoeives to be the most glaring imperfections of the ',stem, The leading error is stated to be that the THE PRES meet important duties of the regiment are thrown upon the non-commissioned officers, while the intel lects and energies of many of the commissioned officers are wasted in idle pursuits instead of being devoted to a mastery of the great principles of their profession. " But it is not," he says, "by converting " our officers into drill sergeants that we shall make " them the efficient leaders of our men." By per forming the duties they do perform, the sergeants are raised alike in their own estimation and in the eyes of their men : therefore, do not interfere with these, it is urged, Rut establish a military university, permit officers to study at it, and give no staff appointment to one who has not taken from it a certificate of his attainments. And as only a limited number can be spared for any long period from their regiment, let those who are obliged or who prefer to remain with their soldiers, and who have qualified them• selves in their barrack-room, attend at the university ex amination, and take out the certificate. For great skill or gallantry in the field, indeed, make an exception from this rule. We are writing, however, our readers must recollect, on the subject of training an army for war, not of the rule by which to judge or reward officers once they are embarked in it. We think it not unlikely that we should find in this class the ablest of all our officers. Then we think that there should be a gradation in the standard of intellectual merit, and that some mark, to denote what he had attained to, should be placed in the army list to the name of the officer who had greatly distinguished himself. • - • - • • We think, also, that the officers who attained the highest distinction at the university should, after a lapse of years, failing their appointment on the staff (a term of service in which should lead always to promotion), receive a step of rank by brevet, and an increase to their pay. Finally, we are of opinion, that the prizes of our colonial dependen cies should be open to these officers. We do not of oourse mean that as soon as they should become worn-out trene rals they should be sent to govern our rising communities. We mean that such officers as had shown remarkable abi lity, and, having served in any of the colonies, had had the opportunity to become acquainted with the idiosyncracy, so to say, of a colonial community, should be placed in situations of trust and emolument from that of the govern went downwards. Whatever value there may be in such suggestions, they can hardly be said to have an immediate prac tical bearing. Theoretically an army may be far from perfect ; yet with the knowledge of what Wel lington accomplished under the "regimental system," having an army that could do anything and go any where, it is plainly mere cant to refer the misfortunes which have attended our army in the Crimea to any defects in the system. With able administrators at home, and good generalship in the field, we should have had little reason to complain of the " system" to which, with incredible ignorance, all our disasters are vulgarly ascribed. A most amusing paper is furnished by " Servian Proverbs," among which our eye alighted upon one peculiarly applicable to the late and present administration of the War-office : "What one fool entangles it takes a hundred wise " men to clear." Dr. Badham's "Periwinkles in the Pound" is an engaging description of a "Vivarium," giving an entertaining account of the ways and habits of the inmates. A careful reading even of this slight sketch upon the subject will much enhance the plea sure of a visit to the " Vivarium" at the Zoological gardens. "Paris in Little " is a review, and an amusing one, of "Les Petits Paris," a series of lively little books which have lately come out in Paris. "The Sebastopol Committee" is the closing article. After noticing the salient points given iu evidence, the writer asks:— What is to be the result of this great inquiry ? Are the disasters which it has disclosed the inevitable concomitants of war, or could they have been avoided by due care and management? There can be no hesitation in answering this question. There is scarcely a single mischance which has befallen the civil service of the army that might not have been averted by proper precaution and efficient super intendence. With whom, then, does the blame rest? We have no hesitation in answering this question either. Primarily with the Government at home, who never made any far-sighted provision for the exigencies of the war; who omitted to dispense with the tedious and complicated rou tine of office which is incompatible with the promptitude and vigour required for warlike operations ; who still con tinue those vexatious forms ; and, above all, who have not, except in a single instance, and that one of doubtful justice, taken any step to remove from the power of doing farther mischief men whom we must designate as proved delinquents. Lord Raglan is described as unequal to his arduous command; and we are warned that Ministerial inca• pacity is shaking to their base the institutions of the country : The Home Government, so far from recalling the Field marshal, are in entire sympathy with that noble lord's administration of affairs in the Crimea. The " jaunty " style is to carry us through all our difficulties. But while the plodding clerk at Balaklava, and the hoary trifler at the Treasury, are in a state of doomed complacency, ominous symptoms are already visible in the public mind. The for. tune of war may for the moment avert the storm ; but the deep resentment of the people will not be readily allayed, and the institutions of this country must be prepared ere long to sustain a shock similar to that by which they were shaken to their centre a quarter of a century ago. The Dublin commences with a favorable notice of the "Life of kitty," and this is Mlowed bir the SATURDAY, first of s series of geological (wasp, " Coal " being the subject selected tor illustration. The filth chapter of the " Dramatic Writers of Ireland" con tains sketches of William O'Brien, Jephson, Bicker staff, Denis O'Brien, Simons, and O'Keefe. "The Sea" is a review of Lieutenant Maury's works upon the geography of the ocean. We are tempted to quote a well-penned paragraph illustrating the difference of temperature in corresponding lati tudes:— - - - - • - ---- • By a very natural mistake, we used formerly to look on our own climate and temperature as the normal one for all similar latitudes in other parts of the world, and to re gard any deviation from them as the exception, and ours as the rule. Now, the very reverse of this is the truth. In no part of the northern hemisphere, between the parallels of 50 deg. and 60 deg., is there another country with the climate of the British islands. During the month of January the air is not on the average ever above the freezing point as far south as latitude 40 deg. throughout Asia, and through the greater part of America. This is the latitude of Lisbon and Madrid, of S. Italy and of Greece. On the western side of the two continents, as we approach the ocean and Lyme within the region of the 'warm westerly winds, this cold zone recedes towards the north, its boundary in Europe crossing obliquely from Turkey to Holland, and in America running up to Van couver's Island, and thence skirting the coast to the Aleutian Islands, in latitude 50 deg. and 52 deg. In Europe, however, this boundary runs from Holland directly north, skirting the coast of Norway up to I,4titude 69 deg., or well within the Arctic Circle. This ISlCAtigth • pushing back towards the north of the extreme cold of winter, to which all the rest of the northern hemisphere is subject, is due to the warm water of the Gulf stream. It is, in fact, a great natural hot-water apparatus adapted for the especial benefit of the British islands and the coast of Norway. To compensate in some measure for this advan tage, our summers are proportionably cloudy and cool c..m• pared with the bright flash uf heat and sunshine which passes over Asia, and America, and Eastern Europe in our lati tudes during the summer months. To convince ourselves of the truth of these statements we have only to recollect that the Labrador and Hudson's Bay oil the one side, and on the other, Moscow, and Tobolsk, and lianutschatia, are in the same latitudes as England, and Ireland, and Scot. land. - - - A new story, full of love and French romance, of the first Bonaparte period, its commenced. A review of the life and writings of Hans Andersen gives a kindly sketch of his works and pays a just tribute to his vivid fancy. The short concluding article upon the " War Budget" is opposed to the loan system, and proposes an increased income tax. The writer's conclusion is, that " it is in the highest degree im " probable that we shall ever again be called upon to " review another budget of Sir G. Cornewall Lewis." The Art. Journal contains two plates from the royal collection—" Cupid and Psyche," from Uwins, and the spirited. "Battle of Moanee " from Armytage. There is, besides, a nicely-executed engraving of the "Temptation of Eve," from the statue of M. Vande Venne, which appeared in our Great Exhibition of 1851. Whatever opinion may be formed as to the merit of the design, great praise must be accorded to the artist tor his graceful treatment of the subject, and for its fine expression. Among the illustrated papers is a notice of the "Life of Collins," with specimens of some of his pretty earlier works, and elaborate articles on " Design applied to Ladies' Work," and on the valuable Museum of Ornamental Art in Marlborough house. From the notice of the Amateur Exhibition we learn that— Affixed to the picture of the Princess Royal is a paper notifying that two hundred pounds are offered for the work. Three offers have been made, of which this is the last and the greatest; it is yet open to an advance, and it is to be executed in chromo-lithography, by which also a considerable sum will be realised, as the subscription list at one guinea each is already very numerously signed. In the early part of April the sum already realised for the fund was four thousand pounds. The number contains a full report of the action brought against the editor of the Art-Journal re cently tried at Warwick. There can be no doubt that in his strictures on picture-sales Mr. Hall has been actuated by a high sense of his duty as a jour nalist, and of the confidence reposed in his integrity and independence by the art-public. The verdict sufficiently shows that the jury attached no moral blame to Mr. Hall ; and, from the very peculiar cir cumstances of the case, we think that he ought not to be exposed to the penalty which the costs of the trial will entail on him. It is a case which all per sons interested in the integrity of modern pictures, and in the genuine reputation of our modern artists, should make their own. A subscription to defray the expences of the trial would, we must say, be only an act of bare justice to Mr. Hall. In dealing with picture-sales, the editor Df an art journal can not be expected always to have a law library at his hand. Mr. Hall, in exceeding the strict limit allowed to comment, was actuated only by sincere zeal for the best interests of art ; and a gentleman to whose talent and enterprise the public is largely indebted, ought not to bear the whole costs of a vexatious prosecution through his independent desire to guard the public against one of the great abuses of the day, fraudulent picture-sales. A very moderate sum, which we are sure might be easily raised by artiste