The Press. — London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 24, 1855. the same causes which have proved fatal to other States,—as the inroads of democraticgtur bulence or the too rapid progress of wealth and luxury. It is a fault of the book that there is not much anecdote in it, but to relieve our disqui sition we may quote the account of Harring ton's rescue of his " Oceana" : The " Oceans" had a somewhat ominous struggle for existence. Mr. Toland tells us the following story :—After the death of Charles 1., who had a high opinion of Har rington, the author was observed to keep his library more closely than usual. He was then engaged with the " Oceans." When he had made some considerable pro gress with the work, he made its nature known among some of his particular friends. This came to Cromwell's ears, and he ordered the manuscript to be seized. Har rington endeavoured to recover it., but without success. In his despair he applied to Lady Claypole, Cromwell's favo rite daughter, to whom he was personally unknown, but of whose affability and benevolence of disposition he had heard much. Being ushered into her ladyship's room, he only found a child three years of age. He entertained the child so divertingly, that she suffered him to take her up in his arms, till her mother came ; whereupon he, stepping towards her, and setting the child down at her feet, said, "Madam, 'tis well you are come at this nick Of time, or I had certainly stolen this little lady." " Stolen her," replied the mother, " pray what to do with her? for she is too young to become your mistress." "Madam," said he, " though her charms assure of a more considerable conquest, yet I must confess it is not love, but revenge, that prompted me to commit this theft." "Lord," answered the lady," what injury have I done you, that you should steal my child ?" " None at all," replied Harrington, " but that you might be induced to prevail with your father to do me justice, by restoring my child that he has stolen." But the lady urged that it was impossible, because her father had children enough of his own. He then revealed to her, at last, that the child he had lost was the fruit of his brain, which had been grossly misrepresented to the Protector, and taken out of the press by his order. Harrington's wit prevailed, and the lady got the work restored to him. It is said that Cromwell afterwards read the treatise, which was dedi cated to him, and he greatly admired it. - - Newspapers will no doubt occupy consider able space in Mr. Blakey's next volume, but we may extract his brief notice of their origin : Newspapers, by a sort of common consent among antiqua ries, date their origin from Italy. The gazettes of the Ital ians, which sold for a small coin called gazette, are the foundation of our English gazettes. These vehicles of public news first appeared in the republic of Venice, and was under the direct superintendence of the Government. Other cities and States in Italy adopted these kin.' of newspapers under the same name. Mr. George Chalmers says that, " A jealous government did not allow a printed newspaper; and the Venetian gazette continued long after the invention of printing, to the close of the sixteenth century, and even to our own days, to be distributed in manuscript." There are thirty volumes of Venetian gazettes in the Magliabechian Library, at Florence, all in mann script. A great variety of information is scattered through Mr. Blakey's volumes, and we must award him the praise of a diligent, though not of a sagacious or brilliant writer. Turkey, Ancient and Modern. By the Rev. R. W. Fraser, M.A. Edinburgh : Black. A HISTORY of the Ottoman empire in one volume must necessarily be limited to a narration of the principal events in Turkish annals. Mr. Fraser commences with a survey of the rise and progress of Moham medanism, notices the sadden splendour and rapid decline of Saracenic power, and beginning the history of Turkey with Othoraan, traces it through the reigns of successive sultans to the recent siege of Silistria. Mr. Fraser, however, does more than relate—he surveys; and those chapters in which he takes large views of Turkish character and institutions—of the Greek people and Church, and of the various in fluences which at former periods contributed to the extension of the Ottoman power and are now working its downfall—are among the best portions of his book, and show that he is not wanting in philosophic com prehension. A valuable appendix supplies a want much felt just now—viz., a collection of treaties be tween Turkey and Russia from 1775 to the present time. The treaty of Adrianople is given in extenso, and from that date to the last " act " signed between the two empires in 1849, the text of all the diplomatic instruments to which Turkey, in conjunction with other powers of Europe, has been a party, are inserted here. The volume is besides furnished with two maps, one of Turkey in Europe, the other of Turkey in Asia, and with an index. Heliondi ; or, Adventures in the Sun. By the Author of " The Memories of a Stomach." London Chap man and Hall. Tins book is written by a drawing-room savant, a perfect carpet knight in natural philosophy. It is a fairy tale, with a little dash of science in it, and cleverly penned. It may be described in the phrase of a great French wit of the last century, as a " baga telle frottee de science." THE PRESS. The Court of England under the Stuarts : including the Protectorate. By J. H. Jesse. New Edition. Vols. I. and 11. London : Bentley. MR. JESSE is an adept in "popular" writing. His volumes are stored with anecdotes, and effectively bring out the personal traits of history. In this work the sketches of Charles, Cromwell, Charles 11., and James IL, are accompanied by characSers of the chief members of their families, and of the principal personages connected with them. In all cases the portraiture is made up more from a number of amusing, but at the same time significant facts, than from anything like sustained narrative. The author has taken the elder Mr. Disraeli for his model, and has shown how admirably his plan is adapted to the illustration of historical epochs. Mr. Jesse's style of treatment is especially adapted to James 1., as only instances can give an adequate idea of his com pound character. Some of his aphorisms are very shrewd, as this, for instance, "Much money makes " a country poor, for it sets a dear price upon every " thing." In verse be was not so skilful, yet, if the following lines inscribed beneath his portrait in the first folio edition of his works be justly ascribed to him, be was certainly not destitute of poetic con ception : Crowns have their compass, length of days their date, Triumphs their tombs, felicities their fate ; Of more than earth can earth make none partaker, But knowledge makes the king most like his Maker. We recollect seeing these lines, with some varia tions, ascribed to Shakspeare, but we know not on what authority. They may seem to us much above the capacity of James. In the cheap and convenient form in which Mr. Jesse's work is now published we confidently recommend it to our readers' notice. It resembles a museum stored with remains of the period, some rich and rare, some merely curious and comical, but all illustrative of the time, and awaking moods of mind, as wide in their range as the capacity of human emotion. Food and its Adulterations. By Arthur Hill Hassall. London : Longmans. M. FLOURENS, one of the most eminent physiologists of the day, has lately told the world that the normal duration of human life is "one hundred years," and that at present we do not die, but kill ourselves by our artificial system of living, by our passions, and our general intemperance, but if any kind friend had suggested to M. Flourens the perusal of the reports of the Analytical Sanitary Commission, presided over by Dr. Hassall, we think that the eminent French man would have found another and more powerful cause of the abbreviation of his standard length of life. Of twenty-seven articles of food analysed by the commission, from arrowroot to vinegar, all are more or less adulterated, and the details of the re spective analyses include an account of the principal articles used in adulteration. The work is extremely well produced, and equally creditable for the skill and minuteness of its investigations, and the fearless spirit with which those disreputable tradesmen are exposed who make their money at the expense of the health of their customers. Truly, as Diderot said, a man to live long in this world must have "a bard heart and a good digestion!" Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Fifth Edition. Four Vols. London: Colburn. ANOTHER edition of Mr. Pepys's Diary shows the public appreciation of this unique work. We must confess that we never look into it without seeing fresh reason to admire the amusing veracity of the writer. How candid is his avowal respecting his wife :—" Sbe do find, with reason, that in the company " of Pierce, Knipp, or other women that I love, I do " not value her, or mind her, as I ought." His sister fares still worse :—" About a husband for my sister, " whereof there is at present no appearance ; but we " must endeavour to find her one now, for she grows " old and ugly." One knows not whether the book is most to be prized for its revelations of Mr. Pepys's own most singular character, for its domestic details, or its historical information. This edition, we may mention, has received all the latest corrections, and notes of Lord Braybrooke, and is a good library copy of what has, since its first appearance, been one of our best-prized standard works. Wedding Gloves. Illustrated by Phiz. London Blackwood. A " second edition," and the" tenth thousand" of the first six of a series of twelve tales speaks sufficiently for the success of this book. It is marked by &cer tain kind of "smartness; a fast farcical tone of dia logue, like the rattle of the style of Albert Smith, to whom the book is dedicated. In some of the tales, however, evidence is given of higher talent, and there is much homely pathos in " Brierly Farm," and the " Life Drama." In his comic scenes the author, as Sydney Smith said of Rebook in " Granby," "is too resolutely witty." 191 The Pathology of Drunkenness. By Charles Wilson, M.D. Edinburgh : Black. DIL WILSON'S work will be found to contain many valuable observations and statistical facts upon the results, constitutionally and mentally, of intoxication. The whole pathology of drunkenness, the action of spirituous liquors upon the human organisation, and their peculiar influence upon the imagination and the intellect, are fully treated, though in rather a verbose and dogmatical style. In a pathological work like the present, which sets out in its first chan ter with a disclaimer against teetotal asceticism, we scarcely expected to find such a passage as the fol lowing :—" A moderate love of intoxicating drinks is " but too frequently merely a state of transition "towards the formation of propensities of a more "marked and fatal character !" As this is not quali fied in any way, and the next chapter opens with the assertion that "since such is the case," we are left to infer, that Dr. Wilson (who himself is a tee totaller), applies this expression to all classes of society, and that he is averse not only to the abuse, but to the use of fermenting drinks. Historical Memorials of Canterbury. By A. P. Stanley, M.A., Canon of Canterbury. London: Murray. THE four essays comprised in this volume contain an accurate account of the mission of St. Augustine, of the murder and death of Becket, of the life and death of Edward the Black Prince, and, lastly, of the history of Becket's shrine. The most interesting of these subjects—the death of Becket—has already appeared in the Quarterly of Sept., 185-I; but some important addenda have been made to the article in its present form. A valuable appendix will be found to contain many important original documents from the archives of Canterbury, and many notes dis playing great antiquarian knowledge and research. The book is also copiously illustrated with woodcuts, and engravings of different parts of the cathedral, and Mr. Stanley may be fairly considered as having contributed a very important work, local and histo rical, upon Canterbury Cathedral. Life of Nicholas I. By F. Mayne. London : Longman.. A COMPILATION, comprising well known incidents in the life of the Czar—the events of the campaign of 1828-9; the negotiations of 1853-4 ; full particulars of the present war to the battle of Inkermann ; and a sketch, collected from many sources, of the family and court of the Czar, and of the present state of his dominions. The volume chiefly differs from the numerous shilling tracts lately published in collect ing together the information they publish separately. The compiler when he ventures on original composi tion writes very wildly ; as when, for instance, he states that the Czar, fearful of revolution in his dominions in 1848.47, invested "as much as "forty or fifty millions of pounds in the French and " English funds," and that the means taken to amass this treasure caused "the death of the serfs by thou sands." Mr. Mayne has formed a false estimate of the public intelligence in supposing that random assertions of this kind would pass current with the class likely to purchase his volume. Its publication in this shape is a mistake. The Year-Book of Facts for 1855. By John Timbe, F.S.A. London : David Bogue. WE have here the seventeenth annual edition of this comprehensive little work. Viewed as a record of the most important discoveries in science and art, arranged and classified under their distinctive heads, the book is highly useful. As a sign of the times it is singular to contrast the numerous inventions in missiles of war of the past with any previous year. We read that one gentleman has striven hard for dis tinction by inventing a ball suitable for small arms or cannon which shall so cut, wound, and lacerate, that it shall be scarcely possible for any man to live long after being struck by it. Fire bolts, explosive shot, enormous shells, and improvements in every branch of military mechanics, will be found among the " Facts of 1855." 1. Latin Vocabulary for the Use of Beginners. By J. S. V. Baird, Trinity College, Dublin. Lou- don : J. W. Parker and Son. 2. The First-Form Latin Grammar. By Edward Baines, M.A. London : Hope and Co. Two elementary works for the young; the first, upon the old form, combines with the accidence a vocabu lary of words giving simply the rules of grammar without definition, while the second is a grammar upon the modern " crudelorm " system, difficult no doubt for the young mind to master, but laying a sure foundation for a true knowledge and rapid acqui sition of other languages.