The Press. — London, England, 1855-02-17 00:00:00

lOg Through the dropping of their green veil some other features have become visibly prominent on these bramble branches. They are features of deformity in the shape of unnatural and unsightly bulgings, round or ovate excres cences on the square stems, from the size of a walnut to a hazel. On cutting one open we find it occupied by little orange-coloured grubs scattered throughout its interior substance. These, in due season, will be winged insects, .Now, in their wingless stage the 7 are housed for the winter "in a habitation formed by the injured vegetable at behest of its injurer, some parent fly. These, while embryo mischief in the form of eggs, must have been inserted through punctures of parental piercing in the yet green branch, and the insects will issue forth in maturity through other punctures of their own perforation. The excrescences of Verner seasons, grown brown and hard, are often to be seen thus bored as by an awl. The author of this volume has much knowledge of natural subjects and great talent for describing them, but for our own part we should like his books better wore they written in a more chastened style. The chap ter at the end, " Voices in the Air," written on the model of Mr. Warren's celebrated " Lily and the Bee," we can make nothing of, nor can we conceive that such rhapsody can be of any real service as an aid to either the intelligence or the imagination of the young. Ruth. By the Author of " Mary Barton." London : Chapman and Hall. Ta selection of " Ruth " for the present number of the " Library of Fiction" is not so good a choice as has been exhibited in the former numbers of this excellent series. " Seduction " is never a pleasing and often not a safe subject for the novelist, and although the characters are well drawn in " Ruth,' yet the story is distasteful throughout, and does not exempt itself from the category of both unpleasant and unsafe subjects. Historical Sketches. St. Louis and Henry IV. Second Series. By the Rev. J. H. Gurney. London: Longmans. . MR. GURNEY complains in his preface that there is a gap between Messrs. Markham and Hallam, no intermediate authors existing who have composed historical narratives for youth. Hence his attempt to supply a series of " Historical Sketches," com piled from authentic sources, and written in an ani mated style. The present volume contains the biogra phies of two great men, the one hitherto imperfectly known, the other too partially judged. The narrative in each case is full and clear, presided over by a sound judgment, and likely to give young readers a taste for historical studies. The Historical Pocket Annual for 1855. Containing a Chronological Summary of the Events of the Past Year. By Dr. Bergel. London : Triibner and Co. _ _ ---- - THIS is a new publication, conveniently adapted for reference upon the political events of the past year. Though concise— extending to only one hundred pages—it gives the pith of all the most important State documents, manifestoes, and treaties (luring 1854, with other principal events, and an obituary of notable persons. Dr. Bergel deserves great praise for the accuracy with which his Annual is compiled. It is intelligent, useful, and cheap. The Roving Englishman in Turkey. Reprinted in part from Household Words. London : Rout ledge. THE " Roving Englishman's " essays upon Turkey are here brought before us in a compact form. He is no friend to the Turks as a nation, though he respects their individual character. Humorous and amusing upon most points, he is yet a thorough grumbler, and we should think must be one of those persons who retain only the unpleasant reminiscences of their travels. Yet, withal, these sketches of Turkish life are very characteristic, and much infor mation is given upon the present state and bearing of the country. Leavesfrom a Family Journal. By Emile Souvestre. Translated from the Original French. London : Groombridge and Sons. THESE " leaves " commence at the very point where Fiction in general considers that her work ends— " Matrimony!" and the home-life of a young mar ried couple is naturally delineated in the mingled shades which make up the sum of married life, the conclusion being that the golden rule, " Bear ye with one another," is productive of the most happi ness. Every point in married life is touched upon in this little tale, from housekeeping to education, and from thence to the marriage of a daughter and the decline of life. The characters are few and simple, but well marked, and the story itself charmingly natural. There is a slip at p. 127 (perhaps attributable to the translator), where a sportsman is described as being " in the act of discharging both barrels at a "quail which the dog was holding by the throat." THE PRESS. Between the two barrels and the dog (if the animal escaped with his life) we fear there could be little left of the quail when the sportsman "picked it up "and put it into his bag." Quail -shooting re quires the smallest shot, the quickest eye, and the nicest judgment of distance (as they lie close, and never rise except under your nose) to avoid blow ing their plump little bodies into dust and feathers. In general the version is easy and spirited, and the translator seems to have happily caught the spirit of the author. The Unspeakable ; or, the Life and Adventures of a Stammerer. London : Clarke and l3eeton. THE incidents of this narrative are stated to be strictly true, though it is not pretended that they all happened in connection with the writer. The design is to show the misery which a person may suffer from stammering, especially if of a sensitive nature. For this end, the reader is led through a number of scenes—some ludicrous, some painful—from infancy to manhood. At last a certain professor confers on the sufferer " the blessing of unimpeded speech"; but whether the book be written from gratitude for the cure, or to give publicity to the said professor's system and success, is more than we can pretend to determine. MR. JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM announces that, being now on the verge of " threescore years and ten," and unable longer to continue the active labours to which he has been accustomed, he is about to devote his remaining days to the publication of his autobiography. The world was familiar enough with the name of Mr. J. S. Buckingham some twenty-five or thirty years ago, but lately— certainly through no fault of his own—it has par tially slipped out of mind, the political agitator being lost sight of in the unlucky speculator. We are bound to say, however, that he has done good service in his day, and it is, perhaps, to be regretted that he ever abandoned the one subject in which he suc ceeded in interesting the public mind—the reform of the abuses in East Indian administration. Mr. Buckingham informs us that in the course of his life lie - has delivered upwards of four thousand lectures in three hundred different towns of England and America, and that he has written and published upwards of a hundred volumes, to say nothing of pamphlets, contributions to periodical literature, speeches, &c. Opinions will, of course, differ as to the value of his labours : in his best days he was certainly a most agreeable lecturer; his writings have always been moral and instructive ; he has worked with zeal and sincerity for the amelioration of society and the good of mankind; and we hope that in what will most likely be his latest publication he will have the good sense to avoid anything savoring of sectarian prejudice. We quite agree with him that he has earned a title to repose, though in higher station men far beyond his years seem to think that their day of activity has only just begun, and we shall be sincerely glad to hear that his age is soothed with the peace and prosperity which, in his case, the most beneficial of all toil—the toil of the intellect—well deserves. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. Philosophers of the Time of George 111. Lord Brougham. Griffin and Co. Political Oratory. Do. Popular Harmony of the Bible. H. M. Wheeler. Longman& The Rouse that Jack Built. Cox. Russia and Her Czars. E. J. Brabazon. Theobald My Courtship and its Consequences. H. Wykoff. Clarke and Beeton. Milton's Parculisc Lost. Books I. and IV. Lougmans. The Court of England under the Stuart,. Vol. 11. Bentley. The Year Book of Facts. J. Timbs. Bogue. Something to Laugh At. Piper. The Pathology of Drunkenness. C. Wilson, M.D. Black. Echoes of the War. H. S. Stokes. Longmans. Bell on Banking. Do. The Bulgarian, the Turk, and the German. A. A. Paton. Do. Manual o/ Political Science. E. K. Humphreys, LL.D Do. O'Byrne's Naval Annual. Piper. The Modern Orlando. Rev. G. Croly, LLD. Hurst and Blackett. Transatlantic Wanderings. Capt. Oldinixon. Routledge. Lays of Love and heroism. E. Darby. Hope =deo. First Form of Latin Grammar. E. Baines. Do. Songs qj the War. Sir J. Franklin. Ward and Lock. Longmana. Ridgway. Anonymous Journalism. Diplomatic Mysfiflcations. Our Civil and Military EA Osman. Canto I. Harrison. Ridgway. Piper. _____.. ______ _. • Reply lo Mr. Bright's Lefler on the War. Ilatchard. Church Questions. Do. Remarks on the Nava/ Operations in the Black Sea. Murray. Inkermann. A Poem. Hope and Co. Birite-eye View of the Seat of War. Stanford. SATURDAY, etc puma. PRINCESS'S THEATRE. A SECOND visit to this theatre has affbrded us an op. portunity of reviewing our first impressions of Mr. Kean's impersonation of Louis IX. We regret to say that our conviction of the inartistic coarseness of the assumption has been only confirmed by a second toleration of four of the five acts inflicted on us by Mr. Bourcicault. Mr. Kean's presentation of the character resembles nothing so much as the coarsest sign-painting. A ports sit of majesty suspended in front of the William the Fourth or the King's Head, in which the most obvious characteristic features of the monarch are painted in with ludicrous exaggeration, and the rest of the face filled up at the pleasure of the artist, bears the same relation to a Vandyke or a Reynolds as Mr. Kean's coarse stage artifice does to the finished art of a great actor. It is difficult, perhaps, to divide the blame fairly be tween the play and the performer—they act and react each on the other. The part has been evidently chosen to suit Mr. Kean's peculiar manner, and by its very suitableness contributes a considerable share to the exaggerations of the ensemble. To au unpre judiced spectator it seems almost impossible that so commonplace a stage-rascal as Mr. Bourcicault's Louis, without even cunning enough to conceal his craft, should have succeeded in over-reaching so many different persons. To be sure stage-knavery is carefully supplied with stage-simplicity ; but the way iu which the inmost secrets of the mature and cautious Comines, as well as of the youthful and inexperienced Ilene, and Dauphin, are draggici to light by the tetchy inquisitiveness of Louis, is perfectly laughable, and belongs to no region in heaven or earth but that peculiar province situated behind the foot-lights. It is a bit of stage-machinery, rudely contrived, and ill-concealed. The effect of this absurdity is ex aggerated by the broad and obvious physiognomical expressions of slyness adopted by the actor, the very shrewd wrinkling of the corners of the eyes, the remarkably knowing twist of the mouth to one side, and the ever-recurring wink of triumph with which the audience are informed confidentially, but quite obviously to the victim of the trickery, of the final success of some piece of roguery, evidently perfectly certain of succeeding from the very first Now, then, tell me," and as evidently perfectly un deserving of success; all in the worst style of the lowest comedy. The only explanation which we can give of the extraordinary effect of all these absurdi ties on the audience, is the supposition that Mr. Kean's hearers are prone to imagine that the tricks which they would be the last to suffer with patience from an ordinary comic actor, ought to be not only tolerated, but applauded, when they receive the sanction of a man of his position and reputation, believing, against their better judgment, that these unworthy artifices must have something more admirable in them that they have hitherto been allowed to possess. Mr. Kean carries the system of strong daubing into the smallest details ; his make-up, for example, containing some few inconsistencies which produce rather ludicrous re sults : his face, in repose, appears to be that of a man well advanced in years, the mouth being drawn downwards and lengthened at the corners; but as soon as the expression changes, especially when the actor assumes a look of gratification, we are startled by the sudden appearance of a face at least twenty years the junior of the physiognomy which it replaces, one of the " aids to old age" being distinctly visible in two strong vertical lines running downwards from the corners of the mouth on each side. A common effect of excitement on a face past middle life is a surprising change to youthfulness of expression, but we never remember to have seen so great an amount of years removed from any face by any amount of excitement, except occasionally in an apparently aged street beggar on the approach of a policeman. On the remarkable pronunciation of English and French adhered to by Mr. Kean we retain our original opinion. It is difficult to give an idea of the curious effect of his voice end articulation to those to whom they are unfamiliar, while those who have heard and do not admire them will acknowledge that our friend ' Mr. Punch's "sibultadeous actiod" only represents one phase of Mr. Kean's cacophony—itvarieties are end less. Majesty in its familiar moods talks in the voice and manner of a cabman, while in the exercise of high official functions it seems to be seized, for the occa sion, with a violent cold in the head ; true, it is the catarrh of a superior nature, a most kingly snuffle, , but still most unmistakably a veritable catarrh. Pathos whines (with closed eyelids) to the accom • paniment of a slight bronchitis, while Rage scream', • in some inconceivable manner, through an invisible ' nose. We have heard it rumoured that the elm tional training of the royal children is to be intrust. d to Mr. Kean. This is, probably, but an idle report; . but, if it be true, we cannot help saying that, in spite of our loyal attachment to the throne, we sincerely hope that we may never have the misfortune of being