The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

498 but the loss of his friends, the shedding of so much blood precious to England, had stricken him to the heart. He returned to his bivouac pensive and absorbed. The next day he visited General Bosquet in his tent. The night that had passed had not calmed his bitter regrets, and his voice had a profoundly painful expression. So many cruel emotions, which do honour to the heart of the Prince, by showing how deep and sincere was his attachment for his brethren in arms, reacted on his brain ; and his health became so visibly changed that it was urgent for him to leave the Crimea. And he sailed on board the Britannia for Constantinople, from whence he immediately proceeded to London. So much for the fearful but for ever glorious battle of Inkermann. In another article we shall show what the author has to say of sub sequent events. The Chinese and their Rebellions. By Thomas Taylor Meadows. London: Smith and Elder. CHINA is a large and important empire, and the people are the most singular in the world. Yet, for some reason not easily explained, books on China are usually deplorably dull. The people in all their relations, s)cial and political, repel us by their for mality. They seem to want that native impulse and original vigour of character which characterise Euro pean nations. They are " slow" in everything. If they could but get up " fashions " we should have hope for them. Have not the ladies had pettitoes long enough? Why rot try the other extreme, and encourage the growth of feet as large as an Indian snow-shoe ? Any change would be an improvement. Why do not the men shave the tails from their crown, and attach them to the bottom of their back? Why do not they take a less'n from our architects, and build in the conglomerate style? As for their revolution, how can we be expected to take an inte rest in that when we know that for a certainty we shall never live to see the end of it, and that it must be reserved for an historian living in the year 2000 and odd to relate its fortunes. The author, Mr. Meadows, has resided in China for the last thirteen or fourteen years as one of the interpreters of the civil service. He seems to have made good use of his time and opportunities to gain an adequate know ledge of Chinese politics and manners, and he has produced 656 pages of solid instructive reading. As a piece de resistance, it is in travel what " The Daisy Chain " is in fiction. It is a cut-and-come again book, with such an immense number of Leang a-fabs and Hung sew-tseueus in it, that we have no doubt the clever author of " Mary Powell" would, after a three days' cram, be able to produce with facility a pretty novel on the loves and labours of Fuh-he, who is supposed to have flourished " B.C. 3327." Mr. Meadows seems on the whole to have formed a fa vorable opinion of Chinese institutions, and he par ticularly lauds the system of "competitive examina tion," as tending to introduce into the Government service the higl eat ability of the empire. He details the severe examinations which candidates have to go through, and quotes an observation, that " the exist " ence of these examinations is alone enough to make " good the claim of China to a place among civilised " and literary nations." He writes for himself, else where:— In every case the institution of public service examina tions which have long been strictly competitive) is the cause of the continued duration of the Chinese nation. . . By it all the ability of the country is enlisted on the side of that Government which takes care to preserve it in purity But the question is whether such stagnation is worth preserving—whether China would not be all the better for some such storm as now and then sweeps over the Western nations. Think of England being brought, by means of Mr. Meadows' favorite " com petitive examination," into some such state as China! Would it oe desirable that we should have all the sharpest intellects in the country employed to watch that we duly shaved cur heads after an orthodox decree, and wore tails of the prescribed dimension ? or do we really want to officer our army with such competitive-examination heroes as Mr. Meadows de slribes, who, after having taken up a safe position a long way from the enemy, bawled out, "Ta mun lae " chay le wo ta, puh lae wo pith ta," which means, reader, " If you come here I'll fight ; but if you don't, "no blows for me"? The volume of Mr. Meadows appears to contain a great quantity of information, but his style is pedantic, and we have not, from a cursory perusal of his hook, formed a very high opinion of his literary intelligence. Letters on Turkey. Translated from the IFrench o f M. A. Übicini by Lady Easthope. Two Vols . London : Murray. WE may briefly say that M. Übicini's work differs from all the books we have recently had on Turkey, in giving an elaborate exposition of the Government and national institutions of the Ottoman empire. Every Government is a machine of greater or less complexity, and that of Turkey from its peculiarity can only be understood by attentive examination. M. Übicini boa devoted a long time and diligence THE PRESS. to the investigation of his subject, and in these letters he takes the whole machine to pieces. He shows us all its component parts, the ends it is designed to fulfil, and Cie principles on which it is constructed. Then he handles every portion of it, explaining its use; he shows us the latest improve ments that have been effected in it., and what may be expected from its iuture working. The religion, executive, laws, finances, instruction, literature, industry, population, and sects of Turkey are all brought under review, and separately and distinctly explained. The " condition. of-woman question " seems to have been satisfactorily solved in Turkey : The property of a married woman continues under her own control ; her husband cannot touch it, nor is it liable for his debts. Whatever property she may have possessed previous to her marriage, or which may have fallen to her since, remains her own. M. Übicini thinks that, as regards crime, Turkey presents a favorable contrast to other countries pre tending to higher civilisation:- 1f statistical tables of crime could be actually drawn up for Constantinople, the third most populous city in Europe, and compared with similar returns from London and Paris, the results would be astounding and almost incredible in the small proportion of offences they would show as regarded the Turkish population. in Turkish villages, whose inhabitants are nnmingled with other races, trickery, deceit, and theft are scarcely known. Highway robberies, murders, rapes, housebreaking, even pilfering, are almost unheard of in the lower ranks of Turks ; and the people in general must clearly be under some restraint more effectual than fear of discovery and punishment, since the country is so extensive, and the roads so open from one extremity of the country to another, that they might commit crimes and escape with impunity. It may be imagined that the author takes a favor able view of Turkish character, and of the adminis trative system of the country. His work makes no pretence to eloquence, but is full of solid facts, and is constructed on a scientific plan. It was time that it was put before us in an English dress, as it seems that all its materials were gradually being taken from it, to be worked up into other shapes, and it is always better for us to be presented with really original in vestigation at first than at second band. From its technical nature, the book must have been somewhat difficult to translate. Lady Easthope seems to have executed her task satisfactorily, but we are somewhat diffident übout expressing an opinion on such points since the Hayward- Croker fracas, as it is of course out of the question for a reviewer to pretend to con sult, for the purpose of detecti )g flaws, the originals of all the translated works that come before him. Perversion ; or, Causes and Consequences of Infi delity. A Tale for the Times. Three Vols. Lon- don: Smith and Elder. Tins is a novel of a peculiar kind. In reading it we hardly knew whether most to applaud or to con demn. It is written with a good motive, but we doubt if the result be good. It raises startling ques tions apparently with a view to their solution, but which finally it does not solve. It makes U 9 inquire very earnestly to what goal society is tending, and such answer as it returns to us is not encourag ing. It discloses great iniquity, much folly, an in definite deal of worldliness, and some real, genuine, practical piety ; but the latter in such infinitesimal proportion to the weakness and wickedness that the reader is more depressed than elevated. In fine, the book exposes with merciless severity, and with the unsparing hand of a hardened moral anatomist, the total uselessness of mere formal or credal re ligion to influence the heart, and to exercise a salu tary control over conduct. The judgment passed on it will depend very much on the opinion formed whether such a lesson be needed by this actual living world in which our own breathing-time is passed. " Perversion " is in fine a theological and an ecclesiastical novel. It concerns belief and it con cerns Church pasties. If we rightly apprehend its motive, it would refer the growth of infidelity in modern day to the want of vital religion among us —vital religion being understood not as belief in any p)sitive dogmas which are commonly the refuge of a weak intellect, nor as the possession of any sect of peculiar views, but as the penetrating principle of Gospel light which open the understanding while it enlarges the heart, which makes men wiser while it makes them bitter, which gives freedom to the in tellect while chaining the passions and impo.ing restraints on the will, which fills the heart with sweet, holy, and charitable dispositions, bringing it into com munion with God, and making it very tolerant while very stedfast. It is, we apprehend, to the want of this kind of religion that the author of " Perversion" refers the progress of infidelity. It is evident enough that he belongs to the Broad Church party, and that be has recourse to fiction to spread the religious teach ing of Dr. Arnold. There is a passage from the ser mons of that eminent man (vol. iii. p. 304.), which should be inserted in every commonplace book throughout the land. SATURDAY, The book opens at a public school, and the evils of the fagging system are powerfully set forth. Then we are gradually introduced to that larger school, the world, where day by day We something learn till we arc called away. Charles Bampton, the hero of the story, is repre sented as driven into unbelief by the bigotry of the clerical teachers set over him. He finds a kindred spirit in his sister Clara. At Oxford he falls in with infidel society; Clara is sacrificed to a brutal sceptic; and Charles passes through great and varied calamity before his eyes are opened to the truth. The story is connected with the Mormons and their settlement in America, and the reader is compelled to reflect on the startling fact that a community avowedly infidel is making rapid progress on the American continent. But it is for the sketches of clerical character and parties that the book is most remsrkable. High Church and Low Church are alike delineated with that satirical power which caricatures only to render the likeness more striking. It is evident that the author has drawn many of his personages from life. He is as fearless as he is skilful. He thinks that, the religious world needs a flagellator, and he deals his strokes right and left with a light but most dex trous and damaging hand. The grace of a rector who occupies himself mainly with farming his glebe and fly-fishing, is amusing : He was in the middle of a story about some piscatory feat which he had performed in the capture of a salmon when the cloth was removed, and he went on thus :—" My line was almost run, and by Jove, sir—For what we hare received, hum, hum, hum—he got under the bank, and I had hard work to save my tackle from breaking." Not a moment's pause separated the Christian thanksgiving from the appeal to Jupiter. I could not helpthinking of Pope's universal prayer. Schools come, of course, under the satirical review of the author. " What is the difference," said a questioner to a class, " between you and an irra " Lionel animal? " There was no answer. "For in " stance," said the querist to an intelligent little girl, " what is the difference between you and a cow ?" The child, with a curtsey, replied, " Petticoats, please " sir." We have heard less sensible answers in our time. After the lesson for the day, describing our Lord being met by ten lepers, had been read and ex plained to a class, the question was put, " Who mrt " our Lord as he entered Jerusalem?" There was no answer until the question bad been repeated with a leading hint, when one sharp boy triumphantly ex claimed, "The Philistines." Joseph's coat of many colours VMS thought a likely thing to fix the atten tion of a class, and the Scripture narrative of that part of Joseph's history was read and expounded. Then the question was put, " What kind of a coat " did Jacob give to his skla Joseph ?" A long pause was broken at last by the reply, "A black coat." Full as the book is of shrewd remark and satirical portraiture (many of the portraits being taken from life), we might fill columns with amusing extracts. But, after all, the best key we can give as to its character is to state the name of its author. It is reported to be from the pen of Mr. Conybeare, whose article on "Church Parties" in the Edinburgh Review some two or three years ago excited so much noise in society. The novel of " Perversion"is dis tinguished by the same kind of ability. It is equally as able, as salt, and as fearless. It is a book to ex cite not only curiosity but reflection, and more re sembles such works as the " Eclipse of Faith" than a regular novel. As a work of art it has manliest defects ; as a criticism on Church parties it is open to attack ; but there can be no doubt of its originality and its earnestness, and as little of the perfect Justice of great part of its satire. Signs of the Times. By Christian Charles Josias Bunsen. Translated from the German by Susanna Winkworth. London : Smith and Elder. WITHOUT any disparagement to the Chevalier Bun sen's ability, we must say that special teaching Is required for the comprehension of his works. His present volume, though it has met with an extensive sale in Germany, is so occupied with the religious politics of that country as to defy analysis in the moderate space we have at our disposal. M. Bun sen's main object appears to be to assert the pr►n ciple of perfect religious liberty, which he thinks is in some danger of being crushed through the pre tensions of the Lutheran Churcli on one side, and of the Roman Catholic Church on the other. One of his most emphatic sentences occurs towards the con clusion of his volume( Whoever promotes oppression of conscience and Intntal slavery—yea, whoever does not with all sincerity and energy labour in faith for the freedom of the human eon science and intellect, is working for Jesuitism, and, as much as in him lies, for the destruction of his own Church and nation. But if he be a Protestant, he deserves a double measure of our abhorrence or compassion. Elsewhere he contends that " the banner of perfect religious liberty is the sign in which the fxlll9 an? uuuva 3LUULL omuclatiVt3 rAtlllllllll.llUll. 111. tiIICIUIII UV inNerteu In every commonplace book rAnieWIICLC tic WEI LCIIU3 Lutit, Übicini has devoted a long time and great diligence throughout the land. "religious liberty is the sign in which the trWI • II ~.. ; Nr`! ^