The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-08 00:00:00

DECEMBER 8, 1853. The Wonders of Science ; or, Young Humphry Davy. I • By Henry Mayhew. London : Bogue. THE object of this pretty volume is to explain the elements of natural science by relating the boyhood of Sir Hum phry Davy, and showing by what obser vations, simple experiments, and reasoning he arrived at the principles which were subsequently manifested in his brilliant discoveries. Much may be said against this mode of blending fact with fiction, and the connection of real incidents in the life of so eminent a man as Davy with imaginary conduct is not free from objection, but the result in this case is so natural, and so pleasantly teaches elementary science, that the objection may be overlooked. The volume is dedicated to Mr. Faraday, and from this dedication we make an extract which shows that it was through the good-nature of Davy that Faraday was enabled to pursue the inclination of his youth and devote himself to science. The letters have been published before, but are well worth reproduc tion:— The following letter becomes peculiarly interesting as a record of the circumstances which brought together two of the greatest chemical geniuses that the world has yet seen _ _ "To J. A. FARIS, M.D. " Royal Institution, Dec. 23, 1829. " 7/1y dear sir,—Yon asked me to give you an account of my first introduction to Sir H. Davy, which I am very happy to do, as I think the circumstance will bear testi mony to his goodness of heart. " When I was a bookseller's apprentice. I was very fond of exrerimeut, and very averse to trade. It happened that a gentleman, a member of the Royal Institution, took me to hear some of Sir H. Davy's last lectures in Albemarle street. I took notes, and afterwards wrote them out more fairly in a quarto volume. " My desire to escape from trade, which I thought vicious and selfish, and to enter into the service of science, which I imagined made its pursuers amiable and liberal, induced me at last to take the bold and simple step of writing to Sir H. Davy, expressing my wishes, and a hope that, if an opportunity came in his way, he would favour my views ; at the same time, I sent the notes I had taken at his lectures. " The answer, which makes all the point of my commu nication, I send you in the ()aging', requesting you to take great care of it, and to let me have it back, for you may imagine how much I value it. " Yon will observe that this took place at the end of the year 1812. and early in 1113 he requested to see me, and told me of the situation of assistant in the laboratory of the Royal Institution, then just vacant. At the same time that he thus gratified my desires as to scientific employment, he still advised me not to give up the prospects I had before me, telling me that Science was a harsh mistress ; and, in a pecuniary point of view, but poorly rewarding those who devoted themselves to her service. He smiled at my notion of the superior moral feelings of philosophic men, and said he would leave me to the experience of a few years to set me right on the matter. " Finally, through his good efforts, I went to the Royal Institution earls in March of 1813, as assistant in the laboratory ; and in October of the same year went with him abroad, us his assistant in experiments and in writing. I returned with him in April, 1815, resumed my station in the Royal Institution, and have, as you know, ever since remained there.—l am, dear sir, very truly yours, " M. FARADAY." The following is the note of Sir H. Davy alluded to in Mr. Faraday's letter : " To MR. FARADAY. " December 24,1812. " Sir,--I am far from displeased with the proof yon have given me of your confidence, and which displays great zeal, power of memory, and attention. lam obliged to go out of town, and shall not be settled in town till the end of January : I will then see you at any time you wish. " It would graiify me to be of any service to you. wish it may be in my power.—l am, sir, your obedient, humble servant, " H. DAVY." It is remarkable that it was in somewhat a similar manner that Professor Owen owed his first advance ment to the good offices of Abernethy. The Adventures of the Caliph Haroun Alraschid. Recounted by the Author of " Mary Powell." Lon don : Hall, Virtue, and Co. WE cannot think this volume happy either in choice of subject or execution. It wants invention, and does not exhibit that skill in historic reproduction and colouring which have given popularity to the author's previous works. The adventures of the Caliph are mainly made up from the " Arabian Nights ;" and our old favorites, " Cogia Hassan," " Ali Cogia," " Noureddin," and "Abon Hassan," are not improved in this new version of their stories. We should be sorry to see this ingenious author sink into a mei e bookmaker. Even the binding seems a mistake. Instead of the sombre dress it wears, it sliou'd have glittered with gilding and arabesque design. It may, however, prove an acceptable 'present to those young persons who have not yet made acquaintance with the "Arabian Nights" in any shape. THE PRESS. Malvern ; or, the Three Marriages. By Mrs. Hubbuck. London : Skeet. THE action of this novel takes place in a hydropathic mansion at Malvern. There is reality in the cha racters assembled at this cheerful place (more resembling a foreign spa than a medical establish ment), and in the life that they lead. Their occupa tions, chit - chat, and amusements are cleverly described, and the book is relieved from tameness by an ingeniously.constructed plot, which supplied motive to the characters and purpose to incidents in themselves trivial. The plot, it' less natural or commonplace than the social anion of the story, is not exaggerated. It piques curiosity and sustains attention. The impression produced on putting down the novel is, that a case such as sometimes appears in our law or police reports has been agreeably worked up into a tale exhibiting lively social sketches portrayed in a ladylike manner. The House of Elmore. A Family History. London : Hurst and Blackett. WE do not recognise the author of this " History," yet there is in it so much power, intellect, and imagination, as to make it improbable ►•hat he can long remain unknown. His grasp of character is firm, and truth is never sacrificed to mere effect. Unlike most fictions we meet with, this is crowded, not only with adventure, but with strong feeling. The nature of the chief actor, Elmore, justifies this rapidity of action. Men of strong passions lead eventful lives ; and in his cave there is—partly from the darkness of early associations, partly from the gloom of his temperament a depth of inward emotion which seems to place him at the mercy of an irresistible destiny. The story, from its complex nature, does not admit of description—nor is it tie cessary. It is of modern date, and many of the sketches are clever and penetrating, hut the romantic element predominates. The most objectionable part o' the book is that relating to Elmore's wife, who, though described !ts lovely and amiable, and made to attract our sympathies, is deeply stained with crime. The author's power requires discipline. The "History," on the whole, would be mere impressive if passages which appear to us strained—as that for example at vol. iii., 135-o—were modified. But objections to style are hardly admissible. If by a "new hand," and the author will submit the strong faculties he undoubtedly possesses to some training, he may hope to win a distinguished place as a romancist. Memories. A Poem. By George Thomas Thoma. son. London : Bell and Daldy. Tins is a pretty little volume of pastorals, which do credit to the taste and sentiment of the author. Though not to be called thoroughly original, they are still a very skilful and pleasing reproduction of such poets as Gray, Thomson, and Crabbe ; and be speak a thorough appreciation of country life, and nice acquaintance with the peculiarities of the seasons. The illustrations are exceedingly well done; and, on the whole, we can assure Mr. Thoma son that we have derived far more pleasure from his natural and graceful verse than from that of many authors of much greater pretension. An Elementary Atlas of History and Geography By the Rev. S. S. Brewer, M.A. London Longmans. A WORK, the principles of which we cannot too highly commend. That principle is the one of showing the condition of the world at successive eras ; and to every map is added a page or two o' narrative explanatory of its divisions. The want of some such atlas as this has been long felt. The history of the pas; could never be properly appre hended by learners supplied only with maps of the present day. As, for instance, the tenaci y with which France and Spain contended for the dominion of Italy in the eleventh century, is a subject of wonder, until we see clearly the position and extent of the Spanish Netherlands, and observe the im portance to Spain of the overland route. Dr. Arnold has told us that no external history can ever be fully learned without the aid of excellent maps. We believe Mr. Brewer's work is a step, and a pretty long step, in the right direction. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. - - - - The Wanderer in Arabia. George 'l'. H South, Esq. Two Vols. Hurst and Blacken. Jeanne de Vaudreuil ; or, Recone;liation. J. Niabett and Co. The White Chief. By Captain Mayne Reid. Three Vols. 1). Bogue. Alfred Leslie. A St3ry of Glasgow Life. J. Murray. The Wonders tf Science; or, Young fiewsphvy Davy. Henry Mayhew. D. Bogue. The Dramatic Works of James Sheridan Knowles. Two VoLs. G. Routledge. 1175 The Duke. Railway Library. Mrs. Grey. Do. Du Style et de la Composition Littiraire. M. Antonin Roebst. Lungnians. A Manual of the Domestic Practice of Medicine. W. B. Kesteven. Do. The Em igrant's Home. William H. G. Kingston, Esq. Groom bridge. The Past Campaign. A Sketch of the War in the East. Two Vols. Longman. A Lady's Second Journey Round the World. Ida Pfeiffer. Two Vols. Do. Christian Melville. By the. Author of " Matthew Paxton." D. Bogue. Poems. Sheldon Chadwick. Do. The Travellers. A Poem. By Oliver Goldsmith. Illus trated on Steel. Do. A Statistical View of the Population, the Religions, and Lan guages of Europe. E. Stanford. PAMPHLETS. The Ode of Peace. _ Longman.. A New Method of Printing Peaitire Photograph. T. Sutton, B.A. Bell and Daldy. Effingham Wilson. Education for Working Men. Free Trade in Life Assurance. PERIODICALS. The Royal Gallery of Art. Edited by S. C. Hall, F.S.A. P. and D. Colnaghi. The West of Scotland Magazine. Hall and Virtue. Journal of the Statistical S•nciely. J. W. Parker and Son. Morton's New Farmer's Almanack for 186. Mackie and Son. Mitchell's Neu'spaper•Presa Directory. Al itchell. The Amateur; or. Our Magazine. Hope and Co. Hurry Cucerdale's Courtship. Virtue and Hall. Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. beeton. Boy's Own Magazine. Do. The Literary and Scientific Register and Almaitack for 18.58. 1). Vogue. muhic. England's Welcome to Sardinia's King. A son•. Eustas and Schermsnn. if 4e drama. DRURY LANE.-Mr. Smith took his benefiton Thurs day evening at this theatre, on which occasion the house was literally crammed, from the pit to the gallery. At the conclusion of Patter versus Clatter, Mr. Smith was called before the curtain, and on making his appearance met with an enthusiastic reception. In his speech on the occasion, Mr. Smith promised a good pantomime at Christmas, and an nounced the benefit of Charles Mathews for Wed nesday week. On Wednesday next is the Bal Masque. OLYMPIC THEATRE.-A new farce, founded on the Montre Perdu, entitled Fite Pounds Reward, was brought out here on Monday night, fir the purpose or exhibiting ale. Robson in the character of Mr. Benjamin Bostlethwaite, a gentleman, who, having left his watch (a very remarkable old family watch, with his own singular name engraved on the dial plate) in the house of a quondam flame, during the absence of Mrs. Bostlethwaite from town, is driven into a perfect insanity of fright by the constant an ticipation of detection. The piece, as might be sup posed, is almost completely identified with Mr. Robson's part, which was payed with a degree of comic truth rarely to be met with in the regions of farce. The intensity of the actor's terror was at times almost tragic, though the broad absurdity of the situations and the dialogue reminded us more of those wildly ridiculous pieces in which Mr. Buck stone, in past years, was wont to excite such agonies of laughter in his audiences. Mr. Bostlethwaite seems actually saturated with terror: limp, and dismembered by an overflowing fear of the awful catastrophe which he can hardly bring himself to describe, every limb looks as if it had acquired an intelligence of its situation,and were attemptink, in vain to escape on its own private account, and bent, on setting up a separate self protecting interest from the remainder of his body; his very legs try to run away in different directions. The other characters are slight enough ; but Mr. Danvers makes a good hit out of the " nice " platonic surgeon, with his charming conciliatory kiggle and smooth, oily ways. The farce was com pletely successful. 2mustintitts, frt. MR. ALBERT SMITH'S " MONT BLANC " is now SO thoroughly established in public favour, that we look for the entertainment the first week in December with as much expectation as we desire the opening of the Opera, or any other orthodox institution, at a certain period of the year. Hence, on the opening, as on every other night, your es • trance is effected magna comitante caterva, until the little Swiss chalet is filled to overflowing. Of the entertainment, little really remains to be said. Every one has been there, and every one will go there again, to" mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the good things prepared for his mental and moral nature. Yet we should be guilty of no little injustice if we omitted to notice the improvements and addi tions which Mr. Albert Smith's vacation has edam&