The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-21 00:00:00

popular Irish ballad of a hundred years ago, relating the elopement of a beautiful girl—the dauguter of a rich Protestant gentleman—with a young Holum Catholic of interior station. Willy Reilly is brought to trial ; his dear " Colceu Bawn " is summoned as a witbess against iiiin, but by her evidence clears her lover, and avows her undying love to him. The ballad is a fine one, and with skilful treatment would have worked up into a pretty romance. Mr. Carleton has adhered to the outline, and has mainly fillei it up by details of what he calls Protestant priest-hunting and Roman Catholii; persecution under the " (►less laws" of toe Ulric. The opening passage of the book shows the spirit in which it has been composed. Mr. Carleton is de scribing one of the vile old Irish roads : Ireland, as our English readers ought to know, has always beau a country teeming with abundance—a happy lanai, in which want, destitution, sickness, sod famine, have never been felt or known, except through the mendacious misrepresentations of her enemies. The road we speak of was a proof of this ; for it was evident to every observer that in some season of superabundant food, the people, not knowing exactly how to dispose of their shilling loaves, took to paving the common roads with them, rather than that they should be utterly useless. These loaves, in the course of time, underwent the process of petrification, but could not, nevertheless, be looked upon as wholly lost to the country. A great number of the Irish, within the last four years, took a peculiar fancy for them as food, which, we presume, caused their enemies to say that we then had hard dines in Ireland. Be this as it may, it enabled the sagacious epicures who lived upon them to retire in due course to the delightful retreats of Skull and Bkibbereen, and similar asylums, there to pass the remain der of their lives in health, ease, and luxury. There is not much promise of entertainment in this dreary attempt at satire. At one time Mr. Carleton had artistic talent in descrip tion ; but here the most animated passages of the ballad lead only to vague and exaggerated expression. Thus, when the Coleen Bawn appears in court and raises her veil, her ap pearance calls forth not one distinctive touch : Deliberately and slowly she raised it, as the court had desired her—but, oh, great God, wiled an effulgence of beauty, what wonderful brilliancy, what symmetry, what radiance, what tenderness, what expression ! But we feel that to attempt the description of that face, which almost had divinity Bumped upon it, is beyond all our powers. The whole court, every spectator, man or woman, all fur a time were mute, while their hearts drank in the delicious draught of admiration which such beauty created. The native Irish mind—perhaps from its very warmth seems peculiarly liable to blighting influences. What those have been in Mr. Carleton's case we do not know, but we regret that decline of his imaginative power which at one time gave promise of a brilliant career. The best that can be said of " Willy Reilly " is, that the narrative runs on readably, and that occasionally it reminds us of the author in his better days. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. THE QUARTERLIES. THE present number of the Quarterly Review con tains several well-written papers, but has no very striking article. The only one with a political bear ing is the last, on " Public Affairs,' and that is want ing in distinctness of view. Our Ministerial changes are first stated, and in noticing the formation of the Palmerston Government, it is said, with more of rhetorical flourish than sober truth, that— The anomaly was presented of a Government defeated by an immense majority brought back nearly in its integrity, amid the acclamations of the larger part of the nation, within a few days after it had been joyfully dis- Lined. The policy of Russia towards Turkey is then re viewed, to show that the aim of the Court of St. Petersburg—especially since the contest of 1828-9 has been to bring the Porte into complete subjection to it. The conoluNion drawn is, that either no peace is po-sible, or that it will he of a character humi liating tA) the allies : That the Czar is in earnest in negotiating a peace upon any terms which will give a solid security to Europe we do not believe. We fear that we shall either be duped at the conference of Vienna, or that the attempt to come to an agreement will fail. With the little that is known of the details of the stipulations we can do no more than urge upon the Government the extreme impolicy of ac• °opting one ambiguous phrase or one doubtful condition. The treaty of Adrianople, so dishonestly obtained, was as dialrmestly evaded. Russia bound herself by it to erect no fortifications on certain portions of the Danube, in order that the navigation might be free She constructed Cie forte, but called them quarantine establishments. Such h.ts b.en her usual treacherous course, and unless we are to have guarantees more suoatantial titan words, it is iu Mni that im conquered at Inkermann to be beaten at THE PRESS. Vienna. Once for all let us insist upon concessions which will no longer leave us at the mercy of the fraud which opens the way for force, soil of the force which prepares the way for a renewal of the fraud. The allies may be hampered by the ditticu ty of carrying Germany in their train ; but it they have the courage and firmness to perse vere in demanding the necessary securities, who can ques tion that they will triumph alike over the hesitations and fears of Austria and the armies and diplomacy of Russia ? With the history of the treaty of Adrianople, and of the war which preceded it, before their eyes, it would be fatuity in France and England to stop short in a work which, unless it is completed, had better never have been begun. There are seven literary articles in the present number, the first, upon the Crystal l'alace, is an interesting description of that remarkable un dertaking. After rapidly reviewing the collections of the different courts, the writer offers some sen sible remarks upon the polychromatic mania, which has lately seized upon the Crystal Palace directors, and urges that it is only upon the principle of rendering the object more "distinct" that poly chromatism can be warranted, but that when by de stroying the lights and shadows, and the variety of surface proper to sculpture, by a combination of " crude and heavy colours," all so equal in their distinctness to the sight, that no part can be said to be distinct at all, the practice is contrary no less to all rules of art than to those of common sense. As to the ancient authority which is so frequently quoted in support of the principle, it is admitted that there is no question but that the Greeks did apply colour to sculpture, but then only for the object of " dis tinctness." " When a row of figures," remarks the reviewer, " as in the pediments of their temples, " ran the risk of being undistinguisbable against the " white ground, the tympanum was tinted with that " slight degree of colour sufficient to relieve them ; " but there the artist stopped, because his purpose " was accomplished." That the Greeks did colour their figures he admits also, but urges in extenua tion of the practice that they knew that when there was an ideal beauty in the forms there should be an ideal " beauty in the colour, or none at all ": Surely (he exclaims) if conspicuousness to the eye werethe end proposed, those two Egyptian giants were prominent enough in all conscience, without the help of polychromy. These were about the last objects in the Crystal Palace which ran any risk of being overlooked by the public. Before their colossal proportions the poly. cliromatist might have safely rested from his labours. All that should have been done for them was to have let them alone in their enormity, and allowed their true characteris tics—the sublimity of their size and the negative grandeur of their expression—to speak for themselves; or, at most, to hi ve a lded those scorched granite hues which have been painted on the original by the heat of th.nisentla of sons But no, such a capricious field for the exercise of polychromy was not to be neglected : if it be right to paint the lily and gild refined gold, the larger the scale on which the operation is conducted the better. Red, blue, and yellow were, therefore, ordered by the hogshead ; first, second, and third coatings of raw house•paint were poured in (for Memnons of plaster are thirsty souls), till at length the beau ideal of the new art was attained, and Gog and Magog sit there, shorn of half their size by the staring propinquity of their colours, and with no expression left in their features but that of a grin of delight at the gay clothes in which they are attired. One principal cause of the raw, crude effect of the colouring is ascribed to the coarse material upon which the colours were applied, viz., common plaster, and not the ivory, marble, nor fine stone peculiar to the antique. An able review of Giustinian's "Venetian Despatches," is followed by an entertaining paper upon Madame De Maintenon, in which much of her pri vate life and the real influence which she possessed over the King is fully told. So much mystery ap pears to envelope the whole transaction of their mar riage, that it will probably remain a disputed point for ever. Louis appears to have been afraid of thp disgrace that must in those days have followed the public acknowledgment of such an act, and to have exacted from her a pledge rimer to reveal the secret. Of her unbounded influence over the King there is no doubt, but the reviewer combats the popular 'belief that the revocation of the Edict of Nantes was more through her influence than the natural bigotry of the King The King had been brought up by his mother, Anne of Austria, in the strictest notions of Spanish orthodoxy. He was punctilious in the performan •e of the rites of the Church, " and would never fail," says Madame de Maintenon, " to observe a fast, but he could not compre hend that it was ne.•essary to repent, and to love God in stead of to fear him." She mentioned as an additional trait of his character that he thought he expiated his own faults by being inexorable on those of others, which agrees with the description of Saint-Simon— that he believed him self an apostle because he persecuted the Jansenists. Not only did he look upon Protestantism as heretical, but he also regarded it as an act of rebellion against authority, effendingequally his monarchical and his religious notions. Urged by this double motive he was barely twenty-four when he hegan to sanction numerous laws and measures for the res'riction of the privileges which had been granted to tue Huguenots. A slight memoir of the Emperor Nicholas gives a full detail of his last moments, but does not supply that impartial view of his character and reign which SATURDAY, is so much needed. It is admitted, however, that he was the author of some real reforms in his empire : The same strong will made itself felt in every depart ment of the Government. his to Nicholas that Russia owes the code of her laws, which appeared in 1N32 iu fif teen volumes, Lto., and was enlarged by a supplement of sixteen volumes in 1851. Notwithstanding its faults, and the irremediable detect inherent in the constitution of the country, which makes all law subordinate to the will of the Czar, it is a vast boon to a people who were previously only possessed of a few rude enactments, and a sort of preamble, digested by Catherine with the aid of the most distinguished of the French encyclopedists, Voltaire, Diderot, and D'Alembert, who cried it up throughout Europe as a marvel, while it was scarcely mentioned in Russia. The cri ique on the character of Sir Richard Steele is a clever and full reply to Macanlay's contemptuous notice of this witty and agreeable moralist. The number may be termed "very readable," but can hardly lay claim to higher praise. The Westminster is as strong in political discus sion as the Quarterly is weak in it. Of the seven arti cles, four have a political bearing. That one on "Our Army " somewhat meagvely reviews the whole military system, considering that the writer's aim is to enforce a " Radical Reform "in every branch of it- But the reform most urgently needed, in the writer's opinion, is a considerable increase in the pay of the army. The following suggestions are sensible, but the must violent opposition to them would come, we fancy, from the party of economical reforniers:— . - As affairs are at present, the first thing to be done is to improve the condition of both men and officers. Increase the pay of the private. Don't stop his rations, and his washing, and his wear and tear of boots and of clothing, and his pipeclay, and barrack damages, all out of his shilling a day. Raise the pay of the non commissioned officer, who out of his scanty salary can scarce buy bread for his children after paying 3s. lid. a week for a dirty whitewashed room in a slum at the back of the barracks. Then if, as a means of transition, every two steps were given by purchase, and the third to merit, as displayed either in long or brilliant services, and if the commission of every man who died in the service were sold and given to his family, the service would derive great immediate benefit, and the pension•list would be rendered much lighter. Even Joseph Hume, it is stated, said that the pay of our officers and int n ought to be raised. The like claim is urged on behalf of medical officer::— No men work harder than the medical men of the army. No men undergo greater dangers And what are their thanks? None. What is their pay? Why, a sum for wh,ch the mason and carpenter has many a time struck. This must be amended. As mere pounds, shillings, and ence, our men are worth looking alter ; and it is not so long since that, in times of pet feet peace, a staff surgeon of the first class died from consumption brought on by overwork in Cephalonia, during cholera times. How many will die of overwork before this war is over ? Two or three doctors will not suffice to look after a thousand men dying like sheep with the rot. Their pay must be increased, their influence must be more recognised. There is justice in the following pithy remarks de fending Lord Raglan from the censures cast upon him : The Times implies that Lord Raglan is to blame be cause the men are overworked in the trenches, because they do not get shelter when their work is done, and because their rations are improperly supplied. But is it the corn inander•in•cbiefs fault that he has not men sufficient to work in the trenches and to make a road also. The fault lay with the Government, which would persist in making war with a peace establishment, and in employing its engineer officers anywere but at the seat of war. Is it his fault that the Government ordered this extraordinary expedition to take place in the month of September, and appear never to have contemplated that the town would hold out for the winter ; leaving its army without clothes or covering, or men to make clothes or to erect sheds? Is it Lord Raglan's fault, when he applies for more artillery, and when his request is laid before the Duke of Newcastle, that it is rejected by that soldier•statesman ? For it has been stated that, previous to sailing from Varna, his lordship wrote home for two more field•batteries and another troop of horse artillery, and that the adjutant•general of artillery, having laid the demand, as a matter of form, before the Minister of War, the !atter, then fresh in office, put his ministerial pen through the demand. Is it his lordship's fault that the commissariat i not under his control, nor under that of the Horse Guareff in England, nor under the Minister of War, but under the Treasury ? The article "Lord Palmerston as Premier" is as enigmatical as the noble viscount's own eharacter. We read on one page : In all the conduct of Lord Palmerston we are Sorry to discern more skill than frankness, and far more policy than liberalism. And on another: — In Lord Palmerston, therefore, at a Prime Minister, directing and controlling the foreign policy and diplomacy of the country, we have great confidence. Yet elsewhere we read that in Government Lord Palmerston Ran " proof that he was not e i ttal to the . remarks on the probable consequences misrule we are forced to agree:— The summons to war has roused the people. ' deeply interested and excited. They watch ,ed. pithy remarks de- ensures cast upon lan is to blame be• renches, because they done, and because But is it the corn of men sufficient to oad also. The fault persist in making war ploying its engineer . Is it his fault that Briery expedition to r, and appear never to aid hold out for the •thee or covering, or sheds? Is it Lord more artillery, and ike of Newcastle, that ? For it has been rna, his lordship wrote id another troop of t.general of artillery, of form, before the sh in office, put his Is it his lordship's nder his control, nor ngland, nor under the fury ? as Premier " is as nt's own character. eraton we are sorry to 1 far more policy than a Prime Minister, policy and diplomacy lice. in constructing his gave "deplorable the crisis." In the tenet's of continued he people. They are r watcb •very wove ;