The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-07 00:00:00

APRIL 7, 1855. The St. James's Medley is chiefly filled with amusing sketches of travel. In the present number we are presented with some " Leaves from the Diary "of a Blind Traveller." The author, in 1844, visited Russia by way of Denmark and Sweden, and jour • neyed from St. Petersburg to Odessa. His blindness, however, rather heightened than disarmed the sus picions of the Russian police, for he writes, "They "supposed me to be either a soi.disant blind spy, or "else their old friend Mr. Holman once more returned "to Russia, from which he had some little time before "been expelled for his extreme inquisitiveness amongst " the prisoners of Siberia. In this opinion they were " confirmed when they came to examine my embossed " books, supposing them to be some kind of despatch Kin cypher." On the arrival of himself and his com panion, the doctor, at the gate of Odessa, a message from the governor, Count Woronzow, greeted them. The travellers were astonished, as they had no reason to suppose that the Count bad the slightest know ledge of their arrival. The doctor expressed his astonishment when admitted to an interview with the Count. "Ah !" said his Excellency, after showing by his inquiries that he was acquainted with the minutest particulars respecting the travellers, " we " know everything in Russia." "A voyage from Cape " Town to Suez by way of Madras" is briskly related ; and "Eight Days on Camel-back" gives a lively notion of travel in Upper Egyyt. The " Happy " Family" and "The Westminster Pantomime" deserve a cordial word from THE PRESS, as showing mirthful spirit of the right sort. The first number of the Bombay Quarterly Review was published in January last. A quarterly review, published in Calcutta, has existed for some years, but the subjects treated within its pages have been exclusively of Bengal interest, while Western India has hitherto had no fair representative of its wants and opinions. On these grounds the present Bombay Review has been started, and, to judge from the ability displayed in this, the first number, with every prospect of success. There are six articles, com prising lengthened reviews of Mr. Mackay's reports upon the cotton-growing capabilities of Guzerat, Thackeray's novels, Erskine's "History of India," and Lord Metcalfe's memoirs, with other local sub jects. The policy of the review appears to be coin cident with that of the Company in all Indian affairs, though the prospectus promises to give only trust worthy information regarding the institutions and condition of the people. In the present number the review of "Thackeray's Novels" is the best of the literary articles. Worlds beyond the Earth. By M. L. Phillips. London : Bentley. THE author, in attempting to explain the process by which our world was created, supposes that the earth and all the other planets, which he asserts are inhabited, were originally in a gaseous state, from which, by gradual condensation, they have contracted into hollow globes—the form which, he asserts, they at present possess. Mr. Phillips is a daring speculator, and to all doubts which may be raised to his theories, on the ground of insufficiency of evidence, is always ready with a "Why not?" The appearance of falling stars, he supposes, in common with eminent astronomers, to ho produced by meteoric stones revolving round the earth. Of such stones we are not without specimens. Certainly they afford no indication of being fit for the habita tion of living thing. But hear Mr. Phillips:—" Can " such small bodies be inhabited? will he a question. " Why not? is the answer we must give to such a " question." We are frequently reminded in reading Mr. Phillips's book how true it is that the simplest child may ask questions which the wisest of men cannot answer. To the difficulty that other planets have not an atmosphere, and therefore could not sustain human life, he replies, "Are lungs abso " lutely necessary ?" We can, of course, suppose that the Deity may create forms of life, totally inde pendent of all the conditions on which life depends in our world—all we can say is that life, such as we know it on earth, could subsist only in connection with the earth. So far as we know, life ceases at a -very short remove from its surface; and the utmost knowledge our faculties can attain is, that some .great laws which prevail on earth prevail in the realms of space beyond it. There are few more un profitable employments for the mind than rash and unauthorised kind of conjecture, which can rest its case on no better ground than a " Why not?" Our Liturgy and its History. A Manual for Church men. London : Hope and Co. A BRIEF, but well-written summary of all the leading facts connected with the history of our Rook of Common Prayer. The writer reduces the seventy primitive Liturgies of the Christian Church to four leading forms—the Oriental, the Alexandrian, the Roman, and the Gallican, which, upon the authority of Palmer and Hooker, he asserts to be the source of all other forms. The Galilean Liturgy, of great antiquity, is the one upon which our Liturgy is THE PRESS. formed, and the early use of which is one great proof of the existence of a distinct British Church long previous to the mission of St. Augustine. The various reforms which from time to time have been imposed upon our Liturgy, and the struggles tbat have been maintained in order to preserve its purity, are subjects touched upon by the author, while the great Presbyterian dispute in the reign of Cbar:es I. concisely described, with the objections of the Presbyterians, and the replies of the bishops given in full. To all who take an interest in church mat. tete, we recommend this little manual as affording us in a few pages the most valuable information, taken from the best authorities, upon the subject of the origin and history of our Liturgy. Romanism in Ceylon, India, and China. By the Rev. Edward J. Robinson. London : Hope and Co. THE reverend author of this little book commences his preface in rather too sectarian a spirit,, by assuming— upon his arrival off Ceylon that the first fisherman who brought his canoe along. side the Persia, and asked for a glass of "rum, brandy, or gin," was from this fact a Roman Catholic ! We leave this little bit of sectarian feel ing without remark and pass on to the subject of the book, which is simply to expose the crafty and too often successful intrigues of the Romanist priesthood in Ceylon and India against the earnest endeavours of our Protestant missionaries. Of the extent of Popery in Ceylon, or of the real conversion of the natives to Romanism, Mr. Robinson expresses great doubts, in support of which view he notices the total absence of native Catholic priests, their clergy being entirely comp( sed of European missionaries; but he firmly believes that the system of Protestant schools now established in Ceylon will produce rich fruit to our Church, provided it be but fairly supported by the Government. We are afraid, however, that all experience proves that the Cingalese are somewhat like the Chinese as regards matters of faith. They will as soon put :on one creed as another, provided they can improve their temporal interests by the ex change. As a nation they are firm sceptics, and all efforts hitherto at any real conversion of the people to Christianity have failed in a marked manner. The Roman Catholic missionaries apparently are more successful than their Protestant antagonists, because they ingeniously blend much of the native Paganism with their own original faith; but they are not in reality one whit the more successful in converting the heathen Asiatic nations. The system, however, which our missionaries have now adopted of educating the Cingalese children from their earliest years, is one we may hope to be eminently successful and productive of really good results. A good deal of information upon the actual state of the religious question in Ceylon can be obtained in these pages, Mr. Robinson having resided on the island for up wards of four years, during which time he was acting as a Wesleyan missionary in the northern and eastern districts. Among pamphlets, cheap publications, &c., we have a Letter upon Reformatory Schools, addressed to C. B. Adderley, Esq., b) the Rev. Sydney Turner (Hatehards), in which the whole domestic system and educational plan of the farm-school at Red-hill is explained, and the principle of family division in preference to association, unhesitatingly recom mended by the writer, who supports his views, not only by his own experience at Red-hill, but by the evident and proved superiority of this principle of family combination, the forming households of thirty or forty boys together under strict superintendence, at some distance from the central establishment, at the great school of Mettray. With regard to the question of what is to be done with a reformed cri minal when he is discharged, and when experience proves he usually returns to his old haunts and habits from sheer necessity, Mr. Turner is of opinion that the army, navy, or the colonies are preferable for juvenile criminals than any trade in a populous town. The letter is highly practical and instructive. —A pamphlet upon The Government and the War, by Captain W. White (Piper and Co.), appears to have been written with the object to prove that the mortality of our troops in the Crimea arose more from the Government having neglected to supply the army with Captain W. White's curry paste, than any want of medicines or medical superintendence and means.—The Australian Colonies, by Henry Capper (Groombridge and Sons), is an excellent little pamphlet, full of sound advice and correct directions to the intending emigrant. Thrower's Arithmetical Questions (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.), a series of miscellaneous questions in arith metic, carefully arranged and compiled, and more adapted to the common occurrences of every-day life than the questions in arithmetical works usually are. The Town Garden, by Shirley Hibberd (Groombridge and Sons), an excellent little book upon gardening and green-houses, with every in struction for the cure and rearing of plants, and containing, moreover, a complete classified list, wits 335 the names, the time of flowering, soil required, &c., of all the plants that will thrive in towns. This little book should be in the hands of every one whu " in populous city pent" is desirous of cultivating the art of flower-growing. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 1100 KS. Westminster Review. J. Chapman British Quarterly. Jackson and Walford. New London Quarterly Review. Walton and Mabberly. ('olburn's New Monthly. Chapman and Hall. The Christ of History. John Young, M.A. Longmans. The Voices of the Seven Thunders. ( 'ash. Evangelical Christendom. Partridge and Oakey. Tail's Magazine. 1)0. Biographical Magazine. 1)0. the berns ttl Great Britain and Ireland. Part I. Thomas Moore, F.L.S. Bradbury and Evans. Churchman's Magazine. Harrison. Macphaits Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal. Simpkin and Marshall. Lilly and Reilly. William Charlton. Hope and Co. Edith Vernon ; or, Contralto qf Character. I)o. The Ruse of Raelrevor. Robert Montgomerie, Esq. 110. The Literary Mail Coach. Ilardwicke. Mesmerism and Media. l3ailliere. The Future Historian's View of the Present War. Cardinal Wiseman. Routledge. The Teacher'A Difficulties. J.P. Norris, M.A. Groombridge. The Teaoher's :Mission. Rev. H. W. BeHairs, A.M. Do. Tract' for the Times. Rev. J. J. Frew. Hope and Co Alma and Ittkermann. A Poem. Robert Haxell. Do. Criminal Justtce. Robert S. Sowler. W. E. Kenning and Co. iatioN made Easy. Rev. J. B. Spencer. Jr' Johu King. Church of Scotland Magazine. Virtue and Hall. Protest and Counter Statement on the National Gallery, J. Russel Smith. rusir. MR. STERNDALE BENNETT'S SECOND CONCERT pre sented varied attractions to the musical public. Mozart's trio in B tlat; Clementi's sonata in B minor ; Purcell's " Morning Hymn ;" Beethoven's sonata in Gr major (pianoforte and violin) ; five studies (pianoforte), from different masters; Men delssohn's duo in D major (pianoforte and violon cello) ; Meyerbeer's " Sabbath Song ;" and Mr. Ben nett's selection of his own preludes and lessons were promised in the programme and performed during the evening. In noticing the first of these concerts we took occasion to animadvert rather strongly upon Mr. Bennett's style of playing. Tuesday night's performances tended most signally to confirm the opinion we then expressed—namely, that Mr. Ben nett is no more than a clever and practised mechanic in the great art of music. Having the fullest possi ble scope for exhibiting in three magnificent works both that masterly skill and that touch of inspiration which are indispensable to a really great player on any instrument, he, in our judgment, signally failed in displaying the smallest trace of either. The obstinate and inflexible rigidity, and the exaggerated correctness with which he played the exquisite slow movement in Beethoven's sonata, not only fatigued the audience, but acted as an evident clog upon Ernst, the impassioned and fervent, whose silvery tones, sometimes almost trembling with tenderness, and clinging as it were to the melody, were con tinually and rudely interrupted by stern, impassible, immutable chords from the pianoforte, breaking the neck of the sentiment, and leaving both ear and heart jarred and unsatisfied. The same phenomena were perpetrated by Mr. Bennett whilst accompany • ing Piatti, who. as well as Ernst, strove hard (against the influence of his besetting correctness) to render adequately the composer's great intentions, and gained deserved applause ; but the pianoforte, far from being a sister-medium of expression to either, only encumbered its companion, and marred the beauties of the music. It (and the audience) were tortured with an excessively lengthy sonata of Cle menti's, the only pleasing movement in which was palpably borrowed from J. S. Bach, We must also object once more to Mr. Bennett's style of re chauffi. In his selection of " A Morning Hymn," by Purcell, as well as in his choice of the sonata we have just mentioned, he seemed to have been prompted by an unhappy spirit, who goaded him on to produce the worst specimens of either composer's ability. There are many works of Muzio Clementi delightful both to ear and mind, which we should hail with welcome; and who is there that does not recognise Henry Purcell as one of the greatest geniuses ever yet heaven vouchsafed to en rich the world with the fruits of a lifelong inspira tion? And yet we will venture to assert that those who received their first impression of either corn po.er on Tuesday night can appreciate but very slightly, if they do not positively contemn, the pro ductions they have heard. Mine. N ovello, whose voice and singing were perfect, delighted a nd sub • dued all, by the pure devotional feeling she displayed in a most difficult but delicious composition, Meyer