The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

994 me is solitary ailence—ever-during silence—stillness nn• broken. Words of advice, of comfort, of instruction or reproof, to me convey no knowledge, nor make me wiser, better, or more happy. For me the feathered warblers tune their little throats in vain ! To me the violin or the harp gives no music; the deep•toned bell and the leaping organ, no sound. Behold the people crowd to the House of God, to hear the preacher display the riches of redeem ing love; but if I go I hear not his words, which to me alone are profitless; I hear not his voice, which only to me is mute. lam now a mere cipher among men—of no valise, importance, or estimation. My door is shut, and ever barred against the entrance of knowledge ; and in no capacity can I hope to be a useful member of the com munity. The foregoing passage was written after pe rusing a passage in Bishop Hall's " Balm of Gilead." Although familiar with Dr. Kitto's history, some of the following extraordinary illustrations of the effects of his deafness a•:c new to us : The loudest thunderstorm was perfectly inaudible to him, though once, a peal having shaken the house, he sup posed it was a servant moving the table in an adjoining room. He could not hear the throb or music of a set of bells ; but when he was placed in contact with the tower, he was conscious of a dull percussion overhead, as if blows had been hitting the wall above qini. The great clock of St. Paul's struck when he happened once to be examining it with a friend, and the sensation was that of heavy blows upon the fabric on which he stood, communicated to his feet, and diffused over his body. When a cannon was fired near him, he heard no sound, but felt as if a fist, covered with a boxing-glove, had knocked him on the head. The drawing of furniture, slapping of doors, or falling of books upon the floor, produced a vibration that often distressed him, though he could not determine precisely whence the disturbance proceeded. A knock at the street door he could not hear, but the shutting of it, affecting the entire edifice, was " painfully distinct." The lightest footfall titian the floor of his foom would sometimes rouse him from sleep. He felt the sound of vehicles in Fleet-street only when they were on the same side of the pavement, and opposite to him, but this sense of sound did not affect him in the house. When the points of his fingernails rested on the board over which the wires of a piano are stretched, he could make nut the higher notes, in such a stormy piece of music as the " Battle of Prague." In cm , roboration of what he has said in the " Lost Senses," we may add another of his subsequent experiences. He wit nessed, from the apartments of the Society of Antiquaries, in Somerset-house, the great procession of the Duke of Wellington's funeral. But he says, " Not the shadow of a sound, or the faintest vibration, struck upon the paralysed organ from the great military bands that passed below, though a person I have been in the habit of supposing as deaf as myself told me he could not only distinguish the sound, but follow the notes with considerable distinctness." These facts are very curious. The psycholo gist, as well as the physiologist, will always find much to interest him in the memoirs of Kitto ; and authors and artists, as well as all people who live by severe intellectual labour, have much to learn from the history of his trials. Kitto has himself said : Perhaps no one ever was in my circumstances, or being so, ever retained or gathered spirit to surmount his diffi culties. I think, more and more, that a statement of those difficulties, as I could make that statement, would be felt to be a thing of no common interest. That is quite true ; awl we think that his biography will always prove one of permanent interest. We recommend this volume to book-clubs, as it contains much reading suitable to all persons, more especially those of a serious a•id contemplative turn. The life and story of Kato have deep religions value, and we c,aild wish that a writer of Southey's genius for simple narrative could be found to make his memoir classical. But Kitto has told his own story, and it is narrated here again with most copious and deeply interesting details. The volume contains a great variety of matter compressed into moderate limits. It is a most readable book to those who arc not repulsed by what is sublimely sombre. China, Australia, awl the Pacific Islands, in the Years 1855 51;. By J. D'Ewes, Esq. London : Bentley. Tins is a light, readable volume, though written too flippantly. The author deals with his matter in a dashing style, and scribbles pleasantly rather than composes carefully. Nothing can be better in its way than his air of easy assurance, which is quite worthy of the renowned Gil Blas. lie thus com mences : My narrative commences about the latter entl of the year Irird, a period when Australian attraction hail arrived at its climax, when the anri sacra fame* not only beckoned the, hardy miners to this inexhaustible E Dorado, but when crowds of all nations—artiste and artisans, lawyers and labourers, and even poets and plolosopliers—were flocking to the land of promise. In anticipation of the THE PRESS, OCTOBER 10, 1857. vastly increasing population, argosies of porter, pickles, and comestibles of every description were floating to. wards the same goal, and cargoes of blooming maidens, under the patronage of the indefatigable Mrs. Chisholm and the philanthropic Sidney Herbert, formed a charming foreground to the picture. Ample and lucrative employ. meat for both heads and hands (but particularly the latter), a salubrious climate, mountains and valleys teem ing with gold, a virgin soil, and endless rich pastures, shone in bright perspective before them. Fancy guided the helm, hope trimmed the sails, and everything appeared en couleur de rote to the Australian emigrant. And he then introduces himself in the follow ing style : It was at this period I discovered that, owing to a length. ened course of London and Parisian life, as well as other and more remote causes, my physical and financial ther mometer was fast approximating to zero, and that a total congealment of the mercury was impending ; in fact, that difficulties and dyspepsia rendered a renovation of both purse and person essential to the continuance of my career: and although nothing cou'al possibly be more foreign to my previous tastes and habits than the character of an emigrant, still I saw no better chance before me than to form one of the adventurous band, and trust to Providence for the result. Extremely cool indeed! Such a gentleman, one would suppose, could nut be very easily put down. Describing the operations of his wife and himself previous to his voyage, he writes : I engaged one-half of the small cabin, and by partition ing this off by a bulkhead formed a separate and compact little dormitory, with other conveniences attached to it, which rendered it quite as commodious as any I should have engaged in a larger vessel; although perhaps not quite so well ventilated. We soon set ourselves to work to render the cabin, that was most likely to be our residence for the next four or five months, 48 comfortable as circum stances would admit of; and furnished with a few letters of introduction, a very light one of credit, and a tolerable stock of optimism, we joined the rakish•looking schooner Vibilia (a goddess whose history and attributes I was not aware of until I had consulted Lempriere), after a fare well breakfast at " Waite's Hotel," Gravesend, on the 30th November, 1t352. They get as far as the Downs, and he thus describes how the man and wife felt on board : The Downs were full of wind-bound vessels, and some were continually driving from their anchors, and " run ning•a-muck " amongst their neighbours. Deal and Itamsgate boatmen, who seem to set all weather at defiance, were continually tantalising us with a description of the superior comforts of shore, and offering to take us there for the moderate sum of a guinea a head, an accommoda tion which I begged to defer until my return from Aus tralia with a cargo of nuggets. Seas were beating over us and penetrating every corner of the little craft ; the stove in the cabin refused to be lighted at any price; eating was out of the question, and drinking difficult; and, in fact, I thought we should have fallen victims to our adventurous spirit at the very outset of our undertaking. As, however, even pain becomes familiar and more easy to be borne by its continuance, so we, after three weeks' enjoyment of the above•mentioned trials, had become as completely amphib;.ons as it is possible to conceive two rather luxurious individuals to be. They were three weeks, according to his log, weatherbound at the Downs, and they were int he same plight for a fortnight off the Isle of Wight ! We never sailed so slowly our. selves, but the author makes it look pleasant on paper. Ho at last got to Melbourne, and devotes five pages to it. He was offered th e post of locum tenons for the police magistrate at Ballarat, and he devotes an amusing chapter to describing his duties. Ho thus gives the salaries of officials : The salaries pail to officers at the gold diggings on my arrival were as follows :—Resident gold commissioner, 704)1. per annum ; commissioner ditto, 500/. per annum ; assistant ditto. 400/. per annum ; police magistrate, WO/. per annum, with an additional 1001. per annum as deputy sheriff for the county; inspector of police, 6001. per annum ; sub•inspector ditto, 3501.; lieutenant ditto, 250/ ; cadets, 10s. per diem ; officers on full pay of the army Ms. and 10s. per diem extra; chief clerks, 3001. per annum ; other clerks, 2001 and 2501. per annum ; privates in the police, Bs. per diem, and portions of fines, besides clothing ; pensioners, 2s. per diem ;in addition to pension, every one was moreover allowed rations, and forage for horses. Superior officers individually, and others collectively, were allowed servants, or, as they were termed, tent keepers, with pay of Bs. per diem with tent and rations. These salaries at a later period were all considerably diminished. The following is curious. We are not sure whether we recognise the " extremely rotund " gentleman of middle ay.." Some of our yachting readers may do so : I remember, daring the early part of my sojourn at the diggings, the chief commissioner of the gold fields arrived from Melbourne, on a short visit to Ballarat, ac companied by an extremely rotund and convivial•looking gentleman of middle age, well known to the yachting and sporting circles of Great Ilritain, with whose person I was perfectly familiar, although I possessed but a very slight acquaintance with him. Being astonished by the appear ance of a man of his previous habits and pursuits in the antipodes, I ventured to inquire his motives for eniigra. ting, when he informed me with the most perfect Hang froid that he had come out to Australia with the intention of making '200,0001. or so in a few years, and then return ing and giving the British House of Commons a better idea of their Australian colonies than they hitherto pos. messed. I suggested that by far the most speedy way of making a fortune I had heard of was by keeping an inn or public-house. He immediately replied, that he had not landed in Melbourne twenty four hours without taking measures to secure an establishment of that description He had also despatched his yacht ( a cutter of ninety tons) with a crew of Kentish men known to himself, and sho had arrived safe at Port Philip, where he had sold her to the Government for a considerable sum. These men, he toll me, he had equipped with everything necessary for a gold digging expedition, upon the understanding that they were to pay him one-half or one-quarter (I do not exactly remember which) of their gains. In addition to these two speculations, both of which were managed by deputy, he had purchased, on credit and otherwise, several Ameri can waggons, and upwards of fifty horses, at an average cost of 50/. each, which were now performing the stage coach service already mentioned. He had also to keep up an extensive staff of coachmen, ostlers, conductors, ctc., at very high wages, and the cost of forage was immense. He hail accompanied the chief com..nissioner to Ballarat with a floating idea of building sawmills, speculating in land, and establishing market-gardens, merely as a pre liminary step to other and Imre important undertakings It might suggest itself to ordinary mortals, that a capital of between two and three thousand pounds (nearly all he possessed on his arrival), and which arose from the sale of the vessel, was hardly sufficient for such gigantic speculations; and in a country where the value of every. thing is subject to such extraordinary and rapid changes; but my friend's confidence in his own infallibility was never shaken, and his egotism was so great, and his so phistry so cool and persuasive, that he possessed a great facility of talking round others to the point he aimed at. The hotel and restaurant that he had started in Mel bourne, when his projected improvements were effected, would involve an annual rent of about 0,0001.! and Ito paid his head cook two guineas per diem ! He installed as manager of this establishment a Polish Jew, who had formerly acted in the capacity of courier to him in Europe, and who hail accompanied him from Marseilles, and whose character he depicted as a fellow who would cheat all the world, with the exception of himself! The upshot of this speculation was, that in a few months Monsieur Louis unhappily forgot to make this exception in favour of his master, and not only filled his own pockets, but brought an action against his patron for alleged mone}s due, which he succeeded in gaining. The author's personal misadventures we shall not record. In the two hundred last pages of his volume he " does " the Friendly Islands, the Navigator Islands, New Zealand, China, and Java! His work give us just such a sensation as we might receive from the de scriber of one of Mr. Burford's panoramas. Ho is well qualified for a light, fl►ppant writer, and he is not entirely unsuited for beemning a writer of popular fiction, as, from his ex perience of life, and his peculiar temperament, he has many of the qualities which make a popular• novelist. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. WE notice in Blackwood this month a little falling of, or perhaps we should say greater inequality than usual. Nothing, on the one hand, can surpass the instalment of " What will he do with it." Gentle• man Waife's triumph in the Town-hall of Gates borough is one r f the very happiest efforts of Sir Bulwer Lytton's pen. The mind is so carried away by the art of the writer that we do not stay to criticise details or ponder on probabilities. The scene is an irresistible appeal to our common humanity and romance, and to our minds affords a certain augury of the attractiveness of the whole tale, for it shows that the author's best powers are still in their meridian. This is the best paper in the number. But what shall we say when we turn to the worst? Anything more utterly wishy-washy than the article entitled " Modern Light Literature — Society," it has seldom been our fate to peruse, although the warmest admirers of contemporary literature will not deny that our periodicals contain a good deal of that stamp. This precious essay is divided between the puffery of a lately published novel on "Society," the tone and style of which are equally obsolete, and awkward attempts at making the writer appear a man of the world. Anything more calculated to convey to our northern neigh bours a false impression we have never met with. Between these two are papers of various shades of merit. " New Sea-side Studies " is one of a series remarkable for fresh and pleasant writing, as well as much solid information conveyed in a genial style. "The Syrian Route to the East " is a valuable paper, advocating the Euphrates Valley line of rail way. In Fraser we have a very spirited continuation of " The Interpreter." Major Melville, in the present number, takes us up to the walls of Sebastopol, mid introduces us to the genuine camp life pursued by dandies from Ain:tack's and the Opera. A review of Buckle's " History of Civilisation " is thoughtful and