The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-17 00:00:00

66 Poets and Statesmen: their Homes and Flaunts in the Neighbourhood of Eton and Windsor. By William Dowling, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. London : Wil- hams. IT is no wonder that men of imagination and genius should have resided in the neighbour hood of Windsor and Eton. How is it pos sible to be insensible to the diversified beau ties of that favoured district? The imperial ca s tle of Windsor, its architectural mag nificence, its unequalled situation, and its grand historical associations ; form a combina tion of attractive delights, such us few places in the civilised world can surpass. And then the beauty of Eton, its shape' and its fields, the fine and majestic expanse of the Thames, the unsurpa-scd beauty of the wooded heights of Cliefden, the stately splendour of Stoke park, the wonderful view from Cooper's-hill, at the foot of which lie the plain of Runny mede and Magna Charta Island ! No marvel that men of literature—the poet, the orator, the historian, the lawyer—should have de lighted in the neighbourhood of Windsor as their dwelling-place. It certainly is a novel and pleasing idea to group men of renown together, as it were a family in their country residence. It is one link more, and a solid one, to unite together the glorious brother hood of genius and learning. The first name in the volume before us is that of Milton, who lived for six years. after he left Cambridge, at Horton. It is a village about; a mile to the east of Datchet. The poet's house was standing till the year 1795, when a man (how are we to describe him ?) pulled it down to build a new one on the site, as if he might not have bought a site any where else ! The single consolation we have is this, that he ruined himself —or, at all events, did himself irretrievable damage—by his sin against poetical sentiment and natural feeling. There is, or was, at least, a few years ago, a square, ugly, brick building in the garden, which was called Milton's pigeon house ; and at the back of the house there used to be, but we suppose old ago has now made away with it, a piece of the stump of an apple tree, under which, when it was a tree, tradition recorded that Milton used to sit and write poetry. Wo have gazed on that stump with more veneration of heart than Friar ever bestowed on the most precious relic of his patron saint. Close to Milton's house you get a beautiful view of the eastern side of Windsor Castle. The poet composed the " Comus," " Penseroso," and " Allegro," at Horton. Doubtless he was gazing on Windsor Castle and forest when he wrote— Tow'rs and battlements it lees llosom'd high in tufted trees. It is remarkable that all four of the poets to whom memoirs are given in this volume were politicians as well as poets—Milton, Cowley, aid Denham; but, then, they lived in an age when it. was scarcely possible to avoid being dragged into the vortex of politics. Cowley's house at Chertsey is still standing In the sketch which Mr. Dowling has given of Cowley's character, we are rather surprised that he has not referred to his powers as a prose miter. If Cowley was not a first-rate poet, he was undoubtedly a first-rate writer of prose. His essay "On the Government of Oliver Cromwell" is, in our judgment, one of the most magnificent compositions in the language. Pope passed the earlier and, as we take it, much the happier• years of his life at Binfield, a beautiful neighbourhood to the west of Windsor. His house is still standing. His friend. Lord Bolingbroke, lived at Dawley, the grounds of which are now intersected by the Great %Vestern Railway, close to West Drayton. The poetical rank and genius of Pope has been so fixed and determined in the judgment of men, that it would be superfluous to say anything on the subject. We may, however, remark that Mr. Dowling merely mentions Pope's "Imitations of Horace," witnout continent, in the catalogue of his works. TO our minds they are to be classed amongst the very best of his works. There is a family monument of the Denhams, now on a staircase in the modern building of Egham Church, in which the poet figures as a THE PRESS. child dressed in a scarlet cloak. The family house has been pulled down. Dennam's verses have thrown a poetical halo round Cooper's-hill ; and Cooper's-hill, from its ex treme beauty and celebrity, has assisted to elevate the poetical powers of Denham. Mr. Dowling states that Waller's house at Hall Barn, near Beaconsfield, " appears to " have remained in the possession of the " Wailers until the end of the last century " The truth is, the present lineal descendant and heir of the poet sold the house to the late Sir Gore Ouseley, after whose death it passed into other hands. It was sold about twenty five years ngo. Waller is buried in the church yard at Beaconsfield. .But a greater mart than he lies within the church—Burke. His house, " Gregories," stood on the opposite, or northern, side of the town of Beaconsfield. It was burnt down—not without some suspicion of having been destroyed intentionally—forty-three years ago. Burke lies buried under the pew next in front of the reading-desk ; and an oval slab over the south door of the church recites the name and day of the death of this wonderful man. And that reminds us of the extraordi nary and unintelligible fact, that no public monument has ever been raised to Burke. Public monuments commemorate third and fourth rate naval and military men ; West minster Abbey E: warms with statues in honour of men who were mere mediocrities ; but no testimony of public honour and gratitude commemorates the man who, in the marvel lous combination of depth of philosophic thought, sublimity of imagination, extent of knowledge, variety of erudition, fertility of rhetoric, almost superhuman intuition of the causes and consequences of political action, and unrivalled richness of imagery, never was equalled in the English Senate—never was sur passed in any legislative assembly in the world. In the statue gallery of famous men now being erected in the lobbies of the House of Com mons, is no pedestal to be surmounted by Burke? Is Burke not worthy to fill a niche in Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's ? We trust this charge of ingratitude will not be brought with justice much longer against the British nation. But to return to the volume before us. The sketches of Fox, Canning, Lord Grenville, and Lord Wellesley, are given 1% ith great vivacity and interest. We have, however, no room for detailed notice or extracts. But we have not yet alluded to a remarkable feature of the volume. It is illustrated by nineteen engravings in steel, by E. Radclyffe, from drawings made for the work by C W. Radclyffe. These engravings aro specimens of extreme delicacy, taste, and beauty; they are, indeed, exquisite works of art. Mr. Williams, the publisher, some few years ago, produced a singularly beautiful volume, containing the poems of Gray, prefaced by a beautiful Spen serian poem by Moultrie, with a memoir by Mitford, and illustrations executed by the same artists who have so gratefully adorned the present work. The two volumes together form a very delightful addition to the library or drawing-room. The illustrations are by no means mere unmeaning appendages to the printed matter ; they do in reality and in truth illustrate what they beautify ; nor are the literary sketches at all unworthy of the art by which they are commended and em bellished. Wirbylower. By the Author of " The House of Elmore." London : Hurst and Blackett. AMONG our books this week we have had one of the best novels it has lately been our fortune to meet with. In noticing " The House of Elmore," some months back, we spoke of it as a crude production, but displaying great promise, and containing passages of marked ability. It showed an original mind, from whose matured and disciplined power much might be expected ] " Wildflower] is a great advance upon that production. The plot is ingenious and novel, and the characters are sketched with a masterly hand. " Martha Badge" is not inferior in her way to the " Old Tiff " of Mrs. Stowe. She is the faithful servant of an old office-keeper in a Government department, and when he Idies she takes charge of his grandchild " Wildflower "—whose real name, I SATURDAY ) Anice }fern, would have been a more appro priate title for the book—and cheerfully enters an almshouse, that her savings may be de voted to the child. The contrast between her stern appearance and rigid manner, and the warmth of her affection, is highly effective. When the child is ill, Martha is almost wild with despair If she goes, she goes," cried Martha, flinging up her arms as she trudged back to the office, " I shan't believe in any good, in anything, in anybody." She looked up at the dark sky with an appealing gaze ; "0 take my old life, and spare this little flower." This kind of writing is always touching. It is natural, or it would not affect so strongly. It strikes a chord which makes sweet music in every heart; and it is so lovely, that it in vests with grace and beauty the most repulsive shape in which humanity can appear. It is to the modern masters of fiction that we owe the most striking developments of the senti ment. With many admirable points, the book is not free from the grave charge urged against novels in general, that they are not true toilife. This truth may be of two, kinds, inward and outward ; truth as regards the emotions of the mind and heart, and truth as regards the ordi nary course of events and actions. The first kind of truth this fiction of "Wildflower" pos sesses. Suppose the characters to be placed in such positions as the author places them in, and their conduct is natural ; but the positions themselves have not the probability of the ordinary course of events. It seems to us very unlikely that Mr. Stanmore could have been thrown into such contact with Avice as is here represented, or that many of the leading circumstances of the tale could have occurred. How far this kind of impro bability, which pervades most fictions, exer cises an injurious effect, may be subject for discussion. Generally we think the effect of fiction which tritely represents the play of natural affections, healthy. In modern times the female portion of society have advanced much more rapidly in moral sentiment and purity of feeling than the male. We do not know that men are much better than they were in the days of Bluff King Hal, but there can be no doubt of the vast improvement in female character ; and perhaps this improve may be partly traced to the gentle influences which stories of the affections are calculated to cherish in the female heart. The moral tone of " Wildflower" is elevated, and many of the passages are of striking beauty. We read it from beginning to end with pleasure. Who's Who in 1857. Edited by C. H. Oakes. London : Bailey Brothers. THIS is a neat and portable little almanac, which every " town man" and every respectable family ought to possess. It gives the fullest information on the aristocracy, the Parliament, the public offices the universities, and all places of business. No one who owns this little volume need ever be at a loss to find out all about anybody who is " anybody " throughout the metropolis. We recommend to the author the preparation of a companion volume, to be entitled " What's What !" The Ear in Health awl Disease. By William Harvey, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal Dispensary for Disemei of the Ear. Second Edition. London: Renshaw. WE are pleased to see a seccnd edition of this admirable work. It forms a most welcome acces sion to our stock of knowledge on the subject, and has extensive claims on the gratitude of all persons afflicted with that most disagreeable ailment, deaf ness All affections of the ear are most irritating and depressing, and in Mr. Harvey's work will be found, as we have before observed, all that medical or surgical science has yet discovered iu the way of alleviation. Dotts Parliamentary Companion for 1857. London : Whittaker. THIS little book has existed now for exactly a quarter of a century, and during that time has attained such a reputation as to make any comment at the present time superfluous. During the twenty-five years of its existence, we read in the preface that " nine " Administrations have been summoned to the " Councils of the Sovereign, six Parliaments have " been elected, and five have been dissolved." Many imitators have sprung up, but all have been infected by a political spirit, and failed consequently in obtaining equal support. 6.