The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-22 00:00:00

1122 address the crowd. Here is another of Mrs. Browning's scenes from life:— Then spoke a man, " Now, look to it, coves, that all the beef and drink Be not filched from us like the other fun ; For beer's spilt easier than a woman is! This gentry is not honest with the poor; They bring us up, to trick us,"—" Go it, Jim," A woman screamed back,—" I'm a tender soul ; I never banged a child at two years old And drew bloLd from him, but I sobbed for it Next momeut,—and I've had a plague of seven. I'm tender; I've no stomach even for beef, Until I know about the girl that's lost, That's killed. mayhap. I did misdoubt, at first, The fine lord meant no good by her, or us. He, maybe, got the upper hand of her By holding up a wedding.ring, and then . . A choking finger on her throat, last night, And just a clever tale to keep us still, As she is, poor lost innocent. Disappear !' Who ever disappears except a ghost? I ask you,—would a girl go off, instead Of staying to be married ? a fine tale ! A wicked man, I say, a wicked man ! For my part I would rather starve on gin Than make my dinner on his beef and beer." — At which a cry rose up—." We'll have our rights. We'll have the girl, the gill ! Your ladies there Are married safely and smoothly every day, And she shall not drop through into a trap Because she's poor and of the people : shame ! We'll have no tricks played off by gentlefolks; We'll see her righted." There is a dreadful riot, quelled by the police. But what has become of Marian? Aurora suspects a certain Lady Waldemar, who had confided to Aurora her passionate love for Romney. Like all the other characters of the book, this Lady Waldemar, a fine, fashionable lady, speaks the Browning language : Of a truth, Miss Leigh, have not, without a struggle, come to this. I took a master in the German tongue, I gained a little, went to Paris twice; But after all this love! You eat of love, And do as vile a thing as if you ate Of garlic—which, whatever else you eat, Tastes uniformly acrid, till your peach Reminds you of your onion. • • • • I came home Uncured, convicted rather to myself Of being in—love. That's coarse, you'll say; I'm talking garlic. Aurora, after the disappointment of poor Romney, feels wretched. She determines on a visit to Italy—sells her books, places her last poem in a publisher's hands, and sets off. In Paris she discovers Marian. The girl had been induced to fly by the arts of Lady Waldemar. Moreover, she has been ruined, when she was unconscious, and she has an infant. In due time the sad story is learnt by Romney. He comes to Marian, and again proffers his hand. The story has attained its crisis. What will now he done ? Will all the fine professions and exalted sentiment of the book be carried out ? Will convention be sc , wced in practice, as it is scorned in theory ? While. the issue is in suspense there is much godlike feeling and angelic rapture. Marian is tl►e deity who cuts the knot at length. She exclaims with enthusiasm : Oh it does me good, It wipes me clean and sweet from devil's dirt Th it Romney Leigh should think me worthy still Of being his true and honourable wife. But—and the but settles everything:— I shall tell the truth, Which is I do not love you Romney Leigh, I do not love you. She only worships him ; her love is for her child. She knows where Romney has set his heart, and plainly indicating Aurcra, she vanishes to appear on the scene no more. Previously Aurora and Romney have ex changed confidences All his socialist schemes have failed. His philanstery has deplorably broken down, and the mob have burnt Leigh hall to mark their sense of his reforming anirit. Aurora has something also to tell him:— _ _ " Stay," I answered him; " I've something for your hearing, also. I Have failed too." " You !" he said, " you're very great; The sadness of your greatness fits you well : As if the plume upon a hero's casque Should nod a shadow upon his victor face '-" I took him up austerely,—" You have read My book, but not my heart; for recollect, 'Tis writ in Sanscrit, which you bungle at." After Marian's disappearance, there is no more concealment, but great agitation. Rom ney is about to bid. Aurora farewell, when she interrupts him : THE PRESS. A moment! Heavenly Christ! A moment. Speak once Romney. 'Tis not true. 1 hold your hands, I look into your face— You see me. Presently Romney's " divine Aurora " is more explicit : But I love you, sir, And when a woman says she loves a man The man must hear her, though he love her not. Aurora has all the while adored him without knowing it. For some years past they have been playing at cross purposes. Now they are united, Aurora being still triumphant, as Romney aoknowledges her intellectual supe riority. He bids her work for two, and he will love for two : Come thou, my compensation, my dear sight, My morning•star, my morning ! rise and shine, And touch my hills with radiance not their own ; Shine out for two, Aurora, and fulfil My falling.short that must he ! work for two, As 1, though thus restrained, for two, shall love! Gaze on, with inscient vision toward the sun, And, from his visceral heat, pluck out the roots Of light beyond him. If this be not fine writing, we know not what fine writing is. The conclusion is in the loftiest style of incomprehensibility:-- My Romney!—Lifting up my hand in his, As wheeled by seeing spirits toward the east, He turned instinctively,—where, faint and fair, Along the tingling desert of the sky, Beyond the circle of the conscious hills, Were laid in jasper-stone as clear as glass The first foundations of that new, near day Which should be builded out of heaven, to God. He stood a moment with erected brows, In silence, as a creature might, who gazed ; Stood calm, and fed his blind, majestic eyes Upon the thought of perfect noon. And when I saw his soul saw,—"Jasper firet," I said, " And second, sapphire; third, chalcedony ; To rest in order, . . last, an amethyst." Ts this really a story to aid the regeneration of the world? Does it fulfil that ideal of nature and art promised in the lady's dedication ? How, in a dramatic tale of this kind, can we afford to dispense entirely with truth? The mawkish, extravagant substitute for it which Mrs. Browning has provided never can exercise a healthy influence. The stomach of our sense has not been so nauseated for many a day as by this outrageous fiction. The extracts we have given sufficiently show what is the composition of the poem. It con tains many beautiful and some shrewd pas sages, but, on the whole, we cannot bring ourselves to assign to it a much higher rank than is due to the tragedies of Mad Lee. The fashion of fustian changes, but the fustian subsists. A great part of the poem is rank unmitigated rant. There is something well-nigh sublime in the authoress's presumption. She is satisfied, no doubt, that she has produced the greatest poem of the age. We are extremely sorry to say anything that may appear severe of a lady who has manifested rare poetic gifts, and who shows, even in this volume, that they have not yet deserted her. But neither should we be dealing honestly with the public nor with her, if we (lid not frankly express our opinion that she must of late have been dwelling within that confined mental atmosphere which be comes poisoned through being ton often breathed. I'oets should sing from themselves, not of themselves It fates badly with them when they seek their world within, not with out, and when they substitute the fantasies of a heated brain, and a close and clouded at mosphere, for God's creation and the free breath of Nature. A Life's Lessons. By Mrs. Gore. Three Vols. London : Hurst and Blackett. MRS. GORE has somewhat departed from her usual style in " A. Life's Lessons." It is not ex clusively a tale of fashionable life. The romantic element predominates in it, and in the first volume especially we have sketches of secluded village life and wild scenery in a dis trict of North Lancashire, which Miss Brenta might have penned, and pictures of Dutch fidelity and homeliness, which agreeably remind us of the pleasant portraiture of Washington Irving. The heroine is the daughter of a Dale farmer and of the simple minded servant of an old Dutch family which came in with William of Orange. Nannie Balfour is a pretty, graceful creature, who, from her native seclusion, is gradually brought SATURDAY, into the great world, visits 'foreign lands, passes through many trials and temptations sans reproche, and escapes at last from the region of romance in which her youth was passed to the kind reality of domestic joys. The spirit of the tale is admirable, and the narrative agreeably toned down from the dash of most of Mrs. Gore's previous productions. She writes more like a woman who knows the world than a woman of the world. Her lite• racy talents, which are considerable, and her social experience, which is wide, are here com bined to produce a pleasing fiction, suitable to the taste of the whole world of novel-readers. Further Arguments in Favour of the Abridgment of the Morning Service. By the Rev. James Hild yard, B.D. London Groombridge. Ix is a proof of the interest excited by the subject discussed iu this pamphlet, that Mr. Hildyard's pro duction has already reached a fourth edition. This success is due as much to the manner in which Mr. Hildyard deals with the whole question, as to the importance attached to the subject itself. He is pious, thoughtful, and most sincerely attached to the services of our Church ; and he suggests alterations only with a view to increase the efficiency of public service, and to augment. the number of its regular at tendants. His case is, that the Morning Service in particular—more especially when the administration of the Lord's Supper is added—is unnecessarily long, that from its repetitions it is apt to ho felt wearisome, and that certain portions of the service— as, for example, long catalogues of names in the Les sons, and the Creed of St. Athanasius—have a tendency to distract the mind and impair its reverent aspira• tions. In considering this question of the length of the service, we must recollect that the greater portion of it is always the same, and that it is extremely difficult for the best disposed mind to fix its attention for any length of time together on the intent of words with which it is perfectly familiar. Mr. Hildyardsupposas, with reason, that many persons who would gladly avail themselves of the privilege of attending public worship, were it shorter, are now kept away front age, infirmity, and other causes. The alterations— with a view to abridgment—proposed by Mr. Hildyard are not extensive, but they would accomplish the purpose in view, that is, compress and shorten the Morning Service. The mode in which any altera tion can be accomplished must be, he thinks, an inquiry by ROYAL COMMISSION. The points alluded to in the pamphlet, and the arguments employed, are too numerous for recapitulation ; and we can only further say that all who are interested in the subject will find it hero discussed in a temperate and thoroughly Churcbmanlike spirit. The Treasury of Geography. Commenced by the late Samuel Maunder; completed by W. Hughes, F.R.G.S. London: Longman". THE late Mr. Maunder produced so many Treasuries of Knowledge, and his labours were always su in telligently directed to the convenience of the public, that it would be unpardonable not to notice, with the commendation it deserves, this Treasury of Geo graphy, designed by him on the plan of his former volumes, and commenced previous to his lamented death. The plan is to present the reader with a general survey of the globe, commencing with re marks on the progress of geographical knowledge, and then (beginning with Europe) describing in detail the most remarkable features of every country, and giving the facts therewith connected from the latest and most authentic sources of information. A copious index at the end supplies, to some extent, the purpose of a Gazeteer. The plan is nearly that, of the bulky Encyclopedia of Geography compiled by Mr. Murray, and issued by the same publishers. The great recommendation of the Treasury is its com pactness, systematic arrangement, and clever selec tion of leading information. As far as we can judge from a hasty inspection, Mr. Hughes has fulfilled his duty with great diligence. The maps of the volume add to its utility, and the plates to its attrac tiveness. A handier volume for a small library could not be desired, and its cheapness places it within the reach of all classes. AN ERROR occurred in our last week's impression in the review of " Ivors," in which the novel of " John Halifax" is, by an oversight, attributed to Mr. Holme Lee. We had thought of comparing Claude Egerton with Gilbert Massenger, and afterwards remembering that John Halifax was a much more suitable in.tance, altered the one name while forgetting to alter the other. "John Halifax," which we were perfectly aware was from the pen of Miss Muloch, independent of other proofs, could never, from internal evidence, be mistaken for the production of a man. j