The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

the latter is " more artistic in arrangement " and more varied in the lines than either of " the two pictures of the same subject by the painter in the Dresden Gallery, and in De " vonshire-hou se." Dr. Waagen seems to us to overrate the Crystal Palace in some respects, while in others he certainly does it no more than jus tice :-- But to torn to that which most concerns this work, viz., the department of art. I may first remark that, whether far the unlearned, the amateur, or the connoisseur, the Crystal Palace in this respect offers a combination of means of information and enjoyment such as has never been hitherto presented to the world. It is distinguished from all previous exhibitions of art by the circumstance that a considerable number of archi tectural structures are here seen in their orginal size; and, as those who are acquainted with some well-known building only by means of drawings will acknowledge, the real size in this case is fur more important for a right con ception of the effect of architecture than either for that of painting or sculpture. He does not seem to remember that of the ancient courts all are compositions in the style. and none actual copies, of existirg buildings ; while in the modern courts, where the system of actual copying has been introduced, it is impaired by the fact that the buildings are nut seen in their simplicity and integrity, but are mixed together and joined into one mass, representing, no doubt, the main features of the style, but in positions where their archi tects never dreamt of placing them. Dr Wangen's work will, of course, undergo the fate which awaits all really laborious and able books—that of being pillaged by the small fry of literature, eager to " popularise " the researches of a standard and successful writer. To obviate this contingency we would suggest to Mr. Murray the advisability of forming from the materials in this and perhaps other works a number of pictorial handbooks for the different districts of England ; one, let us say, for the west of England, another for the south, others for the northern, midland, and eastErn divisions, giving short catalogues of the pictures existing in each country.house. Home tourists at present unconsciously pass by many a house containing good pictures, and would doubtless welcome a directory which should lead them to those " cynosures "of neighbouring eyes" which Dr. Waagen has described, and which their owners would probably not be averse to show under the usual restrictions. Men of the Time; or, Biographical Sketches of Eminent Living Characters. London : Kent and Co. THE publication of a new edition of this work, which professes to form a complete cyclopedia of living celebrities, seems to call for more than a passing notice at our hands. Consider ing the obvious utility of such a work, if well executed, as a book of reference and a com panion to the daily or weekly paper—a book for the library table, desk, or counting-house— We cannot but observe with regret its great deficiencies in the wily of defect and redun dancy. In order to render such a work really useful, we imagine that two conditions must of neces sity be laid down—first that it must be com plete, and secondly that it must be accurate and trustworthy in its facts. We do not here insist on what we might fairly add as two other conditions—viz., that no names should be inserted in its muster-roll except those of men who both deserve to be known and are known in some path or walk cf life beyond their own immediate sphere, and that the editor should confine himself as much as pos sible to facts, leaving his readers to draw their own inferences from his data. The world Runts to know what are the leading facts in the life of some statesman, poet, sculptor, or diplomatist —not what Mr. Alaric Watts, or any other editor, may think apud ae et in cute concerning their career. Least of all, we ven ture t , ) think, ought private theological bias to appear as it does in " Men of the Time " from first to last, to the exclusion of me' of real note and celebrity. We are g l a d t o no ti ce th a t th e erra t a w hich disfigured the former editions in respect to dates, names, and other important facts, have been for the most part corrected; though a casual glance over the new edition shows that THE PRESS, DECEMBER 5, 1857. this has not been done so completely as we could wish. We have not room here to enter into a long list of misstatements in the way of facts. We may mention, however, that we hap pen to know that the sketch of Mr. G. 11. Lewes is incorrect in several particulars. It is not true that Lord Dalhousie retained his post at the Board of Trade only till the accession of Lord John Russell to power in 18-in ; his lordship was too valuable a public servant for the Whigs to lose, and they were only too glad to find him willing to labour on under them. We are sorry to see that no notice is taken of many interesting facts in Dean Close's early career which have more than once appeared in print; and we cannot but lament the want of judgment on the part of the editor, who has allowed Lord Cardigan six pages, and Mr. A. A. Watts three pages, to tell the story of their respective careers, inclu ding many facts of no interest whatever to the public, while he despatches in a summary para graph of from twelve to twenty lines such men as Sir Benjamin Brodie, Sir H. Holland, Mr. H. Hallam, and the Bishop of Exeter. Neither can we imagine on what principle of selection the editor can have been proceeding in giving us the lives of some nine or ten of the judges— Channell, Wighttnan, Crompton, Willes, Wat son, Coleridge, Williams, Martin, and Bram well ; whilst he has excluded such men as Judge Patteson, Judge Maule, Baron Platt, Vice-Chancellor Wigram, and Sir W. Page Wood. But our gravest accusation against " Men of the Time" is on the score of omission. What can we say of a work which, among the Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, inserts Lord Eglinton and omits Lords Fortescue and St. Germans which says not a word about such naturalists as Sir R. Schomburgh, Sir W. J. Hooker, and Charles Waterton—such di plomatists as Earl Cowley and Sir Gore Ouse ley—such clergymen as "S. G. O." (Sidney Godolphin Osborne), Archdeacon Manning, Canon Moseley, Dean Dawes, Professors Stanley and Jowett, Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand, Dr. Vaughan of Harrow, and John Henry Newman, in whom, much as we differ from him, posterity will recognise a man of genius, and one who, to say the least, has had a large influence upon the present age ? India, too, has sad reason to complain of a studied omission—being represented only by Lords Canning, Dalhousie, and Ellenborough, and General Havelock. Why is Lord Harris omitted—a man who has done for Madras what no previous commander had done since the days of Sir T. Munro? Why has the editor said nothing of the Lawrences, par nobile frotrum—men who have founded for themselves a lasting name in the settlement of the Purijaub? Why has he omitted all men tion of Outram, of Sir Patrick Grant, of Mr. Colvin, of Sir George Pollock (the hero of the Affghan campaign), of Sir F. Currie, Major Vincent Eyre, and of such men as Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, Sir Macdonald Ste phenson, and Sir George Russell Clerk ; and, the greatest perhaps of all, Mountstuart El• phinstone, who enjoys perhaps the highest reputation of all living Indian administrators? Again, is there any reason why Mr. John Stuart Mill should have been omitted, beyond his own modest nature, which would probably have rendered him unwilling to write a puff of his own great abilities and his vast insight into modern philosophy, political science, and Indian affairs alike ? Again, we ought not to look in vain for such men as Lord Seaton, Sir Henry Rawlin son, Sir Charles Fellows, Sir Francis Palgrave, Sir Bernard Burke, Mr. Kenelm Digby. Sir Thomas Phil lipps, Sir Alan M'Nab, Sir Emerson Tennent, Sir G. Nicholls, Sir J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth and his successor, Mr. Lingen, Sir Charles Trevelyan, the Right Hon. Stephen Lushing ton, Sir Baldwin Walker, Sir Charles Elliot, Sir William Snow Harris, Sir Henry Ward of Ceylon, Sir George Grey (our Governer at the Cape), or Sir Henry Barkly, the most able of all our colonial administrators. Again, it occurs to us to remark it as straryte that, while Lord Dunfermline. and Mr. Denison (the new Speaker) are both inserted, there is no mention of the late Sneaker, Mr. Shaw Le fevre, now Lord Eversley, one of the best and 1187 most accomplished men that ever sat in the Speaker's chair ; and, to pass by way of con clusion to the Houses of Parliament, we are fairly at a loss to account for the phenomenon that, while Sir George Grey and Sir F. Baring both find a niche, there is no room for Lords Monteagie and Overstone (whose names, at all events, have been for many years before the world as financiers and political economists), nor for Mr. E. Cardwell, Mr. Vernon Smith, and Sir Charles Wood—all public men, and so well known in the political world that one can scarcely take up a newspaper without coining across their names and wanting to know something of their antecedents. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. Ix the December number of Blackwood more than a third of the magazine is occupied by the leading topic of the day—and worthily occupied. In two papers, forming the first and last of the number, we have the political and religious history of India treated with as much fulness as magazine limits admit of, with a temperate spirit and in an eloquent style. If the writer cf the latter article fulfils his intention of reviewing the philosophic creeds which have been built upon the religion of India, we trust the series may be reprinted. They will be a valuable boon to the public. " What will he do with it ?" continues to display all Sir Bulwer Lytton's leading merits. "Afoot," is a good genial article on Paris; and " Boscobel " is a spirited sketch of the events and circumstances of Charles's escape from Worcester, written in a style of free and masculine 'Toryism which is very delightful. We have seen many better numbers of Fraser than the December one. But then their standard of excellence is a high one. The review of "Water ton's Essays" is silly ; " Rece:it Metaphysical Works" is not more than middling; and even the concluding part of " The Interpreter," as if from sympathy, is scarcely up to the mark. We have, however, a pungent and pertinent article upon the organ nuisance, and what is, at all events, a very readable review of Lord Normanby's book. A rather caustic notice of Lord John Russell's edition of "Fox's Letters " would probably have attracted considerable attention in times of less public excitement. The paper on India is not much. We have this month an excellent number of the Dublin University Magazine. In the opening article, Professor Creasy gives us a very lively sketch of the Seven Years' War; and as he confines himself to facts and keeps clear of "reflections," this paper is above the average of the series. The review of " Torn Brown's School Days" is able and discriminative. Mr. Shirley Brooks gives us the best instalment of "The Partners " we have yet seen. " The Student " is an interesting tale, with a moral, perhaps, more fre quently applicable than we imagine. In Bentley, " The Millionaire of Mincing-lane " is concluded. " Moat Grange" is continued under the title of "Midnight Doings." "The Calcutta Pe t.tion " is a good paper, supporting the views gene rally put forward by the Conservative party. And here we may take the opportunity of stating that in our quotation from this magazine last month we had not the remotest intention of charging the contributor with plagiarism, but were naturally gratified to see our own views so thoroughly adopted by a magazin of high-standing and repute. We think it necessary to make this statement in consequence of a remon strance which has reached us on the subject. In the New Monthly we have two very good articles—" The Press in America," and " Sugges. tions for the Reestablishment of Posting"; tho latter especially, written with a degree of humour that we suspect must be indicative of a new band. We are sorry we have no space for an extract. [Owing to the great press of matter this week, the notice of several other magazines and serials is un avoidably postponed.] PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED—DEcemazn i. BOOKS. British Bide in India. ity --- Harriet Martineau. Smith and Elder. British Almanac and Companion. Knight and Co. The History of Henry Osmond, a Colonel in the Service of her Majesty Qucen Anne. Written by Himself. Smith and Elder. .4 Concise Grammar. Simpkin and Marshall. On Eucharistical Adoration. By the Bev. John pebble, M.A. J. H. and J. Parker. Parker's Church ialendar and Almanack, IttsB. J. H. and J. Parker. Curiosities of Nalural History. By Francis T. Buekland, M.A. R. Bentley. The Handwriting on the Wall. By Edwin Atherstone. Three Vols. R. Bentley. On the Right (se of the Early Fathers. By the Rev. J. J. Blunt, B.D. J. Murray. Remarks on Secular and Domestic Architecture, Present and Future. By George Gilbert Scott, A.B. A. J. Murray.