The Press.
London, England, 1853-10-01 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Izaak !aka lam. Part I. By Alexandre
Dumas. Authorised translation. In monthly
dialing parts. London : Clarke, Becton,
and Cu.

READING a romance by Duivax seems to us
like seeing Aatley's on paper. His heroic cha-
racters recal the voltigenrs, and his humorous
ones remind us of the clowns of the circus.
He boasts that he has composed seven hun
dyed volumes and fifty dramas, and ho now
announces that " 'mink Lakadam " is "the
work of his whole life," and in true eharlatanie
style he pompously advertises " that whatever
he has studied and learned of art, of science,
of men, and of things, is to be invested in
Izaak Lakadam.— He is, indeed, au in•
corrigible fenilletonisi, and critical whippings
only titillate him into more extravagant
gambols. To admonish so successful it con-
tortionist, upon the true principles of art in
composition, would be as absurd as commending
" Demosthenes " to Sir John Villiers Shelley.
The very faults of his writings are the means
by which he attains his prodigious successes
with the novel-reading mob of Paris. His
romances arc, after till, nothing but a series of
literary gymnastics, in which he has vaulted
over all kinds of puppets, picturesquely attired,
and cleverly compelled to shuffle here and there
into melodramatic positions. Denying him
any claim to be ranked with standard fiction-
ists who have painted " man," we admit that
he is a wonderful incarnation of the various
faculties of the pantomimist, the scene•
painter, and the travelling showman. Mr.
Rcgers prettily said of the author of " Latta
Rookh," that "he must have conic into the
world with a rose in his mouth, and a
nightingale singing on the top of his bed."
Now, we litucy that Monsieur Houdin
must have been forestalled at the birth
of Dumas, and that along with the ro.
mauling fenilletonist there must have simul
taneously appeared an " inexhaustible bottle"
of ink.

We snspeet, however, that these literary
summe►saults must at last come to an end. Our
rea►lers, also, will be inclined to think with us
when they learn that " Izattk Lakadam " is
another romance on their old acquaintance,
" The Wandering Jew." The very idea is
suggestive of utter exhaustion but of course
all the Vauxhall "effects " of which the theme
is capable will be shown in his own way by
the author; and he will probably succeed in
making the vulgar stare and " the judicious "
not " grieve "—but yawn ! _ _

" Laindam " opens with a lung description
of the " Appian Way," as it appeared in 1469.
This eharter is written as if the author wished
to rival \ ictor Hugo in certain minute anthills
rian descriptions in " The Hunchback of Notre
Dame." But he jumbles together the past
and present with so much incoherency as to
destroy all illusion. What can be worse than
the following passage, in itself a fair specimen
of the rhetori.• displayed in " lzaak risks-
dam "

It was all the youth, the beauty, the fashion, the wealth,
the aristocracy of Rome. The Appian Way was the Rotten
flow or Longchamp of antiquity ; only, instead of lasting
three days, like the Longehanip of Paris. or a few weeks,
like the Rotten Row of London, it lasted all the year.
About tour o'cb,ek in the afternoon ,•—when the great
heat of the day was past ; when the sun glided, loss Fsihtr
Ulla with diminished light, towards the Tyrrhenian sea ;
when the shadows of the pines, the evergreen oaks. and
the palm-trees lengthened ont flout west to east : when the
liturel-rose of Sieily shook off the dust of the (lay. as the
that breeze descended from the chain of blue mountains
commanded by the temple of Jupiter when the
magnolia of India raised its ivory blossom like u horn, and
presented its seenteil ehalice to gather the evening dew ;
when the nelmnbo of the Caspian sea. which hail shunned
the burning tuidglay sun in the watery bosom of the lake,
returned to the surface of the water to breathe through the
fall span of its open cup the coolness of the hours of night:
—then began to appear. issuing flvin the Apian gate,
what might be called the vanguard of the dandies, the
Trosowli, the young Trojans of Rome, curiously senuinised
by the inhabitants of the Appian suburb. These also, at
this hour. issued from their I ses. which now grew cool,
and sat on thoir varionteshaped chairs fetched from within;
or they leaned against the posts. which served es steps for
the horsemen to mount ; or they half reclined on the cir•
cular benches. fixed against the restinglikees of the dead
for the better eonvenience of the living.
Never did Paris, with its double column of visitors in
the Champs-Elysi•es: never did Florence. hurrying to the
Casehines; never did Vienna, flocking tothe Prater ; never
did Naples. encumbering the Chisna—behold such a diver.
shay of actors, sash a concourse of spectator~'

SATURDAY,

If we had never befo►c read any of the
writing of Dumas, we might possibly be struck
with his manner in this first monthly part.
But we are familiarised with his claptrap.,
and, unless he improve in future numbers of
this melodramatic serial, we are afraid that.
" Lakadam" will display "the contortions and
not the inspiration of the sibyl."

The Philusuphy of Athebrau. By the Rev. B. Godwin,
D.D. London : Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co.
Tms is a third edition of the author's lectures against.
Atheism, delivered nearly twenty years ago at the
Mechanies' Institution of Bradford. The writer, in
a popular manner, pursues the " argument from
design," and refutes Miraband's " System of Nature
With simplicity and precision.

Correspondence Relating to Harrow School.
Charters, Orders, and Rules of the Free (learning).
SeliGol at llarrow•on-the-Hill. London, 1858.
TltEst• unimportant publications originate with
Mr. John Morris, of Sudbury, who attacks the school
of " I larrow-on-the-Hill," and endeavours to show
that the funds are diverted from their purpose. He
prints his letters on the subject to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Head Master,
and also to the Vicar of harrow. None of these
eminent persons; took any notice of his letters, and
from the tone of the writer we think they exercised a
sound discretion. Mr. Morris does not seem likely to
conciliate public opinion towards him. He rails
alike at the authorities of harrow and "the servility
of its shopkAepers," and winds up his attacks by re.
printing a tirade from Mr. John Bright !

Spain : its Position and Eranyelisation. By James
Thompson. London: Partridge and Oakey.
THE substance of this tract has already appeared in
the "Christian Family Advocate." The author was
formerly an agent of the British and Foreign Bible
Society." Mr. Thompson is a very prolix writer, and
we should have expected more facts from one who had
filled his posts. lie does not add to our knowledge
of the subject discussed. In the body of his long
pamphlet he attacks Lord Howden for inactivity on
the question of the burial-ground for Protestants in
Spain, and in his postscript he partly retracts his un-
favourable strictures. He has for some time been in
active communication with Sir Robert Inglis ou the
whole subject of Spanish intolerance. We sympa-
thise with his objects, but in his attacks on Papal
bigotry we would recommend him to be less wordy,
in his inculpation of the common foe.

Sports and Adventures in the Highlands of Scotland.
By W. H. Maxwell, Esq. London : Boutledge
and Co.

Tins is merely a reprint of Mr. 3laxwell's " High-
land: and Islands of Scotland," a work greatly
inferior in interest to the aan►e author's deservedly -
popular " Wild Sports of the West." lu describing
Scotland, Mr. Maxwell constantly interposes Irish
anecdotes, and even Irish politics, which are out of
place, and at times even offensive. It is a case of
bookmaking not of the best description, and scarcely
merit: popular circulation.

A Synopsis of Foreign Moneys, Sc. By I)r. 'Malelsen.
London : W. Spooner.
IN the form of a broad sheet we have here a com
plete .ynopsis of foreign moneys, weights, and mea-
sures reduced to the English standard and equivalents.
It will be found very useful to merchants and others
having relations with foreign countries.