The Press.
London, England, 1855-10-20 00:00:00

_l5

that he thinks ill of none—in a word, so ez-
cellont and so sympathetic, that he almost
makes one wish the world were peopled with
such lunatics as he. And thou how he talks !
With what naive simplicity he brands the hard
selfishness of the generality of mankind iu
these civilised days—with what unaffeoted
and unconscious warmth he exalts all that is
good, and generous, and noble! In listening
to him we sigh to think that men are as they
are, and wonder why they are not as they
ought to be. In listening to him we feel the
heart grow softer, and we entertain bettor feel-
ings towards our kind.
Stage-craft is, no doubt, a capital thing in
its way ; but all the stage craft in the world
would never have given the French theatre a
Maitre Favillti. And, for our part, we infinitely
prefer the crazed but worthy musician, and
his kindly sayings and kindly doings, to all
the skilful combinations of dramatic ingenuity,
and all the hackneyed conventionalism of
dramatic character. We like originality of
conception. and we see it in him ; we like
freshness of dialogue, and we have it from.
him and his interlocutors ; and we admire a
sound, healthy, moral tone,—and such is the
tone of the new play.

PERIODICAL LITER A!

..........
QUARTERLY REVIEWS.

WE have several Quarterly Reviews before us ; but
we are disappointed to find, that so few of them have
articles on the war. It is from these elaborate publi-
cations that we have a right to expect mature views
on the prasent position of Europe, and on the policy
of the contest in which we are engaged, more espe-
cially at a time when it is generally conceded that
the struggle is assuming a new character. But un-
fortunately the two Reviews of greatest influence and
ability are silent on this vital topic. The Quarterly
altogether abjures modern politics, as unsuited to its
years and gravity, and seems to think nothing in that
line worth attending to subsequent to the age of
" Pitt and Fox." Pitt and Fox supply a paper at the
end of the number of eighty pages, very able and
well informed, commencing with " William Pitt, the
" second son of Lord Chatham, was born on the 28th
" May, 1759," and bringing down his history to his
appointment as Premier in his 24th year ; but the
essay seems to us deficient in breadth, as it
assuredly is in novelty. An article on Huet, a
French philosophic divine, whose chief claim to
remembrance is that he assisted to edit the Delphin
classics, is followed by one on " School Sermons." A
very laudatory critique on Mr. Thackeray tells us
that " men, women, and children talk, act, and think
" in his pages exactly as they are talking, acting,
" and thinking at every bow of the day," yet " every
" character is an original conception." A closely-
written article skims the cream from the "Caldwell
" Papers, and the next introduces us to the " Charities
and Poor of London." Then we come to some dis-
criminating remarks on "Latin Dictionaries," to
" Brougham and Arago on Men of Science," finish.
ing with the Pitt and Fox paper. We have a sure
warrant that whatever papers appear in the Quarterly
will be good of their kind ; but, then much mutt de-
pend on their kind, and it seems to us that. the
Review has very little relation to that atmosphere of
thought and movement in which we live. There is
very little to connect the number with the date on
the titlepage, September, 1855. We think this is a
mistake, and that the editor in his great care to se-
lect subjects which no one will object to, and in his
zeal to get them treated by adequate literary ability,
overlooks the fact that he is living in one of those
agitated and momentous periods of European history
when men's minds are so intently occupied with the
present as to care little for the past.
The Westminster this quarter touches upon one or
two social questions, and treats them closely. The
article upon the " Temperance Movement" altogether
denies that the remedy for drunkenness is to estab-
lish a Maine liquor law in England, bin suggests
that amusements of a healthful and intellectual
character should be provided for the people to wean
them from the publichouse. "Dr. Cumming, and
his Works," meet with critical and thoughtful treat-
ment. " His mind," says the reviewer, "is not of the
"'pietistic order.' He is at home in the external,
" the polemical, the historical, the circumstantial,
" and is only episodically devout and practical."
A full article upon the " Position of Woman "
traces her treatment in the earlier ages of the world.
It is to the laws of Justinian, the writer considers.,
we must look for those principles of justice which
assign to her the elevated position she is entitled to
till. The article upon " Theism" is one, we imagine,
which will not oenefit the Westminster. Its tone is
apparently Atheistical; but that is not, we believe,
the design of the writer. Vased upon pant's systems

1006

he proceeds to argue that the existence of God is
not proved by revelation, and that all present argu-
ments and systems utterly fail from incompleteness.
The admirable resume of "European Literature " is
unusually attirsotite in thiliraniber.
In the Lander's Quarter., Bunsen's "Egypt" is
very favorably•reshored, and the • learned Chevalidrs
*onion of the, Mosaic chronology more leniently
traded than we should have expected. Why Bunsen
she old prefer the information of Manetho and
Eratosthenes, one an Egyptian priest and the
other a Cyrenian Greek, to that of Moses, who
lived twelve hundred years before either of
them, and under the Pharaohs bad access to
the sources of ancient Egyptian history, it is
not easy to see. The character of Moses places
bim far beyond Manetho, Erastosthenes, or any
other ancient author, and these claims, says the
reviewer, " cannot be ignored without a violation of
4. the first principles of historical science." " Life and
Death in the Coal Minas " is a readable article upon
our colliery population (comprising some 210,000
persons of all ages), minutely describing their mode
of life and work. The shafts are generally a thou-
sand or twelve hundred feet deep, but one at Monk-
weartnouth, Sunderland, reaches to the depth of
1,590 clear feet. We suppose the following may be
ralied on :

The northern shafts in general, oh account of their
depth, are forbidding to visitors. The stoutest men seem
afraid to descend the first time. We may felicitate our-
tolves on being more courageous than even the late famous
Emperor Nicholas; for when he was Grand Duke he
visited Wad's-End, and desired to descend the pit. The
late Mr. Buddle was the manager, and prepared all things.
The Grand Duke arrayed himself in a miner's dress, and
marched to the pit's mouth ; but even he was smitten with
for when he glanced at the black, yawning, smoking,
shaft ; and, having again asked its depth, he suddenly beat
eretreat, exclaiming, " My God ! it is the very mouth of
—!" Casting off his miner's dress, be took a hasty leave
of the unvisited Wall's-End pit.

A long and careful analysis into the causes and
stitistics of accidents follows, and a few notes upon
the moral and physical condition of the mining
population, concludes a very able and interesting
article. Mr. Rule's " Studies from History " affords
a good subject for an essay upon the fall of the
Byzantine Empire, while a late work by M. de
Czynsky upon " Copernicus and his Works" gives
much information upon that honest old astro-
n imer. It is a curious fact, we are told, that
t Pope, in 1820, quietly revoked the excom-
munication which in 1560 had been fulminated
against his system, and the Church of Rome con-
descended to permit the world in 1820 to believe that
the earth did revolve round the sun. Of literary
raviews, Tennyson and his " Maud " meet with high
praise. He is Pronounced the " purest specimen of
"the poetic character this last half-century has pro-
" duced." "The Exposition in Paris" is a clever re-
Slew of modern French art.
We must reserve notice of some other Reviews
until our next issue.

Tales for the Marines. By the Author of "Los
, Gringos." London : Wind and Lock.

- -
A slums of well-told clever yarns of a Yankee mid-
shipman's life and adventures. Full of incident, and
abounding in "situations," they will be read eagerly
by all boys. The descriptions of the coast and
people of South America are admirably graphic ;
the account of the " Pampero " in the Plata, and the
description of the visit to the estancia of Roses
at Buenos Ayres, will vividly recal both the event
and locality to those who have experienced a Pam-
pero, or accepted the hospitality of Roses and his
daughter Manuelita. Though rather highly coloured,
these are certainly some of the best tales that were
ever told to the marines.

•
Webster's Pronouncing Dictionary of the English
L znguage. Pocket Edition. Revised by W. G.
Webster. London : Ward and Lock.

HERE is a beautifully-printed little volume of
upwards of 300 pages, containing 10,000 more words
than are to be found in Walker's Dictionary, with
accented vocabularies of classical, scripture, and
geographical names, neatly bound, adapted for the
pocket., and published at half a crown. Cheapness
in this case has not been attained by any sacrifice of
excellence. The edition has been carefully con-
densed from Webster's great work, and is now pro-
duced under the superintendence of his son. The
publishers must reckon on a large sale to repay
their enterprise. On one point they are secure.
They have, produced a pocket dictionary which for
quality and price must defy competition.

Chjmnastic Polymachinon. By Captain Chiosso.
London : Walton and Maberly.
Gurchtfrrics in this country are far too much ne-
glected, and in no part more than in the towns and
skies. The youth of our towns either waste their
riplagtip in dissipttiion or ruin the houlth by lobo-
. . .