The Press.
London, England, 1853-10-29 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

was first used—a point which he evidently thinks it
is of the last historical importance to establish—
after giving an extract from a newspaper, says, " The
" date of articles in a paper published the 27th
" would be the 20th, and of course the 'yesterday '
"of this extract would be the 25th." This is quite
a specimen of Mr. Croker's criticism and logic. The
pr►bability is that a person writing fin• a newspaper
would, if his contribution were undated, write with re-
ference to the day ►►t' publication, and therefore that
the 26th, and not the 25th, would be the yesterday
of a paper which appeared on the 27th. The point
is of no importance, but we notice it because it is on
inferences drawn from such data and with logic like
this that Mr. Corker deals out liberal accusations
against all his predecessors mid contemporaries of
blundering. He says there has been some doubt as
to the " exact spot where the scaffold for the execu-
" tion" of Louis XVI. stood. •' Hiattorians never
" descend to such minutia., and painters and en-
" gravers are sometimes lax in their perspective, but
" we think we may say, chiefly on the authority of a
" fine print . . . that the scatti►id was a few yards
" west of" where the Luxor Obelisk now is; "so
" that the King, when he mounted the scaffold,
" looked" in a particular direction, unless, indeed,
he used the is►wer which he had received from nature
during the short time it was yet to remain to him
and turned his head another way. This is quite one
of Mr. Croker's historical discoveries. Everybody—
historians, painters, and engravers—all are wrong,
till he, blessed with an infallible print, steps in and
sets all to rights again. He is establishing the
startling and highly instructive fact that Louis XVI.
was executed within a very few feet of the spot
where, in the centre of a very large area, history and
tradition had ►laced the tragedy. Such is his irre-
pressible mama for minutia! and so circumstantially
does he slay the slain.
Mr. Croker m►slestly says, " We have read, cer-
" tainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written "
against Marie Antoinette; "and we have, in short,
" examined her life with . . . the accuracy of con-
" temmp►rariee, the diligence of inquirers, and the
66 impartiality of historians all combined." We are sure
he has read—not only hundreds, but all—and, if we
possessed the privilege of an Irishman, we would
say, more than all that has ever been written shout
every incident connected, however remotely, with the
first French Revolution. The difference between Mr.
Croker and the eminent historians he so freely
attacks is, that they exercise a wise discrimination
and a judicious selection, whilst lie attaches to the
merest trilling episode in the Revolution the same
importance as others assign to the whole of that ter-
rible convulsion, with its appalling catastrophe.

Letter to his Graee the Duke of Newcastle on belu►lf
of the Melanesian Mission of the Bishop (pf Ne►r
Zealand. By Lewis N. Hogg. London : lieorge

Bell. .
CONTAINS some interesting statements with respect
to the missionary operations of the Bishop of New
Zealand :

'' In his island visits his lordship's cruse is first to
make the natives understand that he does not come as a
trader; then to try and give them some idea of his real
object in coming amongst them; and, after friendly and
eontidential intercourse is fairly established, to induce them
to trust hint with some of their youths, whom he carries to
St, John's College, Auckland, where they are instructed in
Christian truths, taught English. and trained in industrial
pursuits and useful arts of life dining the eight warmer
mouths of the year. On the animal' of winter, which in
New Zealand is too SeVere for their tropical comititnt*
the bishop takes them bark to their own homes. lly this
means a knowlislge of what they have leant is spread
amongst their friends, and kindly intercourse between the
white missionaries and native mares is greatly extended.
On several islands the bishop has fo ttttt 1 native missionary
teachers, chiefly Samoans, from the Navigators
These men are the fruit of the remarkable labours of
John Williams at Rarotonga. and his sneeessorss of the
London Missionary Society, through whose happy influence
a great number of natives, atter embracing Christianity,
went forth, and in their turn spread to neighbouring
islands a knowledge of the truths they hail received. So
great has been the zeal of these urea, and their willingness
to lay down their lives for Christ's sake—frequently at long
ilisiimees from their own homes—that Archileaeon Abra-
ham, the bishop's chaplain at. St. John's, in one of his
letters says, "l'he bishop knows of forty within the last
eight years who have either been •ilervil of fallen
Olin's to the fever of Ouse islands ; every fresh set of
boys that emnes here has a StOeV to tell of murdered
Samoans. who came to preach to then, of -Jesus up above.
and Satan down below."' With these native teachers the
bishop is able heartily to eo-operate. as will be seen iu the
extracts appended to this letter from a journal of Rev. W.
N thin, kindly furnished to me by his father, Rev. Daniel
Nihill. rector of Fitz, Salop. Mr. William Nihill aeetan•
paaiell the bishop on his cruise last year, and was stationed
im the island of Mare three months, while the bishop
t 1111 l at forty or fißy other islands, co 'g up Within
ten eb of the line. Mr. remarkable facility
in mastering the Polynesian dialects enables him to render
invalnable help to the bishop in this branch of his lord-
ship's wide-spreading mission-1ab0u..."
The purport of the letter i* etu appeal for sympathy
stud we:Wiens:v.

SATURDAY,

Slarery in the Island of Cuba. By Don Mariano

Torrente. London : Ballii re.
Do MARIAN() ToRRENTE was employed in the COlll-
- department of the Anglo-I'ortuguese.
Spanish army in Spain, and received from Sir
Hobert Kennedy and Mr. Dobree certificates of good
conduct, "which he preserves as a title of nobility."
His pamphlet, in Spanish and English, with
addent.a, consists of 107 pages, and there is also an
aprndix of 31 closely-printed pages, being a reprint
of a former pamphlet by the same author on the
same subject. That subject is a defence of the
slave trade, and of the conduct of the Spanish
authorities of Cuba in reference to it.

He considers it humane to buy negroes in Africa
and to export them, because it saves them from
being killed at home ; and the spirit of the work may
be judged of from the excuse he gives for the
connivance of the authorities of Cuba in the main-
tenance of the slave trade there :—" It would be
" madness to take away these squadrons and troops
" from their principal mission, which is to defend
" the island from exterior enemies and maintain
" order in the country ;—and for what purpose ? To
" Ina an end to an illegal traffic, which, so far from
" injuring, benefits us in a high degree."

LawNarks of History : Middle Ages. By the
Author of " Kings of England," &e. London: J.
and C. Mosley.

THIS is an unpretending but serviceable compilation.
The landmarks are observed with judgment and
indicated with distinctness. It has the rare merit,
for an abridgment, of being agreeable reading, while
the narrative is, at the same time, clear and precise.
We have not. had leisure to examine and test it care-
fully, but it appears to be especially adapted for the
young.

Memoirs of Conrieted Prisoners, accompani►d by
Re►narks on the Causes and Prerention of Crime.
By the Bev. H. S. Joseph, Chaplain of Chester
Castle. London . Wertheim and Co.

THIS work consists of memoirs of prisoners who
have been under the spiritual care of Mr. Joseph in
Chester Castle, related in their own words, with a
short preface and conclusion by himself.
In these memoirs there is nothing very remark-
able. They recount the usual scoundrelism of cri-
minals when free, and express the usual intense
penitence and fervid piety that distinguish them
when in prison. There is something peculiarly
offensive in the familiarity and the arrogant confi-
dence with which they speak of the holiest names
and the highest interests. That the Devil rewards
his servants by a drive in a cabriolet on Sundays
was new to us. W. IL, the first prisoner, says,
"The Sabbath was spent in irreligious converse be-
tween my mother and Mrs. H., or in driving about
the country in a cabriolet the greater part of the
day, whicl► kind of pleasure the Devil giveth those
who serve him."

A Pocket Digest of the Stamp Duties. London:

Vacher and Sons.
Tuts little digest can easily be carried in a pocket •
book, and seems, as the preface states, to be
•'rutli-
cieutly comprehensive for all common purposes of
reference." Tables of the value of annuities are
appended, and a list of stamp nets passed since 1514
so far as they relate to the subject-matter of the
digest.. We notice "passport" amongst the docu-
ments requiring a stamp.

NEW MUSIC.

The tiplenhanz Waltzes. 1y 6. B. E. Hodges, }.;(1.

London: D'Almaine.
A cot.r.r(TioN of live waltzes, with a good intmduc•
Lion. As they are all written in easy keys, and are
simple and flowing, we have no doubt they will
become favourites. The second and furth remind
us of the inllien school, but the fifth is the best of
the collection.

I Lore at Break of Day to Roam. The won's by
Mr,. Hodges. Music by G. 11. 1.1 Hodges, Esq.
London: D'Ahnuine.

A SWEET song in 3 fiats, within the compass of the
generality of voices. The melody is pretty, and the
accompaniment harmonises well with the voice with.
out Wing too loud.

The Runnymede March. By 0. B. E. Hodges, Esq.

London : I►':llmaine.
A PRETTY and spirited march in A sharp (simple
common time 1. The chromatic passages introduced
are effective, and, at the same time that it is a pleasing
composition, it may be useful to students► as requiring
careful study and practice.

OCTOBER 20, 1653.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

riavm PrfoN,L»te. Item. J. R. I'laton. J. W. l'arker anti Sou.
A'ational.tdiat Education. Rev. F. 0. Monti. tirtunMiud Slaidge
OU&
rialiari Car, ,• p• Bev. . kesley. E. P. Williams.
.4 Letter tu LJAI BruwoW
hliti S.
. ArtritrotioN. E.
J. 'tit'away.
J. P. (laid/.

The Beacon. 1.