The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

The Court of England under the Stuarts : including
the Protectorate. By J. H. Jesse. New Edition.
Vols. I. and 11. London : Bentley.

MR. JESSE is an adept in "popular" writing. His
volumes are stored with anecdotes, and effectively
bring out the personal traits of history. In this
work the sketches of Charles, Cromwell, Charles 11.,
and James IL, are accompanied by characSers of the
chief members of their families, and of the principal
personages connected with them. In all cases the
portraiture is made up more from a number of
amusing, but at the same time significant facts, than
from anything like sustained narrative. The author
has taken the elder Mr. Disraeli for his model, and
has shown how admirably his plan is adapted to the
illustration of historical epochs. Mr. Jesse's style
of treatment is especially adapted to James 1., as
only instances can give an adequate idea of his com-
pound character. Some of his aphorisms are very
shrewd, as this, for instance, "Much money makes
" a country poor, for it sets a dear price upon every-
" thing." In verse be was not so skilful, yet, if the
following lines inscribed beneath his portrait in the
first folio edition of his works be justly ascribed to
him, be was certainly not destitute of poetic con-
ception :

Crowns have their compass, length of days their date,
Triumphs their tombs, felicities their fate ;
Of more than earth can earth make none partaker,
But knowledge makes the king most like his Maker.
We recollect seeing these lines, with some varia-
tions, ascribed to Shakspeare, but we know not on
what authority. They may seem to us much above
the capacity of James. In the cheap and convenient
form in which Mr. Jesse's work is now published we
confidently recommend it to our readers' notice. It
resembles a museum stored with remains of the
period, some rich and rare, some merely curious and
comical, but all illustrative of the time, and awaking
moods of mind, as wide in their range as the capacity
of human emotion.

Food and its Adulterations. By Arthur Hill Hassall.
London : Longmans.
M. FLOURENS, one of the most eminent physiologists
of the day, has lately told the world that the normal
duration of human life is "one hundred years," and
that at present we do not die, but kill ourselves by
our artificial system of living, by our passions, and
our general intemperance, but if any kind friend had
suggested to M. Flourens the perusal of the reports
of the Analytical Sanitary Commission, presided over
by Dr. Hassall, we think that the eminent French-
man would have found another and more powerful
cause of the abbreviation of his standard length of
life. Of twenty-seven articles of food analysed by
the commission, from arrowroot to vinegar, all are
more or less adulterated, and the details of the re-
spective analyses include an account of the principal
articles used in adulteration. The work is extremely
well produced, and equally creditable for the skill
and minuteness of its investigations, and the fearless
spirit with which those disreputable tradesmen are
exposed who make their money at the expense of
the health of their customers. Truly, as Diderot
said, a man to live long in this world must have "a
bard heart and a good digestion!"