The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-17 00:00:00

lOg

Through the dropping of their green veil some other
features have become visibly prominent on these bramble
branches. They are features of deformity in the shape of
unnatural and unsightly bulgings, round or ovate excres-
cences on the square stems, from the size of a walnut to a
hazel. On cutting one open we find it occupied by little
orange-coloured grubs scattered throughout its interior
substance. These, in due season, will be winged insects,
.Now, in their wingless stage the 7 are housed for the winter
"in a habitation formed by the injured vegetable at behest of
its injurer, some parent fly. These, while embryo mischief
in the form of eggs, must have been inserted through
punctures of parental piercing in the yet green branch, and
the insects will issue forth in maturity through other
punctures of their own perforation. The excrescences of
Verner seasons, grown brown and hard, are often to be
seen thus bored as by an awl.

The author of this volume has much knowledge of
natural subjects and great talent for describing them,
but for our own part we should like his books better
wore they written in a more chastened style. The chap-
ter at the end, " Voices in the Air," written on the
model of Mr. Warren's celebrated " Lily and the Bee,"
we can make nothing of, nor can we conceive that such
rhapsody can be of any real service as an aid to either
the intelligence or the imagination of the young.

Ruth. By the Author of " Mary Barton." London :
Chapman and Hall.

Ta selection of " Ruth " for the present number of
the " Library of Fiction" is not so good a choice as
has been exhibited in the former numbers of this
excellent series. " Seduction " is never a pleasing
and often not a safe subject for the novelist, and
although the characters are well drawn in " Ruth,'
yet the story is distasteful throughout, and does not
exempt itself from the category of both unpleasant
and unsafe subjects.

Historical Sketches. St. Louis and Henry IV.
Second Series. By the Rev. J. H. Gurney.
London: Longmans. .

MR. GURNEY complains in his preface that there is a
gap between Messrs. Markham and Hallam, no
intermediate authors existing who have composed
historical narratives for youth. Hence his attempt
to supply a series of " Historical Sketches," com-
piled from authentic sources, and written in an ani-
mated style. The present volume contains the biogra-
phies of two great men, the one hitherto imperfectly
known, the other too partially judged. The narrative
in each case is full and clear, presided over by a
sound judgment, and likely to give young readers a
taste for historical studies.

The Historical Pocket Annual for 1855. Containing
a Chronological Summary of the Events of the
Past Year. By Dr. Bergel. London : Triibner
and Co. _ _

---- -
THIS is a new publication, conveniently adapted for
reference upon the political events of the past
year. Though concise— extending to only one
hundred pages—it gives the pith of all the most
important State documents, manifestoes, and treaties
(luring 1854, with other principal events, and an
obituary of notable persons. Dr. Bergel deserves
great praise for the accuracy with which his Annual
is compiled. It is intelligent, useful, and cheap.

The Roving Englishman in Turkey. Reprinted in
part from Household Words. London : Rout-
ledge.
THE " Roving Englishman's " essays upon Turkey
are here brought before us in a compact form. He
is no friend to the Turks as a nation, though he
respects their individual character. Humorous and
amusing upon most points, he is yet a thorough
grumbler, and we should think must be one of those
persons who retain only the unpleasant reminiscences
of their travels. Yet, withal, these sketches of
Turkish life are very characteristic, and much infor-
mation is given upon the present state and bearing
of the country.

Leavesfrom a Family Journal. By Emile Souvestre.
Translated from the Original French. London :
Groombridge and Sons.
THESE " leaves " commence at the very point where
Fiction in general considers that her work ends—
" Matrimony!" and the home-life of a young mar-
ried couple is naturally delineated in the mingled
shades which make up the sum of married life,
the conclusion being that the golden rule, " Bear ye
with one another," is productive of the most happi-
ness. Every point in married life is touched upon
in this little tale, from housekeeping to education,
and from thence to the marriage of a daughter and
the decline of life. The characters are few and simple,
but well marked, and the story itself charmingly
natural. There is a slip at p. 127 (perhaps attributable
to the translator), where a sportsman is described as
being " in the act of discharging both barrels at a
"quail which the dog was holding by the throat."

THE PRESS.

Between the two barrels and the dog (if the animal
escaped with his life) we fear there could be little
left of the quail when the sportsman "picked it up
"and put it into his bag." Quail-shooting re-
quires the smallest shot, the quickest eye, and the
nicest judgment of distance (as they lie close, and
never rise except under your nose) to avoid blow-
ing their plump little bodies into dust and feathers.
In general the version is easy and spirited, and the
translator seems to have happily caught the spirit
of the author.

The Unspeakable ; or, the Life and Adventures of
a Stammerer. London : Clarke and l3eeton.
THE incidents of this narrative are stated to be
strictly true, though it is not pretended that they all
happened in connection with the writer. The design
is to show the misery which a person may suffer
from stammering, especially if of a sensitive nature.
For this end, the reader is led through a number of
scenes—some ludicrous, some painful—from infancy
to manhood. At last a certain professor confers on
the sufferer " the blessing of unimpeded speech";
but whether the book be written from gratitude for
the cure, or to give publicity to the said professor's
system and success, is more than we can pretend to
determine.

MR. JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM announces that,
being now on the verge of " threescore years and
ten," and unable longer to continue the active
labours to which he has been accustomed, he is
about to devote his remaining days to the publication
of his autobiography. The world was familiar
enough with the name of Mr. J. S. Buckingham
some twenty-five or thirty years ago, but lately—
certainly through no fault of his own—it has par-
tially
slipped out of mind, the political agitator being
lost sight of in the unlucky speculator. We are
bound to say, however, that he has done good service
in his day, and it is, perhaps, to be regretted that he
ever abandoned the one subject in which he suc-
ceeded in interesting the public mind—the reform of
the abuses in East Indian administration. Mr.
Buckingham informs us that in the course of his
life lie-has delivered upwards of four thousand
lectures in three hundred different towns of England
and America, and that he has written and published
upwards of a hundred volumes, to say nothing of
pamphlets, contributions to periodical literature,
speeches, &c. Opinions will, of course, differ as to
the value of his labours : in his best days he was
certainly a most agreeable lecturer; his writings
have always been moral and instructive ; he has
worked with zeal and sincerity for the amelioration
of society and the good of mankind; and we hope
that in what will most likely be his latest publication
he will have the good sense to avoid anything
savoring of sectarian prejudice. We quite agree
with him that he has earned a title to repose, though
in higher station men far beyond his years seem to
think that their day of activity has only just begun,
and we shall be sincerely glad to hear that his age
is soothed with the peace and prosperity which, in
his case, the most beneficial of all toil—the toil of the
intellect—well deserves.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
BOOKS.

Philosophers of the Time of George 111. Lord Brougham.
Griffin and Co.
Political Oratory. Do.
Popular Harmony of the Bible. H. M. Wheeler.
Longman&
The Rouse that Jack Built. Cox.

Russia and Her Czars. E. J. Brabazon. Theobald
My Courtship and its Consequences. H. Wykoff.
Clarke and Beeton.
Milton's Parculisc Lost. Books I. and IV. Lougmans.
The Court of England under the Stuart,. Vol. 11.
Bentley.
The Year Book of Facts. J. Timbs. Bogue.

Something to Laugh At. Piper.
The Pathology of Drunkenness. C. Wilson, M.D. Black.
Echoes of the War. H. S. Stokes. Longmans.
Bell on Banking. Do.
The Bulgarian, the Turk, and the German. A. A. Paton.
Do.
Manual o/ Political Science. E. K. Humphreys, LL.D Do.
O'Byrne's Naval Annual. Piper.
The Modern Orlando. Rev. G. Croly, LLD.
Hurst and Blackett.
Transatlantic Wanderings. Capt. Oldinixon. Routledge.
Lays of Love and heroism. E. Darby. Hope =deo.
First Form of Latin Grammar. E. Baines. Do.

Songs qj the War.
Sir J. Franklin.

Ward and Lock.
Longmana.
Ridgway.

Anonymous Journalism.
Diplomatic Mysfiflcations.
Our Civil and Military EA
Osman. Canto I.

Harrison.
Ridgway.
Piper.

_____.. ______ _. •
Reply lo Mr. Bright's Lefler on the War. Ilatchard.
Church Questions. Do.
Remarks on the Nava/ Operations in the Black Sea. Murray.
Inkermann. A Poem. Hope and Co.
Birite-eye View of the Seat of War. Stanford.

SATURDAY,

etc puma.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

A SECOND visit to this theatre has affbrded us an op.
portunity of reviewing our first impressions of Mr.
Kean's impersonation of Louis IX. We regret to
say that our conviction of the inartistic coarseness of
the assumption has been only confirmed by a second
toleration of four of the five acts inflicted on us by
Mr. Bourcicault. Mr. Kean's presentation of the
character resembles nothing so much as the coarsest
sign-painting. A ports sit of majesty suspended in
front of the William the Fourth or the King's
Head, in which the most obvious characteristic
features of the monarch are painted in with ludicrous
exaggeration, and the rest of the face filled up at the
pleasure of the artist, bears the same relation to
a Vandyke or a Reynolds as Mr. Kean's coarse
stage artifice does to the finished art of a great actor.
It is difficult, perhaps, to divide the blame fairly be-
tween the play and the performer—they act and react
each on the other. The part has been evidently
chosen to suit Mr. Kean's peculiar manner, and by
its very suitableness contributes a considerable share
to the exaggerations of the ensemble. To au unpre-
judiced spectator it seems almost impossible that so
commonplace a stage-rascal as Mr. Bourcicault's
Louis, without even cunning enough to conceal his
craft, should have succeeded in over-reaching so
many different persons. To be sure stage-knavery is
carefully supplied with stage-simplicity ; but
the way iu which the inmost secrets of
the mature and cautious Comines, as well
as of the youthful and inexperienced Ilene,
and Dauphin, are draggici to light by the tetchy
inquisitiveness of Louis, is perfectly laughable, and
belongs to no region in heaven or earth but that
peculiar province situated behind the foot-lights.
It is a bit of stage-machinery, rudely contrived, and
ill-concealed. The effect of this absurdity is ex-
aggerated by the broad and obvious physiognomical
expressions of slyness adopted by the actor, the very
shrewd wrinkling of the corners of the eyes, the
remarkably knowing twist of the mouth to one side,
and the ever-recurring wink of triumph with which
the audience are informed confidentially, but quite
obviously to the victim of the trickery, of the final
success of some piece of roguery, evidently perfectly
certain of succeeding from the very first Now,
then, tell me," and as evidently perfectly un-
deserving of success; all in the worst style of the
lowest comedy. The only explanation which we can
give of the extraordinary effect of all these absurdi-
ties on the audience, is the supposition that Mr.
Kean's hearers are prone to imagine that the tricks
which they would be the last to suffer with patience
from an ordinary comic actor, ought to be not only
tolerated, but applauded, when they receive the
sanction of a man of his position and reputation,
believing, against their better judgment, that these
unworthy artifices must have something more
admirable in them that they have hitherto been
allowed to possess. Mr. Kean carries the system
of strong daubing into the smallest details ;
his make-up, for example, containing some few
inconsistencies which produce rather ludicrous re-
sults : his face, in repose, appears to be that of a
man well advanced in years, the mouth being drawn
downwards and lengthened at the corners; but as
soon as the expression changes, especially when the
actor assumes a look of gratification, we are startled
by the sudden appearance of a face at least twenty
years the junior of the physiognomy which it replaces,
one of the " aids to old age" being distinctly visible
in two strong vertical lines running downwards from
the corners of the mouth on each side. A common
effect of excitement on a face past middle life is a
surprising change to youthfulness of expression, but
we never remember to have seen so great an amount
of years removed from any face by any amount of
excitement, except occasionally in an apparently aged
street beggar on the approach of a policeman. On
the remarkable pronunciation of English and French
adhered to by Mr. Kean we retain our original
opinion. It is difficult to give an idea of the curious
effect of his voice end articulation to those to whom
they are unfamiliar, while those who have heard and
do not admire them will acknowledge that our friend
' Mr. Punch's "sibultadeous actiod" only represents one
phase of Mr. Kean's cacophony—itvarieties are end-
less. Majesty in its familiar moods talks in the voice
and manner of a cabman, while in the exercise of high
official functions it seems to be seized, for the occa-
sion, with a violent cold in the head ; true, it is the
catarrh of a superior nature, a most kingly snuffle,
, but still most unmistakably a veritable catarrh.
Pathos whines (with closed eyelids) to the accom-
• paniment of a slight bronchitis, while Rage scream',
• in some inconceivable manner, through an invisible
' nose. We have heard it rumoured that the elm-
tional training of the royal children is to be intrust. d
to Mr. Kean. This is, probably, but an idle report;.
but, if it be true, we cannot help saying that, in spite
of our loyal attachment to the throne, we sincerely
hope that we may never have the misfortune of being

FEBRUARY 17, 1855.

present at the delivery of one of the royal speeches
from it, after the end of the present reign. Poor
Miss Heath is addressed as " Mabry" by everybody,
including her lover " Nummores ;" /howls and
St. Denis are represented by " Dewnoah" and " San
Denny " by Mr. Kean ; while he speaks with evident
delight of the healthy state of his muscular system
under the alias of "these thues." "Take um," "pay
um," and " make um drunk," are perhaps inten-
tionally substituted for "take them," Vic., as more ex-
pressive of the rough familiarity of Louie, so we will
say no more about them; but they are very disagree-
able vulgarities nevertheless. Among those parts of
scenes in which Mr. Kean appears to us to be below
the situation in intensity, we would mention the de-
scription of the horrors of his remorseful life : there
was a want of imagination in the delivery of the
speech. Louis could not have been so tame and so
cold in the dreadful detail of his sufferings, which
were real and terrible; more especially as he makes
them his claim to absolution with a view to the
miraculous prolongation of bis days. Mr. Koan's
enumeration of his tortures was little more than a
mere recital of bad dreams, in which he seemed to
take no very especial interest. To conclude with
something we cordially admire, we regard the actor's
expression when he discovers from Marie that Revel
is Nemours as a very fine combination of cunning
and triumphant spite; such intensity of mean hate,
and such promise of cruel vengeance, have rarely
been concentrated into any human face: the look was
astounding, and for a moment seemed perfectly
demoniacal.