The Press.
London, England, 1854-06-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Captain Wilbraham, in his " Travels in the Caucasus,"
relates the following, which is a case in point :—" 1 at-
tended the Emperor's levee at Tiflis, and was presented;
after me came my friend Suwaroff. On his name being
announced the Empesor immediately exclaimed that it did
not please him to see the grandson of the Prince Suwaroff
Italisky in other than a military uniform ; whereupon my
friend had to kiss hands and to become a soldier nolena
voices. This struck me as rather an arbitrary mode of
changing a man's profession, especially when he has for
many years been following some other line, and has, per-
haps, no inclination for a military life."
The Russian workmen are good imit4tors,
rather in the Chinese style. Who would not
imagine this story to be told of a " celestial " ?
was much amused by the copying propensities of the
man from whom I ordered a leather strap. To give him,
as I thought, a notion of what I wanted, I cut a strip of
paper of the width and length I wished it to be, and snipped
a few holes for the tongue of the buckle without much pre-
cision. When it came home it was a perfect facsimile of
my pattern, notched at the edge, all the holes crooked, and
at different distances from each other. But this is a trifle
to the anecdote related by a summer tourist of a pianoforte
made by a man who had never seen but one in his life—
curious, if true. Conversing one day on this subject with a
Russian, a Frenchman who was standing by said to my
companion, " I never heard of your having ever invented
anything but the somovar " (the Russian tea-urn). The
Frenchman was a competent judge, and had been twenty-
five years in the country.

English, French, and German employes
abound everwhere. They are of course re-
garded with jealousy by the natives, but their
services cannot be dispensed with. Official
employment, especially, is almost monopolised
by Germans. 10f the lower or servile class
Captain Jesse tells us little except what other
authors had made known. Dirt and degrada-
tion seem their universal lot, though some rise
to wealth by their industry, even while nomi-
nally enslaved. Here is a pleasant account
of domestic management in a Russian house-
hold :
One morning, while occupied in writing a letter, a very
odd squirting kind of noise outside the door attracted my
attention, and at length worried me so that I left my desk
and went out into the passage to ascertain the cause.
Here I found my neighbour's housemaid quietly ironing
her mistress's lace collars and caps, so this did not account
for it. I therefore re-entered my room, but had scarcely
got seated at my desk when I heard the noise again
" whist, whist ; " I looked out once more, and caught the
abigail in the very act of filling her mouth with water,
which she discharged over a richly-embroidered muslin
dress, to damp it before ironing. This, to make the spray
fall evenly from between her teeth, was done with a good
deal of method, by first puffing out her cheeks, and then
slapping them sharply with both hands.

We hear enough, and something too much,
of alleged acts of violence and brutality on
the part of Russian masters. That such occur
no man doubts, for when was absolute power
not abused ? But Russians might retaliate
upon us by a recapitulation of the wife-beating
and child-murdering cases which fill our
police reports.
Captain Jesse was allowed to visit Se-
bastopol and examine the fortifications
without molestation from the authorities.
His description of them is too long to
quote. The whole number of guns mounted
is twelve hundred ; and it is said that there
is no point in or near the harbour which is
not commanded by at least sixty pieces of
heavy calibre. All the works are casemated.
The means of ventilation seemed insufficient,
and the walls are built of soft stone. Not-
withstanding this defect they seemed formida-
bly strong, each fort supporting, and being
supported by, the rest.

Cyclopedia of Biography. Edited by Elihtt Rich.

London: Griffin and Co.
A COMMENDABLE attempt to comprise within the
limits of a volume of portable bulk a comprehensive
dictionary of biography. The size of the book is
convenient, and amongst its contributors are some of
the most eminent writers of the day. Alison has
assisted in the department of history; Brewster in
that of the sciences; and Professor Spalding in that
of literature. Sbakspeare is, however, very properly
considered the property cf r. Charles Knight, and
from his pen, within the limits of three columns, is
comprised all that can be said with certainty of the
great bard. Compression in such a work is neces-
sary, but we are unable to discover the principle
which has regulated the distribution of space.
Undue preference has, we think, been given to men
of thought over men of action. It may be right that
Dr. Robertson should occupy nearly a column, but
why dismiss Maurice of Saxony in a couple of
lines? Minute details of Milton's life are given to
the extent of five columns, while Graham of Clever-
house, Viscount Dundee, is dismissed in three lines

SATARDAy.

as "commander of the cavalry serving in snood
"against the Covenanters." 14von In the comparison
of men of action with each other like disparity ap-
pears. The career of Cromwell, measured by the
length of his biography, is of less importance than
that of the late General Sir C. J. Napier. The
volume, however, so far as we have tested it, is
" comprehensive" as respects the great number oft
names introduced, and is certainly cheap and con-
venient. It is illustrated with numerous woodcuts
of birthplaces, dwellings, monuments, dlc. The,
may be entitled to the praiskor. Accuracy, but we are
decidedly of opinion that thy 'pace thus occupied
might have been more usefully

The Governing Classes of Great stain. Polite
Portraits. By Edward M. Citty. London
Triibner and CO.
THESE characters of nineteen political personages of
the day originally appeared in the columns of a
weekly contemporary, and, as mere newspaper
sketches, might have escaped criticism ; but the
author justifies their appearance in a collected
form

" on the ground that they were written with a consistent
political purpose, and that the topic is a permanent
topic—viz., the governmental system of Great Britain."

The book abounds in paradox, and the author
attempts rather to dazzle than to define. He gives
a portrait of his hero in pitch, that he may
more amaze the reader by showing the diffe
aspect it will present when a few vivid touched
light are dashed in. For instance, at page 14
Lord Aberdeen is described :
"Not a saying of his is in vogue : not a speech of his is
remembered : not a despatch of lea byes. Up to 18,53 he
was regarded as a Tory : in 1843 he is believed to be the
chief of rather a liberal Administration: hut the enlightened
country is in doubt. Half a century in public life, Lord Aber-
deen has not had the good fortues4o connect himself with
a single great measure, good or bad. 4 Except, perhaps, the
last—the Coalition."

A page or two afterwards the " mental grandeur"
and the "large and lofty considerations" of this
nonentity are seriously dwelt upon :
" We can all remember Lord John Russell's greatly.
cheered insinuation at him that he was, in office, not
the Minister of England alone, but also the Minister of
Austria, and Russia, and France; and, properly considered,
such a sneer from so merely British a man is a great coin•
pliment to Lord Aberdeen, as showing how largeand lofty
are his considerations in political action."
Again, it is said that he failed to settle the Scotch
Church crisis " simply because his intellect was too
" comprehensive to understand the earnestness on
" small points which influenced paridt heroes such
"as Dr. Chalmers (!'l on that occasion." This con-
tempt for small points, which led to failure in that
instance, has resulted in success in the greater coup,
the Coalition, we presume from a similar cause, viz.,
that he "could not understand the earnestness on
" small points which" separates Dr. Sumner from
Cardinal Wiseman. Mr. Whitty appears yet more
lamentably deficient in biographical and historical
knowledge than in discrimination:—

"Throughout the Peninsular war," he says, "only
Paget, of the whole peerage connection, got a first
position; and, in India's military service, no lordly name
is known since Wellesley. In diplomacy we may count
Lord William Bentinck as the only great man that has
turned up from the peerage in behalf of the British people.
In the Church what honourable, beyond Mr. Noel, ever
gained even a respectable place ? At the bar Mr. Norton
(through Mrs. Norton) got a metropolitan court, and Mr.
Wortley, by cultivating a knowledge of fish dinners, be-
came City Recorder."
It would be an insult to the reader to point out the
gross errors contained in this passage. What is to
be thought of a writer who ignores the name of
Wellington in connection with the Peninsular war,
and of Thomas Erskine in the roll of eminent
barristers? In other parts of these sketches there
are attempts at facetiousness and cynicism, the
former indicating a close study of nasally *ll4 the
latter a servile imitation of Mr. ThsaberilA abets.

The Industry of the United States. London : Ront.

lodge and Co.
THIS little volume is compiled from the official re-
ports of Messrs. Whitworth and Wallis. It might be
improved by diagrams, illustrating novelties or im-
provements in the construction of machinery.

Sacred History. Edited by the Rey. J. P. Chambers.

London : Hope and Co.
A JUDICIOUS compendium of ecclesiastical history,
intended to mark, as in a chart, the bold outline of its
course. Bossuet was of opinion that a history was
half learnt when its table of contents was mastered.
Such outlines, however, should be discreetly used,
as, without reference to ulterior teaching, they are
the mere dry bones of historical knowledge.