The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-24 00:00:00

'VVE PREEtI; JULY 24,' 1858.

I to rescue my old favourite of " Waly, witty," from
deseetation; for it really would be desecrated, and a sad
slur would be thrown upon the integrity of ancient Scottish
song, if it could be proved that a duty which has been long
esteemed as a gem of our minstrelsy, was a mere adapts.
thin of certain verses excised from a ballad, the true
subject of which was not ascertained until thirty years ago.
Opinions will differ, perhaps, as to this restora-
tion of "The Marchioness of Douglas," and
we should like an explanation of the change of
dresses harped on in the second and third stanzas.
These stanzas seem to us like different readings,
but we have no doubt that " Waly, Waly," was
the anterior poem.
We were rather surprised to find "Annie
Laurie" printed amongst these ballads. Is it not
a song ? But we are glad to have the following
note on it :
This air is so very popular, that I am tempted to give
the original words, the more so as they are not contained
in our best musical repertory, Johnson s Museum. They
were composed by Douglas of Fingland, in honour of Miss
Laurie of Maxwelton. sometime previous to the Revolntion
of 1.688 ; bat in this instance the course of love did not run
smooth, for the lady married Fergusson of Craigdarroch.
The modern version is somewhat expanded, but it has been
very skilfully constructed, as, with greater polish of diction,
it retains the simplicity of the original. I hirer eitrated
the following verses from Mr. Sharpe's Rallad-lick*:•''
The air has had a marvellous renaissance of late
years, and its extreme popularity with our brave
soldiers in the Crimea was an interesting circum-
stance.
One of the finest poems in those volumes is
cited in the preliminary introduction. It is front
the pen of an old Scottish poet, lienryson, whose
" Fables " are soon to be published by Mr.
David Laing :
THE ABBAY WALK.
Alone as I went up and down
In ane abbey was fair to see,
Thinking what consolatioun
Was best in all adversitie ;
ri, On case I cast aside mine e'e,
rf„, And saw this written on a wall—
In what estate, man, that thou be,
"tin Obey, and thank thy God for all.
' to Thy kingdom and thy great empire,
!t`l'' Thy royalty, nor rich array, •
fl Shall not endure at thy desire, it
iT But, as the wind, will wend away
Thy gold, and all thy goodes gay,
When fortune list will Ira thee fall
Sin' thou sic samples sees ilk day, II
Obey, and thank thy God for all. 'ld
Job was most rich, in writ we find -141
Tobde most full of charitee ; •
' Job waxed poor, and Tobee blind t•(/.
Baith tempted with adveraitie. Inc
p 4 Sin' blindness was intirmiiie,
And povertie was natural,
K).l
Bight patiently baith he and he /if
,
Obey'd, and thanked God for all. •hor
Though thou he blind or have an halt, '
Or in thy face deformed ill,
) 51 • So it come not through thy default,
Ira No man should thee reprief by skill.
Blame not thy Lord, so is His will ;
r . Spurn not thy foot against the wall ;
1 But with meek heart and prayer still
Obey, and thank thy God for all.
God of His justice main correct,
And of His mercy pity have;
He is ane Judge, to mane suspect,
To punish sinful man and save.
Though thou be. lord attonr the lave,
And afterward made bound and thrall,
' "t' A poor beggar with scrip and stave,
tdf.:. Obey, and thank thy God for all.
olLs This changing and great variance
Of earthly states up and down,
1 PI Comes neither through fortune nor chance,
ro As some men says without reasonn,
bid lint by the great provisioun
' Of God above that rule thee shall ;
rite`'' Therefore thou ever make thee bonne
'to obey, and thank thy God f 4. all.
We will return to the second of these most
interesting volumes on another: asp

!TY

ipsirf

.1 lad

ifmt.tiM

,I) t

lirri

•1

41/ kid rt

).• P,4

il 374,:r"

The Clergyman's Legal Handbook. By James
Murray Dale. London : Seeleys.

EXCEPT the subjects which belong to very high
mathematics or very deep metaphysics, Law is
the only craft or science which has till lately
remained unvisited by the popular genius that
presides over handbooks and compendiums. That
mysterious fortress—with its mouldering but
firm walls of mediaeval tradition, and its modern
fortifications, in the shape of tortuous acts of
Parliament—long withheld its treasures from the
unprofessional barbarian, forbidden to approach
save through glacis, drawbridge, rampart, and
portcullis, to the purlieus of its central citadel. The

703

Englishman's knowledge of his probable legal re-
dress or security could only be attained through
the complex machinery of solicitors, counsel and
courts, judgments and appeals, wigs, gowns, and
fees; the cabalistic works in which this informa-
tion was enshrined being to him in general as
unintelligible as gramarye to Sir William of
Deloraine. That enlightened seneschal, how-
ever, the Lord of St. Leonardo, has thrown open
a pastern door, by which access is given to the
inner ballium if not to the keep itself; and
others, equally condescending if less authorita-
tively competent, have followed his example in
setting wide other avenues by which a know-
ledge, at least, may be gained of the rights and
I wrongs which law enables us to maintain or
avoid, or forces us to repair. Still, however, the
well-known maxim must not be forgotten which
describes the quality of that person's client who
is his own lawyer. No doubt every one is, in
some sense, either a fool or a lawyer at forty, just
as he is a fool or a physician at that age, but he
would be as little safe in tampering with his
estate in the one case as with his constitution in
the other. The modicum of truth contained in
the saying amounts probably to this,—that by a
good deal of generally rather unpleasant ex-
perience, a man, by the time he reaches middle
life, becomes aware of what he can consume with
impunity and what kind of symptoms demand the
assistance of the regular practitioner; whether
it is a matter for sal volatile and soda water at
one shilling, or for blisters and blood-letting at
one guinea. In like manner, any one who owns
a bit of land, or fills a public situation, or ac-
cepts the office of a trustee, or is in the habit of
doing little bills, or of flirting with young women
of the middle classes, burns his fingers often
enough to cause him to give the legal furnace a
wide berth for the future. Like Mr. Guppy, he
knows at last where to stop, and what he may
communicate " without prejudice." Such a
man's experience, if methodized and digested,
though it might form but a slender stock in trade
for learned brethren, would unquestionably be
very useful to the community at large, for it
would instruct them when learned brethren
ought to be applied to, or, still better, how they
may avoid having to apply to learned brethren
at all. And this amount and kind of assistance
is all that handbooks ought to profess to give,
certainly all that any one ought to look for in
them. Considered as vade mecums through all
the intricacies of law, they are highly pernicious ;
considered as manuals of useful cautions respect-
ing the province of law in our affairs, they are
highly useful, and deserve encouragement.
Mr. Dale's little volume will supply a want
which we believe has been very generally felt.
Clergymen are, from the nature of their educa-
tion, perhaps somewhat less likely than other
men to gain usettil legal experience, and though
they generally become sharp enough on such
matters in process of time, it is not without an
immense deal of squabbling with all sorts and
conditions of men, from the untitled aristocrat
who disturbs the congregation by poking the fire
in his pew, to the bedridden old pauper who
expects the parson to form a perpetual audience
for the history of his rheumatiz. This unpleasant
road to a knowledge of the laws of one's country
may probably be avoided by consulting some
such manual as the present, which condenses into
a compact and intelligible form the substance of
many larger and more elaborate works. It is not
intended for the processional student, but we sus-
pect there is a good deal in it which even he will
not find elsewhere so shortly and clearly put.
We happen to have had the opportunity of com-
paring this work with others on one or two points,
and are able to testify in its favour as having pre-
sented the lbllest and most condensed informa-
tion. We may refer to the section upon the
liabilities of incumbents, and to that upon the
formalities to be observed in marriage, as in-
stances of what we mean. Mr. Dale, who holds
the appointment of secretary and solicitor to the
New Parishes' Association, and of vestry clerk to
one of this class of parishes, has been practically
conversant with the wants and wishes of those
for whom he labours, and they will doubtless ap-
preciate his services at their just value. Ifs
book is methodically distributed, embracing the
subjects of the clergy, the churches, the offices of
the church, and its officers ; their property and
privileges, and the offences and penalties affecting
them. There is no index, but the table of con-

,4

704

tents is so Rill that the want is not felt. We
have only observed one omission, viz., the defini-
tion of what constitutes "a title to orders "
which seems to be required at page 2. Where
the whole of a book is of a thoroughly practical
nature, it is difficult to choose extracts ; but the
following specimens, relating to the lively sub-
jects of burial and simony, will give some idea
of the manner in which Mr. Dale has performed
his task :