The Press.
London, England, 1854-01-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

tionable, unless for mere amusement. We saw
a goodly company, not long since, who were
all versed in French plays and Italian operas,
puzzled at the question, " In what play occurs
the exclamation, What will Mrs. Grundy
say? " Hero the puzzled fair ones might
at once have learned that it was from a fa-
vourite drama of their grandmothers—Morton's
Speed the Plough—now rarely acted on the
London stage. In fact, this little work might
be found a help at round games, and its pre-
sence just now is not unseasonable. It would
puzzle many not versed in political reading
to know where Mr. O'Connell s " Derby Dilly"
quotation was taken from. Tho compiler hero
marks it from " The Poetry or the Anti-
Jacobin," rightly pointing the place in the
" Loves of the Triangles "—which he attributes
to the pen of Mr. Calming. Wo have heard it
disputed whether Mr. Canning wrote that par-
ticular poem, but the compiler might have sup-
plied a note as to who used the quotation first.
The history of its getting into the mouth of
Mr. O'Connell (who was very little versed in
poetical literature) is not a little curious.
There was a well known wit, a member of the

Irish bar, who condescended to follow Mr.
O'Connell as one of his " tail " into Parliament
—the late Mr. Dominick ltonayne, the mem-
ber for Clonmel. He was a very clever epi-
grammatist, and wrote and said a great many
►ood things in his day. Knowing in 1835 that
Mr. O'Connell was going to speak in a debate
just at the period of the fatal " Lichfield-
house compact," Mr. Ronayne showed Mr.
O'Connell the quotation in a work containing
fragments of Canning's speeches anal writings,
but Mr. O'Connell did not at first think that
there was any point in it. Afterwards, how-
ever, he brought it out in debate, delivering it
with his customary humour, and• the phrase
was caught up by the mouth of faction just as
afterwards the words of Lord Denman's judg-
ment—" a delusion, a mockery, and a snarl.'
So whimsical and trivial are often the origin-
ating circumstances of popular quotations.
There is another line of Mr. Camping's, taken
from " The Friend to Humanity "
Story ! Lord bless you! I have none to tell, sir.
This quotation has got much familiarity from
Sir Walter Scott's repeated use of it in his
novels. But there aro some more of Mr. Can-
ning's which are frequently quoted, though
we do not find them cited. hero. Out of the
212 pages in this little volume, Pope occupies
nineteen ; nor are we surprised at the space
given to him by the Compiler, when we rseol-
lect how proverbial many of his couplets have
become. Shakspeare has had sixty-four pages
allotted to him, more than a quarter of the
volume. We would have prefeired the omis-
sion from a work of this kind of the text from
Holy Writ, which, as " Quotations from the
Old and New Testament," the compiler has
given to the extent of only eighteen pages.
But we cannot rely upon the judgment of the
Compiler. We suspect that he is too young in
years for the execution of a work of this kind,
which would be best performed by an author
having thirty years' familiarity with the current
literature of the ago. Several of his lines
cannot be called " quotations." Thus, under
the head of " Pope " we find him printing :
All forms that perish, other forms supply
Ity turns we eatch the vital breath and die):
Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne,
They rise, they break, and to that sea return.

These lines, from the " Essay on Man," have
not the popular currency of " a quotation." We
find only four taken from "The Dunciad," no
reference being made to the admirable line
Sleepless himself to give his reader sleep.
Or to the witty one
Downwards to climb, and backwards to advance !
Only four are given from Sheridan, and but
one from Burke ! Dean Swift has but three
quotations assigned to him ! The Compiler
leaves out of Goldsmith's humorous (but in-
correct) character of Burke one of its most
noted lines :
And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining.
Under " Cowper" we find him citing the
lines in which the poet referred to the then
recent decision of Lord Mansfield :
Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lung-
Receive our air, that moment they are free.
They tread our country, and their shackle* fall.

17

We recollect Mr. Croker warty years ago, in
criticising au "uncorrected" edition of " Cur•
mu's Speeches," taunting the orator with hav-
ing taken his famous passage of " The Slave "
in his address for Hamilton Rowan from the
above-cited lines of Cowper, which are only
interesting from their connection with that
oft-recited passage. Under "linty "we find
ten quotations selected from the " Elegy "
alone, and the compiler's selection iu this in
stance is perfectly just. We have seen per
sous of considerable scholarship sorely puzzled
on being asked to mune the poem In which
occur the lines :

was love that taught bluff Harry to be wise,
And gospel light first froiu Hole3ii'r (yes.

They could not find them in the coinmonly-
published editions of Gray. Thu compiler of
this work should have gone into the literary
history of that striking couplet. Gray had
meditated a poem on the Reformation, and
had filled up its argument, in itself a very
curious piece of philosophical thinking. After
his death there was found iu his desk, written
on a scrap of paper, what Horace Walpole calls
" an admirablo verse" :

Anil gospel light first floA/i'd from ltoleyti's eyes.
But Walpole cites the line erroneously, whirs
WitS Still better, and ran. iu the original llldllU-
script
Autl gospel light first dawned frum eyes.
What exact authority there is for the first lino
of the couplet wo do not know, as have
seen it differently printed in various editions
of Gray. But the Compiler puts it down
thus.—

When love could teach a nionanth to be wise,

And gospel light &at dawn'd hum flulien's rye*.
The grammatical connection between these
lines is not sufficiently close to please the fas
tidiously-correct judgment of Gray. How the
verse with " blutillarry " (as we first quoted
it) came into popular circulation is not a little
remarkable. Turning to another quotation,
we have seen sonic ripe English scholars at
fault for the original of tho line :
Throw lint a stone, the giant dies.
The Compiler copies from (;reen's poem, "The
Spleen," the following verses :
To cure the wind's wrong bias, spleen,
Sumo recommend die bewling-grevii,
Sums hilly walks ; all, vim-rise.
Threw bet a stems, the yiunt dies

But enough of this volume, which may have
amusement, and even utility, for some readers.
We may add that it is very neatly printed, and
that it has the adva►►tage of a very good index.
It may be most advantageously enlarged in its
future editions.

Poetical Works of John Dryde►►. Edited by
Robert Bell. ♦'ol. I. London : J. W. Parker
and son.
IT would be premature to discuss Mr. Hell's
merits as an editor of Dryden until he has
completed his task, but we may mention as
preliminary to a duty which will devolve upon
us hereafter, that the present volume contains
some incdited letters of the poet himself, and
of Honor and Ann Dryden. Its publication
is an instalment of • complete annotated
edition of the English poets, a desideratum as
yet unsupplied, and of which we shall watch
the further pursuit with interest. Its preten-
sions to "typographical elegance and economy
of price" are obvious. For such a volume we
have hitherto paid double the rice at which
this is published and we cordially hope that
the taste, liberality. and enterprise employed
in its production will be remunerated.

A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast.
By Philip Henry (fosse. London : Van
Voorst.
DEvossiima is certainly one of the most
delightful parts of England. Apart from the
loveliness of its seacoast scenery, many of its
internal views (and we have travelled nearly
the greater part of it) almost equally deserve
the notice of the lover of the picturesque. It
has many historical associations, as its ancient
castles testify, and not a few memorable
events (amongst others, the landing of King
William) have occurred w
ustlithin ita borders
the
The DCYOIIi4OIO, alao, jy boast of

■

18

number of eminent names which they can re-

count.
Mr. Gosse, however, has viewed Devonshire
chiefly as a naturalist, and we have derived
great pleasure in following his researches.
His name will probably be familiar to many of
our readers, and certainly so to those who have
seen the Aqua-vivarium in the Zoological
Gardens, Regent's-park. Mr. Gosse, indeed,
in his present volume, claims to be the ori-
ginator of marine vivaria, a point which we
will not now discuss. But for those who wish
to study well the mollusks—starfishes, jelly-
fishes, &c.—that are to be seen at the Zoolo-
gical Gardens, we could not recommend a
more interesting and useful volume than the
present. The sea anemones have doubtless
been often admired by some of our readers,
and Mr. Gosse is peculiarly minute and cir-
cumstantial in his account of them. He thus
describes the mode of taking " the daisy
anemone" :
All along this line of limestone rock, in almost every
tide-pool and hollow that retains the sea-water, from the
size of one's hand upwards, we may at any time find
colonies of the lovely daisy anemone, Article bellia. In
the sunshine of a fair day they expand beautifully, and you
may see them studding the face of the rock just beneath
the surface, from the size of a shilling to that of a crown.
piece. Nothing seems easier than to secure them, but no
sooner do the fingers touch one, than its beautifully cir-
cular disc begins to curl and pucker its margin, and to in-
curve it in the form of a cup ; if further annoyed, the rim
of this cup contracts more and more, until it closes, and
the animal becomes globose and much diminished, re.
ceding all the time from the assault, and retiring into the
rock. Presently you discover that you can no longer touch
it at all: it is shrunk to the bottom of its hole ; the sharp
irregular edges of which project and furnish a stony de.
fence to the inhebitant. Nothing will do but the chisel,
and this is by no means easy of appliance. It is rare that
the position of the hole is such as to allow of both arms
working with ease ; the rock is under water, and often, if
your chisel is short, it is wholly immersed during the
work, when every blow which the hammer strikes upon its
head has to fall upon a stratum of water, which splashes
forcibly into your eyes and over your clothes ; the rock is
very hard, and the chisel makes little impression ; and
what is frequently the greatest disappointment of all, the
powdery debris produced by the bruising of the stone
mingles with the water and presently makes it perfectly
opaque, as if a quantity of powdered chalk had been mixed
with it, so that you cannot see how to direct the blows, you
cannot discern whether you have uncovered the Article or
not, and frequently are obliged to give up the attempt
when nearly accomplished, simply because you can neither
see hole nor Articln and as to feeling in the pap-like mud
that your implement has been making, it is out of the
question. Supposing, however, that you have got on
pretty well, that by making a current in the pool with
your hand you have washed away the clouded water suffi-
ciently to see the whereabouts, and that you perceive that
another well-directed blow or two will split off the side of
the cavity, you have now to take care so to proportion
the force, that at last you may neither crush the animal
with the chisel on the one hand, nor on the other drive it
off so suddenly that it shall fall with the fragment to the
bottom of the pool out of reach.
Tho following remarks are well worthy the
attention of those who make use of the micro-
scope :
And very often indeed, just as I had got my glass to the
focus, and my eye to the glass, after waiting perhaps for a
quarter of an hour,—before I could get a glance with suffi-
cient distinctness to impress an image on my eye for de-
lineation, the fish would dart over to the other side, and
leave me to exercise patience for another quarter.
This is the perpetual experience of those who draw
living animals with the microscope. The camera lucida is
an admirable aid for motionless forms, but it is power-
less for such as are agile and fitful. Nor is the case of
those minute creatures that are viewed through the com-
pound microscope at all better than that of my pipe-fish
watched through a lens held in the fingers. In order to
see it to advantage, you must allow your zoophyte or
annelide space sufficient to expand or move in ; when, if
it be a lively species, probably, just as you have got it steady
enough to delineate the first two or three lines, away it
suddenly starts, its position is quite changed, the relation
of its parts to your eye is altered, or perhaps it shoots clean
off, out of the field of vision.
A few local anecdotes and some descrip-
tions of scenery are interspersed in the
volume, but Mr. Gosse's merit is as a natural-
ist, and not a writer. Ho fails when ho
attempts to describe the picturesque, for
his enthusiasm is essentially scientific, and
not festhetical. His admiration for the poetry
of Southey, which he is perpetually quoting,
shows want of literary acumen. From his
anecdotes wo select the following account of

THE PRESS.

weathers. On the occasion I speak of, a morning in
autumn, she had boldly, nay rashly, sought her favourite
amusement, though a gale of wind was blowing, and the
foaming sea was breaking in furious violence almost to the
very top of the wall.
The fishermen and idlers on the quay were just going
to their breakfasts, when the sister of the swimmer rushed
out of the house with a scream of distress. " A lady is
drowning behind ! who will save her ?" was her eager de•
mand, as she passed one young man after another. None
replied, for the weather was tremendous ; till a poor shoe-
maker offered himself. " I'll save her, if I can, ' said he ;
and he followed her swiftly through the house and yard to
the head of the steps.

• • • • • •
As soon as he had secured the lady's hold of the rope,
he sought the shore for himself, but scarcely had he swam
half a dozen strokes, when the spectators on shore beheld
his arms suddenly cease their vigorous play and hang
down ; his legs too sank into the same pendent posture,
and his head dropped upon his breast, with the face sub-
merged. Thus he continued to float for a short time, but
moved no more. He had been subject to occasional
swooning fits, from a severe blow which he had received
on the head some time before ; and his brother, from
whose mouth I received these details, conjectured that one
of his attacks had suddenly come upon him, his predis-
position being perhaps aggravated by his having gone out
without having broken his fast.
The tide soon carried the body away out of sight; efforts
were made as soon as practicable to recover it by drag-
ging ; and it was once hooked and brought to the surface,
but before it could he hauled into the boat it sank again,
and it was not till more than a fortnight after that it was
found at Comb-Martin, some five miles to the eastward.
Nothing could exceed the distress of the lady at the
death of her courageous deliverer : for awhile she appeared
inconsolable, and the effect of the whole transaction is
said to have been a permanent melancholy. Her gratitude
was shown in providing for the widow and children of her
benefactor, who continue to this day her pensioners.
The illustrative plates to this volume are
excellent. It is a book well adapted for being
given as a present to young naturalists, and
it is not without many attractions and much
information for persons more advanced in
scientific pursdits.

High and Low. A Novel. By the Hon. Henry
Coke, Author of " A Ride over the Rocky
Mountains." Hurst and Blackett.
WE have had a more uneasy course in follow-
ing Mr. Coke through his crudely-executed
volumes than if we had accompanied him over
the " Rocky Mountains." Our progress, how-
ever, was not very exhilarating, and his " high "
scenes had no sublimity or serene beauty to
please the moral eye, while his " low" land
stapes were excessively disagreeable, from the
intrusion of very nasty persons to whom he
introduced us on the route. In a first attempt
at fiction it is just as well for apprentice
novelists not to put their names upon the
titlepage, and we do not think that the histo-
rical name of " Coke " will receive any addi-
tional lustre from the publication of these very
hasty sketches. The plot has no reality, and
several of its incidents are very commonplace.
The hero, Pierce More, is the lover of a
certain Lady Eda Longvale, who is possessed
of all the prescriptive charms of heroines.
Amongst his acquaintances is one Gerard
Winter, who is a very odious person, and who
is described at the end of the first volume as
actually " hocussing " his friend More. It is
no wonder, therefore, that the hero himself
must not be a very desirable acquaintance
when we find him in such company. He is
decidedly a very flagrant specimen of what is
commonly called " a loose fish." In order to
make him more interesting he is represented
as a sceptic, who is gradually cured of his
infidelity by being transformed into a Sod-
Man ! Anything more truly ridiculous in a
novel we never read than the " Mr. Gregory "
who is here presented as the Mentor of Pierce
More. This Mr. Gregory has made up his
mind about the metaphysical question of the
origin of evil, but he is opposed to the eternal
duration of future punishments :
He heartily beseeched God fur pardon if he had deceived
himself, and as earnestly prayed that, if in error, his
opinion might not mislead others. Still, what he believed
to be truth he did not shrink from avowing.
"with regard to a future state, he considered the doc-
trine of unlimited punishment depended for credence, not
the lbed to - • Lord and the

SATIIIIDAY,

Hebrew language, affording a possibility that the awful
sentence passed by Christ upon sinners may not generally
be understood by us in the sense He intended; and the
consideration of the benign attributes of the Supreme
Being—all, as he believed, united to support the doctrine
that the terms ' eternal' and ' everlasting' did not neces•
sarily signify unlimited punishment."
To which passage the author has appended the
following note :
For such passages, and for the more complete exposition
of this part of the argument, the author refers the reader
to Southwood Smith's admirable treatise upon the Divine
Government.

We cannot accept Southwood Smith as a
fitting expositor of " Divine government."
But the fact of introducing such suggestions
into a novel is proof of want of invention in
the writer. " High and Low " will not repay
perusal, nor justify further critical notice.

Works of Samuel Warren. Vol. I. Diary of a
Late Physician. London : Blackwood and
Sons.
Tills is the first volume of the collected works
of the popular author of " Ten Thousand a
Year." The form of this edition is in thick
octavo volumes, containing 500 pages, printed
in double columns, and the type is remarkably
clear. We have no doubt that the reprints of
so popular an author as Mr. Warren is will be
completely successful. He has all the merits
that we look for iu a popular romancist.
A style nervous and fluent, thrilling incidents,
and vivid colouring, commend him to popular
tastes. His writings are deeply tinged with
religious spirit, and have nearly all the colour
of the French school of fiction, without its
poisonous philosophy. They have been com-
plained of as too melodramatic and exaggerated,
but the same charge might be preferred, some
think, with more force against Mr. Dickens.
Cavillers and snarlers against the genius of
this gifted author must admit that all his
writings are stamped with an individuality
essentially his own. In the new preface to
" The Diary of a late Physician " the author
tells the following anecdote
He hopes he may be pardoned for stating that an excel-
lent nobleman, since dead, was so much interested iu one
of these papers, " The Martyr Philosopher," that he wrote
to the late Mr. lilackwood, asking permission to reprint it
separately, at his own expense, for extensive circulation
among the upper classes of society ; declaring that he hint-
self should never forget the effect which it had produced
upon his own mind and heart. Such incidents as this—
the approbation of wise and good men—richly reward
writers who aim, however humbly, to do good.
" The Diary of a Physician " is one of the
few reprints of " tales" that has been success-
ful. But there is a unity of purpose and a
variation of uniformity in its stories that make
all its parts assimilate into an artistic whole.

The Ancient Egyptian. Revised and Abridged
Edition. By Sir Gardner Wilkinson. 2
vols. London : Murray.

THE original edition of this standard work was
published upwards of twenty years since,
and it has been often reprinted. To our
taste the edition now before us is the best that
has ever appeared. Nothing material has been
omitted from the larger edition, and we ob-
serve that several recent discoveries are duly
chronicled iu the text of the present work. In
fact, we think that the word " abridged" ought
to be removed from the titlepage, as calculated
to give an erroneous impression. The author
has revisited Egypt, and the present edition
has all the advantage of those second thoughts
which are so requisite for giving value to his-
torical and philosophical works. He says in
his preface:-
- _ .

I have here and there introduced some remarks relating
to the Greeks, thinking that a comparison of the habits
and arts of other people, with those of the Egyptians, may
be interesting ; and the impulse now given to taste in
England has induced me to add some observations on de-
corative art, as well as on colour, form, and proportion, so
well understood in ancient times. And as many of the
ideas now gaining ground in this country regarding colour,
adaptability of materials, the non-imitation of natural ob-
jects for ornamental purposes, and certain rules to "
served in decorative works, have long been -

~~

%

shows want of literary acumen. Prom his wrul regain to a lout, C [11.4G, us.ra•o a‘t,a, •• _ _ -
trine of unlimited punishment depended for credence, not jects for ornamental purposes, and certain rules to be ob•
anecdotes we select the following account of so much on the expressions ascribed to our Lord and the served in decorative works, have long been advocated by
what happened to a lady while swimming : language of Scripture, as urn the literal meaning of those me, and properly belong to the subject of Egypt, I think
Four or five years ago the large house from which these expressions, and the true signification of the words 'eter. the opportunity well suited for expressing my opinion tiptAt
steps descend was temporarily occupied by two ladies of nap' and' everlasting.' He pointed out passages, both in them; while 1 rejoice that public attention has been in-
rank, one of whom, among other accomplishments not the Old and New Testament, where these same terms vited to take a proper view of the mode of improving taste.
very common to her sex, was distinguished as an expert were employed in a sense signifying unmistakably a Attention being now directed towards the question of
and fearless swimmer. She was accustomed to plunge limited 'duration of time. The many expressions in Scrip. the precious metals, some observations on the comparative
frog) these private steps when the water was high, and titre favouring the idea of a limited prthishmeut ; the con- wealth of ancient and modern limes have also appeared
swim out to Kai over yonder belt of horrid rucks, in all stoat use of hyperbole; the figurative character of the to be not out of place.
• __ITT: