The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-26 00:00:00

TIIE PRESS.

madly run, in which happiness and mental and bodily
health are among the least of their considerations. All
are spurred on by the real (.r i.naginary necessities of their
position, driven along their headlong ,course by avarice,
ambition, or eager competition.
With one mote extract, too amusing to be
omitted, we must pass on to Miss Murray.
Scene—an American breakfast ; Actors—a
gentleman and two young ladies :

Miss, it's feeding time, I guess ; what will you eat ?"
" You're very po-lite : what's the ticket ? " " Chicken
and corn fixings, and pork with onion-fixings." " Well,
I'm hungry some ; I'll have some pig and fixings." The
swain retired, and brought a profusion of viands, which
elicited the remark, " Well, I guess that's substantial, any.
how." The young ladies' appetites seemed to be very good,
fur I heard the observation, " Well, you eat considerable ;
you're in full blast, I guess." " Guess I am: its all-fired
cold, and I have been an ererlastin long time off my feed."
A long undertoned conversation followed this interchange
of civilities, when I heard the lady say in rather elevated
tones, " You're trying to rile me some ; you're piling it on
a trifle too high." Well, 1 did want to put up your
dander. Do tell now, where was you raised?" "In Ken-
tucky." " I could have guessed that; whenever I sees a
spleederiferous gal, a kinder gentle goer, and high stepper,
I says to myself, That gal's from old Kentuck, and no
mistake."

2. The Hon. Miss Murray has taken a lady-
like lounge through the countries described,
apparently under the impression that nothing
was of much importance, excepting perhaps
their botanical or geographical produce. She
meets with remarkable men, but only tells
us that they helped her to a very fine specimen
of Primula Mistassinica. She visits celebrated
localities, but sees nothing in them beyond
gneiss, greenstone, and slaty rocks. Long-
fellow and Washington Irving, and the town
of Lexington—in some respects the most
interesting spot in America—are thus sum-
marily dismissed. The same nonchalance
extends to everything. The prospect of her
own death, or the sight of another's, affect
her little :

But in a few minutes afterwards we were brought to a
standstill, and looking out. saw adreadful accident. Either
from intoxication or insanity, a tine-looking young man,
apparently not more then twenty-three, had placed himself
on the rail just at a curve, so that the engineer had no
time to pull up, though he did his best; the poor wretch
was cut in two, and expired immediately. AU the people
evinced great feeling and kindness; the corpse of the poor
stranger was taken up, and we proceeded. I found the
Exchange a comfortable hotel, end the sister of Dr.Oibson,
of Baltimore, soon came to me with her married daughter:
they took me to their home, and I passed a pleasant even-
ing, Mr. J. being so kind as to walk back at night
with me through the still and unfrequented streets.
The smash of a steamer by which she is travel-
ling only gives occasion to notice the absurd
alarm of her attendant :—" Poor R. could not
" get over the fright." Her enthusiasm on
other subjects is equally small. The Canadian
ladies are " pretty and interesting," but tbat
is all we are told. She hears one morning at
Toronto what the ringing of bells had signified
the night before—namely, the news of Alma
and the supposed fall of Sebastopol—but it
doesn't seem to concern her much. If the
reader will compare her account of these pro-
ceedings with those of the Englishwoman,
he will appreciate our remarks.
As a set-off against all this, Miss Murray has
some singularly sensible observations on the
slave trade ; and her remarks on the morbid
activity of American life, thoroughly tallying
with those of the Englishwoman, deserve to
be quoted :
Of course, it must be borne in mind that no rules are
without exception ; hut, oh, the haggard, anxious, melan-
choly, restless, sickly, hopeless faces I have seen in the
Northern '
States—in the railcars, on the steam-boats, in
the saloons. and particularly in the ladies' parlour. There
is beauty of feature and complexion with hardly any indr-
viduslity of character. Nothing like simplicity, even
among children after ten yews of age—hot-house, forced,
impetuous beings, the almighty dollars, the incentive and
only guide to activity and appreciation.

_ .. . ~,
Miss Murray decidedly prefers the south to
the north. In conclusion, we may state that
her volumes are unusually free from affectation
or sentimentalism on any subject ; and, al-
though she lacks the forcible and sprightly
style of her sister authoress, she has produced
a work that may be perused without fatigue.