The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

lative to the climate, scenery, and inhabitants
of Circassia and Georgia Here is a descrip-
tion of Prince Michael, a feudal Circassian
chief, who is supposed, however, to have strong
Russian leanings :
I was standing upon the balcony of the French consul's
house, when I was surprised by the arrival of a large
cavalcade, which came trooping up to the door of the house
in picturesque confusion. In the centre of the group,
which was composed of about a hundred wild•looking Cir-
cassians, rode a handsome grey-haired man, whose tall cap
of pure white distinguished him from those by whom he
was surrounded. There was that in his bearing, moreover,
which at once marked him as a chief of note ; and I was
not surprised to observe that, on his dismounting, every
one of his followers sprung from his horse, and dashed at
the great man's bridle, as though vying with one another
who should he the first to render him a service. He re-
ceived their attentions in an easy off hand manner, as if
they were his due; and, followed by two or three of his
principal squires or serving men, he came up to pay us a
visit. his costume was simple but handsome. A long
buff•coloured coat of camel cloth was confined round the
waist by a leathern girdle, which was ornamented by a few
handsomely-mounted weapons. The cartridge-tubes on his
breast were of a slate-colour, and richly inlaid with silver.
A pair of heavy jack-boots reached up to the thigh, and
his peaked cap was trimmed with white fur. The only in-
congruity about the costume was a black Patin stock and a
shirt collar, which painfully detracted from its general
effect; indeed, when his cap was off, his jovial rubicund
countenance, curly grey hair and whiskers, anti well.
rounded chin reposing contentedly between a pair of un-
mistakable gills, were precisely those of an English country
gentleman. Below the neck the savage reappeared, but
the boots, though not unbecoming, were a great deal too
civilised. There were no such marks of refinement about
his clan. Their muscular sun-browned throats were con-
fined by no paltry invention of modem times; their stal-
wart legs were enclosed in coarse brown or yellow felt
gaiters; their well-shaped feet in red leather moccasins—
for though that is a word belonging to another hemisphere,
it is the only one which in the least describes their
chaussure. Instead of the high cap, some of these wore a
species of hood similar to those of the Bedt,uin Arabs, the
point sticking out behind, and the ends brought round the
neck like a comforter. It was an agreeable variation in
the costume, and added to the wildness of their aspect.
About a hundred of these men filled the space in front of
the house. Lounging between their horses, or squatting
in groups by the roadside, they let the nags take care of
themselves.

Mr. Oliphant'a account of the country in
Circe snia and Nlingrelia is highly favorable.
It is richly wooded, and the valleys and slopes
are covered with fruit trees and corn-fields.
The inhabitants, both men and women, are
rather shy. Omer Pacha, while his force was
collecting at Souchoum, was fond of making
excursions into the neighbourhood. This is 14
visit to an "Abkhasian " village :

We splashed along, followed by fifty or sixty mounted
orderlies, through mud and jungle, until we emerged
upon an open space on which a village was situated, when
the women and children rushed frightened and cry ng into
their konaks, and the men collected round the doors not a
little bewildered and astonished at so unusual an appari-
tion. However, they soon regained confidence. and came
to kiss the skirts of Omer Pacba's coat, and offer us hos-
pitality. We therefore dismounted at the door of the
principal cottage in the village—the only one constructed
of planks—and made ourselves comfortable: Omer Pacha,
who is eminently gallan•, knocked at the door of a room
into which a bevy of fair damsels had bolted themselves,
and told them there was nothing to be afraid of. He was
obliged to exercise his powers of peranasion for some time
before he could induce them to open a chink large enough
for us to see the sparkle of their eyes. However they
gradually relented, and before we left their shyness had
quite disappeared. They spun, embroidered, and netted
for our edification, and we were much struck by the inge-
nuity they manifested in their female accomplishments.
One or two of the girls were remarkably pretty, differing
neither in complexion nor in the character of their features
from those in our own country. Their hands and feet,
which were bare, were very small and delicate. Their
costume is by no means so picturesque as that of the men :
it consived simply of a sort of loose dr•essing•gown open
at the bosom, and confined by a girdle at the waist. Most
of the houses are constructed of " wattle and dab," and
thatched with the stalks of Indian corn.

The charms of the Trans-Caucasian young
ladies are a frequent theme with Mr. Oli.
phant. If the result of peace be as is pre-
dicted, to throw open the shores of the Black
Sea to the commerce of the West, let us
humbly hope that some of these pretty faces
may find their way to England Beauty is now
scarce in the corps de ballet, and a Circassian
prima-donna might more than compensate
Mr Gye for the loss of Covent Garden.
Game of various kinds is also very plentiful
in the splendid natural preserves of the
Abkhasian and Minizrelian hills, and, though
shooting was for some reason forbidden, the
author seems to have occasionally waged war
on the pheasants and woodc.icks with
considerable success. Prince Michael, whom
we have be wentioUed, invited Ir.

353

Oliphant and some other English officers,
with the Duke of Newcastle, to a grand day's
sport in his private demesne; but the cover
was so thick, and the dogs and beaters so
bad, that nothing was done—the only head of
game killed being a deer, by a splendid shot
faun the Duke himself, who at least in that
insiunce was true to his mark.
Altogether, it is difficult to realise the fact
that we are accompanying Mr. Oliphant with
an invading army through a wasted territory.
The dangers he encounters are just enough to
give zest to his adventures—and his greatest
hardships are to sleep in a pigstye and go with-
out tobacco for a week He is, however, a
spirited and agreeable writer, and his " Trans
Caucasian Campaign " has given us a better
notion of what these countries really are than
any of the previous works which the war has
generated. An incident on the night before
the battle of the Ingour must conclude our
notice

As engineer officers are scarce in the Turkish army, or
at all events as none were forthcoming upon that occasion,
Colonel Simmons gave me a lesson in battery-making, and
sent me to Skender Pacha to get the men and gabions ne-
cessary for one battery, while he superintended the con-
struction of the other. About ten o'clock p.m. I found
Skender with his reserves, bivouacked near the wood ; and
he, supposing me in the dark to be ao officer, gave me not
only a working party of two hundred men, but a regiment
of infantry and two field-pieces. a command with which
was considerably astonished and overwhelmed. However,
I thought it would scarcely be discreet to undeceive him,
so we marched off, and half an hour afterwards were
silently and vigorously at work on the bank of the river,
within about a hundred yards of the Russian sentries. We
had almost filled our front row of gabions when the Turkish
major whispered that be saw the Russians coming down to
the river in force. This was a most startling announce-
ment. I certainly saw, through the darkness, three black
lines drawn up upon the opposite shore. As my experience
in military matters was exactly that of most other Lincoln's-
inn barristers, and my knowledge of Turkish did not
include a single word of command, the thought of the two
geld-pieces and the regiment of infantry began rather to
trouble me—more particularly as the artillery officer sug-
gested something that I did not in the least understand.
However I peremptorily ordered him not, and discovered,
to my intense relief, on looking through my opera glass,
that the Russians were, in fact, three rows of lugs, which
successive floods had stranded upon the bank.

Its own merits and the popularity of its
author's name will carry this work into many
circles.

Memorials of Captain Halley Vicars, 97th
Regiment. By the Author of " The Victory
Won." London : Nisbet and Co.
THIS little volume is making a prodigious noise
in religious circles (its sale is now in the
twentieth thousand), owing to the character of
its subject and to the nature of its contents.
Captain Vicars was at once an enthusiastic
pietist and a Crimean hero. The fervour of his
devotion was evidently pure ; it left him without
gloom, though with some austerity, and it did
not interfere with the active discharge of his
professional duties. It cannot be denied that
in both army and navy there exists a strong
prejudice against officers who seem to have
mistaken their vocation. It is not that " re-
ligious officers " are unpopular or disrespected
because they are pious ; but it often happens
that their enthusiasm is ill-regulated. No one
co ild ever suspect the Duke of Wellington as
being in any respects careless about sacred
duties, but we cannot forget that there is
written evidence as to his dislike of " Method-
. " ists in the army."
Captain Hedley Vicars, though enthusiasti-
cally religious, was a thoroughly good officer,
and was honourably zealous in the discharge
of his duties His death was one of the most
glorious amongst those of the many heroes
who dyed the Crimea with their blood. On
the 22nd of March, 1955, a Russian division
of 15,000 men issued after nightfall from
Sebastopol, and approached the British lines
from the Mamelon, coming up the ravine on
the right of the British line. At first they
were supposed to be the French, and Hedley
Vicars was the first to discover that they were
Russians. With a coolness of judgment
that won him praise from all quarters, he
ordered his men to lie down until the Rus-
sians came within twenty paces ; then, raising
the war shout, "Now, 97th, on your pins, and
charge," he dashed forward at the head of
two hundred men, hurling himself against a
column of two thousand ! He was shot
through the breast, but he sboutvd, " VOW,

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THE

PRESS.

mother or sister to give me comfort in my last moments, is
sad enough. Yet I hope the effect of these reflections is
wholesome, and will make me consider seriously whether
I am fit to die.

From Newcastle, in 1849, he wrote to his
mother in the following sorrowful spirit :

My dearest mother,—l have just received your truly
fond and affectionate letter. I assure you it made me
shed tears. I feel that my conduct has been undutiful in
not having written to you oftener. But do not imagine for
a moment that my neglect in so doing ever arose from
forgetfulness. Far worse were I than a brute, could I ever
cease to remember the fondest and most devoted of mothers.
My dislike to writing in general shall not prevent me from
writing to you or Mary by every mail for the future, with-
out fail, so I trust you will not have cause again to upbraid
me for having allowed such long intervals of time to
elapse between each of my letters to you. That part of
your letter, in which you mention your tainting on the
terrace, made my blood curdle in my veins, and alarmed
me dreadfully. That night I knelt by my bedside, and
prayed most fervently that the Lord Almighty would spare
your life for the sake of your orphan children.
A son's affection for his mother can only really be known
when he feels that her life is in danger. I know not what
I should do, or what would become of me, were you, my
precious darling mother, to be taken from me. I should
go on through life with a void, that I know could never be
filled up. My chief pleasure during the past year has been
in looking forward to our meeting once again in dear old
England; and oh, what delight this anticipation afforded
me! But, mother, you must and will get well again. I
shall yet, at some not far distant day, have the joy of
seeing you, and kissing your fundly-remembered face.
You shall be caused no more pain or anxiety by me. Oh,
that my past actions could be obliterated from my recol-
lection, and that my conscience could acquit me of ever
having done anything to cause you grief and uneasiness.

We think it most likely that, as often happens
in such cases, he may have upbraided himself
too deeply. He appears to have at first ex-
perienced much disapproval from his brother
officers :

On the morning which succeeded that memorable night,
he bought a large bible, and placed it open on the table in
his sitting•room, determining that "an open bible," for
the future, should "be his colours." "It was to speak for
me," he said, " before I was strong enough to speak for
myself." His friends came as usual to his rooms, and did
nut altogether fancy the new colours. One remarked that
he had " turned Methodist," and, with a shrug, retreated.
Another ventured on the bolder measure of warning him
not to become a hypocrite : " Bad as you were, I never
thought you would come to this, old fellow." So, for the
most part, for a time, his quarters were deserted by his
late companions. During six or seven months he had to
encounter no slight opposition at mess, " and had hard
work," as he said, "to stand his ground." But the
promise did not fail, " The righteous shall hold on his way,
and he that bath clean hands shall wax stronger and
stronger."

That he did not, under the influence of his
religious fervour, neglect his military duties,
is strikingly proved by the following fact :

The adjutancy of his regiment was offered to him by his
colonel in the spring of that year (18,52 ), with these
flatterilg words :—" Vicars, you are the man I can best
trust with responsibility." This appointment appears to
have given universal satisfaction amongst officers and men,
although one of the officers remarked jestingly, "He
won't do for it—he is too conscientious."
But he seems to have become more austere
than can ever be agreeable in social life :

This conscientiousness was not only evinced in his
military but also in his private life. Every amusement
which he found to he injurious in its effect on his spiritual
condition was cheerfully relinquished. In a letter to his
eldest sister, he inquires her opinion of balls and other
public entertainments, and adds :—" I have of late refused
every invitation to such amusements, on finding they made
me less earnest and thoughtful, and indisposed me for
reading and prayer."

He became a teacher in Sunday schools, and
attended bible classes. His religious diary,
which occupies several pages, will excite
various feelings according as different readers
are disposed. We indicate its nature with
critical precision in saying that the late Syd-
ney Smith in his earlier days would have
satirised it as a manifestation of mere Method-
ism. But Sydney Smith began, as he grew
old, to feel that English society is right in
ruling that grave subjects must not be ap-
proached with ribaldry, and that even exag-
gerated feelings on the most solemn of all
subjects ought not to be scourged with cruel
criticism. Vehement enthusiasm will never
be cured by Voltairian heartlessness. The
description in Cowper of the superiority in
spiritual grandeur in the English work-girl,
happy with her Bible, over the brilliant French
author, mocking at the sacred volume, is preg-
nant with suggestive thoughts.
Hedley Vicars, we should add, was a humani-
tarian as well as a pietist. He used to teach
in Lord Shaftesbury's ragged schools ; he
visited repentant thieves, sad with Cita, mis-

SATIJRDAY,

sionaries he dived into the depths of London
wretchedness. The records of his life show
that such acts were not done for display.
Persons absorbed with lofty contemplations
oftm contract rigidity of character. We have
great faith in the untutored preceptions of the
young, and we are glad to know that Hedley
Vicars was a favorite of children. A peep at
the affection felt for him in the household of
his sister, Lady Rayleigh, authenticates the
amiability of his high-souled nature. The
anonymous biographer writes :
In the month of October of the same year, my father,
my sister, and T were renewing a friendship of former
days by a visit to Terling•place. A letter was received on
the morning of the 11th by Lady Rayleigh, promising a
visit from her brother, which caused such a tumult of
joyous excitement at the breakfast•table, and so much
shouting and clapping of hands amongst the children, as
soon as the news was made known to them, that, in my
ignorance, I supposed the young soldier had only just
arrived from Nova Scotia.

There are deeply touching passages in many of
his religious letters which testify to the power
of his convictions, but we have not space for
further extracts.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—AnuL 10.
BOOKS.

Italian Lights and Papal Principles. Sampson Low 417. Co.
Arctic Enterp►ise. A Poem in Seven Parts. Hope and In.
A Woman's Call to Women. Ditto
The Mystery ; or, Evil and Good. Longmans
Eastern Hospitals and English Nurse*. Hurst and Blackett
Memoirs of the Court, Aristocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria.

Longman'
The Ring and the red. J. A. St. John. Chapman SHall
Melincourt ; or, Sir Oran Haut•Ton. Ditto
The Flower Garden. Rontledge
Al Home and Abroad; or, Things and Thoughts in America
and Europe. Sampson Low and Co.

The Lady and the Hound. Hope and Co.
Remarks on the Education of Girls. J. Chapman
A Plea for Educational Reform. Ridgway
The Hospital System of London. Davy and Son
The Adulteration of Food and Drinks. Lougmana
Inaugural Lecture. Skithugton
Jul tint's on Calmer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Long=iis

PERIODICALS.
Post qffiee London Parliamentary Directory for 1R56.

Kelly and Co.
The United Church Journal. Seeley and Jackson
Maephail's Edinburgh Eecksiastieal Journal.
Simpkin and Marshall
The Spiritual herald. Nos. 1,2, 3of Vol I. Bailliere
The Irish Quarterly Review. Simpkin and Marshall
O.rfurd Essays. J. W. Parker and Sou

Sint Arts.

SUFFOLK-STREET.

WHAT is to be said of the thirty-third exhibition of
the Society of British Artists by the unhappy critic:,
We might sum up results statistically, and inform
the public that " the number of pictures in the
present exhibition is 842, they fill five rooms, of
which the largest, or Great Room, contains 250, the
South-east Room 121, the South-west Room 125,
the North-east Room 135, and so on ; the number of
visitors this year has been so many, giving an average
of 6.8 per diem, of whom 5.2 have brought umbrellas,
and 3.1 have purchased catalogues, out of the last
number 1.5 have complained of the high price of the
books, S:c. &c."
There is literally nothing so good or so bad as to
call for special notice at our hands, and the phiase
which most accurately describes the net impression
of the whole on the mind of a visitor is that so well
known in the sick-room, " the mixture as before."
Everything is, as Mr. Wright says, "as it used to
was." That there is nothing new under the sun has,
we believe, been asserted before, but we may per-
haps be allowed to revive the text once more for the
purpose of assuring our readers that they will find
an excellent practical illustration of it in the thirty-
third exhibition of the Society of British Artists in
Suffolk-street. Of that which is hardly worth notice
little need be said by the critic. Our remarks,
therefore, will be exceedingly brief and will be
confined to a few of the most striking pictures in the
exhibition. Mr. Hurlstune's never-ceasing Italian
beggars, with or without maccaroni, smile sentimen-
tally or grin unmeaningly as before; and Mr. Tyne's
Italian Turnerisms (including two scenes from the
eruption of Vesuvius in 1855) tease the eye by the
unsubstantial vagueness of their form and the usual
disagreeable chalkiness of their tint. Mr. Woolmer's
"Christ in the Wilderness" (No. 109) is noticeable
from the curious inapplicability of its title, which
should be " The Wilderness, with Christ in it," cr.
perhaps, " A Landscape—l don't know where"; for
the indefinite generality of the scenery suggests no
particular climate or region, and the single figure
which sits iu the shadow of one of the purple rocks
lathe foreground is a mere acaccessory,onl7 an sews.

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