The Press.
London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

'r HE PRES S, JITNEI 204

much trouble as he has taken with them.. They
contain little or nothing that is new. But one
of them is the subject of an excellent and spi-
rited illustration as the frontispiece to the first
volume. The following is perhaps the most
curious of the many legends here given. The
" Tuss" is a fairy or goblin :--
" Well, Sliomon, have you no more tales ? "
" Not of the valley here, 4.0 tell yon'tsi of the
country up north." ;mull /I
" Oh, yes, that will do." .1,
" Well, you must know, t'44o was a man M a gaartl up
there—let me see, I can't mind the name of it. He was
good friends with a Tuss ; wed, in fact, to worship him
(dyrkes). The priest got to hear of this, and warned him
that i was wron". The man made no secret of the fact,
bat persisted that there was no harm in it. indeed, be
derived a mint of good trout the acquaintance. His crops
were a vast deal liner, and he really could not give up his
friend on any consideration. The man spoke with such
apparent earnestness and conviction, that the priest was
seized with a desire to see the Toss. ' That you skull,
and welcome,' said the man ; I don't anticipate any chili-
colty. I've lent him two rolls of chew-tobacco, and be
will be }WM to return theta before long. NJ Christian
can be more punctual than he is in matters of business.'
The little gentleman put in an appearance soon after, and
honestly repaid the tobacco, with thanks for the loan it
(tak for laane). ` Bide a bit, my friend,' avid the farmer,
our parson wants to have a snak (chat) with you.'
' Impossible,' he replied; ' I've no time; but I've a
brother that's a parson. He's just the man; besides, he
has more time than me. I'll send him.' The tuts-priest
accordingly came, anti had a lung dispute with the priest
o this world about various passages in the Bible. The
alter was hut a poor scholar, so he was easily nut-argued.
1 " At hat they began to dispute shunt vor Frelser (our
Redeemer).

" Frelser exclaimed the goblinTriest, I want no
Frelser.'
" How so ?'
" I'm descended from Adam's first wife. When she
brought forth the child from which our people trace their
descent, Adam had not sinned.'
" ` First wife ?' repeated the University man ; ' where
do you find anything about first wife in the live btoka of
Moses? If you have found any such like thing tacre, you
have not read it right, said he.
"' Don't you remember,' said the hiss, 'the Bible has it,
" This is no's lane of my bone, and leek of my flesh,"
So he must hsre bow isiarried before to somebody of a
different nature: ' ~.•
Thelemerken lies in the south-western extre-
mity of Norway, where the country forms a kind
of peninsula, and was visited by Mr. Metcalfe in
the summers of 1856-57. He frankly tells us
that it was the success of his former work that
induced him to write the present one. We do
not think it will enjoy the same popularity. In-
dependently of the reasons we have already given,
the second volume is rather spun out. We would
warn Mr. Metcalfe against degenerating into a
travelmonger, whose volumes shall appear every
season as regularly as the May meetings. If the
public, whether rightly or wrongly, once come to
regard him in that light, his position will be fixed
for ever—at a lower point, too, than we honestly
believe him to deserve. Ilis peculiarities, though
not devoid of piquancy, are not such as will bear
repetition often ; and wain fat sorry to see that
he is at present engaged imp.,s work of IA en-
tirely different characterQln aniit t.,rrt •

Ricers in the Desert; or Ifftssion Scenes in
Burmah. By the Rev. John Baillie, Author
of "Memoirs of Hewitson," &c. London:
Seeley and Co.. (4.1
UNTIL we saw this book, we were Mite habit of
regarding Augustine Johnson as the first of mis-
sionaries, ant Regent's Town as the model of a
Christian mission. Not that the great names of
Schwartz, and Brainerd, and Martyr; were to be
lowered before that of the German otloobriaster
of Regent's Town ; but that, taken together—
the Missionary and the Mission—there was no-
thing in the histories of Schwartz, or Martyr, or
Brainerd to equalti t o triumphs of Augustine
4olanison.
Alittle further consideration, however, and a
Oirefill perusal of' the history of the Burmah
Mission, has led us to the conclusion which Mr.
Millie expresses, when he terms Dr. Judson
" the prince of missionaries." For a village,
indeed, nothing could surpass the labours or
the successes of Augustine Johnson. Ile was
suddenly thrown among an assemblage of negroes,
released from the holds of slave-ships, naked,
wad in habits and manners, and almostbrutalized
by their sufferings. It is difficult to ciuceive a
more difficult task than that of civilizing and
instructing this crowd of poor, wild Afrims. Yet
such was the earnestness, simplicity, d'•zeal
with which Augustine Johnson add t himself