The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-28 00:00:00

But if both were obstinate in error, their ob-
stinacy led at last to brilliant results. It was
by perseverance in the operations resolutely
adhered to by Lord Raglan that Sebastopol
fell at last ; and it is the saddest remembrance
of this great siege that our heroic field-mar-
shal did not live to witness the triumph of his
sagacity and endurance.
It is open for the Baron to insinuate that
the Imperial plan developing the "highest
strategical science " might have been attended
with more fortunate results still ; but the des•
perate attempts of the enemy to induce the
allies to take the field, show that the scheme
of external operations would have been gladly
welcomed by him. The Baron would have
shown infinitely more prudence had he re-
frained from all effort to damage Lord Raglan's
reputation on account of his rejection of the
Imperial plan ; and we think further, that
greater wisdom would have been shown had
the plan itself been preserved among those
historical documents which are not destined
to see the light until there is no longer danger
that they will be discussed in a spirit of
partisanship.
The simple statement of facts is the best
refutation of the Baron's very clumsy efforts
to depreciate Lord Raglan's name in respect
of this passage of the expedition. English
readers will certainly conceive a higher opinion
of the military genius of their commander
from learning how great were the difficulties
he had to contend with, and how powerful
were the influences brought to bear upon him
to induce him to abandon the prosecution
of the mighty work in which he was engaged.
As for the Baron's style, it defies descrip-
tion. It jumps from the past to the present
tense with unaccountable rapidity. The
Emperor is Alexander the Great, and the
French troops—every soldier is, of course, a
hero—love nothing so much as to be swept
away by grape-shot, except to shout " Vive
l'Empereur," and to fall on each other's neck
in loving embrace. When, at the commence-
ment of the war, Marshal St. Arnaud reviews
a French division in presence of the Sultan:—

He sees France—France the warlike, France the pro-
tectress ; and for, perhaps, the first time a smile rests
upon those pale lips, and his cheeks are flushed.
At the Alma :

During the battle, when the Marshal galloped from one
point to another, the wounded, as he passed, half rising
mad seeking to drag themselves towards him, while waving
in the air their mutilated arms, tried out—

" We have them ➢farshal—we have them."
The enthusiasm of battle blended with the enthusiasm of
victory.

The valour of the French army is dis-
honoured by the bombast pervading this book.
We hope their noble deeds will not long want
a more faithful chronicler. In addition to its
other faults the narrative is extremely vague,
and totally deficient in the minute informa-
tion which it is the especial province of con-
temporary writing to convey. A single letter
from " Our Own Correspondent" of the Times
or Herald is worth all the stilted nonsense that
all the Baron de Bazancourts in the world over
penned.

Erlesmere ; or, Contrasts of Character. By L. S.
Lavenu. Two Vols. London: Smith and
Elder.

" ERLESMERE " belongs to the same class of
novel as the stories of Miss Young, " The
Heir of Redclyffe,'' &c., nor is it inferior to
them in ability and in the exhibition of
internal conflict, though the incidents are
more stormy. The whole class depends for
• its interest much more on the growth of feel-
ing, and the development of character,
than on the narrative of external circum-
stances. Such novels aro mainly subjective;
in the opinion of Goethe not the best or
healthiest style of fiction, though it results
naturally from states of society which have
much leisure, and little call for the activity
which compels attention to outward things.
A pretty story is told by Lord John Russell of
the widow of that Marquis of Tavistock, the
son of Junius's Duke of Bedford, who was
killed by a fall from his horse, soon after his
marriage. Her loss preyed on her spirit ; her
physician saw hei sinking, without power to
save her. One time, observing her hand
closed, he opened it, and discovered, that she