The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

" from Mae, we again obtain a well-known
" name for son, as we know from such a name
"as Mac Dermot." We do not, however, learn
what connection there is between a male child
and either mud or a pig, though peter is
asserted to he identical with hoar, and pig with
page. The reader must imagine two volumes
filled with like kind of matter, and he will then
have a tolerable conception of this strange
book.

In books of travel the adventures of a lady
in Kansas (4) for about a year and a half is
exciting attention, from the singular nature of
its revelations. Mrs. Robinson accompanied
her husband, a clergyman, to in the
spring of 1855. The reverend gentleman
escorted a party of 200 settlers from Boston,
and, as he and his band were determinedly
hostile to slavery, he was soon involved in
violent hostility with the pro-slavery settlers.
The doctor thundered against his opponents
from the pulpit, and they took up arms and
mustered their forces. In the lady's diary,
continued to the autumn of 185 G, she relates,
in a graphic, rough-and•ready kind of style,
the incidents of the struggle winch made the
newly-settled State the theatre of most despe-
rate and sanguinary fighting. The town of
Lawrence was threatened with attack by the
slave party; the free-state ladies assisted in
the preparations for defence. One of their
number gave up her cabin for the good
cause :

Daily and nightly the ladies meet there, in the one
room with its loose open floor, through which the wind
creeps, to make cartridges ; their nimble fingers keeping
time with each heartbeat for freedom, so enthusiastic are
they in aiding the defence.

One lady of Lawrence saved her husband from
arrest, by presenting loaded pistols at the
sheriff's head, and threatening to fire if he at-
tempted to execute his purpose. All the
atrocities of the " slavery ruffians " are duly
chronicled here. One of them, at Leaven-
worth, being much in want of boots, made a
bet with a fellow-ruffian—six dollars against a
pair of boots—that he would in two hours re-
turn with an abolitionist's scalp. He went
out, met a free-settler mimed Hops, shot him
dead, scalped him, returned with his trophy in
less than two hours, and received the boots.
In the same locality, a young lady of the free-
state party was carried off from her home by a
gang of ruffians ; a cord was fastened tightly
round her tongue, and she was dragged rapidly
along by the rope. Her tongue was dragged
so far out of her mouth, and she was other-
wise so cruelly abused, th it for some time her
life was despaired of. Abundance of similar
cases of atrocity are recorded here. We do
not wonder a Mrs. Robinson exclaiming that
Austrian despotism was liberty in comparison
with the fiendish tyranny perpetrated under
the star-spangled banner. Her narrative is
ex parte, and highly-coloured, no doubt, but it
serves to convey an impression of the terrible
nature of the struggle, as it appeared to a per-
son actively engagel in all the proceedings of
the free-state party
A book on our Australian colonies (5) pre-
sents, on the whole, a pleasing contrast to the
Kansas settlement. The volume, though the
author has visited the several places he de-
scribes, is mainly compiled from colonial news-
papers and official returns, nor is the compi-
lation skilfully done. The book is crude, but
it appears to contain some useful information
and honest opinions. Of Victoria the writer
formed a most unfavourable opinion. He
first visited it in Is)3, when the gold dis-
coveries had attracted to the colony a great
patt of the blackguardism of the world ; but
only two years later he noticed the sensible
improvement that had taken place. New
South Wales he liked Letter. Society was
more settled and more intelligent. While
Victoria, with its gold-fields yielding a million
sterling per month, contributed only 7,0001. to
the Patriotic Fund, New South Wales sub-
scribed 60,0001. That the low moral state of'
Victoria is not to be attributed purely to the
convict element, is shown by the fact of the
superiority of New South Wales. Victoria,
after all, was never so morally bad as Cali-
fornia. Tasmania is described as a most beau-

(4) Kamm; its Interior and Exterior Life. By Mrs. Robin•
son. London : Sampson Low and Son.
(5) Australia, Tansania, arid New Zealasel, Loqtl9ti: Sa4n,
den end Otlsy,

39

tifol country, but sadly tainted by crime.
With a total population of only 23,000 persons
the amount of crime exceeds that in Liverpool
with 296,000 inhabitants. Of all our colonies
in the Southern Ocean the author gives a de-
cided preference to New Zealand, and Nelson
he esteems the most favourable settlement.
While he pronounces Australia to be the most
objectionable of all British dependencies, on
account of the low moral character of its inha-
bitants, he states New Zealand to be the
finest colony in the world, and the majority of
its people to be equal in respectability and in-
telligence to those of any country in the world.
The volume may be worth consulting by in-
tending emigrants, or by those specially inter-
ested in our Australasian settlements, but
is decidedly not a book for " the general
reader."

" A ltamble through the United States " (6),
by a gentleman who describes himself as
" Author of several pieces of music for the
" flute," records a tour made several years
back, " when the Oregon question was at its
" height." The author is enthusiastic in his
admiration of America and her institutions.
His high-flown panegyric (pp. 9.91-3121 on the
supreme excellence of the States' Govern-
ment seems ridiculous when contrasted with
Mrs. Robinson's account of doings in Kansas.
The book is more remarkable for pretension
than novelty; we see little to recommend it; but
in the brief description of the St. Lawrence, it
is truly stated that at Quebec the beauties of
this noble river throw into the shade those of
the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube. _ _

. _
A slight volume gives the eight months'
journal of a master in the navy during visits
to Loocho, Japan, and Pootoo in 1849 (7). The
author sensibly records what he saw in busi-
ness-like style. We would willingly have heard
more concerning Japan. The people are said
to be fair in personal appearance, and to have
a pleasing expression of countenance. " Their
" urbanity and kindness to strangers, as well as
"to each other, is very remarkable . . . . In
" short, they appear to be naturally a kind-
" hearted and polite people " The author con-
ceives that means might be found of establish-
ing commercial relations with the people, by
accustoming them from time to time to the
sight of our vessels, and by encouraging them
to hold intercourse with the officers.

In the department of Art, a beautiful hand-
book of early Flemish painters (8) has been
written by Mr. Crowe (himself an artist and
Mr. Cavalcaselle. The " School of Bruges"
occupies the greater part of the volume. It
commences with the rise of art in the Nether-
lands, and then traces with great minuteness
the career of the Van Eycks, John and Hubert.
Their chief works are noticed in detail, engrav-
ings being given to convey an idea of the
drawing and composition ; and the incidents
of their history are illustrated by much infor-
mation obtained by original research. The
school was nobly continued by Van der Wey-
den and Mcmling. The pictures of the latter
are said to be "lyrics,' remarkable for grace and
poetry of delineation. With him the school
virtually became extinct. He had some imi-
tators, but no legitimate successor. A chapter
is given to the school of Louvain, and another
to the influence of Flemish art abroad. The
volume is distinguished by extensive informa-
tion, exactitude of statement, and discrimi-
native criticism. It is a valuable addition to
art history.
Another volume on art (9) of great merit, and
beautifully produced, is Mr. Wornii m's " Analy-
sis ofOrnament." Hiscriticism is masterly. Ho
starts with the simplest principles of ornament.
There are two classes of style—the symbolic
which appeals to reason, and the esthetic
which appeals to feeling or imagination. The
one may be esteemed for its meaning, the other
for the sense of the beautiful which it conveys.
The author then shows how each of these
styles must have certain leading character-
istics, and he establishes a kind of grammar of
ornament. One of his fundamental rules is,
that ornament should be accessory to, but

(g) A Ramble through the United States. By,Dr. Shaw. Lon-
don : Hope.
(7) Eight Months' Journal During Visits to Loochnn, Japan,
and Pootoo. By A. F. Halloran. London: Longmans.
(8) The Early Flemish Painters. By J. A. Crowe, and G. B.
Cavaleaaelle. London: Murray.
(9) Analysis of Ornament. 137111410 N. Wornum. Londoq
Chapman and Hall.

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