The Press.
London, England, 1857-03-14 00:00:00

MARCH 14, 1857.

Other good passages are at p. 339, on the
use of the Liturgy and sacraments, and the
whole of Sermon xxvi., on the prayer of the
High Priest, where his suggestion of altering
the translation of St. John xvii. 9. by using
the word " concerning " instead of " for," is
good, but has been previously suggested by
Alford.
Mr. Maurice would be one of our most
useful clergymen if he would lay aside his
crotchets and act upon the principles he him-
self has laid down at p. 339. The revival of
religious sentiments does not require the
abandonment of ancient formulas, but their
resuscitation. As Coleridge says in " Aids to
Reflection":—" To restore a commonplace
" thing to its first lustre you need only trans-
" late it into action." And if it cannot be
translated into action it will gain nothing by
a new dress. This may disguise its weak-
ness, but it cannot restore its strength.

A Journey through Texas; or, a Winter of
Saddle and Camp Life on the Border Country
of the United States and Mexico. By

Frederick Law Olmsted. London: Samp-

son Low and Co.
AMERICAN books of travel increase upon us,
but wo are sorry to say that we cannot give
them our critical approbation. Wo do not
find the personal care, the professional know-
ledge, and the literary aptitude which marked
the writings of Solander (" Cook's Voyages "),
Arthur Young, E. D. Clarke, Von Humboldt,
and others. In America, we fear that the
" run-and-read " system of writing has been
inaugurated. reople in that country seem to
have imagined that there is some connection
between universal suffrage and universal
authorship. It is easier, however, to drop a
vote into the ballot-box than to dip a skilful
pen into an author's ink-bottle. Yet America
has produced some good travellers. Stephens,
and the " Young American in Spain," could
write with force and freshness ; and we could
mention some others from the land of the
" Far West."

Mr. Olmsted has already ventured into
print. His merits are an easy kind of graphic
narrative, and talent for picking up curious
details ; his defects aro that he does not
classify his knowledge, and that ho swamps
himself in particulars. The be=etting sin of
American M liters is long-winded description.
On the stage we laugh at their histrionic
personators when they gabble forth an inordi•
nate quantity of verbiage pronounced with a
nasal twang; but in writing, their• multitude
of words becomes intolerable. Conciseness is
not within their grasp, and they prefer the
continuous to the compact. The conse-
quences ore obvious. We must, however, take
things as we find them;. and undoubtedly the
freshness and strange variety of life which we
meet with in American tatrists • reconciles us
to their errors in taste, and their absence of
literary finish.

Texas has received considerable attention
from explorers and authors. One of the best
works on the subject is " Bartlett'e Personal
Narrative," reviewed in our columns two years
ago. (Pans, vol. ii., pp. 1096-7.) Yoakum's
" History of Texas " enjoys much vogue; but
hitherto that region wants the careful study
of a writer like Mr. Laing. Its scenery is
most striking, and has received adequate
description ; but its social life has never yet
been properly detailed. Germans, Mexicans.
Irish, Virginians, New Yorkers, political
refugees, ruined gamblers from the Old
World and heartless speculators from the
,New meet each other in that strange country.
There is a large slave population, besides. to
add to the complication ; and the political
constitution of the State is ultra-Democratic.
Here aro die first four sections of the Texas
" Bill of Rights" (so actually named)
That the general, great, and essential principles of
liberty and free government may be recognised and estab-
lished, we declare that—

, - -
sec 1. All political power is inherent in the people, and
all free governments are founded on their authority and
instituted for their benefit ; and they have at all times the
unalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of
government in such manner as they may think expedient.
Bee. 2. All freemen, when they form a social compact,
fore eittal rights; and no man, or cot of men, i 3 entitled