The Press.
London, England, 1858-03-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS, MARCH 6,1858.

for the advantages which it promises. In the hinds of
private enterprise, the work would be completed in two
y ears.

Mr. Conybeare argues—and we are disposed
entirely to agree with him—that in I ndia as
in America the main arteries of the system of
communication must be railways, and that
" it is the business of Government to see that
" such railways convey the staple produce of
" the more distant districts at a minimum
" cost per ton per mile." He would prefer
that public works should be carried out by
contract, on account of the facility private
persons have of obtaining in the market all
kinds of labour, the science to plan the work,
the practical knowledge of the overseer and
inspector, and the mere manual labour, which
under proper superintendence is capable of
producing a result wonderfully greater than
when ill directed. The plan of having one
engineer-in-chief to plan great works, and
another to carry them out, which is adopted
by all private enterprise, seems to have been
tried in India and to have been given up in
consequence of ill success resulting from jea-
lousy, the persons employed being of the
same service and too nearly the same rank.
The labour of a soldier with the spade is
calculated as but one-fifth ;that of a trained
navvy, so great a difference does skill make
even in this.

Mr. Conybeare enters at length into the
question of what are the qualifications essen-
tial to the exercise, in the most effective
manner, of the calling of the engineer. These
lie tells us are three in number—natural
aptitude, scientific training, and practical ex-
perience, no one of which will, by itself, suffice
to make an engineer, though the possession of
any two of them, in a tolerably high degree,
will make a very serviceable one ; the union
of all three being essential to the practice of
engineering in the most effective manner.
The necessity for scientific training is be-
coming daily more acknowledged, and public
education is suiting itself to the demand. But
though the King's College in London; Glasgow
University, and the Irish Colleges aro doing
good service, Mr. Conybeare informed his
audience, young officers fresh from the mili-
tary colleges, that " the majority of civil en-
" gineering students still enter on their course
" of pupilage in practice. without any adequate
" scientific training; and have, therefore,
" fewer advantages on commencing their
" course of practice than Addiscombe and
" Woolwich have already given to you." If
this be the case—and we see no reason to
doubt it—there must be something radically
wrong in the system of promotion in the
scientific corps, which prevents any officer from
rising to eminence at all to be compared to
that reached by many who get a worse start
in the race. Efficiency is indeed secured, but
we do not see that that need in any instance
to be sacrificed, were some means taken to
encourage officers possessing superior ability.
It seems incredible that in the nineteenth
century all officers of the scientific corps of a
nation like Great Britain should be debarred
from any command, even of a brigade. Yet so
it is. the very last mail from Calcutta in-
forms us that General Dupuis. of the Royal
Artillery, has been sent back there, and will
probably return to this country, because a
general of a scientific corps cannot be per-
mitted on the general staff. We know of but
two exceptions that have ever been made to
this rule--viz., General Wilson, of the Bengal
Artillery, who accidentally became senior officer
before Delhi; and Sir Fenwick Williams of
Kars. General Chesney, R.A., was indeed
chosen by the Duke of Newcastle to command
the Turkish Contingent, but one of Lord Pan-
mure's first acts was to annul an appointment
furnishing such a dangerous precedent.

The London Joint stock Banks. By James Knight.

London : Richardson Brothers.
A CAREFUL analysis of the working and resources of
the London joint-stock banks. The name of Mr.
James Knight is a sufficient recommendation for the
accuracy of the tabular statistics. The "Joint-
stock Bank " question will soon become a leading
currency question, and those who desire to compre-
hend the constitution of these banks, and to learn
upon what points further legislation is advisable and
necessary, we cordially recommend Mr. Knight's
able and important pamphlet.

X 35

DIVINITY.
I. Memoir of the Rev. George Wagner, late Incum-
bent of St. Stephen's Church, Brighton. By J
Nassau Simpkiuson, M.A., Rector of Brington ,
Northamptonshire. Second Edition. Cam-
bridge : Macmillan and Co.
2. Religion in ;Common Life. By William Ellis.

London : Smith and Elder.
3. Apocalyptic Sketches. By Dr. Cumming. New
Edition. Vol. I.—" Things that were." Lon-
don : Hall and Virtue.
1. WERE this little work an entirely new one, we
should not feel it necessary to accord it a lengthened
notice in our columns. We trust that we respect
earnestness and devotion wbereser they are to be
found ; but we do not honestly believe that the re-
cord of a career like Mr. Wagner's is calculated to
be of any real utility to the Christian world. His
mind was in an unhealthy condition, unless his bio-
grapher has conveyed to us a very untrue impression
of him. And even were it not so, we cannot approve
the practice of laying bare the most secret devo-
tional emotions of the human heart, and withdrawing
the veil which Nature bids us interpose from man's
innermost communings with God.
not easily forgiven
Are those who, setting wide the doors that bar
The secret bridal chamber of the heart,
Let in the day.
This is equally true of the spiritual union between a
religious man and the Deity. We are not of those
who think that religion itself should be kept in the
background, as if it were a thing to be ashamed of,
or that the fact of a distinguished man saying his
prayers, if told with propriety, may not produce a
good effect; but when a man is all prayer and no-
thing else, the force of the example is lost.
2. Of the great ability displayed in this volume,
there cannot, we think, be two opinions. Nor is the
design, with one deduction, otherwise than laudable.
Mr. Ellis endeavours to demonstrate the force of the
ordinary obligations of life through the medium of
their utility to the individual. The course of his
argument leads him through many of the most diffi-
cult questions of political economy, which he illu-
strates in a popular and familiar style ; and as an
example of the best mode of reaching uneducated
minds, his work Is likely to be very useful to the
class for whom he tells us it was composed—i.e.:—
One of my objects in giving the course of lessons in
which this little book originated was to assist in qualifying
the probable future teachers. legislators, and rulers of
mankind for the performance of the responsible duties
awaiting them. And J am not without hope that Mr.
Caird and others similarly engaged will more than excuse,
will welcome with cordiality this effort of a layman to co-
operate with them in their mission of inculcating the
knowledge and practice of religion in common life.
We have said that Mr. Ellis's design was laudable,
with one deduction. That, however, is rather attri-
butable to the period than to himself. Tte religious
instruction of independent teachers generally comes
to us in a onesided Corm. The spiritualists super-
sede the moralists, to be in turn supersededby them.
Faith and good works are alternately poirtsd to as
the fruits of religion, and future happiness and pre-
sent as the rewards of virtue. It is only in Ile doc-
trines and ritual of the Church that these *to are
made one, and it is only, in our opinion, by adhering
closely to the spirit of tier creed that the " rdigion
of common life " can be inculcated without detriment
to vital articles of Christianity. This may seem a
hard saying, but if we accept Christianity we aeept
many such. The cardinal point of Mr. Ellis's teach-
ing is, after all, only the old proverb, that honsity
is the best policy ; and, even with all his admirsble
illustrations, it can only be placed before his audietze
in the shape of a general rule, to which their dab,
experience furnishes them with some real exceptiois
and many apparent ones. We all know the tea-
dency of uneducated or half-educated minds to pre
fer the particular to the universal ; while it must be
admitted that the success of one unsteady man pro-
duces a far stronger impression than the success of
twenty steady ones, if for no other reason, simply
because his career is more diversified, picturesque,
and fertile in those incidents which appeal to the
vulgar imagination. Here is the fundamental diffi-
culty with which we have to contend when seeking
to convey moral maxims through a merely practical
medium. Here then it is that religion steps in and
supplies an additional motive, which may perhaps
turn the scale. We find ourselves on the threshold
of an amazingly interesting subject, and this warns
us to draw in our rein ; but we thank Mr. Ellis for
the thoughts he has suggested to us, as well as for
the clever manner in which he has carried out his
own idea. .

3. This is not the time or place to review Dr.
Cumming. We can only say that this edition of his
works appears nicely got up, and will no doubt be
welcomed with avidity by that divine's numerous
admirers.