The Press.
London, England, 1854-09-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

freshed, and experiencing that sense of satisfaction which
is said to be the accompaniment of good deeds, a fit of
splenetic humour is generally the actual result, a sort of
sulky protest against our conscience, for being so exigiante,
and there is not a scrap or a remnant of good nature left
for the accidental need of the occasion."
- -

" The most innocent, respectable life in the world takes,
as everybody knows, a very questionable, shabby-virtuous
air, when recorded in a court of justice • much like the
aspect of articles in a pawnshop, which,' no matter how
good they may be, always lose the halo of respectability
which made them shine in their original sphere "

" Society, civilised society, is enamelled in cant. Every
pore is stopped, and a thick veneer of make believe is spread
over everything. What a talk, for instance, there is just
now about the condition of women; and how much do you
think can come nut of all that is said, sung, and written
upon the subject? It is quite deplorable, and I thank
God every time I say my prayers that He did not make me
a woman to be given over to patent moralists."

Soyer's Shilling Cookery for the People. London :
Routledge and Co.
M. SOYER, in his preface, tells us how and when the
idea first presented itself to his mind that he might
render his culinary knowledge of infinite benefit to
the million; so, giving up the Reform Club and the
Rite Gf society, he thereupon betook himself to the
abodes of the poor, to study their habits, their wants,
and their mode of cookery. The results of his in-
vestigation are contained in this shilling book, which
is well stored with plain lessons on plain cookery,
and many hundred useful recipes. But it is t 3 be
feared that " the artisan, the mechanic, and the
" cottager," for whom the work is professedly in-
tended, will find many of the instructions above their
means. It is related of Brummel that when in his
poverty he was assailed by a clamorous beggar for
a penny, he replied, "I don't know what coin you
" mean, my poor felluw, but there's a shilling for
" you." In the first lessons given here similar igno-
rance of the economy of the poor is manifest. It is
of little use telling a cottage housewife that to
make soup she is to cut up two pounds of veal,
and then add butter, bacon, onions, cloves,
mace, carrots, turnips, and celery, as well as " a
" few green peas when in season ;" or that to fry
rump steak properly she must add two ounces of
butter, half a pound of oyster sauce, with a sprink.
ling of flour and a dash of ketchup. Such recipes,
though benevolently conveyed by Hortense and
Eloise (who, by the way, seem out of place here), are
little likely to be of much use to labouring people.
If M. Soyer be really intent on benefiting them, a
cheaper pamphlet from his pen, with plain directions
on cooking such food as they eat, would be more
likely to fulfil his aim. Classes higher in the social
scale, who may look for not only pheasant and par
tridge, but accompanying bread sauce, for hare with
currant jelly, lobster salad, lemon pudding, straw-
berry cream, and other aids to a well-furnished table,
will find M. Soyer's instructions both convenient and
economical.

Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands. By Mrs. Stowe.
London : Itoutledge and CO.
THE decision by which foreigners are precluded from
the protection of copyright in this country, unless by
virtue of express treaties, has thrown Mrs. Stowe's
hook into the market with all its imperfections on
its head. The wrong she sustains is the greater, as
in any future edition, issued under her own care, she
would mos: likely have removed the blots which now
disfigure her hastily-penned " Memories." Ap it is,
we suppose that such phrases as " the room was a
"perfect jam of legal and literary notabilities," with
more serious faults in expression and errors in state-
ment, must pass without possibility of effective cor-
rection. The work in its present shape will no
doubt, from the popularity of " Uncle Tom," meet
with a large sale ; and though, for the amiable au-
thoress's own sake, we wish it had not been so incon-
siderately published, yet, on the whole, we have every
reason to be gratified with her skin-deep sketches of
our society.