The Press.
London, England, 1854-08-19 00:00:00

AUGUST 19, 1854.

Beginning with a little Popery, adopting some 1.
of its fond illusions and theatrical captivations
for the senses, it is astonishing how fleet is
the progress of the pervert to the grosser and
more revolting form of the Paganised impos-
tures which the Church of Rome has conse-
crated. Once that the mind has abandoned
the guidance of Scripture, and learned to place
its faith in human inventions, its credulity
becomes abject and infatuated. When a man
like Cardinal Wiseman records his belief in
the annual " miracle " of the blood of St.
Januarius, we can easily comprehend the
gross superstition of uneducated Papists who
adored the holy coat at Treves.
The apologies made by the Church of Rome
occupy so large a space of this volume that we
cannot commend its execution. The author
is not profound in ecclesiastical history. We
observe also that he attributes to Cicero what
was written by Sallust (p. 191), and he quotes
the passage incorrectly. There are some inte-
resting particulars given of Russian supersti-
tion, but, for the reasons stated, we can scarcely
recommend the work to the attention of those
to whom it is dedicated—" the Protestants of
Great Britain."

The Southern Quarterly Review, July, 1854.
London : Triibner.
THIS review is but little known in this coun-
try, and we have been much struck by the
contents of the number before us. Published
in the Southern States of the American
Republic, it is strongly impressed with local
political colour, and it seeks to justify the
opinions that prevail amongst powerful classes
in Virginia and the Carolinas. Its form re
sembles that of our own " quarterlies," but it
differs from them in having its essays signed
with initials, awl its " we " is evidently of not
so collective a character as is usually the case
in our periodical literature. As it has now
reached its tenth volume it is worth while
examining the peculiar views of this organ of
opinion.
Upon the question of democracy it holds
moderate principles. In an article on the
" Political Philosophy of South Carolina " it
argues at length in favour of "natural aris-
tocracy," and quotes all sorts of authors in
support of its position that the doctrine of
absolute personal equality is visionary and
contrary to nature. We are amused at finding
it pay such deference to " Fergusson on Civil
Society "—a work entirely out of vogue in this
country, but of which we recollect the late
American writer, Doctor Channing, was an
enthusiastic admirer. Amongst the numerous
extracts on the first principles of government,
we were particularly struck with those of
Calhoun, containing many axioms of Cor •
servatism. We find Calhoun thus writing :
Liberty, then, when forced on a people unfit for it,
would, instead of a blessing, be a curse, as it would, in its
reaction, lead directly to anarchy—the greatest of all
curses. No people, indeed, can long enjoy more liberty
than that to which their situation and advanced intel-
ligence and morals fairly entitle them. If more than this
be allowed, they must soon fall into confusion and diaor•
der, to he followed, if not by anarchy and despotism, by a
change to a form of government more simple and abso-
lute, and therefore betted suited to their condition.
This sentiment is not very different from that
of the constitutional Whig, Sir James Mackin-
tosh, who in his "History of England" stated
that " Governments grow, and are not wade,"
assimilating them to trees, nut machines,—a
sentiment ridiculed by Mr. Fonblanque as the
"vegetable theory of government." After• en-
forcing the views of Calhoun, and also those of
Lord Brougham (from whose "Political Phi-
losophy" several extracts are given), the article
proceeds to say, "This is English liberty, and
" the sort we enjoy in Carolina " (p. 48), and
then anathematises " French liberty" in terms
recalling to us the tirades of Burke and the
Jeremiads of Eustace's " Classical Tour."
Anxious, however, to prove its sentiments to
be perfectly reconcilable with orthodox re-
publicanism, it quotes from the works of
Algernon Sidney, and proceeds thus :
With these explanations, then, we are prepared to re-
ceive Sidney's definition :—Liberty is an exemption from
all human laws to which we have not given our assent.
This is the liberty which is meant when, in the second
section, ninth article, of the. Constitution of South Carolina
it is declared that —" No freeman of this State shall be
taken or imprisoned, or disseised of his freehold, liberties

TIIE PRESS.

or privileges, or outlawed or eiiled, or in any manner de-
stroyed or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by
the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land;"—
ant in the preamble to the Federal Constitution, where it
is set forth that the compact was designed, among other
things, to " secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and
our posterity."
Here we have the words " liberties,"
" the blessings of liberty," and the grand idea
of " our posterity," referred to. At this point
we felt some curiosity in seeing how the writer
would reconcile the position of the black man
with such high privileges as those of
" the liberty we enjoy in Carolina." With a
clear perception of the incongruity between
the theories and the practice of the American
democracy, the writer proceeds :
- -

Let not the demagogue, however, or any champion of the
various newfangled doctrines of the day, lay up the flatter-
ing unction to his soul that the great Sidney was disposed
to invest every citizen with an individual veto, at least as
to himself and those under his authority, over every law
which may not please him. Individuals may enjoy all the
liberty that an intelligent being can desire, and yet be
forced to obey laws of which they highly disapprove. The
merchant may not only disapprove but earnestly oppose
the law which claims a duty upon his imports—so may the
farmer that which taxes his lands, his negroes, or his pro-
duce.

The writer thus hopes to have got out of the
difficulty, and proceeds flippantly to put a
commentary upon Sidney's meaning, which
"applies to communities, but not individuals"
(p. 49), and insists that "tile assent of citi-
" zees is neither asked nor needed ; it is pre.
" Burned, and taken for granted." But, unfor-
tunately for the writers purpose, he is very
decisively contradicted in his own extracts
(ante, P. 42) by the concluding words of Alger-
non Sidney :

This remains to us whilst we form governments, that
we ourselves are judges how far 'tis good for us to recede
from our natural liberty ; which is of so great importance
that from thence only we can know whetherwe are freemen
or slaves.

---
We refer to this matter in order to show the
grave political dilemma of the American states-
men with respect to the problem of how to
deal with slavery. Either the slaves must be
treated with the kindness due to human cre-
tures, or else be kept as mere brutes. If the
former plan be chosen, their social privileges
would, by inexorable moral laws, give claims
for political rights ; but the other alternative,
though adopted in practice, could scarcely in the
face of Europe be acknowledged in legislation.
On another alternative, if the social privi-
leges of black men were conceded and political
rights withheld, the principle of democracy
and universal suffrage would thereby be practi-
cally invalidated. In order to justify the
bondage of slaves, it is thus necessary for the
American democrats to start views of govern-
ment, which do not assimilate with those of
their boasted freedom. Two other articles in
this organ further illustrate the difficulties of
the slave question. The Essay " Africans at
Home" is a curiosity of ethnological vitupe-
ration and political sophistry. The. black men
are bespattered with abuse of every kind on
the Jesuit's principle—" Calumniare fortiter,
aliquid adhcerebit." England and the English
come in for some share of the hard words
We can smile at such passages as the follow-

ing
Their palavers are their parliaments; and bills of at-
tainder pass upon incautious ladies, as sometimes happen
with the great in haughty Christian Europe. The Eng•
lish fix their fines and prices for their wives in their pa-
lavers, hut then it is mostly in aristocratic life. Perhaps
this is the secret source of the great sympathy felt by such
as are of Stafford•house for sons of Africa, who show so
little for their own white tenants and starving poor.
And there is more to the same effect. In
another article, " What is our Government ?"
the very perplexing subject of the rights of
each State of the " Union," as distinct from
that of the collective body, is discussed, and
left unsettled. At some future time the
prominence given to the slave question will
raise grave doubts about local and imperial
powers, the difficulties being increased by the
social antagonism of the Northern and Southern
States.

The other articles in the number are chiefly
cosmopolitan in character, and the subjects
are discussed with various degrees of ability.
As an index to the phases of opinion in the
slave states this review merits attention.

7841

1. The Nations of Russia and Turkey, and their
Destiny. Vol. 11. By Ivan Golovin. London:
Triibner and Co.
2. Autocracy in Poland and Russia. By Julian
Allen. London : Triilmer and Co.
3. Turkey, Past and Present. By J. It. Morel.
London : Routledge and Co.
4. Russia, the Land of the Czar. London : Ward
and Lock.
Boors on Russia and Turkey continue to crowd our
table—the demand of the public for information, if
we may judge from the publications issued to supply
it, having scarcely slackened yet. Some few of these
volumes are good, more indifferent, and many bad.
In general, written to suit the moment of public ex-
citement, they are hasty and ill-arranged—written
by somebody, no matter by whom—containing state-
ments, true or false as the case may be, scanda-
lous, abusive, or laudatory of the great political night-
mare of the hour !
1. Of the books before us, Ivan Golovin, in his se-
cond volume of " The Nations of Russia," relates a
number of curious, though hostile, anecdotes of the
domestic manners of the Russians anti their rulers,
and gives much statistical detail on the army and
population of Russia and Turkey. The concluding
chapter, upon the war, is smartly written.
" Autocracy in Poland and Russia" tells us of
the lamentable state of society in Poland. The mi-
series of Russian rule in that country are not exag-
gerated, if we may judge from the opinions of higher
authorities upon the same subject.
3. " Turkey, Past and Present" is a general but
hasty sketch, taken from many of the best authorities,
of the history, progress, and present state of the Ot-
toman empire, from its foundation in 1299.
4. " Russia, the Land of the Czar," is a pamphlet
issued as a railway book, translated from a more vo-
luminous work lately published at Leipsig. If the
original book is as popular as the preface to this
pamphlet asserts, it is a curious contradiction to the
otherwise liberal opinions of Germany, because
everything in this book is related in a light fa-
vourable to Russia, and apt to produce a power-
ful impression of her might and influence, as well as
her beneficent intentions towards Europe.

Five Dramas. By an Englishman. London:
Saunders and Ot.ley.
IN these dramas the author has attempted to repre-
sent the life, characters, and fashion of our own day.
His aim is legitimate, but peculiar ability is required
for its successful realisation. The successes of Sir
E. B. Lytton, Bourcicault, and Douglas Jerrold have
been few and far between. There have been many
failures to counterbalance the brilliant run of Money
anti London Assurance. Cumberland, Colman, and
Mrs. Inchbald found more indulgent audiences for
their multifarious productions than can be collected
in the present day for plays of equal merit. These
five dramas remind us of Cumberland's manner, but
they are deficient in the art and scenic experience
which mark his poorest compositions. The author's
best thoughts are marred by the crudity which com-
monly, in some way or other, appears in their ex-
pression : and this is true, not only of the con-
cdptions of character and incident, but of the dialogue.
A young lady describes love as
Nature's steam, which must have vent;
and a governess speaks of her principal as
A party with whom I have engaged.
A gentleman in a moment of surprise incautiously
asks "if his eyes have deceived him r. The Voyage
Round the World is rather a novel thrown into a
thematic shape than a piece adapted for the stage.
As the author is happily indifferent to profit, and
writes chiefly from the pleasure composition affords
him, he will perhaps be content to learn that he
possesses more poetic feeling than dramatic power.

Excelsior. Helps to Progress in Religion, Science,
and Literature. London : Nisbett and Co.
THE various papers in this volume of 480 pages are
evidently • .•nned by writers well acquainted with the
subject• • • ussed, and their matter, while familiar
in style, tfords evidence of high scientific attain-
ments and literary ability. The fragmentary cha-
racter of the work, however, though incidental to its
publication in numbers, is now against it. The
reader has to travel from an article on a particular
subject for a hundred pages onward before he finds
its continuation. Thus the paper on natural history
(the walrus) is found at page 33, and no corres-
ponding article is to be met with till the one on the
hippopotamus, at page 135. The first philosophical
papers upon "The Air and Sky" are followed b
Eastern apologues, poems, and other matters, till
they revive again sixty•eight pages away. The wor
is to be completed in three volumes. It is bight
praiseworthy in design and execution, but a belie
system of arrangement would add to its usefulness.


How to Learn Latin. By A. J. King. London :
Jarrold and Sons.
THOUGH useful as a short etymologicon, this little
book fails in its primary purpose of teaching Latin.
A language is not to be learut by a vocabulary alone,
and we have here nothing more than a partial voca-
bulary, with lists of English derivatives of similar
signification subjoined to each Latin wurd, intended
by the author to be used as a " memoria technics "
for suggesting the meaning of the Latin words. By
this plan the labour of the pupil is, in most cases,
rather increased than lessened, as it is easier to re-
collect the original meaning of the Latin word than
to infer it indirectly through a more difficult and
secondary signification.

Sketches and Anecdotes of Animal Life. By the
Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A. London : Routledge
and Co.
A VOLUME designed to show that animals possess a
certain amount of intelligence, varying in different
species, and that they are not guided by blind instinct
alone, as has been generally asserted since the time
of Des Cartes. In the collection of anecdotes the
author has availed himself largely of the best autho-
rities, as well as of the resources of his own expe-
rience and that of his friends. The book is illus-
trated with numerous wood engravings.

Man and Money; or, the Two Rivals. From the
French of Emile Souvestre. Liverpool: Howell.
EXILE SOUVESTRE, like most French novelists, excels
in the delineation of character, or rather of charac•
tors, but (here unlike his brother authors) fails in
animated dialogue and the invention of plot. The
characters of M. and Mme. Gaillot, in chap. ix., ex•
hibit great knowledge of human maxim and subtle
penetration of motive, and at the same time are free
from those violent and unnatural contrasts of
qualities into which writers are often led from their
peculiar love of antithesis. The translator appears
to have done his work faithfully, but the book is not
a good sample of Emile Souvestre's talents.

Life of Cardinal Richelieu. By W. Robson. Lon-
don : Routledge and Son.
AN intelligent digest of the facts of Richelieu's life,
the reader being left from them to form his own
conclusions on the great statesman's motives and
character. Of his ambitious intrigues, extended
views, profound humiliations, and magnificent
successes, no more appears in kr. Robson's narra-
tive than can be summed up in actual results. It is
the outward man he exhibits, not that singular com-
bination of faculties and qualities which made him,
according to his epitaph, " at once the torment and
" ornament of his times." As a compilation, the
volume is cheap, compact, and full of matter.

My Haunts. By E. Yates. London :D. Bogue.
Fun. By Alfred Crowquill. London : Roatledge.
Two amusing shilling volumes. "My Haunts " con-
sists of sketches in the " Boz " style ; and Crowquill's
" Fun " is a collection of modern " good stories " and
" witty sayings," culled from innumerable volumes,
and illustrated with appropriate woodcuts.

The Vision of Midsummer Morning's Dream. By
F. Starr. Norwich.
TUE singular production of an insane man, being
an account of the religious delusions of the author
during his confinement in Norwich lunatic asylum,
written in language which painfully proves that the
curative treatment he was subjected to in the asylum
has only been partially successful.

Prize Essay upon the Early Church of Britain before
St. Augustine's Mission. By Frederick Meadows.
White, B.A. London : Seeley.
TUE " Prize Essay " of Mr. Meadows unquestionably
displays great learning and research, and successfully
establishes, we think, the fact of the existence of a
national Christian Church in England prior to St.
Augustine's mission.

I'UBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Boons.
The Great Highway. S. W. Fullom. Routledge.
Fashion and Famine. Mrs. A. S. Stephens. Bentley.
Sunny Memories. Mrs. Stowe. Routledge.
The Half Sisters. G. E. Jewsbury. Chapman and Hall.
Description of St. Nail's Church, Cornwall. Rev. H.
Grylls, M.A. Parker.
PAMPHLETS.
Merry's Museum. New York: Allan and Co.
Gold. Chapman and Hall.
Christian Moral Instruction. R. Whateley, D.D.
Parker and Son.
Occasional Sermons. No. 40. C. Wordsworth, D.D.
Riringtons.

THE PRESS.

lint glrts.

GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.—DIORAMA OF
THE BALTIC ♦ND BLACK SEA.
THE interest felt in the war has induced the proprie
tors of this gallery to represent with some degree of
accuracy and detail a variety of views of the Baltic
and Black Sea. The diorama commences with views
up the Baltic, comprising various illustrations of the
principal towns and most remarkable spots from
Wing(' Sound on the Swedish coast to St. Peters-
burg. The representation of Crondstadt and Hel-
singfors are both well paintei, and convey an
excellent idea of the vast strength of these granite
fortresses. The powerful batteries of Sveaborg, in
particular (the fortress of Helsingfors), armed with
nearly 2,000 guns of heavy metal, all of which com-
mand the entrance to the harbour by a narrow
channel scarcely 150 yards wide, tend to convince
one of the impracticability of storming the place by
ships alone. The view of SL Petersburg is by
night, and the effect of the various lights in the
palace windows and along the quays is represented
with picturesque effect.
Of the views down the Danube from Vienna to the
Sulina mouth, and from thence round the coasts of
the Black Sea, we cannot speak too highly ; they are
painted with great skill and delicacy, and give a most
truthful representation of the country. Belgrade,
Orsova, the Iron Gates and their wild magnificent
scenery, Kalafat and the Turkish camp, Giurgevo
and Oltenitza, Turtukai and Silistria, are all well and
truthfully represented with good effect. The view of
Constantinople, taken from Stamboul, shows the
opposite shore at Pera and the whole length of the
Golden Horn. The Black Sea includes, of course, a
view of Sebastopol, taken principally from the
sketches published by authority. The concluding
view of Varna, with the allied forces, is a clever de-
sign, and forms an appropriate conclusion to the
exhibition, which, in spite of inaccuracies here and
there, in the sails and rigging of ships, &c., is well
worth attention, and affords a very agreeable hour's
entertainment.