The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

THE PRtS S, JANUARY 9, 1858.

meats which they had both signed and agreed to on the
10th inst. The French admiral expressed his surprise
and annoyance at the extraordinary conduct of his colleague,
and, without further parley, quitted the cabin and re.
turned to his ship in high dudgeon. Sir Edmund Lyons
(who had come on board during the discussion), however,
assured the French captain of the fleet, who had re-
mained alter his chief bad left, that he would be answer-
able for the English ships being in their places, and with
this assurance Admiral Bouet-Villaumtz departed. What
passed between the two British admirals it is unnecessary
here to relate ; suffice it to say, that the English fleet were
shortly afterwards ordered to get under way.
The Staff Officer adds the following note by
way of explanation :
In the previous editions of this work, the author, from
misapprehension, cast blame upon Admiral Hamelin for
having caused the delay in the naval operations of the 17th
October, lsr)4 ; but as he has since ascertained the in-
correctness of his statement, he takes this opportunity of
acknowledging his error, and of expressing his regret that
he should thus have been led to cast censure upon a dis-
tinguished French officer.
We have extracted sufficiently from this new
'volume to show the claims it has upon all
who wish to form an accurate notion of the
csmluct of the war in the Crimea. We may
add that the Staff Officer claims distinctly
for Lord Raglan the honour of having designed
the fatuous flank march which was afterwards,
by his desire, reduced to a definite plan by
Sir John Burgoyne.
In conclusion, we have simply to observe
that we believe this book to convey an accu-
rate and truthful impression upon the leading
incidents of the war, and that it will well repay
uttcutive perusal. After the study of these
'letters no one can deny the eminent services
rendered to his country by Lord Raglan. The
time will yet come when his memory shall
receive a fitting tribute at the hands of the
nation.

Our Antipodes ; or, Residence and Rambles in the
Australasian Colonies. By Lieutenant-Colonel
Godfrey Charles Mundy. Fourth Edition. Lon-
don : Bentley.
'CotoNEL MUNDY is the most entertaining writer
upon our gold colonies who has yet appeared in
,print. The sensation his work created when it first
appeared some five years ago was a tribute ha well
.deserved, fur no writer upon Australia has ever given
•so happy and so truthful a picture of the colony and
its inhabitants. A cheap, well-printed, and revised
edition of such a book needs no recommendation to
insure its popularity.

" Oh, ay, I see it all now, mate," said Jem, going down on
all fours, while old Tom, who though serious-minded, was
very much of a wag at proper seasons, leaped on his back,
and stuck out one arm as Peter's statue is doing.
" Now, Jem, rear up on your fore legs, as the big horsr-
is doing, and we shall come the statue to an affigraphy,"
he cried.
The representation of the statue of Peter was unmis-
takeable. In an instant the ishvushtsticks comprehended
what was required, and clapping their hands with delight,
while they burst into loud laughter, signalised to the sea-
men to jump into a drosky, and away they drove as fast
as their horses could go, in the very direction from whence
Fred and Harry had just come.

This is a fair specimen of the pleasant adventures
met with, and If the manner in which Mr. Kingston
has detailed them. The book forms a pretty pre-
sent fur younger children.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

AN excellent number of Blackwood for this month
opens with a not uninteresting nor uninstructive
paper upon " Hunger and Thirst." The writer,
after examining in detail every possible theory upon
the causes of each, decides that hunger arises from
a certain torpidity, if not absence of circulation
through the bloodvessels of the stomach, while the
sensation of thirst, he maintains, is not merely a
systemic sensation, dependent on a " deficiency of
" liquid in the system, but a specific sensation, de-
" pendent on a local disturbance." His arguments
are ingenious, and his illustrations certainly to the
point. Nine chapters of " What will he Do with It ?"
follow, in which occurs an exquisite picture of Jasper
Losely at home at Arabella Crane's :
Men, single or marital, are accustomed to connect the
idea of home with dressing-gown and slippers, especially if,
after dinner, they apply (as Jasper Losely now applied) to
occupations in which the brain is active, the form in
repose. What achievement, literary or scientific, was ever
accomplished by a sta:lent strapped to unyielding boots,
and " cabined, cribbed, confined," in a coat that fits him
like wax? As robed in the cosy garment which is conse-
crated to the sacred familiar Lares, the relaxing, handsome
ruffian sate in the quiet room, bending his still regular
profile over the sheepskin books—the harmless pen in that
strong well-shaped hand, Mrs. Crane watched him with a
softening countenance. To bear him company, she had
actively taken herself to work—the gold thimble dragged
from its long repose—marking and hemming, with nimble
artistic fingers, new cravats for the adopted son I Strange
creature is Woman I Ungrateful and perfidious as that
sleek tiger before her had often proved himself—though
no man could less deserve one kindly sentiment in a female
heart—though she knew that he cared nothing for her,
still it was pleasing to know that he cared for nobody else
—that he was sitting in the same room—and Arabella
Crane felt, that if that existence could continue, she could
forget the past, and look contented towards the future.
Again I say, strange creature is woman—and in this
instance, creature more strange, because so grim ! But
as her eyes soften, and her fingers work, and her mind
revolves schemes for making that lawless wild beast an
innocuous tame animal, who can help feeling for and with
grim Arabella Crane?
A sound critical review of "Debit and Credit" does
justice to the merits of that novel. A good article on
the Scottish Universities, and another on the Indian
mutiny, are followed by a pleasant biographical
sketch of Beranger, who appears to have owed his
success in life to the fortunate patronage of one of
the Buonaparte family :
Lucien Buonaparte, the gentlest and most lovable of his
family, established at once, to a modest and moderate
extent, the fortunes of the young poet. He gave him kind
criticism, suggestions, not over-wise perhaps, but in ac-
cordance with the spirit of the time ; and with the natural

grace
And open bounty of his race,
conferred his more substantial benefits in such a manner
as to elevate rather than humiliate the receiver of them.
He made over to Beranger the little income to which he
himself was entitled as a Member of the Institute—a
thousand francs, or somewhere about forty pounds a year.
The arrears of three years were paid at once to the fortu-
nate rhyraster. He could help his father—he could maintain
himself. So far as his wordly concerns went, he had no
greater ambition. Fortune had come to him in a momeut.
The protection of Lucien conferred other advantages
upon the young poet. It introduced him to Arnault, then
Minister of Public Instruction, through whom, at a later
period, he obtained a permanent appointment, and who
" opened to me the doors of the world of literature, which
I had never been able to frequent till then." Beranger
had, however, little personal intercourse afterwards with
his first patron ; but when Lucien was in exile at Rome,
the grateful poet vainly endeavoured to do him homage in
his banishment. He had then some pastoral poems nearly
completed—poems of which he seems to have had no
opinion, and which he desired to publish solely for the
sake of the dedication to Lucien, which, however, the
imperial censor condemned. Those sweet and tender
verses which are quoted seem very innocent matters for
the ban of the censorship ; and Beranger, finding that he
could not be permitted to publish them, abandoned the
book ; he made another unsuccessful attempt subsequently
—but it was not until 181,3, eighteen years after the period
of his brief acquaintance with this prince, that he was able
to express the thanks of his grateful memory in a dedica-
tion to Lucien Bonaparte.