The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-04 00:00:00

210

are given. He is a confirmed fatalist. The
revolutions of 1848, by alarming the old no-
bility, stifled a conspiracy that had been
formed against the imperial authority, other-
wise the author is of opinion that the predic-
tion, now broken for the first time, that no
Emperor of Russia can reign more than
twenty.five years, would have been verified
either by the poisoned bowl, the dagger, or the
rope. The work is profusely illustrated by
drawings which answer the purpose for which
they are designed.

1 Private Letters on the Eastern Question. By
Viscount Ponsonby. Brighton : Folthorp.
2. Shall Turkey Live or Die By Thomas Carlyle,
Esq. London : Bosworth.
3. A Word to the British Public before entering
into Hostilities with Russia. London : Golbourn.
1. A collection of six letters written between the
17th November and the 30th December, 1833. They
are strictly what they purport to be—private commu-
ications from one friend to another on the most im•
ortant question of the day ; but they possess an in-
erest and an authority, which perhaps would not
otherwiso belong to them, from the position once
held by the noble author. Many of Lord l'onsonby's
remarks have since been verified by events, and his
opinion of the conduct of the Coalition on the Eastern
question is, " that the exhibition of any vigour in the
" commencement would have placed that affair in an
" intelligible state, instead of its falling into inex-
" tricable ;confusion." Lord Pcnsonby asserts that
England and France are " bound by treaty to pre-
" serve the integrity of the Ottoman territory," a
statement we notice because Lord Aberdeen in the
House of Lords ostentatiously asserted the exact re-
verse.

2. Mr. Carlyle is of opinion that, although not
bound by treaty to maintain Turkey, we are yet
" bound to see that it is fairly dealt with," which ho
thus explains :—" Abolish Turkey with one consent if
" you will, provided you know what next to do. But
" if you deem its abolitionjundeserved, if you cannot
" put Greece in its place, or agree how to divide
" the spoil, defend it from all thieves and robbers in
" the meantime. Hera justice and interest are at
" one." Although the pamphlet is of small size, and
contains only thirty-two pages, it would require
volumes to exhaust the topics at which it
glances. Abstract right and policy, religion, the
l'ope, the Crusades, and the Jews, all these receive a
assing notice from the author as he attempts to
olve the question he asks. Mr. Carlyle believes
hat we are on the eve of that great war of principles
which Canning foresaw of a " Religious and European
war," &c. With Mr. Drummond he thinks " the
" Pope has, although covertly, been the prime mover
" in the present troubles," but is far from sure that
the Jews will not reap the benefit of the machinations
of his Holiness, " and make greater profit of this cru-
" sade than they did of the former—may step in be-
" tween the combatants . . . and may settle the
" dispute by establishing their own claim to the land
"of promise," &e. The decision cf Mr. Carlyle in
answer to the question which is the title of his
pamphlet is, that Turkey shall live. But this con-
clusion is only arrived at after much argument, and
is rather implied than affirmed. Although with fewer
peculiarities than generally mark his works, this
pamphlet alone would stamp Mr. Carlyle as an ori-
ginal thinker and an eccentric writer. " Are we," he
asks, " . . . ready to swallow any assurances
" from a Government which is the impersonation of
" craft, and the tallowy unsound countenance of
" which never yet betrayed its passions or pro.
" jects ? " We cannot conclude better than with his
advice that Russia should not be permitted to make
the Danube a " lluvium clausurn—a European pipe
" with a Russian plug."
3. Is one of those wild productions which may
emanate indifferently from a " man of peace " or an
emissary of Russia ; probably the latter, as the author
hints that America is likely to attack us if we make
war on the Czar.

The Money Lender. By Mrs. Gore. London :
Routledge and Co.
Tars reprint of one of Mrs. Gore's best tales is pub-
lished in the " Railway Library," and in its new shape
we observe that the brilliant authoress has dedicated
it to her kinsman John Wentworth, Esq., repre-
sentative in Congress of Illinois, and she parti-
cularises the fact that the work has been already ex-
tensively circulated in the United States. The
writing in " The Money-Lender" has the character-
istic vivacity and sparkle of Mrs. Gore, but the plot
is in some respects too episodical, and its construc-
tion is not so artistio as some of her other fictions.
When her new novel appears we may have an oppor-
tunity of criticising the distinguished writer, but we
observe some curious instances in " The Money-