The Press.
London, England, 1857-02-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS,

the necessities of the measure or the rhyme, and often
changing its shape without any apparent reason. Words
of the most frequent occurrence are given in various ways ;
thus, we have counlre, countree, countrye, and countrie ;
pilye, pitlye, and pilie. In a few instances, Anglo• Saxon
forms are mixed with the Elizabethan orthography,and we
have the incongruity of hir, hem, and hit mingled with
similar words spelt as we spell them at the present day.
Another peculiarity may be observed in numerous local
corruptions, traceable to the confusion arising from the
collision of dialects on the Border. The authors—some of
whom, proba!dy, never committed their compositions to
writing—are not responsible for this chaos of inconsisten-
cies, which must be referred to the ignorance of scribes
and the carelessness of printers ; but that consideration,
which throws open the whole question to conjecture, only
increases the difficulty of determining the age of the text.
And again :
In the formation of the texts of so many pieces, drawn
from numerous scattered sources, the introduction of a
principle of uniformity would have destroyed that antique
colouring which is essential to the integrity of the
originals. The metrical and grammatical aberrations of
the ballad may be sand to be organic, and cannot be reme-
died without endangering its vitality, and depriving it of
the wild charm it derives from its independence of scho-
lastic laws. The reader must, therefore, be prepared to
find many rythmical and verbal eccentricities in this
volume, over which no critical revision could have been
safely exercised. But I have not thought it necessary to
retain in all cases the unsightly orthography of the old
MSS. and broadsides. The obsolete spelling, however, has
been removed only where it was a mere deformity, or
gratuitous hindrance to the enjoyment of the verse.
Wherever the• early forms of words were indispensahle to
the style or measure, or to the grammatical inflections,
they have been stricty preserved.

Some of the readers and purchasers of this
volume (and it deserves many of both) will
rather be surprised at what Mr. Bell calls
" the unsightly orthography." We think he
has done right upon the whole, because in a
modernised version the ballads would not be
specimens of " early " literature. " Chevy
Chase," as printed hero, thus commences :

The Percy out of Northumberland,
And a vow to God made he,
That he would hunt in the mountains
At Cheviot within days three,
In the maugre of doughty Douglas,
And all that ever with him be.

Mr Bell has selected Hearne's copy of this
ballad in preference to Bishop Percy's. As
specimens of the obsolete orthography in the
present copy we shall cite three stanzas :

Then the wild thorowe the woods went
On every silt shear;
Greyhounds thorowe the groves glent
For to kill their deer.
They began in Cheviot the hills above
Early on a monnyn day ;
By that it drew to the hour of noon
A hundred fat harts dead there lay.
They blew a mort upon the bent,
They 'sembled on twills shear ;
To the quarry then the Percy went,
To see the bryttlynge of the deer.
Footnotes explain that " the wild " means the
wild deer ; " shear "is entirely , "a monnyn
day "is Monday : and bryttlynge" the cutti►►g
up of the venison. These are amongst the
most obsolete specimens of orthography in
the volume. Mr. Bell writes (page 81) of
" the extravagant criticism" of Addison upon
"Chevy Chase "; and we are disposed to con-
cur with him But he cites the well-known
confession of Sir Philip Sydney, " I never
" heard the old song of Percy and Douglas,
" that I found not my heart moved more than
" with a trumpet."
The introductions to these ballads are well
penned. As a specimen of the compressed
knowledge in them we cito the prefix to
" Lady Greensleeves "

From "A' Handfull of I'leasant Delites, 1584." The
full title is "A New Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Green-
sleeves." Independently of its merits as a lyric, it is ex-
tremely curious as a picture of costume, embracing •
complete description of the wardrobe of a lady in the time
of Elizabeth. It was written to the popular tune of
" areensleeves," alluded to by Sliskspeare in The Merry
wives of Windsor, v. O. The music of the air will be found
in Ur. Chappell's " Ancient English Melodies." This
piece was reprinted by Mr. Fairholt, in his excellent ool-
lection of " Songs and Poems on Costume," published by
the Percy Society.

Nothing fuller need be desired.
We shall not be surprised if the present
volume prove one of the most popular of this
edition.

Agnes Milbourne ; or, " Foy Pour Devoir."
By Mrs. Hubback. Two Vols. London :
Skeet.
EVERY reader of light literature must see
that the lady novelists nearly monopolise the

185

supply of fiction. The slight and subtle
graces of the drawing•room, some of the
softer emotions of the heart, and not a few of
the pains of life, are seized by female pens
with singular quickness, and depicted in
many cases with an airy grace not to be
expected from male artists. Of our working
novelists, a clear majority can be counted by
the ladies. Mrs. Gore, Mrs. Marsh, Mrs.
Gaskell, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Miss Pardoe, the
authoress of " John Halifax," of ". Mi s.
Margaret Maitland," with many more,
are quite ready to dispute the road
with the male fictionists that advance be-
hind Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Dickens. We
do not regret this state of things ; but the
critic's duty becomes, of course, altered under
such circumstances. We must try the pro-
ductions of ladies by the standard which they
have raised for themselves.

" Agnes Milbourne " is essentially a lady's
novel, constructed on a faulty plan. It has
the weakness, mingled with some feminine
grace, that appears in all its writer's produc-
tions. Its characters want life, and fail to
attract the reader's attention. The authoress
works upon one kind of literary pattern, until
her ideas have become monotonous. As
"the niece of Miss Austen " Mrs. Hubback
was first introduced to the public ; and it
might have been added, as " the imitator of
" the writer of Pride and Prejudice' " We
confess that we not care to read authors in
a second-hand style. Such productions always
want freshness ; and without some impulsive
power there can be no genius. In " Agnes
Milbournts " we have an attempt to apply
Miss Austen's mode of delineation, while
treating of a lad)'s conscience doubting
between Presbyterianism and the Church o
England. Mrs. Hubback must have bee* in a
great dilemma for an interesting plot when
she sought a polemical subject of such a
narrow kind. Her theology is not of a fiery
sort ; on the contrary, it is soft and insipid,
neither sowing any doubts nor stirring up any
passions, at once too feeble for fanaticism and
too hazy for argument, so that the worst that
can be said of it is, that the reader is apt to
yawn. Here is a specimen of some of the con-
versations :

"And yet we cannot help feeling the absence of external
sympathy in all things. Even in devotion, our warmth is
heightened by the ardour of others ; or chilled by careless•
Hess, or coldness around us. How the want of earnest•
ness in a minister acts upon the zeal of his flock;" said
Agnes, after a short pause of consideration.
" No doubt it has an effect of that sort," replied Ber-
nard, earnestly, " yet we have a safeguard in our excellent
forms of prayer, which ought to preserve us from indolent
dependence on the devotion of the priest. And the more
we enter into the deep meaning of our invaluable Church
Services, the more we shall feel this blessing in its fullest
extent."

" It is well," replied she, `• if you have anything in the
English Church to substitute for the pastoral care which is
so universally wanting. I think the rich in England are
generally quite ignorant of what a privilege they are de-
prived. I used to envy the poor people at Eynesbury, who
I suppose could speak to the rector as a minister of the
Gospel. We saw him as a gentleman in the drawing-
room occasionally, and once a week we hail a sermon.
But as to anything more, conventional restraints of good
breeding and decorum put it out of the question.
And again, a little further on :

" I believe," said Agnes, after a few minutes' silent
reflection, " the fault is in the Church system. Ido not
mean the forms and ceremonies, the prayers or festivals,
but the way in which the English Church is governed as
to the appointment of clergymen. A young man wanting
a maintenance takes orders for a living, to which he comes,
knowing nothing either of place or people ; or perhaps he
is less fortunate, and only nominated curate, with a chance
of being at any time removed ; of course in the former
case, there is little previous sympathy bttween the
parishioners and him, and in the latter none at all. The
people are obliged to submit ; they have no choice, and
good or bad, High or Low Church (and I am sure your
system is capable of immense variation), they must listen
to him, or perhaps to no one ; for in country places they
are not always so happy as to have even a meeting-house
to resort to for better instruction."

Bernard looked pained by her observations, and paused
before replying.
" I do not at all agree with you, but may I ask, if the
fault is in the system, how would you remedy it ?"
" I do not think the case admits of a remedy, a total
change is the only cure. Individuals, however, have some•
times a remedy for themselves, which it becomes their
duty to use."
. _ _

"-And what is that ?"
" Simply to join a society where these errors having been
discovered, are avoided; where personal religion is en-
couraged and watched over by the minister. Had you
been, as I have, a member of such a congregation, taught
by a truly ardent and devoted minister, one who has

186

literally given up all worldly prospects for the sake of
what he feels to be right, you would not wonder that I
dread the coldness of the English Church, or shrink from
its formal passiouleis services."

We have read various forms of the religious
novel, but we never saw one constructe on
so shallow a scheme as the present. There is
real antagonism between Protestantism and
Romanism, as between the habits of religious
life incident to those who cultivate exclusively
either High Church or Evangelical principles.
But to try and conjure up interesting situa•
tions for a mind wavering between the Church
and the Kirk is not only wrong in point of
taste, but is an anachronism in point of time.
There was a period when the two national
Churches, north and south of the Tweed,
kindled the fiercest political passions, and
roused the ire of disputants. Those days are
happily over, and are not likely to return.
"Agnes Milbourne," therefore, is little better
than a genteel tract against Presbyterianism,
in which human sympathies are not touched,
nor the mind refreshed by any varieties of
human life naturally described. It is a pity
that the authoress does not give herself more
time, as with her rapid mode of composition
Mrs. Hubback does not allow her ideas to
accumulate. " Contemplate your subject long,
" and it will grow upon you," was the advice
given by a great master of literary composi-
tion ; and a rapid writer should possess a stored
memory, well furnished with observations of
life. A passage from the concluding pages of
this novel will show the radical defect of
" Agnes Milbourne "

Amongst her wedding presents, which were no way in
themselves remarkable for number or value, was one to
the possession of which she had been looking forward with
deep unspeakable interest. It was a small parcel which
Bernard brought for her on her birthday. Almost silently
he placed it in her hands and turned away.
The envelope contained Arthur's Book of Common
Prayer, the one which she well knew he had always car-
ried about him, which had been his daily companion for
years. Perhaps the first page which caught her eye bad
been the last on which his failing sight had rested, for the
book opened at the service for the Communion of the Sick,
and there followed next those words of comfort and hope,
" I ant the Resurrection and the Life."

On the blank page at the beginning, where she knew his
name was written long before, her own was added in a tee-
Tuitions hand, as though strength were ebbing fast, and
then these words :—" Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard "—" endeavouring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace," and beyond she could
jest trace—" One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism," and
then it seemed the fingers could no longer guide the pen,
and the imperfect letter which followed only shcwed that
the will had not been accomplished.

1. Poems of Past Years. By Sir Arthur Hallam
Elton, Bart. London : Smith and Elder.
2. Sir Edwin Gilderoy. By Feltham Burghley.
London : John Chapman.
3. Poetry from Life. By C. M. K. London:
Smith and Elder.
ALL these poems possess a certain degree of
merit, in that they are the product of writers
who know what poetry ought to be, and evince
an ear for rythm, in which many of those
lately noticed by us are deficient. If they are
not such as to add to the reputation of their
respective authors, they will not diminish from
it; and though they would probably have had
as many readers in manuscript as they are
likely to have in print, yet we have no wish to
quarrel with anything which, being decently
good, stimulates three such important branches
of industry as printing, publishing, and paper-
making.
1. In Sir Arthur Elton's volume we like the
" Heart's Sacrifice " the best, but we shall
quote a shorter one, called the " Day Dream,"
as a very fair specimen of his style :
She sat beneath the branches
Of an old and lofty tree,
And I lay on the grass
And my head it as on her knee :
The spot was green and sheltered
On the steep side of a hill ;
The day was bright and clear
And all around was still ;
A valley stretched keneuth us;
It was a pleasant place ;
But 1 cared not much for that,
Fur I looked up in her face;
I looked up, and I listened
To the sweet words which she told me,
While her dark eyes all the time
Did earnestly behold me ;

THE PRESS.

A sort of dizzy languor
Possessed me as I heard,

And I trembled so with joy
Tbat I uttered not s word;

She told me that the tale
Was false which men had said;
How she had loved another
With whom she was to wed;

She told me 't was most false
She was another's wife ;
But that she loved me dearly,
And would so, all her life ;

She chid me very gently
Itemise I had believed;
And the tears stood in her eyes
To think how I had grieved ;
She took my hand in hers,
And placed it on her heart,
But that heart it felt so cold
That I drew back with a start
Oh misery for me!
For suddenly she seemed
To melt into the air;
1 woke, and had but dreamed!

2. " Sir Edwin Gilderoy" is an imitation of
ancient English ballads, and we do not deny
the writer the very modest amount of praise
which he claims for himself, that is, " to have
put two or three words together as they ought
to bo ; logically• that is, without eccentricity,
and yet in a mar.ner sufficiently fresh and
vigorous."

3. From the poems of C. M. K. we select the
following, entitled the " Home Angel ":
She dwelt apart from early youth
In gentle household ways;
Contented with her mother's smile,
And with her father's praise.
Hers was " the grace of qutet born,"
Of fancies gay and pure ;I
Of trusting love that could obey,
And strength that could endure.
Beauty from simplest actions rase,
And harmony from strife;
So did her kindly spirit fuse
The elements of life.
Hers was the hand that freely gave,
The ready smile or sigh,
The cheek that true to feeling flushed,
The bright and upward eye.

A stranger came, he look'd and loved,
He whisper'd at her side ;
There fell a shadow on her home
The day he claim'd his bride.
And well she kept her vows, she tuni'd
The prose of life to song;
But alt too high that strain fur earth—
And it was hush'd ere long.
She died, ere love was fully teld,
As dies a flower in spring ;
Earth never lost, nor heaven gain'il
A fairer, sweeter thing.
Ay, hundreds like her live and die,
In England's household bowers;
And blessed are the hearts that feel
"Such angels yet are ours."

Poetry, it has been often said, is not confined
to those who have the power of composing it
in words. Many persons may experience truly
poetic emotions who cannot convey their
ideas to others. But there will always be an
effort to do so ; and that effort will be gra
dually facilitated by the diffusion of liberal
culture. The class of writings we have
lately been reviewing under the title
of " Recent Poetry" seem, as it were,
a sort of inarticulate protest against the
overwhelming materialism of the age a
determined attempt on the part of persons
conscious of poetic sympathies to give utter-
ance to their feelings regardless of the absence
of poetic genius. As works of art they cannot
but rank low, but as manifestations of gentle-
ness are entitled to our friendly consideration.

THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE TOWN exhibit such
vitality as the season may be expected to stimulate.
The theatres are remarkably active. At the Olympic
and Haymarket we have different versions of the
same piece, the Femme qui Diteste son Mari of the
late Madame Emile Girardlu ; both versions are
good. At a favourable opportunity we will give a
detailed criticism of each, and also of the new
drama the Life's Ransom, brought out with such care
by Mr. Dillon e.t the Lyceum. Among amusements
non.theatrical, Mr. Gordon Cumming •till maintains
his credit as the mighty hunter among men, while
Tom Thumb, of illustrious diminutiveness, is ex-
hibited and kissed every day at stated hours at the
Cosmorama.

SATURDAY,

THE NEAPOLITAN DESPATCHES.

A PORTION of the despatches upon the subject of the
Neapolitan interference has been published. The
despatches extend from May 19th to Nov. 15th, 1856.
On May 19, Lord Ciarendon wrote to Sir William
Temple, at Naples, setting forth the grounds on
which her Majesty's Government recommended that
of the Two Sicilies to grant a general amnesty, and
to adopt an improved administrative system. Sir
William Temple acknowledges the receipt of this
despatch, and communicates the result of his inter-
view with the Neapolitan Minister. The report of
M. Brennier, the French representative, who acted
with Sir William Temple, is also given. Sir William
Temple then sends a memorandum upon the suffer-
ings of the prisoners, also reports of the trials at
the Grand Criminal Court, and the representations
made from time to time by M. Carafa to the English
and French Governments,with the results. Between
July 31 and Oct. 27, the correspondence from
Naples to our Government is conducted by Mr.
Metre. The letters of this gentleman include obser-
vations on the political state of the kingdom, the
results of the trials, the sufferings of Poerio and
others, the facts connected with the rupture of the
diplomatic relations, and the departure of the
French and English representatives from the capital.
From the despatch of Lord Clarendon on the 19th of
May we select the following passages:—

This anxiety, and a profound conviction of the imminent
danger with which Italy is threatened, can alone justify
her Majesty's Government in deviating from that principle
of which they are the first to recognise the importance—
that no foreign power has the right to interfere in the
internal affairs of another State ; and the Government of
the King of the Two Sicilies may be assured that in offer•
ing advice for the regulation of its internal affairs, the
Government of her Majesty is actuated by friendly feelings,
and the persuasion that not only the stability of the
Sicilian monarchy, but the general peace of Europe, will
be endangered by a perseverance in that system of internal
administration which now exists in the Neapolitan do.
minions.
• •• •• •• •• • •

It is, then, in a true spirit of friendship that her Ma-
jesty's Government would recommend the Government of
the Two Sicilies to enter upon a new course of internal
policy, to endeavour by a general amnesty to rally round
the Throne those who have been alienated from it by a
systematic distrust, and in too many cases by unmerited
persecution, and to inspire all persons, irrespective of
their political opinions, with confidence that jutitice will
be duly administered, and that their personal liberty and
their property will be respected.
The attention of Europe is now directed towards Italy
as the quarter from whence, more than from any other, the
general peace, now happily restored, is likely again to be
disturbed. The powers of Europe feel that they have a
right to employ all the means at their disposal to avert a
calamity so grievous as the renewal of war, and the means
they may decide on adopting fur that purpose will be justi-
fied by necessity.

On the 2nd June Sir William Temple replies, de-
tailing the reception his communication met with
from the Neapolitan Minister for Foreign Affairs, M.
Carafa. Sir William Temple writes :
M. Carafe promised to lay these despatches before the
King at the earliest opportunity, to which he assured us
that we might expect very shortly to receive answers. He
said that the King could not consistently with his dignity
allow any foreign powers to interfere with the internal
Government of his country, but he would always listen
with interest to the represen.ations of friendly powers.
M. Carala added that be could assure us that the King
felt no desire to prolong the confinement of the political
prlsoners unnecessarily, and that an extensive amnesty had
been prepared, but the execution had been postponed, in
corsequence of the excitement which had been occasioned
by the expectations to which the Acts of the Congress had
given rise. He expressed, however, his conviction that
something would be dune before long, and the hope that
he would be able to give an answer to our communications
which he trusted would prove satisfactory.
On the 12th of June Sir W. Temple wrote :

I called upon M. Carats yesterday, to ask him how soon
we might expect an answer to the representations which
11. Brennia. and I had been instructe.i to make to him by
our respective Governments. M. Carafs assured me that
the copies of the despatches we had lett with hint hail been
immediately forwarded to the King at Gaeta, and that lie
expected to receive an answer soon. I told him that our
(internments were very anxious to ascertain what the in-
tentions of the King really are ; that we are desirous that
his Majesty should act from his own good feelings; but
that if, unfortunately, nothing were dime, very serious com-
plications would arise, for that England and France were in
earnest, and would nut allow themselves to be put off or
trifled with. . _

M. Carafe repeated again that the King had the he%
intentions, but that he could not permit any foreign
powers to interfere with the internal government of his
dominions ; that an amnesty had been in preparation, but
that the protocols of Paris prevented its being carried out
at present. as it might be supposed to have been the result
of compulsion.
On the 80th of June was written the famous
Neapolitan note, protesting strongly against the
right of foreign interference in the internal adminis-
tration of the kingdom of Naples :
The English Government displays apprehensions for
the stability of the monarchy, and for the peace of Europe,

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