The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-29 00:00:00

LIT ERA T UR E.

The Warden.

By Anthony Trollope. 1 vol.
Longman and Cc.
This is a very clever and entertaining book,
though its object is not very clear. The Warden
is a Mr. Harding, a gentle, honourable, and esti-
mable clergyman, who has been appointed by his
old friend, the Bishop of Barchester, to the war-
denship of an establishment called Hiram's Hospi-
tal. Twelve old men of the town of Barchester
were, by the will of one John Hiram, entitled to
be maintained, clothed, and lodged in the hospital.
As, in the case of many similar bequests, the value
of the property had greatly increased; and, though
Mr. Harding on his appointment added twopence
a day to the men's allowance, still a great discre-
pancy existed, the pensioners receiving each one
shilling and sixpence a day, and the Warden 8001.
a year. This being obviously unjust and wrong,
J.ohn Bold, the Reformer of. the town, took upon
hthe awkward task of bringing A before the
public. The task was the less incumbent upon
him as his father had been an old friend of the
Warden, and he himself was much attached to the
Warden's youngest daughter. His eldest daughter
was the wife of the Archdeacon, the son of the
Bishop, and this Archdeacon, who is one of the
chief characters in the book, ruled the yielding
Mr. Harding with a rod of iron. He, poor man,
when suddenly awakened to the injustice and in-
security of his position, would gladly have resigned
the disputed office at once, but Archdeacon Grantly
convinced him, by high-sounding arguments, that
such a course would be the sure mode of encouraging
the Church's enemies, aid be deserting his post in
the hour of danger. Poer Mr. Harding endured
it for some time, but at length, driven desperate by
two articles in a leading newspaper, he escaped the
vigilance of the Archdeacon, rushed to London, and
resigned his lucrative but most unenviable position.
Bythis time, however, John Bold had consented to
the entreaties of the fair Eleanor Harding, to aban-
don the cause, and so both sides left the matter
where it was. The hospital is deserted and ne-
glected, the eld men die off and are not replaced,
and the survivors find to their dismay, instead of
each man having the hundred a year they had ex-
pected, they only lose the twopence a day Mr.
Harding had given them. The ex-Warden retires
to a quiet lodging, to the disgust of the Archdeacon,
and his daughter becomes Mrs. Bold. This is the
substance of the book, but it gives a faint idea of
the keen observation, knowledge of life, and satiri-
cal sketches contained in it. Some well-known
characters are introduced under very transparent
disguises. Few will fail to recognise Carlyle and
Dickens among them, and the graceful testi-
mony to the part the " twenty shilling num-
bers" have taken in the reformation of many
great abuses, will be generally appreciated. Bar-
cheater' and its dignitaries are evidently in-
tended for portraits ; but the unsatisfactory point
of the book is its having seemingly no object. If
it was simply intended to exemplify the frequent
misappropriation of such funds, and the inconsist-
ency of the guardians of such establishments being
rich men, while keeping strictly to the letter of
the will, and not either enlarging the number of
recipients or increasing their allowance, the end
would be easily attained. If, on the other hand,
the author was opposed to innovations, he might
easily have taken the other side and made out a
mere favourable case for the delinquents, repre-
sented the danger of alterations, &c. But he does
neither one nor the other, or rather he does both.
He says that the old men had all that they wanted,
were quite happy, and succeed, in giving the im-
pression that John Bold did a great deal of harm
and no good by his meddling, while the injustice of
the case is evident. With this exception, most
readers will 'derive pleasure froth its perusal, from
its lively satire, its clever delineation of character
and sketches of real life.

The Baltic : its Gates, Shores, and Cities ; with a
notice of the White Sea. By the Rev. Thomas
Milner, M.A., F.R.G.S. _Longman and Co.
The interest with which, until the formal an-
nouncement of the return of our fleet from the icy
waters of the Baltic, everything connected with
that sea was regarded, is reviving, and likely by
all accounts to reach its culminating point during
the present year. The appearance, therefore, of
the work before us is very opportune, while, irre-
spective of such a consideration, it cannot but be
welcomed as containing useful information respect.
ing a region eminently deserving of attention, on
account of its remarkable physical geography, active
and important commerce, and historical and scien-
tific associations. As the author remarks—" Few
parts of the *globe have a more unique natural cha-
racter, or can boast of such a catalogue of illustrious
names connected with their shores." These furnish
topics which are illustrated with much ability, and
possess a permanent interest.

The Microscope : its History, Construction, and
Applications. By Jabez Hogg, 111.R.C.5.
Tho volume before us is a familiar introduction
to the use of the microscope and the study of mi-
croscopical science, awl the public is largely in-
debted to the anther for a work on the subject, so
easily to be understood, so amusing and instructive.
With considerable clearness and skill ho lays before
the reader the history and co:ettruction, and paints
out the various applications of this wonderful in-
strument, to which every department of art and
science has in turn been indebted. Soma readers,
enamoured of the subject, may deein the work too
succinct, but we think the author has wisely re-
frained from composing too bulky a book, and has
thereby added to its practical value by insuring its
popularity. Every one, after reading it atten-
tively, will know hot► to use and manipulate the
instrument, and few but will be better informed as
to its scope and practical utility. Hardly less
wonderful than the telescope, it is shown to carry
equally indisputable proofs of skill, design, and
infinite wisdom in creation. Books treating on
subjects that do this deserve, despite a few faults,
to be recommended to the public. Tho present
volume is illustrated by no fewer than 500 en-
gravings. Pater familias and youngsters, think of
that ! five hundred well-executed engravings in
some 440 pages, exhibiting minute natural objects
of all sorts, and some of the most curious con-
struction. Wo cordially recommend the volume
to our readers.

Some Memoirs of John Hampden, his Party, and
his Times. By Lord Nugent. Chapman and'
Hall.

1 third edition of these memoirs in which such
brief omissions have been made as Lord Nugent
contemplated, with a view, we are told,- to its ap-
pearance in its present form. Nothing of the
strictly biographical portion of the work has been
touched, but where the historical description too
much encumbered or overlaid it, this has been
slightly compressed with advantage, we agree with
the editor is thinking, to the general effect of the
narrative. The most interesting feature, however,
of the present edition is a brief memoir of the
deceased lord. Our readers do not require to be
told how meritorious his lordship's memoirs of that
illustrious patriot and model of English coun-
try gentlemen, Hampden, are. The general
approval they have met with sufficiently demon-
strata z that. It is a book to which Englishmen should
give an honourable place in their libraries, and
refer to again and again. If it does not tell as
much as could be desired of Hampden, it tells as
much as was accessible, and without flattery, all
redounding to his honour. Though not a great
historian Lord Nugent was a faithful one, and the
high integrity which characterised his life is
equally observable in his work. His lordship was
the second sou of the first Marquis of Buckingham,
and was born at Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin, in
1789, during his father's viceroyalty. His title was
derived from his mother, who, in childhood, was
the playmate of Goldsmith, and played on the
simple-minded poet and moralist the harmless
practical joke attributed in the comedy of " She
Stoops to Conquer" to Tony Lunipkin. Passing
with some distinction through his undergraduate-
ship at Oxford he left it with the reputation, which
he always maintained, of being a fair classical
scholar. He sabeequently passed two years with
the army, and, on his return, received the Uni-
versity degree of D.C.L., having previously de-
feated Lord Eldon and the Duke of Beaufort in
contest for the Chancellorship of Oxford. The war
of liberation excited his intense sympathy, and he
rushed into print to commemorate the wrongs of
Spain and Portugal, and to express his cordial
admiration for the genius and exploits of the hero
of Torres Vedras, Badajoz, and Salamanca, who,
it is gratifying to be assured, cordially reciprocated
his kindly feeling. On the death of his mother ho
merged the name of Lord George Grenville in
tie title by which he was afterwards known.
Shortly after Mr. Porceval's death he was returned
for Aylesbury, and in the S.Ttem her of 1813 ho
was married to Anne Lucy, the second daughter
of Lieutenant-General the Hon. Yore Poulet, to
whom he was devotedly attached. It is not our
intention to liarticularise his inih-;equent career—
in general terms we may say of it, it was that of
a conscientious and high-spirited Liberal, even in
times when to be so was to be stigmatised with the
most opprobrious terms, and to incur real danger.
With the struggles of die Catholic body for emelt•
oipation he warmly sympathised—the oppressed
slava found in him a ready and constant champion,
and Parliamentary Reform, and the removal of re-
ligious disabilties were greatly promoted by his
strenuous exertions. To the last he was the friend
of the oppressed, and the Hungarian exiles in this
country found in him a liberal and steady friend.

5 5.

iOf his appointment and retirement from the office
of Lord Commissioner of the lonian Islands, we
will only say whatever unpleasantness led to his
resignation, the merit of having greatly improved
the financial condition of these islands was indis-
putably his, and from his political opponents his
entire conduct subsequently received ample vindi-
cation. His Parliamentary career, an interrupted
one, was not brilliant, but he was respected by men
of all opinions ' • he enjoyed the friendship of the
illustrious chiefs of the Whig party, and, according
to Tim Bobns, "he had more good taste than any
man in the House." He was the author of many
eloquently-written pamphlets, but his great work
was that before us. Taking advantage of some re-
pairs in the chancel of Hampden Church, he ob-
tained the permission of the Duke of Buckingham
for such possible identification of Hampden's re-
mains as might clear up the question of the kind
of hurt of which the illustrious patriot died • and
he, with others believed, though he afterwards' saw
reason to change his opinion, that he had gazed on
Hampden's remains. Subsequently ho had a
monument erected by subscription to Hampden's
memory, and next, we believe in these memoirs,
testified the high veneration he entertained for it.
On the 26th November his useful and highly
honourable career came to an unexpected termina-
tion ; and of him we shall only say, in conclusion,
a nobleman more manly, of higher integrity, more
liberal-minded, humane and patriotic, has rarely,
if ever, existed.
21

r orses and Bounds ; a Practical Treatise on their
Management. By Scrutator. Routledge and
Co.

Who Scrutator is we do not pretend to know,
while willingly conceding to him the merit of hav-
ing written a very readable and instructive book,
on a subject peculiarly interesting to a large and
influential class of readers. Evidently an acute
observer, ardently attached to the chase, and inte-
rested in all belonging to it, Scrutator has given
the world the benefit of a thirty years' experience,
and must be acknowledged " a master" of the vena-
torial art. Every detail of the stable and the kennel
seems familiar to him, and the instructions he lays
down for their management commend themselves
as being at once practical and judicious. He ex-
presses surprise that, considering the demand for
well-bred horses, and their high price, the
breeding of this kind of stock, as a system, has not
been more generally adopted by agriculturists,
poiLts out mistakes made in the selection of brood
mares, and asserts that purchasing inferior animals
is bad economy. He then proceeds to show what
conditions are required to secure a good stock and
a healthy and efficient stable. His remarks on the
breaking in and working of colts especially deserve
attention. Tricks of dealers do not escape notice,
and valuable hints are given to intending pur-
chasers. In short, all that can be expected in a
popular and practical treatise on the management
of horses and hounds will, so far as we can judge,
be found in these pages, which are greatly en-
livened by original racy anecdotes, illustrative of
the subject in hand. It may be interesting to add
that the notion entertained by many that the in-
troduction of railways would have suspended or
materially diminished the use of horses employed
for draught purposes has proved erroneous ; the
number of cabs and omnibuses plying to and from
the railway stations having actually increased the
demand ! In London, the increase, we are told,
has been enormous.