The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-06 00:00:00

THE MAGAZINES.

Blaekwood's Illagazzne.
The first article is a second treatise on " Iron-
Clad Ships of War," of which the first part ap-
peared in last month's number. It is sensibly
written, and contains some truths that those who
are in authority would do well to take into consi-
deration. Great care has been taken to render the
various explanations as clear as possible, and it is
said truly that it is difficult to be understood by the
general reader without descending into minute
technical details. There are diagrams given which
will be of great assistance to those wishing to study
the subject attentively, and altogether this paper
is worthy of notice, offering as it does a circum-
stantial essay on one of the great questions of the
day. The following remarks, in conclusion, are
spirited and to the point, and breathe of that zeal
and tell of that energy which should—
" Still through our navy send its vital power,"
if we aspire to be a match for all open and con-
cealed foes :

"Do not wait for a war, to do things in haste and re-
pent at leisure. Pitch secrecy to the French, call in the
mechanical and engineering skill of England and America
openly in the face of all nations, and let others match us if
they can. For our part, we have faith in the genius of our
sailor race ; and though England be slow to adopt innova-
tion, it will assuredly be no easy task to preserve the lead
ag tinst her government and people, when earnestly labour-
ing for a common and holy end—defence, safety, and the
commerce of the world. We beat France in our Enfields
and Whitworths, we beat her in our breech-loading Arm-
strongs ; it will be strange indeed if wo do not match be-
fore long that fleet of 300 rifled cannon iron-clad vessels of
war which she is straining every nerve to produce, and, it
is averred, will put in the water, by May, 18611"
"The Romance of Agostini" is concluded. It is a
very exciting narrative, and ends more happily
than do many of the tales of the southern lands.
Francisco deserves success no less from his injuries
than his courage and constancy, and it is eminently
satisfactory to leave him in his ancestral home
united to the fair being who appreciated him in the
dark days of poverty and neglect. Teta is a very
well drawn character in her honest zeal for the
cause of the oppressed. In this she contrasts
strongly with her mother, whose natural sympa-
thies were clouded and overcast by the pernicious
influence exercised over her faculties by the long
apprenticeship she had served to the cold and selfish
Duchess. " A Visit to the Tribes of the Ryhanlu
Turkmans" is a short sketch that will repay peru-
, sal. It commences by observing that " Amongst all
the wild nomade tribes that range about the plains
and mountains of Syria and Asia Minor, there is
none more remarkable as differing from the rest of
the Bedouin family save only as regards pilfering
and lying than the Ryhanlu Turkmen, who spread
themselves over mountain, and valley, and plain in
one almost uninterrupted line from the defiles of
Latakia and Antioch, to the perpetually snow-
capped Taurus range." The various incidents
of this tribe are most interesting, and there is always
something to arrest our attention in these records,
however trivial, of those races of men who dwell in
tents and wander in tribes over the earth, recalling
the primeval times to the memory of the scholar
and the antiquarian. This instalment of "Nor-
man Sinclair" is a momentous one. In the first
place it describes a satisfactory meeting with
Carlton, which the perplexed Norman calls ' a sun
glimpse after storm. The second chapter is named
False Play Somewhere," and treats of a fraudulent
trick which caused an immense sensation on the
Stock Exchange. Ruin is evidently impend-
ing over Mr. Beaton, and in the next
number of the story he will probably
have fallen from his high estate to be
classed among that most wretched rank who have
seen better days, and passed from the pinnacle of
sovereign affluence to the lonely depths of pecu-
niary embarrassments. The last chapter com-
mences the history of a clever man, and in a few
sentences we are given a sad tale of one who might
have done well had he not become imbued with
fatal notions of levelling theories and revolutionary
topics that were insidiously set before him. The
last article is a very able and interesting one; it is
entitled, "Alexander Carlyle, of Inveresk," and
refers to a work lately published containing the
autobiography of that remarkable man. It is re-
freshing to meet with a subject of this kind in the
pages of a magazine, and one gladly leaves for
awhile the vexed questions of the day to contem-
plate a character of departed excellence, one who
in his day exercised an influence over his fellow
men, and left behind him a bright remembrance
and an honourable mention. A curious incident is
told of his early days, when ho first displayed his
powers of oratory by mounting a tombstone, and
reading to a dozen old women, who had not found
room in the church, the whole of the Song of Solo-
mon. One of the old ladies, delighted at this ex-
traordinary exercise of eloquence, exclaimed,
" Ye'll be minister of Prestonpans yersel' some
day." " No, no, no," said the boy, " not Preston-
pans, yon's my kirk," and pointed to the tapering
spire of Inveresk." When many years had passed
away, and some people were against his being pre-
sented to that living, the survivors of the audience
remembered the saying as prophetic, and repeated
it about till many of the parishioners became re-
conciled to their youthful minister, whom they
regarded as their fore-ordained and divinely
announced instructor. This article is in every way
worthy of perusal, and it gives a very fair account
of the interesting work of which it treats. The
following is the concluding passage, which elo-
quently closes with some forcible remarks on the
series of the biographies of last century :
"This work, though latest published, forms, in fact, the
commencement of the series of biographic and anecdotic
reminiscences of the last century with which our cwn day is
enriched. The admirable ' Recollections of Lord Cock.
burn' begin nearly where Carlyle leaves off. Sir Walter
Scott was 33 at Carlyle's death, and the wondrous strain is
carried on till the gentle ripple of the Tweed sounded on
that September morning into his dying room, in 1832 In
many respects the earlier revelations are superior to the rest.
In personal interest wo cannot, of course, place them on a
par with the records of the man who would be acknow-
ledged the greatest of modern poets, if he were not un•
dot& adly the greatest of:English novellists but as a re-
production of a distinct individuality we hold them not to
be inferior even to the masterpiece of Lockhart. Follow-
ing no master, moulding himself on no model, the charm of
these pages is their originality. They are not Boswellian,
nor Johnsonisn, nor Colley Gibberish, nor traceable to any
source. Yet in their liveliness of description, sly touches
of satire, and vigorous analysis of character, combined with
the naturalness of incident and surprising variety of inte-
rest deduced from ordinary adventures, we are constantly
reminded of ' Gil Blas.' "

Dublin University Magazine.
There is a good article on Thomas Becket, which
contains some just remarks, and furnishes one with
very correct notions as to the general character of
that remarkable man. It criticises the works
recently published of his life, and adverts to the
striking difference that exists between them. The
one by Canon Robertson is described as a " fair
sample of English good sense and manly dealing."
It speaks to us in a language ringing with the life
and lustiness of the present day. On the other
hand, in the life of Becket by Canon Morris nearly
everything seems to remind us of a quaint, half
legendary past. Further on the writer thus ad-
verts to the difficulty that exists in forming a cor-
rect opinion regarding Becket:—
If truth always lay in the agreement, or could bo drawn
from the collision of many witnesses, we should by this
time have gained a satisfactory insight into the character of
Becket and his ago. Many indeed are the pens that his
memory has kept at work upon him from the day of his so-
called martyrdom until now. Clerks of his household,
faithful secretaries, intimate friends, some of whom had
basked in the sunshine of his earlier, and shivered in the
darkness of his latter days, born witness briefly or at length,
with many flourishes or in simple terms, to the high
talents, the striking virtues, the pomp, the learning, the
personal charms, the stern enthusiasm of their departed
friend and spiritual father. Their lead was followed by a
long line of simple chroniclers who, dating from the splendid
reign of Henry 11., discoursed and fabled about many
things and persons, until the Wars of the Roses and the
dawn of a later literature put out their feeble lights for
ever. But modern history took up in her turn and handed
on the old familiar tale, with divers changes demanded by
the spirit of an age which had little faith in the marvellous,
and still less in the saint whose shrine had been plundered,
and his bones burnt at the suggestion of that self-willed
iconoclast Henry VIII. Becket's fame, however, survived
the rough handling of his fercest assailants, °re
g
in
these days, through the kindliness, the crotchets, or the
n _
religious sympathies of some able writers, notrifling share
of its olden fragrance.
But the truth regarding Becket is near_ly.oam. From
sehardto
reach as the truth regarding the early days
the oldest accounts of him, chieflypenned by his
d Unlike T 011atnesyt
worshippers, themselves men of middling capacity, of the
narrowest culture, grossly superstitious even in that age of
gross superstition, we only shape out an image as
normal commixture of flesh and spirit, as the first toy you
give a baby is unlike aught seen in books of naturalhistory.
Between their discrepancies, mistakes, contradictions, their
statements often doubtful, sometimes transparently untrue,
their wilful reticences and wild exaggerations, their love
of fancifully profane comparisons,rlother the,
the feeble proseibnlge
sophistries
crieoef
one, the childish gossip of another,
and grovelling morality of almost all, the real story of
Becket's life fades, onewhile into a series of nursery tales,
anon transforms itself into a dull didactic romance for
pious young ladies.
This epitome of the career of a noted character in
our early English historq is lucidly explained, and
the arguments are logically carried out, while
there exists no prejudice in the manner in which
this excellent article has been done. " A
House Divided against Itself" is continued in
this division, and the interest is of a painful nature.
The enthusiastic partisan for the cause of the
King, Courtenay North,:sets out on her perilous
mission. She Cis, however, outwitted by a Round-
head in the disguise of a Cavalier, and she gives up
the precious packet. However, the deceiver can-
not read it, and on her refusing to do so she is
ordered out to execution. It is not yet known
whether the threat is carried out, as the 'story
leaves off at the critical juncture when the signal
of execution is about to be given. The paper on
" Old Maids " is a very amusing and edifying

chapter on human life in various phases of society,-
At times lively, at others serious, it is written in
an earnest tone, and breathes a lofty spirit, while
it holds up to just ridicule those who make them-
selves conspicuous by their follies. At the same
time the writer observes that while some are absurd
the greater number of single women in England
are of great advantage to society. It is true that
those who are the comforts of many a home
and the kind watchers over the poor and needy
will be passed over, while many will criticise those
who are in any way remarkable in absurd attempts
at juvenility, and extraordinary notions of wo-
men's rights or wrongs. The cause is thus ably
taken up :
What nuns and Sisters of Ckarity do abroad, our old
maids do in England ; and I am not joking when I say,
that old maidism is a greater boon to this country than is
generally supposed. For every one who is a gossip, a match-
maker, or a pedant, there are half-a-dozen who are good
honest workers in the right direction. It is with our old
maids that so much remains. Non others can undertake
the care of our hospitals, the reclamation of those wretched
women whose very existence brings a shudder to the
Christian, and the proper training of the daughters of
our poor. None others, therefore, can properly replace the
conventual establishments of the Continent. The prison,
the workshop, the reformatory, the hospital, and the back-
slums, all want women to bring them round, gentle female
influence to recall them to God ; and there are none more
fitted to the task than old maids. While, therefore, I
glory in this British Institution, so appropriate to a Pro-
testant country, I would, in the humblest spirit of which an
old bachelor is capable, suggest to all our old maids, what-
ever their age, to give up morbidness, blighted recollections,
fast fancies, idle monotony, intense love of gaiety, devotion
to curates, high or low, and even their scientific pursuits ;
and since the primary office of woman, as wife and mother,
is beyond their reach, to take cheerfully and heartily to the
next best work, the effusion of that gentle spirit with which
the Maker has gifted the better half of our race—decidedly
the better half, I say it, though an old bachelor. Jael,
Judith, Boadicea, Joan of Arc, and Charlotte Corday, may
be very grand scenic specimens of womankind, but they are
unlovable. Let old maids make Tabitha—good, kind,
gentle Tabitha, who worked her fingers for the widow and
the orphan—their patron saint, and call themselves, not
their cats, by her quaint name.

" Shan Buie" is a very strange sketch, which exem-
plifies a curious life, and is in every way characteris-
tic of Ireland. " Old Paris" is an account of the
memorable points that deserve attention in the old
parts of the town. It is a sketch that will be of
service to many, and affords information not always
to be obtained. " Notes on New Books" contains
a smart summary of some recent publications, and
altogether this month's number presents much to
attract the reader.

Fraser's Magazine.
It is with feelings of deep regret that the nume-
rous readers of Fraser will turn to the brief paper
in this number headed "In Memoriam," which
pays a mournful tribute of affectionate respect to
the memory of its able and accomplished editor.
It redounds to the credit of author and publisher,
contributor and editor, when such kindly and
genial feeling exists between them; and the public
at large will readily acknowledge, when they recall
the variety and excellence which has, of late years,
delighted them in the pages of Regina that the loss
to periodical literature is one not easily replaced-
The magazine before us, however, shows no dimi-
nution of interest or ability, but contains many
excellent papers. The first is from the pen of
A. K. H. 8., whose admirable essays have long
since attained the wide-spread popularity they
deserve. The article before us bears the curious
title, " Concerning screws : being Thoughts on the
Practical Service of Imperfect Means; a Consola-
tory Essay." It begins with the assertion that
almost every man is what, if he were a horse, would
be called a screw, that is to say, a being in whose
mental, moral, or physical constitution there is
some unsoundness. It is of course with the
deficiencies apparent in the two former conditions
that the writer before us deals, and the reader,
familiar with his style, may readily imagine with
what shrewd sense, what keen perception, what
pleasant humour and kindly sympathy he treats
his subject. It is, as he calls it, a consolatory essay,
and though he stoutly maintains the truth of the
axiom he starts with, still he bids us bear in mind
how much good, honest, and even noble work is
accomplished by " screws." Although, as he can-
didly assures us, " there are human beings whom,
to manage into doing the simplest and
most obvious duty, needs the tact of ta
diplomatist, combined with the skill of u
driver of refractory pigs ; " yet he
brings forward compensatory reflections. " Just
as a horse which is lame and broken-winded, may
be made to get creditably through a wonderful
amount of labour, so may a man, low-spirited,
foolish, prejudiced, ill-tempered, soured and
wretched, be enabled to turn off a great deal of
work for which the world may be the better." The
passage in which he cites the names of illustrious
" screws," from James Watt to the great Napoleon,
is one of the best in the essay. The instances,
general and particular, of individuals and classes
which he afterwards adduces, contain portraits
whose prototypes, we apprehend, can be discovered
in most circles. The true and kindly moral which
he draws from these reflections, is the necessity of
gentle management and forbearance with ourselves
and with others. "If a young horse," says our
moralist," has a tendency to shy, how carefully the
trainer seeks to win him away from the habit. Bat
if a poor little boy has a nasty temper, you may
find his mother taking the greatest pains to irri-
tate that temper." On one point, however, we
cannot coincide with his theory. He says that
often in the case of great geniuses it is because of
their unsoundness they have done their great
things. "In poetry, and in all imaginative writing,
we look for beauty, not for sense ; and we all
know that what is properly disease and unsound-
ness, sometimes adds to beauty." We trust fel,'
readers will subscribe to a theory so derogatory'
to the noblest of the arts, so directly contrary to
all rational experience. We might as well say
that the grotesque figures in an Egyptian temple
were as worthy models for the painter as the
canvas showing the wonderful precision of Michael
Angelo's anatomical science. The gorgeous
colouring cannot redeem the falsehood to truth
and nature, and no affluence of imagery, no elo-
quence of words will serve the turn of the
poet alone and unaided. It is because he
deals with the great realities common to us all,
because he awakens the touch of nature which
makes the whole world kin, that he is a poet, and
in proportion as he is false to that vocation, unsound
and unreal in his sentiments and sympathies, he
falls short of the perfection of his art. Leaving
this delightful paper we come to the conclusion of
" Gryll Grange," in which the troubles of the -vari-
ous lovers are brought to a happy termination. The
reader, however, has not been painfully anxious
on their account, as most of their perplexities were
of their own manufacture, and in no way con-
nected with want of fortune, hard-i;earted parents,
relentless guardians, or any other old-fashioned
difficulties. The plot of the story, indeed, is of the
slightest character, and only serves as a connect..
ing link for the witty and sparkling convefsation,
repleto with classical quotation and reference.
Shirley contributes an able and thoughtful paper
upon Ruskin's last volume. He makes a careful
analysis of Mr. Ruskin's capabilities and achieve P
ments, and discusses the objects which the great
art critic proposes to himself, and the directions in
which his strength seems most to lie. The writer
before us considers that his great success is, " that
he has translated into words the wordless beauty
of skies and leaves and streams." His failure the
critic asserts to be in the character of theorist.
The want of logical precision, and the readiness
with which he
mseumrreenntd,erasre
tfs.theNevertheless, the .t.
h ranked
toa tohneg ihmi
a-
tch.rieibesufstide°enofs o
defects.
fcenthusiastie admiration
critic o
te rendersdrea the
tribute
beauty of style or passionate earnestness of decla-
mation with
which Mr. Ruskin clothes ideas and
theories, sometimes grandly original, often splen-
didly unsound. The article. before us shows all the
writer's wonted ability,
and the passage on
success and failure has in it much truth and
justice. An interesting paper entitled " Re-
collections of Ceylon" gives us an account of
a visit to the pearl fishery of Aripo, in the
spring of last year. The fisheries always take
place in the lull of calm weather, between the ter-
mination of the north-east and commencement of
the south-west monsoons, and the paper before us
gives numerous though somewhat disenchanting
details of the method of gaining the gem of the
sea. Alas for the romance of poets ! we are
shown the divers as stout, healthy men, and the
pearls, themselves, so often cited as the emblems of
purity and loveliness, in most unpleasant circum-
stances, The seaboard for some distance
down the coast is raised several feet in

height by the accumulated oyster shells of
ages. The oysters are divided into four equal lots,
three of which are claimed by the Government, and
the other allotted to the divers as their reward.

This share is generally sold at once by them by
auction in lots of a thousand, the buyer taking his
chance of the number or quality of the pearls. The
singular and unsatisfactory life •of the English
opium eater is the subject of a brief and sensibly
written paper. It is a painful record of talent of
a high order, combined with a peculiarity of mental
and physical constitution, no less fatal to the indi-
vidual welfare of its unhappy owner, than inimical
to his prospects of literary success. Dr. Tyndall's
recent valuable contribution to the Alpine Club
forms the subject of au able paper, written by one
who is evidently well qualified to discuss the ques-
tions which arise from it. The various and con-
flicting theories respecting the movement of
glaciers are analysed and considered ; and
the writer is solicitous to bestow honors
where honour is due by awarding the distinc-
tion of discovery or experiment to whichever