The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-21 00:00:00

LITERA T U_RE.

Curious Things of the Outside World. Last Fire.
By Hargrave Jennings. 2 Vole. T, and W.
Boone.
1.-e-oerloes and enthusiastic
It is but justice to the
author of these two v:ery'oingular volumes, at once to
pronounce his -work both original and remarkable.
We have lerely met with any book more accurately
justife lag its title throughout. Exclusive of the
preliminary leaves set apart for an ingenious Pre-
face and a comprehensive Table of Contents, these
volumes comprise within them very nearly seven
hundred (693) pages of, in very deed, Curious Things
relating avowedly to the Outside World, but sugges-
tive at every turn, as we thread the labyrinth, of
their inner significance ! Yet accurate and com-
prehensive though the title of the work unques-
tionably is in itself, it appears, after all, to have
been neither sufficiently accurate nor yet suffi-
ciently comprehensive for the writer of it—already
known to us among the rest of his readers and critics
as the author of a kindred production, though one
of a less ambitious character, a volume published
three or four years back under the name of "The
Indian Religions, or Results of the Mysterious
Buddhism. By an Indian Missionary." Accord
isag to our author, the titlepage of his new
volumes ought to have run very differently, sup-
posing he had wished to display the inner and re-
served side of his super-naturalism. Allowing
that to have been his design, the work before us
would, he acknowledges incidentally in his con-
cluding chapter (vol. ii. p. 346), have been thus
more lengthily entitled:—
" Curious Things of the Outside World ; con-
cerning that also which is to be understood in the
Divinity of Fire." By Hargrave Jennings, F.R.C.
Rosicrucian !
As his epigraph, he adds, there would have ap-
peared an excerpt from that daring " attempt to
draw aside the veil of the Saitic Isis," known
among those interested in these recondite subjects
for investigation under the title of Anacalypsis.
As it is, Mr. Jennings' motto is truly Shaksperian.
" Can such things be ?"—an allowableexclamationof
wonder from the lips of all as to the possibility of the
" Curious Things" here numbered up for the reader's
amazement ! Another motto from- the same
source might have been adopted as a no less appro-
priate quotation—to wit, Hamlet's ejaculation—
" There are more Things in Heaven and Earth,
Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy !"
That there are—it is only necessary (in order
to recognise this) to glance through these
twenty-seven chapters of " Curious Things" by
our English Rosicrucian. Our author's notion,
so far as we can comprehend it, is that the one
Supreme Divinity is alone capable of being sym-
bolized or typified, or for that matter simply ex-
pressed accurately under the monosyllable Fire—
and that the recognition of this truth is discoverable
everywhere upon closer investigation in all the reli-
gions of the earth, not alone in Judaism and Christi-
anity, but in like manner also among all the
various barbarian and classic mythologies.
Having said thus much of the purport of
Mr. Hargrave Jennings' argument we need
scarcely add, though we do add, nevertheless quite
explicitly, that we have not one syllable to utter
in support of, much less in commendation of his
theology. In remarking upon his work we have
nothing whatever to do with its dimly avouched
inner signification. Its philosophy, its theology,
its metaphysics, in fact, supposing them to have
any definable coherence, we stand apart from alto-
gether. In their illimitable andimmeasurable pro-
fundity they are altogether beyond our capacities,
they are above 'our ken, they are beyond the reach
of our comprehension. If we attempt to traverse
their depths, we are at the first instant flounder-
ing as helplessly as the rebel angel in his flight
across the the abysses of the universe. The latent
glow of Mr. Jennings' " high argument" acts upon
our feeble pinions as the sun-rays in the Greek
myth acted upon the waxen wings of hares.
We learn anew the old Virgilian truth of the
locals descensus—we learn it anew not upon the
verge of Avernus, but in the very empyrean of these
rarified imaginings. Conscious of our own inapti-
tude, therefore, of our uttermost incapacity to soar
through regions so exalted beyond the scope of our
comprehension, we seem to hear another echo from
Virgil as we loiter upon the threshold of the elabo-
rate structure here raised by this daring literary
architect—an echo surely rounding to ourselves
among the general multitude. Procul, 0 procul
este profani ! We bow in modest submission to the
mandate. The esoteric significance of the work
now under examination is not, we feel that, for
ourselves. • The production of Mr. Hargrave
Jennings' mingled researches and medita-
tions can only be viewed by us humbly and
exclusively in its exoteric character. We
turn then to "Curious Things," and examine them
simply as racy reicao to the Outside World. When-
ever we come to any of these se YSteri nu s comments
written by our author in regard to them—whenever
we find ourselves beginning to float out of our
depth in the marvellous deductions drawn from his
consideration of them singly or together we
wisely follow Samuel Rogers' advice to all
readers, to emulate the flea judiciously, of course,
and—skip ! Thus treating these volumes of Mr.
Jennings, we have found them singularly readable
and altogether wonderfully entertaining. Such we
pledge ourselves to it, the vast majority of our
readers cannot fail to find the work to be, when
examined (after this fashion) by themselves. How,
in fact, could it well be otherwise ? For the
book is in itself a very wallet of most
" Curious Things." Here, in effect, we have,
' and have in abundance, the " pick" of all the moat
remarkable and best authenticated ghost stories
upon record. Apparition after apparition flits
before us. We read of omens the most appalling,
of dreadful prognostics, of dim but fearful presen-
timents. Wo hear tell of most strange repetitions
of events—called in the world's language coinci-
dences. We read of predictions verified to the
letter; of second sight; of supernatural prefigura-
tions. And Mr. Hargrave Jennings can tell a
story with the best of them—instance his
admirable mode of narrating (vide vol. i, pp. 114-
140) that "Wild Story of a Scottish Glen"—a story
we would advise no nervous reader to peruse when
all the rest of the household has long retired
to rest, while the wind and rain are storming out-
side the house as, let us say, upon the memorable
night of Pip's reception of Abel Magwitch ! There
are several of these extraordinary narratives—
ghost stories chiefly—that, although world-famous
in their titles, it is almost impossible to discover any
where else related with all their minute details and
minor particulars. These—so far from being tedious
as more then " Twice Told Tales"—will be found no
doubt by others, they have certainly been so found
by ourselves, and we are therefore speaking from our
own pleasant experience, especially welcome, as here
revived to recollection in this book of " Curious
Things." There is the best of all the ghost stories
for example—the best because one so strange in
itself, and one moreover so marvellously well authen-
ticated—the ghost story connected with the death
of Lord Lyttleton, the wicked Lord Lyttleton.
Here it will be found related by Mr. Jennings with
all regard to the minutiae. It is only elsewhere to
be met with, as well told, if we remember rightly, in
Nash's History of Worcestershire and in Miles Peter
Andrews' Recollections. It is but very rarely that
we find our author missing a good thing—either
from a want of knowledge of its existence—or
possibly from the mere result of the embarras des
richesses. For example, when talking of the
slave's prediction of the future greatness of the
Empress Josephine, when the latter was a young
slip of a creole at Martinique—and when talking a.
little before that of a certain strange forecasting or
divination by her wonderful husband Napoleon
Bonaparte—upon neither of these occasions does Mr.
Jennings avail himself of the opportunity (possibly
he is unconscious of it) for recounting that extra-
ordinary vision or multitude of apparitions beheld
oee beautiful summer's night, from an open win-
dow of the palace of the Tuileries, by the Empe-
ror Napoleon the Great and his first (would that
she had been his only) Empress, Josephine. The
incident may be found related in the memoirs or
recollections of the Prince Cambacores. Again
when referring to the loss of the ill-fated Amazon.
—Mr. Jennings makes no mention at all of those
astonishing descriptions of death by
.fire at sea,
hisw r i t3t evno
lbuym pe onoorvEe
ll icoatulieVd ar, bDu
Darien,"
rt oi
enn, in,, , i
shsiuselda st
fr
owmo
trk,
he
press upon the ,eve of his fatal
departureand for that
isthmus on board the Amazon, in which
which he perished. But if he misasreks, awnitohp_poartquuniictyk
very rarely, here and . there, how very frequently
does not our author hit the m
history o f the appa-
ritioneyas—the
eye and
midaready
authentic
hand, when he tells such
of Lady Beresford—the curious ac-
count of an apparition in
tales
Hampshire—the
fatalities of the house of Charlemagne—the story of
an English country family—the historical prog-
nostics of Charles I. of England, of Henry IV. of
France, of Mary de Medicis—the story of Dr.
Priestley and Mr. Pitt—that other story of Dr.
Johnson and Mr. Cave—the wonderful incident of
the Field of Malplaquet—the various circumstances
in the histories of James 11., of Marie Louise, of
Marie Antoinette. And so on—and so on ! It is
difficult to lay the book down when you have once
opened it. Mr. Hargrave Jennings has in the
gleam of his eye something of the glamour of the
gaze of the Ancient Mariner. We may beat our breast
like the marriage guest, while we pause, baffiedand
bewildered, before our author's mystic it dre amings
in the region of abstract metaphysics in which
Buddhism appears to his view, if we might dare to
say so, even loftier and diviner than the awful, and
holy, and adorable, and (t 9 us belioying Christians)

tho sole truths of God's universe, the truths of
Christianity ! But while turning astounded from
the mystic conclusions arrived at by our English
Rosicrucian he " hath his will" with us like the
Ancient Mariner, in his character simply as a nar-
rator. We needs must hear him to the last. He
has captivated our attention from his title page—
and the allurement carries us on securely enough to
the Finis. We lay not the book down until its
whole store of " Curious Things" has been ran-
sacked.

Wild life on the lyelds of Norway. By Francis
M. Wyndham. Longman.
This is a very interesting book of travels, that
cannot fail to amuse. It is written in a very ani-
mated style, and furnishes us with considerable in-
formation regarding the customs of the country
and the manners of the people. The author informs
us in the preface that, "To lead a wild life among
the snow-clad mountains of Norway was the hope
entertained in sailing from England—a hope which,
through the kindness of acquaintances formed in
the country, was fully realised. An opportunity
of gaining an insight into the pastoral and wild
life led by the dairy folk at the soeters or chalets,
and the reindeer hunters on the fjelds was thus
obtained; and as glimpses only of that life have
have been given in the numerous works on Nor-
way, I have been induced to offer these few pages
to the public with the hope that they may afford a
more intimate acquaintance with, and supply a cha-
racteristic feature of the rural life of the Norwegian
peasantry." It is certain that this hope has been
realised, and that the reader of this pleasing little
volume will become fully informed of all the munitice
of daily life which constitute in their entirety the
peculiar and distinctive features of a race, and mark
out nations in their segregating influence. Some
of the descriptions of the traveller's adventures
are very amusing. When they entered the
cottages of the peasants they were regarded
with the greatest amazement. "By degrees
as the rumour of the presence of two
strangers spread about the room began to fill
with men, women, and children, who stood round
us in groups gazing in mute astonishment. All our
actions were watched with intense curiosity, and
guns, rifles, and other baggage were minutely
examined as soon as our permission had been ob-
tained." Among the peculiarities of the Norwegian
peasants is mentioned the great predilection for
salt. They place, fish, flesh, and fowl in a salting-
tub, and "if after some months it comes out in a
semi-putrid state it is most highly prized." They
would rather go without butter altogether than eat it
unsalted. The Norwegians are no sportsmen. It
is oniy among the peasants that it is practised from
necessity, not choice, who only proceed to the
mountains in search of reindeer to provide them-
selves with food for the winter months; and it is
said that those who are not obliged to seek their
food in the fjelds seem scarcely aware that such a
thing as game exists in the country. Among the
strange people met with by the travellers was one
very eccentric man called Old Joh. He was quite
a character in his way. It was said of him after
returning from a long expedition with a party who,
ascending the steep slope of the glacier, had ex-
plored the innermost recesses of the ice-clad rocks,
" thst the strength, endurance, and presence of mind
at critical moments displayed by Joh were quite
wonderful, and notwithstanding the fatigues of so
arduous a day, the old hunter of three score and
ten was a fresh and lively as any of the party."
The sketches of the people and the various scenes
described in the different places passed through,
together with numerous adventures, some curious,
others of a serious nature, but all noticeable ones,
render this a most delightful little work to take
up at any time, and learn somewhat of the ways
of an interesting people, and the character of a fine
country. The book is elegantly illustrated with
some beautiful chrome lithographs, which are sin-
gularly attractive ; also we meet with several wood-
cuts descriptive of places of mark mentioned. in
the volume, and with two maps, one showing the
author's route, and another exhibiting the Ejendin
Lake and surrounding counties. The style is
flowing, and throughout the whole course of the
events the writer is evidently impressed with
the pleasures of his trip in a great degree
from his departure from Hull till his return to it,
"when the recollection of a wild life among the
savage mountains of Norway was speedily effaced
by the bustle of custom-house officials and vociferat-
ing omnibus-drivers. Thus, then, ended a plsasant
and agreeable tour with which the happiest recol-
lections are associated." It would be well if all
rovers to distant lands could return with the same
satisfaction to their homes, bringing with them
such agreeable reminiscences of far away coun-
tries as animated. the writer of these interesting
records. The following descriptions of some object
of particular note is worthy of notice :—" A.
asa ibdeaitnega uonoer
otfabtlhee-
Ftoipe
il)dedharns
obuenetnaind,esacnriabeadlsaos
pc,puliaritica of the mountains of Norway,
and I
was, therefore, disappointed in not finding any-
thing very striking in the appearance of the Sogne
Fjeld. The large extent of tableland is one of the
most characteristic features of the country, but
the traveller is mistaken when he applies to these
plateaux the specific name of fjeld. For very long
I did not discover the meaning of the word, but at
last on hearing it so frequently applied in complete
variance with the idea of its being a tableland, I
asked for a definition of the word, and was told
that in the term field is included every
part of a mountainous region which from its
elevation is entirely devoid of shrubs and bushes of
any sort: At the same time, I was also practically
shown what was, and what was not, a fjeld."

An account of an aurora borealis is always de.
sirable to dwell upon wherever it is met with—

" Opening the door I stepped out. The night was clear
and frosty, the dark blue sky was bespangled with stars,
and in the northern heavens glared a brilliant light, extend-
ing- far and wide in a fan-like shape, and shooting out fiery
corruscations, which spreading over the whole of the
northern sky, and reaching to the zenith, flickered as the
transparent flame of an intensely heated furnace. A glori-
ous scene it was, and long and intently could we have gazed
upon it."

The author everywhere speaks in the highest terms
of the hospitality that exists in the country, and
here pays a grateful tribute to the people who wel-
comed him so cordially :
" Nothing can be more pleasing. than the ready recep-
tion, proceeding from sheer kindness, which is granted to
the wayfarer in Norway.
"And stranger is a holy name;
Guidance and rest, and food and fire,
In vain he never must require."

Private Correspondence of Thomas Raikes.
Edited by his Daughter. Bentley.
This volume forms the supplement and comple-
tion of the Diary of Mr. Raikes, which was pub-
lished a few years since and attracted a good deal
of public attention. Though not conspicuous him-
self in arts or politics or literature, Mr. Raikes was
intimately associated with the celebrities of his
time, and his private correspondence furnishes us
with a running commentary on the events of the
day. He was a conspicuous member of a set who
then ruled society, though neither through rank or
wealth, as the introduction observes ; " nor did the
possession of either in itself ever suffice as brevet
to the freemasohry of the then termed Dandies."
Of the members of this fraternity we have the fol-
lowing description:—

"Theirs was a fraternity, founded upon thescience of
civi-
lised existence, not altogether conditional upon rank, sines
station need not imply powers of observation and compari-
son, even did it always furnish that early and familiar
acquaintance with foreign countries and modern Imguages
that form a scope for the free exercise of those faculties ;
and still less accessible to mere wealth, since less univei-
sally does fortune, suppose surrounding influences cif re-
finement, which, if these are indeed essential to the l'orm-
ing of the social judgments and appreciations of after life,
must have been breathed with its first instincts in their
origin; and of such elements the Dandies, with criticising
art, worked the indigenous material of English high life
into a coterie, whid" combined, at least, the pleasure's of
intelligence with those of dissipation. With them society
was not understood to be, as now, a coalition of intenests,
where both sides are on the defensive, and where the day
has no recreation without a view to the ambition on the
popularity of the morrow; sufficient for their day wars its
own excitement of festivity and wit.
" The manners of the Dandies were in themselves a
charm, retained by some through infirmity and age. Their
speech was pleasant, their language thorough-bred, their
raillery conciliating, their satire—what they intended it to
be; many among them highly-gifted—doing all that they
did well ; the less apt, always to the point, letting it alone ;
without enthusiasm, without illusions, a school of gentle-
men, liberal and open-handed ; ephemeral as youth and
spirits, yet marked by this endearing quality, that they re-
mained (with few exceptions) true and loyal friends, tested
through years of later adversity, and even death's

The members of this fraternity- were able and
ready letter writers, and their gossiping pleasant
letters have preserved the names of many of them
who would otherwise have been altogether for-
gotten. The correspondence in the present volume,
extending from 1812 io 1847, includes comments on
the French retreat from Moscow, the Princess
Clarlotte's death, and all the shifting changes of
Continental politics, ending with the Spanish
nnrriages, O'Connell's trial, and the panic
wlich succeeded the railway mania. There is a
yap from 1813 to 1817, and, consequently, the
iventful period which intervened is lett unnoticed.
Vo reference is made to our Reform agitation ; the
work being principally occupied by foreign affairs.
:here are many letters to and from the late Duke
f 'Wellington, who was on intimate terms with Mr.
taikes, and appears to have attached some impor-
ince to his opinion and to the intelligence which
e supplied. Those interested in French politics
gill be attracted by the details given in the various
Itters of the state of feeling in the French capital.
'he letters themselves present faithful pictures of
times and of the men who wrote them, being
costly penned in the spirit of un philoooph qt 4