The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Fool of Quality ; or, the History of Henry,
Earl of Moreland. By Henry Brooke. Two
Vols. Smith and Elder.
Those readers who are pleased at the prospect of
looking back at the literature of a bygone day will
be delighted to dwell on these volumes before us.
They are written in a peculiar style, and are of
course often strange and even ludicrous to the
judgment of the present day ; but they are striking
and original in many parts, and many may be
charmed with their quaint notions and antiquated
tone. A great attraction consists ill this being a
new edition, revised by the Rev. Charles Kingsley,
who has entered upon his task with zeal and assi-
duity. Evidently a great admirer of Brooke, he
has regarded his task as a token of love, and those
who have before read this work will find that he
has greatly improved it in this new form, without
altering it in any material way, or changing the
general idea it sought to convey. The chief aim
and object of the hero of this story was to go about
doing good, to succour the distressed, to console
the afflicted, and to right the oppressed as far as
lay in his power. To these praiseworthy endea-
vours he devoted the best years of his life, and
nearly all his wealth. The stories of the chief
characters he met with are every here and there
inserted, after the fashion of old romances. These
become tedious occasionally, and the reader is apt
to be confused at the endless variety of the
dramatis personce. Putting aside these ob-
jections, there is great interest in the story, as a
whole, and it will be found to afford an agree-
able variety from the tales of the present day.
The biographical preface, by Mr. Kingsley, is of
great interest, and seems to bring the author
vividly before us, so emphatic is its tone, and so
eloquent its delineation. It is always satisfactory
to read what one gifted man says of another, and
Mr. Kingsley's reputation is too firmly established
by the eminently successful works he has produced,
not to ensure attention being paid to his criticisms,
and weight attached to his judgment. It is rather
strange that this work was not written till Brooke
had completed his sixtieth year; it is here de-
scribed as his best, his most characteristic, and
possibly the most precious in his eyes. Mr.
Kingsley is not one-sided; notwithstanding his
enthusiasm for the work, and it is the impartiality
of a criticism which stamps its merits and reveals its-
genuine nature. He observe that over much
striving for pathos is the defect of the book. This
is undoubtedly true, and will strike all readers,
but the general purport is of a lofty and exalted
kind ; the ideal characters, if impossible to realise,
are so from their purity and unselfishness, and,
therefore, if we smile at the follies which detract
from the force of the arguments, we must render
justice to the intrinsic merit of the plan ingeni-
ously sketched and energetically carried out. It
is not to be questioned that many will feel indebted
to Mr. Kingsley for thus bringing before their
notice a work so distinguished in its day, and for
reproducing before them the gifted author in so
brilliant a sketch and so interesting a memoir. In
undertaking a task so consonant with his tastes,
and so congenial to his spirit, he has conferred a
benefit on the community of novel readers.

Personal Narrative of a Voyage to Japan, Karns-
chatka, Siberia, Tartary, 4e., in H.M.S. Bar-
racouta. By J. M. Tronson, R.N. Smith and

Elder.

This volume records the writer's impressions of
the Japanese empire, and of various parts of the
coast of China, which he visited three or four years
ago in her Majesty's steam sloop Barracouta,
which was employed upon several interesting expe-
ditions in those localities. The Japanese empire
has lately been much written of and discussed,
owing to the recent political transactions with the
Governments of that singular nation, and of its
Celestial neighbour. The wild inhabitants of
Siberia and Tartary have also been more frequently
introduced into the narratives of travellers. Those
who perused Mr. Atkinson's volume will remember
the interesting account which he gave of his
sojourn among the wild Kirghis of tin Steppes.
Kamschatka and the island of Seglialien are
less known, and when a traveller is able to
recount what he saw and learned during his
visits to all these various localities, his work can
hardly fail to attract the curious. He observes in
his brief preface that the coasts which he visited
are now becoming more interesting to us since the
opening of China and Japan to British commerce,
whiie the possession by Russia of the river Amoor
renders a better acquaintance with the coasts of
Siberia and Tartary very needful to our maritime
interests. The other officers of the vessel supplied
him with numerous charts and sketches, which
enhance the value and attractiveness of the work.
In writing of Japan, Mr. Tronson gives the follow-
ing account of Marco Polo's description :
The earliest account of Japan known to western nations
'was derived from the published travels of Marco Polo, the
Venetian traveller, who became attached to the service of
Kublai Khan in 1273. In his published travels he gives a
brief account of an expedition sent against the Japanese in
1279, by the Khan of Tartary. It sailed from Ningpo or
Amoy. Authorities differ very much as to date of its
arrivial ; Kiempfer, from Japanese records, makes the year
1283-84. The expedition was unsuccessful : having en-
countered a heavy gale, which scattered the junks, many
put back, and many were wrecked on the island of Firanda ;
30,000 Tartars were thrown desolate on the island, without
any hope of escape, having no food, and anticipating no-
thing less than death from starvation, or from the arms of
the Japanese. "As soon as the gale ceased, and the sea
became smooth and calm, the people from the mainland of
Zipanga came over with a large force in numerous boats,
in order to make prisoners of these shipwrecked Tartars,
and having landed, proceeded in a straggling manner.
The Tartars, on their part, acted with prudent circum-
spection, and being concealed from view by some high
land in the centre of the island, whilst the enemy were
hurrying in pursuit of them by one road, made a circuit
of the island by another, which brought them t
of
to the
t.
the
place where the fleet was at anchor." The
.
the
boats,story isth
esoon a i l told.ed
for Havingthtawkhienio
tshinsskiornensust have
been Nagasaki, and not having removedthe Japanese
banners, they ad no difficulty of gaining an easy access to
ec R
city, ty, eh
d dstrict
' h ard of the occurrence, or ere a
the city which they seized and fortified. The Japanehe
king having e
condition of their lives being
Tartars capitulated on the
blockade, which was maintained for six months, when the
spared. How they afterwards fared, Polo does not men-
tion : he places the date of these affairs in 1264; which is
to Polo, there were two, Ab-
bacatanas to the name of the Tartar invader : he is called Mooko
by the Japanes©; according.
nem P. Amiot saysthat the expedition
he
left the Corea for Kin-tchi (Kiusm) , gives the general
and Vonsa .
. .
a different name, and agrees with the Japanese authorities,
who believe that all the Tartars were drowned, with the
exception of a few taken prisoners. The island on whose
shores the expedition was wrecked has been doubted, but I
believe it to be Firando, formerly Ping-how, and now
changed on the new charts to Hirada, for what purpose I
know not : it were better that the old name remained, as
the history of Firando is of some interest to Portuguese,
Dutch, and English. According to Raper, the north-west
part of the island is in 33 deg. 39 min. N. lat., and 129 deg.
36 min. E. long.
In a subsequent part of his narrative he tells us of
the earliest visitor to the peninsula ofKainschatka—
The earliest visitor to this distant land was a Russian
merchant, who was driven on shore near the river Kamts-
chatka in 1648 ; the crew of his vessel were cut off by the
Koriaks, a warlike tribe. In 1697, Atlasoff, a Cossack
officer rom the fort of Yakutsk, sailed to Anadirsk ' • in.
1699 he penetrated to the river Kamtschatka, levied tri-
bute from the natives, and built Verchnei Ostrog. He re-
turned to Yakutsk in 1700, but having pillaged a ship on
Tungouska river, laden with Chinese merchandise, was im-
prisoned for a time ; he, however, soon regained his former
position in the estimation of the authorities, and was ap-
pointed commander of Verchnei ; but ho became cruel and
tyrannical, and in 1706 the Cossacks, driven to desperation,
revolted, seized his goods and expelled him. Three com-
manders were killed in succession after the removal of
Atlasoff ; but peace became established,- till 1731, when
there was a general revolt of natives throughout the Pen-
insula. Few of the Russians escaped the spears of the
Koriaks and Kamtschatdales, and for a long time the
country was in a disturbed state. The forts were strength-
ened, larger forces sent from Yakutsk, and the town of Bol-
sheretsk was garrisoned. The mode of Government was
mild, and the Russian Government did everything to con-
ciliate the goodwill of the natives; the yasak or tribute was
not at all heavy, being paid in skins, ranging from the sea
otter, the most expensive, to the common ermine, the least
valuable. . _ _

The small-pox committed sad ravages amongst the people
in 1767: twenty thousand, including Koriaks, Kamtschat-
dales, and Kurile islanders, were swept off. It spread from
house to house, and made desolate many a homestead. The
disease had been conveyed from Ohkotsk to Bolsheretsk by
a soldier. When Captain Clarke visited Avatska, he found
that the population of Paratounca was reduced by this
destructive disease from 360 to 36 : eight ostrogs (villages)
were desolate.

Count Benyowski, a Polish exile, rendered himself noto-
rious by his conduct at Bolsheretsk, in 1771. He stirred
up many of the exiles to revolt, organised a clever conspi-
racy, and shed blood without compunction : he managed to
take possession of the fortress, and after a fierce contest, in
which the amiable governor Nilon lost his life, escaped
with his followers to Canton. Few men ever exhibited a
more vindictive spirit against the Russians, or were guiltier
of baser ingratitude towards the governor and his family,
than this Polish noble. ,

The following passage displays the remarkable per-
severance of the Russians in studying languages.
The officers here spoken of were prisoners
Our amusements on the islet were very limited; mostly
quoits, jumping, fishing, and swimming. The Russian
officers enjoyed themselves as much as the circumstances of
their position would permit : their zeal in the acquisition of
language is without parallel, and I might say without
trouble. Mr. Pouschkin informed me that the Russian lan-
guage is so difficult to acquire, that every other appears
quite simple in comparison with it. When they came on
board at Ayan, I was much struck with the zeal of one of
the junior officers (Mr. Apollo Ouronsoff) in the pursuit of
knowledge under difficulties ; he had not been on board an
hour before he produced a small card with the auxiliary
verbs in Russian and English printed upon it, and asked
me to assist him in the pronunciation of the words ; a re-
quest to which I gladly acceded.

Without any exciting adventures, or extraordinary
ability to recommend it, the work deserves perusal
as a clear and simple record of places and people,
whose peculiarities are not familiar to the Eng-

►se

lish reader. We commend it to the notice of tho
who wish to improve their knowledge of those
remote localities, as it offers them a good deal of
information without any elaboration or pretence.