The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-29 00:00:00

LITERATUBB,

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The London Quarterly Review. No. LIX. Eliot

Stock, Paternoster-row.

India and Indian affairs occupy a prominent
place in this number, engrossing no less than three
articles. We have first, " A Native Ministry in
India," referring to the opening which presents it-
self of educating Ilindoos as Christian missionaries.
"This has already been done with great success in
some instances, and it is easy to believe that such
native teachers, if duly qualified, could powerfully
influence their fellow-countrymen. Further on we
come to an essay on " Kaye's Indian Officers,"
which, we need scarcely add, supplies a most inte-
resting subject. The lives of our Anglo-Indian
worthies form one of the brightest pages of British
biographical hi tort'. They are replete with inci-
dent, with adventure, with heroic daring, and des-
perate achievements, and, better still, they
are often characterised by a high principle and
patriotic spirit, which are rarely found in any race
or nation. The other article on India, if less inte-
resting in its nature, is full of importance. The
Indian Civil Service and its examinations is a mat-
ter of considerable conseTtence, both as affecting
the career of the young men who are preparing for
competition, and as influencing those to whom is

hereafter to be entrusted so much of the welfare of
the subject populations. " Philosophy and Theo-
logy" is a thoughtful article, in which the writer
fearlessly treads the difficult and dangerous path
of metaphysics. One of the most attractive articles in
the number for the general reader is one founded on
Dean Stanley's "Memorials of Westminster Abbey."
Those who have not been fortunate enough to have
the book in their hands will be able from the notice
and the quotations before us to form a goad idea
of its scope and character. Altogether the number
before us is a good one.

The North British Review. No. XCVI. Eclmon-
ston and Douglas.
A Liberal Education is the first subject that
meets us in the current number of the North British
Review, and the question of how best it is to be
bestowed in our public schools and universities is
carefully considered. The writer takes a very
fair and temperate view of the controversy of
science versus classics in education, and shows
very ably and convincingly that there is really no
antagonism whatever, but that a better and more
judicious rearrangement of the programme of study
would leave ample space for the pursuit of scien-
tific knowledge, and the careful study of the great
masters of ancient prose and verse. " The Memoirs
of Baron Bunsen" form the subject of an interesting
article. The life of so remarkable and gifted a man
could hardly fail to leave a sensible trace on the
history of his time and of his associates, and his
memoirs only serve to show him to the world at
large in a still higher light than formerly illumined
his reputation. The story of a very different life,
belonging not only to another country and
another time, but to an epoch and a school
of thought and habit of life wide as the poles
asunder from that of the German thinker, yet
shows a good and high-minded man rising superior
to all surrounding trials. " St. Louis and the Cru-
sades sound strangely in these work-a-day hours,
but the story of the capture and the
surrender of Damietta, of the captivity
and ransom of the high-souled Prince, whom
neither danger, nor sickness, nor imprison-
ment could daunt, are still fresh and enthralling.
Those who are inclined to study the history of
the art of writing in all its vagaries down to the
present time will find a curious and entertaining
account of its rise, progress, and origin. Some of
the specimensgiven of our royal modireval caligraphy
are not a little singular. 'rhe Greek Idyllic poets,
Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus are discoursed upon
at length. A poet of another order—a sweet Pro-
vencal singer—supplies a pleasant paper. " Mis-
tral's Mireio" deserves to be better known, as the
extracts before us prove. The number before us is
calculated to give much pleasure to the thoughtful
and cultivated reader.

The Quarterly I?evi.w. No. 218.—Not the most
brilliant by any means of its cl assis this number
before us, and the first article is a most invidious
One. Its purport Is to criticise Lord 'Macaulay, and
show how mistaken are those who swear by him,

and rest on the infallibility of his judgment. We
cannot say if the writer's object has been attained
by the philippics he here hurls at all great
essayists and historians, but if the aim
and object be to detract from his popularity
it is not likely to be a successful one. it is true
that it is said with emphasis that his " examl le is
deprecated and his authority disclaimed," together
with an expression of " unfeigned admiration of his
genius ;" but that will not go far with many readers,
and throughout these pages there is too evident a
a desire manifested to render the dissertation
palatable. Lord Macaulay was doubtless prone to
exaggeration, but that is an error often met with in
writers of so vivid an imagination, and at any rate
there can be no occasion to make use of such harsh
language in dwelling on the writings of one of our
greatest ornaments of literature. " The Use of
Refuse" is a paper that will astonish many who are
not well versed in such subjects, and a great many
illusion's may be dispelled by the careful study of
these accounts. Thus, we find it is said, " Dyes,
like perfumes, are often derived from the most re-
pulsive sources : gas-tar gives the magenta and
mauve, so fashionable of late, acid from the
same source produces orange and yellow.
Some of the most delicate perfumes are
now manufactured without ever having had
their home in flowers ;
indeed, they are made by
chemical artifice, " concocted, in short, from oils
and ethers, many of them of a most disgusting
kind, the products add refuse of other matters." It
is, indeed, curious to notice some of the details here
and there met with, and in looking at the statistics
of " unutilised food," we find that the quantity of
animal matter wasted in the Newfoundland cod
fishery is 120,000 tons annually. It is certainly
a warning to the would-be wise to -ponder over
these things, and to note how much may be made
of extracts the ignorant despise and condemn. " The
Irish Church" is the title of an article, in which
Air. Gladstone meets with no very gentle treat-
ment. Apart from some apparent prejudice, there
is a good of satirical truth conveyed in some of the
truths and inuendos thrown out. The Irish diffi-
culty presents itself in the form of a contest between
English parties as to who shall occupy the Treasury
Benches. Had Mr. Gladstone been on the other side of
the Speaker's chair, he would have allowed Mr. Bright
the monopoly of the words " clisestablishment" and
" disendowment." Those who attentively consider
the matter may recognise the justice of some of
these strictures. In treating of " Purchase in the
the Army," a good deal is said in favour of that
mode, which is summed up at last in several pro-
positions, the meaning of which is that to abolish
the system would tend to discourage men of family
from entering into the service, and lead to a system
of promotion that would infallibly be slow ; but it
seems to be overlooked that, according to the pre-
sent arrangement, merit is continually put on one
side, and wealth may step in to the disparagemen
of real worth not so fortunately endowed with the
privilege. " The New School of Radicals" is
an article that is written with spirit, the
particular subject of which it treats affords
an opportunity to the writer to dilate upon
the glaring evils of the present day, an 1
the most is made of the opportunity thus presented
of throwing a great deal of blame on certain party
leaders," who are not nominally Radicals, but who
lave confused things by their tergiversation and
±xtraordinary freaks in politics. " University Re-
'ortn" treats of Oxford and Cambridge, which
iacred abodes of learning have been so uneere-
nonionsly interfered with by politicians of all sects
'lid creeds. A fine defence is here made for these
two renowend scats of learning, and an eloquent
passage appears in conclusion, in which the delights
of a College life are told in a forcible style.
" Surely the statesman cannot afford to ignore the
thousand influences which gather round such insti-
tutions, so wholesome, so useful to the nation at
large." The paper on " Robert South" is well
worthy of attention, and Lord Romilly's Irish
Publicatims contains some curious specimens,
which will repay perusal.