The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-08-01 00:00:00

better able than he

other 3 a

,ds and

s fittest and wor

,latives who thus upbraided

i discover... 6
in Art, to bel
knew 4

, that he made no

that he was

s father's liberalit,

necessit
up the pursuit of painting as
. .

,f working for his

a mere amateur amusement to occupy his leisure hours.
To a man who laboured like poor Blyth, with the steadiest
industry and highest aspirations, such whispered calum-
nies were of all mortification the most cruel, of all earthly
insults the hardest to bear.

The character given above, in such pleasing out-
tine, is happily sustained throughout the whole
circumstances and events by which he is surround-
ed ; and the earnest simplicity with which Blyth
devotes himself to the tender and the true, forms
the key-note to the whole composition. Some of
the machinery, by means of which the tale is
wrought up to its conclusion, will be generally
admitted as of singular construction, though it
also gives indication of even more singular
beauty. The humorous passages are occasionally
a little overdrawn, and the whimsicalities by which
they are distinguished may with readiness be traced
to that conventional workshop in which Dickens is
so accomplished an artificer. This is to be re-
gretted, as, from the originality displayed in the
better portions of the book, it is clear Mr. Collins
has a large store of individual studies, which he
possesses sufficient talent to combine in interesting
as well as charming pictures of his own.

The Old Printer and the Modern Press. By

Charles Knight

London John Murray

In this work the reader will find much curious,
and a large amount of highly valuable matter. It
contains many pertinent observations as to the
quality and value, in a social sense, of what is
called the " cheap literature" of the day. After
tracing the various attempts which have from
time to time been made, and which have failed,
for a wide dissemination of literary compositions
of standard excellence and admittedly high cha-
racter, Mr. Knight proceeds to argue that the only
mode by which these can be rendered popular in
the extended sense of that word's modern signifi-
cation, is by improving and elevating the taste of
the people. The real period of cheap literature,
however, he maintains, has not yet arrived, al-
though numerous and gratifying circumstances
give certain token of its approach. In reference
to this subject, he maintains that, as ?soon as the
people become aware of their deficiencies, they as-
siduously set about supplying them, and remarks
that, in connexion with literature, such attempts
have been numerous and successful. He makes
the following observations on the

One of the

BIGIN

st attempts, and it was a successf

to establish a
He had founded a societ

Ran book'-clitb was made by
at Tarbolton, called

t Burns,

Bachelors

,onthly for the purposes oI
But this was a club without books
)11 the members w

Y• Having changed his
ar club was established t'

spent in epnvi-
to Maw

here, but with om

atteration-----tl]
i....._,

line, a

work bot

niportant,,

apart for the purchase c
fight was The Mirror, b;

:cupations,

He qualifies his objection, howeve

wer the n

anest cap

Every hums

ing is a prop

a the -path of it

to puran9 it. Since it is the

mcy, it may be presumed they find
in the perusal of suet
it by Dr. Curd

ought to be the
attempt to provide books for all

g to

correct the false opinions
have been degrading the
the general taste. Those

fat tact

exclusive property of
t take away from the

agrance of ti

ke the nightingale sing a vulgar

taste, did the;

venture to

poor man, to something which,ac-
I formula of those days,was "adapted
ty." A great deal of this has passed
scovered that music is a fitting thing

the doors of galleries are
gaze upon Raffaelles and
hilt so as to satisfy a feel-

heir inma

All this is pr

Many who were previously acquainted with the
history of the Tarbolton and Mauchline Debating
Clubs will, through the above remarks, learn for
the first time that to the masculine intellect of
Ayrshire ploughman, aided by the scant

y means

obscure Scottish village, the world has been in a
great degree indebted for the successful establish-
ment of book-clubs, those admirable means for the
dissemination of intellectual wealth, and for pro-

rooting mutual culture. In the propriety of those
observations with which Mr. Knight concludes the
above quotation all must agree. To elevate the
taste and purify the mind of the masses is, in
reality, to improve the people.

A Military Tour in European Turkey, the Cri-
mea, and on the Eastern Shares of the Black
Sea. By Major-General A. F. Macintosh.

A very casual reader would soon discover the
opinions contained in these two volumes to be the
sentiments and views entertained by a soldier.
Eminently military and practical in their charac-
ter, and directed to the points of operation on which
the eyes of all Europe are intently fixed, the cogi-
tations of General Macintosh acquire an interest
and importance which, under other circumstances,
they would have solicited in vain. With the clear
intellect and shrewd sagacity which distinguish
the military strategist, our author perceives at a
glance the military capabilities of the country over
which he casts his experienced eye, and having
once taken measure of those capabilities, he traces
them with terse and expressive simplicity ; his
suggestions being unencumbered by non-profes-
sional speculations, and equally undisturbed by
extraneous associations or sentimental reveries. In
few brief sentences he disposes of the carpings
which have been bestowed on the expedition to
ipoli, by showing that secure possession of the
isthmus, at the neck of which it is situated, is of
vital importance to the safety of Constantinople,
and the free navigation of the Dardanelles by the
allied fleet, if the Russians should be able to mus-
ter in force at Adrianople. _ _

The General's notes have the great merit of
resulting from personal knowledge and recent
inspection of the various places referred to ; indeed,
they come down to the spring of last year, and are
therefore possessed of a double value ; they are
both fresh and practical. He has carefully consi-
dered the defensive capabilities of Sebastopol, and
is of opinion that any attempt to reduce that
stronghold by a coup de main would prove ineffec-
tual and disastrous. He thus describes the posi-
tion and

PROBABLE RESULTS OP AN ATTACK ON SEBASTOPOL

The town and inner harbour lie on the south side of the
mouth of a small arm of the sea, about three-and-a-half
miles in length, and varying in breadth from one to
three-quarters of a mile. Several branches from the main
creek indent the shore, and two of these enclose Sebas-
topol to the east and west, so that it is only connected
with the land to the south—a situation in this respect
somewhat resembling the city and port of Malta. The
eastern branch, which is upwards of a mile in length,
forms the inner harbour, and, close to the shore, is of suffi-
cient depth to allow of first-rate vessels lying at the
wharfs, their crews passing at all times between the
vessels and their barracks without using a boat. During
the severe winter they live altogether in the barracks.
The north side of the main arm is flanked by heights
which command its entry, and here I observed a fort,
which was not then a strong work, being of some age, and
of faulty construction. On both sides of the inlet, how-
ever, there were strong stone towers with batteries close
to the water—ii fleur rreau. Some of these had two tiers
of heavy guns, and have since been raised still higher.
The entry is very deep, and rather narrower than the
basin immediately above it. Flag-staffs on each side
pointed out small shoals, and a lighthouse of a peculiar
form, and painted white, stood at the inner extremity of
the main harbour, upwards of three miles from the town ;
while another of precisely the same form and colour was
visible behind it, about three miles further up the country,
and ought to be hid from view by the first as vessels enter
the harbour from the Euzine. These structures, if the
Royal Navy plans are correct, still remain.

The landing-places near the monastery of St. George
are too precipitous to be surmounted in the face of a de-
fending force prepared for such an attempt, and any force
landing on the level shore between Cape Kherson and
Sebastopol would most probably find itself at once engaged
in a general action, and would have to fight for a space
large enough to encamp upon. I am, therefore, certainly
of opinion that a descent made in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Sebastopol, even with a strong and well-
appointed force, especially after so much time has been
allowed to Russia to erect fortifications there—though
these may be only field-works—and to collect forces for
their defence would be a very bold and indeed hazardous
undertaking, and that while a subsequent hasty re-
embarkation, should it occur, without any object having
been attained, would, in itself, be inglorious, a great loss
in men and materiel would hardly fail to attend such a
repulse. When we consider the great scale on which
arrangements must be made for attacking even an imper-
fectly-fortified place, the heavy and cumbrous cannon and
siege stores which it would be necessary to land here, the
great quantity of provisions requisite for the support of
the besieging corps, to last possibly some months, and
which must be collected in a secure situation ; and when
we take into calculation what a large force ought also to
be kept in front to resist attempts to raise the siege : when
we consider further that the army must land on a level
shore, commanded at no great distance by heights of very
considerable strength, and that the area, where it would
have to make all its preparations, is too confined for the
operations of so large a force as would be required for such
an attack, I feel persuaded that my view of the subject
will be admitted to be just by all who have had experience
in such matters, though it may not meet the wishes of
many who are too impatient that a blow should be struck
at any cost in that direction.

In the supposition that permanent possession of
the Crimea is one of the objects aimed at by the
allies, General Macintosh points out, at consider-
able length, a plan of the operations which he
considers most suitable to effect the attainment of
that object, together with the means for reducing
Sebastopol with certainty, although he does not
seem to calculate on either end being accomplished
without protracted labour and extensive operations.
He recommends that landings should be effected
simultaneously at Kaffa, or, as it is frequently
called, Theodosia, and at Kertch, and suggests the