New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-12-07
Foreign LITERATURE.

, PHLET. -..,,,,
,v.ox ruE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBuSE'l
IoSpoN. Nov 2i.-A vivacious writer, who chooses
60 designate himself the Member for the Chiltern
I,ndreds. has published q volume of personal
sketches under the title Men and Manners IN FAR
lamentD Tinslcy Brothers. Or. Syol He not rs
the title rather implies, an ex-member-the stewart
shin of the Chilteru Hundreds being snecure oivo
under the Crown which member accepts Wnen no
wishes to give up his seat, since ne cahho' loeis"'
but ceases to be representative by virtue Oh 'ahs
office That he is not, the American reader VIII uo
we'll 10 bear in mind. There are passages III TINS
book which no who mas SAT vi 'n0
floor of the House would nave "rit'eu'
and mistakes which he could hardiy nave
made But if these are regarded as baseo on
The oossp which floats about the gallery devoted to
the press they will seem-or some OF them Will
more excusable. Much, indeed, might be excused, If
need were in book so lively as this, and which has
merits of so peculiar kind. 1t will really give you
a glimpse into the House of Commons 1t is devoid
of teChnicaltes and dry detail and wholly free from
any effort TO explain the British Constitution. But
it tells YOU where particular members sit, and how
they dress and speak conveys some notion OF wha'
that mysterious entity called the House really Is
how il behaves how it treats individuals OF the mass
eomposing it, what its habits are, and its political
morals. Nor is this set down i'll an eXposltory way
You gather il as You read along, and the information
seems incidental to the mans object which Is 1or
the most part to describe men and scenes types OF
groups of men form the subjects OF separate chaP-
tiers There is The Orator, The Official Member Inc
Independent Member. The Talker, The Silent Mem
ber and so The author does not deal IN abstrac
tons but in personalities throughout, and those OF
the freest kind-sometmes TAR too free suppose if
an American ventured TO say half as much he would
be held up here as an example of the awful Liberties
which Democracy engenders. Bat the papers are
entertaining and when they were appearing from
month to month in The GeRt'emdns Magazine, ala
something to help that venerable periodical resume
youthful and frSky air. When You have made up
your mind not to be shocked, you find capital hits at
great people and at others desiring hitherto unsuc-
cessfully, TO be great.
The few specimens | quote are not better than
many others OF Mr.. Lowe as Chancellor OF the
ExcheQuer ii is sand that essentially combatlVe
man. lac threw a challenge INTO answer relating
to the tax on agricultural horses and implied his
scorn of mankind generally in q statement touching
the legacy duty Mr.. Cardwell, the late War
Minister is hit off as a hard, dry speaker who had
n melancholy woc-begOne manner with him, which.
till the House grew accustomed TO 1t, Ill connection
with statements relating TO the business OF the Nar
Office suggested that some great calamity mad sud-
denly befallen the British army, and that when MI
Cardwells spirits had slightly recovered from the
shock details of the calamity shoald be forthconl-
ing from his lips" And here is Mr.. GOschen, with
his curious trick when addressing the House OF
holding himself by the lappelS OF the coat. as II
otherwise he might run away and leave matters 20
explain themselves" And much greater-in one
sense-than Mr. Goschen, Mr. Ward Hunt. his sue
eesSor at the Admiralty aud on the Treasury Bench
in the House, where he has developed an ability
for instantly falling asleep which, If observed by
Mr. Pickwicls servitor the Fat Boy, would disturb
his dreams with envy"
During the long summer nights of the session OF lS4
there few pictures familiar in the House OF
Commons than that presented by the FIRST Lord OF the
Admiralty stretched along the back of the
Treasury Bench his head gracefully ncDng toward bis
left shoulder and the great Of white waiscoat
gently rising and falling the cadence OF repose Inc
destnies of the Church might rembe In the balance;
national education might be wrestling for existence
Ireland might have found one new grievance; States
might revolt and kingdoms he cOn7u!sedi--siin the
mighty Northampton squire slept on like modern
Bottom bewitched anew by O5eron.
Sir James Elphinstone's portrait is equally dis
tinct in fewer ines-the old East lndiaman skipper
whose appointment a Junior Lord OF the Treasury
is one of the three jokes which Mr.. Dlsraeh has
permitted to himself as tcmpering the gravity OF
official cares" In familiar speech Ill the
House of Commons he is known a the Bosun, and
his staggering, CntclN Walk up llt uDoI Win Hs nat
held firmly in his hand, if it were a sou wester IN
peril from st1 breeze is redolent of the quarter
deck"
But talent for caricature is dangerous gift, and
whether the posScssOr of il the pen pencil he
is sadly apt 10 lose at times the power of seliTe
traint There are examples Of it in this book There
is nothing savagely brutal as some OF the cartoons
of Mr. Thomas Mast but it is impossible not to sec
OF at any rate to suspect-here and there marks of
personal luminosity. The worst Instance is perhaps
10 be found in the elaborate lampOons on Sir Will
liam Harcourt Some of the Things said about him
are such as if true the writer could not possibly
know to be true. Some of them are the fruit Of
mere want of knowledge, or of too great readiness
TO listen TO ill-natured gossip Among the latter is
the repeated mputaton that Sir William HarcOurt 5
political course last session was controlled by his
desire for the Generalship and for promo
ton thence to the bench. Nothing is better
known in political circles than that Sir William HaT
court had long before resolved not TO take a legal
office II was known also that he had at least once
and thi, much earler-declined the Office which he
finally accepted at a moment when 1t could be
of no benefit to hm-when his acceptance of it was,
III fact sacrifice made for the benefit of his party.
The attacks on Nj. Mundella, Oh Lord Edmond
FiHmaurice, on Mr.. George Treyeyan, Mr.
Julian Godsmid, on Mr. Macdonald and OF some
Others beyond the EXTREMIST limits of permissible
license. 1t is conceivable that they ght be penned
overnight in lhe heat of great contest, to be
pented of next morning 1t is not conceivable that
fthey should be printed in book with time for reec
Tien. They are not even - smart" for cur author IN
losing his kindly nature loses his cleverness also
they are very serious blemishes in a book which
"A a. some others less serious, but which, if these
" ere removed, might De called as Good-tempered az
it u sprightly.
new edition of the " Imitation of Christ " is
always welcome. Mcssrs. Macmillan have put o
trans laton of the text Of this within the engraved
horde - which Enclosed the original Latin III their
~ a, NoV0atail ofa