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212 THE LEIDEB. ^Saturday,
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CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. Curiosities of Lo...
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- FORSTER'S -POCKET- PEERAGE. „„ __. . F...
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. Echoes of the War, a...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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.T.Wo Novels. Muilxxus, Or *E Nev,E*Is«N...
error we can , however , bear with it when the cause is a great one , and the writer gif ted . But when the dogma enunciated . is our old whole hog , Teetotalism , and the work itself just one long bawl in its favour , it deserves no quarter , and we should dismiss Antipodes with this remark were it not one of those few books that are so bad as to demand an especial censure . It is only mediocrity that we can dismiss with a word ; superlatives of both extremes demand a little more attention . We all know what a teetotal meeting is . The chairman , usually a quaker , proves a little on the Scriptural argument , and then Philip Sober proceeds to prove what a thorough scamp Philip Drunk was ; what an angel of li g ht is Philip Sober . This book is Philip Sober ' s stock speech written out into three volumes . It should have been called " Reminiscences of a Drunken Parson , " written by himself the morning after . It has been remarked how complacently a man will . admit how hwill his friends to
that at a given time he was an ass ; e encourage believe in his assdom at that particular period ; while no man will suffer any one even to insinuate that he may be one also at this particular present . Antipodes is one long rant to prove how drunken a fool the writer was for several years , what a dear , self-conceited , pious gentleman he now is . Now taking our evidence from these volumes , our clergyman appears to have been ° a much better fellow as a drunkard than when sober . When he drinks , he simply drinks ; he doesn ' t talk , and talking with him implies coarseness and stupidity ; he is humble from conscious guilt ; and he forgets injuries with an obliviousness intensely Christian in character if not in its origin . When sober he is revengeful , spiteful , coarse , abusive ; a compound of the bully , the sneak , and the ignoramus ; an habitual eavesdropper ; living and speaking under the firm conviction that total abstinence from alcohol justifies the wildest intemperance in words . Let us g ive our readers
an idea of his story . . The author , confessedly teeming with conceit , has gone up to Oxford on an allowance starved out of a pittance by his parents , with the ignorant assurance that he would carry off a double first-class , and win a rich fellowship . He barely escapes plucking , however , and returns to his native village as exasperated and soreheaded a bear as it could be anybody ' s misfortune to encounter . Of course he wants a title to orders and a curacy ; but the vicar , " who would sell the communion wine for money , " will only engage him for no salary , so he remains at home , skulking about , a pecuniary burden to his parents , and a nuisance to the entire parish . An old flame of his , whom be never takes any personal notice of , marries another clergyman ( a scoundrel according to the assertion of his fellow-minister , our author ) , and
then the measure of his exasperation and unbearableness becomes full . Sick at heart , he is despairing , wheii _ one ^ day a friend offers , him—a pinch of snuff ! He takes it—sneezes—feels his head cleared and bis spirits lightened —darts out and buys a box and some Prince ' s mixture , and forthwith proceeds to devote his whole energies to making his nose a perfect Balaklava of filthy stagnation . But snuff , he finds , affords no enduring solace to a man labouring under wounded vanity , a lost mistress , nothing to do , and less income . Bored to death by him , as he is , his mother suggests a pipe as a soothing influence : forthwith our clergyman lays in a stock , o shag and p ipes , and thenceforth substitutes tobacco for meat , drink , and sleep , becoming in a few weeks a walking skeleton . Anxious for his existence , his mother ( foolishly as we think , for he would manifestly have been no loss ) refollows her advice
commends an occasional glass of good ale . He , and in a day or two is that beastliest form of drunkard—one who boozes in private . He is snuffing , smoking , and drinking on the most colossal scale , when he gets an unexpected curacy , and Volume I . ends . Appointed a curate , he commences as a teetotaller in pipes and alcohol—wins golden opinions from his parishioners—a farmer ' s daughter deliberately offers him marriage , fancTifie * »| uir ' e '" 1 fliiigTKs" 3 aughTM ^ € ^ im ^""^" HiS ~ succe 88 ion"to' ^ he living at the vicar ' s death is certain , when , in an evil hour , he is induced to smoke a pipe and drink a glass of whisky , and straightway relapses into a drunkard , walking away with malice prepense some ten to twenty miles to wayside taverns , and getting blind-drunk there in fancied security , in these visits he always encounters a strange man , who speaks exactly the same langunge as we find in Beaumont and Fletcher s p lays , and who generally carries him drunk to bed . With one of these drinking raids ends Volume II .
The vicar dies , and , satisfied that he will be the successor , our clergyman calls on Lord Rolle , the patron of the living , finding that eccentric peer to be the identical strange man who so often has seen his private temperance . Of course Lord Rolle , eccentric as he is , does not give him the living , and he returns home once more , snuffing , smoking , and drinking on a more antediluvian scale than ever , until one day he sees a teetotal procession . Nothing could be grander than this spectacle . He admires the banners : he thinks the rosettes lovely : he is struck with the healthy appearance of the people . Always in extremes , a few days see him a pledged teetotaller—pledged in public , and irrevocably . Instantly everything changes . Curacies rain on him—livings turn up—the husband of his early love dieshe marries the widow—gets a snug rectory- —all his friends turn teetotallers , and instantaneously become rich and happy—all his enemies continue drinking , and end as wretchedly as the work . Seriously , and with exact veracity , this is the whole story of the Antipodes . We think our readers will easily
believe that a man who could write and publish such a tale as this is also capable of telling it in the most offensive style conceivable . This we assure them he has done : and in parting with him we recommend him to be a whole hog in one thing more—by total abstinence from novel writing . It is quite a relief to turn to Mammon , a novel which , it be not of the highest character , is certainly an eminently readable book . There are few of our female authors to whom the . reading public that reads for pure entertainment have more reason to be grateful than to Mrs . Gore . Unquestionably she cannot be called a woman of genius . She awakens no strong emotions—she creates no typical characters . But for a steady supply of equablo entertainment , written always with consummate ease , with complete knowledge of 'her subject , and of the life she delineates—a light but quite distinctive perception of characters , for good , sound , plain sense and absence of conventional prejudices—there are few larger creditors on public gratitude than Mrs . Gore . When you take up one of her novels there is no chanco of the deeps of your being stirred—if you want that , you may go
elsewhere—but you are certain of a pleasant pastime , with no chance of offence or ennui . Few of Mrs . Gore ' s later novels have been e qual to her earlier productions , and we do not think Mammon as good even as some of her later stories . Nevertheless , it is an entertaining tale , told with her accustomed ease and perfect unamateurness . Th . e interest of the tale centres almost entirely in the gradual deterioration of a naturally-fine intellect and character , t > y the succession to immense wealth . A baronet ' s son , .-who marries against his father ' s consent , for love , supports himself partly at the bar , and enlists our sympathies with his character while giving signs of future eminence in his profession , suddenly is left by a distant maternal relative an immense fortune of over one million of money . Slowly , but surely under the influence of Mammon , does this man dwindle down into a and his intellect
purse-proud , unfeeling , parvenu-aristocrat , degenerate into the obtusely vulgar capacity of county magistrates . The conception of this character is bold , and its development is worked out in a very masterly manner . No less masterly is the delineation of a companion character in the book ; a Chancery barrister , who having at fifty amassed a large fortune , retires from practice , marries a good woman , and step by step , as his pupil , the hero , degenerates , enlarges into a warm-hearted and enlightened sage from a rather selfish and bilious bachelor . These two characters are the dii majores of the novel . The lesser satellites are all well drawn ; and Mrs . Gore has manifested her usual good sense in sketching , not daguerreotyping , mere accessory personages—no slight merit . Altogether , " we can recommend Mammon to our readers with perfect confidence .
212 The Leideb. ^Saturday,
212 THE LEIDEB . ^ Saturday ,
Curiosities Of London. Curiosities Of Lo...
CURIOSITIES OF LONDON . Curiosities of London . By John Timbs , F . S . A . Bogue . Mb . Timbs states in his preface that this work is the result of twenty-seven years' labour , and we are bound to welcome , with respect and acclamation , an author who , on the old plan , has put his life into one work ; for whatever else Mr . Timbs has done in literature seems but an episode in this main employment . ' * "¦>' --The book evidences the labour , and is a result worthy of the ambition . On the whole , it may fairly be pronounced the most complete and comprehensive of the many similar contributions to the illustrative history of London . It comprises half a dozen such " Hand-books" as Cunningham'san admirable one in itself—and the management of the details indicates qualities superior to any which have been hitherto brought to bear upon mere archaeology—the qualities of a first-rate scholarly intellect . We have no doubt whatever that these curiosities will , for years , be the standard work of its species , and will give the name of the author a fame ot that sort which would best please him , coeval with that of London itself ; so that when the New Zealander does arrive , he must have John Timbs , Esq .,
F . S . A-, in his hand . But no doubt these curiosities are still imperfect : _ the blunders many , the omissions countless , and the design itself inevitably narrow . This is only to say that the work is the work of one man . When the History of London—of its streets and houses—is properly written , it will be a combination of the labours of half a dozen men—by a " survey , " ordered by the Government upon the same system which secures us an accurate map of the present metropolis . We have commissioners for everything ; why not commissioners to collect London's curiosities ? The commissioners selected should be healthy young men of parts , disposed to enter into an agreement for a life ' s devotion to such well-paid literary labours ; and the compliment should be paid to Mr . Timbs of appointing him to preside .
- Forster's -Pocket- Peerage. „„ __. . F...
- FORSTER'S -POCKET- PEERAGE . „„ __ . . Forster ' s Pocket Peerage . ' Fifth Year . Bogue . The " Governing Classes " seem , just at present , in some danger of losing their ascendancy in the State . But it is to be apprehended , that so long as we have lords , the nation will continue its national characteristic of loving them ; and at any rate , while there are Peers , Peerages will be necessary . Mr . Poster ' s Pocket Peerage is indispensable to the reference library . Compact , careful , comprehensive , it is a miracle of minute information , and it is very cheap .
Books On Our Table. Echoes Of The War, A...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Echoes of the War , and other Poems . By Henry Sewell Stokes . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . The Philosophy of Joint-Stock Banking , By G . M . Bell . ( Second Edition . ) Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Manual of Political Science , for the use of Schools , and more especially of Candidates for the Civil Service ; arranged in Chapters , with Questions at the end of each , and preceded by an Introductory Chapter . By E . R . Humyhreys , L . L . P . Longman , Brown , Gecen , and Longmans . Queen ' s College . Introductory lectures delivered at the commencement of the Academica . Year 1854—1855 . By Adolphus Bernays , Ph . D ., & c . John W . Parker and Son .
The Royal Gallery of Art , Ancient and Modern : Engravings from the . Private Collections of her Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness Prince Albert , and Ari J \^ ' looms of the Crovm , at Windsor Castle , Buckingham Palace , and Osborne . fc < ntea by S . C . Hall , F . S . A ., & c . Colnaghi and Co . Songs of the Wars by the best Writers . Edited , with Original Songs , by James iiain Friawell . Ward and Loch . The Ladies' Guide to Life Assurance . By a Lady . Partridge and Oftkey . Speeches of Eminent British Statesmen during the Thirty-nine Years Peace , Jrom tne , Close of the War to the Passing of the Reform Bill . ( First Series . ) Richard Griffin and Co .
Lives qf Philosophers of the Time of George the Third . By Henry Lord Brougham , FJR . S . Richard Griffin and Co . Thoughts to Help and to Cheer . ( Second Series . ) Crosby , Nicholls , and Co . Notes on Duels and Duelling , alphabetically arranged , with a Preliminary Historic ™ Euay . By Lorenzo Sabine . Crosby , Nicholls , and Co Pictures of Palestine , Asia Minor , Sicily , and Spain ; or , the Lands xfthe baracen . » y Bayard Taylor . - Samson Low , Son , and M > . The History and Poetry of Finger-rings . By Charles Edwards . Trubner ana ^ o . The Unspeakable ; or , the Life and Adventures of a Stammerer . Clarke and ueemi .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 3, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03031855/page/20/
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