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July 8, 1864.] T H E /LEA DE R. 643
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. TJte Theory and Prac...
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A Second Batch Of New Books. Giving Tlie...
nexion with the cardinal ' s life , from the mass of fiction which surrounds them , and has succeeded creditably in the attempt . Ee has . produced a very useful book , remarkable for the moderation and impartiality of its tone throughout , and" offering plenty of solid information to the reader , in a sirai"htforward unobtrusive way . Mr . Robson ' s faults are mostly faults of ¦ what the painters term " execution , " He wants grace and variety in his style , and shows little dramatic feeling as a narrator . ^ There are two ways of relating even , the sternest and most uncompromising facts—one way makes them simply instructive to the listener ; the other makes them interesting ^ as well . The Art of Narrating in the latter manner is the High Art of History ; and this Mr . Rob ' son has yet to acquire . We have two Books of Travel on our present list . One—A YacTil Voyage to Iceland ( Hall , Virtue , and Co . )—is a very nice little book for railway
reading , unaffectedly written , and containing some pleasant information on a subject which still' has tbe merit of comparative freshness to recofcbmend it . The other work , sent by the same publishers , is of greater pretension , is entitled Travels on the Shores of ilie Baltic , and is written by Mr . S . S . Hill . To readers who want to be 1 antused , we cannot venture to recommend tlis work . It is written in the sober , jogrtrot , Guide-book style—starts unrelentingly with the appearance of the sea from the Thames—and ends with some very sensible and serious , but not particularly new , reflections on Religion and the Tomb . Readers , however , of " thoroughly -well-regulated minds , " only want to be instructed , may safely order Mr < HilL s book . The author ' s " Travels * ' led him to Denmark , Norway , Sweden , and Russia , as far inland as Moscow . He appears to have been indefatigable everywhere in collecting
useful information—historical ; political , and statistical ; he is a very attentive , though not at all an amusing observer—and he evidently takes the greatest possible pains to be correct in everything that he relates , from the first page 4 o ; the last . To the class of leaders ' just ) indicated this will be recommendation , enough ; and they will fmd ^ on referring to Mr- Hill's book , that he has fairly and fully deserved ftv Of the eight works of fiction now On our table , the best by far is Mr . Samuel Sidney ' s collection of * stories and sketches , entitled Gallops and Gossips inthe Bush of AusfraUit ^ Jon ^ oaati ) . T is really an interesting and excellently-writtenlittle 1 volume . Mr .- Sidney ' s pictures of Australian life are represented witib ram vivacity * clearness : arid dramatic p 6 vterv Hid J
. story of Hunting a Wild-Horse is lnemost ; vivid and ; exciting description H 5 f a chase thatf we have' reaQ- for nHany years past . Equally admirable for freshness of interest and power' of-writing , are u Two-BOanded Dick , " the ^ charge of the Bull , and the fight with the Bushranger . The greater part of Mr . Sidney ' s work originally'appeared in the columns of Household Wordswhich is guarantee enough , " for the literary ability of the book . Some stories and sketches on English ground are worked in , rather clumsily ,-at the end < if the volume f the " Gallop for Life " being among them . Few leaders of Household WofdS can have forgotten with what interest they perused that striking narrative-of ahairsbreadth escape , On its first appearance in print . We were glad to renew acquaintance with it ; and are happy to have an opportunity of recommending the volume in which it appears to headers of all ages and degrees ; 1 to be to of
It would afford ^ usgreat satisfaction ablii say as much another Work of fiction , tfete scerie of which is laid in Australia . Ctor < Z Morisoti ^ Parker 1 and Son ) 'is the production ^ we are tol d in the preface , of a young lady who has resided for some time in Australia , and who has not had an opportunity of subjecting her book to a final revision . Under these oircum-j Stances we hav < i nothing for it but- to shrink froitv' our critical' function , and to let Clara Morison pas 3 ) without subjecting her to any Very close examination . Not to be too serious and severe , then , the story has an air of local fidelity , and shows here and there traces of delicate , womanly observation . tThere ia muck pleasant " prattle" about marrying and dressing , and young gentlemen , agreeable and" otherwise , in the book ; and though -we cannot siiy that it is at all likely to take firm hold of the public at large , we think tt very well fitted' to * please young ladles in general . To tliese most charming portions of the population we beg ( with best love and respects ) to introduce Clara Morton—a young Scotch lady , whose acquaintance , we
hope , they will be alb delighted to make . What mfembers- of- the reading 1 public will be glad to make acquaintance with Jerttitigfkim ; a Story in Twd Volume ( Chapman and Hall ) , we canno ^ possibly predict . Four times have we sat down to this book and read with ¦ all our might , and four times have we arisen from it without the most distant notion of what it was about . The action in the first volume goes back- > wards and forwards , and veers about from England to France in the most bewildering manner . The characters , so far as we have been able to got acquainted with them , are an . outpaged ; gipsy queen , n henpecked innkeoper > a cold-blooded nobleman , a youth of ancient race in depressed circumstances , a French conspirator , and a French coquette , with minor personages , such as spies , gipsies , sharp rustics , groggy aailoV 8 »& c , & c , & c . Thcso characters , it must be understood , are all in the First Volume , About ' the Second tvq know nothing . Our breathing became slightly stertorous , ' and . our whole condition * . " highly comatose" oa-soon as wo opened , it . Having , failed-in this way in the performance of our . critical duty , we--will not venture to decide whether Jerninghatn ian , good book or a bad book . Other people may bo able to understand it , and read it througu- —wo have failed to do either the one or the other .
Tilbury * Ncbo ; or , Passages hi the Life of an Unsuccessful jl / im , by the Author of- ** JJigby Grand'' ( Chapman and Hall ) . Such foolishly farcical names as " Tilbury Nogo" and " Digby Grand" prejudiced , us a little against this novel at the outset ; but we read on patiently , and found that there wore better things in it than the title-pago seemed to promise . The story is of the »** sporting" kind , and is rotilly amusing in an extravagant way . The author Was the first grent reoomraendation of being thoroughly acquainted with tho life tliat ho depicts . To any thinking and fooling man it is about as vapid * cruel , and base a life ns can bo looked at any where under the oanony of heaven . But if it is to bo displayed in books and to furnish material for amusement to roadors , tho ' author of Digby Grand" ifl assuredly tho riglit' man * to describe it . Reality runs through ovon tho most exaggerated parts of this novel . Tho soones aro evidently taken from real places , tho ovonta fronn oircumstancoa which roally onco happened , tho persons from
characters in actual life . This genuine merit , and the endless flow of good spirits on the part of the writer , carried us through the story from beginning to end . If . the author only knew how little sympath y we have with 3 swells and sporting men , he * would accept-the admission in the preceding sentence as one of the greatest ' compliments we can possibly pay him . The Last of ( he Old ' Squires ( Longman ^ , is dated 1854 , but is , as to form and external appearance , quite an ancient book . It is printed in oldfashioned type on paper of old-fashioned thickness ; is written in an oldfashioned style , and peppered thieHy in every page with quotations from old-fashioned writers . As to substance , the work may be fairly described as a sentimental amplification in . prose of the song of " The Old English Gentleman . " Being ourselves of a radical turn of mind , we cannot feel that
the social system of England sustained any very irreparable loss when The Last Of the Old Squires was removed from it . We very readily admit that the hearty old gentleman was brave , hospitable , and generous to the people immediately about him ; but we cannot forget that , as to all the rest of the world , he was also one of the most useless , obstinate , and unreasonable human beings that ever existed . For centuries past ; all the little trumpery privileges won by the mob ( to which we belong ) have been won in spite of the old squire . He always stood in our way and tried it > stop us , unless we happened to be attached to his estate , and to own hini for lord and master . Under these circumstances , we cannot feel any poignant regret at his loss , or any sincere conviction tnat it would be for the advantage of England , in these modern days , if his race were revived among
us . At the same time , we have no prejudices against a book which , commemorates his virtues , although we fail to see them qurselvos in . very striking light . " The Last of the 01 d Squires" is feelingly , though not at all vigorously , written . The whole heart of the author is in his subject ; and that is a great and genuine merit in any writer on any topic . High Tories ( if , with the except ion , of Colonel Sibthorpe , there are any now left in the land ) will find this work full of interest . Landed proprietors of ancient race will bo delighted with it , from , the first pago to . the last . People in general who , like ourselves , do not possess a foot of land , and never had a great-grandfather , will not consider it particularly interesting . But the reading world is , as . to taste , a sufficiently disunited community ; and " The Last of the Old Squires" will , no doubt , find a special public of its own to appeal to , even in these turbulent " latter days" of Radicalism and Reform . .
The three remaining works of fiction on . our list may be briefl ydismissed . The Mysterious Marriage , by Miss Sinclair ( Clarke , Beeton , and Co . ) , is a cheap reprint . We are All Low People there , by the author of " Caleb Stukely" ( Koutledge ) , originally appeared , with the . jiwo stories that follow it , in Blackwood ' s Magazine ; the last ' tale * called " The Freethinker , " being taken from BaLzac ' s Messe de VAthee without a word of acknowledgment on the part of the author of '' Caleb Stukelyl" Teles of ^ Ireland and the Irish , by J . G . MacWalter , are published as original productions , bui bear a strong family likeness to Irish stories b y other authors . Tb , e ., writer is fiercely Protestant in his . manner or treating the characters of iPapist priests , ana has a second series of stories in preparation ,. " constructed on the same principle as those in this volume , but somewKat more elaborately worked
out , " . ( , . . ... . ; ,.,.. . .. - In concluding tHis notice , a word must be said in commendation of two books ¦ whi ch we inay class under the head of Miscellaneous Literature ., Australia as a Field for Capital , Skill , andLdbour , by John Capper ( Stanford ) , seems a very useful little guide-book for emigrants , and has an excellent map of Australia , showing the position and extent , of all the Gold Fields hitherto discovered . Sketches' and Anecdotes of Ahinial Life ' , by the Rev . J . G . Wood ( Routledge ) , though put last on our list , has a very high . place in our estimation . The anecdotes , which are admirably collected and delightfully told , refer to wild as well as domestic animals . This sort of reading has always had great attractions for us - , and we sincerely thank MK Wood for" giving us much interesting information , in a very pleasant form , on the subject of Animal Life .
July 8, 1864.] T H E /Lea De R. 643
July 8 , 1864 . ] T H E / LEA DE R . 643
Books On Our Table. Tjte Theory And Prac...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . TJte Theory and Practice of L * Midsoapc-Painting in . Water-Colours , By Georce Barnard . Part I . % William S . Ocr and Co . The Land We Live In—a Pictorial and Literary Sketch-book of the British Islands . Part HI . William S . Orr and do . JTentthfS ' omes , and How toMUKe Them . By William Bardwell , Architect . Dean and Son popidar Lectures on Astronomy . By tho lato M . Arago . Translated , with notes , by Waltor K . Kolly , Esq ., I 3 . A . Fourth edition . George Koutledge and Co . Schamyl and Circassia , Edited , with notes , by Konneth B . H . Mnckonzio , F . SA . Goorgo Itoutledgo and Co .
To Mont Blano and Jiack Again . By Waltor White . Georgo Routlcdge and Co . Chemistry , Theoretical , Practical , and Analytical . By Dr . Sheridan Musnratt . William Mackenzie Songs qftha Present * ' Olarko , Beoton , and Co . Talcs of Ireland and t / ia Irish . By J . G . MncWaltor , F . B . S . L ., & o . John Farquliar Shaw The Sultan of Turkey , Abdul Madjid Khan . John Farquhar Shaw The Baths of Franca , Central- Germany , and SwitzeQ'lamL By Edwin Loo . Third edition . John Churchill . The Bachelor of the Albany . By the" Author of tho " Falcon Family . " Chapman and Hall . Tho Flitch ofliacoii : or , tfte Qii $ toin ofDunmow . By William Hiirrison Ainsworth . J ' ' Georgo Kontlodgo and Co . Trophch /; or a Cycle in the Wovld ' a Destiny . A Poem in six Books . By Joaoph Long-Imttl . Snnnders and Ofclev The Haymakers Ilintorios . Tioelvo Cantos in Tone * Rima . By }^\ var . George Bell . Travels on the Shores oftheJSalticextended to Mos < owUy S . & Hill . + ?« ^ v « . y "v ~ v ---
, . , »< , „„ ,. wv ,. , w . v , ~~ . » , „ . Art j iur Hall , Virtpo , and Co . 77 < c History qf tho Decline and Full of tho Iioma » Empire . By Edward G j bbon , E * i . With Kotos by Doaii MHftnH « nd M . Ouiwt . Vol . » " Jolin Murray . Pasting Clouds ; a Tale of Ftor & nce . A Play . Longnwn , Brown , Grcon , and Longmans . Poansby Matthew Arnold . Sbcoxid JE Jit ion . Longman , BroVrn , Grcon , and Longmans . Critical and Historical Fs 8 at / s . Contributed to tho Xdinbuiyh Jtevhw by tho B . ght Honournblo Thomas Babingt ' oirMacauliiy , M . 1 - Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 8, 1854, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08071854/page/19/
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