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i_-_^ THE LEADER. [No. 333, Saturday. 7t...
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SUMMER STORIES. The Quadroon; or, A Love...
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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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On Foot Through Tyrol. On Foot Throvijlt...
+ \ , o fanlfc « f the book is made up of Mr . White ' s own daily sig hts and doings . tc ^ n ^ e ^ r ^ ia glimpse of thepeasants ; the p leasantest of winch ™ F : ^ - * *; , ;^ k : * - ^ jsrK £ ? n t t SSrTlfi tfdrop ** uncooked egg into half a tumbler of wine , and enjoy the rt / -Itetoos coolness as it slips down the throat , and had recourse to the process * n %£ ' o ? £ o ° Ts ™ X to the astonishment of the landlord and his family Never W the ? heard of eggs being eaten in that way . The wine has an agreeable flavour ; fcat must be drunk oa the spot , as it will not bear transport . For a quart , and six r 2 S and as much bread and butter as I could eat—which was not a little , under the cirbu ' instances—I paid forty-six kreutzers—fifteen-pence only . Moreover , on producing my coin the worthy folk told me the zwanziger was reckoned as thirty kreutzers in the Val Sole , which was tome a saving of fifty per cent . ; and I think the fact worth mentioning , as a proof that in one part of the world honesty dwells with mna . .
reepors , , I was an object of curiosity to the hostess ; she walked round and round me , at a little distance , inspecting me from head to foot , making now and then a remark to her daughter , who sat by the window sewing . Then she took up the skirt of my coat , -examined it on both sides , and expressed her astonishment at the fineness of the cloth . Did everybody in England wear such ? The alpaca lining puzzled her . What was it ? She had never seen the like before . Was it silk ? Such a coat must cost very much money . And she was still more astonished when I told her that most people in . England wore better coats ; mine being only a cleap one , for rough work among the mountains . " What then must the finest be ! " she exclaimed .
Facing the damsel at the window sat a lover , after the manner of Dumbiedikes , ¦ with hands in ' pockets , mouth a little open , and half-closed eyes , watching his betrothed as she plied her needle . Not a word did he speak ; but every five minutes during my two hours' stay he went through the effort of taking a pinch of snuff . I was determined to make him talk if possible , and put a question . The answer came with a struggle ; but the second was easier , and after that , as he could speak a queer kind of Italianized German , we got on pretty well . He had been working on the railway ibeing made from Verona to Trent and Botzen ; and finding the heat intolerable , and iaving a dread of cholera , had thought it desirable to treat hhnself to a holiday in
the cooler temperature of Vermigliano . " Of course , not to see your sweetheart , " I said : whereupon he looked silly , and translated , my remark into Italian , for the damsel ' s benefit . She retorted with a few words that made him look yet sillier . . " But it's frightfully hot down at Trent , " he rejoined , turning to me , and in his ^ excitement actually taking one hand from his pocket . I asked him if he had ever heard of the man who could eat well , drink well , and sleep well , but whose strength failed him when he came to work ? which he also rendered into the vernacular ; and when the dark-cheeked maiden heard it , she almost who had
rolled off the chair with laughing . The merriment spread : a woman come in to buy bread took it up ; the cocks and hens that were walking in and out set up a lively cackle .,- and I quite won the landlady ' s heart by holding her baby , a plump , Jblack-eyed boy , while she served the customer . He had a good lesson in English romps before he went back to the maternal arms ; so that when , soon afterwards , I -slung on my knapsack and prepared to depart , I was entreated to eat the remaining six eggs , the other half-loaf , and the rest of the butter , without further payment . I quoted our adage— " Enough is enough ; " and with comprehensive hand-shakings took my farewell . Is it not primitive ? To have made a book out of this rapid journey , Mr . "White needed far higher qualifications than he possesses . He cannot describe . There are no pictures in his book , only the intimation that he has seen pictures . Nor has he any of that rich store which the incidents of the day could call out naturally . and pleasantly , so as to make the most trivial walk a lasting enjoyment to the reader . Think of what Rousseau has done with his account of a walk through Switzerland ! Think of what Ruskin does with the merest ramble along ° a mountain pass ! Without being either Rousseau or Ruskin , a writer might have produced a fascinating book , where Mr . White has dimply produced one which is read without fatigue and forgotten as soon as read . Any one about to walk through Tyrol may put it in his knapsack ; but to no one else will it be useful . vVe conclude with this account of the Tyrolese rifle-shooters : —
On leaving Biobervrier , I had heard at intervals reports of rifle-shooting , and the -sharp , quick , rattling echoes among the hills , and here , at Leermoos , saw the " Shooting Stand" occupied by a party in full practice ; exercise with the national weapon being one of the Sunday recreations in Tyrol . The Stand is a small stone building t > y the road-aide , at the outskirts of the village , -with an upper floor partitioned into compartments , open on the side looking towards the liills . The target , a hundred yards distant , is affixed to a screen of thick pine logs , behind which the attendant , who wears a red jacket , conceals himself when the bullets are coming . In each compartment stands a Bhooter with his rifle , and the umpire sits in the central one , with a
sheet cf ruled paper before him , scoring the results ; and on a long table in the room behind them lay hammers , screw-drivers , ramrods , powder-flasks , bullet-moulds , and ¦ other implements , all of which I saw on mounting the stair . As my presenco appeared to give no Offence , -I waited to see the practice . The man on the right being ready to fire , the umpire blew his whistle ; Red-jacket whistled in reply , and disappeared behind the screen . Cr-r-rack ! went the rifle , and immediately Red-jackot darting forth , looked at the target , held up his hand with one or moro fingers erect , making a signal , which tho umpire recorded forthwith by a stroke of his pencil , and , blowing liifl whistle , the next man fired , then tho next , and so all along tho row . There seemed something Bprite-liko about Bed-jacket , for out he sprang , looking at the
target-and holding up his hand , almost at tho instant of pulling the trigger . ihon , ¦ after two or three rounds in this way , came tho " Probier-achusa , "—proof-shot , a trial of skill between the two best marksmen . Not one missed tho target , and scarcely a hot ** t struck within the gmall oirole , while Bome pierced tho bull ' s-eye . Old targets fcaog drottnd the room as trophies , with all tho centre of tho bull ' u-eyo shot clean away . An each man fired ho drow back to tho tablo to load , and a good-humoured conversation was kept up , except at tho moment of firing , when every one remained ¦ silent , ^ riNh'eyes ftxed on the target , watohing for Rod-jaokot ' s signal . Tho rifles are ¦ of « n old-sdulikmMl aoaiu , the stocks thin q / fd flat , deeply curved for the shoulder , -and highly ornamented . ; some of them heirlooms , prized beyond treasure . Aa I left . tho BtaniJ , another party of shooters came up , among whom a lad of sixteen , carrjilug Mb piece -with all the confidence of one familiar in its use , contrasted mM with a groy 4 halt « d old man , who , although stiff and slow in gait , had a quick bright ey « : . yonthiaiul-age meeting in thesarao omuloua trial . The veteran looked an if he could tell aomothing about " Anno Nine ; and his rifle , every part bright with affectionate polishing , was of a singularly antiquated form .
I_-_^ The Leader. [No. 333, Saturday. 7t...
i _ - _^ THE LEADER . [ No . 333 , Saturday . 7 t > 2 - — -- - .
Summer Stories. The Quadroon; Or, A Love...
SUMMER STORIES . The Quadroon ; or , A Lover ' s Adoe ? itures in Lo ? iisiana . By Captain Mayne Reid . 3 vols . ( G . W . Hyde . )—We have lately indicated the standard which appears to us the fairest by which to try three-volume novelists : the standard of the circulating library . According to this test , Captain Mayne Reid is a successful author . Whatever he writes is sure to be read : he is incessantly animated , varied , picturesque . He invents situations , dashes off characters ( not very characteristic ) , and weaves double or triple plots with inexhaustible facility ; and his stories , withal , are not very pretentious . When a Mr . S . W . Fullom pretends to portray the Man of the World , and to bring a blush upon the face of society , you are simply amused by the farcical effort ; but when Captain Mayne Reid announces nine hundred pages of a lover ' s adventures in Louisiana , you predict a vi gorous , healthy , romantic tale , vividly though roughly written , abounding in stirring incidents , in some way true to nature , and , at all events , cleverl y worked up and coloured . The Quadroon is an exemplification of this peculiar style . It is intensely American—fresh as a prairie breeze , bright as prairie flowers . Palace-like hotels and steamboats , planters' villas , negro cabins and other New World interiors , lustrous landscapes painted over with tropical vegetation , wild river scenes , and harrowing anecdotes of slavery are wrought into the gaudy tissue with a good deal of skill and no little effect . In purport , the novel has a resemblance to Mrs . Stowe's ; but , Captain Reid informs us , the plot and the action had been sketched before " a recent work " appeared . However , the admirers of Uncle Tom may find something to their taste in The Quadroon , which , evincing little knowledge of pure literary art , has been cleverly adapted to its object—that of amusing the general novel
reader . Adelaide , Queen of Italy ; or , TJie Iron Crown : an Historical Tale . By "VV . B . MacCabe . ( Dolman . )—We beg leave to introduce to our readers Mr . William Bernard MacCabe . He has written four books—Bertha , Florence , A Catliolic History of England , and Adelaid-e , Queen of Italy . We have read the English part of the last-named book , but we are not bound to read what monastic chroniclers have written in bnd Latin , or monastic poets in worse ; still less can we compai-e MacCabe with Luitrand , or the casuistry of his heroes with the dogmatics of Escobar . But the impression produced by Lis new volume is that of a rambling , overworked story , intensely melodramatic , false to history , and supremely unreadable . The incidents belong to the tenth century , though intended as illustrations in aid of the student of our own times . * Mr . MacCabe , so far as we can understand him , venerates the reigning Emperor of Austria as an imperial apostle , a primitive Christian sanctified by ointment and purple .
Alley Moore : a Tale of the Times . By Father Baptist . ( Dolman . )—\\ e shall not affect to criticize a book like Alley Moore . The title page sets forth the promise of a tale , showing how " murder , and suchlike pastimes are managed in Ireland . " Father Baptist undertakes , besides describing romantically , many striking incidents , " to inculcate principles of great importance , and to correct errors of mischievous tendency . " The story begins badly ; but we have not ascertained how it ends . Zoe ; or , The Quadroon ' s Triumph . a Tale for the Times . By Mrs . E . D . Livermore . 2 vols . ( Sampson Low . )—This is another novel in which slavery figures—though in its less repulsive form . It is not the romance of scourges , quivering limbs , Rosas blushing , bleeding , and trembling . The story is conducted principally in Europe , and the scenes of coloured life refer , for the most part , to simple homes and pleasant affections . Mrs . Livermore's manner is conventional , yet her book is not without orig inality and character .
Wolfsden .- an Authentic Account of Things There , and Thereunto Pertaining . By J . B . ( Sampson Low . )—J . B . commences a chapter with this apostrophe : " Muse , who , from the floating filaments of transient memory , spinnest the thread of faithful history , let thy descriptions be brief , lost thy lagging tale tire the courteous reader . " The courteous reader is then told ot " a wild rush of warring winds , " of a p itiful dribbler of drams , " and " lots of sublimated sentiment . " If , passing on , he ventures deeper into the shadows of Wolfsden , a vision of wax and crystal will open before him , with " the splendid Erycina , tapping the time with her taper foot , " filling you " with the splendour of soft inviting beauty , " " a form moulded in graceful loveliness , the perfection of nature and art ; " with fire thrilling from her fingers , " bounding in maddening ecstasy through the voluptuous dance . ' ' ° . ' Erycina , ten times called " the splendid , " retires dangerously with Alek behind an Indian screen , sings " the song of Messalina , " and , with the author , becomes positively " supernal , " or , as ice think , improper .
Walden ; or , Life in the Woods . By II . D . Thorenu . ( Trubner . )—Here we havo a very agreeable series of natural and social studies , fresh in mat tor and stylo , with many entertaining anecdotes , and sketches of forest life in America . It is excellent , as a picture of young-settlement manners . Mary Thomas ; or , Dissent at Evenly : a Tale—llobson ' s Chuicr / a laic . ( J . W . Parker . )—We have more than once noticed the series to which these little volumes belong . We have described it as didactic but clever . R « ftllv j however , if " stories for tho people" can be nothing more than vehicles ol the most narrow-minded and uncharitable virulence , we do not see what food the writers propose to effect . Hobsoti ' s Choice i » harmless enougn , eing without beginning , end , or meaning . But Dissent at Evenly reminds us of The Politician , in the same series . In The Politician a . working mini is reft
presented sinking to ruin because ho is infected by the desire to possess vote , and this astonishing syllogism is presented to prove that an sirtizan should have nothing to do with politics : — " Suppose a statesman were to intrude into a factory and pretend to direct tho workmen , would not thai bo impertinent P Then why should a workman protend to interioro in affairs of state ? " Wo imagine that when it is necessary to delude n luHgrown man , or a well-grown child , tho delusion must be a little less trashy . So in tho religious chronicle of Evenly . A quiet village comes to distraction ; one person is ruined , another goes mad ; crime and sorrow ovid pcaco and virtue , and all because " those dissenters" have invaded our pans" . -0-better word may bo said for Amy Grant ; or , The One Motive (• ' . y Parker ) , a taflo designed principalfy for the tenchera of the children oi tho poor . It is exclusive in Bpirit , but religiously and sweetly written .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 9, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09081856/page/18/
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