On this page
-
Text (5)
-
No.^. a*i.Y 16. *859.] THE IEADBB 847
-
NEW NOVELS.
-
NEW NOVELS
-
THE KING'S SECRET. A Romance of English ...
-
the Rev. Mr. ifansel's and Mr. Maurice's...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
An Essay On The Cause Of Rain And Its Al...
tr icity can be insulated sufficient to settle ^ question . No doubt , it is an agent more subtile fliaa air or other gases . As to the electric condition of clouds , no satisfactory knowledge , Mr . Bowell is confident , can be obtained unless by the aid of captive balloons , whereby conducting vires could be carried up to the clouds themselves ; although experiments with kites ( "being of exciting character ) have , from the time of Franklin , teen conducted with considerable success in various countries , and by many hose
persons of eminence in scientific pursuits . T of M . de Romas demand most attention . A due consideration of them -will shoSv the probability that Electricity is an important agent , rather than a minor result in meteorological phenomena ;> and that the accumulation of electricity to ^ uch a degree cannot be attributed to the mere friction of air on vapour . Electricity plays a part in all meteorological phenomena , and a true theory of it will explain the causes productive of rain and all its allied phenomena .
Mr . Rowell marshals a large category of phenomena and experiments , selected from a wide survey of scientific records . It is , of course , impossible for us to go into an adequate investigation of the facts , or even to construct any kind of index to them . The reader must be referred to the important publication before us . It must suffice to state that , in the author ' s opinion , the precipitation of ordinary rain is generally attributable to the escape of the surcharge of electricity , from the clouds , when the particles of vapour attracting each other form larger bodies , and fall as rain ; therefore mountains or high hills cause rain by conducting the electriit
city from the vapour , and not by condensing . Rain is also catised by the air between the earth and clouds becoming charged with vapour , so as to conduct the electricity from the clouds . Extensive fires , volcanoes , & c , produce clouds and rain by the rising smoke , heated air , & c , conducting the electricity froni the accumulated vapours and clouds to the earth . Any thing that would conduct the surcharge of electricity from the clouds would probably cause rain . Hence the aiithor ' s theory , that electric conductors raised to the clouds by means of balloons would enable the surcharge of electricity to escape , and thus cause rain to
fall . Mr . Rowell writes in a calni , dispassionate and somewhat : elegant style , and merits the utmost encouragement that can be rendered . Such a man ought to be able to devote his whole time to science , and the pension list should certainly be applied to such a case as his , so as to enable him to exchange the trade of paper-hanging for the profession of a rain-niaker .
No.^. A*I.Y 16. *859.] The Ieadbb 847
No . ^ . a * i . Y 16 . * 859 . ] THE IEADBB 847
New Novels.
NEW NOVELS .
New Novels
spoils it—as is usually the case . Cousin Stella , who has all along loved Louis Graulier , at length marries him—when he is grey-headed and a crmple ! Surely a romantic end withal to a romantic and interesting tale . But novelists now universally adopt this principle , and we must therefore accept it , we suppose , as a sine qua non ; and yet , if true to life , should we wish it otherwise" ?
' " The Curate and the Rector" is a feeble imitation of the " Vicar of Wakefield . " It will possess ,. we have no doubt , a considerable amount of interest for a certain class of readers—more especially those who delight in village scenes and pastoral descriptions generally . There is , moreover , an amount of variety which will render it acceptable to the general reader ; but the age wliich Goldsmith addressed was rather different from the present . Surely the clerical profession ought to feel itself immensely nattered , for of all classes this seems to present most attractions to tbose who are in search of a hero .
" Old Styles , " a portion of which appeared m Household Words , exhibits a certain amount of ability , and a considerable capability on the part of its author of delineating every-day life—more especially school life . But Mr . Henry Spicer is of rather a morbid temperament , and appears to be determined to put his readers in a , gloomy state of mind . He accordingly proceeds to give us a whole series of second-sight adventures , and varieties of most melan
ghost stories , and winds up with a - choly and unnecessary end . There is a great deal about schools , schoolboys , and schoolmastersromantic confidences between masters and pupils- —statues of departed sons in secret chambers watched Over by disconsolate and remorseful fathers—tremendous fights between / ' * boys " and "junior cocks , " and various episodes of a like nature . We may fairly characterise " Old Styles " as a very stupid book written by a very clever man .
COUSIN STELLA , OR CONFLICT . By tlie author oi " Violet DuuK and its Inmates . " 3 vols . — Smith , Elder aud Co . ' THE CUJRATiS AND THE RECTOlt . A Domestic Story . By Elizabeth Strut , author of " Chances and Changes , " " Domestic Residence in Switzerland . "—George Routletlge and Co . . OLD STYLES . By Henry Spiccr .-r-Boswortli and Harrison . It is not often that we meet with a work so much out of the common order as " Cousin Stella ;" From beginning to end there is an abundancealmost a superabundance—of life and animation , truthful conversations , ever varying scenes , and bright pictures of the world and his wife . The character of Cousin Stella , gentle , impulsive , almost childlike , is most' ably * and beautifully drawn ; and the manner in which her feelings aud her knowledge of the world are gradually educed and developed cannot fail to excite in the reader a sense of sympathy , and a belief in the reality of the heroine . It is great praise—and we mean it as euoh- ^ -to say that we have not , for a very long tune , perused a work in whose descriptions of life we feel so much at home , and in which the delineations of character and scenery are so varied and so vivid . The author- —or we imagine wo should be more correct in saying- ^ -the authoress does not euflbr her readers to vegetate in England . We are presented with scenes on the Continent , a sea vovftgo , and a mostj interesting and . orig inal portraiture of life in Jamaica . The latter , indeed , is the roost exciting , what with the insurrection of slaves , and the . rapid aaecossion of terrible but not glaring events . TJUo and of the novel , however ,
The King's Secret. A Romance Of English ...
THE KING'S SECRET . A Romance of English Chivalry . . By Tyrone Po \ ver . Thos . Hodgson . " The King ' s Sechet" forms the second volume of j \ Ir . Hodgson ' s new series of standard novels . It is one of the best of Tyrone Power ' s novels , and it only requires to be known that it is published cheaply to ensure it many readers .
The Rev. Mr. Ifansel's And Mr. Maurice's...
the Rev . Mr . ifansel ' s and Mr . Maurice ' s theologies . The mistake made by the former consists , after q . 11 , in defining the human-intelligence as finite ; this ia not stated by the reviewer ; but he will , if he reconsiders the subject ,, see that the real error lies in supposing the terms " human " and " finite" to be convertible terms , like those of divine and infinite . Finite only properly belongs to matter and body , and is no adjunct of spirit at all . The error is a common one , but is producing so much perplexity in metaphysical disquisitions that it must be soon exposed and abandoned . We throw . out the suggestion ; it is a pregnant one for those whom it concerns . It is , in fact , the truly human in us that reveals the infinite , and by it the human is distinguished from finit e and temporary sensation , or matter—whence the immortality of soul and eternit } ' of spirit .
Lont > ox Review . No . 24 . —Tnis appears to prefer articles of the more light and popular kind , and these it treats with a kind of grace and fervotir which is calculated to render them attractive . The leading article on Chaucer may be taken as the type of the number . There is also a paper on Freiligrath , wherein the poet ' s orientalism is treated as a veritable emotion , and a singular idiosyncrasy . Asa poet FreUigrath is , indeed , essentially picturesque . That he should hare gained this power in the midst of commercial habits and occupation is curious . But the fact is indisputable , and marks a new era , in which the spirit of poetry and of business are made to harmonise ; when the muse visits the countingrhouse unreproved , and sings of the wild desert and the wide ocean , in stronger language than : that of the sailor and the Arab , with all of their
energy and feeling , but with more of mystic meaning . The more peaceful aspects of nature also have charms for Freiligrath ; nor does he neglect the fanciful and the pathetic . Sometimes his ballads are strong in human interests , but not often ; too often he is professedly extravagant . Such an effort to raise into his proper importance the last of the German . poets is honourable to the reviewer . Among the other articles is one , theological and exegetic , on Dr . Kurtz . It portrays rationalism jn rtither dark colours , but concedes that individual rationalists are not always of that extreme type . On the whole , however , the critic is himself rational , and reasons out Ms thesis with logical severity ;
and if we seriously consider it , seeing that the result of philosophy is to prove nature reasonable , whyshould the critic regret to find that theology , too , is reasonable ? The " Roman question " undergoes a skilful investigation . The critic denounces the Austrian system in ho measured terms . The heart of a freeman , he exclaims , burns with indignation at the thought of a people , high-spirited and intellectual as are the Italians * , being forcibly compelled to submit to such misrule , by the intervention of foreign powers . On this point , the literary minds of both England and France are agreed .
Nevertheless , we may reasonably regret with the critic , that Italian liberty lias met with less sympathy in this country than it merits . We doubt too much , and perhaps wrongly , the French Emperor ' s intention The Italians , however , can hardly make a change for the worse ; and the despotism of France would be light compared with the brutality of Austria . The ultimate difficulty lies , however , in the point ;—What is to be done with Rome ? On the whole , the present number of this quarterly Review is highly creditable to the editor and publisher . Its tone is moderate and popular , and its bias in favour of
free-QUARTETCLY REVIEWS , ETC . National Review . No . 17 . —There is much in the contents of this number which is of first-rate quality . The topics are exceedingly well chosen , and . almost exhaustively treated . The leading one is of a picturesque and entertaining character . Its argument is the subject of glaciers , and theories respecting them . It embraces rare wealth of scientific information , and traces the argument in a philosophic spirit . It decides in favour of Professor Forbes' plastic or viscous theory , the fuller development of which it anticipates as of great prosspective benefit . There is also a Searching review of Masson ' s Life of Hilton , to the principle of which it
reasonably objects . The critic breaks new ground liimself , and demonstrates the extreme difficulty of properly criticising the " Paradise Lost . " But the most interesting portion of the paper is that wliich relates to the domestic differences between the poet and his first wife . The critic thinks that the lady had reason to object to the austerity of her husband ' s character j and he ^ discovors that the poet's complaint was , singularly ' enough , that his wife did not talk . The complaint is registered in Milton ' s book of Divorce . Ho had- wished , ho informs ns , " an intimate and speaking help ; " but he encountered a " mute and spiritless mate . " The " ready and reviving associate , " whom he had hoped to havo found , appeared to bo a " coinhabiting mischief , " who was sullen , and perhaps seemed bored and tired .
And at times ho is disposed to cast the blame of Ins misfortune on the uninstructivonature ofyoutlifulvirtuo . The " soberest and boat-govorn < 3 d men , " ho says , who are least praotisod in such affairs , are not very well aware-that " the bashful muteness" of a young lady " may ofttimes hide the unllvelinoss and natural sloth which is really unfit for conversation ;" nn < l are rather in too groat haste to light the nuptial torch ; whereas those " who have lived most loosely , by reason of their bold-accustoming , prove most successful in thoir matches , . because their wild fttfcctlons , unsettling at will , havo been as so many divorces to teach thorn experience . " And ho rathor wishes to infer that the virtuous nian should , in case of mischance , havo liis resource of divorce likewise . This is , at leust , an amusing touoh of qharaoter , ana we thank the critic for having mado it see daylight . Another paper commands our admiration ; one on
dom and progress . New Quauteuly Review . —The retrospect of the literature of the quarter includes Maokay ' s "America , " and About ' s "Roman Question , " the other leading works of the season . The criticisms , for the most part , are fair , cimdid , and painstaking . The arts are also reviewed in this publication , and the summary afforded of . exhibitions , pictures , and drama , is tolerably full and interesting . But the critic is exceedingly hard on Mr . E . T . Smith for his operatic doings , or rather misdoings , at Drury Lane , and writes in a tone of angor at " inordinate puffery and indiscreet journalism " in general . What is good in those remarks we hope will prove influential . Much , howovcr , is consequent on the notion of a shilling opera for tlie people , vrluoft necessarily implies a limitation of excellence . Taxi ' s contains Its usual allowance of articles , ana continue * Tts tale of "At Homo . " The paper on " 5 SSi ^ Ix ? bSS Am J ., No . 2 , contains eight &^^ ^ 5 ^ % « SS )?*« S ? Publication designed io cHropt the publisher in his Co "to see all that ought to bo seen , in the shortest period and nt the least oxpenso . " PnA . gxiQAr , Rhxnk Guidw . — By the same . ( Same publisher . ")—Third edition of ft similar publisher , having the like purpose And design . Both are ac-
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1859, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16071859/page/19/
-