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880 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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: ' ' THE SEAT Off WAR. A Military ' Tou...
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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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Such Are Some Of The Latest Promises Or ...
area , a whirling circle of half-stripped girls danced to the monotonous beat of a tom-tom-Presently the formal ring was broken , and each female stepping out singly , danced according t « her individual fancy . Some were wild , some were soft , some were tame , and some were fiery . After so many years I have no distinct recollection of the characteristic movements of these semi-savages , especially as the claret and champagne rather fermented in my brain , and possessed me with the idea that it was my duty to mingle in the bounding throng . I resolved that the barbarians should have a taste of Italian quality ! Accordingly , I leaped from the hammock where I had swung idly during the scene , and beginning with a balances and an avant-deux , terminated my terpsichorean exhibition by a regular ' double ahnffle ' and sailor's hornpipe . The delirious laughter , cracked sides , rollicking fun , and outrageous merriment , witn which my feats jwere received , are unimaginable by sober-sided people . Tired of my single exhibition , I seized the prettiest of the group by her slim , iuuuu wiv wi v * uib 4
tJJi-lUIUK «*« tlS » Vi AilU iTUll 1 CU UCl iuuuv * *•*«« » v v * u v **\ s i ^ uiwtvvgi . . n &>} j uj . ii > ai j ¦ with a kiss , I laid her giddy and panting on the floor . Then , grasping another . —anotheranother—and another—and treating each to tbe same dizzy swim , I was about waltzing the whole seraglio into quiescence , when who should rise before us but the staring and yawning Mongol - If this is the kind of thing that is to be given us in books so heralded and . pushed into celebrity ,. ' -warm" writing is setting in upon us . There are extracts , to be sure , giving an account of " slave-packing , " and other matters-of-fact relating to the slave-trade ; but we judge it is not the " matter-of-fact" that predominates an the book . We cannot decide on the character of the book as a whole till we see it ; but we conjecture It is one of those concoctions of "the stunning ' -which have begun to abound of late . Two things strike us in connexion with the . book . In the first place , it seems to us ,, criticism is becoming far too tolerant of books pretending to be records of facts , and yet not duly authenticated as to name ; date , and place . It yivs ,. ^ 1 very wellfor Defoe to construct a Robinson Crtisoe , and other stories , out of materials which his genius was capable of expanding : but we
¦ would set a limit to these imitations sow . If "we are to have novels , let us have novels , purporting to be such ; if we are to have histories , let us have histories authenticated as such ; we do not object even to . historical novels , professing to B ^ such—but to ypiir books of travels in which the traveller is mythical , to biographies of adventurers edited by literary men from materials furnished by' the adventurers i and concocted into narratives of "thrilling interest , ** in which fact and fiction are inextricably commingled , so that you cannot say " whicS is whicli 3 we have a decided aversion . In the ^ present case we do not know what are the Mr . Bbantz Mater to Captain Cannot , or . how far the txfo are identical ; but we : have our suspicions ; and if Mr . Bbantz Mater ' s professed editorship is but a literary rjtse , we shall | set our faces against him and it . - Again it appears to us that ,
in the present book , we have another example of the extraordinary knack which authors and publishers are acquiring , by setting their heads together , of ensuring world-wide popularity and sale for a book . The thing began with Uncle TonCs Cairn—a novel of fifth-rate merit , written . honestly , and ¦ w ith serious intention by a well-meaning woman ; and which , by a combination of circumstances , was set agoing all over the world till it ran like wildfire . And now in the wake of this book , and pushed by arts , tauglt by its success , we are haying Lamplighters , and other such manufactures , running the same course , and perhaps Ies 3 deservedly . We doubt not Captain Canot is intended for the same market , and spiced with " voluptuous mouths , " ^ - ' fl £ > nvinflr ¦ rviwlo-f 4 r » linoATno * ** olim ¦' . OtTvitw waiofo " or » rl rv-fTi *«» Ann ^ iwtan ^ a s \ P
the" kind to make its progress easier and surer . Apropos of this increase among us of literature concocted on the principle of the " stunning , * ' and its effects orx literature of true and deep merit , we may refer Jto an article on Thackeray in the last number of the Jlevue des J > et / x Mondes . The author of the article , M- E . D . Forgues , reviews the entire literary career of our celebrated novelist , and , in a more conscientious manner than is common , endeavours to make his countrymen acquainted ¦ with the whole series of Mr . Thackebat ' s works . Speaking of Henry Es-7 nondt and particularising the many merits of that exquisite novel , M . Fobguessays :
The work had every quality , except that which makes a book popular . This , indeed , it could not have / by'its very nature , andbeiymse it contained fine studies , appreciated only by the dilettanti ^ arid sealed letters for tho vulgar—" caviare to tlie million , '" as Shakapeare has it . Moreover , the History of Henry Esmond appeared in 1852 , at the same moment-with another tfamous history , the History of Uncle Tom . America , this time , beat England ; but , I / knqw , not if the fortune of , the oattk -was absolutely determinod by the relative amount of talent on the one side and on the other . Certainly , one must recognise a much higher political and social aim in th « singularly happy book of Mrs . Beeoher Stowo ; l > t ( t it / Wonld' Be supremel y unjust to deny to Thackeray , in the purely litorary field , an ability far atove that of h » a victorious rival . "Iforgot to put a nigger in my novel ( J ' ai enblifde mettro unnftgro dans inon romanD" said he , with a little touch of irony , when ho wm that , tUia time , the popularity 'was settiog in elsewhere .
W « icatmotjOf course , vouch for tho authenticity of the mot hero attributed to TuACKEtt at ; but it is a very good one . Our" -stunning * authors atre even improving upon tb . e receipt of the ? ' nigger" in a novel as an ingredient for insuring popularity ; they are putting in handsome sho-mulattoes , with ' Vhoni you can walt ^ till you are " giddy and panting . " And . this ia Literature ! It is like something else that we could name ! .. . 'ii . ;' , : i'J ) i ? -. i .. !' :,. ¦ .. ¦
880 The Leader. [Saturday,
880 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
: ' ' The Seat Off War. A Military ' Tou...
: ' ' THE SEAT Off WAR . A Military ' Tour m European Turkey ^ tho Crimea , an % on the Eastern Shores of the ¦ " Slack Scat including routes acrosn the Balkan into Bulgaria , and Excursions in the Turkish , Russian anal Persian Provinces of the Caucasian range : ivitft strategical observations on tho prohaiU scene of the operations of the allied expeditionary force . By Major-General A- F , Macintosh , K . H ., F . K . G . It ,, F . Q . S . With maps , in two volumes . ' London : LonginanB , 1854 . Gbnehal MAoiNVosn , when he drew up the title-page of his book , seems to have determined to bo as specific a 3 an inventory , and as accurate as tho notebook of a Quarter-Master . It is indeed a difficult task to frame a
title sufficiently comprehensive or sufficiently the reverse to fit the case of certain books . < But , happily in tliis case , tho gallant author has suitably described two unpretending volumes , rich in matter of fact , And aa large in scope aa the Advertisement indicates to the render . Th , o bjbok ^ a culled ft Military Tour because it is chiefly mndo up of raMtary * typography , but tlio general reader will be greatly mistaken it * he ca « t two ,-vrolutn «« aside as therefore useless to him . The advantage of a millUbcy gtiido' thtough the countries mentioned in the title-page- ; considerable in ordinary limes , becomes almost invaluable now , ovon to tho lenst trarliko reader . An author , with an eye like General Mackintosh , and a
simple lucid style , like h is , makes the map a landscape with very little aid from the imagination , and enables us to see the things , in some degree , as he saw them . Nor are the passingglimpses of the human kind , dwelling in Asiatic Turkey and Russian Georgia and the Caucasus , scarcely less graphically imparted to the mind—the Turk , the Kurd , the Cossack , the Circassian , the Russian soldier and the Russian officer—are very fairly sketched , as each figures in turn . While , therefore , these volumes are useful and instructive , they are also agreeable and amusing—at least to those who look for intelligence and common sense in the works they peruse . The scope of these volumes shows that with ordinary treatment they could not fail to interest . All Europe has felt some apprehensions for the safety of Constantinople . It is in these volumes that will be found the
best description of the famous natural line of defence which covers-so completely all the land approaches to the papital—a line of defence which , although loosely spoken of by other writers , has only been fully made out by General Macintosh . Nor is the discovery of this Torres Vedras the only service rendered by him to the cause of Turkey . The much depreciated lines at Bulair , at the neck of the small peninsula of Gallipoli were suggested by our sharp-eyed traveller , long before there was question of sending troops into the Dardanelles . Having described these important matters ; having questioned , on good grdunds , the adequacy of the batteries protecting both the Dardanelles aiid the Bosphorus ; he carries us through the Balkan to Shurnla , and thence he takes us down the Danube , sketching ; each fort and its merits as he goes along— -from Belgrade to Ismail . These details are , however , drawn . from the writings of others , not from personal observation
and Chesney and Moltke supply accounts in some respects fuller in detail . 0 f course every inch of ground has its interest , but the : novelty of the tour begins with the departure of the General from Constantinople for Trebezonde , and thence onward , by Baibb ' ot , Erzeroum , Kars , Toprah-kaleh , and Diadeen to Bayazeed . It may easily be conceived that an intelligent sbldier thus going over the route of the Russian advance in 1829 , finds sufficient to describe and comment upon , with a view to defence against a similar incursion . In general terms the country inay be described as very strong , offering endless opportunities for defensive warfare , and a few for decisive resistance undei * peculiar advantages . But no steps had been taken to obstruct the great routes * with a view to the ever-present contingency of war with Russia . The curse of the whole ernpire , at the date of this tour —the weakness of the central power and the disorder of the local authorities
¦—was peculiarly felt , and the evidences of transition were visible on every side . Hence it followed that the military force , tlie redifs , or militia , were badly trained , and indeed scarcely thought of—the power of the chiefs , who had heretofore Kept the army supplied , having been completely broken . But interesting as is the route from . Trebizonde to Bayazeed , that from Tabreez to Odessa , through the Caucasus , far surpasses it . General Macintosh , starting from Tabreez , approached the Caucasus by Nakshivan , Erivan Gumri , Tiflis , and so on through the pass of Dariel to Stavropol , Taganrog , and Odessa . It was during this journey that he took occasion to examine the new fort at Gurari , then only in process of erection . His mode of doing this was characteristic and soldierlike . Knowing that the commandant w-ould not permit him to enter the works if he sought permission , he rode at once up to the works , passed the Cossack guard , per favour of a . semi-military
costume , and so carefully surveyed the interior of the place . The same evening he dined with the officer in command , but , as he anticipated , he could not obtain permission to enter the works . This , however , was scarcely necessary , for the survey of the morning enabled hum the next day to make out a tolerably accurate plan of the fortress . It -was in front of this fortress , on the right banlTot * the ~ Arpachai that the action known as theKurouk-dere was recently fought . Were the Russians strong numerically , the result of that battle should have given them possession of the whole pashalic of Kars . It should be remarked that the last war left in the hands of Russia a series of frontier posts of great importance , -which she has carefully strengthened , and in some sense created , as in the case of Gumri , so . that unless the present war terminate in the excision of so much territory south of the Caucasus , the Russian conquest of Asiatic Turkey , including Syria , is only matter of time . By far too little attention , as it seems to us , has been paid to the Asian
campaign ; the risk may not be immediate 5 tho evil may be capable of reparation ; but it is very great . Should Russia have Asian successes and acquisitions to match with ours in Europe , it is perfectly clear that we must either dictate terms less advantageous than are desirable , or we must wrest from the enemy what he had won , and something in addition . But that would require a long campaign . It is remarkable , as showing the shortsightedness or the venality of Turkish rulers , that tho timber used in the construction of Gumri should haye all been carried thither from Turkish territory , under pretext of using it in the construction of dwolling-housos , bazaars , and caravanseraica . But it is said that tho Pasha of Kars , who foiffned ignorance , was engaged in the timber contract himself ! So that the Turkish mountains were cleared of timber , and the Russian frontier garnished with a new fortress from whence the Emperor hold the Sultan ' s city of Kara at his mercy .
From Gumri to Tiflis the road is full of interest—strong undulating country , often steep and wild , varied by patches of vordant park » liko scenery , and woll-watered vales . Of Tiflis , it is recordod by our sharpeyed author , that " the exterior made a considerable show , ' but that " that does not meet tho eye is foul and neglected . " Neither is it impregnable in a military point of view . On his passage through tho Caucasus , General Macintosh saw quite sufficient to show that tho Russians only occupy the posts actually in their hands ; that they arc . ever on tho alert to guard against the sudden and murderous assaults of tho Circassians ; that the miiil requires an escort , and a pretty strong one too ; and that everything betokened the unquenchable freedom of the gallant mountaincore . lt « also remarks that tho etrength of tho fortified posts of communication between Tiflis and Ekatoriiiograd has been exaggerated ; that a well-mounted horseman might leap into some ; that a few cannon planted on the mountains would make others untenable ; but , alas 1 tho Circassians sndly want artillery . If tho Russians were in such straits when tl » oy possessed tho lJlaclc Soa cottBt of tho Caucasus , wo can readily imagine whnt their condition must bo now .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 16, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16091854/page/16/
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