On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
Untitled Article
THE IMPENDING KVIL . The Philosopher ' s Mite to the Great JUrhthition of 18 . ")] . II cm Is ton and Stoncman . " Neighbour , your scentbottle ! " Do not wonder if our cheek bo pale , our eye a little rambling , our lip pallid and quivering , our general demeanour one unbecoming a philosopher who should despise fear , but the truth must out—we are terrified , our nerves ore still trembling from the shock they have received , our imagination distended by the vastness of the evil it prefigures , viz ., the over-animalization of London prophesied in this terrible pamphlet !
Objections to the Exhibition of 18 . 31 have not been wanting : national objections , Protectionist objections , parish objections , commercial objections , frivolous objections , humorous objections , alarmist objections ; but hero comes a philosopher , austere from perusal of " the Chronicles , " grave with sad fears , eloquent with the convulsions of alarm , who , mounted on a pedestal of Precedents , bids the nation pause while yet it may , while yet it totters on the brink of Paxton and the Prince , and not invite the Plague to feast upon our mervie Eng-
Untitled Article
xnents , which is like putting the facade of the Parthenon to a mediocre charity school , or throwing up some light and elegant flying buttress against a mud hovel . We read every page , the amusement is incessant , we laugh often , and admire many passages , but , having closed the book , no lasting impression remains ; all that brilliant display of intellectual fireworks leaves behind it darkness . The secret of this defect is probably that Mr . Hannay sat down " to write a novel " without any very distinct idea of what he was to do , and , during the composition , he
trusted mainly to the suggestions of the moment and his power of working up " sketches . " The want of breadth and continuity in his story prevents our feeling much interest in it , and nothing but the liveliness of his style could carry us through three volumes o f such sketchy scenes . iLet Mr . Hannay compare his work with any of the novels that have made a deep impression , and he will see at once the difference between them and Singleton Fontenoy to lie in their having a breadth which his work is deficient in . If he be content with the flash of a Disraeli or
a Mrs . Gore , we are silent ; but , with more wit than either , he stands in need of several auxiliaries possessed by those writers , which will make it difficult to achieve their success . In Singleton Fontenoy all is sketchy : there are glimpses of character , but no elaborate studies ; and the scenes very often have the appearance of being mere hasty notes to be worked up afterwards , so abrupt , so incomplete , so hasty , as if the author were fearful of dwelling upon any subject lest he should grow dull ! Dull he never is , that is certain ; but we could have spared some of the sparkle for a little more solidity and elaboration .
" The pace is tremendous . Three yards more to run—and then the goal . Death is the goal for many of these brave riders ! Patagonian ' s first cutter keeps the lead with a frightful stride , and reaches the beach . The lieutenant in her waves his sword , and he and his men jump on shore . Fire gleams along the wall . The loop-holes are spitting it . Two of the cutter ' s crew drop and roll on the shingle , never to move more . " The launch thunders forth . A terrible shock shakes her . She has struck upon a reef ! The other boats strike too , and the rowers are flung from their thwarts . " * Give way—give way , we'll get her over , ' cried Bertie , with a kind of desperate hope . * D—n it , Jones , don ' t catch crabs !'
ing in the rays ! In the centre , a spot was marked for the Rover and Viper to fire at , and break an opening in . The boats waited to see this done . " Like lightning from the cloud broke the fire from the frigate ' s side . Like lightning from the cloud broke the fire from the brig . Down fell the shot on the wall in torrents . It dashed , it stormed , it poured . The grey wall withered , and broke like thin ice . It peeled away like the bark of a dead tree . The white smoke from the vessels sailed slowly away over the surface of the water , and the eyes of every one in the boats were fixed on the doomed spot in the wall . Light broke through it suddenly , and houses were seen ! The path was opened ! first cutter
hundred ' « Off went the boats—Patagonian ' s taking the lead at a gallop . It was a brilliant race—a great Derby of the Sea ! The cutter made the running , followed by the barge and pinnace of Patagonian—boats of Rover and Viper—heavy old launch of Patagonian thundering after them , with carronade frowning in the bow , and a match smoking beside it . ' Give way ! ' cried Bertie , grasping his cutlass . The men laboured like madmen , with hot sweat on their brows . Fontenoy grasped the ivory handle of his dagger . ? Throw away that d ; d thing , ' said Bertie , givinpr him a cutlass . He grasped it in his hot hand . His blood was maddened with excitement , and he longed to bound upon the beach .
" Poor Jones had caught something worse . He dropped from his thwart , shot dead by a musket-ball . Another man gives a faint cry , and leaves his oar for ever . A darker flood must they embark on now ! Fire keeps gleaming along the grey old wall . Two or three balls strike the boat , and bury themselves in the wood . " It was a desperate moment . But steadily as the moon shines on a stormy sea , shines the courage of a British officer in the hour of desperate danger . " * Point the carronade , ' cried Bertie , « every man that holeThe
Singleton is a young gentleman , possessing all a hero ' s beauty and all a hero ' s perfections . He is , moreover , an " Idealist" —a somewhat vague character , met with only in romance—with a passion for Carlyle , Emerson , and Tennyson—a restless desire for action , with no very distinct " mission . " He goes to sea in search of " action , " and the Syrian war is a theme which permits Mr . Hannay to bring his naval knowledge to bear , and permits his hero to go through the proper amount of peril and glory .
has a musket , bring it to bear on a loop- . ' orders were instantly obeyed . The carronade began firing . The ringing of ramrods and smart banking went on . Fontenoy jumped along the thwarts forward , seized one of the muskets , and picking out a loop-hole , fired steadily away at it . A seaman was killed close beside him , and spattered him with blood . He knelt down , and , filling his cap with water , held it to the poor fellow ' s mouth . The man breathed his last the instant after ; and the tears came into Singleton ' s eyes with a sudden gush . But he dashed them away , and kept on
There is a second hero in the book , Welwyn , who is only another reflection of the same character , with more " idealism , " more Carlylism , Emersonianism , Tennysonianism , &c . Frederick Lepel , the smart , knowing , pushing young man of the day , acts as a foil to these two idealists , and round them gyrate innumerable minor characters , some happily enough sketched , with a spice of caricature and abundance of merciless sarcasm .
" A rushing hiss was heard above the boats . The Rover and Viper were firing just over their heads , at the shore . A desperate effort was made to lighten the boats over the reef : —all in vain . rti , _ " Presently , a new arrival was seen . Old Pannikin came in his gig , and hovered about the scene with a musket . His old sporting propensities developing themselves in this crisis , he picked off the enemy ' sitting , and even ? on the wing , ' with much neatness , with a musket .
The quantity of naval novels already published takes off its freshness from the subject ; but , by choosing the time of the Syrian war , Mr . Hannay has contrived to render this hackneyed sea-life once more interesting . As a specimen of its " actions , " take this from the ATTACK ON TOHTOSA . " Morning came—a lovely eastern morning—and disclosed the Rover and Viper lying at anchor about six hundred yards from the town . The sun ahono full upon the white wall that faced the sea . It was bounded at each end by a tower , and was dotted with rows of loop-holes , which looked like black specks . The sea broke with a quiet
" Such was the state of affairs , when Singleton , jumping up to take a good aim , felt a blow on the arm . He started , and fell overboard . He felt the water gurgling in his mouth .. He struck and plunged . His head smote against something . For a moment , a blue world of light and colour swam around him . He seemed to be dreaming—he tried to speak , like one struggling with nightmare . Light seemed rushing into his mouth . Then a cloud eclipsed his soul and he was conscious of no more . " The following is a ghastly glimpse into the horrors of war : —
murmur on the black rocks and shingle of the beach . And to the left of the town , a little group of palm trees stood tranquilly near the scene of war and death . 41 Launch ' s crew to muster ! Pinnaces and barges to muster ! ' piped aboatswain ' s mate early in the forenoon . The crews drew up on each side of the quarter-deck and gangways with their nrms . Lieutenant Prim by was wonderfully attired , and Snigg , who walked about looking for the materials of fun amongst the preparations , remarked , that no calf ever went to the slaughter half bo gaily . ' Captain Pannikin marched about the deck * smelling the battle afar oft " , ' and crying ' Ha , ha ! ' and grunting Now , then , Jones , cutlass , —hem ! Mr . Fontenoy , sen to Jones , —ugh !'
" « Who ' s there ? ' shouted the sentry on the forecastle , at this instant . Bertie broke off , and jumped to his feet , and they both ran forward to the forecastle . " * What ' s the matter , sentry ? asked Bertie . " * A man swimming , sir , ' answered the sentry . * Shall I fire ? ' . , * , * Wait an instant ;—where is he ?' The sentry pointed to an object in the water , on the larboard bow ; the moon shone upon it , and the water played and quivered with a phosphoric sparkle ; it was a mansure enough . .
, _ ... . . , "' All ! deserting from the Jupiter , perhaps , ' said Bertie , for the Jupiter was lying not far from the Patagonian , but the man serrord to make no progress . " By G , he ' s drowning ! ' criod Bertie . And excited as lie was , he climbed into the fore-chains , and plunge d overboard . It was with n dull , leaden splash that he fell , and by some strange instinct , Singleton suddenly thought of the sound made in the water by the fall of the body of the man whom they had buried after they left Gibraltar . ...
• ' At last the boat shoved off . Bertie stood in the stern of the launch with his purple face glowing , and anprry and savage as the prospect of fighting made liini . Fontenoy went with him , and stood alongside him . The heavy boat with twenty long ponderous oars keeping time , and its carronade raised in the bow and standing above the bulwarks , like some savage beast on the watch , moved heavily alone . Silrnce . fore and aft , ' cried
" Primby camo running forward at the noise . Smplcton told him what had happened . A boat ' s crew was instantly summoned , and , meanwhile the quartcr-niasicr of the watch and Sinjjk-ton ran along the boom < md jumped into the cutter that was lying at it;— -they pulled away towards Uortie . " Steadily pluyed the moonlight , on tho water , nnd a track of lij-ht followed IJertio as bo struck out towards the swimmer . They saw him reach tho drowning man , — they rowed hard to the spot . Suddenly they heard a loud cry and a wild splnslung . They reached the place
in time to pick up Bertie insensible ; in another minute he would have gone down like a stone . ' But the swimmer ? the drowning man ? The ghastly moonlight played like a shroud round a creature of corruption . It -was the corpse of a seaman who had been buried by one of the ships some time before , and who had broken from his funeral moorings , and started upwards to the air again . Poor Lazarus ! there was so redemption for him now . " It was past twelve o ' clock when the boat reached the
ship ' s side . The watch was relieved ; Lord Clarion had come up for the middle watch , and was waiting at the gangway . Singleton told him what had happened . Bertie was insensible still , so one of the assistantsurgeons was called , and a cabin in the cockpit being vacant , Bertie was put to bed in it . " And about the corpse ?* asked Singleton . " * II n J y a que les morts qtti ne reviennent pas * muttered Clarion . ' This refutes the saying of Barrere . don t it ?'"
A very pleasant story that to tell round a " sea coal fire , " to the chill accompaniment of a lo ud ticking clock ! Here is another terrible scene of
THE PliAGTTE ON BOARD . " In the morning , they saw the ghastly emblem of the dread disease—a yellow flag with a black ball in the centre—flying from the fort . Already two men were seized on board . Nausea , faintness , delirium—deathwere the steps in regular succession . Some died raving violently , some in a muttering torpor . Of some , the death-bed was attended by beautiful visions . Some floated away to the Dark River to the sound of soft
. " Like a wounded bird , that flies away , endeavouring to escape from the agony which it bears within itself , the Viper left Tripoli next day , and carried her agony into the loneliness of the sea . AH the night before , they had heard from the shore the howl of the jackal . As she moved away in the forenoon , they saw two dark specks approaching . The specks increased in size—they were vultures , lured from their distant homes in Lebanon , by the unerring instinct which tells them where there is death . At noon , two sharks were seen sailing about four hundred yards off , with their fins just above water . They had seen no sharks before ! Yet , there they were ,
drawn from some secret haunt by the promise of a feast . ' Commander Tinsley assembled the officers in his cabin to deliberate , and to give his general instructions in the crisis . Everybody was present . There was a solemnity about the Commander ' s manner that contrusted strangely with his usual language and appearance . But the elements of tragedy are simple enough . Once bring in death , and your other dramatis personee soon suit themselves to tJie play . When fair Ophelia ' s body enters , the gravedigger ' s jesting is forgotten . Tinsley consulted Flibb and Brunt . The surgeon was nervous ,
uncertain , and embarrassed . Brunt was cool and grand —confident and courageous—for Brunt had a theory , and very often a theory is as supporting as a religion . Who does not remember the case of a naval surgeon serving on the coast of Africa , who , convinced that the fever on board was not contagious , held a wineglass to the lips of a wretch in his last agonj r , received the black vomit in it—drank—and lived ! This was never excelled by all tho acts of all the martyrs . Honour to a man who believes in a Law of God , and with a firm faith goes on never doubting !
" The officers were dismissed to their duties . Part of the ship was turned into a kind of hospital . The clothes of every seaman who died were burnt , together with his hammock . Several things were done in the efficacy of which Brunt did not privately believe , but it was necessary to keep up as well as possible the courage of the crew . It was beautiful to see how—when the disease was at its worst—discipline maintained itself . There was philosophy to be learnt by studying that . Even men , whom the spectacle of death—coming apparently capriciously , and leaving no one safe—impelled to a brutal levity of language and conduct—who laughed at the destroyer—in whom a familiarity with death had bred a terrible contempt of it ' —the worst of these never broke through a regulation of the ship . They respected law more than they feared the grave . "
Bertie , looking round fiercely . The pinnace nnd barge knpt lino stondily , one on each side . The first cutter led the way in front .. No sound was heard , except the mea-Hured monotonous jerk of the oars , in tho row . locks . And so tho little boat squadron advanced till they reached the Uovor and Viper . They drew up , and laid on their oars , hero ; for now began the work of the irig . itr and the brii ? . 11 How white in " the suulii < ht gleamed the city ' s wall— - the tints of grey that time had painted it with / bri « uten-
Untitled Article
690 &t ) e % t& 1 ltt * [ Saturday , ...... . - - - —
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 12, 1850, page 690, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1856/page/18/
-