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v&rstty Transactions , will most likely turn away in despair From , the two thick volumes full of old papers , collected b y Mr . Hey wood and Mr . Wright . The book appeals , in truth , only to antiquaries and to winters in -want of curious information on the subject of the Puritan Controversies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . As a -work for future historians to refer to , the greatest value attaches to this collection of old documents . They show the nature of the various plans adopted at Cambridge for the purpose of checking the rising power of Puritanism ; they comprise a very curious Diary by a certain Doctor Worthington , who was expelled , in 1660 , from the Mastership of his Colle ge ; and they furnish throughout some interesting and remarkable illustrations of modes of life , rules of discipline , and manners and customs generally , in the University of Cambridge , during the last half of the sixteenth , and the first half of the seventeenth century . Readers , for the most part '—especially at the present time—may not care toinform themselves on such " old-world" subjects as these ; but scholars ; md writers may , perhaps , thank us for informing them of the publication of a book which is full of excellent historical materials , clearly and carefully arranged . >
Of Popular Literature wo have three specimens . Mr . Burn's History of the Steam Engine treats an interesting subject in an admirably intelligible manner , and is illustrated b y some excellent diagrams . This , at any rate , Is a book for the general reader ; and it deserves a wide circulation . Mr . Edwin Lee ' s account of the curative resources of the various Watering-places of England , carries its recommendation on the title-page—it has reached a third edition . Mr . Lascelles Wraxall ' s ( translated ) Visit to the Seat of War forms the new volume of Messrs . Chapman and Hall ' s " Reading for Travellers . " This little book is written with a motive which is not very likely just now to dis * pose the public to make a fair estimate of its intrinsic merits . Mr . Wraxallit object is to defend Sir Charles Napier's inactivity , by informing everybody who ventures to object to it " of the many formidable obstacles , both natural and artificial , which an advancing foe will have to overcome in tie Baltic
and the adjoining seas . " Unfortunately for the success of this doubtless meritorious design , the news of the battle of the Alma was published before Mr . Wraxall ' s book , and the people of England have in consequence ceased to believe in " formidable obstacles" altogether . As civilians , we will not venture on an opinion ; but we may confess to having nourished a superstition hitherto , that ' ^ gallant commanders , " by land as well as by sea > prove their gallantry either by not believing in . " formidable obstacles , " or hy making nothing of them . Mr . Wraxall is himself of opinion that " gallant Charley " has exercised a sound judgment in deferring his attack on the Russian strongholds ; but he does not wish to influence the opinions of others unduly . He is willing to " leave -readers to decide "—so are we . A series of really life-like sketches of the great statesmen ; of America would make a delightful book . Ma-. Baldwin has attempted in Party Leaders to produce such a work , and has- not succeeded very brilliantly in our opinion . We should not have obiected to his somewhat infhited and
pompous style of writing , if he had only made his biographical subjects alittle interesting to his readers . He has , however , not achieved this very necessary condition of success m any instance . He informs us , copiously and seriously enough , about the political motives and public acts of Jefferson , Jackson , Clay , and other famous Americans ; but of the men themselves , in their merely human aspect , we never get so much as a glimpse . Mr . Baldwin seems to be possessed by the fatal and foolish idea , that domestic scenes and minute personal particulars arc- beneath the notice of a professed historian . He despises anecdotes , for example , heartily , in his sketch of Jefferson ( at page 101 ) , he actually laments that certain "loose memoranda " of dinner-table arguments and conversational imprudences committed in their social momenta by celebrated statesmen of America should ever have seen the light ! it is exactly the absence of such " loose memoranda " as these that makes Mr . Baldwin ' s book such dull and unsatisfactory reading as it is . When wo have found 1 out that Jefferson was unknown tu
bis nation in virtue of his public achievements , the next thing w « directly want to know is , what sort , of a man Jefferson was himself . What were his favourite amusements' ? ' "What did he look like ? Was he a good-naturod , easy fellow among his family and his friends ? or was he easily " riled , " and only approachable at particular times and seasons ? What were his favourite habits—the bad especially ? l > itl he chew or whittle ? Did hu go out sled ging in the winter ? Was lie anything of a shot ? Was hu fond of ¦ women and wine ? Was he a littlo wild in his youth , or given to music and dancing , or bitten with si rage for dandyism V All these questions , and dozens more , we ask ourselves about Jefferson , beoause wo want to realise Jefferson 5 but Mr . Baldwin declines to answer us . He thinks our curiosity is trivial , and that we . do not know how to respect the dignity of historical biography . Very likely we do not—and possibly it is on this vary account , that we read over and over again what Mr . Jum ^ s Boswell has to tell ua about Johnson , Goldsmith , and Koynolds , and that we never intend to read another word of what Mr . J . G-. Baldwin has to tell us about Jefferson , Jackson , and Clay .
What does Nu Motu mean ? In Tahitmn dialect , "The Islands . " And what sort of a book is it ? A vary readable , entertaining narrative of adventures in the South Pacific . Mr . l ' orkins ( tlio adventurer ) Iu * h a quick observation of his own , ami 11 uluirp eyo for character . His account of lifts on board u whale-ship is full of good touches of nature , comprehensible , and interesting to the veriest landsman . And whim tho author g « ts nshovo at the Hawaiian , or ut thu Society Islands , his good gills ua a clwiT-rtighted , straightforward writer do not fail him . lie always tolln hid story in the same manly , nailor-liUe wny , and never overpowers us with exclusive information about thu . strange soun-civilinud people among whom his lot was cnat . Wo have read his voluinu with inKTOrtt ami prolit ; and wo may udtl , hh a final recommendation , thut it is illustrated with aoiae nicely lithographed views of remarkable ultimas in the l ' acilic Islunda .
So much for tho books ( lint wo linve hud lime to road . Among the books that wo huve ( at prcHunt ) only time to acknowledge n « having been received , are ; —Doctor DiolcBon ' w Destrnctiva Art 0 / ' Jlcd / iiu / , mid Feillucitut 0 / the Faculty ( People ' s Edition}—Mr . Mncpheraon ' s Jixauij on ICiujlixh Education—Mr - Hay ward ' s Etmuys on Chesterfield and Stluujn ( roi > m » U > d from the
Edinburgh Review )—and Mr . Sebastian Detainer ' s Treatise on the . Rearing and Keeping of Pigeons and Rabbits .
MISCELLANEOUS REPRINTS . Caleb Stukeley ( Nathaniel Cooke ) , the opus magnum of Dr . Samuel PniiiLirs , has been collected from the pages of Blackwood into one closely printed volume . There is no lack of a certain power , and of good writing in the story . Nevertheless , it must be confessed , Caleb Stukeley " repays perusal' "—with a headache . Air . William Chambisiis being recommended a change of air and scene , passed the autumn of last year in Canada and the United States . ( Things as they are in America . Chambers , 1854 . ) He improved his time with characteristic assiduity , setting down his observations for the use of the Edinburgh Journal , in which they have duly appeared . Mr . William Chambers is
not a sentimental or humorous traveller , but shrewd , practical , businesslike , and accurate . He speaks most highly of the present and prospective condition of our British American colonists , and all his remarks on the institutions of the United States are dictated by the most friendly and generous spirit of appreciation and sympathy . The book is full of useful facts and intelligent comments , and ,, in spite of its facts , is easy reading . In the way of romance , we have to mention the reprint of The Old English Gentleman , by John ^ Mills ( Ward and Lock ) , a tale of country life , genial and hearty . The Fortunes of Colonel Forlogh O'Brien ( Routledge ) , an Irish tale of 1686-91 , full of action and adventure . Nick of the Woods ( Ward and Lock ) , an American prairie story , giving an anti-Fenimore Cooper picture of Indian life .
Mr . Eoutledge furnishes . a Home-book of Household Economy" containing useful directions for the proper labours of the kitchen , the house , tlie pantry , and the dairy , and specially recommended to young married ladies , unskilled in household : affairs "—a considerable majority . The last of the publications we have briefl y to acknowledge this week is an appallingly funny one , entitled William HopartlCs Oven Jot Miller . ( Ward and Lock . ) From , a hasty glance at the contents , we apprehend there is a terrible congestion of fun in the title and cover of this book . It may be our fault , or our misfortune , but to read a page of Joe Miller or any of his tribe , -would be the most ghastly penance we could be made to endure .
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THREE NOVELS , Ethel ; or , TTte Double Error . By Marian James . Groombridge and Sous . Idaline . A Story of the Egyptian Bondage . By Mrs . J . B . Webb , Bentley . The Virginia Comedians ; or ? Old Days in the Old Dominion . Edited from the MSS . of C . Effingham , Esq . ' Triibner and Co . For some years past a revolution in the matter of heroines has been in progress among the lady novelists . The timid , melting , gentle creature , always blushing , bursting into tears , or sinking on her lover ' s fcreast ; the dear , generous , yielding , helpless , romantic girl whom we loved and longed to embrace , whenever we met with her in the older novels—especially those of the Mrs . Radeliffe-school—has been shamefully abandoned by the literary women of our time . In . her stead has been set up an atrocious , hardhearted , strong-minded , bullying , boastful girl , whose mission in life is to
treat [ the men as uncivilly and contemptuously as possible , whenever she comes in contact with them . The new heroine has the old " swan-like neck , " to be sure , but she is always curving it disdainfull y . When she walks away from a man she " rustles her skirts proudl y" —when she hands a man a cup of tea , her "lip curls slightly "—when she lets a man pay her some attention , she never for an instant forgets that her main object in life is to " preserve her maidenly dignity" —and when she gets sm-offer of marriage made to her , she treats the poor amorous wretch of a suitor , in nine cases out of ten , as if she had received the grossest personal insult from him . The lady-novelists of the present time—with one or two admirable exceptions—seem to think that women in general are much too gratefully sensible of the kindness of men , and not half ready enough to presume upon the privileges of their sex . Such unkissable ,
unembraceable , unendurable automatons in petticoats aa the ladies have set agoing in their novels for the last five or six years are a downright libel on womankind . Male readers abominate them , female readers repudiate them . We ourselves have watched young ladies carefully , and have never aeen their lips curl , even when a man they did not euro about asked them , to dance . Wo never saw them hand cups of tea scornfully . We never heard them-retire " rustling their skirts" —otherwise than benignantly . And' -whenever we have asked them in . what terms they would reject an unfavoured suitor , wo have always found them resolved beforehand to perform that disagreeable duty in the oivilest , kindest , and moat forbearing way . Long may the genuine young ladies live to charm the men aa ladiea should I and aoon , very soon , may the false automaton libuls on them , which prance through tho pages of most women ' s novels in our time , die off and disappear altogether .
It i » , in our estimation , the mrnin exccjlleneo of the novel placed ut the head of the present list , that tho heroine is not tho repulsive bully in poiticoats against whom we have just been writing with all our might and iiiuin . " lilthel , " in some respects , aota iu a nuinner to disappoint us . tiho re / Uses to marry tho num she loves , and auorifioes herself to advance his prospect , ) by marrying the rich rival , -who can help him , but whom hIiu does not love . Sh « in ailont and undemonstrative , when 11 candid word or 11 kind action would have navod great misunderstanding and incalculable misery . Hut ia spite of the . se faults she is a loveuble girl , bhc Hocure . s our sympathier ) in many passages of tho book ; and whon who Hutt ' urH for her errors , she wins our pity in a gontlo , natural , fuuiiiiitiu way . We cannot any much Ibr her lover , he to a uisngrccnblu and thoroughly conventional diaraoti . r . Indued , tho only merit of tho story—apart , from tho merit to which wo have already tiUuded—consists in the evidently warn * and genuine fed ing with which it in written . This ( nudity on the part of the authoress , lured us into rending her book through from beginning to ( i | l < 1 . Hn ( l encouraged u » to mukp tul friendly allowance for hur literary dofoels . Jla tho utune Hhiril \ vu now tulco
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Novbmkb'Br 4 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 1 * 051
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 4, 1854, page 1051, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2063/page/19/
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