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him and a Woolwich waterman politely intimating that " the last boat would start jposa-TrvE-ly at eleven . " As vire were unable to hear , it is almost needless to add that the excellence of the acting entirely superseded the noise of the tempest ; and between it and the music , of which " Cease rude Boreas" could not be heard , and but imperfectly understood by the tremulous fingers of the musicians , the evening terminated satisfactorily . The manager , being most loudly called for , at length appeared , and , having overcome his modesty , made a very taking speech , not omitting Allsopp in conclusion , and retired , promising to omit no exertion to please at a more propitious day . The temperature during the performance may be assumed as near 17 ° as possible . ^ This would be warm if « alm , but the breeze in the boxes inade it cutting : nothing but the moat determined loyalty rendered it endurable . "Hamlet" was afterwards performed , on the shortest day , with more success . Sir Edward , with a few apologies for the sake of dignity , tells how
he consented urbanely ( though all " who knew him well" knew that " such pageants are not to his taste " ) , to ride from the Assistance to the Pioneer , in a State sledge , with twelve of her Majesty ' s " Polars " to draw him . The result of the expedition is well known . Ifc proved the futility of Franklin research . Sir Edward Belcher determined , in September , 1854 , to prefer the safety of a crew to the safety of a ship , and took those steps which involved him in an Admiralty investigation . He was acquitted professionally , and we think public opinion has ratified the finding of the Court . In the chapter devoted to his defence , his style is more manly than in any other . Accused , by implication , of timid a nd selfish conduct , he maintains that , on the contrary , his conduct was generous and bold . He gave up chances of fame , and risked the displeasure of the naval lords , to bring home safely those who liad been put under his command . It is to be remembered that his
duty was , not to explore the north-west passage , but to search for feir John . l « ranklm . When that search became hopeless , it was equally his duty to return ; and as , upon his conscience , he believed all the vessels could not be brought away without a loss of time / which might risk the existence of the crews , he chose a prudent part , and deserves praise instead of suspicion . On the subject of the North-West Passage , however , he has opinions to state . Ihe original intention of Parliament was , to reward any navigator who , by discovering a channel to sea to sea , and proving America to beanisland , shouldopen anewpathto commerce . Pany , completing a portion between the aejito tin discovered , started and established -i& claims : Franklm , Richardson , Dease and Simpson , though they saw the opening , did FrLE > ° " ^ rt Ae recognition ° « "& labours . ' ° John < Ki ? Vt "T maintalr * . y >» . tonfly and friends , did sail down Peel ' s hPhi * r , Tw T d amve . at a 11 <*• discoveries that M'Clure believes to knowi J ^ th ^ % n ™ ' question impossible to determine . Not researcfes " n W 6 nt ' ° P redi <^ extent of his
throu ^ hTNorfh W ^ p" ^^ ? time wh «> trade currents will set l £ " $ ¦ rtb ;^ sfc Passage , and when there will be a safe and easy st et , wiliS ^ ^ t ° l * ** ? S ^ ^ Way havin S been found > the SS ofthTdiffiJL . ^ % f ? Iik « > however , to have a practical solution 2 j ,. *? ™ culty—such a solution as Magellan gave when he arrived in the PhilippiDes , af ter sailing under the coasts « f TW . ™ ' i £ ~ Ved in the
aMao »» ¦ -- •—»<»»«» UV 1 X . VlCgO " xiiis narrative , we nave said , is disfigured by its writer ' s vanity . It is pretentious , and not always grammatical ; but these defects do not deprive it of interest . It contains much new information , and is beautifully illustrated with tinted lithographs . The sketches of Arctic scenery , with its hard brqwn and yellow cliflfs , like the protruding bones of the earth , its sea and s ty ? \ P' ^ Id . blue , its white coasts , its gigantic icebergs , broken fantastically into horns and crags , and the magical aspects of its sun and moon , are singularly vividand faithful . The appendix contains valuable papers , on Arctic fish , by Sir John Richardson ; on foasils , by J . W . Salter ; on the remains of an ichthyosaurus , by Professor Owen ; on the crustacean , l > v Mr . fw u i ? ° ^ t " ^ by Mr . Lovell Reeve , whose attainments m that branch of natural history equal those of any European professor .
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THE HAYMARKET REVIVAL OF THE " BEAUX' WTHATACiEM . " This comedies of Wychkrlily , Congkevh , Vanbruoh , Farquhak , mid their contemporaries , once occupying the very height of popularity , liave far many years ceased to hold a position on the stage , and are almost unknown to the ordinary theatre-goer . The reason for this is not difficult to find , though we think it has been generally missed by the writers on the old school or comedy , who assign , ns the causes of a change so remarkable , the profligacy ot tiro elder writers , and the high intellectual subtlety of their wit , which it is the fashion to suppose is far above the comprehension of these Utocbthough
, properly appreciated by the superior beings of the ilnys of tHAHLitsll . and Queen Annb . Now , we venture to doubt both assertions . As tor as licence is concerned , it would be ' us well to consider that mi W winch not only tolerates , but encourages , translations from the French , where the characters arc perpetually toying with adultery , and gambolling in a soil of masquerade habit on the Orders of illicit passion , cannot be exwssivuly prudish ; and , with respect to subtleties of wit , audiences who can g ive success after succces to the plays of Douglas JicimoLD , despite their uninteresting plots , and merely for the sake of their spurring repartee and intcuectunl matter , must possess some admiration , for that which appeals
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and Mr . Redford ever did meet in the Capitol , at Rome , their dialectics u not such as are here represented . Mr . Ballennie , especially , who is descriS with much malice as a " literary man , " talks like the exponent of a { d * \ panorama . When Laura herself quotes Latin , it is with a firmness of ex nil sion most unconversational . B y all means , therefore , when this writer mil hslies his second romance , let his dialogues he as brief as possible or let h " extend his studies and mend his style . The following , between Laura—wh is an indefinite Liberal—and a Whig peer , is by no means the worst in th volume : — e * ' So you are one of my sou ' s chief constituents , Miss « ay ? I hope vou hw » n fault to find with hia representation in Parliament . " ° " I told Lord Flaxley / ' said Laura , with a , smile , " when he came to canva ™ me , that talking was more in my line than voting . " " Did you talk him into a i ^ roper conception of his duties ? " " I did not attempt it I believe he received his orders from Mr . Sirnkins ami your lordship ; you know , therefore , far better than myself how far thev \ ver /> compatible , and to what extent they have been followed . " " I fear you are not so staunch a Whig as I had hoped " " I am not a Whig at all . "
" Not a Whig ! " exclaimed bis lordahip , with a comical expression of surmise you surely don't mean to eay you are a Tory ?" " No , " said Laura , " nor a Radical either . " " Thank God ! you are not the latter ; but what are you , then ?" "A mere looker-on—quite satisfied with things as they are , or rather as tliev are going to be , and a staunch partisan of honest and capable men . " " Well , but that is exactly what all Whigs profess to be . " " Very well , " replied Laura , "they are happy if they can believe . so much rood ot themselves ; but , surel y , you know that there is a different opinion current respecting your party . " l " pray what is it ?" " That they are an old family faction , who did good service in their day and were well paid for it ; but that now they are devoted to patronage , and not to patriotism . " ¦ '
That ' s the unkindest cut of all , " rejoined his lordship , rising to go . Indeed , in this hit of dialogue , the author exhibits his political tlieory wlneh is , that Toryism has become an impossibility , and Whiggerv an imposture , and that Radicalism means nothing . Since , however , the word Radical has a meaning , which the words Whig and Tory have not , he is wrong . Redford is another effort at political sketching , " lie is the demagogue—that is , the trader . We have heard of men like him : — His manners were sufficiently ill-conditioned and selfish to oxclude him from the society of equals and superiors . Pride forbade a contented association-with inferiors .
The career he naturally espoused was that of the demagogue , who with -ready tongue and specious wit can mislead the mob , by representing its passions , ami by expressing with heartfelt rancour its hatred against all those who * eeiu tu possess the material gratifications it desires . Thus , too , he might settle old scores with the governor and the parsons , by irritating the former , and holding up the frailties of tlie latter to public scorn and ridicule . Yet , clerer as he supposed himself to be m the knowledge of the worst impxxlses of the human heart , he had not justly estunated that of his worthy sire . Old Redford was , it is true , greatly aggravated against ms neBa and uloou , \ v aen first it broke into 6 p 6 n r-uudliipn . The Radical club , the Chartist meetings , the abominable , scurrilous periodicals , tho low political associates , were all so many thorns added to the goad of defiance . His son was of age , and nothing remained to the parent by way of correction , withdrawal of the
save a ways and means : this corrective , promptly applied , and continued during two years , failed not to procure both father and son the giatitication of their direBt enmity . The one was supported in his righteous indignation by his patrons of the Church—the other supported himself by pungent writing in monthly periodicals , and the more independent pleasure of reviling his father . So . the feud might have continued , until "the zealous had reaped the reward of their labours , if the talents and bitterness of the unscrupulous writer had not found an edho in the breasts and the interests of a eection of the community , whose country extends no . further than their own party and their own friends . ITotthat they adopted him iuto the bosom of their clique ; they only accepted tim as a formidable ally . Ho visited at one or two houses of the great , and by bullying he attained a better position than , with all his wheedling , old lledford Jiad won .
LAURA GAY . Laura Gay . A Novel . 2 vole . * Hurat and Blackett . iHE * KT , ^ htlca in * novel - The hero is a member of Parliament ; wiSk'ff a me . * Parliament also ; both are representatives of boroughs , the one being a money-lover , with tlie arts of si demagogue , the £ «^ virt »<> " independent , " too liberal to be a T « V , too honest to be a Whig , too cold to be a Radical . Some of his adventuresln life e ^ ' ?? ed i 'Nitrations of the English electoral system . For instance
^ _ . on returning from a Ronmu tour , he finds himself the chosen of Hyde , sitnplv because he , s hxrown father ' s son . A third personage , Lord Flaxlev heir to an earldom , is added to the list of parliamentary « cfiietew . " . He h introsciencea o ??*? ° * ?"" ?* * "f 0 is fortunat « enough to have the consciencea of a numerous tenantry in her keeping . So far Laura Gau stands verTvivTd Z ^ - ? ^ , ^;^ r * P ° liticftl «^ ches « re not very yivici , nor is the idea , whinii ia n-nnA « , « ,. i ^ ^ V .. « . ... uu . as . _„ i ' !> i
IPfiff-O nf l ? nn . l , '» f ii- 1 ., ' " , b X . v . nw vU , ( v fWi aUIUClUUS KHOWtiv ? h « JSJS IFf 3 hC lfe ' ° r Wlt f *® ci ? M command of detail . Th « narraocc % ionallv ^ fJ ? , e \ "lQI « ifenl y j - ifc , ^ S ^ ed by no extravagance j occasipnally it presents a well-conceived picture . In all parts excent the dmlogues , whict are itiff * ith the starch oV pcdftntry ^ here ^ enoughTeali y wliSl i US tha V m \ & « ie »« thor of . Laura Gay i 8 an fm Sure Sp « bl 1 ca l ) r tllingS fm > W 9 re remlaWe tlma ^ is-obviowSy his courSr £ n ° « J ? ! - , Cal co }? ? S « iere ia , of courae-or , rather , not of K ItSv I- " P hilosop hic *! novel" excludes sentiment-a plot of spm ; needles , IZ « * T' Yi ° ° ° ^ a 8 in ? le incidcnt * but ' pwiloning StttSTSSitI ^ T tlie S , tOiy eXcitC 8 am * SU 8 taina ^ lHwerfu interest ; Ac tSe isT iurcffni ^ i " , f " ^ n ^ tfon-itacK \ trifle-but tha another unlcs ^ mlo , i' V V * " ™^ fts ifc mi 6 « t be by one friend to S ^ tffi * }» S ?" 'S » ^ £ ^ zi ^ $ ^ t vxz : & « £ g $ s ? dd
merit of Laura Gay , and in a first book it is a rare merit , is , that the author shuns fine writing . When he attempts landscape , even in Ituly , hi * colours are soft ; he spreads them gently , they do not blind the reader . \\ hcn he studies the human passions the picture may be confused , but it is not violent . Laura Gay , therefore , is a book of good promise , interesting us a story j and though wanting in fine effects and subtle suggestions , undoubtedly clever .
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 12, 1856, page 44, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2123/page/20/
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