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Returning to the subject of Captain Drayson ' s sylvan adventures , we vainly seek to identify with them those glowing pictures of Arcadian simplicity and . freedom * from all the cares and anxieties of daily life depicted by an early traveller and great sportsman in his rambles at the Cape .- We allude to-lie Vaillant , on the veracity of vrhose travels great doubt has been thrown recently . A contemporary author scruples not to affirm that the French narrative is a myth merely , and his book , of course , as completely a work of fiction as the adventures of Crusoe and of Peter Wukins . We do not purpose entering here into a critical examination of the controversy . Lichtenstein , who travelled extensively over the same ground , boldly asserts that the man who wrote Le Vaillant ' s account of the habits , and especially the mode of locomotion attributed to the giraffe , could never in his life have seen the animal . Other explorers , competent to express an opinion , declare the character of Narina , the savage nymph , to be a pure impossibility in savage life . Captain Drayrson does not offer an opinion on the subject . He however __ tells us that no similar adventure occurred to him whilst sojourning in Kaffirland . He saw , indeed , one celebrated beauty , "highly dressed , in the ¦ extreme of fashion , not in crinoline or embroidery , but in beads and brass . Round her head she had a broad band of light blue and white beads ; « pendant string of the latter hung in a graceful curve over her eyelids , giving them the sleepy , indolent look assumed by so many of our own fair sex . Round her neck in numbers strings of beads were negligently hung . On her wrists she wore bracelets made of beads and brass , whilst a fringe of monkey ' s hair encircled her ancles . To these adornments the most affable And agreeable manners were added , quite divested of that hauteur and assumption so often practised by acknowledged belles . She had a most . graceful way of taking snuff ; and stuck through her ears were two long animosa thorns for the purpose of combing her woolly locks . Such was Peshauna . I think all must agree in placing her on record as a most charming and divine nymph ! " On another occasion he describes a young Kaffir . girl coming each evening to his tent with a bowl of milk and some corn , and nutting them down quietly beside him she looked with her wild black eyes into his face , murmuring musically , " Ar ho inkosi" ( Yours , chief ) . Neither of these damsels , however , realize the Frenchman ' s portraiture of Narina . To the general reader , as well as to the enthusiastic and far-wandering sportsman , this will prove a very agreeable volume . Its passages of narrative -and very sensible remarks and suggestions on a subject of present importance—the dress and equipment of our armies—are especially recommended « to the attention of the Horse Guards authorities .
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BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN JACOB . Th » Views and Opinions of Brigadier-General John Jacob , C . B . Collected and Edited by Captain Lewis Pelly , Author of ' Our North-West Frontier . ' Second Edition . Smith , Elder , and Co . -Gbnebai , Jacob's ' Views and Opinions' have been arranged by Captain JPelly under five heads : —Civil Administration , Military Matters , the North-West Frontier , the Persian War , and the Present Condition of India . In a well -written andjudiciously-argued preface , Captain Pelly remarks : "I am . convinced that no unprejudiced person , accurately acquainted with the history of our native army , can read these military papers , or become familiar with ¦ the practice in which they result , without perceiving that the principles advocated are in exact conformity with whatever has been or still may be worthy in the constitution of that army . I believe there is scarcely a commanding officer or an adjutant of a regiment who would not at once ac-Jknowledge that the details in which he has found himself hampered are * hose pointed out in these papers . " Captain Pelly adopts the view , which is that , we imagine , of every practical reasoner on the subject , that a reorganized native army must be established in India ; and shows how General 5 acob , at the hazard of his commission , standing long alone in the face of -obloquy and opposition , has consistently exposed the vices of the old military system in India , predicted its failure , and created a model for the tise of reformers in his own splendid regiments of Scinde irregular horse . "Two of these regiments have been formed from materials drawn from the very heart of the revolted districts , and their loyalty and efficiency are celebrated throughout India . A third regiment is now about to be mounted . Jacob ' s battalions , it was originally feared , depended altogether upon his personal qualities , but a regiment sent on foreign service under a young lieutenant , was handled as effectually as if it had remained in Scinde . Captain Pelly has done good service in arranging and editing these . admirable and practical memoirs , which may be consulted with facility by the aid of a copious index .
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? THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION . FnoM nine till dusk , and again ( by a new and very commendable arrangement ) from seven till ten o ' clock in the evening , there may be seen , at the Portland Galleuy , in Regent-street , five hundred and seventy-six pictures , oi wuicu we proposo to take notice of precisely eleven . . , There is no getting over the fact that Mr . It . S . Laudkb ' s great scriptural composition , ' Christ Betrayed' ( 884 ) , is the most noticeable of those eleven pictures , exhibited by an institution which is distinctly national . Mr . i < - o-Laudeu can paint very skilfully and . effectively , and he has tied himself uciwu to subjects generally associated with the second Italian period of art . Alulu " recals that period in hia treatment and method of colour , would be too niuen w say . To do Mr . Lauper justice , ho is a rather original artist . J 3 ut tiioufeii , among moderns , he has a stylo of his own , it is evidently founded on u stuuy oj tho Florentine school ; and whatever characteristics may have boon su " ™"" £ : are not by any means national characteristics . In tho picture ol onn »« j Betrayed' lie has repeated all tho types used by Lkonakpo » a Vinci ™" others , even to tho attitudos and positions of the heads . Take those , osneci y » of the chief figure and of tho disciple John , whoso face is in profile . 1 no acii » painting of all the faces , though blurry and blunt in outline , ia vigorous 5 i u the same may bo eaid of the hands , in which there is an expression noi oiuu to be found except in pictures of the highest quality . Mr . Jamus Koktojiw Laudkr , whose mannerism ie ns great and pi mo » ' » ltind as that ofMr . I * . S . Laduish , docs not redeem it by any pra sowort uy duction ,, consisting of one figure , apparently painted from a bcotc doit J truet not from a Scotch or EngliBh reality . Encouragement is given » «' that tho features exist only in tho mind of tho painter ; for tho lily-Uiu 1 u uon by tho damsel apd even tho volume eho holds before her oyoe arc equally u » w * anything in nature or bookbinding . ... , in ? i ,, nambv-Mr . Shalu » hi . d ' s pictures will bo agreeably contrasted with the na " ^ pambyiom by which they are aurroundod 011 spine of tho screens . Aitoni Service in Summer Time' ( 205 ) ie , perhaps , tho olovorcet piuturo in tno g
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PUBLICATIONS AND BEPUBLICATIONS . Mb : Bentuby sends us the first volume of M . Guizot'e Memoirs to Illustrate dhe History of my own Time , 30 long announced and so eagerly expected . The ohaptere of the present volume range from the year 1807 to 1830 , from the statesman s first introduction into political and intellectual society in 1607 to within a few days of the revolution of July . It will easily be imagined liow full of personal and political interest are the reminiscences of so conspicuous an actor on a crowded , illustrious , and agitated scene . M . Guizot's opening sentence , in which he gives his reasons for publishing his Memoirs while he is still here to answer for' what he writes , are deeply impressive for the sustained and mournful dignity of their tone . How dramatic and suggestive is the concluding paragraph of the volume !•— " A few days ~ ~ 1 fceTofe ~ tn " e ^ deW ^ king . He found him seated before his desk , with his eyes fixed on the Charter , opened at Article 14 . Charles X . read and re-read that article , seeking with honest inquietude tho interpretation he wanted to find there . In « uoh cases wo always discover what we are in search of ; and the king ' s conversation , although indirect and uncertain , left little doubt on the ambassador ' s mind as to the measures in preparation . " Wo Bhall give a faithful account of the intervening pages next week . The ' historic documents ' annexed contribute in no slight degree to the value of tho Memoirs . Mr .
J . W . Cole's translation seems , at a first glance , to be at once spirited mi careful , unembarrassed and correct . a Dr . Noble has recast and expanded ' a chapter in his work on the 'El ments of Psychological Medicine , ' which we had an opportunity of commend " ing tq our readers about three years ago . Under the title of The Hum Mind in its Relations with the Brain and Nervous System ( Churchill ) the debatable ground between psychology and physiology is boldly and thounhk full loredWe shall probably return to these
y exp . pages . The prevailing fashion among Quarterly essayists of republishing their occasional prose in a collective and permanent shape threatens to be somewhat in excess . Mr . Hay ward ' s Biographical and Critical Essays ( LongI mans ) , reprinted from the Edinburgh and the Quarterly , are perhaps excepl tional in interest and character , from the choice of subjects and the opportunities which the writer has enjoyed , and unsparingly used , of personal illus ^ trations . We shall dip deeper into Mr . Hay ward's volumes .
The second and third volumes of Mr . Motley ' s Rise of the Dutch Republic complete the new and cheap edition ( Routledge ) of this excellent work , which is sure to be welcomed by an ^ extending circle of readers . A serviceable index is annexed to the concluding volume . Messrs . Smith and Elder have added to their cheap series of standard copyright works , Wuthering Heights , by Ellis Bell , and Agnes Grey , by Acton Bell , with a Preface and Memoir of both authors by Currer Bell . These two tales , the one so weird and terrible , the other so dark and melanchol y , are more than ever interesting to read now that we have the mystery of their authorship , not only half unveiled by the sister ' s preface , but fully rel
vealed by Mrs . Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte . ' The publishers whose names are so honourably associated with a most strange and striking episode in literary history , may well feel a sad but honest pride in contributing these stories to the present series . We are glad to find Wilkie Collins ' s After Bark the next on the file for publication in this convenient form . The stories grouped together under that title with all the writer ' s inimitable constructive skill and delightful ingenuity , are , as many of our readers remember , of a most varied texture ; in each and all the interest is breathlessly sustained , and the tone unvaryingly generous and healthy , as the style is rich and pure . ¦
In the way of novels , we have receive ¦ . "' : *> Nelherujods of Otterpool ( 3 vols . ) from Mr . Bentley ; and Billets and Hicouacs ; or , Military Adventures , from Mr . Routledge , whom we have to thank also ( in behalf of our readers ) for a shilling edition of The Common Objects of the Country , by the Rev . J . G . Wood , a charming little book in spirit and in treatment , a pleasant friend for the fireside , and a desirable companion in a country walk . The volume entitled labour and Triumph , noticed last week , is published by Messrs . Griffin and Co ., not Messrs . " Griffith and Co . " The title of a popular work , or a work intended to become popular , need not be such as to bear the offensive construction of being specially adapted to mean capacities , whether of purse or intellect . Bandy Helps to Useful Knowledge ( W . H . An « el > is a title which unfortunately docs bear
something very closely trenching upon that construction ; at all events it is obviously meant to catch the vulgar . This is a pity , because the work is in itself good . Four articles , each published at the price of one penny , are here collected under a neat wrapper . The conductors propose to take up interesting topics as they arise , and , by entrusting them to competent writers , to make the work as permanently useful as it will have been seasonable in detail . The subjects already treated are The Eclipse , ' the ' Three Napoleons , ' ' Sir Colin Campbell , 'and the'Races of India . ' The space given to each is hardly enough to sustain the purpose of utility ; but in till the articles we perceive a conscientious effort to give the fullest information , in a really compact and workmanlike manner . We are only afraid , Jroin our knowledge of poor and rich readers , that the ntimo will keep tins work from bookshelves where its presence would be an acquisition .
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330 THE LEADER . [ No . Al ^ AnxL 3 , 1858 .
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Leader (1850-1860), April 3, 1858, page 330, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2237/page/18/
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