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of the empire , and of which one writes : " The proprietors of the tea houses are licensed to purchase female intants of indigent parents for purposes of infamy . These girls act , during their childhood , as the servants of the full-grown inmates , but arc , at the same time , educated with the utmost care ; they are not only rendered skilful in every accomplishment that can enhance the effect of their personal , charms , but their minds are seduously cultivated and enriched with all the stores of know-ledge that can make their conversation attractive and agreeable . " Surely this refinement in the vices of Mr . Gornwallis ' s children of nature exhibits a sufficiently true view of the state of morals without our
repeating the additional fact of the easy terms upon which the Dutch bachelor or widower , residents at Desima , obtain their female servants . Of course , like another Asmodeus , our author had the power of viewing interiors , going everywhere , and seeing everything . His good fortune taking care that he should not want an illustration of a national institution ; threw Mm in . the way of a personal adventure , which we -confess rather ' si-irprises us , as from all other \ yriter 3 we understand that the performance of the llara-Kiri , or happy 'dispatch , is the pec \ iliar privilege of the highrborn offender , who , by adopting it in anticipation of an imperial sentence , thereby saves the wholesale execution of every member of his
family ,-whether distant or near of kin , the custom of this amiable people , to immolate / for the crime of an individual , and for which purpose the families of governors and princes , appointed to offices distant from . Court , are invariably ¦ . retained in Jeddo .. : Inasmuch as the adventure with the ladies , is given as a proof of innocence , so is this suicide quoted as a proof of the mildness and amiability of the national character , and not alone the above , for the author in support of his theory proceeds , among others , to relate an . anecdote of a Japanese Lucreti-a ,-. wliicli , notwithstanding he tells us he picked them up as ¦" hearsays , " we are bound to say may be -found less diluted" in any compilation of . Japanese life , manners , nad historv .
la a- like " hearsay" spirit the author near the close of the first volume : — - "I shall now proceed to give a somewhat -copious- account illustrative of the ways and means , the character , and the customs of the Empire ; at once historical and . descriptive , and gathered during the time of my visits to its shores , and which I trust will prove itself a pudding not altogether destitute of plums . " In reply to which assumption of imp ' arting fresh information we are provoked to add , that if not ; more accurate , it -would have been , at least , less trouble , had the author taken " plum . ? , pudding , and all , " from almost anv one of , the writers before quoted .
Without seeking to detract unnecessarily from whatever merit there may be in these Journeys ( and we repeat there is much information for those not conversant with the literature already existing in Japan ) , we have felt it our duty to examine with caution a book which , while it is put forth as a truthful narrative of adventures among the Japanese pepple , at the same time bears the impress of being . a'kind ' of hybrid between fact and fiction , only calculated to mislead instead of inform a public whose attention at the present moment is necessarily so
much attracted to that Empire . Apart . from its one-sidedncss , it is a clever and ifiniusing compilation— 'such . a one , indeed , might lnive been made by a ready and imaginative man who , to the advantage of an acquaintanceship with one of the -officers of the American Expedition , from whom ho might glean locale ami adventure , possessed the faculty of culling from existing authorities lively in-• eidents and descriptions of manners and customs which , fikilftilly put together , would , as a whole , make < n readable , life-liko , book .
Rival Jlhyincs , in Honour of Burns \ xoith curious illustrative' Mutter . Collected and edited by Ben Trovuto . lloutlcdgc , Wnraos , and lloutledge , That the Bupur Celebration at the Crystal Palace , rtind its prizo Ode , should stimulate an attempt to rival the celebrated " Jtojectcd Addresses , " . was . a result to bo naturally oxpootoil . That result wo have before us . Is it successful ? Well , wo cannot award to it all the commendation that belonged of right to tho elder volume . The leading fault is , Unit it has npt taken arungosuflluiently extensive . Of living
celebrities wo havo only father Front , a proverbial philosopher , Longfellow " , linrry Cornwall , Tennyson , Lord Mueaulay , and Thackeray . Those aro simplomonted byeortain spirit-lays attributed tot ho ghosts of Thomas Campbell ; Thomas Hood , and AloKimdor i * opo with a supposed unpublished poem by liobort Burns , odes by an admirer-of Milton and un onmgocl Bard , anil a letter by Lord Brougham . Whore aro tlio Brownings , Horaud , Mnrston , Doboll , Arnold , AJoxandor Smith , Mucdonalrt , Francos Brown , and many others , whoso styles would have allbrdod good opportunities for imitation and parody ? Of tlio
imitations that are " Ventured * pei'haps' Mr . Tupper is the best and broadest ; but that , after , all , was a feat of easy achievement . Father Prout is like enough , but it is npt brilliant . Longfellow ' s hexameters are certainly echoed , but not rivalled ; the style is also neat ; but not as imported , being evidently adulterated for the purpose of sale , which the slightest taste of their quality may prove— e . g . "Thou wert the lad for the lasses!—lasses the same arc as misses ; ¦ . . , And here we -have ' misses had pleased you— - Missouri ana tho Mississippi - , And- " jfr « fii « , tow the rushes " beside them—as thy everyrJl * n chorus would have them . " This might have been expected , of course . But what shall we say to the following miserable couplet ?
"Anrl . tHontrh some might objoot to carouse in this State of Massachusetts , ¦\ Vho ilart ! forbid , when Sambo would say , ' Massa ehuses it ! ' " ¦ Barry Cornwall also is but raeagerly represented ; and Tennyson madly and spasmodically . Maeaulay is ,-perhaps , better treated ; but the " fooling , " though " tolerable , " cannot be pronounced " excellent . " The book , hot-withstanding these shortcomings , may serve to excite an occasional smile and amuse a leisure moment with a topic apropos of the time and occa * sion ; but will not , like its prototype , achieve a permanent reputation . A Handbook of the Microscope and Microscopic Objects . By W . L . Notcutt . Edward Lurnley .
This work comprehends " descriptive lists of upwards of 1 , 780 objects , " anil contains " full directions for obtaining , preparing , and viewing them . " Moreover , it is illustrated with " plates , including sixtyone figures . " So much information regarding the book the title-page supplies . Nor does the interior of the volume belie the promise tlms made . Information is given to enable the reader to select the instrument host adapted to his means and objects , without needless expense ; mid to provide himself with the apparatus by which observation may be facilitated . The real uses" of the microscope are also distinguished from the imaginary ones ; in a vrord , we are taught how to use it as a scientific
instrument , rather than as a toy . "What the writer lias evidently" attempted was to give a synopsis of microscopical study ; and this purpose he has adequately accomplished . He compares the microscope with the telescope , and weighs justly the advantages of each . The latter shows us tluvt the world is one of a group ; and that ' there , are galaxies of worlds besides , some of which are altogether undiscernible . The former enables us to to investigate the minute proportions of the infusorv animalcule , that , notwithstanding their smallness , are furnished with exist
nutritive and locomotive organs . They , too , in inconceivable numbers , and are of amazing fecundity ; yet is the balance so finely preserved , that none multiply to the exclusion or extinction of others . To these infinite . myriads , also , food is given in abundance ; and in ail beauty is profusely exhibited , ami most remarkably in their intimate structure . " The most gigantic human intellect is bewildered and lost in the contemplation . " Such are the mnrvcls which the little book bofore us enables us properly to appreciate .
A Jourmilofthe First French-Embassy to China . — 1 G 98 , 17 U 0 . Translated from mi unpublished MS . By Snxo Bannister , M . A . . Newby . Tnu object to be attained by the publication of Jthi-s log of the officers of the French ship Amphitritc , which conveyed the first French Embassy to China , is , to our dull comprehension , as hazy as tho explanation of . the author , who states his aim to bo , •' to show that tho friendly intercourse of tlint remarkable people with the westom world depends essentially on our sincere observance of every measure that ought to bo introduced by both nations in furtherance of humane policy in tho East . "
The Journal which Mr . Bannister heralds to tho world as an important discovery , and which forms his only excuse for this pieco of the voriest book making , is little more than a sea log , wherein is chronicled , day by day , changes of wind and wenthor , " spoken withfl , " and othor marine information , without any fact of importance not to bo " found , in tho almost contemporaneous " Lett res cdifiu > itcs ct curiaumi , ? , " of ono of which , i-mleocl . it might pavss as a Hkelolon . By preserving , however tliis sea diary , by an unmethodical compilation of scraps from tho English missions from Cathcart to Lurtl Elgin , and ox tracts from various well known sources uncut the intercourse between the Chinoso and Europoan . s , which may he found more interestingly arranged in every , homo book upon China , and alHxing a similarly ecconlrie appendix , tho author lias succeeded only in producing a yolumo that few will road anil none recomnionJ .
The Causation and Prevention of Disease .. By John Parkin , M . D . John Churcliill . The author , who was lately Medical Inspector for Cholera , in the West Indies , may be presumed , to be fully acquainted with the subject of his treatise , and " has otherwise fully proved his competency by previous works , andby two reports , one of which . * the Statistical Report of the'Epidemic Cholerain Jamaica , has been published ; His" conclusions are the result of a study of all the phenomena , its relation to cholera from the first outbreak in 1817 to the . present day , " and in all climates and latitudes—in the intertropical regions of the East and the "West-on the burning sands of
Arabia ; and on the snow-covered steppes of Russia , as well as in the'temperate regions of Europe and America . " He has a difference with the Board of Health , into which it is not our purpose to enter . It is sufficient to state that he holds the inriocuousness of animal exhalations . One proof he gives is striking . — - " Though almost every description of mechanic was , at some period or other , admitted last year into the Fever Hospital , I do not recollect a single instance of a butcher being sent to the establishment . " We must leave the writer in the hands of Dr . Southwopd Smith . This argument , however , is'maintained with great learning , and merits serious attention .
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MISCELLANIES . Parliamentary Reform ; an Essay , by Walter Bagehot . Chapman and Hall . Tins is a reprint , with considerable additions , from the National Review , in which a laudable attempt is made at an impartial criticism of the existing electoral system , and some indication of the mode in which it should be amended . Some , of the authbrTs notions are confessedly , paradoxical . For instance , he states that " the evident un . tenableness of Mr . Bright ' s views gives them a claim on our attention . " We find in him , therefore , what might be expected , a subtle reasoner . ' * . Her Sister , —Shall I Marry Her ?'
Groombridge and Sons . Wi 3 must now expect a shoal of pamphlets on this subject . The pamphleteer ' s answer to the question proposed is in the negative . To answer otherwise , he thinks , would bo to consent to " a retrograde step , the unlimited depth of which it is impossible to forsee or fathom . " : Macintosh ' s Si / stem , of'" National Defence" " New Strategies' in Witrfitre . " W . U / owes and Son . Mccii of tliis work consists of official correspondence with the British Government , and we doubt not that it will receive due attention in the proper quarters . Every Child ' s History of France . By Edward Farr . Dean and Son . Tins little work is a meritorious adaptation for the junior classes , from Miss Corner ' s History of France ,-and will prove useful .
Moore ' s Melodies , with Symphonies and Accompaniments for the Pianoforte . Longmans . Nos . 6 and 7 are now published , containing twentyfour pieces , and maintain the claims to public preference of this copyright edition , I . On the Progress of Society in England as affected by the Advancement of National Education . Bv J . I ) . Morell , M . A . 2 . The Difficulties of the Education Question . By the Jlcv . Canon Kichson , M . A . Edinburgh : Thomas Constable and Co . Tuksu are two papers read before the IJnited Association of Schoolmasters in Grgat Britain . Both are excellent ; and by men who aro thoroughly , conversant with tho subject :, and tho practical implication of the principles that they rooommoml . A Comprehensive History of India .
IJlaokio and Son . Nos . 11 , 12 , 1 , 3 , and 14 are now published , and carry the narrative down to 1737 , during thp administration of dive , and in the midst of his troaty witli Surajab Dowlah , tho nabob of Bengal . Tlio parts arc illustrated with engravings reprosoiiting Vasco do Oiunn and the Zamorin of Calliout , and tho meeting botweon Lord Clivo and Moor JaHior , after tho batt , lo of l'lassey ; and also with several nnu'y iunl woodcuts , representing natives and costumes .
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Tun JJuitish MuflKUM . —Tho Quoon has been pleased to exereiso lior right to awwlnt o"o lioyal trustee for tho British Musouiu In favour of the Itov . William Curoton , Canon otMVoBtimiwtop and Kector of St . Margaret ' s . Wo buliuvo that up Koyal trustee for that institution has buon appointed since the death of tlio lute Dwlco of guinbrUlgo , and tho appointment in tho present instuneo will be hailed with flntisfUction by tho literary world as a recognition by her Mnjesty of tho eminent services which Mr Curoton has rendered to tho siucnuo of Ulblical criticism , and wjilch havo suourodl ' or him an Eurbi ) c > au reputation .
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that of No . 470 ; Maech 26 ; 1859-1 THE LEADER . 399
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 26, 1859, page 399, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2287/page/15/
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