GENERAL LITERARY REVIEW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 308, 7 November 1864, Page 6

GENERAL LITERARY REVIEW.

(WRITTEN I'Olt Till; NF.W ZEALAND II kit A 1.1) ) June, ISfil. Anthony Trollope's " Fmall House at. .Alliiigton" has been repihlislied from the " Cornliill." The author excels in describing, with Kiitire that is all the mere effective bccanse it is miltl and genial, fashionable follies a"lid all the Forts of wrong doing that the fashionable world has learned to consider pardonable and even proper. He exeells also in the writing of love stories nbo.se interest lies rather in the delineation ot character, alul its unfolding in every day talk, llmli in the rapid succession oflclling iiichl'eMs : both chnractrristics are well brought in tin's work. He desires to pri-ach a sermon—very nceessary liow-a-duvs—on the evil done by giddy, thoughtless and seliisb men in tampering with the affcclie-ns of the attractive women who come in their way ; and he pteaches it very eloquently and wisely. The hollowncss of that part of fashionable life who claims to be great through a constant succession of littleness) s. is well illustrated in the town and country festivities practised bv the DcCourcy family. No less vigorous and iellit'g aie the sketches of clerk-life in (lie <irislociatio ard uiiaristociatie Goiernment efl'ccs in Lendon : there is equal tiuth and force in the account of boardinghouse life. On the whole, the book is one verv pleasant to read, very protitable to think over. Miss Braddon's " Jln/rt/ Jhm/.rr, (lie store of an Outcast" is<—as may be supposed—of a different character. "Without much power of enreftil!v delineating a character, she produces considerable effect by broad bold dashes and descriptions. Iler stv le of writing ardently suits seme tastes,- as may be ii femd by the extensile demand tor this work ;of the circumstance that it is published simultai;eously in several foreign languages, that Taut linitz issues it iii liis English seiies. lint the woik is not sat-isfa'elorv. the (Miss Braddon) assures the reader" that there is not a wicked action ill any part of it, but it is, first or last, rendered unhappy rr unfortunate : there is not a superlative villain brought upon the stairc, but he is brought to an unhappy end, or bronchi to boa penitent; there is not an'ill thing nicnl ioncd but it is ccr.dimiud cvin in Ibc rclalicti : not a virtuous, just thing, lut it tarries its praise along with it." £-he requests that her book may be judged by this standard, tie it so. This is certainlv satisfactory e'vidi nre of a change of vk w. if r.ot of 1 proeedlire, in the most sum sslul wriler in Ibc A/u.\atii.ua/style. Tt is now admitted that vice oiifjlit not to be guilded.—that crime should not go unpunished. But what of the " superlative villain " tit the tale ? — the forger, the escaped convict, Vindictively nursing revenge for live and thirty years, murdering his um suspecting victim in celd blood, appropriating his property and position, deceiving his victim's daughter aiul his own too what of him? He eludes the hand of justice, he retires into piivate luxurious life and this is part of his foliloquy on tlie murdered man "What was he that ] should" be sorrv for him? .Am 1 sorry for him? No! lam sorry for myself, and for the torture which 1 have created for myself." He was sorry lie had to suiter the lcinorscfufpantrs of conscience That's nil. "We repeal, that judged by its own moral standard, the work is far from satisfactory, moreover Ihc composition is careless, and the plot most unlikely. "We may add that an indignant reader of tlie hemeum writes to fav that tliis < ~\ve>rk is only the ' revised edition ' of what appeared seme time ago under the title of "1 he Outcast."

"Omitted Chapters of the History of England, from the death of Charles 1. to the Rattle bar," is the title of a clever work writh nby Mr. Andrew Bisset. He fiivf in his preface 1 hat Tor n good many years he has been making a study of (hi l records of English History during 1 lie JVtli cei.tuiv and that he has found a vast number of manuscripts in the Stale Paper Ollire, which have never been ransacked by historians. Making use of these he projected n continuous liistorv of England, trout the death of Charles I j', t 1048-9 to the restoration in IG€O. This volume, extending from the death of Charles to the battle of Dunbar, is offered as an instalment of that work, hut is complete in itself. The work is not to be regnided las a regular and independent hiMory so much'us an appendix to other histories, commenting forcibly, independently, sometimes harshly and dogmatically, on the events of the period. The author is thoroughly acquainted with his .subject; writes well, sometimes eloquently, and will not want for approving readers of English history. " Mr. G. P. Marsh, an American, has written an interesting work en " Man and Katun;; or Physical Geography as modified by Unman Action." The objoct of the present volume, he says, is— "to indicate the character, and, approximately, the oxter,t of the changes produced by human action in the physical condition of the globe wu inhabit , to point out the dangers of imprudence ami the necessity of caution in all operations which 011 a large scale, interfere with the spontaneous arrangements of (he organic or the inorganic world ; to suggest the possibility and importance of the restoration of disturbed harmonies, and the material improvement of waste and exhausted regions; and incidentally to illustrate the doctrine, that man is both in kind'and degree a power of higher order than any of the other forms'of animated life." Mr. Marsh has arranged his subject under lhe following general heads :—"The Transfer Modification and Extirpation of Vegetable and Animal Species "The Woods;" " The 'Waters •" "The Sands." '

Akin to this is a work by Sir W. Logan, 011 " The Geological Surrey of Canada-. Report" of Progress from itß commencement to 1.50: i." Extcmlin" over nearly 1000 pages, the work gives a sketch of the physical geography of the province and of the different geological formations, with their minerals and fossils. There are 500 woodcuts, chiefly of fossils. We learn from the book that the Petroleum, now «o important an article of export, and so suddenly brought into use, is not derived from coal mca-ures but from limestone beds far below the coal ; and that the oil .is really of animal origin, though marine plants may have partly contributed their share of curbon. " Organic bodies," says Sir Win. Lean " which have left no solid skeleton, must have "furnished by far the greater part of the petroleum of these Pahcozoic- limestones."

" Just out" and heartily welcome is the new volume of poems from the long-silent Mr. Robert Browning issued with the singular title " Dramatis l'er.sonte}'' These arc of different characters—some sombre some amusing, all suggestive. On " Apparent Failure" he thus writes: —

" It's wiser being good than bad ; It's safer being meek than liercc ; It's fitter being sane than mad. My own hope is, a sun will pierce I lie thickest cloud earth ever slretchcd, That,.after dust, returns the First, Though a wide compass round be fetched ; That whufc began best, can't end worst, ' Nor what God blest once, prove accurst." ® le Poetical Works of the into \V. M. Tract! M.larci to be published in a collected form in ) Wl ! volumes in tho beginning of July, with considerable additions from unpublished manuscripts. T7 l r e i ß n T ' l) i'', :l ' >a , vic J SOn ' o,le ? l thu ftw first-rate English Oriental scliolais, has undertaken the translation into English of Hurst's Hebrew and Chaldeo Dictionary of the Old Testament. It will be made from the second German edition published lust year,

and "will include Bomo considerable additions -which Or. lias undertaken to nmko to tin* work. It will bo issvert from the Tanchnitzpress, in pints, sixteen of which uro espedrd to complete tlic work. ITr. Tiluvrnv'p Guido Books will foon receive an ndilition. culled " ;ki in psack Guide to Fpinrc." Sir. AYilkie Collins' tnlo \vill be commenced in fVjoiAi'//, tally in autumn. A new storv by the author of " Cousin 1'hilliB" will also be commenced in tlie August number of the same magazine. The slfmtvtlra Magazine has been started to dis- ' ctiss <|ueslions in social science which particular] v eoneern the female part. of the community, such as the opening of new channels* of employtnent, itc. Lighter matter is also introduced. 111-. .Nitnmo has just, published the first of ti netv series of instriictive books, entitled " Handy Outlines bf Useful Knowledge." '1 lie subject; ik the jkarlb's CriTst, tlie author 31 r. David Vage. It is likely to prove a very useful series. As also another to lbI!ow ii, culled the "Handy Library," in which the dill'erent subjects will receive more extended treatment. The " Temple Anecdote/' are after the plan of the " l'erey Anecdotes" of tlie past generation, and will appear in (3d. monthly parts. 'J he first, part, on " ]nvciition and Discovery," is now ready, containing a great variety ol amusing and interesting facts. A more decidedly witty volume lias just conic from (lie hand of Mr. "Murk Lemon, the editor of lunch, who, ina ".Test .13ook," Ims culled nil the choicest anecdotes and siiyings from (lie bye-gone repositories of bun mot.--. The Publishers' Circular gives in interesting account of tlie circulation of niagaxines and newspapers, with extracts from statistics which have been carcfullv compiled fort ho parliamentary use of Air. Baihes, in reference to Die IKeform Bill he recently introduced into the Ifouse of Commons. Pound numbers arc given. It appears that the aggregate issue of daily newspapers, in London alone, is nearly a quarter of a million. making annually the enormous number of 77,500,000 copies. The "weekly newspapers, including the illnstiated, half a million; Ihe sporting, a quarter of a million; tlie religious, LS'J,OOO; those devoted to general and special topics reach millions. In tlie whole circulation of newspapers and class journals in Pngland, Scotland, and Ireland was about millions. In 18G0 the total issue in London alone amounted to nearly lit) millions; while the recent investigation giu\s ]!!"» millions, or an incrense of Jnore than /"t! millions in less than lour y ears ; This enlc\ilati< n excludes about -t(K) countiy newspapers with an average circulation ol 800 each. Among weekly publications (not newspapers), those of a general charactir contain tales, gossip, a take the lmd with a circulation ol' upwards (it a million. 'J lie leligious !'• radicals come next with »n ngglegat e issue of m aily half n million. Immoial publications arc in a fair "way to become extinct, and set ptical magazines aie mere moderate in tone and have a mem limited circulation tluin ionncrlv. "Withicgani to the monthlies, religious litciatui'e far outstrips all others, reaching' nearly 2 millions. Titnpemnce is n presented l»y ?iKi,(iuo. The higher piietd and higher-class magazines, 'such as Phickwood, Kraser, Cornhill, Ac., o-l in allhaveon aggregate circulation of lU>ides all these hawkers sell tin out h the country about o(>3,l'Uo copies ot stand aid woiks iii numbers and parts, such as Gazeteers, 11 iM oi ies, C'yclo] adias. Pihles, Ac., the extension ot ulucatun and general knowledge is thus strikingly reprt sent* d. 'J lie iitst pages of the Xorth lit \it >r are devoted to a loving sV.etch of Lord Klgin. It is just smb a paper as would fairly conMitule tlie hwt chapter of h,s biography. Alter seme introductory u murks the writer nannies the last progress nortbwi>nl, quotes a speech delivered at Heiiarep, gives his addie.*s to the primes and chiefs in Durbar at Agrn, letcrs to his visit to Delhi, and gives in full his adou.-s to C olonel 1 lurand—" the last public expression of bis good-will to the Indian" races." At Hmhi fatal symptoms were brst discovered. "On the (>lli>ovi mbcr. Dr. cameto the coneHision that the illne.-swjis mortal. 'J Jiis.infelligcncewJiichheeomiiiuniciited at once to I onl ] 4 .! gin, was ivceiveil with a calmness and i oil nude "which never dctcrttdhim tbrougli all the scenes which followed, lie felt it hard, hard to believe that his life was condemned, but then.* wa> r.n Uokirg backward. "It is well," lie said " (hat ] shouhl die in harness.'* T 1 he few davs' and nights ot the fortnight which followed were a paininl alternation oi scveie sutlering. antl rare intervals of comparative tranquility. 3-: very care bad been taken tor the public interests, and ior the interests ot those t-till more" dear to him. 41 It is a comfort," lie uhi>per<d, "to have bii/1 asido all Die cares ol this world, and put myself ill tlie hands of God." lie was able to listen at intervals to favourite passages in the New Testament. Quotations from the Psalms comforted him. " Uis*leuth was on the L'Ofh .November, and on the '21st he was privatelv buried at his own request on the spot selected" beforehand, on the heights of DhurouMda. I lis cliaiauter is thus reviewed lie was thought ot as a man of excellent fense and tact. Jlc kept steadily before ) him those principles ot truth, ami justice, and benovolence, to maintain which was bis sullieicnt reward for months and vears of long and puti< nt waiting, for storms of obbH[Uy and misunderstanding, lie was cautious to excess when be had time to deliberate, yet Ids decision could be as prompt as a soldier's when the occasion demanded it, and if he was satisfied of the correctness oi his cause, he would accept the lull responsibility ot it m spite of all opposition. Jle possessed in an eminent ilegrce the rare quality of a strong overruling sense oi the justico tine from man jo man, of nation to nation ; the sense of responsibility for the elasso confided to bis charge, especially of those who were comparatively fritmiless; an expression of his seme of the justice itiHl love of God for all his creatures. -His last home was worthv of the spirit, that there passed away— 11 'J he Half of .Justice, the JMace of

" A I'orlnicht in I'nroo" is u very racy nnrl'liti\o ol adventures from J,ondoii to tin' inlands and back. J'owiing aiul fishing, gunnel catching ami whale hunting, naturalists and snej-crs, and whatever is to be seen and enjoyed in a fort Id'e in Knrne comes lit i'or gleeful notice. 'J lie next paper, " On .li.nerjjy," pulls you up after its predecessor, and makes \ou think. A briel sketch is given of the laws of energy and the history of their discovery. I llust 1 ulions are derived from gunpowder, water in a reservoir, the driving weight of a clock. hi an air gun we have a store of energy hiiil up in the form oi compressed »ir; in a cross-bow, a woundnp watch, or the cock ol a cocked gun, in the press of a bent spring; in u ■charged hoyden jar, in the form of a distribution of jelectricit\ in a voltaic battery—in the airangement of chemical elements or compounds—in ;i labourer primed lor work-in the form of a proper supply of looil. 11l V' where the energy is dormant, it is tailed Juteiitiiil ; ;ind its amount is measured bv the work which ii is capable of doing, ;md which it will do i| properly applied. The conservation, of the transformation, and the dissipation of energy are then discussed. The reviewer of » Mr. TrollopJ's -Novels gives it as his opinion that*" The Jsovclist" par cxn'Urncr, id' the moment, is assuredly Mr. Troltope. His works can by no means be placed in tin: highest lank ; but, within their own range, nothin ,r better ever came from an English novelist. 11l our view, ltis no drawback to their merit that they are the hooksof a man whoso peculiar temperament it scarcely that ot the literary artist. The wit and liveliness ol his story and dialogue, and the simp licit y ease, ami vigour of hid style—an admirable .style— are umjest,onal.ly the graces of a master of his craft be whole tone and habit of mind implied in these novels is that ol a man of aetivitv and business, ivither than ot a man of letters. Ilia books are the icsult oi (ho experience of life', not of tbo studious licit wl 1 °/ ,t i lhon; i:i 1,0 ol,Mjr novelist f Vm I ' o " , r , ' bei i w!lo ' l:ts £l;izwl «• K'lceessfully the tiue character of thu pettv intrigues of ■inThm, 1 i", I ' C " d "' ol ' hou,iuh '"M discomforts d dv i T I' I ™*'"™. of small malignities and na M,v ]l,s of human - ' l ti o r 1 ' 10n(; ill '° morc humorous nWme ' T r ° fu " 0f clleerl «l frank good hv ' .!• !' ,ore .tliprotigl.y redeemed from insipidity iLZ ,CU i nt . mU ' 3 ' OU oftl, ° S,llt ofsarcaa,,, thai (l!'» nT" books that first mude his iUme. "The War- < U1 ol liarchaster lowers," " hay Dreams of a Schoolmaster, ; by iy Arcy W. Thomson," is on the w , fa\ ourably reviewed. " What is the purpose m m. g ' TC ' S I <:o " s,stc " c r <-0 this medlev of personal mcmoues and experience, of humour and sentiment, ot ingenious philolgical speculation, and literarv t itiLism, which comes before us under the title " ha'v hWoil" 1S 1° The object may be bi oily described as the elevation of his own profesfj - ' to< - ms long to have felt that there is some t ing radically wrong in all our elementary teaching that it is a dreamy monotonous routine, wearisome and unprovable alike to teacher and taught, lie desires that he elementary teuehingofthe ancient lumuiat'es mn'L "i 1 ! a eli -" etl and intellectual exercise to the mastei and to their acquisition a natural nncl delightful process to the latter." The article on " Christian j

Mission "is •worth redding. The writer remark's that Xa viers official Ictlcrs wero not so much meant to tell the exact truth as to 'edify believers.' Nor lias Xavier been the only offender in this way. How many letters are to be found in the records ot all the churches, of th.s highly edifying kind, prepared for that, purpose by the writers, and still further eooked perhaps by secretaries and committees at home. Ono wants to see what is actually doing; but that is scarcely the object of mis sioiiary reports —or if it bo, tho good men manage somehow to darken counsel by a multitude of good words. Yet we ilonot blumothc missionaries, nor even the home committees, secretaries, and editors altogether. The worst of the evil lies in the traditionary idea lhat edification, rather than information, should be the aitri of these reports. Nor will the inquirer find jiis path much clearer, jl.fr tufhs to the more formal histories of missions. From an introductory glance at missionary literature, the writer takes a survey of the whole course of Christian missions. Hi! begins with the ago,of tho apostles, " intensely missionary," succeeded by an age which was " rather theological." Mediioval missions, and the Roman Catholic missions to India, China, and South America, then pass under review. "The poor Moravians of Herru hut led the way in llie great enterprise of Protestant missions. They were followed by Francke, who from the Orphan House at Italic, sent forth the earliest missionaries to India. Ere long, also, Carey managed to persuade Andrew l'ullerto take up his scheme. The work, however, went on but feebly till it was taken up by I he English Evangelical parly ; towards the close of the last century." The remainder of Ihe article is confined to the two great missionary enterprises; (hat to the broken nations and fragmentary superstitions of Oceania, and that lb the elaborate heathenisms of India. One or two suggestions are given at the close : —"H would appear t bat in.order to the successful prosecution of missions, it is not money so much us men Hint we need—men of the heroic type, with a warm enthusiasm, or a wise enthusiasm." Also, thai uliile the individual missionary is, at the commencement of prime importance, yet ere long, the Christian community must become itself the instrument for disseminating th c Gospel." Cornhill opens with the remainder of Thackeray's Irugment "Denis Duval." llie editor appends a long hole, iii which he embodies the memoranda which t luiekeray had made, and from which be would most likely have worked out the storv. From these it would seem that he was very careful in collecting his materials so as to keep somewhat near the truth, searching through At.mm! Metjixttrs mill (InitltiiKni .i Maynzinrs for historical and biographical notes. •" Tl.e I\cd Hiirt in Calabria" is a very dashing description ol tlie doings and dangers of the advanced expedition from Sicily to Calabria, before Garibaldi landed. 'ilie scenery of thc country, thc fatiguing marches, thc preeipiti us districts, the petty jealousies ol some, tl e unfaltering enthusiasm of all, the welcome reuption' of (he people, the dangers I'm in Ibc royalists, the ultimate arrival of Garibaldi. nr .°. , n '' w - i 11 described. " 'the .Story of a Spoilt Lite" is a brief, readable biography of L'ehnes, the sculptor. " 1 Vimes was unquestionably endowed willi tali nt, but his great and deplorable error was that he left it in the rough, as nature had given it — and yet in this state lot keel lo it to give him everything; and moreover, that in his case, it would reverse the righteous judgment which the world passes on abuse of opportunities." It seems, too, lhat be frequently offended his patrons through sheer thoughtlessness, which occasioned him innumerable uiortific»tious._ " How we mounted the Oldenhorn," is a racy description of the adventures of two ladies and three geiilhiiien, fresh even after the many narratives of Alpine adventure that have appeared. "Margaret Diu/il's History" runs 011 with chapter, beaded My New Home, My Mother, the Pedlar, and My Baby. "Devon Lanes and (heir Associations" tells the world something about their far-famed beauty, says I hey are fairest in adltirnn, and gives a peep info a little of the cottage life beside them. J lie Church as a Profession ' seems to be written to arrest the unpopularity of "orders" among young men, and lo induce them to put an end to thc complaints of the falling < If of the influence and abilitv ol the clergy." '1 he paper gives an outline of the clergyman's duties, and the character and talents rcquin d for the performance of tlicin ; it then passes on lo consider the prospects which the piofession holds emt.—t cmj ai ing it with other professionsshowing that liteiaiy or scholastic engagements mnv be appended—und coming to the conclusion that " (he church is a very good profession tor a rich man. and iiot a very bad 011 c for the toil of one who is extremely anxious to be considered a gentleman; foran ambitious, able, intellectual man, who is also poor, 110 profession can well be worse." (To he n.nltinird.J