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Q4ei TMlEABIRr {W. &84, SiSftftftllir,
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ADDENDA. A choice fragment of diplomatic...
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. Louis Fourteenth and...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Horace Greeley. The Life Of Horace Greel...
friends " than enemies , as is shown by the success of his paper , now one of friends tnan enemies » »» United States . From so small a beginning—one asffgssjsatfefeur . 3 swssi > 5 » S ^ S ^^ i ^ S ^ SS ^ S iSLSi Hattereatne P R f , <» doctrine' The " Know-Nothing' movement , for some rather unpalatab ^ do ^ rine ihe . ^ hout » Umon , finds STSSnr S * MrEley ! When warned tSat he wUl suffer from opposln- thalpowerful party / he says he is quite willing to do so . Whate ? e ? may happen he does not intend to flinch . . " If any one says the ^ thSed ^ merican editor " would prefer to discontinue the Irrtune :
bes , SuTirs and must r ^ mam ' opposed to every measure or scheme of pro-Sription for opinion ' s sake , we beg them not to delay one minute on our account . We shall all live till it is our turn to die , whether we earn a living by making a newspaper or anything else . '' A man who can speak to the public in that tone must have a pretty wide p latform , or he would soonbe Sut down . But Horace Greeley has fought his way to the proud position which he now occupies , and the skill and courage he has shown during that struggle prove how well qualified he is to maintain it .
Q4ei Tmleabirr {W. &84, Sisftftftllir,
Q 4 ei TMlEABIRr { W . & 84 , SiSftftftllir ,
Addenda. A Choice Fragment Of Diplomatic...
ADDENDA . A choice fragment of diplomatic history is contained in Baron Muffling ' s Narrative of his Embassies to Constantinople and St . Petersburg in 1829 and 1830 , translated by Mr . Edward Jardine ( Longman and Co . ) . In this the late chief of the Prussian staff relates how , after a night conference at Berlin , between the Emperor Nicholas and King Frederick William , it was resolved to send an envoy to frighten the Sultan . Matters stood thus : —a Russian army had marched over the Balkan , afld now hovered on the mountain slopes to menace Constantinople . Marshal Diebitch , vain and iubilant , boasted that the" Ottoman Empire was at his mercy , and ready to perish when he should smite it again . France was astonished , England was alarmed , Austria believed , and Russia trembled lest some one should interfere . Only the Turks were undismayed . They knew the strength which remained to them after defeat , and the Russians knew the dangers which arose with victory . In truth , Nicholas felt that he had done his worst ; and he and his kinsman plotted how to persuade Europe that Turkey lay at the
feet of the most mighty Czar . However , it was riot at his feet . His troops might enter Constantinople ; but what then ? Sultan , ministers , ambassadors , soldiers , stores and strongbox would be transported across the Bosphorus . Thither they could not be pursued , and thence the capital drew all its supplies , so that the Golden City would remain , to be burned or evacuated , or garrisoned by a starving army . Then , also , Great Britain might be incensed , and affairs might take an unexpected turn . Now , therefore , was the opportunity to extort concessions and to deal
from Turkey . False representations were necessary , — a man them out . What envoy so unscrupulous as a Prussian ? What Prussian so unscrupulous as Baron Muffling ? But the confederates of the Holy Alliance could not , and never did , do one thing without pretending to do another . A marriage ceremony was therefore advertised as an excuse for Nicholas and Frederick William to meet at Berlin , and thus under a bridal veil the surreptitious negotiation proceeded . Baron Muffling received orders to depart at once for Constantinople , though he , again , could not go thither without announcing that he was going somewhere else . At the Turkish « aT > ital he nreached . day by day , about the perils of Turkey , the strength of
Russia , the sweets of peace , and the certainty that Marshal Lhebitcn , n so inclined , might come down on Istamboul and turn it into a burial-place tor docs " The other powers" concurred ; but the Ottoman minister would not be alarmed , and Baron Muffling was so coolly treated that he had to invent a " terror . " Arming himself with pistols , therefore , he gave out that any one , minister or not , who was less than civil to him , Baron Muffling , would be shot dead . By . other arts and sleight-of-hand , aided by the compliance of his associates , the ambassadors of the neutral powers , he gained hia point ; and thus , as the old romancists say , it fell out that the treaty of Adrianople was signed—an ignominy to Turkey , a fraud upon Europe , and a clear triumph for Russia . Baron Muffling ' s Narrative lets the light into the cabinet of Prussia , and must be consulted by every historian of the past half-century . Let those who would learn what history will tell to the next generation read the volume diligently . Rev-ertin" to the actual theatre of Avar , we find on our table a cheap reprint ( Routledge and Co . ) of Koch ' s work on The Crimea , ivith a Visit to Odessa . This ia a plain diary of a traveller ' s observations . It describes the Tauric Chersonese , as less a paradise of vines and flowers , than some
fervid writers have reported it to be ; yet assigns much importance to it aa a commercial outlet and military emporium . Wo have no doubt that Mr . Koch ' a account of the Tartars is full of truth . They are not a changeable race , and among their hereditary characteristics , agricultural industry is certainly not one . u Regular government" has done all it can to spoil them : but they ure still nomadic , impatient of labour , and contented with small pastoral stores . " As God" they say , " has given sense to the Franks , ploughs to the Russians , and arithmetic to the Armenians , bo he has given waggons to us . " The book teems with information . To such as are more of tlinn in the social of the
interested in the prowesa our nnny aspects regions visited by war , Mr . George Ryan addresses a volume on Our Heroes ofthe Crimea . The sketches first appeared in a newspaper , but they deserve the short lifo of a shilling epitome . Lord Raglan—Madame Tussaud ' s now hero—Sir do Lacy Evans , the Earl of Cardigan , Lord Lucan , the Duko of Cambridge and others , are hero extolled , that their fame may live in the cottage , and spread among those who read as they run . We notice , however , that some of the new season ' s cheap books arc , in the matter of typo , like the American prints , of which their critic aaid that they would deprave the reader if they didn't blind him . Slavery , black and white , increases in repute as a . material for the terrible extravaganza of a certain school of romance , in which we are sorry there
should be either preceptors or pupils . On the principle that if enough is good , more is better , we have scenes in rich array of floggings , knoutings , and humiliations , from which we recoil . Serf Sisters , by Mr . J . Harwood ( Routledge ) , has more to recommend it than the title promises . It . is foil of distressing incidents , though not overwrought enough to satisfy Washington Irving ' s " gentle and bloody-minded reader ; " but these are relieved by pleasant scenes of social life , affording an insight into the manners of the middle class in Russia . Mr . Harwood has a picturesque power ; but his delineations of character are absurd , because they do not present the mingling hues of humanity ; they are embodiments of absolute good or evil , and , like all abstract personifications , totally unreal . The story , however , is well imagined and skilfully conducted .
So far our miscellanies prolong the " war" echoes . A subject of permar nent interest is developed by Professor Royle in The Fibrous Plants of India , Fitted for Cordage , Clothing , and Paper ( Smith , Elder , and Co . ) . This book , figuratively speaking , reveals many a source of Indian gold . Dr . Royle explains why Indian flax is dear , and how it may be cheapened ; points out new materials for paper ; and supplies a more copious and systematic account of Indian fibrous plants than is to be found in any other work . He has a full command of the sources of information , and has compared his personal researches , —themselves not limited , —with the reports of all competent witnesses . Such a book ought to be valued , in a ^ commercial country , as more than a repertory of economical suggestions . It lays open a field of wealth , and explores the Eastern plains and hills for materials to enlarge the range of our home industry and foreign commerce .
Somewhat identical in purpose is Mr . George Wathen s volume on The Golden Colony ; or , Victoria in 1854 . ( Longman and Co . ) The author is an old traveller , known and trusted . His Egyptian investigations were patient , and he recorded them modestly . In Australia he breaks new ground , and we feel immediately , that he can write on a worn subject in an original manner . Perhaps no light work on colonial life , contains a more truthful picture than this , of social ways and means as they exist in " Victoria . Mr . Wathen describes the configuration of the Australian flats , creeks , and valleys , as only an artist and a geologer could describe them ; yet imbues his , narrative with the pleasantness of sketches and stories . Who can desire more in a book on the golden colony ? The author makes one felicitous hit : he quotes Talleyrand ' s epigram on Russia , and says that English government in the colonies has been despotism , limited by rebellion . Again , a prophet , more decent than Mr . Godfrey , yet not less fearless and
far-reaching , Mr . Ambrose Lisle Phillips , takes Daniel by the horns m Mohammedanism in its Relation to Prophecy ( Dolman ) . The Arabian teacher , he says , was undoubtedly the Little Horn , and Antichrist is come and gone . Mr . Phillips may settle these points with his readers ; they concern not the critic . But the manner of these expounders offers a study to painters of human nature . They invariably sap and mine before they advance , and blow up all adversaries by an explosion of satire , pity , or vituperation . Pity is Mr . Phillips ' s weapon—mercifully used . His predecessors are not idiots only in error . But let us add that he argues more learnedly and rationally than most of the vaticinating school . Will it be conceived that we can write this with a passage under our eyes in which the author glibly calculates the * ' many hundred millions of the human race" who suffer " everlasting perdition in the flames of hell for abandoning paganism , and believing in Mohammed ?"
Escaping from the fumes of pitch and faggots , we fall in , nevertheless , with another gentleman , who is as positive about the stars as Mr . Phillips is concerning the bottomless pit . Mr . T . C . Simon , in a volume entitled Scientific Certainties of Planetary Life ( Bosworth ) , takes up the discussion on the planets and their people , and , in spite of dogmatism , contributes a readable essay . In a similar undoubting spirit Mr . H . G . Cooper writes Indestructibility one of the Great Truths Proclaimed by Nature and Science ( Ridge and Son ) . His metaphysics are at fault , although his statement
implies nothing more than a proverbial truth . Among philosophical miscellanies we naturally class M . Francois Arago ' s Autobiography ( Longman" Travellers' Library ") . Is it a dull , didactic thesis , however ? By no means , but a charming narrative of adventures , a romance of youthful enterprise , thick set -with pleasant perils , and vicissitudes delightful to remember . Arago was a philosopher in that he sought to be healthy as well as wise . Mr . Timb ' s Yearbook of Facts in Science and Art ( Bogue ) marshals all the discoveries and Approvements of the past year in alphabetical order . It is a meritorious and reliable volume .
Miss Susan Wollaston ' s One . Hundred Sonnets from Petrarca , with Notes , and a Life of Petrarch ( Saunders and Otley ) , enjoys the honours of a new edition . But why affix to a real interpretation of the poet ' s verses an unreal portrait , an hermaphrodite face , no more like Petrarch than it is like the Queen of Sheba P Among poetical varieties , we have also The First Four Notes of Milton ' s Paradise Lost , with useful notes for school teachers , by Mr . C . W . Corman ( Longmaji and Co . ); and in " imagination" Sketches of Lancashire Life ana" Localities , by Edward Waugh ( Whittaker and Co . ) . The writer undertakes to depict some of the traits of Lancashire life and scenery , with illustrations from local history . His book is a pictorial and legendary guide ; but we warn Mr . Waugh not to be humorous . His jokefl are spasms , and end in paralysis . Apart from their dull fun , " Lancashire Sketches" may edify and amuse the tourist .
Books On Our Table. Louis Fourteenth And...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Louis Fourteenth and the Writers of his Age ; being a course of Lectures delivered in French to a Select Audience in New York , By the Kev . J . F . Astio . Tritbnor and Co . The Lira of Sir William Pepperell , Bart ., the onlg Native of New England who was created a Baronet during our connexion with the Mother Country . By Usher Pnraons . Trllbnor and Co . The Caxtons : a Family Picture . By Sir Edward Bulwor Lytton , 13 nrt ., & c . Common Law and Equity Reports in all the Courts . ( Part XXX . ) . Spottiswoodc . Journal of Public Health , and / Sanitary Review : including the Translations , of the Epidemeologieal Society of London . Edited by Benjamin W . Richardson , M . I > . Samuel HiKMtoy *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 1, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01091855/page/20/
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