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    9n THE LEABEK. [No. 354, Saturday ,

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    AMERICAN ADVENTURES. Adventures in the W...

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    . (3|; If 5lnK A^lJt^UUU

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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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    Campbell's Lives Of The Chancellors. Liv...

    gave up the dignity of octavo volumes ; but Mr . Hallam had done this , and why not Lord ° Campbell ? He wilL not regret the change when 3 ie _ finds every reader in the three kingdoms and the colonies anxious to obtain the work ,-which is certainly interesting in a rare degree . In a note appended to the fourth edition , Lori Campbell complains that , since 1845 , the splendour of the Lord Chancellor ' s office has sadly waned : —• If the same coarse of proceedings to degrade the office should be much longer continued , instead of the Chancellor answering the description of Join of Salisbury in the reign of Henry II . — Hie est qui leges regni cancellct imqusta , Et mandata pii Principis cequa facithe may return to what Gibbon declares io have been his original functions as doorkeeper or usher of the court , who , by his canceUce or little bars , kejpt off the multitude from intruding into the recess or chancel in which he sat . " r Jhe importance of the Chancellor arose : —

    1 . From his l ) eing a leading member of the cabinet , originating and controlling all the measures of the government connected with the administration of justice ; 2 . From his presiding in the Court of Chancery and laying down doctrine to govern that all-ahsorbing department of our jurisprudence called Equity ; and , 3 . From his practically constituting in his own person the ultimate Court of Appeal for the United Kingdom , by giving judgment in the name of the House of Lords , according to his own notion of what was right . But he is now in danger of being banished from his own court by the Lords Justices . Recent discussions in the House of Peers , moreover , have weakened his authority . " Single-seated justice" will no longer be endured ; nor even the divisum i ' mperium of the Lord Chancellor and a retired Common Law-judge , however distinguished : —

    The probable experiment will now be a Judicial Committee , consisting of peers and of judges and privy councillors summoned to advise the House . There the Chancellor will have no official ascendancy , and a Vice-Chancellor or a Puisne Judge may be selected to declare the judgment of this tribunal according to the applauded practice ia the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . Xiord Campbell retires to the consolations of philosophy : — I care little about the reduced salary of the Lord Chancellor , although it is not now sufficient to enable him to keep a carriage , and to exercise beco-ming hospitality , much less to make any provision for his family . Against poverty a aoble struggle may be mad «; but there seem to be causes in operation which , in spite of the most eminent learning and ability , must speedily reduce the office to insignificance and contempt . This is a sad prospect for the Biographer of the Chancellors .

    May I lie cold before that dreadful day , Pressed with a load of monumental clay ! " And yet" ( in the beautiful language of my predecessor , Lord Chief Justice Crewe ) 'Time hath its revolutions ; there must be a period and an end to all temporal things -r-Jtnis rerum—aa end of names and dignities , and whatever Is terrene—for , where ia Bohun ? ¦ Where is Mowbray ? Where is Mortimer ? Nay , which is more and most of all , Where is PLANTAGENET ? They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality" !!!—And why not the MARBLE CHAIR ? Perhaps , then , his own admirable book may outlive the Chancellor ' s offi . ee !

    9n The Leabek. [No. 354, Saturday ,

    9 n THE LEABEK . [ No . 354 , Saturday ,

    American Adventures. Adventures In The W...

    AMERICAN ADVENTURES . Adventures in the Wilds of the United State * and ^ British Aitwrican Provinces . By Charles Lanman . 2 vols . Sampson Low and Co . Ws have accomplished a feat which few will be disposed to attempt : we have glanced over every one of the 914 pages that illustrate Mr . Lanman ' s egotism . Tiat gentleman has been unjust to himself . He acknowledges that the earlier papers were written several years ago in the ley-day of youth , and intercedes with the matured reader' for a lenient judgment : adding , however , that he " would rather be wrong with the warm-hearted lover of nature than be right with , the cold-blooded critic . " This being the case , it would be mere waste of time to point out to him the many sins against good feeling and taste of which he is guilty throughout the first volume . His style so far is ambitious and inflated ; he is perpetually working himself up into a state of ecstasy , which usually terminates in a syncope

    ot bathos ; and the most trivial adventures occupy more space on his tapestry than the Norman Conquest on that of Bayeux . Mr . Lanman himself appears to have entertained some misgivings as to the propriety of reprinting the whole of his scattered contributions to various journals , and to have first sought the advice of Washington Irving and the Hon . Edward Everett . His counsellors proved injudicious , for they encouraged him to reproduce his " narrative and descriptive writings in a collected form . " The consequence is a voluminous work singularly unequal to itself . Of the first volume we can scarcely bear to think with patience , while the second may be perused with amusement and interest . The Indian legends , indeed , are somewhat tame and tedious , but that is the fault of their inherent puerility . But the notes on angling are really valuable , and ave worthy of being consulted by every lover of the * gentle craft . ' Not even Norway can be compared for an instant with the United States with regard to it » piscatorial . m » * & iuBurvmuicb

    — _„ . v ., ~ vx . j * nw u . a u < j u it us wiiu nouie lisa , ot every variety , while the excitement of the sport is enhanced by the personal risks and hardships to be endured , and by the many strange characters , or caricatures , constantly encountered . Mr . Larnnan is no abolitionist . He describes the negro as being usuallv far better provided for than the free labourer in Europe , or in the northern states . Ill-treatment is the rare exception . In moat instances they rather resemble spoiled children than servants . As a rule , tliey are " the happiest and most independent portion of the population . " ^ v jS- « COm ?^ lQ h ° U ^ a ^ nO debt 8 t 0 pay * ' cvcry thing they need in the way of clothing and wliolesomo food is ever at their command , and they have free access to the churches and the Sunday schools of the land . What more do the poor of any country possess that can add to their temporal happiness ?

    It seldom happens that families are sold in separate lots , and very often tlieir former owner refuses to transfer them unless to a humane and conaiderate master . The effect of slavery upon the slaveholders themselves 1 however , extremely lamentable from the helpless indolence it engenders . An SSS & inJU ° » g ? ntleman ' ?> havi "S ^« d * new book , threw himself mto an easy-chair to peruse it at Jiis leisure , while his wife went

    out to make some calls . On her return she found him in bed , and anxiously inquiring after his health , was answered : " The fire went out , so I got into bed to keep me warm . " There was a pile of wood in the adjoining room and a dozen servants within sound of the bell—but then the trouble of rinir ! ing that bell ! o " Here is a good example of a matter-of-fact answer to a simple question : When Wm . H . Crawford "was Secretary of the Treasury he wrote to the Collector at Hobile , Silas Diosmore , to ascertain the length of the river Tombigbee , which request h . 8 worded to this effect , " How far does tlie Tombigbee run up ? " To which the laconic collector replied , " The Tomt > igbee does not run up at all , it runs down ; " and was by the return mail dismissed from office .

    These volumes are written in that Anglo-Saxon dialect which , accordiu » to British prophecy , is hereafter to be the universal language of the earth ' s inhabitants . Mr . Macaulay ' s famous New Zealander will be somewhat puzzled , we suspect , to trace its affinity to what is now termed classical English—he will probabl y extricate himself from the difficulty by deducing it from the ancient Phoenician .

    American Adventures. Adventures In The W...

    THE PANTOMIMES AND BURLESQUES . Dkuhy Lane has furnished us this year with a gorgeous pantomimic phantasy in See Saw ,, Mwrgery Daw . Mr . Bevbrley is always at home in fairy land ; and he has availed himself of the large stage of Mr . E . T . Smith ' s theatre to expand his conceptions of Elysium into brilliant vastness . Fairies in silver tissue , grouped or floating in the air , add to the splendours of the scenery ; and the juvenile world bestows its distinguished approbation . The child ' s story of the Babes in the Wood furnishes the subject for the opening scenes of the Pantomime at the Hatmarket . In the course of the history we are Introduced to the cruel uncle , to the good and bad ruffians who quarrel about the murder of the "babes , " and fight to a merry tune ; to wild woodmen enamoured of beautiful and coy nynaphs , and to a young wood-cutter , in love with LvciSel , the sweetest of the dryads . Whilst regaling themselves in the deep recesses of a moonlit forest , these fair forms are pursued by the woodmen , and L-ucibel , being

    captured by Honeyleaf , tlieir chief , and refusing to accept his love , is shut up in the heart of an oak . From this imprisonment ehe is delivered by the chief of the nymphs ; after which taies place the apotheosis of the leaf-covered " babes" up into the Tranquil Lake o > f the Empyrean Eields of Light . Then commences the harlequinade , in which Miss Faxny Wright , the Lucibel of the opening story , becomes Columbine ; M . Milano , Harlequin ; Mr . Mack ay , Pantaloon ; and Mr . Driver , Clown . The graceless and confused manner in which the " Ballet of the Blackberry Brake" was performed , destroyed what might otherwise have made a very effective scene . This , however , was in some measure redeemed by the droll dance of the " Double Faces , " in which the sudden change of visages from young to old was very striking . The Pantomime concluded with a graceful allusion to the recent present of the American Government to the Queen and the nation . The references to passing events were poor ; and , notwithstanding the aid of Pantaloon and Ckwn , and a choice selection of familiar airs , the spectators could not be roused into anything approaching enthusiasm .

    At the Pbincess ' s we have the ever-delightful story of the Wonderful Lamp , with much Oriental samptuousness ; and in the harlequinade an unwonted feature is introduced in the form of 8 ome skating on the stage . For those who like such performances , also , there are some feats by wonderful dogs ; our own tastes do not lie that wa , y . At the Olympic , we are introduced to the old story of love and jealousy , which shows that now as ever the course of true love never will run smooth . Amid the " Ruins of the Castle of Romance , " Mordicanta , an old witch ( Mrs . Melport ) , is discovered with her familiar , Grim MaUdn ( Mr . Pranks ) , making night hideous with her evil plots , and discordant passion for the youth Alidor ( Miss Thiruwall ) , a shepherd descended from the shepherd kings of Fairy Land . Cupid ( Miss Cxaba St . Classe , a debutante of some promise ) , ever mischievous

    , thwarts her passion , and causes the youth to fall in love with the Princess Yonng and Handsome ( Miss Sw ^ nboroogh ) , the daughter of the fairy Pastora . Mordicanta , fired with revenge , calls to her aid the green and yellow monster Jealousy ( Mr . Rogers ) , and determines to embitter the loves of the shepherd and the princess . The latter , passionately fond of her inamorato , changes his simple dress into a splendid suit of silk , and converts his hut on the hill-side of the Valley of Violets into a charming : cottage , overhung with flowers . A . village festival is the occasion of a lovers' quarrel . Zephyr ( Mr . Robson ) , who has been fluttering idly about , assumes , at the instigation of Jealousy , a visible form , and by a ' pas de fascination , ' contrives to centre the young nymph s admiration upon himself . This , however , proves but a temporary flirtation , and the quarrel being made up , the marriage of Alidor with the Princess \ qung and Handsome is appointed to take place at the Castle of Flowers , situated on an island in the midst of a beautiful lake . Mordicanta , defeated in her object , has yet power to stir up the waters of the lake ; and as the young shepherd is the

    approaching castle , she contrives to have him submerged and brought to the Enchanted Cavern below the lake . Here Mordicanta visits him and declares again her love . But Alidor rejects her proposal , and is , by way of punishment , thrust stiLl deeper down into an abyss or den , the abode of a dragon . Cupid then descends and shuts the dragon ' s mouth ; whilst Zephyr , tortured by the new sensations which he has felt in his material form , determines to resume his original ess-ence . He takes pity upon the two lovers , and rescues Altdor , by the aid of his stronger comrades , Boreas , Aquilo , Eurus , and w , f r * ? T tll 0 . Place of his confinement . Thus all ends happily , and the shepherd and the princess are umted in the Illuminated Porcelain Pavilion , where they and the audienoe witness the inauguration of the statue of Zc h S r .-nAT '« 2 aI'lf T' / t 8 hould be observea \ is founded on the Countess of Mun , Ytw 7 i 1 ? J ^ - et BeUc ' ' but the ^ mour of the dialogue belongs to the votirnn i » ° - 8 pmt mV whicU lt is written Pr ° ves that the powers of the SX m " are still young . The scenery , especially the Valley of Violets , the Castle of * lowers , and the Enchanted OaverA below the Lake , introduces Hi « r ^ J " fV r enCmintnient - Jt is "" necessary to ' add that Robson , in the cnaractei of Zephyr , kept the house in a state of mirth and good humour

    . fi ,, l 2 i , T ?» fiCeno in tlie J *™ vu pantomime-burlesque ia unusually Kn Li , A" <; i Mr- WiM-iAM JBnouoir , the writer of the opening , has plenty of sharp hits at the passing features of the time . —The other burlesque-pantomime nT « h « ftSn th 0 -ADKLrai—brings forth the strength of the company , and fur-CfmZ ™ , lt ma l ttcr / or fGst » l Playgoers . With such a Harlequin as Madame hP «^ a ; . such a Columbine us Miss Wvxmixn , success would be certain ; cbantin ' *** l ) rCB < icn china shepherdess costumes—and they arc on-

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    € \) t & rta — —

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 3, 1857, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03011857/page/20/