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174 TEE IiKAB CKKJ. [N6> 463, Febb^j^rt ...
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tablished. A vacancy occurs in the " "We...
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,T A ^ A .^ MAGAZINES
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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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Social Innovators ¦
accomplishment of ; plans for which they laboured , should have anticipated results too magnificent . We may look with a kind and loving pity upon the ¦ wild errors and unselfish aspirations of these earnest men , but there is nothing in them , or in their prpjpcts , which ought , to raise our contempt and aversion . Fourier , frying at the age of sixty-rsix , a -wrbrn-out , disappointed , old man ; Louis Blanc , a pope exile ; Gomtej in his old : age dependent upon the kindness—shall we say charity- ^ of his friend * and . disciples , —these are noble examples of suffering voluntarily undergone : for the sake of others . These men are as true heroes-and martyrs as the annals of I 3 ie worldfs history can furnish .
The reader can hardly fail to be pleased with Mr . Sargant ' s concluding chapter . It is full of sound common sense and reflections that clearly spring from careful and thoughtful study . The whole work , indeed , is stamped with the mint-mark of good sense , industry , aud ability . The author ' s feult—and many , perhaps , will not esteem it a fault—is that of being too well content with our present social system and too ready to look on it as complete and final . We can judge only from the experience of the pasfcj and it would be too much to suppose that in the indefinite future there will be no possible schemes or combinations which may unite the advantages of bur present arrangements with all the fahcied blessings that speculators have promised . us . Their plans may not yet be pronounced entire ha
failures . A part of the work they ve accomplished , as our author tells \ js . Some trades and manufactures are successfully carried on upon principles analogous to those they recommended . The chief cause of their failure has ever been the imperfect morai ' eondition of those to whom they addressed themselves , and whose good conduct and moderation were essential to success . We are in little danger , on this side of the Cfhaihnel , of looking too favourably upon ' the products of French speculators , or of being dangerously ready , to carry out schemes of . social change . But if Varroj when he had lost Cannae , received the thanks of the Senate because he had not despaired of the republic , we may urge that to have trusted too fondly in human virtue should be regarded in our day as a pardonable error in even" Social Innovators . " .
174 Tee Iikab Ckkj. [N6> 463, Febb^J^Rt ...
174 TEE IiKAB CKKJ . [ N 6 > 463 , Febb ^ j ^ rt 5 ^ 185 ^
Tablished. A Vacancy Occurs In The " "We...
tablished . A vacancy occurs in the " " Weights * and Measures , " . instead , of the post being filledup , as heretofore , aecdrding to seniority , the Board , of Examiners which has been established decide upon putting the clerks through an examination and conferring ; the post on the most worthy . Normaii arid Alarie are among the competitors . Aygp . od deal : of clever satire is couched under the description of the Commissioners of the Civil : Service- Board pf Examination , and many readers will recognise in Sir ' Gregory Hardlines and . theRev . Mr . Jobbles types o £ a class that the recent adaption of the " competitive' '' principle has called pretty actively into : existence . The result of the competition is that Norman ,
though possessing the highest qualifications of the two , decides upon retiring from the contest , and Tudor , accordingly , is . the successful candidate . This is not the only matter in which Tudor gains an advantage over his worthier rival . Gertrude Woodward rejects Norman and accepts Tudor , who , therefore , transfers his fickle love from the confiding Linda to her more attractive sister . This event creates- a-lasting breach between the two clerks . Tudors however , who is ambitious , and whose motto is Excelsior , " pushes on his fortune and makes his way upwards until he finds himself installed into the post of commissioner . by the side of his patron , Sir Gregory Hardlines . About this time he makes the
acquaintance of the Hon . Uhdecimus Scott , a younger son of a Scotch peer , needy , unprincipled , and resolved , couteque coute , to . live . With this dangerous companion Tudor is drawn into a close intimacy * and into a kind of partnership in mining : speculations . Tudpr has married Gertrude , and , by the help pf Scott * is made trustee to a" female relative who has 20 , 000 / . left to her . In the course of their Stock Exchange speculations , Scott induces Tudpr to lend him 5000 iof the trust-money aud to make use of another 5000 / . himself . The mining speculations go awry , Tudor is called upon suddenly to account for the trustAmqney , is unable to do so , is arrested , and committed for trial . Has former
friehdj Scott , who has by this time unmasked himself , and shown unmistakably that he was a . cold , callous-hearted scoundrel , gives evidence on the trial , and is himself cross-examined with scathing effect by Tudor ' s counsel , Mr . Chaffenbra 3 s . Tudor is found guilty on one count and acquitted on the others . His sentence is six months ' imprisonment , after serving which , he emigrates with his noble wife , whose high qualities have never been more conspicuous than in the day of misfortune . Norman , after some years , manages to get over his first disappointment ; he attaches himself to Linda , and eventually marries her . Charley Tudor , after a graceless career and a narrow escape from a marriage with Norah Geraghty , the barmaid of the " Cat and Whistle , " wins the affections of Katie Woodward , by tins time a lovely woman , whpse life he
had previously saved ; and after a variety of difficulties , all of which are happily surmounted , he succeeds in reforming , in giving up Ipw habits and associates , and in making himself the worthy and happy husband of Katie . Such are the principal materials out of which this pleasant fiction has been constructed . The only circumstances that strike us as remarkable are , first , that the young ladies appear somewhat too readily susceptible ; this , however , may be considered as the result of their retired life and the restricted character of their male acquaintance ; and next , that there is a rather too easy credulity on the part of Tudpr , who is represented as a man of the world more than ordinarily acute and wide awake , an , d yet who falls readily and completely intp the schemes and snares of such a transparent scoundrel as the Hon . Undy Scott .
THE THEEE CLERKS . The Three Clerks . A Novel . By Anthony Trollope itBentley . The Three Clerks is a " healthy " novel . There are none but real men and women portrayed ; there are no " monsters of perfection" of either sex introduced ; there is no German high-wrought sentimentality , no display of double-refined sensibility —rail is naturalj actual , and the record of every-day life . The Three Ctetkais not so original in conception as Barchester Towers , but it will please more , and be relished by a wider circle . The novel is -wholly ^ of a domestic character ; all the incidents are from English home life , all the actors specimens
drawn from purely English society * The charm of the work is its- simplicity and its truthful delineation of scenes and persons , the counterparts of which may be found in thousands of English homes . The three clerks are three young men filling situatipns in public offices . Henry Norman , a young man of good family and some fprtune , is in the office of Weights and Measures . He is described as of high principle , honpurabler character , but with a spice of that kind of doubtful virtue which has been deecribed as firmness in a good cause , obstinacy in a Dad one . " Alaric Tudor is in the same office , He is * represented as naturally well-principled , but of more worldly tact than Norman , and therefore more
open to worldly influences . The third is Charley Tudor ,- cousin to Alaric , clerk in the Inland Navigation , or , as it is familjarly termed , the " Navvy ' s " office—good-natured , clever , but " fast , " given to low pursuits and low company , but with something redeeming at bottom which only requires a proper opportunity and a suitable arena to manifest itself . These three clerks are introduced to a family , the Woodwards , who occupy a cottage at Hampton . Mrs . Woodward is a widow lady with about 400 ? . a year and three daughters . Her character is nicely brought put , and a more lovable creature it is hardly possible to ccncelve- ^ tho very model of an English
matron , a true copy of thousands and tens of thpueands that are to be found peculiarly in the quiet frames of England . Her three daughtcra—Gertrude , TOry handeoihe and spirited ; Linda , handsome in a less degree , but more feminine ; and Katie , still a child , but with promise of greater beauty and higher qualities than her sisters . Norman falls in love with Gertrude , and Tudor entertains a penchant , for Linda , which he contrives to let Linda understand without compromising himeelf , The two young-men , who have hitherto been ftet friends , are destined to find thomsolvea unexpectedly placed in a position of rivalry . The " AdminlBtrative Reformers" have been ) at'work , and the principle of Competitive Examination is ea-
,T A ^ A .^ Magazines
careful periieaL " Bowl Mused : in a Railway-Train" occupies thirteen pages ; the " rausmgs , ' however ^ degenerate here and ' th ere into maunderings , and had , the length been curtailed one-half they might have been read without a . yawn ; >« Sketches at the Antipodes" are smart ; hero arid there- too smart for 1 perfect : reliance . They do not contai n any iriatter ^ ery new ^ bTit a © pen-and-ink " sketches' * of what gold ^ seekers- m ay expect to meet with in < theic personal experience * they perhaps will not- bewithout their value . "Holmby House" is continuedso is " Schloss Eishausen : a Mystery , " latter byno means disappointing the promise of its beg inning ^ and bringing the " mystery" to that point where its !
solution is eagerly looked for . The second part of " Homer and the Homeric Age , " by the Rev . Barharet Zincke , finishes the elaborate critique on Gladstone ' s , Homer . . " Buckland ' s Bridgewater Treatise , " very good , and "On Playgoing" and "A Fear for the Future , " very middling ,: with a bit of Tennysonian poetry , make up this pleasant number . Colbukn ' 9 United Service - Magazine and-Naval ant > Mh . itart Journal . —This number opens with a very important article on " The . Navies of England and France . ' The aim of this , paper , is to contrast the English naval power witlt that of France ; arid from it we learn , that although , France has made gigantic progress in consequenceof the application of steam to War purposes , we
are quite equal , and in some respects the superior ; , though inferior to her in lines-pf-battle . This inferiority is owing to our having to reconstruct our navy while France had to create hers , she having ' in 1852 only two lines-of-battle ; now she possesses thirty-two , we absolutely possessing only thirty ;; but we are fast coming up with her hand over hand , as we have more iiries-of- battle on the stocks than she has . In heavy class frigates ,, corvettes , and gun-boats , we have a great numerical preponderance ,, as well as in force and skill . We refer our readers to the article for the details , which are really important . The remainder of the articles are interests ing not . only to the professional but to the general reader . . ¦¦ ¦ " ' ; ¦ '¦ . ' ¦ ' ¦¦ '¦ ' ¦ ' - .
Titan . —Eating and eatables are just . ,. the fashion ; and from what we see and hear the deluge has only , begun . The most taking article in the February number pf Titan is " Scraps from an Bpirr cure ' s Note-Book on Qysters , Lobsters , and Crabs ;" and the grave serial moreover indulges its readers with a good review of Mr . Sinimonds ' s plea sing work on the curiosities of food . The author of " Behind the Scenes at Paris / ' whose Shandian style is at times rather fatiguing , commenc e * This
charmingly a new novel called " Getting On , " - writer is a man of evident and great power . The" Mechanic ' s Story , " U : la mode Charles Reade , is a well-told , touching little fragment . Professor Kopke ' s recollections of Ludwig Tioek , published at Leipzi g ^ furnish materials for a pleasant biographical sketch of the poet ' s life , and a short essay on his style in the guise of a review . Ellis ' s Madagascar is also noticed ;• and a learned article enters at some length into the merits of Indian epic
poetry . , Bi , ackwood ' s Magazine . —The present number is above Maga ' s usual high average . The opening pnpor is on " Garlyle—Mirage Philosophy—and the History of Frederick . " The writer , who admires his author ,, deprecates the reading or judging of the Frederick by those who have not sounded , the depths of Carlyle ' s other works , but tempers his admiration witl * most just censure of that authpr ' s arrogance and determined obtrusion of his own personality into his ?• HistPry . " The article pn " Objectipnable Books' * is a lecture to the zealots who , on pretence qf expurgating parcchial arid schcol libraries , seek there to replace simple educational and religious works by others of a more doctrinal and polemical character A learned essay on " Popular Literature and the-Periodical PresB" fpllpwB . The reviewer looks upon
the press , not as a feurth estate—for this he cjiUs an exploded idea—but aa a second representation of thfr third . Parliamentary representation is , ho arguos , district roprosentatipn , while that of the press is , lor the most part , class representation . Every class is represented in the press . Almost overy periodical js the organ of a class , an interest , or an opinion . Take away anonymity and you reverse this character , and identify the organ wjith the personal influence cf the signing editor , as in America . A gain ' ho defends anonymity , as a preventive of undue publicity pf oven private concerns , wh . ich tho tnirBo and necessity for news is apt tp lead to . A no publicity of the newspaper organisation in America lewis not to circumspection but to astounding personality-Personality is tho compliments of egotism . AlU" * ; ? : nist egotisms , playing in newspaper columns , womu waste meir
MAGAZINES . FnASEK . —This number is a very good one , moro readable than usual , because tho tone of its articles is more lively , and makes a nearer approach to that standard which created the popularity of these serials . Tho first article , entitled " Hpdspn of Hodson ' s Horse , " is a review of the life pf tho celebrated William Stephen Iiaikes Hodson , whpse name and fame are identified with Indian history . The writer of this review , who appends the name of Thomas Hughes to the article , has evidently set himself down to the task con amoro . He has produced an article full of interest , full of feeling arid fact—an
article that will do much towards helping the British public to a more ample and accurate appreciation of p ne of her most heroic sons—one pf the bravest pf the brave band pf English heroes whoso bodies lie stark in India . Mr . Hughes appreciates at their proper value the contributions of " our own special correspondents . " Wo coincide in his views ; we are not admirers pf the stilted word-painting—the oneaided views pf events—the obvious clannish bias—¦ the flippant criticisms which have marked the contributions of " our , correappndents , " whether writing from the Crimea or India- Mr . Hughes ' s notice is written in a hearty and loving eplrlt , and is worth
aegraue » i » em , hikujw , »*»»» »»• w > " ^{ , ' _„ tho rncst curlcus public . Hut put the invisible cop upon tho writer ' s Wad , take individuality from Him , and ho ceasoa to be ogetistical , fpr his egotism wm not profit him . , He is no individual unit but a representative man . Tho next paper , a review oi
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05021859/page/14/
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