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Leader (1850-1860), 16th June 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, ' June 16, .18GO.J The Leader and Saturd...

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      Talks-^Translated Axd Oiucilxal. Of All ...

      fertile brain appears to be inexhaustible , and all the tales in the volume before us not only possess a symbolical meaning but are enriched with such a variety of images and fanciful interpolations-as render t ! em the most delicious and enchanting reading . The infallibility of the true , spirit of Christianity in overcoming all the evils of life is the moral couched beneath all the-e elegant little fables . Of these the " Mud King ' s Daughter " - is-perhnpsthe most beautiful and suggestive . The following is the line of argument purslud : - — The'Sing of Egypt falling sick , he is recommended by his physician to touch of certain plant which grows in a deep morass near the sandhills of Jutland . His daughter , the princess , accompanied by two female companions under the likeness of swans , forthwith undertake a journey to the north of Europe , in order to procure the medicinal herb . Arrived at their destination , her treacherous friends first make themselves mistresses of the princess ' s magical disguise , and then leave her to perish in the morass . Some time after , a newlv-born infant is-discovered reclining on the petals of a waterlily springing out of ; this same morass , and is conveyed , under peculiar circumstances , to the dwelling of the Viking ' s wife , by whom it . is adopted . This little interloper is the daughter of the Mud-king and his Egyptian bride . The Viking ' s wife speedily becomes aware that her proter / ee is under the influence-of some powerful charm , in virtue of which she becomes every night transformed into the semblance of a frog , and . does not resume her natural shape till the succeeding morning . When the young lady is about sixteen years old , a Christian priest is brought captive to her foster-father ' s castle , and is delivered by our heroine during the period of one of her hideous metamorphoses ; for it should here be mentioned that , though during the day-time , in the pride of her youth and loveliness , the exhibits a disposition malicious , savage , and ferocious , quite the opposite is the case during the long , tedious hours of her affliction;—then her heart is docile and tender as a lamb . The priest , in return for her act of generosity , resolves to release her from her purgatorial state ; he accordingly baptizes her in the name of Jesus Christ , markinc : her several times with the sign of the cross . It is not , however , until the sign is received inwardly as well as outwardly , in ihe true spirit of Christian charity and faith , that it acquires any potency in dissolving the terrible charm under which her existence groans . Once enshrined in her heart the knowledge and love of the ¦ Redeemer , / then her disguise falls off like a worn-out garment ,, and she steps forth into the world an uneontaminated iand truc-hemted woman , lleeeiviiig a visitation from her ghostly confessor'after the period of his natural existence , she begs that he will accord'her a , momentary glimpse into the jstate of departed spirits ; her wish is granted , and , shn is borne upwards beyond the vault of heaven for the space ( according to her finite calculations ) of about three minutes ' . There she is rivet , by a sight so dazzling as to- be entirely undistinguishable . Upon her return to earth she finds everything around her changed—the old faces have passed away , and " a new generation has sprung up , as it were , by magic ; centuries have rolled by during her short acquaintance with the Infinite . She at once comprehends the truth—a thousand years in time is but sis the space of three minutes in eternity . All the tales are of this fanciful and allegorical description , and a decided treat is in store for the reader who shall devote a few of his leisure hours to their perusal . . „ A ™? rTnTrs-aM ^ lesr % ^ £ rs ^ Ib ' fl re arc deserving of the highest praise . The authoress informs us m the preface , that it is her intention in the present volume to exhibit a little of the stern romance of married life , and draw a Itiw vivid pictures of the fortitude ftivd heroism of woman in her double capacity-of wife and mother * a subject , she says , not popular with novelists in general , who hold it as a maxim that all romance ceases ¦ at the matrimonial altar . Mrs . Ellis has proved this opinion to be a fallacy ; and in a collection , of beautiful and unaflected stories has shown how deep an interest lies hidden beneath the overy-day routine and common-place duties of wedded existence . It is not till after marriage that the higher capabilities of woman are thoroughly developed , and ' lief character assumes anything like consistency or . settled tendencies , whether for good or evil . Once she sets her foot within the charmed circle her real life begins , and opportunities gradually present themselves for the awakening and starting into life of all her dormant faculties—she becomes a different being . Of course every wife has to undergo a probationary course before she can fully comprehend the responsibilities entailed upon her by her new office ; then her nobler qualities ( if noble qualities she possesses ) assert their superiority over all selfish feelings ; and ehe stands discovered to her husband and the world in her true nature . Nothing could be jnore artistic than Mrs . Ellis ' s treatment of her subject ; her henrt is evidently in her work , and this , perhaps , constitutes one of the chief charms of this lady ' s writings . We have xneroly to add that these tales are worthy the reputation of the authoress . " Alice Lisle , " by the Rev . R . King , is an ably written and decidedly interesting fitory . The scone is laid in the reign of Charles I ., extending- over the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell ; and the author betrays im intimate acquaintance with the different contending factions and antiigoniatio principles which agitated that stormy period of English history . The author ' s clerical education has enabled him to , enter into his subject with more tlinn usual clearness and perspicuity ; and . though , perhaps a little prejudiced in favour of puritanical discipline find rigid self-denial , his conclusions as to the relative merits of Cavalier and Roundhead are generally correctly and impartially drawn . The story is simple . Alieo Lisle , the wifo of a staunch puritan , after escaping , by a timely retreat into Holland accompanied by her husband , the dangers of the

      i " Restoration , " ultimately returns to England , and falls a victim to the remorseless cruelty of the justly execrated "Judge Jeffreys . " j This little work will well reward the reader for the time expended , oii its perusal . , "Lady Good ' child's Fairy Ring" is composed of a series of tales , i adapted to the slender cotnpj ' ehensioir ' of- childhood , in all of which I the element of mngic and supernatural . agency is conspicuously ' brought forward . These stories are of a decidedly superior oi'der to those usually compiled for the benefit of the rising 1 generation , i being all written with the utmost delicacy and skill , and each con-| taining a most instructive and unexceptionable moral . Amongst those which we would especially recommend to the consideration of our juvenile brethren , are "The Little Red Man , " " Father I Barbel , " , and " The Sea Kind's Bride . " : " -Chilcote Park , " by the author of "Likes and Dislikes , " is a very innocent story , perfectly simple in all its details , ir .: d evidently 1 written with no higher ambitious object than the transmission ( to ; all who shall ' accept , and . profit-by the same ) of n highly-con * - ' mendable and instructive moral . The heroines lire two sisters , . ! Agnes and Hcftha , both orphans , and the possessors of considerable | fortunes . Bertha , the younger , after contracting herself to her I cousin Francis , exhibits unmistalceable signs of the ravages of couj sumption , a tendency to which disease her friends have prognosticated from her cradle . After a hurried marriage , she . is taken ] abroad by her husband , with ' a view to the renovation of her shattered health , and dies in Algiers . The widowed Francis , in the i intensity Of his grief , falls an easy prey to the machinations of a ! Jesuit priest , by whom he is induced to enter into the communion of : the church of Rome ; and he ultimately proceeds as a missionary of i that faith to China . Agnes , tlms left to her own resources , takes ¦ up her abode with her half-brother and his '' wife , oiie Mr . and Mrs ; ' Burgess , whose cupidity is speedily excited by the prospect of ; having the entire management of their " relative ' s 'fortune / In order to accomplish this object , they .-take-advantage of a temporary aberration of intellect , the natural consequence of . 1 violent attack of brain-fever , to incarcerate the -poor girl in 11 lunatic -asylum . From this disagreeable position she is -ultimately relieved by the magnanimous devotion of an old admirer , Dr . Martin , to whom she ultimately intrusts her happiness , after having , in the bitter school of adversity , worked out the redemption of her Own wayward heart , and . conned ^ the universal--lesson , that every mail and woman , to be . truly happy , must have some object in existence ; and that the noblest of all objects , especially to xi woman of wealth and independence , is the welfare and happiness of others . Thus , from out . her sorest need , ' -she extracts the precious seeds of future prosperity and peace . Though--written " 'in the sim | . >! esfc and most unassuming form , the useful moral contained in this little volume will be a secure recommendation to the public . ¦

      ' June 16, .18go.J The Leader And Saturd...

      ' June 16 , . 18 GO . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 573

      Cuikositiks Of Scfexck.-Mr. Times Has Al...

      CUIKOSITIKS OF SCfEXCK .-MR . TIMES has already so pleasantly acquainted us with so many Curiosities of . Science , that we are prepared to welcome a second 'series with peculiar pleasure . ' It . commences with the subject of alchemy , and treats it with a more decorous respect than is generally extended towards this doubtful _ pursuit . It was not ' always , however , " treated' wit IV contempt . '' Fr 1 in ^ I '> jn ? 7 ^ bt ! ltevedr and Sir Isaac Newton made experiments-in it . Mr , Tinvbs hero states a fact which is not generally known , though generally ! asserted by the mystics , and-particularly by Law . Among Sir : Isaac ' s papers large extracts out' of Jacob Behmen ' s works were I found , written with his own hand . Law states tjiiit ho had learned from undoubted authority that , in a former part of his life , Sir Isaac was led into a search of tho Philosopher ' s Tincture , and with i Dr . Newton , his relative , set up furnaces ; and Unit they were for i several months at work in quest of the Tincture . The substantial I truth of the statement is proved by Dr . Xcvton ' s own letter , in which he says : " About six weeks at spring , and at y fall , y « lire in the elaboratory scarcely was out , which was well furnished with chyniical materials , as bodyes , receivers , heads , crucibles , & o ., which was made very little use of , y" crucibles exempted , in which he fused his metals . He would sometimes , though very seldom , look into an old mouldy book which luy in his cluborulory . I think it was entitled ' Agricola de Metallis ; 'the transmuting of metals being his chief design , for which purpose antimony was a great ingredient . Near his elaboratory was his garden .... His brick furnaces , pro re . tint a , ho made and altered himself , without troubling a bricklayer . " ,. , Mr . Tjinbs has done his best to exhaust this subject by the numerous notices , including tho latest and earliest periods , which he has bestowed on it . He then proceeds to modern chonimtry , and tho great discoveries in it , which are such invaluable aids to civilization . Tho phenomena of Allotropism linvo a similarity with those of alchemy—they indicate , not , certainly , tho transmutation at inutnls into gold , but transmutation , nevertluslePH , of a certain kind . JMucIi knowledge of non-nietallic eleiiieiits inight bo gained , ihvo could succeed ' in-obtaining 1 hydrogen iintl nilrogeni in tho lipul Of fioliu . form . Hitherto they linvo roHM'tcd all etlurts , though Jiydnipen ,. w many of its relation . / , nets os thoiiKli it were svinetul . Mr . 1 ' araday has long been of opinion Unit tho various forms under which tno forces of matter are made manifest have n common origin , and are convertible one into another . ^

      * Thlnqn Not <,Oncmll.V Know* F«Milin)>L...

      * Thlnqn not < , oncmll . V Know * f « milin )> l ,, Hy . t . uucl . ( n <» I *' * ^ Science . Second Series : A Book for Old and Young . By Johic AiK » S , F . 8 . A . Konfcfc Co .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1860, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16061860/page/17/