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JtoummwR U6, 1854.] TIHIE JLm& DJB£R. jm...
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LITERATURE OF THE WAK. <0des8warid Ha- I...
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'.BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. History cif Britis...
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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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Jna.Val Noveju3. Jmw Two,,Adminc&A. By J...
iiaetf < aie ,-sE 5 reacli' \ aad convoy . the foreign itxadees . JSueh vwene the old £ cboeL tDftmog in . danger , patient of work , < and boisterous . in relaxation rase .. these . aaeieut . geattcuafin . Iliay Jived in and . for " . the . . service . " *' . JChes » eiRrice" . was r-their religion ,. their -life . . They lovje & . their . ship-as . the AaaA ) loves ua camel or . a horse- They . 'grumbled . at the . Admiralty , and swore when a lord was unfairly thrust above them ; but they were loyal to fiie * back-bone ,. swore by the Crown , and drank . the Crown on all possible ¦ occasions . I * When > Marryatt entered the service , these old gentlemen were umong-the . semor officers ; but changes were in progress—the Trunnions were perhaps ettiSEely gone by that time . ¦ Collingwood was a hasrolv cultivated sestleinaa .
fltfd <* fchen < his 'elegant despatches were -read , ^ Pitt asked -. where tikis man * qgo & basstyle ? " ^ Bat ; if would , be absurd to suppose -that the mass . of m « n wane in ; any way ^ up-to CeUingwood ' a standard . > Xifevw « as still -very hard at 4 » sa . Ceilingwaod wa & often-short * ;© f crockery- ^ rhea in command of a , fleet , wi ^ dxinking . Tenedos wine in the blockading days—leaedos wine which would , now be no inore-tolerated in a midshipman ' s , mess than . currant or cowslip at a club dinner . The old school traditions were still triumphant when'Collingwood died . Officers were still quite isolated from" life on shore . OFilis period Marryatt represents the traditions . Midshipmen fought with each . ' other—wereifloggeaV on occasion—were faT below the present standard mmanners' -and "mode of life . ' ¦ Captains ' - might have : been found * who , - nowadays , woukH > e better suited to * theBridegreom or the Wedding Rmtr . . The tfaalors "were IDibdiriJs sailors , —fHed watches , > . ihired whole haekney-eoachstaaaods , ^ , i & c . ; Dibdin ? s songs , be it observed , are-artificial compositions , -andithettinfluence and merit have both been overrated .
. JUaxryatfc , in .. literary inerijk , was below Ms : American contemporary Cooper . He had not Cooper ' s genius ; he could not have given the poetry of the Red Indian life as Cooper did it . In a word , he had not the romance talent of Cooper ; but he had great and undoubted merits , and his sea novels are . ' admirable ; as- contributions to our naral history . Cooper-had not 3 we believe , nearly so much experience of jsea-lifeas Msxrysti . . And iere is llarryatt ' s strong point ; he knew the service thoroughly ;—he-was just la-time to catch the old traditions ;—andhe witnessecHhe changeswhichtime was making in the profession . He be ^ an to write in middle life . His main quality is shrewd , strong sense—with a , flavour of humour of a kindred , sort . He had no poetry—riot much invention , ; writj though of a hard kind , glittering more like steel than like fire , and only a ¦ luxatedrange of characters . Cooper beats Mm . in the romantic 'd ement . Marryatt admirably catches : the moral life—the social life—nf > a
man-of-war ; Cooper more ^ subtly , and rarely saw in a ship what Scott sawin ^ tifeaiiaL . castle , —and < he makes his reader-mingle with the very , spirit of ; existence ^ arid ^ br eathe its atmosphere . Cooper ' s range of-characters was limited likewise . Neither of them was successful in painting women - tbeyiknew no medium between -a jolly boatswain's wife and a large-eyed , laarintelligible , outrageously beautiful and mysibioal doll , and angel . Their sea-educations -had much to do with this . In their toviag . youth , ! far away fcom-iQie sight of women for month s ,-they , thought of them as a kind of supernatural creatures—such as people ashore fancy fairies to be- Women mayrregret these old superstitious .. admirers wheiuthey see the sterner judgments which later novelistaformof them .
• 30 ae -service has-changed einee Marryatt was a young man , and-very greatly changed . The " oltl school" is gradually wearing out . Brummell Shnaelf might ( at all events in a flag-ship ) find life at sea tolerable now . tongs stays an iharbour produce a great effect . CPhen , boys are sent ; to sea as a * 5 profession "—do not rush to- it as a 4 t vocafcion "< ( in -so-ma-ny instances at . all events } as of old . flhe old school of captains from " before the mast *' is ^ gone . Men of family fill the service , together , with , those of the middle class . * yho ' . have political . coiineacions- ^ and pursuits . The " service" is less board-of afloat—* -horses , society , and billiards , j snore . ' . You meet a quiet gentleman . ( V little sun-burnt , perhaps ) at dinner , who drinks'moderately , attdrsiwears . not at all ; he is fuaHker in : manner . than , most men ; -. talks ^ fcbont music , the Puseyites , ' and whateverrelse is goirag , like the-rest of peqpde . ' . Presently you learn . that he is Lieutenant , R . N ., and he has never * ' shivered'his timbers" once duriiig > the conversation ! Of course
changes afloat are the natural results of changes ashore—and ( let the " school" . say what they please ) inevitable . But who ventures to assert that a changed navy has-ceased to ¦ ¦ baa competent one—or that the nineteenth century ' s- - _ Service" is not fit for the work of the nineteenth century ? " Jack " himself is now paid gradually , and has never . such a . plethora of cash as to rcK 5 puiw 3 : the . temblo-J : ew phlebotomy * to which df old lie was subjected . He ha ^ been modified , as his officers have , though not so strikingly . But he works ilikea . horse—lie is as obedient as water is to wind—he . goes coollyr fimty , and even laughingly , into > the very mouth of danger and death—and an ^ tflins all that was , valuable of those elements which form the notions of him wiuch-. we have aketched above .
"Vr « have ' only left ; ourselves room 'to reco . jmn . ond the Two ' Admirals as oajjejof Cooper ' s , bosfc novels ; -and , to regret that our spuco permits us not to giro crur ; prai 8 e : to Michael Scott , Herman Melville , the veteran Charnier , soul others .
Jtoummwr U6, 1854.] Tihie Jlm& Djb£R. Jm...
JtoummwR U 6 , 1854 . ] TIHIE JLm & DJB £ R . jmgK
Literature Of The Wak. <0des8warid Ha- I...
LITERATURE OF THE WAK . < 0 des 8 warid Ha- Inhabitant . l } y an BngUali Prisoner in Eussiu . Bosworth . IfematJcabb . Sieges from ConsiafUinox > lo to flelattopol By Ilonry Ottloy . With vlttuatitationa . ' H . Ingram antl Co . "HUBJBuccosaqCXiicut . lloyer ' a Emjlbiht ^ risaners , in litissia 1 ms , apparently , led to 4 hxj ; prodttcti < Mtt of a companion volume . It is a companion volume in every way . The outside—to go to the best part first—is similar , and the mutter , ih 3 txaj ; s , the same loyal adherence to our enemies , and the aamo total want of sympathy with the Queen ' s English . On no account would wo charge lieutenant Royer with the authorship of the book , but tb . o simidai'ity of stylo and opinions certainly suggeats tho Biums hand . The present book profossea to be written by a midshipman of tho ill-fated J'igcr , > vlio , aftor a
rsemes of social ! trium | iiis * £ 'la- Oricliton , finds , liimsalf , as fee says , aaToiiddy ; attadied ' to lie Victory , -witii -an impending coxtrt-mafttal'ian < nng x > vcr ihim . for tire'loss of his vessel . ~ ° The moril of the " getting up" of iiis book may be simplified into , this : llf . it b « v true ,, it . betrays woe & il . conduct . on . the part of the Tiger & officers ; if : it foe , as-we ^ sospect , a compilation , it is disgcacefial to the-writer . » In the latter oase ^ need offer ao proof— t ite Tvork itself is the proog-ibut we ; would simply remark tfaat every newspaper is vilified and aeelarea omtrue , whilst several-are laid under contribution for-the best parts , both as . to style and matter ,-o £ thepresent volume . Supposing the work to tevgeauine , what are sweto think of officers who , under such . circumstances ,, would .. tsanducfe rthemselves as the " middy" describes ?
On returning : from one of these parties , . towards three o'clock in the morning I recollect Ending several of our own officers , who had been making merryTwiS some Kussian officers in anothfir part of the city . So well satisQed were they with each other , that there had been ^ complete fraternisation , similar to that which' has since taken place between the French and English soldiers at Constantinople . 'The ' English had the Russian helmets oil their . heads , and the Russians < woce the xavai , « old « lace 4 cap , which they would have no doubt been proud to keep . I mention this circumstance merely to show how little of the spirit of ill-will was borne us by the Russians , whom our periodicals so unmercifully abuse .
Anybody who can approve of this work will be pained if the courfcmartial should go hard with the Tniee-young midshipman . He appears to have played a prominent part at -all the Odessa tea-parties , no matter how small they might be . He las a splendid memory , and gives ¦ copies or translations of all the songs which the dear Russian daughters sang'to him . Tery fortunately we have none of the conversation , for it was evidently very , much in style of the book : ——Qur conversation was light and unrestrained ; there was no attempt at showing ^ vrhat we knew to each other . Sometimes it was most trifling and Innocent ; at others we talked of Europe , of . England , of friends-whom we pourtrayed to each other . "W ! e gave our opinion on politics , poetry , anything , everything , freely and unreservedly . This was truly " thejfeasfc of reason and the flow of soul . " My young friend , Amj ' , listened attentively , but said little . Her cheek was . flushed , and I could see that not a lemark had been lost to her understanding .
Wie haveno spacevto criticise the grammar of this encycl 9 pa 3 dicaLmiddy , /^ who , professes to know . everything ; but we wish to assure our read ers : that there is , the saane amusement in the book as there is in many mother l books on Eussian s . ubjects—allof which are open to book-makers in , the British Museum . In taking leave . of this elegant performance we particularly recommend the professed author to the mercy of the legal tribanal before which he professes to tremble ,. We feel assured that iie ' . had no more to do with the loss of the Tiger than with . the composition of the little book about its crew in- Odessa .
Remarkable Sieges is a . little work of far more merit , which . supplies precisely that information wliich every one says is Tequired . There : ar . e not only capital accounts of various important sieges , but they , ate given inastyle at once popular : and learned . IDhe description of ancient :. fortifioation , if no longer -useful , is still interesting—not only to . the antiquary but to the general , reader . : < Vauban ? s systems are carefull y detailed , ^ and . the diagrams and illustrabions 1 wall * serve to-make many acquainted with-subjects which ,-at-present , they have only tallced iibout . JRarbettes > and casemates need no longer be " sealed books , " and bastionsanxl redoubts will ,. inj future , be evident to the " meanest capacity . "
'.Books On Our Table. History Cif Britis...
' . BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . History cif British'Chtiana ; comprising a General Description of tJte Colony . By Henry G . Walton , M . D . 2 vols . Longman , Brown , Green , . and . Longmans . Jfer-cur-ius , or the Word-MaJcer : An Analysis of' the / Structure xund . Rationality < qf Speech : including the Decypkennent of Divers Truths that are Figured thronyh tfee ' Veil of Language . By tho . Reverend Honry Xe Mesmiere . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Charles Random ; or , Lunatics at Large . By Thomas White . 3 vola . . Longman , Brown , Greon , and . Longmans . The Rose and the Ring ; or , the History qf Prince Giylio and Prince JBulbo . AFiresvfe Pantomime for Great und Small Children , By Mr . M . A . Tltnaarah . °
Sanith , lildar , and . Cp . The Principles qf Physiology ; the Structure of tho Skeleton and of the Teeth ; arid the Varieties , of the Human Mace . ( Orr ^ s Circle of the Sciences , * ) "W . S . , Orr and . Go . The Mathematical Saiemes : including Simple Arithmetic , AlgeWa ^ iond tha Eknwnta of Euclid . ( On ' 8 Qircle of the Sciences . ' ) "W ..- « 3 . Orr and Co . The Woi : ks of William Covy > er , ¦ comprising his . Poaimy Correspondence , ^ omd iTranalationsf with a L \ fo of tho Avithor . Jiy tho Editor , ltobort Sonthoy , ' LJL . D ., < Scc . Vola . VII . and VIII . . IlwwyjCr-JUohn . Later Years . By tho Author of " Tho Old House by the ltivor . " Sampson Xow , Bon , and Co . History of' the Origin , Formation , and Adoption qf Ike Constitution of the United States ,
with ^ Notices qf its Principal Fraviurs . I ) y Gcorgo Ticknor Curtis . Vol . I . Sampson Low , Sun , and Co . Children ' s \ Triah ; or , the JaUIg Hope-Dancers and other Takn . 'J ' ruublutcd from tho German of Auguste Iiinden . ' jLVUbncrand Co . Gmieral Bounce ; or , the Lady attd tha Locusts . By G . J . Whyto I \ lolvillo . 2 vols . John W . Turkey tuxd Son . The East and West : a Song of the War . CteoygcBoU . Wcargfoot Common . By J ^ oltch Rituhio . David Jloguo . Jliotory for Boys ; or , Annuls of the Nations of Modern Europe . By J . G . lidtfnr . David' Bogito . Tho Forest Exiles ; or , the J ' erila of « Peruvian Family amid the Wilds oft / to Atuiazow By Captain Mnyuo Uuid . l >« vid' Uoguo , Odessa and its fnhubitunts . By an English I ' rwonor in IJusuin . Thomas Boaworth
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 16, 1854, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16121854/page/19/
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