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Leader (1850-1860), 17th July 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 19, No.-434, JuiY 17, 1858.] THE LEAD EH. __...

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      The Pyrenees. Voyage Aiix Pyrenees. Par ...

      some untoward and strained expression , some cold alluMon , ' always . conic in to show that he is observing . suid piling up words , but that he is not in communication , so to speak , with the soul of the landscape ; . that he . has no real sympathy with the glorious works and mysterious sounds of nature ; that the . sighing of the-wind along the mountain side , and the heavy silence of the plain , . the rustling of the waves amid ihe pebbles of a curved and solitary bay , the scream of the petrel , the lowing of herds ; that the twinkling of stars and the myriad flashes of li » lit and colour over si landscape ; that vast horizons and yeen nonb , never in reality'awaken , any tender feelings in his heart . He is more at ease , therefore , in the portions of his work on

      • which he seems least to pride himself , when he is not painting pictures but endeavouring . to destroy illusions . His account of . the monotonous life of Bagneres , though without grace or lightness , and written : is if he was still somewhat bored , is successful as a piece of criticism of niann « r ' 3 . We meet Lere , however , as in twenty other places of the book , the substitute which every serious Frenchman gives his readers for humour when he endeavours to be gay—namely , ridicule of the English . M . Taino , certain of raising a laugh , compares an ancient countrywoman of ours to a " crooked asparagus , " and accuses her of drinking tea . Nothing , of course , can be more elegant or spirited than this ; but we have seen the same thing five thousand times over . We feel inclined' to oiler a prize for the first French tour which shall not contain similar impertinences .

      A . pleasant feature in this volume is the reference occasionally made , in a new and striking way , to the ancient legends and historical incidents connected with the countries traversed . The story of Pe < le I'uyane is a ghastly scrap of mediaeval annals , and many other sections are almost equally remarkable ,. As the whole book is well written , and tlie right of its author to speak authoritatively on many points is admitted , we recommend tourists imd others to glance at its pages "; but we submit that when M . Taine leaves his special subjects he should not endeavour to change his style . Even "Voltaire would have been ridiculous had he attempted to paint . the'beauties of the Upper Alps in tints borrowed from the palette of Rousseau .

      No.-434, Juiy 17, 1858.] The Lead Eh. __...

      No .-434 , JuiY 17 , 1858 . ] THE LEAD EH . _____ 691

      The People's Blue-Book. The People's Blu...

      THE PEOPLE'S BLUE-BOOK . The People's Blue-Booh ; Taxation as it is , and as it ought to be . Second Edition . '• ¦ . ¦¦ ; Eoutledge and Co With a very unpromising title and exterior , this little book , like a good kernel in a rough shell , has much that is valuable and interesting in it . The utter neglect of politics , as a science , by the people at large , is greatly to be regretted ; and to . it many of our social evils are . owing . Were this compendious book Only carefully studied , it would go / a long way towards educating the political student at least in the broad outlines of social ai-d legislative science , and we' earnestlyrecommend it to all those desirous to exercise their rights and privileges as members of society .

      The book is divided into three portions— "Taxation as it is , " " Taxation as it ought to be , " and a general review of the subject , entitled , " Concluding observations . " In the first part , in . about a couple of hundred pages , the whole system of our present taxation is very admirably condensed ; and a pretty mass of expediency , partiality , and corruption it is . We have not space to point out the evils engendered by such an agglomeration of ignorance and craftiness , but can only recommend the political student to make himself thoroughly master of it . In the second portion — Taxation as it ought to be—the chief proposition is that 58 i millions shall be raised annually by a tax of 4 s . in the pound , or 20 per cent ., on realized property . Whether this is the best financial scheme that can be propounded in the present state of the nation , this is not the place to discuss , for that is purely

      a political question of the very highest importance . It is , however , satisfactory to know that the-writer is perfectly impartial , and even a selfdenying man , sis he is a landholder , and derives Iiis income from landed property . This has been stated in a paper published by the Council of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association , and we know it is correct . That the author is an . earnest , sincere , and able advocate for the people ' s interest there can be no doulit , and his book is what he describes it—a "People ' s Blue-book . " Its real object is to expose the manifold evils resulting from the present anomalous mode of taxing ; . and , secondly , the enormous advantages that would accrue from direct taxation . Jn justice to the author , we conclude with liis own statement on this point : —

      If the people would have tea for Is . a ll > ., coffee for 6 < L , sugar for 2 d ., tobacco for 3 d ; the light , wholesome , and pleasant wines of France ami tlie Rhino for 3 d . a bottle , and nil the other -wines , spirits , and articles of necessary consumption at prices reduced in the same proportion , they must abolish all customs and excise duties , all income tax , all assessed tuxes , and nearly all the stamp duties , ami they must agree to have one tax which will bear equally on nil realized property , and leave every industrious working man in the kingdom to enjoy the produce ofhis own daily labour , free from all taxation . ^ Res erving our opinion upon many of the political op i nions put forth in this excellent little work , we heartily recommend it to all who take a healthy interest in public affairs .

      Eddies Hound The Rectory. Which F Or, Ed...

      EDDIES HOUND THE RECTORY . Which f or , Eddies Hound the Rectory . l ) y Owen Vurm . 2 vols . Edinburgh : James 11 ogg and Sona ; London : UrooinbiUgo and Sons . The quaint title of tills novel affords no clue to its real character . It is not , as one might assume , a polemical production ; it is something the very reverse , of this , and , therefore , something vastly better . Tue author evidently possesses a " healthy" mind , cultivated , elegant , full of keen observation of character , both the good and the bright side , and with a piquantc view of sarcastic quality , without a particle of ill-nuture . There is no effort at exaggerated caricature , there is no attempt to burlesque the peculiarities of an nuUviduul by which a clusa is brought into undeserved odium , no violent contracts cither of the supernaturully good and amiable , and the unretlecraably vicious and worthless . Th « i characters aro full ol

      life , such as are to be surely found in the walks of society , in which the author has placed tlie main scenes of the novel . It is just one of those works of which we should be <> lad to see a larger number produced—proper for the parlour and the drawing-room , in which all classes of novel-readers will find amusement and the cultivated mind something more . The office of the critic is here properly confined to a cordial , and no niggard recommendation . The plot , if we may so term the leading incidents of the story , is mainly to be gathered from the working out of the various characters , which are admirably balanced—the grave , the gay , and the quizzical , alternating pleasantly and naturally . The principal interest centres on the inmates of the rectory , Dr . Wyndham and his two daugbters . Margaret

      Wyndham , the eldest , we take to be the heroine , a sweet pure-minded girl , who deservedly secures the great matrimonial prize in Mr . Herbert , the hero , a wealthy semi-misanthrope , made so by early disappointments , but recovered to the business of life and substantial happiness by the combination of charms , accomplishments , and womanly goodness of Margaret Wyndham . The catastrophe—that is , of course , tlie wedding—is , however , brought about rather too abruptly . The author might , we think , have made much more of the " situation , " and have accomplished the denuument without calling in the aid of accessories which somewhat mar the reader ' s interest , lint we confess that altogether criticism finds itself disarmed , the merits so greatly preponderate , and the execution generally being so lifeike and talented .

      Illustrated Handbooks. The Official Illu...

      ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOKS . The Official Illustrated Guide to the - ' South-Eastern Ruilioay and its BrancTies . By George Oleasom . Two Hundred Engravings . Published under the authority of the Directors . W . H . Smith and -Son ; . Arthur Hall and Co . The Official Illustrated Guide to the Northern Railway of France , with Six Days in Paris . By George Measom . One Hundred Engravings , and Map of Paris . Published under the authority of the Directors . ¦ W .. H . Smith and Son ; Arthur ' Hall and Co . Practical Through-Routes from London to Germany Tyrol , Switzerland , § c . To accompany and connect Murray ' s Handkbooks . By an Englishman Abroad . Longman and Co . Great are the mysteries of the book trade . We have here some 325 pages of very well written matter , with apparently the full number of wellexecuted woodcuts lor which the title-page takes credit , and all provided by Messrs . Smith for the small charge of one shilling . The author has taken no mere bird ' s-eye or railway-carriage view of the large tract of country

      traversed by the South-Eastern , its proper branches , and the affiliated lines , but has given a legitimate and an interesting guide-book in the amplest sense of the word to all that can by any possibility be ' remarkable- ' . in those districts . Each church , and hall , and ruin , within a walk or ride of any station , brings contributions to the tide of local , personal , and antiquarian knowledge , ransacked from all the local guides and county histories , and harmonized ad unguem- —and here we can quite credit the statements of the author- —during a-lung and arduous series of topographical expeditions . To the casual "through-traveller , " whose ideas of'the . -South-Eastern'Railway are limited to the plunging journey per express from London-bridge to Dover or Hamsgate , and whose experience is never likel y to be extended , the Illustrated Guide can be little enough attractive ; but to all who are fortunate enough to be rich in youth and leisure , as Avell as to those whom circumstances compel to get the most of pleasure in the least of time , we heartily , commend- . its brimming pages . They will please the pedestrian and the excursionist , not as fellow-travellers only , hut as companions and revivers of associations by the winter fire when the holiday is over , and the worker has returned to his labours .

      The Official Illustrated Guide , although of undoubted use to excursionists to Paris , is a work of much less scope than that just noticed , and , aa a literary performance , not to be mentioned in the same breath . The " six days in . Paris" occupy about three-quarters of its bulk , and the information afforded to visitors of the gay city is , as might be expected , well compiled and interesting ; much pleasanter to read , ' and infinitely cheaper than the dreary ponderosity of the Galignani . We can have no hesitation in affording it this prominence upon our page at the moment when the swallow flight of travellers are girding up their portmanteaus and fathoming their porte-monnnies .

      Practical Through-Routes is a selection from such of the continental railway tables as through-travellers have occasion for—said time-tables not warranted immutable . Annexed Handbook highly crystallized .

      Cla11e The Gold Seeker. Vlare The Gomsee...

      CLA 11 E THE GOLD SEEKER . Vlare the GoMseeher , the Elfin lievel , and other Poems . By J . G . Watts . Gruombridgc and Sons . Mb . Watts appeals to our critical sympathies by informing us that onco ho carried n knot at Billingsgate as a lush-porter , thnt he has shaken the knot olfnnd has now a fish-stall of his own , finding leisui ' O for " momenta of converso with the ' sacred nine . ' " Mr . Watts has yet to learn that critics have no bowels—that is , of compassion—for producers of middling poetry or no poetry , which is an oflenco to gods , men , and booksellers , and that the only plea they can accept as valid for publishing rhyme at all 5 s thut the fountain

      of inspiration is really situated within the I'egions of P-amassus . We are sorry to tell Mr . Watts thut the volume he has sent us docs not contain poetry of the right stamp , lie quotes Burns 4 is his apology ; but Burns was one of nature ' s poets , who really did converse with tho " sucred nine , " whereas a good deal of Mr . Wults's rhyme is due to his recollection , and the " nine" that he believes ho has conversed with must have been draggle-tnilcd denizens of the locality where ho Bells his ihh . Seriously , then , although th < s volume is creditnblu as the work of a sulf-educuted man , and shows an amount of talent and observation of lifb something beyond the common order , our advice to Mr . Watts is to write »» s much us ho pleases for his own delectation , but to abstain from pr int and publication .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1858, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17071858/page/19/