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      Two Books On Pictures. Artistic And Desc...

      fluence that actuates and spirit that guides the reverend ' gentleman , are so admirable in feeling and generous iix sentiment that we would earnestly have them impressed upon the minds of all the gentlemen connected , with art criticism ; thus writes the reverend author : — " The writer has endeavoured to criticise in no exclusive spirit ; to appreciate excellence of every kind , at the same time he lias ¦ wished to see Tvith his own eyes , and to -write

      NulTms addietus jurare in verba magistri . The first step towards understanding a man seems to be to look athim from his own point of view ; and never to condemn him , because he lias not the merits of another . To see no grandeur in Rubens , because liis flowing outline has not the symmetry-of Raphael , nor hi 3 liberal colour , the depth and warmth of Titian—to find fault with Gian Bellini , because he has not the freedom or science of Michael Angelo—to despise even the minute reproduction of Gerard Dow , because it has none of the energy of Tintoretto—to carp at the dry ness or harshness

      of the Van Eycfts , because they have neither the suppleness nor softness of Andrea , the grace of Corregio , nor the glow . of Giqrgione—to forget the -wonderful truth of Holbein , because his fac . « iinile portraits have neither the romance of Titian nor the penetration of Leonardo—to think , in short , little of one man because he has not the soul of another involves , in the first place , a complete loss of all the enjoyment that a wider range of taste would give , and , moreover , displays an absolute ignorance of the first principle of all excellence and all originality—do your best ; and dare to be yourself . "

      Impressed with such large views , and imbued with suck generous philosophy , how could the writer's work be other than satisfactory ? We will noy take the last sentence from our first notice , omitting one woid and substituting another ; thus Mi ' - Blake is one of our best art-critics . "

      Ffo. 438, Awcst 14,'1858.] The Leader. 8...

      ffo . 438 , Awcst 14 , ' 1858 . ] THE LEADER . 811

      Hadji In Syeia. Jiadji In Syria I Or, Th...

      HADJI IN SYEIA . JIadji in Syria i or , Three Years in Jerusalem . By Mrs . Sarah Barclay Johnson . Philadelphia : J . Challen . Every man who occasionally loiters at second-hand book-stalls knows , what a random dip in . the " sixpenny box , " in the hope of lighting upon something rare or curious accidentally dropped there , is most likely to produce . If it be not a volume of old sermons , it is a hundred to one but the expected

      prize hi his hand will be a " Howadji in Egypt , " a ¦ " Month in Mesopotamia , " or a " Scamper from Gravesend to Grand Cairo , " or a " Cantab in Candia , " or a ' Lawyer in the Levant , " " Smith in Smyrna , " or " Jones at Jericho / ' or " Beyrout and Back Again , " or " Tigs and Gikf , " or some one of the minute variations of which such titles are susceptible . The manner and sentiment of such books will be found to be reducible to one or two

      types . There is the ' audacious imitator of Eothcn , who scorns all vulgar dot 'Is of steamboats from Marseilles , sea-sickness , exorbitant hotel-keepers , troublesome custom-houses , rapacious consuls , and dashes boldly into the thing—wakes you up in Cairo as if you had been there all your life , or startles you on the opening of his first chapter with "Buckshecsh , O stranger ! ' so said the dark-haired cameldriver , as we were lazily lounging , ' & c . This kind of traveller is always sentimental , vague , metaphysical , and addicted to strange words . The evening with him " greys" and " glooms , " the river " shimmers" and " sheens , " the fields arc " greened ¦ with golden plenty . " He asks the palm-tree what it sings in its melancholy waving—waxes philosophical upon the infinite and the ( ante , and is not above writing a comic chapter by way of change . There ia also the mntter-of-iact traveller , who rises

      early , and after performing ablutions and partaking of a hearty repast , consisting of omelettes , rice , ( igs ( he never spares you one item ) , goes down to see the marvels -which his guide-book has described before him . Better than this is the henry traveller , who reports learnedly upon the manners , religion , history , commerce , & c , of the country ; but of all bores , the gentleman or lady who travels in the Hast ¦ with a view to confirming . Biblical history is by far the worst . We know what he or she will suy at every singe of the pilgrimngc . At Cuusnrca we

      hear that " it was hero that Paul spoke so eloquently before Felix . Agrippa . " At every point about Jerusalem wo are favoured with such ejaculations as "Gethsamc 1 what magic is there in the name Who is not familiar with the sad story connected with its sacred soil ? " At Jericho , or at Tyre , we exclaim again , " How deplorable the change , line ] complete the desolation following the curse of an offended deity ! " At Betlilchcni " a multitude ol associations come thronging in upon the soul at the mention of that name which will never ceusc to be

      cherished in the inner sanctuaries of the heart . " The recollection of the sepulchre will never fade from the enthusiastic voyager ' s mind " while memory performs her functions . " The sight of some group of natives justifies the information that " with the Mahommedans the shaving of the head is never neglected , leaving only a small tuft of hair , by which they believe Mahonuned will one day elevate them bodily to heaven . " And forthwith , apropos of the bare mention of the name of that " self-styled Prophet , " we open a dreary chapter with , " Mohammed was born , at Mecca a . d . 569 . "

      Poor " Mrs . Sarah Barclay Johnson" is a specimen of this latter class . She is no doubt a very worthy and pious lady , but unfortunately her book is not readable . She has nothing new to tell , and wearies her reader intolerably with scraps of guide-book knowledge . National peculiarities which she details are frequently no peculiarities at all , as where she describes the collection of octroi duties at the " Jaifa Gate , " in Jerusalem . As a specimen of her political economy , we may mention that she considers this " heavy tax" as falling on the country people who bring in their wares , and therefore

      accounting for their dread of the soldiers who collect it . Mrs . Johnson ' s search for Scriptural coincidences and evidences of Biblical truth is laudable enough , but it should not be forgotten that the best cause may be injured by uurefLecting zeal . It is not by discovering that customs described in Holy Writ are still in existence that writers like Volney and Voltaire are to be met , or " the infidel" coiivicted of obstinacy . Such coincidences prove nothing but that the Scriptures are of Oriental origin , which not even ec the infidel" denies . The " truth of the Bible" must rest on other arguments . In manuscript , Mrs . Johnson ' s record of her "Three Years in Jerusalem" misht Have been valuable to her

      family and friends , who , if the excuse for publication m the preface be not an idle and a hackneyed fiction , did her no good service in sending it to the printers .

      Jfbamleigh Hall. Framleigji Hall. 3 Vols...

      JFBAMLEIGH HALL . FramleigJi Hall . 3 vols . Hurst and Blackett . We take it that the object of the writer of these volumes is to show tlie effects of constitutional timidity and morbid diffidence on the fortunes , character , and mind of an individual . In this , though the writer has only partially succeeded , he has , nevertheless , in the delineation of his hero , worked out very cleverly a character by no means removed from tlie everyday walks of humanity , and one which , if all its qualities have not been met with in the same individual in our peregrination through life , certainly in their separate peculiarities they have been encountered in separate persons . The hero , Maurice X ) elamerc , the victim of a too sensitive and shrinking nature , arising from deficiency of physical robustness , combined with a too delicate mental organisation , is , to his misfortune , arbitrarily placed in situations for which _ his nature totally unfits him , mainly by the mistaken notion his father , Sir Arthur Delamere , has of his real character .

      The portrait of the stern-minded and able-bodied father is beautifully balanced by the soft , lovable , and pitying character of the mother . After undergoing at home , at school , and in the army all the torments and contretemps which his peculiarities bring upon Arthur Ddamcrc , we find him suddenly in love with Eugenia Churchill—a charming creature , affianced to Captain Mortimer Grenville , liis tormentor at Eton , and in after manhood his foil in all that regards manly externals . This love is reciprocated ; Eugenia begins to discover the superiority of the sterling qualities of the one over the brilliant superficiality of the other , and she breaks off the match . This has a prostrating effect on Captain

      Grenville—who , after m vain trying to provoke Captain Delamere to fight a duel , breaks a bloodvessel ; and while lying in a helpless condition in Sir Arthur ' s house , is rescued from certain death from a fire , which happens at the mansion , by the gallantry of Captain Delamcro . The rescue so works on the better nature of Captain Grenville , that he acknowledges tho error into which he has fallen throughout in considering Captain Delamere to bo a " coward , " and ho solicits and obtains forgiveness just before lie yields up his breath . There is a collateral love affair , of great interest , made to spring out of the chief incidents of the story ; and as the denoHuicnl is pleasant , wo have no doubt the work will find u tolerably large audience .

      Books Received This Week. Tke Works Of L...

      BOOKS RECEIVED THIS WEEK . Tke Works of Lord Bacon . By J . Spedding , E . L . Ellis , and 1 ) . D . Heath . Vol . V . Translations of the Philosophical Works , Vol .- II . Svo . Longman and Co . The Aquarian Naturalist . By T . Hymer Jones . Post 8 vo . Van Voorst . Humble Creatures . By T . B . Hicks . POst 8 vo . Van Voorst . . A Journey due North . By G . A . Sala . Post Svo . R . Bentley . The Mutinies in Oudh . By M . B . Gubbins . R . Bentley . The Parsees . By D . Frangee . Post 8 vo . Smith and : Elder .

      DurbrooTc . By Hiss Martineau . Smith and Elder . Stanford ' s Paris Guide . " With 3 Maps . E . Stanford . Guide to Jersey , Guernsey , SurJc , { $ •<; . By F . Dally . E Stanford . Guide to Cathedrals of England and Wales . By M Walcott , M . A . E . Stanford . The Photographic Art Journal . Parts 4—6 . W . lay

      A Booh For A'Corner.' By Leigh Hunt. (Bo...

      A Booh for a ' Corner . ' By Leigh Hunt . ( Bonn's Illustrated Library . )—Anything from Leigh Hunt will be welcomed by all classes of readers . This book is , to use this popular favourite ' s own words , ,. " ¦ a collection of " passages from such authors as retain , if not the highest , yet the most friendly , and , as it "were , domestic hold , upon us during life , and sympathise with us during all portions of it . " We here meet -with the choicest extracts from the choicest authors—all old established favourites —which will have tbeir popularity extended , if possible ,, by the fine taste and judgment of the selector , who ha 3 introduced each author -with a notice such as Leigh Hunt only could have written . The work is charmingly illustrated , and will be found all that Leigh Hunt himself designed it should be , namely , " book for all lovers of books at every time of life , from childhood to old age , particularly such as are fond of the authors it quotes ^ . and who enjoy their perusal in the quietest places . " Pebbles and Shells . By Elizabeth Wilrnshurst French .. ( R . Hardwicke . )—A . first essay Ly a fair " Trentice ia the Art of Poetry , " with a modest and retiring pTeface v which is sure to disarm severe criticism . The volnme is , probably ; chiefly intended for the circle of the writer ' s friends , and we have no doubt that they will , in th & words of the preface , find " some thought , some cadence , that may linger in the memory- " There is promise of " this in the " Swallow ' s Song , " -with which the volumeconcludes . LrranARY Gossrr . —TVe have sincere pleasure in announcing that Mr . Prescott , the historian of Philip the-Second , as well as of Ferdinand and Isabella , has recovered from , the severe attack from which he suffered , which caused so much concern not only to his immediate family and friends , but to the world of letters generally . The first number of Mr . Bentley ' s new review , to "be published quarterly , is announced to appear on the 1 st of December next .

      /^F!Tt&Gt; Ga V\Tx ^U? ^Lily * #

      • ' . ?

      He» Majesty's Theatre.—Mr. I/Umley, Who ...

      He » Majesty ' s Theatre . —Mr . I / umley , who hy this time must have been consoled by the liberal countenance of the lower million for the loss o € his formerly sole position before the upper ten thousand , as jprimo impresario assoluto , gathered an ample auditory at tlie last performance of La Traviata , on Saturday last . This intrepid manager , who , in the face of strong competition , has courageously put forward artistic novelties against the trained celebrities of the rival Opera-house , has , we hope , no reason to complain in his own proper person of public fickleness . The ancient prestige of the theatre he has so admirably managed has , of course , stood him in good stead during the season he last night brought to a close , and his prescience in effecting successive , and wo hope permanent , engagements with such , artistes as the fascinating Mdlles . Titiens and Piccolomini , and the melodious Giuglini , lms been warmly endorsed by a not uudiacerning public ,, mainly of his own creating . We must not be interpreted , however , as hinting that this beautiful ealle is forsaken by the rich and noble amateurs because , or as soon as , reduced prices opened its doors to the " public , to fortune , and to fame unknown . " Tho reports of such of our contemporaries as enjoy the pleasure of knowing an immense circle of noble and illustrious personages by sight , if not more intimately , inform us , from day to day , that while her Majesty and Court are absent from London , while the gatherings in the parks and Kegent-strcet are wasting visibly , and brown holliuid blinds invade-with dusky pall the " houses' eyes " of all the -western arrondiasements , —a number of tho aristocracy who , if themselves utterly insensible to the chaims of cheapness , are clearly not scared from their accustomed haunt by its invasion , have continued to patronise Mr . Lumley . Tho lessee has , all through tliis very long season , applied unflagging energy , perfect appreciation of tho requirements of tho public , and , speaking generally , tho b < J 3 t of management , to tho maintenance of his posi-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1858, page 811, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_14081858/page/19/