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p rofitable , for these three to combine together and publish only one edition instead of three editions ? Each might thus secure a good profit . But if each has to undertake the same expenses which would suffice for one , the waste must be considerable . Fifteen thousand copies sold would leave a profit for all three ; but if the three publish independently , and each sell five thousand , the public will be supplied no better , and each publisher will sustain a heavy loss . We are moralizing for the reader ' s benefit . Our words are vain in the ears of publishers , who would never think of combining together . But we could not resist the temptation of pointing out the effect of competition as exhibited in the cheap reprints of the day , and of showing what cooperation would do were it tried . Elisabeth Christine , Konigin von Preussen . Eine Biographic
von T . W . von Hahnke . Berlin . London , Franz Thimm . Many characters move in Vanity Fair , and particularly in its domestic departments , of whose history it would be sufficient to know that they have been faithful , good , and affectionate . An especial biography of a woman is only justifiable if an elevated position has given her a field of action , in which she has distinguished herself , or if she has influenced her time by her superior qualities . But Elisabeth Christine has neither distinguished herself , nor has she had the slightest influence on the great 2 £ in <; ; she was , on his side , that good cipher which required really no especial history . Her name , " Consort of Frederick the Great , " was as great a title as she could have ever enjoyed . The history of this Queen appears , therefore , to have been written by royal command ; for it
is dedicated to the King and the Queen of Prussia , and written by a German nobleman . Elisabeth Christine , a princess of Brunswick , became the consort of Frederick the Great , and , although morally separated from the King , she used to do the honour of the Prussian Court , and was distinguished for her virtue and attachment to the great hero of the seven years' war . Her history might , therefore , have been written , with all the requisite documents , in twenty pages , whilst we have here a volume of 500 pages before us , filled up with worthless documents , and with a very heavy biography , almost impossible to penetrate , impossible to read , on account of the meagreness of its incidents , and the utter imbecility of its detail . Indeed the book contains nothing but court gossip and a kind of diary , which was scarcely worth reprinting .
The Life , Character , and Genius of Ebenezer Elliott , the Cornlaw Hhymer . By January Searle , Author of Leaves from Sherwood Forest , &c . London , Gilpin . Edinburgh , Black . Dublin , Gilpin . Though this small volume does not pretend to contain more than a mere sketch of the character and writings of the Laureate of Free Trade , yet it is written with so much spirit and energy that it interests us as muph as we doubt not it did the audience at Leeds , to which it was originally delivered . Elliott ' s name has been a " household word" for years in those districts , where the
battle of Freedom has long been fought , and where the most strenuous efforts are still making for its achievement ; and the affectionate manner in which January Searle delights to speak of his hero must meet with ready response from those in whose hearts he is enshrined as the Champion of Progress in every shape . Commending the wish to our readers , we will content ourselves with giving as an extract the last notes sung on earth by the Poet , and the closing remarks of his biographer : — * ' Thy notes , sweet Itobin , soft as dew ,
Heard soon or late , are dear to me ; To music 1 could bid adieu , But not to theu . When from my eyes this lifeful throng * Has passed away , no more to be ; Then Autumn ' s primrose , Robin ' s song-, lieturn to me . " " And thus , in strains of gentle music , did the spirit of our brave Poet pass away for ever from the earth . Those
who knew him best loved him most , and will feel for some time yet to come as if , in his death , ' some great wrong' had been done them . Time , however , will bring with it its own wisdom , and convert this private and apparent wrong into universal justice , which ail shall see and acknowledge . In the meanwhile let us be thankful for the rich legacy which the Poet has left us in his songs , and for the example which he has set us of a life lived for a purpose . "
Hope Leslie . By Miss Sedgwick . ( The llailway Library . ) G . ltoutledgc . One of the very best of American tales in readable type for a shilling ! Constructive Exercises for Teaching the Elements of the Latin Language on a System of Analysis and Synthesis , with Latin Heading Lessons . By John liobson , B . A . Second edition , revised . Taylor and Walton . We have carefully examined this work , wherein the student is led " slowly but sure " from the simplest up to the more complex forms of Latin construction , and can recommend it as the best work of the kind that has fallen in our way . Simplicity of arrangement and distinctness of plan have produced what the teacher and the student will soon discover to be an excellent work .
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Socialism Unmasked . By Charles Conrad . ( Slater ' s Home Library . ) George Slater . The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt , with Reminiscences of Friends and Contemporaries . In 3 vols . Smith and . bluer . Memoirs of the War of Independence in Hungary . By General Klapka . In 2 vols . With portraits of Kobsuth and Klapka . C . Gilpin . The Course of Creation . By John Anderson , D . D ., Minister of Newburgh . Longman and Co . J ^ ovelh / s Part-Song Book . Nos . 2 and 3 . J . A . Novello . The Musical Times and Singing-Class Circular . J . A . Novello . Novelfo ' s Cheap Edition of Oratorios . Parts for May and June . J . A . Novello ,
El Dorado ; or , Adventures in the Path of Empire . By Bayard Taylor . 2 vols . ( The Popular Library . ) G . Routledge . Observations on the Indian Post-office , with a Map of Routes throughout British India . By Captain N . Staples . Smith and Elder .
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NOTES AND EXTRACTS . The Rights of Women . —Women are supposed to be very calm generally ; but women feel just as men feel ; they need exercise for their faculties , and a field for their efforts , as much as their brothers da ; they suffer from too rigid a restraint , too absolute a stagnation , precisely as men would suffer ; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings , to playing on the piano and embroidering bags . It is thoughtless to condemn them , or laugh at them , if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex . —Currer Bell .
The English Appetite for News . —The city clerk emerging through folding-doors from bed to sitting-room , though thirsting for tea , and hungering for toast , darts upon that morning ' s journal with an eagerness , and unfolds it with a satisfaction , which show that all his wants are gratified at once . Exactly at the same hour , his master , the M . P ., crosses the hall of his mansion . As he enters the breakfast-parlour , he fixes his eye on the fender , where he knows his favourite damp sheep will be hung up to dry . —When the noble lord first rings his bell , does not his valet know that , however tardy the stillroom-maid may be with the early coffee , he dares not appear before his lordship without the Morning Post ? Would the minister of state presume to commence the
day in town till he has opened the Times , or in the country till he has perused the Globe ? Could the oppressed farmer handle the massive spoon for his first sip out of his Sevres cup till he has read of ruin in the Herald or Standard ? Might the juvenile Conservative open his lips to imbibe old English fare or to utter Young England opinions , till he has glanced over the Chronicle ? Can the financial reformer know breakfast-table happiness till he has digested the Daily News , or skim . ned the Express ? And how would it be possible for mine host to commence the day without keeping his customers waiting till he has perused the Advertiser or the Sun ? In like manner the provinces cannot—once a week at least—satisfy their digestive organs till their local organ has satisfied their minds . —Dickens's " Household
Words . " The Rich and the Poor . —Many of those who called themselves friends of the poor were always declaiming against the rich , as if the very existence of their riches was an injury to the poor . Now , who were the rich ? In most instances the descendants of the industrious and saving poor . They might think that a strange and bold assertion , but let them consider . It is true that a great many centuries back the lands of England were wrested out of the hands of their lawful owners , and bestowed upon those who had done nothing but fight for them . But very few of these estates were now in the families of the old Norman soldiers , who then received them . Thev had been sold and mortgaged—to
whom ? To those who by patient industry , a little and a little laid by from time to time , had acquired wherewithal to purchase them , and then had left them to their children ; and surely , instead of grudging them this reward of their toil , it would be better to imitate their patience and frugality . Hereditary fortunes are the result of accumulated labour . " By the sweat of the brow shall man cat bread , " was the decree of the world's Governor , and this decree has ever been an inevitable law . Either we labour ourselves or our fathers labour for us , and we enter into their labours . And accumulated labour , instead of being a curse , is a very great blessing , because it sets some men free to attend to the concerns of the community , which must go to wreck if every one were living from hand to mouth . —Compton Mcrivale .
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THE LYRIC DRAMA . The amassing preliminary nourish of trumpets which ushered in Halevy ' s new opera was fully responded to by the clang and npisc of the o ^ i ra itself , but that is the only noise it is likely to make . M . Halevy ranks high with the admirers of the modern French school ; higher than with , us , who have not been wont to regard that school as an improvement upon
the great German and Italian masters ; and , judging his work by principles formed in a lifelong acquaintance with those masters , we are forced to declare that in La Tempesla we discovered mo original melody , and but few of those enchanting harmonic effects which betray profound learning and skill . There is not a single scene of real dramatic power . The subject gave the composer scope ; he has filled it with noise and commonplace .
The introduction is a musical puzzle . It gives no idea whatever of the forthcoming drama ; it strikes no key-note in the mind ; and , with the exception of one old-fashioned motive , is dull , heavy , disjointed , and unintelligible . The music assigned to Prospero — admirably sung by Coletti — beurs no affinity whatever to the grand conception of Shakspeare ' s magician ; nor does that intended to portray the grace of his dainty " Ariel" convey any feeling to our minds of the fantastic tricksy spirit ; no fault , however , lies with Carlotta , who danced to perfection J Madame Sontag ' s « Miranda "
was a wonderful display of vocalization : the daring flights of M . Halevy ' s fancy were daringly followed , and with complete success . The burden of the opera rest on the ample shoulders of Lablache , who gave all the power of his unrivalled talents as actor and singer , and saved the poverty of the music . His drunkenness was masterly , and the drinking-song shook the house with plaudits . If only to see that creation , La Tempesta should not be left unseen and unheard . But the music will pass away , leaving not a memory behind . It is a compound of Bellini , Auber , Meyerbeer , and Halevy , very ambitious but very mediocre .
The house was crowded , and all the bravos of success saluted it ; nay more , the morning critics have outdone each other in hyperbole . Could we believe them , we should believe another Weber or Mozart had been discovered in M . Halevy . If so , it is in a French translation !
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THE DRAMA . A few words will suffice to chronicle the doings , or want of doings , at other theatres ; they run upon translations , of course . At the Strand , Mr . Barnett has made a bold attempt on Schiller ' s Kabale and Liebe , in the shape of a three-act drama , called Power and Principle ; and , at the Haymarket , Mr . Webster has translated a "French piece , which he calls None but the Brave Deserve the Fair ; both have been successful . Regnier ' s farewell performances at the French Plays have been greatly relished ; and all the lovers of grand tragic acting will rejoice to hear that Rachel is soon to appear .
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Magnetic Power . —The magnet which was shown at the soirde of the President of the Royal Society was said to be the most powerful ever made ; it carried twentyseven times its own weight , that is , twenty-six pounds . Its own weight was somewhat less than a pound . It was exhibited previously by Professor Faraday at the Royal Institution , when it was explained to carry a weight equal to double the adopted formula for magnets . It was made at Haarlem by Mr . Elias , whose method does not seem to be made public . Telegraph to America—The formation of electric
telegraph communication between this country and North America has not been abandoned , and it is very curious , indeed , how the reiteration of the possibility makes a kind of belief come over us that , after all , it may not be so absurd . A man may be a very sensible man and yet oppose it , and he need not be ashamed of himself either if he should find himself mistaken . The longest wire which will be found necessary is said to be 1 G 00 miles , and the expense not by any means immoderate . He calculates on the wire not going above two miles deep even if it should touch the bottom all the way , and probably one mile will be the utmost . After
all what does it matter what depth it is out of a length of 1600 miles , a few miles deviation from the straight line cannot be a matter of importance except in the act of laying down , at which period several difficulties might probably be met with which in shallow water would be easily got over . Again , however , if this be the difficulty it is just the one which Mr . Wilkos must get over in order to show his powers ; and he believes he can get over it . We are afraid to sneer at it as some people do lest he should turn round some day and sneer at us , and we should find out that we had hindered the progress of truth instead of advancing it according to our professions .
Gas from Water . —A New York paper repeats the assertion that gas is made from water by Mr . Paine , of Worcester , at a price marvellously cheap . The water is decomposed by a galvanic current , and this current is produced by a mechanical power . The prime mover in producing this power is said to be a weight : sixty-seven pounds fulling nine feet in an hour is capable of producing as much electric force as will make 1000 cubic feet of gas . As hydrogen gives no light , it is previously carbonized , so as to make the flame white and brilliant . For the production of heat it is burnt without carbon , and is found very effective and cheap . This is a power very much wanted , and it is curious how we are tantalized a long time by such discoveries before we can really get a firm hold of them . With such a power we could light our
fires without inconvenience , burn them without smoke , and extinguish them at once without fear of anything remaining sufficient to endanger the house in manufacturing ; and we might feel ourselves pretty safe from destructive fires . The poorest might have a warm fire , and no man henceforth be shrivelled with cold in his own home , and the air above London or Manchester might be as clear as over a village . So many other channels would flow from it , that we are less able to believe as we continue to consider how the world would be changed j in all probability coals would no longer be carried by steam-boats , freights would be cheap and emigration easy . Wo fear to paint the picture which our fancy suggests , lest we should be obliged to come back to our murky abode in London .
New GuNi'owjJKit . —A new explosive mixture has conic from a place once famous for fire , Constantinople . It is not probable that it will ever be in general use as a gunpowder ; but a discovery from such a place , although by a Frenchman , seems to merit attention . It is a mixture of prussiate of potash , sugar , and chlorate of potash ; one part of the two former to two parts of the Utter . It is by M , Augcndre , assayer of the mint .
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Junk 15 , 1850 . ] &t ) e ILea&C ? . 283
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Leader (1850-1860), June 15, 1850, page 283, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1842/page/19/
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