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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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&bni > t 4 ha < DfaMeviMctfaiiM ? batgnatefol to thesenseofameE j so that the por * 5 f * 5 K ^^^ i » k 4 » *»* « oout ^ ued to atiftk ev ^ r sjuce , even iw ^ f ^ iwdon cholera dfetwts oa a m * j ^^ inoro ^ ng , a » d o ^ r dear Sd ^ kS ^^ t low tide . The Non-pombatai ^ o seems to have S ^ St ensivB list of mUrtary ac ^ amtanc ^ , soon got into the thick of M Snff patrons in » general ^^ attd ; his staflr--aTery gallant old-general , 4 h 6 m we 4 k ^ S ^ GWe Brawn ; and . pitchy ^ tent among the : rest on&ebare brown hill side . And so for some five-and-thirfcy days this S « i ^ n tS cX « eteeats that 1 » bounded by Esse ^ -streeVWhitefiw ^* he-3 Chw »« s ,. W * Fteet ^ trfiet , was there present " seeing History , to use his © . wji'phrase . . . . _ __ . Certainly of late we \ have heard much , almost enough indeed , of " ± lis-+ w » « riff aa she wurtts herself in the pages of those in the camp who write ,
, ., anSspeculate , and ^ repeat from day to flay . They also see history , a little ; naV -some of them act jiiatory , and some of them write it , too : those . are ot theietineolaw . ^ ceHejattywsU as the journals are serv , e 4 , and admirablvas same , o ' •*?*» descjciptions of the great esents have read , yet not alone in the pages of the professed correspondent do we find the best information , liideed ^ in too many we find 4 croaking spirit , which smells of the professed gruriibler as well as of the professed correspondent ; as if he were th «»* wa ^ to ireafcthe British army as the veritable " sick man , and to take adMwmosisef its disease . Among the best of correspondents are theprjv «* 5 s « ath « aFwy . Ijtis in readi % their letters that we seethe truly noble « tuff of these hejtoes ; that we feel how they are upheld by a , sense of duty ; how ^ cheerfijiy they go into the trenches or out on the distant picket , taking the rain or sunshine as it comes ; how they brave death in every form , the
^ deadly bullet ortheequdllytaeadiy fever . ; how they rise swiftly out of their ¦ slaep ^ md sBK ^ their acais as the rilaum cry rings ^ through 4 he tents : ; with what fortitude . they have sat in sludge , slept in elydge , oooked in sludge , and ; faug h * and died in sludge . ; how they love their officers , those " igaUant gejiflemen , " as one -calls them ; how they love their commander-in-chief ; ; and with what tender and strong affection the hearts of these Englishmen turn to home , to the wife sitting lone , perhaps , by the fireside of the 8 tranger ; -to « he infant ehild ; to the gpey-headed parent tottering to the gravjeq to theJoved caae ^ the wife that , may be . In their letters these mea sngfk pf the . ir : jmisecy as , bad . enoughi but misery they are ready to endure foxihe honourqf old England , for the love of their country , for the sake of their Queen ; and not a few , understanding the bloody quarrel , add to these fedMncts of patribti ^ m a sense of the high justice of their cause . They do the
riot-grumble : ; crpsikihg finds no rpfticehi their simple records ; they are as ^ out a » d « a ^ &xLa baad of men as ever quitted shores of England . BiTea the wjQU » ded and the sick show the aiaongeat anxiety to get well ttnat ^ ey nj ^ he ^ once more on the field . # \ ^ . Oiir rton-Qombatailt does not give us any insight into this characteristic of $ he ^ ir . ^ His intercourse lay with staff-offlcersand generals , rather than with the men . And although his stay in the camp extended only to the tattle- erf JIttkennftn , and although , therefore , he escaped the terrible ordeal jtffc « 5 h ^ ibUow « d the ; to and the rain of , ^ uccQeding da ^ S , yet © tta might have expected moire than , one finds about ' the flash an ^ Cwftod constituents of-the camp—about the noble soldiers of England . The book . g ives us information , neither told in a military manner , mor ^ Hi the " manner of the regular correspondent , but in the manner of a gentleman , sober , quiet , subdued , yet not without cheerfulness and the
eraceof good feeling . But the information does not ; constitute tils value ^ Eftexontrae& ' Qf the tone of the . letters to t hose now fa mJUjar to the / public , thig xa « kp 3 ujp 4 ts voluje , JIhjaceis . nQiprejtence at peculiar and extensive information , no speculations on the art of war , no attempt to impress the r ^ derl ? ith ~ tlK * beliefthat ~ the ^ £ ivithor * ha 3 sffeneverythingrheaTd-evei ^ hing iff-anauthority on everything . What he sees he sets down , and no more ; what 'he has heard he tells with scrupulous care ; and , although it is not mnoj » < th « k hejhas $ nan uar nauoh that he : hashsarsd , yet eyeny fact related ippWaaif'i * wOTeith » ye » y tfwth . Those who have bee . n . s . atiated ,. as we have i&gxu ejjbher with the- '' graphic" or the . sljpslqp style of correspondence , will readily appreciate the quiet gaiety and good sense of the Non-Combatant . One or two instances will show the nature of his view of the war , and the way he writes about it * "Here is a distinct outline sketch of the battle of Xnkerman at two in the day , as seen from the then right Lancaster battery ;— ¦
, &t-this-time , the aspect of Ah © battle , ae « oen from our position , was as follows * Two ling * bodies of tb « allied troops stood ,. or mthe *> lay ,. closetbafoce theifoacemost teuiB . of ^ heSoa « nd I ) iwsixw 1 . 'a ilittlQthalo . w ' ( t ; I \ e loHg loronroiHuiod ^ ouAiiiiQ of the hilX on ; wlucltithey-j « w jiitch « d ,: an 4 iwbi ^} ,.. oo U » fiy rtfiwt side , desc ^ fe tP Ahe Tcheru ^ ya . AnMbor mt ** owwpwd ; < s pteice (« q it * wsn \ ed , tp . rae ) . ftbovMi a hundred yajcds in » 4 ' VWW »» d . n » oce , Qflf % a «*« rj ^ W , oo the vflry . pwflle qf ; tye ImU , ^ he < vhple . of tUw mo » nd , 4 should t « JJ y « u ^ ris ^ a ^ r ^ duaWy , for tw » or thrae . hwudrad yaud ? in . front of & « , t ^ uto , . Oroaaiag the Uigkwt partton of the oiUjlae , w » a a fomrth . body of the AJtiea . The ground then mpkea a . dip for dbouut four hundred yards , yrhon it makes anotkec gradual rise of the same rounded character , ' until it reaches an elevation . sowa # hat'higher than the 'hill occupied by the French and British droops . Here I counted six-oodjes of-the enemy . „ I -suppose tfee 'two arnkiea were seven or eight
hundred ymdawpwei . Ail parties « w « re poundings away with tb « ir artillery , an ( l > the vinck < mnri « d oiff the quake , no rthati-w ^ oouldolofttly ^ ee tbetsiMetaeb . About three , < ttteiaUkd 4 n > op » gmdnudljp odwanfiad , ttill thoir fotnunoidb park of ajrtiUfl ^ oecupiedthe bottom of the valley between the twq WUs . Jn . half aa , howvjmQi » , itlie Ji ^ iftsiwis w « re I n ifftU wttpwttwtwtto a » b » a ^ poU vti ^ ould 4 « e tlww in th » ir lo ^ g g « ey c , oa * a maceh-^ gf , p oM W -wUh tlwh-, armfl , a ^ oulder « 4 , aud ip gpoij oVd « r . S > uiring this very scene , now and than visited by shot and shall , the Non-OoiiAbatMit stood smoking his cigar . ± n officer present needed a . light , and fli cuaua ^ STon ^ CJoaabatanii ^ « igar for that 'purpose , " expressed an ortistio zwgmt ' llha * ho should spoil so beautiful an < aik 1 With what fragUo links 4 »») the biiMta of war ana peaoe united . On that came . day . our good lawyer bad 1 *»« Mked tup- from iJBabkb » va to the sowao of that tremendou * battle . Xfeint fu » tf ^ r «« rV p 4 iuvrounded by the dead and wounded , feeling keaaly the incoogvaity of otus ^ potition , he jet could not refrain from asking for . some Miloik ( bMmutf , , ¦ ..,.. Wipe know not whether Non-Oombatant is a poet . Bud while we are pwuaitiff'hifli oandour and nafiwtf , we do feol some doubts about the twcuraoy
of an im » u * ation authojship" a copy ve . raes- a - * lives notTfkr from my tent ; " cectain it is that the * eraes pwwifid » * 1 ms volume are among the foremost of those written on this war . It i * styled and was written upon " Xhe JSve of the Bombardment , " that is , the nj ^ htof the 16 th of October : — ' < . , . , : ¦ ..:. ¦ . . O ' w against the leaguered . city , couatleas tents are gleamuig ;\? hite— - Silent , save where , crowding gaily , England ' . ? sailors rouse the night With jest and laugh and chorus'd song , -By flick ' ring camp- » fii » 8 : atretched along . On our muskets sadly leaning , list we to our comrades' mirth , As each hearty shout reminds us of the Land that gave us birth : . So—ere a felon clime could smite Us . down—so leapt our pulses light ! Ah ! 'ti 3 long since Cheer and Revel from our pest-worn lines have shrunk : Yet a thojight of comfort stirs us , musing on the thousands sunk Beaeath a foe that mocks our ken—Tormovrow we shall fight with men ! Welcome steel—the onset weleome , fiery shell and glancing glaive—So we perish not like lepere—so we ' scape the lazar-grave , Heaped up in hurried stealth and gloom , "Without a stone-to mark our doom ! Hastes the Hour for which we ' ve laboured , nightly ' neath our starry pall , Digging close the circling trenches , piling firm the gabion wall , While ever oxi the thuud ' ring town Our sheeted camp looked stilly down . Nat an . ans , w « ing > shot has « 6 unded . j hoarded vengeance waits—< iU morn ! So the serpent ' s prey , imprisoned , strikes with firwtic . hopf and . born , While , coiled in many a giant ring , ITe nor speeds , nor stays , his spring . Foes ! whom , hating not , we hold as victims to a despot ' s pridei "Nobler victims to his madness , conquering ; crimsoned Alma s tide-Along the gory path-they trod , Bear ye the tyrant's name to God . We have been pretty familiar in imagination with $ & position _ ana thoughts of our army on those Ci-imean heights ; . but we part fiq ^ theJMon-GjomSatont vwith a sens © that he has added somjawhat to the materials out . ot which bur mind ' s eye model of the camp is composed ; and that the aid he has rendered is in ihe feeling > vhat it was like in October , 1854 .
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-. ** .. % . ' .. - THE B ^ Y :. GEOItG ^ mt ^ JJ ^ A % = ~ ~ 3 L Thxfd OeOlery of Portraits . By ^ George GilflUan . - -E&ubu * g h S Hogg , 5 : Hisis one of the most amusing books we have read for some-time . It . is also one of the best practical jokes on record . These peculiar manitestations of fun have generall y ^ been detestable , for the simple reason that their point consisted in the pain tHey lnnTcTed on the johee . But yk * this partacular case Mr . Gilfillan has kindly thrown aside a badtprecedentj andTnade the point of his practical joke to consist in the pleasurable surprise it gives ^ ' to the public joked upon . You read the title-, Gallery of Portraits , and then the sub-titles , "A File of French " Revolutionists , " "A Constellation of Sacred Authors , " " A Cluster of New Poets , " " Modern Critics , " " Miscellaneous Sketches , " and you groan in the spirit and exclaim : " Unhappy of 18551 have I to
critic th « t I am ! Here is a pleasant beginning , Here . wade through a ocitical exaroination of some forty author ^ from the classics of twenty centuries to the mushrooms of yesterday . Admiration I felt when ia boy I . must once more fed ; objections I fell foul of % Vhen a child I-mustagain-tumbre over ^~ pas 3 ages-that- I-have-heard ~ so-ofien-thatJI .-ani beginning to . forget them , I must again encounter ; and where 1 assent to Gilfillan , must invent a new form of expressing my Yea . ; and where I dissent , . rerexawine xny long-closed conclusions , and , if valid , strive to give a ; piquattt Nay . Would that life were without duties , that I might not read ! this book ! " ' And so with a sigh one turns towards it , —and lo ! we have not xeached the bottom of the first page of the preface before we are roaring with laughter , and though the joke does get a little tedious from its sameness , we still laugh through the whole five hundred pages , and instead of closing thebook with a pain in the head , we finish with a " stitch" in the side .. iuui
xws . oi cue imi oi jpo ^ iug-m ^ m , we veupyjrtj ioujufui w a , mmu va ^ wu ^ u of feeling the deeply and fundamentally ludicrous , there is more fun to be Sot out of this one volume than out of all the Pantomimes , Extravaganzas , iurfesques ., and JFarces of rthe season . The only thing we regret w , that Mr . Griffillan should not ha , ve done in a more direct form what he has so . admirably accomplished , indirectly . Why not devote his abilities to the wa iting o £ il 3 uriesciu . es , a , r ^ for which nature has so copiously endowed ; Ihun ? A groatqr ithan Plft » ch 4 ia here . Why thon be content with the sjttftll audieixoo of ^ hewading publiq , whan he wight gain so easUy the iplaudutaiflif » th « t . fine aggregate of individualities , a British Pit , P But if ~ ras a prosaic friend has just suggestednrrMir . Gilfillan is not awaro of'hifl own Joke , and really intends this balderdash as a serious contribution to the literature of the any , then it is our unpleasant duty materially to ichange our tone , and in the name of nineteenth century manners and cul ^
t . ure to protest . The tone Mr , Gilflllan . adopts towards distinguish men whose views on religious nmfcters do » ftt coincide with his ownj is so very acrid and abusive , astpr / uae su ^ picio ^ s af some personal motive . When he is praising a mnq , - ^ aMd-h « . Q < wv , pi ? ftw ^ < w loudly a . n . d w dangorous \ v to reput ^ tiQn ^ » a he can abuge pftssioniilaly « ad a 4 . vant » goously to reputation—he goneir ^ ly takes oa » o , if they bfl oottlompopariefl , to let you know taftt ho-bw » oen ) wei » r ^ t > een praisod by them . , But twhen he is abusing a ooxWtejBttjpQRwy , hift . n » xor lets fhll tho slightest hintithat he , ever even saw him ., wh © tUwiguAgQ he . applies to Thojoaas , Cnrlylo , XJeorge Oombe , Robert Chambera , finqioreon * Aytojan , Jffaocall , Holyoake ,, antf others , is of tho , t peculiar character itd which there is only one reply , if any is made—the horsewhip . Att 4 l < yet we , have read a paper of Mr ., Gj ( l 4 llan's in which ho recounts minutely a visit to Carlyle , in glowing appreciation of that great man , breaking all theaonvtesies of oiviliBediife injus details of privacy ; aud m \ r Car ^ rlo \ 6 " ^ . nayeii wUd
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of the of of " to « xMk& ? > rs ¦ ¦ ¦ * ¦ ¦ '¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ = ¦ ¦ ' ¦• TfiB IxBA-DilE ^ [ to 3 gB 0 itm ¦ iiil " ' h ii - i "'» u "" - — - = ———^ i ^ ^ mm ^^ mmm ^ ^ mmm ^^ m ^^^^^^^^^^^ - . -- .. ~~ ¦ ¦ . _!_•_ ^ ct . « A » nv » < -kf" -rmyana ? 9 +. r * •« o man . « Ko
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 6, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2072/page/18/
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