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homes ki the city . Wfell : this man put a plate , with his name on it , on the door of the-great house in which he lived , and the name was this : Don Pedro without Fear and without Care . How when the King waa making has paseo , he happened to ride bv . tbis > house in his cairiage , and saw the plate on the door . « Read me the name on that © late ! ' said he tolas officer . Then the officer read the name ; ' Don Pedro without EWr and without Care . ' ' I will see whether Don Pedro is without Fear and without Care ' said the Bang . The next day came a messenger to the bouse , and , when he saw Don Pedro said he to Mm : ' Don Pedro without Fear and without Care , the King ¦ wants you ! ' ' What does the King want with me ? ' said Don Pedro . ' He sends you four Questions which you must answer within four days , or he noil have you shot ; and the questions are : —How can the Sierra Nevada be cleared of snow ? How can the sea fee made smaller ? How many arrobas does the moon weigh ? And how many leaeaes from here to the Land of Heavenly Glory ? ' Then Don Pedro Avithout Fear and without Care began to sweat from fright , and knew not what he should do . He called some of his arrieros and loaded twenty raules with money , and went up mto the SferBa Nevada , where his herdsmen tended bis flocks ; for , as I said , he had many thousand cattle . ' God . keep you , my master ! ' said the chief herdsman , who was voiine- and buen mazo , and had as good a head as ever was set on two shoulders .
Andcu honibre P said Don Pedro , 'I am a dead man ; ' and so he told the herdsman all that the King had said . ' * Oh , is that all ? ' said the knowing mozo . ' I can get you out of the scrape . Let me go and answer the questions in your name , my master V * && , you fool ! what can you do ? ' said Don . Pedro without Pear and without Care , throwing himself upon the earth , and ready to die . But nevertheless , the herdsman dressed himself up as a optbaliero , went down to tke « ity , and , on the fourth day , presented himself at the King ' s palace . ' What do von want ?' - said the officers . ' I am ^ on Pedro without Fear and without Care , come totansroer the questions which the Kiag sent to me . ' ' Well , ' said the King , when he was ; brought before him , ' let me hear your ajiswers , or I will have you shot this day . ' set million
4 Tour Majesty , ' said the herdsman , 'I think I can do it . If you were to a -of children to playing among the snow of the Sierra Nevada , they would soon clear it all away ; and if you were to dig a ditch as wide and as deep as all Spain , you would make the sea that- much , smaller . ' 'But , ' said the King , * that makes only two -questions ; there are-two more yet . ' 'I think I can answer those , also , ' said the herdsman : the moon contains four quarters , and therefore only weighs one arroba ; arid ; as-for the last question , it is not even a single league to the Land of Heavenly Glory for , if your Majesty were tatiie after breakfast , you would get there before j-ou bad an appetite for dinner . ' 'Well done ! ' said the King ; and he then made Ijjm Count , and Marqttez , and I don't know how many other titles . In the meantime , I > on Pedro without Fear and without Care had died of his fright ; and , as he left no
femily , the herdsman took possession of all his estates , and , until the day of his 4 eath , was called Don Pedro without'Fear and without Care . " ¦* Q £ JiWh sketches , graphic and lively , is Mr . Bayard Taylor ' s volume < S 0 mpoaed . The author h » s a graceful style , aod since he professes only to < ieseribe the lands in which he sojourned , in their picturesque aspects , we may-accredit him as a successful traveller .
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HISTORY OF THJE CRIMEA . The , Crimea , its Ancient and Modern History : the Khans , the Svltans , and the Czars . By the , Rev . Thomas Milner , M . A ,, F . BAS . - Longmans and Co . 1 Mb . Mh-njsb , prefaces his work with & candid disclaimer of " literary exactness ; " and the avowal is based on very just grounds , for it has seldom fallen to- our lotto notice a , greater-amount of carelessness and laxity of style . But if the reverend gentleman was aware of this defect ,-there is no excusefor his negligence in not removing it . A slight application of the pumice-stone -would have caused these unsightly disfigurements to disappear , and have materially added / to the merit ' of a -really praiseworthy compilation . That we , may not be deemed too harsh , we adduce a few instances from the many that present themselves . We are told that Ovid was " relegated from Rome for not keeping a still tongue in his head , and using it in gossiping about a . pieee of court scandal . " The Euxiae has " been in bad odour throughout the world , conceived o by the popular imagination as a kind of enormous
Styx ,. fit only for satyrs to visit and centfturs to navigate . We had always imagined that satyrs iloved the woods rather than stormy waters , and it is certainly an original idea to navigate the Styx with horse-marines . It is pleasant , however , to remark that our author is superior to vulgar credulity , fbr > he expresses his doubts as to the saving , that " calf beginning to graze At * the base of the Carpathian Mountains , might eat its way to the Wall of China , and arrive there a full-grown ox . " The merit of plain speaking must also be accorded to him , for he thus relates the disgrace -of Samoilo-Vitch , the attaman of the Don Cossacks : —" This most puissant chief . the
¦ ordinary style of address—was seized at midnight , tried by court-martial in the morning , citfled the son of a , and sent off * to Siberia , where he perished miserably , along with his son . " The check , too , now sustained by Muscovite ambition is expressed in language rather familiar than dignified . ^'• Russia , aiming to keep the gate of the Black Sea , has now lost the basin , and can with difficulty catchja glimpae of its waters . " There is something of caricature in the image of a groat nation , as a woman , trying to close a gate , and dropping a basin while she strives on tip-toe to poop at certain waters beyond the , aforesaid barrier .
But , though inexact in style , it must be admitted'that ho has been quite the reverse in hia adaptations—we love mild phraseology—from preceding writers . Thus wo find whole pages copied , almost' word for word , from Pallas , Dr . Clarke , Koch , and other travellers . And the moral reflections . scattered through the book forcibly remind us of tlio wise saws we were wont to transcribe in our bast running- hand , Consuh Planco . 'After allowing ; , however , for these faults and failings , there remains mu < ih that is worthy of commendation . In one modorote-sizod volume wo -s ^ re furnished with all the information that can bo desired respecting the ntatwral characteristics of tho Crimea , its'history and traditions . Following in ' . the wake of the good ship Argo , as she sped through the dark Symplegafles to the , Colcliian'land , weT > eho | d , for . the first time , the inhospitable W # tew , of rth < OGuxine . AgaiA . ar . e worfcuifated by its . waves when . sailing in
company with the storm-tossed chieftain , " expedients , ' who studied the manners and institutions of many peoples . We then mark the early settlements of the Cimmerians , ancestors of our own Cymry , and rejoice in the escape of Iphigenia from a land so fatal to strangers . Ihc Kino-s of Pontus are next passed in review , and the nmny changes of rulers and the ruled are clearly and succinctly described . Alans , Goths , and Huns , Turks , Russians , and Tartars , appear in their turn upon this eventful sta < re , and add their quota of bloodshed and misery to the annals of the human race . At the present moment such a recital is full of interest for all whose eyes are turned to the scene of the valiant exploits and patient sufferings of our gallant army . A " dull elf" and heartless is he who does not Ion ° to know what manner of men they be who live in this Crimea , of which lew had ever heard before the siege of Sebastopol . And then the very origin of Sebastopol is a matter worthy of record . It happened in this
wise : — Eighty years ago , two humble villages occupied the shores of the noble inlet , — Inkerman at the flat upper extremity , and Aktiar on one of the creeks of the southern side Ruins in various directions , Byzautine and Genoese , spoke of bygone days of animation : but existing symptoms of it were few . Smoke rose from the dwelling * of the natives , goats clambered about the rocks , herdsmen , cattle , and sheep passed along the valley of the Tchernaya , and game birds nestled in the reeds of the river . While these were the chief sign * of life upon land , the waters were seldom ruffled , except by the wind , the Tatars not being a maritime people . The scene began to change in the year 1778 , and soon afterwards the change was total . At that time , the Crimea was still nominally independent , but occupied , or protected , as it was called , by Russian troops . It was in the morning of a hot July day , that a considerable bodv marched out of Bakchi-setai , and appeared at the head of the bay , to reconnoitre Aktiar h subsisted
a small Turkish fleet which had cast anchor off . Thougpeace between the two empires , there was suspicion , mistrust , and rancour on both side ? . The officer in command of the detachment looked out upon the line expanse from thu summit of a cliff ; and , for the first time , its capacities caught a competent military eye . It was Suwarrow . Determined to compel the Turks to quit the offing , in order to prevent communication with the Tatars and interference with Russian designs , he observed the most commanding positions ; and , extending his troops during the night along the two sides $ t the basin , began to fortify the mouth of the port . Day put a stop to these labours , but they were resumed the night following . . Upon being challenged as to the cause of his preparations , when they -were perceived , Suwarrow alleged that the Turks , having disembarked to procure supplies , had killed a Cossack who approached them , and that a packet had been detained at Constantinople . Perceiving themselves in danger of being entrapped , the ships weighed anchor in the night and stood out to sea . The batteries hastily erected on this occasion antedated probably , on the same points , the existing grim forts of Alexander and Constantino .
We cannot however admire Mr . Milner ' s idea of " a righteous retribution ' when he proposes "to render the port unserviceable for military purposes by closing up its mouth with the masonry of the citadels-erected to be a terror , a , menace , and an instrument of aggression . " Such retribution as this would be the act only of a woman , or a coward , determined to wreak a petty revenge on unoffending stocks and stones , and content to disfigure nature ' s handiwork in the vain hope of arresting the ambition and malice of man . But Mr . Milner is neither a politician nor an economist . He is simply a narrator , a compiler of much varied and useful inforuuition , peculiarly acceptable at this moment .
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DORKING AND ITS JSEIGHBOUKHOOD . A Handbook of Dorking , $ c . ' George Willis Wnr should not a Guide Book be readable . ? When it has done its professional duty , and has lodged tho weary wayfarer , let us say in the trim , smiling , modest parlour of a quiet and well-conducted inn , why should it not enter the social phase of authorship , and invite a pleasant intimacy ? What other kind of book has an equal chance of being read on the very spot and at the very time an author would himself like to appoint for his first meeting with a judicious and appreciative reader ?
As an excellent suggestion , if not a perfect example , of what a Guide Book ought to be , we recommend this anonymous brochure on the subject ol Dorking . Within five-and-twenty miles of Fleet-street there is a country town , second to no other in England'for internal beauty and cleanliness , or for situation , or for extent of surrounding scenery . From Malvern the view is not more enchanting than that which you gain from I ^ eith Hill , near Dorking , in Surrey . Savage old John Dennis wrote a description of " this noble and wonderful prospect . . . . the most delicious rural prospect in the world ; " and the fierce old critic reviewed in a perfectly kind manner this praiseworthy effort of Nature ' s , and roared , for once , mofe gently than the
most amiable of sucking doves . The favourable criticism in question is reproduced very effectively in this little volume , which is generally happy in its book-reminiscences . The author has a great faculty of quotation ; and , seeing how well he lms chosen the motto of his vuluiuo from Shakspeare , and how aptly he has brought forward illustrative passages from Coleridge , and Wordsworth , and Campbell , and Cowper , not to mention local poets innumerable , whose particularity of description atones for poetical shortcomings , we were surprised to find , at the head of a chapter on the geology of Dorking , the subjoined astounding piece of pretentious commonplace , from u Glimpses of the Obvious , " or some platitudinarian work with a similar title : —
Search out tho vi isdom of Naturo ; There is depth ia all her doings . — iTuppku . That a very numerous and potential class o readers , who cannot be at the pains to estimate the precise amount and value of original thought contained in sentences like these , should now and then be niialed by the more quality of sound , is not at all surprising . There is a great community of non-idoas . But that a man -who has himself acquired a certain literary skill—who writes modestly and sensibly , often with elegance , and always with a , moan ing—should stoop to pick up a platitude , does make us open our eyes with wonder . " Quo dea sots , remplis d ' estimo pour oux-mftmes , tiennent doeota discours avec emjphasc , rion de plus naturel ; mars quo loura ura&iines dirigent des gens d'espn ); , e ' est la co quo r ' admire . "
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fertile in ms THE : LE ADiER , [ No- 277 , Saturday , - — "" " ——————^—^ ^—^ M—>^ l ^* IW * " ^* " ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ' _ - «— ¦ . . s * . •¦ % * 1 •__• . _ 1 » . 1 ..
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Leader (1850-1860), July 14, 1855, page 678, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2099/page/18/
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