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Leader (1850-1860), 4th June 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 693, Untitled Article

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    • \- T rn'. ' -p ' Y) a ri ^ XT T* T71 I j I J ±ii XV A. JL U Jtl Hi. *** ¦
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      Untitled Article

      ¦ " - 7 JYEEAT well-known correspondent of the Times , X "S . G- O ., " writes to call public attention to a , mystery which , he thinks ( and we agree with him ) , ought to be cleared up . He says : — "In certain circles appeal has been made to the charity of individuals on the part of an author highly esteemed by the public His advocates say he is in most straitened circumstances : tliat , such has been the conduct of his publishers , he' has received the poorest remuneration for the labour by which they have reaped vast profit . He has gratefully accepted donations of money from individuals of high position , and others , I know , are canvassed for the same purpose . A Mr . Joseph

      The prospectus of a new weekly journal , Vlndependenza Italiana , has just reached us . It is to be edited in three languages , Italian French , and English ; and is intended to be a faithful mirror of opinions and events , directly or indirectly affecting the realization of the cherished desire of the Italians for national independence . Mr . Jeffs takes an interest in it , ami i 5 , we believe , the English publisher . The Paris correspondent of the Critic says : —M . Theophile Gautler paid a visit to Russia last winter , and there were a good many surmises as to the object of his journey . We have the solution now in the form of the tirst part r » f a work on the

      treasures of llussian art , ancient and modern , charmingly illustrated by heliographic plates , executed by Kichebourg , and published simultaneously at St . Petersburg and . ' by G . id ' e , of Paris . The first number contains si-minutely detailed description of the church of St . Isaac . Amongst the subjects for the future numbers are the various imperial palaces — the "Winter Palace , the Hermitage , Tsarakoo-Salo ,- Peterhoff , and Gatchina ; the Kremlin , the church of Vassili-Blajjennoi , arid the convent of Saint Serge . Tliu work "is a true livre de luxe ; it will occupy six hundred p . iges folio , aiid two years and a half in publication .

      Liggins , of Attleborough , is the suffering author , who , it is said , Avrote lately in your columns a short note as to the authorship of" AdamJBede , ' under the signature of" George Elliots" Mr . Wiggins declares himself to his friends as the author of that work and another , published by Blackwood as by " George Elliot . " I have seen a letter from a clergyman who knows him , stoutly adhering to the faith of Joseph ¦ . ¦ T . igg io * as the author of" Adam Bede , " the writer of the note to you , and the sufferer from a publisher ' s niggardly dealing . I have seen more than one letter from Mr . Blackwood altogether denying the story of Mr . laggins ; declaring that he did not write the works in question , and asserting in the most positive-way-that the said Mr . Blackwood is in constant most friendly

      communication with " George . Elliot , " . author of ' Adam Bede , " who is in no such straitened circumstances , arid under no sense of injustice as regards the profit of his labour . I challenge those who have collected money for JosephIiiggins , of Attliiborough , as the suffering .-author of " ¦ Adam Bede , " to prove Mr . Blackwood guilty of stopping the current of charity to a deserving author by a falsehood , or at once to admit their protege to be insane or an impostor . " The Times remarks in an editorial note to this letter , that they havo no knowledge of Mr . Liggins , and no desire to penetrate a secret which the author . of " Adam Bede " has a perfect right to preserve ; and adds . —" 'We have the best authority for stating that he is entirely satisfied with the treatment he has received from his publishers , whose liberalitA ' , indeed , seems to have been almost beyond all literary / precedent . "

      7 n our last week ' s " Notes " appeared , by some singular mischance , a very erroneous statement with regard to Mr . W . M . Thackeray . That gentleman , whose present serial work is drawing to a close , has promised his co-operation , not to Messrs . Bradbury and Evans , but to Messrs . Smith and Elder , who are on the point of commencing a new magazine of a novel description . In the fashionable news of last week we notice that Mr . and Mrs . Longman ontertamed at dinner all the contributors to the work just brought out under the auspices of tlio Alpine Club , " Peaks , Passes , and Glaciers , " at a soiree and concert , at which most of the literary celebrities of the day assisted . Bulma , the well-known Chamounl guide , was present . _ , Athenaeum

      A monthly publication , the size of the , has been produced by Messrs . Kent and Co . It is called the ZUerait / Record , and is of great merit . It is intended to be analytical rather than critical , and gives synoptical views of the nature and objects of different works , the contents being described rather than criticised , lauded , or condemned . We look upon this department of the Jiecord as deserving to bo held in special favour by the reading world . English Educational Periodicals are then noticed ; Parliamentary Papers , their contents and prices are catalogued , and the title of articles , & « ., in the principal Magazines and Reviews of the month are given An extraordinary feature , ' which displays no small ability , is un index to the Times newspaper , which seems to bo exceedingly complete and correct . Tho remainder of the number is occupied with announcements and gossip , litorary , artistic , and scientific , and a List of Hooka for the Month , English , 1 ' ronoh , und Gorman . Messrs . Smith , Elder and Co ., in their monthly list for June , announoo " Tho Elements of Perspective , " by John Huskin , M . A ., accompanied by thirty diagrams ; " Personal Narrativo of the Voyago of H . M . b . Burracoitla to Japan , Kamtchatka , Siberia , Tartary , and the Coast of China , " by J . M . Tronson , K . N ., with views in tinted lithography and charts ; " Shelley Memorials , " eilitod by Lady Shelley , " Campaigning Experiences in Knjnootana and Central India during tho SttppreseJon of tho Mutiny in 1657-8 , " by Mrs . Henry Duborloy , author of a 11 Journal kept during tho Russian War ; " " Cousin Stella ,, or Conflict , " by tho author of " Violet Bunk and ils Inmates , "

      Untitled Article

      . THE HANDBOOK OI- DINING : ok , HOW TO DINK , TlIKOniCTICAT . I . Y , l'HILO .-iOl'mCAULY , AND HISTOHICAL 1 A CONSIDE 1 IED . Jlasud chiefly upon the " l * hysloloyie du Gout" of IJrillut-Savnrin . " 3 $ y lii'onard Francis Simpson , 3 I . U . SX . Loiijjunaiis . ' Perhaps if this- little volume had . been published a few roontli 3 ago it would havo saved the appearance , of a vast amount of epicurean , nonsense which was written in various journals respecting the ¦'¦ momentous question , " What shall we have for dinner ? " ¦ ' We are afraid that , witli a greatinany people , the question is " How shall we dine at all ? " And it seems to us very like an insult to the great mass of -human . misery , to find in the very same column with the miseries of the destitute poor , tho piteous complaints of- a pack of

      and drink . " Tt would be well for some gourmands if they bore this in mind . Here , again , is a piece of admirable social wisdom expressed in a few terse words : " To wait long for a guest is a breach of politeness to all who have arrived punctually ; " and here a inaxiin to be treasured and , practised hy every host :, " When you invite a man to dinner , never forget that during the short time he is under your rooj \ his happiness is under your hands . " We pass by the chapters devoted to the history of . eating . They are full of learning and bear the marks of much research ; -but . what care we for the history of our dinners . Some dishes are , indeed , historical , as the Paschal lamb , Jacob ' s pottage , King James ' s knightedloiii , Queen Elizabeth ' sgoose ; but Savarin takes no notice of these . The most interesting part of his historical diopters is where he treats of the origin of that capital modern invention , the restaurant—an invention which relieves us of the cares of housekeeping , enables the houseless to live like a prince , so long that he bear money in his purse . It is a magnificent truth which Savarin gives utterance to , though not very comforting to niany , when he announces that , thanks to the restaurateur , " a' man with a few pounds in his pocket may dine like a king . "

      • Some of SavarirTs anecdotes , illustrating the voracity of the human appetite , will excite wonder , if not incredulity ; and certain of the worthy jurisconsult ' s anecdotes are so free in their tendency that we are inclined to believe that Mr . Simpson did not quite understand their tendency , or lie could have modified them . That about the poularde de Bresse is ( to use a moderate expression ) un peu libre . Ere we close th « volume , let us add , in qualification of the remarks with which we opened this article , that it is riot the moderate , but the

      immoderate , study of these matters that we object to . It has been well said that man is'the only creature that eats , for all other animals do no more than feed ; and it is incontestible that , inasmuch as the health ' depends mainly . upon the digestion , and the digestion upon the -moderate , gratification of a healthy appetite , -n <> sensible man ought to assume indifference about tlie function of life . It is good to enjoy the goods that nature offers us ; but then , as him of Tarsus recommended ( and ho was in every respect a gentleman )' , let it be " without , gluttony .- "

      dyspeptic Luculli , bewailing- their hard tate m having to put up with a turbot , haunch of mutton , . and boiled fowls . Perhaps the best remedy for a Hel . iogobalus' like " G . II . M . "— the gentleman Who takes credit for ' ¦ spending so . much money upon the gratification o'f a . single , appetite ,- and who recommeiids inoss roses as fit playthings for sensible men- ^ -would be to sentence bun to prison . diet ; or , worse still ( alas , that it should . , be so f ) workhouse diet , for the next six " months ; but that not seeming readily feasible , perhaps the next best thing to be done is , to bring before him an authority about eating and drinking greater than his own , and awe hi m into silence by the species of reverence which alone is capable of reaching his sensorium .

      Now , Brillat-Savavin is just such an authority . His work , called " Le Physologie du Gout , " must be very well known to many of our readers in its original form . It is a work celebrated among gourmets , and recognised beyond all others for tho variety and skill with which it deals with the pleasures of the palate . It is philosophical , historical , reflective , narrative , and aneedotical ; to some extent , also , practical . It is well written , and , consequently , roadable ; and , as a proof of

      the estimation in which it is held in France , the great-novelist ., Do Balzac , deemed it worthy of receiving a pondnnt from his inimitable pon . Who knows not the subtle and witty , if slightly immoral "Physiologic du Manage ?" The volume before us is Snvnvin ' s book dressed up in a now form ; and although wo certainly should have preferred to have had it without Mr . Simpson ' s sauce , it will- prove very welcome and readable to those who are unable to onjoy it in the original . Some of tho new mutter which Mr .

      Simpson has introduced is good enough m ltd way ; but tho translation is bad , tlio style Vur from elegant , and in somo parts ho very clearly shows that he does not comprehend tho intention of hid author . Brillat-Savai'in won a French , lawyer ; at tho end of his life a kind of judge—of other tilings than anting and drinking . Ho lived a lurgo part of his life at Bella )' , in tlio DeptuMenK'nt de l'Ain , but was familiar with Paris society and good company generally throughout , France . Ho was born in 1753 , and lived to see thu first Napoleon in power . List to some of tho Bound and sensible maxims of this modern Trimulchiol Hero nvu two to bo pondered over : " Tho discovery of a iiaw iliith doos more for the happiness of munhind than tho discovery of a new planet . " Ami , ugnin ; " Men who eul heartily , or got drunk , do not hnow how to oat

      Untitled Article

      ENGLAND AND HKK SOLDIKKS . JJy Harriot Martiuenu . "With three Illuutrutive Diujjiwiis . — S . mllli . Kldor , and Co . That such a book as this should have been written by a woman is a distinguishing mark of the age . If any theme were distinctively a man's , surely the treatment of our soldiers , in barracks and elsewhere , is the one . But here , in a true masculine spirit , we have the question and its statistics fully debated , and the conclusion logically deduced . Martineau would ha on paper what Nightingale was in the camp .

      She states the case clearly enough . The fine set of young mon selects . I " for military service ou' » ht to yield a smaller amount of mortality , except under the howl of casualties , than any other class ; but , instead of this natural result , they exhibit a proportion of deaths frig htfully large in comparison with tho most unhealthy classes of society in < ronernl . Furthermore , only the moat robust are taken for soldiers , and the inferior candidates for enlistment are thrown back upon society , to count in tho comparison which they render unfhir .. Again , when the soldier becomes invalided , ho i * returned upon society in the same way , so ( hat tho soldiers are not onW " the pick" of mankind , m the first instance , " but thuy remain so by

      tranff ' erring to civilian nooioly all who sink hv ow t kj mark of activo duty . Tut of this most healthy chiss , twice as uumv of thorn illo as of the luust ; healthy order of people in Orval Jtritiyn . J-H " proportion , Miss Murtinwiu add . s , " bccoinca aggravated abroad . " , . . Miss Murtincuu enlarges on ( his topic until she thoroughly oxhmislH it . Shq has , Jiowuvei-, to record that wo have lit loiwt . omnniunuiMl tho needful roliwnis . At llio cr > iniiKMici . 'WK'nt , of tlie Just war , they were still necdliil ami uiisiirtpoeti-d . Tlio battalioim lnndod nt ( Jullipuli siifh-red want -m all its Hluipu . s . Four Hiuiilnrv nointnisNioniM'S hud hucn sent out boforohfliid , ' but iliL'ir roprcHontutiona wei-o < li .-. rognivlod . I'lioy hud no p lace ., and , consequ ently ' , no power in tho tinny . Miss Mur-

      Untitled Article

      • ¦ + ¦ ; ' LITERARY NOTES , ETC .

      \- T Rn'. ' -P ' Y) A Ri ^ Xt T* T71 I J I J ±Ii Xv A. Jl U Jtl Hi. *** ¦

      LITERATURE .

      Untitled Article

      I ^ tehat ure T ' THEXEADEE . 693

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 4, 1859, page 693, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2297/page/9/