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    RECENT NOVELS.*

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    rpHJE author of Getting On has allotted hiraselt a , A It might appear , at first sight , that to write a novel based on subjects with whioh every man , woman , and even child , whatever their position in society , may be supposed to'be familiar , would not , in the end , turn out so formidable an undertaking- as an attempt to depict the ideas , manners , arid customs of a past generation . Jfut this is , in reality , n . ot the case . ' The Hatter , style of production , indeed , necessitates a great deal of laborious study in the perusal of old manuscripts and other ancient authorities ; but the real safeguard of the author lies in this very necessity } which prevents the majority of people from seeking the information which would enable them to

    arrivo at a true judgment as to the correctness of the novelist m depicting characters belonging tp an age separated from us by so great a period of tiiao . The modern novelist , however , who revels amid the haunts of © ver ^ -day life , enlarging upon topics on which are entertained so njany opinions , topics at once political and theo « logical , must necessarily expose himself to the remorseless shafts and party criticism of one or other pf the contending factions of the day . It is utterly impossible that he should so regulate his ideas , and the modes by vyluch . ho gives expression to them , us to steer clear of sectarian o * party enmity ; in pleasing one , it follows as a natural consequence , thnt he offends another ; and thus ho finds his

    * Gotthiff On t a Valo ofModorn English X * ifo . Two Vola . Jivmcs Hogg ana Sons . JSMq in Sioih / . Tivo Vola . Chapman and Hall , ' Mo Hallow Ittlo ' FvaneHy , 'i'hroo Vols , Chapman and Hall .

    Untitled Article

    stand-poirit . It was to the Indian Character that he . mainly directed his attention j and , as the tribe we have just mentioned is rapidly expiring , the traits . preserved by him are all the more valuable . His talents are decidedly descriptive . He paints what he sees from first impressions , and is seldom at fault in depicting the appearances accurately . The cradle in which the Indian squaw deposits her child has perhaps never been so well described , at any rate so genially . Mr . Kohl sympathises with her tenderly . He watches the mother as she props her small boy up against , the tree , runs , up arid kisses him , puts his hands , ribbons , pr ^ cap straight , or sits down for a minute on the grass , lost in admiration of the little one . And then adds , naively ; ' ' Indian mothers are devotedly attached to their children , although they iriay possess no attractions for Europeans . " These Ojibbeways , natural though they be , are indeed human . Their wigwams are , af ter all , decent dwellings . " There are poor peasants in Lithuania and Ireland , and wretched Jews in the Polish towns , housed no hetter or rio worse than many of these savages . And the tents which the gipsies put up in Southern Russia and Wallachia , are many of them less artistic and comfortable than the wigwams of the Ojibbeways . " We should reflect on this statement j and even we Englishmen can point to an Arab race at home whose dwellings are at least improvable . The rites and ceremonies of the Indians Mr . Kohl also contrives to touch with a human interest , arid reports the speeches made at them with spirit . What can be tetter than this brief touch ?—" Another , with a long rattlesnake ' s skin round iris Ivead , and leaning on his ] a » ce , told his story objectively , just as a picture would be described : — ' Once we Ojibbeways set out against the Skwrx . We wereone hundred * Oneof ours , a courageous man , a man of the right stamp , impatient for distinction , separated from the others , and crept onwards into the enemy ' s country . - The man discovered a party of the foe ; two men , two women , and three children . He crept round them like a wolf , he crawled up to them like a snake , he fell upon them like lightning , cut down the two men , and scalped them . The screaming wbmen and children he seized by the arm , and threw : them as prisoners to his friends , who had hastened up at his war yell j and this lightning , this snake , this wolf , this man , my friends , that was—I . I have spoken !'" . "We \ meet with sonae specimens of mutual affection between the Indian and his dogi which exists notwithstanding" that the latter is ill-tisedby his impatient master . The worse he is treated , the better the poor brute loves his lord . Having lost his owner * dog sat down , wearied and despairing ^ in the market-place , and began addressing stich a lamentable howl to heaven , that all the neighbours ran up to see what the matter- could be . " On the : piety of tHe Indian , also , Mr . Kohl has something peculiar to say ; arid describes the process how they pass from monotheism / to idolatry and fetich-worship . The matter , however , is top long tp give entire ; though , as a story , it is highly noticeable , and relates to the piece of copper which , when sent to the United States by our traveller , drew their attention to the metallic treasures of the district . The chief from whom he obtained it became a Christian . On the subject of conversion , Mr . Kohl states that " we must be cautious not to exalt ourselves too much , and deny the natural goodness of the rest of humanity . " The virtues ? of the Indian are the chief obstacles to his conversion . His charity and liberality are boundless r—he will tolerate the murderer , but not the Stingy man . Little prone to . cupidity , the . Indian wars solely for revenge . " When a young Indian prepares an expedition , he never dreams ^ like the thievish comrades of Ulysses , about the plunder he can obtain , but only of the relatives he can avenge * and the blood-foes he can punish . On the battle-field his first and most iriiportant business is to take the scalp of the enemy he has killed , Having this , lie is satisfied , and leaves the ornaments on the corpse , which a predatory Arab or Affghan would fall upon first . " Mv . Kohl writes in a true loving spirit , and repays the hospitality he received with befitting gratitude . He sets the cPnduct of his hosts in the fairest light ; he remembers the stories told him , even by an ungainly old woman , with pleasure , and repeats them in the most attractive form j he dwells upon their traditions with reverence , and finds the best and most Christian meaning fox * them ; he regards their symbolism and allegories with aifection ; even to their painted faces he became reconciled ; and he condescends to minutiae and particularity of detail which testify to his diligence and labour , but at the same time prove that it was a labour of love . Sports , often described before , are hero again- described with fresh emotion . But particularly does he dwell on the Indian virtues j restating at the end of the book what he had stated in the beginning- and middle , » anie ) y , that " the Indians practise many Christian virtues naturally , and hence they are quite easy to them when . they are converted . " In conclusion , he tells us further , that " the Indians living round Lake ( Superior are as attached to their Kitohi-Qami , as the French Swiss 6 ' p their Lake of Geneva / ' But we waist hore close our notice of a doh ' ghtful book , which cannot be read without instruction . We shall connect with thjs book one pf a somewhat different character , though associated with travel ; inasmuch as it displays the energy and . fortitude of the civilized man in subduing natural impediment , in order to advance discovery and science . It is not the wild savage here who is the hero , but the cultivated heroio Euro * penl 1 r _ the Wave , the dauntless Englishman , that wo have portrayed , Captain Osjjorn has told the tale of Sir Jphn Franklin in an enthusiastic ) spirit , and with picturesque power . The canvass glpws , the figures live and breftthe . Ho begins his narrative with young Franklin ' s innate love of the sen . $ ont on board a . merchant-ship in ^ ordor to disgust ; him with his profession , IVanldin boldly mastered the discomforts , and heard pf Nelson and the Nile with ft bounding heart fchrit yearned to partako the danger and the glory of grent

    enterprises . And within a year " the Lincolnshire boy * ' shared in the terrible sea fight of Copenhagen . We next find him on board the discovery-ship -Investigator , and thus introduced to that : career which has made his naine famous to all gerieratioris . The vessel was commanded by his relative , Captain Flinders , who had already explored the great South Sea : but proving unseaworthy , the vessel was exchanged at Port Jackson , in 1803 / for H . M . S . Porpoise , which was wrecked soon after among the reefs of Torres Straits . Franklin obtained a passage in the Earl Camden , commanded by Nathaniel Dance , which formed part of a fleet of fifteen East Indiamen , that , voyaging from the Canton river * had to encounter the French privateer , the Marengo ^ 74 , Admiral Einois , and his three satellite frigates , and came off with flying colours . Truly , Captain Dance was a gallant commodore . This was the sight then witnessed without wonder , but not without admiration recordednainely , " a French squadron of men-of-war , perfectly equipped , led by one of their most distinguished oflicers ,. retreating before a fleet of arriied merchant-ships . " Franklin was destined to be yet a partner in a more glorious victory—that of Trafalgar , in 1805 . On a subsequent occasion— that of the attempt to capture New Orleans—he was for the first time wounded . The long peace threw Franklin back on maritime discovery , and on the 25 th April , 1818 , he was sailing with the first Arctic expedition of this country down the Thames . The adventure is described , with all its appalling detail of horrors , by Captain Osborn . In six months the vessels returned from the North Sea , shattered and no longer seaworthy . Franklin ' s ship , indeed , had been discovered to be so leaky , from some shipwright ' s carelessness ,, that it was needful to keep half a watch of men ever at the pumps . So constantly at fault have been the arrang-emerits made by the Admiralty ! TVifeliin a yearafter this , Franklin returned to the frigid zone , exploring the coasts of Arctic America , and did not return until 1822 -when the tale he had to tell astonished his countrymen—such hardships had been endured , such fortitude exhibited , such honour achieved- ^ furnishuig " a beautiful example of the triumph of mental arid moral energy over mere brute strength . " We need not lengthen this article by relating the particulars of Sir John Franklin ' s last voyage , undertake ^ at the age of sixty ; of the uncertainty that hung over its issue ; or of the endeavours made by the country * and Sir John Franklin ' s widow , to ascertain the fate of the adventurous coirimander arid his rioble crew . ^ Captain Osborn has put tog-ether the discoveries made by '' The Fox ; " has placed in a striking light the fact that Sir John Franklin had attained his object before death overtook him . It is thus presented .-.: — :... ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ' ¦ , . ¦ . . ' . V . " A record was left by Gore and Des Voeux , in a cairn beyond Qape Victory , on the west coast of King William ' s Land . It tells us that ' On May 24 , 1847 , all were well on board the ships , and that Sir John Franklin still commanded / Graham Grore probably traversed the short distance between this cairn and that on Cape Herschel in , a week , and we can fancy him , and the enthusiastic Des Voeux casting : one glance upon the longsought shores of America , and hastening back to share their delight with those imprisoned in the ships . Alas ! why do their shipmates meet the flushed travellers with sorrow imprinted on pale countenances ? Why as they cheer the glad tidings they bring , does the tear suffuse the eye of these rough and hardy men ? Their chief lies on his death-bed ; along career of honour and of . worth is drawing to its close . The shout of victory , which cheered the last hour of Nelson and of Wolfe , rang not less heartily round the bed of the gallant Franklin , and lit up that kind eye with its last gleam of triumph . Like them , his last thought must have been of his country ' ^ glory , and the welfare of those whom he well knew must now hope in vain for his return . " Thus has Captain Osborn , by an allowable exercise of the faculty , called on his imngination to supply an hiatus of history which there is no hope of our ever being able to fill up with a chronicled fact . In like manner , and in a similar spirit , he has pursued the sorrowful tale to its close , and painted from fancy the fate of brave men , who perished in the midst of a career of usefulness and honour . Mourn not for them ; for their virtues are written on the tablets of their country ' s heart !

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    140 The Leader and ' Saturday Analyst , [ Feb . II , 1860 .

    Recent Novels.*

    RECENT NOVELS *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 11, 1860, page 140, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2333/page/16/