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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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" A CHRISTMAS CAROL . join merry hearts in merry vows , To keep old customs up , To dress the house with holly boughs . . And drain the Wassail cup ! We'll . hold the mirth the season brines * With all its jovial folly , As firmly as the ivy dings Around the sprig of holly .
Ob , holly ! 'tis a sight as r are As summer's gaudy scene , To see both hall and hovel wear The livery of green ; To see in spite of winter ' s nips . The little bright red berry , Reminding as of ruby lips -That bid all hearts be merry ! Bright Vesta , hail ! Hence murky care ! Evaporate in fog ! Look on our little Bummer there Where burns the bright Yule Log . Christmas and thee are not of kin-He scorns thee , base sojourner ! There is no place for thee within Bis cheerful chimney corner .
Welcome the midnight minstrel ' s lay-That simple rustic prayer—That , like the fabled elfin fay , Steals lightly through the air . Welcome the soft unsullied snow , What art can paint its whiteness ? Or can spring ' s sweetest dew bestow The icicle ' s pure brightness ? Uow Molly innocently trips Beneath the mistletoe , And if Ralph pounces on her lips , How can she say him " No ?" To qaarrel with so fair a kiss . Were little short of treason ; And frown at such a time as this . Were sadly out of season !
Now youth with dance and mirthful song Scarce feels the minutes fly ; Joy mingles with the very throng , And lightens every eye : Some ardent play the changeful game-Fit type of life ' s beginning—When all hearts join the chase for fame , And all are sure of winning ! ' ¦ ¦ - ¦ And old age loves the lively noise ; Each happy youthful face Appears to speak of by-gone joys , that memory may trace : He too has had his early prime , His eye has beam'd as brightly , His voice has joined the cheerful chime , His feet have tripped as lightly 2
Come , pass the Wassail bowl about ! The merry feast begin—He cares not for the cold without , Whose heart is warm within 1 Hail , rosy Bacchus !—graver cares , We in thy goblet bury ; Let him be dismal now who dares , Our Christmas shall be merry ! A . M . P .
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The Personal History of David Copperfield . By Charles Dickens . With Illustrations by Hi K . Browne . London : Bradbury and Evans . TVe may fairly rresume that everybody has read Baind Copperfield , and as naturally conclude , that everybody has been delighted with it . It is the most beautiful of all the works -which have proceeded from his pen , embodying , as it does , all the merits which , have already given him a world-wide popularity with graces peculiar to itself . The hero of the hook , David Copperfield ,
becomes a successful cultivator of literature , and with a view to this , his imaginary career , seems to as a most felicitous conception . The dreaming tendencies of his childhood are confinned and protracted , by the neglect arising from a second marriage of hiswidowed mother . Her death throws him on his own resources . The care of his aunt restores him again to the genial garden of family nurture . Thus the visionary and real parts of his nature receive developement in proportion to those which best contribute to the character of the perfect novelist , and his mind is stored with all necessary
Tariety of incidents , characters , and images : This practical education is continued and enlarged by newspaper experiences ; and the mixed strength , and weakness of his nature , called forth by his affections , contribute finally to concentrate his power upon desirable and worthy aims . The details are not less happily wrought than the conception . The loving , ima « nnative child—with his childish fancies perpetually reaching away towards heights too high for childhood to climb—his rapid and sympathetic instincts for enjoyment—his quick sense of injustice—his tremulous foresight of cominff eriefs—the boy seduced by the
fascinatin g qualities of a dangerous friend—the youth ' s boy-love for his child-wife—that love Itself never faltering even to the end , yet by a fine instinctive information leading his mind to dim glimpses of a higher domestic happiness , at which he might have aimed—all these are outlined , filled in , and coloured without one stroke awry , or one exaggerated tint to mar the portraiture . Few authors would have so finely comprehended the step-child s mixture of awe and curiosity , under the tyranny of that she-turnkey Miss Murdstone-few could have touched the strange , inexplicable Bhrmkin * of the . orphan , when he makes one of the pleasure party of thernerry and beneficent unfew could have
dertakers , Omer and Joramso nicely indicated the relish whieh , in spite of their sorrows , their shabbiness , their difficulties their fustian and their prosing , David could not help finding in the ™ 1 % 0 [ * * t . and Mrs . Micawber Then , over all there hangs that mournful sentiment which , being the natural accompaniment of all personal reviews of the past , never in its saddest expressions takes the tone of sentunentalism ; but follows the narrative like a low , sweet-and true—music : —beginning with the narrator s first look out on his father ' s cold grave m the churchyard , againBt which every night hw mother ' s door is barred , and only ending with the la * t line that chronicles the gams , the
trials and the losses of a life . To point ont half the strong points shrewd hits and exquisite passages in this tale , would belsapernuoustai , were it a possible one £ Ury reader has already by heart the disasters of little Dora ' s housekeeping-including Sf Anne and the Life Guardsman , the WulpTge , the pet dog in his pagodaand S , that wasteful whole salmon , and those Jta . locked fast in their shells , j f jji flmade the bestWfe
tSTSFe ^ ; . eQ one sufficiently admired the « " * £ ™ jg with which we are made to a « low fo ' * ^ Trife ' s folly , without granting her a fool s par don-to feel that she is a mistake in the hero a fortunes , yet love her and weep for her early withering away ? Everybody has revelled m Mis « Betsey Trotwood ' s racy eccentricity—ner donkey-p hobia , her antipathy to Peggotty , as one having a Pagan name : —but some of her most whimsical outbursts aud most womanly
sophistries , may have escaped the reader in the heat of the first perusal . Hear her , for instance , like another Queen Bess , working herself up into hig h disdain on the subject of first and second marriages . -= SH ^^ aunt , when I ^ " with her second husband . " " Perhaps sue fell in love wtum repeated my Mr . Dick suggested .- Felling ve ^ F ^ . ^ j auat . «'\\ Uat do youji « n , ^ ^ had she to da it ? — « rn ^ sh ' jd it for plea-& ^^^ & * £ G %
self , 1 should like to know ! ^« h ffiefd ont of the band . She had seen . I ) avid Copperlwm oui as ^ s ^« 3 s * ffl % sK £ ss « as ^ ss 5 Si 3 ^ S ;;| ' sldly l « nK" she marries a second n , egiiad marries a morderer-or a man with a name
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like it-and stands in this child ' s light ! And the 2 faS 3 Wi * ****** M * «»' UklCain ^ fi ^! 116 Pr ° wls and wander 8 « He ' sas r Mr . Ihck looked hard at me , as if to identify me 'Ifr ^ " 4 , nd the ° . ^ re's that womat ! v $ t if ? Eanname , " said my aunt , "that Peggotty , the goes and gets married next . Because she nas not seen enough of the evil attending such wings , the _ goea and gets married next , as the child relates . I only hope , " said my aunt , shaking her head , that her husband is one of those Poker husbands who abound in the newspapers , and will beat her well with one . " Aunt Betsey ' s delicious sophistries about Mr . Dick , too , are positively Shandean in their humour : — . i : ^? _ ^^ , r ] l . Vl . .
"I say again , " said my aunt , nobody knows what that man ' s mind is except himself ; and he's the most amenable and friendly creature in existence . If he likes to fly a kite sometimes what of that ! Franklin used to fly a kite . He was . a Quaker , or something of tbaisoit , if I am not mistaken . And a Quaker flying a kite is a much more ridiculoHS object than anybody else . " Then , commend us to the Micawbers : —he , with his genteel manner and his delight in his own epistolary powers , his conviviality at a moment ' s warning , his sanguine readiness to
take any conceivable shape or embrace any possible project , his mathematical 10 TJ ' s and magnificent obliviousness of all money difficulties j—she , with her affable air of business , her wondrouB lucidity and orderliness in counsel , her family affections always " on the gush , " and that one song by Storace which she contributes by way of melody to the ever-recurring jug of punch . Few things have been richer than the sudden metamorphosis of the whole family into settlers . We must give the outfit of the parity : followed by a passage of admirable word painting : —
Mr . Micawber , I must observe , in his adaptation of himself to a new state of society , had acquired a bold buccaneering air , not absolutely lawless , but defensive and prompt , One might have supposed him a child of the wilderness , long accustomed to live ont of the confines of civilisation , and about to return to his native wilds . He had provided himself , among other things , with a complete suit of oil-skin , and a straw-hat with a very low crown , pitched or caulked on the outside . In this rough clothing , with a common mariner ' s telescope under his arm , and a shrewd trick of casting up his eye at the sky as looking out for dirty weather , he was far more nautical , after bis manner , than Mr . Peggotty . His whole family , if I may eo express it , were cleared for action . I found Mrs . Micawber in the
closest and mostuncompromising of bonnets ; made fast under the chin ; and in a shawl which tied her up ( as I had been tied up , when my aunt first received me ) like a bundle , and was secured behind at the waist , in a strong knot . Miss Micawber I found made snug for stormy weather , in the samemannet- ; with nothing superfluous about her . Master Micawber was hardly visible in a Guernsey shirt , and the shaggiest suit ofslopa I ever saw ; and the children were done up , like preserved meats , in impervious cases . Both Mr . Micawber and his eldest son wore
their sleeves loosely turned back at the wrists , as being ready to lend a hand in any direction , and to "tumbleup , " or sing out " Yeo—Heave— YeoI " on the shortest notice . Thus Traddles and I found them at nightfall , assembled on the wooden steps , at that time known _ as Hungerford Stairs , watching the departure of a boat witk some of their property on board . •¦• ¦•¦ "If you have any opportunity of sending letters home , on your passage , Mrs . Micawber , " said my aunt , " you must let us hear from yon , yon know . " " My dear Miss Trotwood , " she replied . "I shall only be too happy to think that any one expects to hear from us . I shall not fail to correspond . Mr . Copperfield , I trust , as an
old familiar friend , will not object to receive occasional intelligence , himself ,. from one who . knew him when the twins were yet unconscious ? " I paid th at I shonld hope to hear whenever she had an opportunity of writing . " Please Heaven , there will be many such opportunities , " said Mr . Micawber . " T he ocean , in these times , is a perfect fleet of ships ; and we can hardly fail to encounter many , in running over . It is merely crossing , " said Mr . Micawber , trifling with his eye-glass , " merely crossing .. The distance is quite imaginary . " I think , now , how odd it was , but how wonderfully like Mr . Micawber , that , when he went from London to Canterbury , he should have talked as if he were going to the " furthest limits of the earth ; and , when ne went from England to Australia , as if he
were going for a little trip across the channel . " On the voyage , I shall endeavour , " said- Mr . Micawber , " occasionally to spin them a yarn ; and the melody of my son Wilkins will , 1 trust , be acceptable at the galley-fire . "When Mrs . Micawber has her sea-legs on , an expression in which I hope there is no conventional impropriety—she will give them I dare say , little Tafflin . Porpoises and dolphins , I believe , will be frequently observed athwart our bows ; and , either on the Starboard or the Larboard Quarter , objects of interest will be continually descried . In short , " said Mr . Micawber , with the old genteel air , " the probability is , all will be found so exciting , alow and aloft that when the look-out , stationed in the maintop , cries Land-ho ; we shall be very considerably astonished !"
A last glance at the emigrant ship—within . — It was such ft strange sceneto me , and so confined and dark , that , at first , I cobW make out hardly anvthing ; but , by degrees , it cleared , as my eyes lecame more accustomed to the gloom , and I seemed to stand in a picture by Oatade . Among the great beams , bulks , and ringbolts of the ship , and the emigrant-berths , and chests , and bundles , and barrels and heaps of miscellaneous baggage—lighted up here and there by dangling lanterns , and elsewhere by the yellow day-light straying down a windsail or a hatchway—were crowded groups of people , mafeinff new friendships , taking leave of one
another , talking , laughing , crying . , eating and driniung ; some , already settled down into the possession of their few feet of space , with their little households arranged , and tiny children established on stools , or in dwarf elbow-chairs : others , despairing of a resting-place , and wandering disconsolately . From babies who had but a week or two of life behind them , to crooked old men and women who seemed to have but a week or two of life before them ; and from ploughmen bodily carrying out soil of England on their boots , to smiths taking away samples of its soot and smoke upon their skins ; every age and occupation appeared to be eratn med into the narrow compass of the 'tween decks .
The ship seen from without . — The time was come . I embraced him , took my weeping nurse upon my arm , and hurried away . On deck ftook leave of poor Mrs . Micawber . She was looking distractedly aboutfor berfamily , even then ; and her last words to me were , that she never would desert Mr . Micawber . We went over the side into our boat , and lay at a little distance to see the ship wafted on her course . It was then calm , radiant sunset . She lay between us and the red light ; and ine
every taper line and spar was visible against rfow A sight at once so beautiful , so mournful , and so hopeful , as the glorious ship , lying , still , on the flushed water , with all the life on board her crowded at tbe bulwarks , and there clustering , for a moment , bare-headed and silent , I never Baw . Silent , only for a moment . As the sails rose to the wind , and the ship began to move , there broke from all the boats three resounding cheers which tliose on board took up , and echoed back , and which were echoed and re-echoed .
Copperfield is taken to see the Model Prison . — However , I heard so repeatedly , in the course oi our goings to and fro , of a certain Number Twenty-Seven , who was the Favourite , and who really appearedtobeaModel Prisoner , that I resolved io insnend my judgment until I should see Twenty-Seven . Twenty-Eight . I understood , was also a br ight particular star ; but it was his misfortune to have bis glory a little dimmed by the extraordinary Kreof Twenty-Seven . I heard so much of Twenty-Wn of his pious admonitions to everybody around him and of the beautiful letters he constantly wrote K ' s mother ( whom he seemed to consider in a very bad way ) that I became quite impatient to see him . ? £ d £ restrain my impatience . for _ some £ me , on ?
£ » nt T « f > ntv-Seven newre » c S »» cu « *«» S » w « account of Twenty aeve t ^ ^ door of hole in « , rcporfcdto £ ^«« « £ gg £ Tnere admiration that he was ^ ds j mm ediately , to see a ^^ *^ tt . ss ^ ssii ^ -s ^ caE tunity of conversing with T ^ . ^ rnfthecelltole purity , Mr . Creakle directed the door of f" ^ *?" unlocked , and Twenty-Seven to ^^/^ mU the passage . This was done ; and whe . ajonW Traddles aT . d I then behold to our amaBement ^ m this conveitcd Number Twenty-seven , out unau Ileep . He knew us directly ; and said , as he came out—wish the old writhe , — "HoW do JOU CO , Wf . CopperBeld ? now do you do , Mr . Traddles i — This recognition caused a general admiration in the party . I rather thousht that evervonc was struck
by his not being proud , and taking notice , of US . — " Well , Twenty-Seven , " said Mr . Creakle ,. roournr fully admiring him . " " How do you find yourself to-day ?"— '' I . " am very umblo , ' sir !" replied Uriah He ? p . —V- ¥° u are always so , Twenty-Seven ;" : said ' Mr . " Creakh\—Ifore . another gentleman afJce / 1 , with extreme anxiety : " Are you quite comfcil-
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Cnrran and his Contemporaries ., By C . Philmps , Esq ., B . A . London : Blackwoods . Among all the men who figure in these pages , Outran was unquestionably the most Irish . Goldsmith and Burke had , in logical phrase , passed from the particular into the universal ; Flood , Grattan himself , and many others , were as much Saxon as Milesian . The prejudices , manner , and style might be Irish ; but the intellect and thought were English . Curran was Irish throughout . The son of a peasant , or something near a peasant , he passed his boyhood among the peasantry ; narrow circumstances still kept him much among the
people during his youth and early manhood ; native disposition , the habits . of his day , and the . opportunities of his profession , gave him continual opportunity of continuing his observation till he became Master of the EoIIs , Bat . Curran ' s Irish character was not merely acquired knowledge—it was in him . His readiness , his repartee , his wit , was Irish , carried to avery high pitch , if not to perfection . HiB versatility of manner and of feeling was Celtic all over . Some moral weaknesses , which Mr . Phillips tenderly skims over , and tastes which may be called , according to
temper , genial or- over-free , were also national . If there was truth in bis enemies' accusation of closefistedness , it is fairly chargeable to the impression left by early difficulties . His oratory , appear to have been soberer than that of many of his contemporaries who had more of the Saxon in other respects . He has greater reality about him . His images might be coarse and even horrid , hut they were real ; there was little or no turgidness in Curran . Thus , his picture of Stuart Judges ( supposed , however , to have had a personal application ) is not inflated , though loathsome .
——when . tbe devoted benches of public justice tice were filled by some of those foundlings of fortune , who , overwhelmed in the torrent of corruption at San early period , lay at the bottom like drowned bodies while sanity remained in them , but at length , beebming'buoyant by putrefaction , they roseas they rotted / and floated to the surface of the polluted stream , where they were drifted along , the objects of terror and contagion and abomination . In Ireland the power of Curran as an
advocate was equal to that of Erskine in England , and comparisons have been drawn between them . Perhaps the field of action was too different to allow of any close parallel ; but in two important points , it strikes us , Curran would have had the advantage : he was more versatile , and he never thought of himself or his oratory ; hotTi of which were almost uppermost with Erskine . To . the general unscrupulousness of his profession and his time Curran seemB to have added an indifference of his own . This is Mr . Phillips ' s picture of him
as an advocate : —; . * It was an Object almost with every one to preoccupy so successful or so dangerous an advocate ; for , if he failed in inducing a jury to sympathise with his client , he at all events left a picture of his adversary behind him which survived and embittered tbe advantages of victory . Nor wag his eloquence his only weapon ; at cross-examination , the mostdifficultandbyfarthe most hazardous part ot a barrister's profession , he was quite inimitable . There was no plan which he did not detect , no web which he did not disentangle ; and the unfortunate wretch , who commenced with all the confidence of preconcerted perjurynever failed to retreat before
, bimin all the confusion of exposure . Indeed , it was almost impossible for . the guilty to offer a successful resistance . He' argued , he cajoled , he ridiculed , he mimicked , he played off the various artillery of his talent upon the witness he would affect earnestness . upon trifles ^ and levity upon subjects of . the : most serious import , until at length he succeeded in creating a security that , was fatal , or a 8 ullenness that produced , all the consequences of prevarication . ' No matter how unfair the topic , he never failed to avail himself of it ; , acting upon the principle that , in law as well as in war , every
stratagem was admissible . If he was hard pressed , there was no peculiarity of person , no singularity of name , no eccentricity of profession , at which he would not grasp , tryin ? to confound the self-possession of the witness ~ by the no matter how excited ridicule of the audience . To a witness of the name of Halfpenny lie once began , " Halfpenny * -1 see you're a rap , and for that reason , you shall isc nailed fothe counter . " "Halfpenny is sterltilg , exclaimed the opposite counsel . " No , no ; said he "he ' s exactly like his own conscience-only co ppcr-wafhed . " This phrase alluded to an exprossion previously . usedon . the trial . ; ,. f ¦¦ .- ¦ ,, ' < ¦? ;<
Besides very = . free , Jiving ,.- a > loose private morality , and little . public ; priucipJe- * eyon < a sori at party consistency ^ dueHingflouvishea n full vigour when Curran was in his prime .
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Mr . JphiUipB gi . Te 8 a few instances of it amon judges and great hwyearfl 4 * .... s cS ' ? 5 ' ' aftwwards'Eord Chancellor ; fought Cumn afterwards Master of the Rolls ! ° 8 o SreputJt Um ^ faut com W aIso B ained icSrfflH ?^**^ - ^ Justice ; fought two ISJl '« j **?! " 1111101181 * - * show his impar" ^ y . no doubt . ¦ ' ¦¦ ¦•* ¦ ir . Sg ^ terW ^ dfl ? aroD ' ^ hthi s own brotherin-law and two others . ' ' .. PloO ° i J affc t rwards 0 hie ^ Justice of the Common ijieas ,. fought three persons , one of whom was iJitzg erald-reven in Ireland the " fire eater " par excellence . ¦ ¦' ' •¦'¦¦ '¦¦¦ -- ¦ * - '¦¦ ¦¦ < e ¦¦ . Patterson ,: aho' afterwards Chief Justice of tne same court , fougt three couutry gentlemen , one ot them with guns , another with swords , an < wounded them all '
^ Cony , Chancellor of the 'Exohequer , fought Mr . Urattan . L ... .: . The Provost of Dublin University , a p j Vy Counsellor , fought Mr . Doyle , a Master in . Chancery , and several others . T u l to ° » 7 Collector of the Customs , fought Lord Mountmorris . -r b ¦ ^"' y Deane Grady , Counsel to the Revenue , fought several duels ; , and " all hits " adds Barnngton , with unction . Curran fought four persons , one of whom was Egan , Chairinan of Kilmainham , afterwards his ka i - tho duel with Lord Buckinghamshire . A duel m these days was often the prelude to intimacy . . _ ,...
Although this work begins with the birth and ends with the death of Curran , it is not property a biography , bat what the title page indicates—notices of M Curran and his Contemporaries . " The life of Curran is rather run over than narrated in order , the qualities and characteristics of the man being chiefly dwelt upon ; but he , is very often lost sight of while Wb contemporaries are delineated . Death has enabled Mr .. Phillips to add some of them to the present edition ; and amongst these O . ^ ConneuY The picture of the great agitator is drawn in a friendly spirit ; but such
was the character of the selfish demagogue as developed in his later years , that it leaves a bad impreBsion of the man . The following is ; .-the ?; defence of O'Connell against the charge of cowardice : but it does not establish the case ; for although great skill ( unless consisting in quickness ) on the part of one duellist may not avail against the skill of his antagonist , it gives confidence . The story , however , is curious ; and not the less so that it has always been supposed O'Connell was helpless and D'Esterre the victim of accident instead of deadly aim .
On the occasion in question he showed a total absence of what is , vulgarly called fear ; indeed , his frigid determination was remarkable . Let those who read tbe following anecdote remember that he most reluctantly engaged in the combat ; that he was then the father of seven children ; and that it was an alternative of life or death with him , D'Esterre being reputed an unerring marksman . Being one of those who accompanied O'Connell , he beckoned me aside to a distant portion of the very large field , which had a slight covering of snow . " Philips , " said he , " this seems to me not a personal but a political affair . I am obnoxious to a party , and they adopt a false pretence to cut me off .,. I shall not submit to it . They , have reckoned without their host , I promise you . 'Iam one of the . best shots in Ireland at a
mark ; having , as a public man , considered it a duty to prepare , for my own protection , against such unprovoked aggression as the present . Now , remember what I . say . to you , I may be struck myself , and then skill is out of the question ; but if I am not , my antagonist may have cause to regret , his having forced me into this conflict . " The parties were then , very soon placed on the ' ground , at , I think , twelve paces distance ; each having a case of pistols , with directions to fire when they chose after a given signal . D'Esterre rather agitated himself by making a short speech , disclaiming all hostility to his Roman Catholic countrymen , and took his ground somewhat theatrically , crossing his pistols ! upon his bosom . They fired almost together , and instantly on the signal . D'Esterre fell , , mortally wounded . There was the greatest self-possession displayed by both .
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:. ¦ ¦ : \ ¦ * ? - •• - EnnnerungenausdemJahre , 1848 . Von Fanny Lewald . Braunsch wig . 1850 . Reminiscences of the Year 1848 . By Fann y Lewald . Brunswick . 1850 . The writer is one of a class peculiar to Germany , a class'of women , namely , who know something about every thing . Nothing is too high or too low to become an object of consideration to these female Teufelsdrucks ,, petticoated professors of allerlia wissenchaft , "the science of things in general . " Stray specimens may be found in other capitals , but in Berlin they abound . The repression of the
revolution may have dethroned them from their position , and discouraged any addition to their numbers , but they formed a delightful and remarkable feature in Berlin society before 1848 . The intense intellectual cultivation amongst the middle and higher classes of society in Prussia , the patronage bestowed by the court upon learning , the arts , and sciences ; the encouragement given to discuss freely every imaginable theme in politics or religion , with the single exception of the measures of the administration , all tended to create a taste for mental display in which it w ' as necessary that
females Bhould participate , if they wished to retain their old position in the social world . In the salons of Berlin , therefore , foreigners were surprised to hear women taking a prominent part in conversations in which the most abstruse questions in religion , politics , and general science were discussed . The philosophers , male and female , debarred by the spy system and the " censure" from any open investigation of passing political events , revenged them-Selves by treatiug these events as mere temporary phases of the great system of revolutions which forms the materiel of history , scarcely worthy of notice , and directed their attention '
to the great principles which underlie all great Bocial and religious deve ' lopenients . A strange tone was thus given to conversation . Listening to the talkers at a Berlin conversazione you might have fancied , judging from the nature of the subjects of conversation , that a number of gods and goddesses were debating on the construction of a world . Mere vulgar bricks and mortar they ignored , and were anxious only about primary and secondary geological formationB . ; The actual state of any society was scarcely cared for , except in illustration of a principle , and the great forces which must unite to form the best possible society , were the only subjects ' of investigation .
Fanny Lewald is one of these fair prodigies . She has ' studied everything from the Hegelian philosophy downwards . She is as great in revolutions as in ribbands , and is as amusing when talking sentiment over oysters and Rheinwem in the Rathskillor at Bremen , as when meditating upon ancient art and philosophy iii Wilhelm von Humboldt ' s castle of Tegel near Berlin , Tbe " Keminiseences" are contained in
letters written by the authoress to her friends during the year 1848 . They commence in February , at the beginning of the continental revolutions , and terminate in December , when the reaction had in all couiitriesexcept France swept back the runaway kings and governors into their old places . Gf this rich cycle of events our authoress saw much , and haB related it well . She starts from Oldenbugh to be a witness of the progress of events in
?« " »• ; -r : f We arrived in Bremen . Scarcely had we placed one toot on shore when Dr . Jindree metUB , with a newspaper in hia hand . " Louis Philippe haB fled ! Tho Republic is proclaimed in Paris . Here , read for yourself . " - I took the paper from his hand , and read amongst the names of tko . members of the provisional government , Albert , ouvrier ! A new era begins . What will it bring tho French ? Now contests ? Death and guillotine ? A short epoch of troedom and new form of tyranny . ? I ennnot
bolieve it . Murderous wars , bloody battles appear to mo impossible , unimaginable , after an endeavour has been once mado to realise in actual life the ideas of socialism , of the fraternal union of humanity . To kill a man because he is ' noi of our opinion , or bocause he lives on one side and we on the other of ascertain river , ; or vbecauso we have different inanners ,-djffe . renfc language ? , is . . sqsad ,, as to . jforbid us todrsanwrfits , possibility in the ; present condi' tion ' 'p ' faiuman .: cjlvilisatiori ; Wars tetweon cducator nations are tho last remnants of bestial ferocity , and must vanish from the earth . I have
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faith in humanity in the future , in the' duration of the republic . Beauteous hopes , glorious recollections , unite . with the human tones . of these words . ' I feel more than ever drawn towards Paria . I wish to see how a people forms itself , -how a . state consolidatesitself ; after having declared itself ripe for following the course dictated by- its own nature . What impressions are awaiting ua in Paris , that ever-beating heart of Europe ? , The answer to these lofty expectations is to be seen , for the present , in the terrorism which reigns in France under the sway of the " ordermongers . "
_ The authoress quitted Paris before the terrible scenes happened which hare ended , in der livering France , ' for a time , into the hands of a despotism ; but she saw enough to awaken her anxieties . She speaks in the most satisfactory inaniler , of the , perfect tranquillity ^ of Belgium ,, and of the repugnance of the people to any other form of government than that under which they enjoy so much happiness . Alexander Dumas bears witness to the same fact ,-and informs his readers very gravely that whenever a plethora of good , living and comfortable circumstances has had the effect of rendering the Belgians , like spoilt children , untractable , and ready for a Kttleemetttefortbe sake of variety ;
Leopold quells the tumult by threatening the rioters' that he will go away . He appears , say s the veracious . Alexander , at , the window of his ; palace , with his portmanteau ready packed up in his hand : " . My good' friends , " he cries out , ' } put an end to this tumult , and let me be off . I have been tired of living here for some time , and never wanted to ctime . You ijre a just people , however , and will doubtless settle my account before ; I go . ' My expenses here have been considerable , and it is but fair that I should not be out of pocket by you ! " The people become convinced , beg theKing to forget their escapade , and retire quietly to their homes . Our authoress has accounted for the contentment of the Belgians in a different ' manner : ¦—
Thia says nothing either in favour of a constitutional monarchy or against a Republic ; it only furnishes a measure for the height of cultivation of the people in Belgium : for every government is good which is adapted to the t ' egree of civilisation of the nation . The highest spiritual development and moral cultivation necessaril y require a Bepublic , and if France has reached this point , the Bepublic will atand in spite of all ecorners and doubters .. The events which the authoress witnesses in Paris are so well known now to the world ,
that it will be unnecessary to transfer many of her accounts of them to our pages . Fre : quently , however ,, she adds a new interest to a well known fact , by her admirable . talent for description . Her remarks , two , are always keen , sensible , and go to the heart of the matter . Heartily sympathising with the revolution , she has collected several anecdotes which show the admirable spirit which actuated , the combatants . The following incidents were well calculated to work upon the feelings of . an enthusiastic woman : —
Madame Cornu , a brilliant writer to whom I was introduced by Bettina , gave us to-day a delightful account of her experiences during the revolution . ' She is a charming woman , still young , who has lived many years in Germany and Italy , and is at present engaged in writing ah article on Italian art and literature for an Encyclopaedia . Her . husband is an historical painter , and also a National Guard , and had left his house on hearing the rappel on the morning of the revolution . As the noise of the fight increased , and the ringing of the bells became more general , his wife became more anxious for his safety , till , at last , unable any longer to endure the torment of uncertainty , she determined to go out info the streets , in order to discover at least where her husband ' s company
was placed . "Wherever I came , said she , " I found barricades , with men on the top , who offered me assistance and helped me over . Pazez lepied sur mer main ! on voits assistera ! on vous aidera , madamel ' was the cry . from all parts . Upon arriving close to one of these , a troop of gamins came up , singing the Carmagnole at the top ot their , voices , and jostling . each other , -with violence , in their endeavour to reach the top . I was obliged , in consequence , to step back into the recess of a doorway . Instantly a couple of men -jumped down from the barricado , extended their arms , black with gunpowder and hard labour , . protection before me , ' and exclaimed , Respect aux femtnes ! faut ildonc abimer lesfemmei , powrchasscr unroi ? ' ¦ ' ¦
The last question is unique ; -It must be confessed that the French- alone- understand the art of making revolutions . Whether the greater division amongst parties , which has been the consequence of the revolution , will have tbe effect of embittering the feelings of all , and tend to make any future contest more bloody than before , it would be hard to say . Such a contingency would be , however , much to be deplored . The French have hitherto kept the object to be attained
solely in view , and abandoned all extraneous considerations . There is no question that Louis Philippe and his family owed their safety , to . the utter carelessness of : the people for every other object but one , the establishment of the revolution . That attained , kings and princes , and the whole paraphernalia of the old regime , were matters of no concern . Fanny Lewald" believes that the revolutionary animus has even impregnated the language , and . rendered it more fit to arrive quickly at the hearts of the people .
On receiving the news of the revolution in Prussia , our adventurous heroine returns to Berlin . Her first letter is dated 11 th April , after the terrible struggle in March : — "I have been nearly a fortnight here , " she writes , " Bince my return from Paris , and the altered appearance of Berlin still strikes me as passing strange . When we entered the city on the night of the 1 st of April by the Potsdama Thor , and passing by the office of the minister of war , saw ihere , instead of the usual military guard of honour , two students wearing the bonnet rouge and smoking cigars , I though that it must be all a dream . But how was my astonishment increased
when , on the following day , I saw the streets of Berlin without a single soldier in them . No officer of the guard ate his ice at KraDzler ' s with his legs stretched ovei tho iron balcony . None of the painted sig ns were to be seen which a few weeks before had shone so proudly with the title ' Purveyor to the Court . ' At every corner were sold newspapers and pamphlets , which had never passed under the eye of any censor , whereas a short time back eveu the inscriptions on gravestones were subject to the censure—every where were cigars to be purchased , although smoking in the streets was formerly prohibited under a penalty of two dollars for each offence . " ... ...
Who will say , after this , that the mediaeval monarch of Prussia had not trespassed rather largely on the patience of hia subjects ? Our authoress sympathises deeply with the revolutionists , and in the course of her advocacy of their conduct lets fall incidentally many allusions to a wide-spreading discontent previous to the outbreak . She has not , however , the same sympathy with her own countrymen as with the French . She feels that they were unprepared for a great convulsion , that they wanted teaching . Even before the reaction she confesses herself anxious as to the future . The revolution in Germany appears to her at present to be only a subject of thought for philosophers .
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Reform the CHAHTER-HoosE .--Mr . Poole , author of Paul Pry , and of other works still living and likely to live , has refused to accept tho post of one of the Poor Brethren of the Charter House . The reasonR for his refusal are , it is said , the want of many common comforts necessary for his health , which it was thought by his friends so rich ^ institution as Richard Sutton ' s would have supplied to all " poor brethren" within the walls of the Cha . treux . Few commissions more than charity commissions require to be renewed at short intervals ; and no endowments need more to be looked after
than tho noble foundation of the Charter Mouse . A commission of inquiry into tbe management of Eton and the Charter House will we trust follow pretty closely on the heels of the present Cambridge and Oxford University Commissions . A master of the Charter House with a smaller income , arid tho earn ? number of Poor Brethren with greater comforts—would be more in accordance with Sutton's spirit , the objects of Ma institution , and the ro quiremonts ofthe age ;—• Athcnmim ; i' ; lHxa ' s . a pig the most " extraordinary animal in creation?—Because you first ' Jcill him and then cure him . Happiness is often at our side , and we pass her by ; Misfortune is afar off , and we rash to meet her .
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: Affected simplicity is refined imposture . AFFECTED VIRTUE is moro ' to be dreaded than Vam ^^ c ^ nr OfbadlnO ^ ffhidl > dei fo % t " nt b ^ . article 3 * *" ¦ *«¦ Pity win always be hia portion in adversity , who acts with gentleness in prosperity . THBFOPUiAiioif ofNw York , according to the census of June last , was 520 , 000 . 6 Maloht says , the reason be don ' t get married ib tliat his houEe is not large enou / zh to contain the
consequences . NpBLEMAii . —One who is indebted to his ancestors fora name and an estate , and sometimes to himself for being unworthy of both . A couNTfir girl , ia writing home about the polka , says , tho dancing is hot much , but the hugging is heavenly . That young women should be dieted . Liws are generally found to be nets of such a texture , as the little creep through , tbe great break through , and the middle size are alone entangled therein . m Extend thy generous aid to him who is suffering aiiU m distress ; for thou knowest not how soon the same proffered services will need be extended to thee .
' Why is it better to bo burnt at a Rtake than to have your head cut off at a block ' -Because : a hot steak is better than a cold chop . When we mean to touch the heart , we always speak the truth in some degree ; it is our last resource , and if it were out first , we should have less to lament . The Quickest way to Rome . — "Every road , " says the ancient proverb , " leads to Rome ; " but of all roads none will take you there so quickly as the small Tracts that run through Oxford . —Punch . , Credhis like a looking-glassi which , when only sullied by an unwholesome breath , may be wiped clean again , but if once it is cracked it is never to be repaired .
" Six of the English race-horses sent to the Pacha of Egypt some time since have died in consequence of the change of climate . " A diseased mind turns every chance accident to its own distempered view , and makes the terror , or the sorrow , which exists but in its own imagination , a reality of evil . ¦ ¦ - "Iejibrace the opportunity , " as Don Juan said when he kissed the girl in the dark ; " but we are all liable to deception , " asheexclaimed , when he discovered her to be black .
Paper from tow is said to have been invented and made at Berlin , so difficult , if not impossible , to becounterfeited , that it will supersede all other fabrics for bank-notes , stamps , &c . Advice . —Gentlemen walking tka streets with , canes or umbrellas should always carry them on their shoulders , for then they may get an opportunity of putting out the eyes of persons behind them . Mb . Webster , the American statecman , having taken his stand with the slaveholders , a Wesleyan minister , after invoking a blessing upon the President and his Cabinet , Bupplicated Heaven , in an almost hopeless tone , "to try to bless Daniel Webster !"
ON MISS ANNA BREAD . While belles their lovely graces spread , And fops around them flutter , I'll be content with " Anna Bread , " And won't have any " but her , " We hate some persons because we do not know them ; and we will not know them , because we hate them . Those friendships that succeed to such aversions are usually firm , for those qualities must hesterling that could not only gain our hearts , but conquer our prejudices .. .. Brotherly Love . — " Jack , Jack , " cried a sailor , on board a ship at sea , lately , to one of his companions— " Hallo ! " replied Jack , " what is it ? " " Your brother ' s overboard . " —'' Overboard ? " " . Yes . " — "Blow the lubber ! he has got my sea boots and monkey jacket on . "
A Madman ' s Notion . —A lunatic , who recently died of delirium tremens , had a notion that a large rat , taking advantage of him while he was lying asleep with his mouth open , had run down his throat , and was gnawing at his vitals . He thrust a pair of tongs into his throat to catch the imaginary intruder ,. and hastened his death . : The Vatican contains eight grand staircases and two hundred ordinary ones , twenty courts and squares , and four thousand two hundred and twenty- - two rooms ; with all its galleries , grounds , and appurtenances , it has been computed to cover as large a pace as the city of Turin . Captain Cocker . —It is stated that after one of " our ' military companies had partaken of a good dinner they were exercised a little , and at the word '' fire , ' the discharges were eo irregular that the captain , shouted out , " Where are the other two charges ? ' I counted but thirty-five , and there are thirty-seven muskets— American Paper .
Thb Planet Saturn . —We learn from Boston , in America , that the Astronomers at the Cambridge Observatory have discovered a third ring ( interior to the two others ) , surroundiug the Planet Saturn . It was at the same Observatory that the eighth satellite of this planet was discovered , about two years ago . Cockney Lingo . —A hungry looking countryman was leisurely exploring one of the quiet lanes in the city , in order to comfort the inner man , when his ears were suddenly saluted by a shrill voice , which uttered , in rapid tones , the following incompreheasible jargon : — " Biledlamancapersors—Roseheefrose ' goosrosemuttonantaters ]—Bikdamancablagevegetables ¦
— Walkinnrtakeaseatsir . "—The astonished man hastened his pace in order to find a house where they spoke English . Mir / roN . —Soon after the restoration Milton wa 3 offered the place of Latin Secretary to the King , which , notwithstanding the importunities of his wife , be resolutely refused . Ilia answer to his wife ' s entreaties was : — " You are right , my dear ; you , as other women , would ride in your coach—for me , my aim is to live and die an honest man ! " We dare say there are " writers " now in existence who would not hesitate to declare , if pressed upon the subject , that Milton was a consistent < ool , and his wife a discreet - and sensible woman . —London Anecdotes .
, THE CHURCH AND THE DISSENTERB . " Friend Samuel , " said a Noncon , to a Quaker , ' What think you of this Bull that make folks quail ? You have no great affection for its maker , But is ' t not , tell me , very like a Whale !" " Yea , John , " said Sam ! " and further , in my eyes , man , These sly State Churchmen now before you pace The Red Hat trailing of this Nicholas Wieeman
As a Red : Herring , to divet the chase . " Now here ' s another thing that ' s no puzzle , and yet I'll set it for an answer . How do you account for some hall porters and livery and other servants being so saucy to decent people in some places , when in others , ay , and very often where there ' s real rank too , all the servants are so civil and respectful ? I ' ve seen so much of this , thnt let me see the servants , and I'll tell you what the masters and mistresses are without seeiDg them . —A Packet of Seeds saved by an Old Gardener .
A speaker at a Protestant meeting at Exeter , last week , said , that a short time ago , a young clergyman from Ireland , on a visit to this country , attended divine service in which , "intoning , " " histronics , " and a variety of ceremonies were performed jn imitation of the Romish Church . After the service , the rector said to him , in a pitying tone , " You have nothing of this sort in Ireland ?''— " Oh yes , indeed , we have . "— " You have ?"— " Oh yes , " he replied , we have the raal thing there !" Thb Force of Imagination . —Dr . Beddoes , an English physician of great enthusiasm , had imbibed the notion that palsy could be cured by inhaling nitrous oxidegaa . He requested the celebrated Sir Humphrey Davy to administer the gas to one of his
patients , and sent him to him for that purpose . Sir Humphrey put the bulb of the thermometer under the tongue of the paralytic , to ascertain the temperature of tho body , so that he might see whether it would be at all affected by the inhalation of the gas . The sick man , fillcdwith faith , from the assurances of the ardent Dr . Beddoes , and supposing that the thermometer was the remedy , deolared at once that he felt better . Davy , desirous of seeing how much , imagination would do in such a case , then told him that enough had been done for that time , and directed him to come next day . The application of the thermometer was made from day to day in the same way , and in a fortnight the man was cured . — Physician and Patient .
Talking People . —Notwithstanding tho common adagt , in respect to the loquacity of women , some men are not the less prone to the evil of indiscreet talking ; they are always putting themgolves out by forgetting to keep their lips close . Some very clever people , tao . are tobe found pining inohscmit \; siB > ply becausethey frighten people , who would advance them , by their habit of unseasonable or imprudent cuat « tering . Attempt to ask them a question , and they are ready with a volume of explanation , which is uttered with such rapidity that there is no getting a word in " edgeways ; " arid frequently they have not patience to wait till you have completed your
question ,: but fly off at once , telling or showing you all that is irrelevant to the point on which you wish to be informed . Others- are always unburthening their mind of whatever it-may contain , without considering for b moment whether it be discreet to do so , or agreeablQ to other people , This habit of in- ' cessant-talking is injurious to . all , but always prejudicial to young people of both sexes , and it should therefore be carefully guarded against and controlled . In oil good . society ,. talking , chattering persons , are set down . at ' once as peststo be avoided ; and in any siluition of life the man or woman of few words will always be preferred to one who must always be gaying aoinetliingi K .
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aWe 9 » _ iiY e , ) IthaiikyOU |? t ? 'VBaidUriah Hee ^ looking m that , direction . — "Far more comfortable here ; than ever I was outside ! "I see my "folliea now sir . That a what makes me comfortable . " - ^ - Sever *! gentlemen were muoh affected jrand a third questioner , . forcing , himself to the front , inquired ^ .,, ext feeling : "HoW doyoa find the beef ?" - " Thank you , sir , " replied Uriah , glancing in the new direction of this voice ; "it was tougher yesterday than I could , wish ; but it ' s my duty to bear . I have committed follies , gentlemen , * said Uriah , looking . round withameeksmile , " and I ought to bear the consequences without repining . A murmur , partly of gratification at
Twenty-Doyen s ceiestiai state or mind , and partly of indignation against the contractor who had given him any cause of complaint ( a note of which was immediately made by Mr ., Creakle ) , having subsided , Twenty-Seven stood in the midst of us , as if he felt himself the principal object of ' merit in a highly mer itorious museum . That we , the : neophytes , might have an excess of light shining upon us all at once , orders were given to let out Twenty-Eight . I had been so much astonished-already , that I only felt a kind of resigned wonder when Mr . Lattimer walked forth , reading a good book ! " What js your state of mind , Twenty-Eight ? " said the questioner in spectacles . — " I thank yousir" returned
, , Mr . Lattimer , ; . " I see my follies now , sir . I am a good deal troubled when I think of the sins of my former companions , sir ; but I trust they may find forgiveness . "— " You are quite happy yourself ?" said the questioner , nodding encouragement . — " I am much , obliged to you , sir , " returned Mr . Lattimer . "Perfectly so . "— Is there anything at all on your mind , now . ? " said the questioner . "If so , mention it , Twenty-Eight . "—" Sir , " said Mr . Lattimer , without looking up , "If my eyes have not deceived me , there is a gentleman present wbp was acquainted with me in my former life . It may be profitable to that gentleman to know . sir .
that I attribute my past follies , . ' entirely to having lived a thoughtless life in the service of young men ; and to . having allowed myself to be led by them into weaknesses , which I bad not strength to resist . I hope that gentleman will take warning , sir , and will not be offended at my freedom . It is for his good . I am conscious of my own past follies . I hope be may repent of all the wickedness and sin to which he 1 ms been a party . "—I observed that several gentlemen were shading their eyes , eachj with one hand , as if they had just come into church . — " This does you credit , Twenty-Eight , " returned the questioner . — " I should have expected it of you . Is there anything else ?"
Amid all the . prodigal profusion of distinct and distinguishable figures , the abundance of graceful and quaint details , there is yet a unity in the hook which is alwayB felt , both as to purpose and effect . It has a profoundly itudiedaim . ^ Vithout par ad e of moral maxims we are incessantly reminded , by the course of its incidents and the fortunes of its actors , of the duty of tolerance towards individuals , of charitable and kindly construction for all , of the pity which the worst and the consideration that the best may . claim . The only thing pitilessly treated in it is that willing self-delusion by which men confirm themselves in error and crime . Every page of the story is a
lesson in self-denial , in the patient endurance of unavoidable ills , in strenuous effort against such as are remediable , and in that virtuons aspiration after the pure heart and unselfish will which can alone give true happiness or lasting peace . In the entire range of literature we could not point to an author whose writings , apart altogether from the amusement and instruction they convey , so uniformly strengthen the generous emotions , so carefully guard the delights and purities of home , teach us such increased tolerance and good will iree from all tolerance of vice , or contribute so much to each man ' s means and power of enduring and conquering his fate . - .
We look forward with pleasure to the time indicated on the preface , when this genial and . powerful writer shall " again put forth two green leaves a month . "
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 21, 1850, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1605/page/3/
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