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    NownrojfeR 4, 1854.] THE LEADE R. 1*>5!

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    THREE NOVELS. Ethel; or, The Double Erro...

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    A Batch Of Jstew Books. English Books. P...

    versify Transactiems will most likely turn away in despair from the two thick volumes full of old papers , collected by Mr . Hey wood and Mr . Wright . The book appeals , in truth , only to antiquaries and to -writers in want of curious information on the subject of the Puritan Controversies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . As a work for future historians to refer to , the greatest value attaches to this collection of old documents . They stow the ^ nature of the various plans adopted at Cambridge for the purpose of checking the rising power of Puritanism ; they comprise a very curious Diary by a certain Doctor Worthington , who was expelled , in 1 G 60 , from tie Mastership of his College ; and they furnish throughout some interesting and remarkable illustrations of modes of life , rules of discipline , and manners and customs generally , in the University of Cambridge , during the last half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centurv .

    Headers , for the most part—especially at the present time—may not care to inform themselves on sxich " old-world" subjects as these ; but " scholars and writers may , perhaps , thank us for informing them of the publication of a book -which is full of excellent historical materials , clearly and carefully arranged . Of Popular Literature we have three specimens . Mr . Burn ' s History of the Steam . Engine treats an interesting subject in an admirably intelligible manner , and is illustrated by som « excellent diagrams . This , at any rate , is a book for the general reader ; and it deserves a wide circulation . Mr . Edwin Lee's account of the curative resources of the various Watering-places of England , carries its recommendation on the title-page—it has reached a third edition . jVIr . Laseelles WraxaH ' s ( translated ) Visit to the Seat of War forms the new volume of Messrs . Chapman and Hall ' s " Reading for Travellers . " This little bock is written with a motive which is not very likely just now to dispose the public to make a fair estimate of its intrinsic merits . Mr . Wraxall ' s

    object is to defend Sir Charles N " apier ' s inactivity , by informing everybody -who ventures to object to it" of the many formidable obstacles * both natural ¦ and artificial , which an advancing foe will have to overcome in the , Baltic -and ^ the adjoining seas . " Unfortunately for the success of this doubtless meritorious design , the news of the battle of the Alma was published before Mr . WraxalFs book , and the people of England have in consequence ceased to believe m " formidable obstacles" altogether . As civilians , we will not venture on an opinion ; but we may confess to having nourished a superstition hitherto , that " gallant commanders , " by land as well as by sea , prove their gallantry either by not believing in " formidable obstacles , " or by making nothing of them . Mr . Wraxall is himself of opinion that " ¦ gallant Charley " has exercised a sound judgment in deferring his attack on the Russian strongholds ; but he does not wish to influence the opinions of others unduly . He is willing to "leave readers to decide "—so are we .

    A series of really life-like sketches of the great statesmen of America would make a delightful book . Mr . Baldwin has attempted in Party Leaders to produce such a -work , and has not succeeded very brilliantly in our opinion . We should not have objected to his somewliat inflated and pompous style of writing , if he had only made his biographical subjects a little interesting to his readers . He has , however , not achieved this very necessary condition of success in any instance . He informs us , copiously and seriously enough , about the political motives and public acts of Jefferson , -Jackson , Glay , and other famous Americans ; but of the men themselves , in their merely human aspect , we never get so much as a glimpse . Mr .

    Baldwin seems to be possessed by the fatal and foolish id-ea , that domestic scenes and minute personal particulars are beneath the notice of a professed historian . He despises anecdotes , for example , heartily . In his sketch of Jefferson ( at page J 01 ) , he actually laments that certain " loose memoranda " of dinner-table arguments and conversational imprudences committed in their social moments by celebrated statesmen of America should ever have seen the light ! Jt is exactly the absence of such " loose memoranda " as these that makes Mr . Baldwin ' s book such dull and unsatisfactory readins as it is . When -we have found out that Jefferson was unknown to

    Iris nation in virtue of his public achievements , the next thing we directly ¦ want to know is , what sort of a man JclTerson -was himself . What were his favourite amusements ? What did he look like ? Was he a good-natured , easy fellow among his family and his friends ? or was he easily " riled , " and only approachable at particular times and seasons ? What were his favourite habits- —the bad especially ? Did he chew or whittle ? Did he go out . sledging in the winter ? Was he anything of a shot ? Was he fond of women and wine ? Was he a little wild in his youth , or given to music and dancing , or bitten with a rage for dandyism ? All those questions , and < lozens more , ive ask ourselves about Jeftbrson , because we want to realise Jefferson ; but Mr . Baldwin declines to answer us . He thinks our curiosity is trivial , and that we ^ do not know how to respect the dignity of historical biography . Very likely wo do not ;—and possibly it is on this very account , that we read over and over again what Mr . James Bosw ' ell luia to tell us about Johnson , Goldsmith , and Reynolds , and that wo never intend to read another word of what Mr . J . Gr . Baldwin has to tell us about Jefferson , Jackson , and Clay .

    What does Na Motu mean ? In Talutian dialect , " The Islands . " And what sort of a book is it ? A very readable , ontortuiniug narrative of adventures in the South Pacific . Mr . Perkins ( the adventurer ) has a quick observation of his own , and a sharp eye for character . His account or life on board a -whale-ship is full of good touches of nature , comprehensible , and interesting to the veriest landsman . And when the author gets ashore at the Hawaiian , or at the Society Islands , Inn good gifts ne a clear-sighted , straightforward writer do not fail him . Ho luways tells his story in the sumo manly , sailor-like way , and never overpowers us with excessive information about the strange semi-civilised people among whom his lot was cast . We have rend his volume with interest and protiL ; and we may udd , as a final recommendation , that it is illustrated with some nicely lithographed views of remarkable places in the Pacific Islands .

    So much for the books that wo have hud thuo to read- Among the books that wo have ( at present ) only tiino to acknowledge as huvin ^ been received , are : —Doctor Dickaona Destructiue Art of Healing , ami Fallacies of the Faculty ( People ' s Edition)—Mr . Maiephuruoii ' s Ri . iayou linylixh Education—Mr . H « yward's Essays on Chesterfield and Selwyii ( repriutud from the

    Edinburgh JRevieiv )—and Mr . Sebastian D . elamer ' s Treatise on the Rearing and Keeping o f Pigeons and Rabbits . MISCELLANEOUS REPRINTS . Caleb Stukeley ( Nathaniel Cooke ) , the opus magnum of Dr . Samuki . Phillips , has been collected from the pages of IS lack wood into one closely printed volume . There is no lack of a certain power , and of good writing in the story . Nevertheless , it must be confessed , Caleb Stukeley " repays perusal "—with a headacbe . Mr . William Chambers being recommended a change of air and scene , passed the autum n of last year in Canada and the United States . ( Wrings as they are in America . Chambers , 1854 . ) He improved his time wifch . characteristic assiduity , setting down his observations for the use of thu-Edinburgh Journal , in which taey have duly appeared . Mr . William Chambers is not a sentimen tal or lumorous traveller , but shrewd , practical , businesslike , and accurate . He speaks most highly of the present and prospective condition of our British American colonists , and all his remaxks on . the institutions of the United States are dictated by the most friendly and generous s pir it of appreciation and sympathy . The book is full of useful facts and intelligent comments , and , in spite of its facts , is easy reading . In the way of romance , we have to mention the reprint of the Old E & glish Gentle-man , by John Mills ( Ward and Lock ) , a tale of country life , genial and hearty . Tim Fortunes of Colonel Forlogh O'Brien ( Routledge ) , an Irish tale of 1686-91 , full of action and adventure . Nick of the Woods ( Ward and Lock ) , an American prairie story , giving an anti-Fenimore Cooper picture of Indian life .

    Mr . Uoutledge furnishes a Home-book of Household Economy " containing useful directions for the proper labours of the kitchen , the house , the pantry , and the dairy , and specially recommended to young married ladies , unskilled in household affairs "—a considerabl e majority . The last of the publications we have briefly to acknowledge this week is an appallingly funny one , entitled William Hogarttis Oven Joe . Miller . ( Ward and Lock . ) Irona a hasty glance at the contents , we apprehend there is a terrible congestion of fiin in the title and cover of this book * It maybe our fault , or our rnisfortune , but to read a page of Joe Midler or any of his tribe , would be the most ghastly penance we could be made to endure .

    Nownrojfer 4, 1854.] The Leade R. 1*>5!

    NownrojfeR 4 , 1854 . ] THE LEADE R . 1 *> 5 !

    Three Novels. Ethel; Or, The Double Erro...

    THREE NOVELS . Ethel ; or , The Double Error . By Marian James . Groorabridge and Sons . Idaline . A Story of the Egyptian Bondage . By Mtsw J . B . Webb . Bentley . The Virginia Comedians ; or , Old Days in the Old Dominion . Edited from the MSS . of C . Effingham , Esri- Triibner and Co . For some years past a revolution in the matter of heroines has been in progress amoiig the lad y novelists . The timid , melting , gentle creature , always blushing , bursting into tears , or sinking on her lover ' s breast ; the dear , generous , yielding , helpless , romantic girl whom we loved and longed to embrace , whenever-we met with her in the older novels—especially those of the Mrs . Radeliffe-school—has been shamefully abandoned by the literary women of our time . In hor stead has been set up an atrocious , hardhearted , strong-minded , bullying , boastful girl , whose mission in life is to treat v the men as uncivilly and contemptuously as possible , whenever she comes in contact with them . The new heroine lias the old " swan-like

    neck , " to be sure , but she is always curving it disdainfully . When she walks away from a man she " rustles her skirts proudly" —wlien she 3 mnds & man a cup o € tea , hex "lip curls slightly'' —when she lets a man pay her some attention , she never for an instant forgets that her main object in life is to " preserve her maidenly dignity" - ^ and when she gcta an offer of marriage made to her , she treats the poor amorous wretch of a suitor , in nine cases out of ten , as if she had received the grossest personal insult from him . The lady-novelists of the present time—with one or two admirable exceptions—seem to think that women in general are much too gratefully sensible of the kindness of men , and not hulf ready enough t . o presume upon the privileges of their sex . Such unkissable , unumbraceable , unendurable automatons in petticoats as the ladies have set agoing

    in th « ir novels for the last five or six years are a downri ght libel on womankind . Male readers abominate them , female readers repudiate them . We ourselves have watched young ladies carefully , and have never seen their lips curl , even when a man they did not caro about asked them to dance . We never saw them hand cups of tea scornfully . Wo never heard them retire " rustling their akirts "—otherwise than benignantly . And whenever we hnvo asked them in what terms they would reject aa unfavoured suitor , "wo have always found them resolved beforehand to perform that disagreeable duty in the oivilest , kindest , and most forbearing way . Lon ^ r may the genuine young ladies live to charm the men aa ladies should 1 and soon , very soon , may the false automaton libels on them , which prance through the pages of most women ' s novels in our lime , die ofl ' and disappear altogether .

    It is , in our estimation , the main excellence of the novel placed at the head of the present list , that the heroine is not the repulsive bully in petticoats against whom we have just been writing with all our mig ht and main . " JGthel , " in some respects , nets in a manner to disappoint us . Slio refii . sos to marry tho man she lovos , and sacrifices hursulf to advance his pronpects by marrying the rich r ' rvnl , who can help him , but whom she docs not love . She is silent and undemonstrative , when n candid word or u Iciuii action would have saved great misunderstanding and incalculable misery . But in spite of these faults she ia a lovenblo girl , £ he secures our sympathies in many passages of tie book ; and when she suflum for her errors , she wins our pity in u , gentle , natural , feminine way . Wo cannot say muoli < or her lover , lie is a uisagruoablo and thoroughly conventional diitruolAT . Indeed , the only merit , of the story—apart < Yom the merit to vhioli wo have ulruudy alludod— coiirtista in the evidently warm and gonuinu fueling with which it is written . This quality on tho part of tho authoress , lured us into rending hor book through from beginning to cud , and encouraged ua to inuku ail friendly allowance fur her literary dofoctn . In the same spirit wu mow take

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 4, 1854, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04111854/page/19/