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Leader (1850-1860), 5th December 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, ;" ' V:NOv402^:Dec^

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      Blacktoood This Month Opens And Closes W...

      valuable > nd laborious contribution to philosophical literature , and finds in it * abundant evidences of the great extent and accuracy of the author ' s knowledgeof philosophy '•; ' while all famiUar with ft ^ it is ; crowded with elementary and puerile bkuiders , exploded errors , arid shaUbw philosophical common-places . . ¦ ¦ ¦ '¦ Of the remaining articles in Fraser , the first , a review of ' Waterton ' sEssays on Natural History , ' is interesting , and the eighth , entitled * A Glance at the Police of the Streets , by a Grumbler , 'de-- >^>

      cidedly seasonable . ' . ' V ¦/ '¦ ¦ . ' "¦¦<¦}¦ ¦ ' ' ¦ '¦ ¦ . -. ¦¦' .. ' : ¦ ; ' \ / v , 'V . ^ v : p ^ :- / ; .: -: ¦¦¦¦ s -:.. ;/ ; . ' ' ¦ ¦ " .. : The Dublin University ' Magazinelias a good review of Toin Brown ' s School Days , ' a recent novel of the muscular-Ghristiaiutyschool ;;; wMch has been praised almost as inucli ' as : it ? deserves : ' The Tramping ; Artist' is full of lively and pleasant sketches of continental travel . ¦ ' i ; ; > : ¦ ¦ The December number of the Art-Journal completesthe : twentieth vbluine ofthework , theincreasing success of which testifies sighiiicantly to the progress , of art-studies in England . The engravings are generally admira , blej and the Kterary contents varied and intcrestiiig . ; : ; V

      ;" ' V:Nov402^:Dec^

      ;" ' V : NOv 402 ^ : Dec ^

      It Is Goodnewsto A Large And Increasing ...

      It is goodnewsto a large and increasing class ; of the reading public toi announce Messrs . Longman ' s teprintipf Lord Ma . ca . ulay ' s History of England , ih six-shilling yoliiraes , each with a carefal andServiceable : Index . The first has appeared . It coritains three chapters : exter ^ and eye , clearly and . solidly printed on good papery it is precisely such an edfc tiqn as Was wanted to makei / a- national classicuniversallyathome ; inthe .-land .

      . M. Cii^Lb-Ltss Blanc, The Distinguishe...

      . M . Cii ^ lB-ltss Blanc , the distinguished Art-critib , who some years ago presided over the ¦ Department ; of the Fine Arts at Paris , Avith eminent capacit y ^ and with the approval of thewhole body of IVench artists , wis commissioned by ^ vthe ¦ pcturrier de : P « m to report upon the Art-Trea ^ Chester : Stich a commissiori-could not have been entrusted to abler hands , and it was fulfilled with conscientious care , zeal , and inteliigence . The letters , twelve in , number , are : now republished by M ; GPAGNE ^ tE in a neat volume ; and deserve the attention of English artists and connoisseurs . ; Wei niay take ian Opportunity to ; Teturh to this vblnme critically ; / lh e ^^ it to tliei notide-of bur readers , whb . will be naturally interested to learn tlie state ; of Frenclv opinion upon Bn ^ shAvfc ;

      " : ' '¦: ::: - ¦ ¦:->.;;. ¦¦:¦ ¦: , = ¦...

      " : ' '¦ : ::: - ¦ ¦ :- > . ;; . ¦¦ : ¦ ¦ : , = ¦ A YEAR OF REVOLUTION- xr ^ ' , ¦;/ , ; . ; -v : ;; - : ; A Tear of Revolution . From a- journalKept in Paris ixi 1848 i ¦ By the Marquis o f Normaiibv , K . G . ^ yolsv ' -- ' ^ ' ^ .: ' - ' ^^ - ¦ . •¦; . /¦ •"' . ;; 0 . ;\ : \ : ; ^ " ; Longnjani and Ce * The Marquis of Nc * manby ' sbook is in some respects ; remarkable . It overflows with , prejudice , and , in parts , is inaccursite as a histor y * Neyertheiessj it has its valuiBj : and is especially : interesting in so far as it bears upon the conduct of Louid Philippej the ; confidential dialogues of our ambassador with , the chiefs of the Republic , and the tone assumed by general society after the events of February , 1848 Nornianby we have nothing £ o do ; they are exclusive , contracteU , and often absurd ; his sympathies lead him astray ; he is incapable of comprehending any dignity except that of a Knight of the Garter ; and he is mbst viblent when he imagines himself to be least under the influence of passion . The

      testimony of such . a witness must be received with some reserve ; the more so ¦ when we find tliata British peer , representing the Court of Great Britain to the French Republic , falls into gross errors concerning the acts of a member of the Republican Government ; but we are fully persuaded that Lord Normanby , when he ; published these volumes , intended them neither as a libel noras a sat ire , and imagined himself to be fulfilling honestly the part of an ; historian . The blame attributable to him is : that , being an ambassador , and professing to give evidence , he neglected to inform himself more fully on certain essential points , and , in his desire to be candid , forgot sometimes to be discreet . Much of his narrative is valuable as a gloss upon the story of the last French Revolution ; the earlier chapters , indeed , supply a new justification of that movement , although they do not remove it from the category of political catastrophes . Even to an English marquis the throne

      of Louis Philippe had become contempti ble ; during a whole year every step taken was a blunder , a compromise , or an aggression ; the Government of M . Guizbt was in a state of trembling yet insolent vacillation ; the King betrayed an increasing disposition to obstinacy ; the Liberal party advanced its position ; and the spring of 1848 found both camps in a state of preparation for a struggle . Neither , however , knew the depth of the abyss that had opened ; the one had never thought of abdication ; the other had not dreamed of a republic . The result was a complete surprise—the Government startled to find itself a ruin , the Opposition standing , astonished , on the summit of power . But Louis Philippe hud been , for eighteen y ears , the pupil of one revolution j the Liberals had scarcely three days in wbieh to put themselves in readiness for another . The Revolution came , and piteously does the French King figure in the narrative of the Marquis of Normanby ,

      who describes him hurrying off , exclaiming , as he passed through the crowd in the gardens , "I abdicate ! I abdicate !' - condescending to the itnost abject displays of fear , deserting the young Duchess of Montpensier—concerning whom the ambassador writes in languiige of superfluous pathos—and otherwise illustrating the unwortbiness of his oTvn character . In justice to the popular party , it is admitted that they immediately offered to set a guard over the Embassy , thus rendering unnecessary the volunteered chivalry of Mr . John O'Connell and two hundred other Irish gentlemen , residents in Paris , who pi'oposed at once to carry arms in Lord Normanby ' s court-yard . An amusing account is given of the formation of the Provisional Government , nnd the accident by which M . Crdmieux is said to have been introduced ; but the writer can scarcely expect us to adopt all this gossip as authentic . An attempt is made to do justice to M . Lamartine . With him Lord

      Normanby held frequent consultations ^ ' attacking hini ^ pa e subject of the measures adopted by the Provisional Government / and apparently carrying oti . a very confidential axid amicable intercourse . When Ledrii Rolliii ' s famous circular to the Departmental Commissaries of the Republic had appeared in the Monitenr , liamartine i says ^ the Ambassador , affirmed that he had never seen tie docunQent ; but Lord Normanby , who appears to have busied himself in domestic affairs quite as much as was good for an . ambassador , entertained very strong opinions on the matter , and expresseel

      them freely . We cannot think that he doesjustice to AI . Ledru Rollin , or that he ennobles himself by recording his repugriance to a personal meetiricr with one whor at all events , is a gentlem who , when Iiord U " orinanby was at Paris , occupied an important ; position in the French State . If Lord Is 6 rmanby had been less fastidious , be niiglit have been- more accurate . : Thus , it would have been wiser , before publishing a statement radically and totally incorrect , to inquire into the original organization of tt ^^ them to , M . Louis Blanc ! This is not an excussible mistake : the origination pf that unfortunate scheme was matter of history before the . Am sador undertook to describe it . He knew Gavaignac , he kaew the Frerich press , and he should have known that Cavaignac volunteeredVand Emile < le

      Girardih published , the declaration , " M . Louis Blanc is as innoccsnt of the affair as 1 am . " Of the Dictator of June little is said , but that littl ' e . ' . ; . xe- - dounds to his honourv When fir ^ was visibly troubled withv sorrow for the braye men who had fallen under his artillery during the fatal days of the Jiine insuri'ectioa . There is ah evident tendency ¦' ¦ ¦ to accord , justice ^/ to the ^ ^ Republj ^ ngeneral at the expense of those whose authority he overpowered ; indeed , with one or two exceptions , the ^ members of the Proyisipnal Government are mentioned in terms of insult not very becoming , the Marquis reaching at one point a climax : in . which he exclaims that it seems as easy , under certain circumstances , ; to attain supreme power , ^ ^^ as to forge an acceptahce or to pick a , pocket . Perhaps he wbulcl not extend the application , of this figure of speech to the

      December which reUeved France from a . Republic . " : .: . - ¦ With reference to Louis Napoleonic . '' the : allusions are / few arid far between ' ; no opinions are expressed , ahdj all tnat strikes iis in the harratiye ^ thiat which will for ever be startling , in the biography of the citizen Louis Bbnaparte- ^ ius intense and dramatic show of homage to liberty . To the Marquis of Normanby he appeared * the man for the tini-e ; ' every coatribution of evidence , in fact , \ help 8 } to show that he was theiman for a time iri , which freedom had scarcely any united friends ^ and irii which a government ^ origiriatihg in ! surprise , ^ idissblved in conteihpt . The Repablican party did not maintain its ~ ground" with ti ^ t ; : gained and lost ; riot so much i perhaps , to the shanie of the Liberal leaders , as certainly to the affiietibn and di . sCTace '' Df ; Ffaricei .: >' ; i ' . The Republic might

      have resisted Bourbon , Grleanist , ; and Bonaparte intrigues , had it understood how to reconcile Republican animosities . The two volumes by the Marquis of Normanby are i as we have said , falsely coloured , but riot yvithotit their value . : He has transferred into them the substance of numerous elaborate colloquies with Lamartine , Cavaignac , aiid JBastide ; he is , by turn , just arid unjust to both ; 'he tells us that ^ ^ concerning Guizot of which we must admit tlietrutt , and yet we feel his general summary ^ of that states .-man ' s character ; and capacity to . '' . be ^ un fair ; other iUustribus names he either ridicules or igribres . All these points in his work must be kept in view by the reader ' who hopes to gain from them a deeper insight into the story / of the French Revolution of 1848 . And yet t $ at deeper insight will be

      gained . Lord Normanby , though hot a perspicuous , was a close dbserveri and the principal event ? and personages of the astonishing drama passed before his eyes ; from hisf . residence in the Rue ; ,-fcJt . Honor ^ he heard the firing on the barricadeSj and similarly intimate was his acquaintance with all the phases of the marvellous process which , with revolutionary rapidity , converted a kingdom into a democratic republic , and & republic into a lnilitary empire . It is with the first aspect alone that the narrative deals . Lord Normanby treats of one year of revolution , not of four . We do nqt value his work as a history jstifl less can we accredit it as a criticism ; but as a memoir it is singularly interesting , and though wordy in style , and not un frequently erroneous in statement , it must be regarded as a repertory of useful materials available for the future historian of the period .

      Summerleigh Manor. Summerieigh Manor. Ma...

      SUMMERLEIGH MANOR . Summerieigh Manor . Masters an ^ i Co . Summerleigh Manor is a story which unites in an unusual degree the characteristics of a . book for children with those of the regular novel , and Paterfamilias will no doubt read it upon the sly when the young people are gone to bed . The plot is interesting without being exoiting , and the incidents such as may very well occur in any quiet English household , without , at the same time , being common-place . The language , habits , and thoughts of chil dren are depicted in a very natural manner , and there is a spontaneity and human freedom ill their actions which distinguish the story rather favourably from works like Amy Herbert and the Fairy Bowen though , in many other respeets , we could not bestow higher praise than to say that the mantle ofMiss Sewel had descended upon a writer of children ' s tales . ¦ ¦'¦'¦ ' ¦¦ ¦ , ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ ¦ ¦' ' ¦ :: ¦¦' . ' ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦• ' ¦ ¦¦ ' . ' . ¦ ' . ¦ : \ '' : •"' : '

      _ Margaret Woodward , the youthful heroine of Summcrloigh Manor , is a kind of enfant incomprise , who displays a preference , unaccountable to the governess mind , for scrawling figures of men and animals oh the fly-leaves of her geography book , to either the mastering its interesting contents , or the game of romps by which that achievement might be rewarded . Her brothers and sisters and papa arid mamma all take but one view of the subject , and poor little ' Daisy , ' as she is habitually denominated , is in a . normal condition of disgrace . She is at last , however , partially elevated , though not made more intelligible in the eyes of her own family , owing to the praises bestowed upon one of her zoocrapbic pcriornaances by a wealthy old gentleman in the neighbourhood . Mr . Massy is a man of taste , fully appreciates the child ' s genius , and uses all his influence to secure her emancipation from the to her unprofitable drudgery of the schoolroom . From

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 5, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05121857/page/17/