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    858 TJH E IiEADER. " "' Jjfe;_ jg^JATUBP...

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    A BATCH OF BOOKS. jL Cyclopaedia of Geog...

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    John Law. The Financier Law ; Uis Scheme...

    it-would not be easy to disprove . What was his first pi-oject , the bank , which Dubois supported and St . Simon opposed ? It was a plan to equalize the-value of paper and money . What was his second project , the formation of a Western Company , to fertilize the French possessions in the New World ? It was a plan to monopolize the trade of the immense regions bordering on tlie Mississippi , and to create from credit a vast floating mass of . exchangeable value , and it is far from ' -being , an established fact that Law was answerable for the mania that ensued . The world was duped , but whether by itself or by Law is an open question . It is certain that the Scotcl financier , who is accused as a rnere jobber in notes and money , did

    occupy himself with extraordinary operations ia favour of French trade , that a substantial basis might be formed for the speculations in which men of all classes and countries were so eager to engage . That Colbert ' s project was a failure is no reason why law's " should not have been a success . Compare the stories circulated of the unimaginable wealth in gold and silk , in the regions of the Mississippi , with the bejewelled pictures of India in the early days of the Company- The East was one Golconda , and Golconda was one diamond mine , and every Asiatic was a Great Mogul , and every Great Mogul was anxious to part with a priceless ruby for a bodkin or a feather .

    The Great Company , installed in the palace of Mazarm , began its operations in 1719 . The Administrative Council was composed of thirty persons , among whom Law only figured as a director , on an equality with Ms colleagues . They "were at tost not only active but orderly . The shares were allotted with much form , and it was no . very violent innovation to establish an auction or market of scrip . Then -was exhibited the golden extravaganza of the Rue Quincampoix . Then the phalanx of fortune-hunters stood in a compact column in the street , caring not for sleep , thirst , or hunger , many waiting their turns ftadays . The Rue Quiricani ^ poix . was closed to all other kinds of traffic . ^ Pilgrims from all countries crowded thither , Not a carriage was left unhired on the most distant roads in France . Gold was a drug , silver dross , nothing was valued but paper . And all th , e maddening scenes that followed , with which tlie English public

    is vaguely familiar , are presented graphically by M . Cochut . Insane hopes produced insane improvidence , and luxury increased so far that a royal edict appeared , prohibiting the use of banisters , cabinets , tables , gridirons , ¦ or flower-roots of silver . Many a promoted lacquey lived like a Shah , —that Mississippian , notably , whom Duhautchainp commemorates in the language of half-bewildered awe . Four millions' worth of jewellery , a service of plate that had been ordered of the magnificent King of Portugal , kitchen utensils . and . bedroom furniture of solid silver , ninety servants , four * young ladies , ' -and four footmen of good birth as his personal attendants , peas at a hundred pistoles the pint , ambrosial fountains playing at his table—why it is ¦ enoTigh to convince M . Duhautcharnp that the nameless prodigal was a masculine Cleopatra . Meanwhile Law himself , the prince of all the magic , reigned in flattered state , and the coldest and proudest beauties kissed

    him . He planned an equitable system of taxation , suggested experiments in free trade , large public works , the devotion of two millions to the release of poor prisoners for debt , the restoration of waste lands , the establishment of a liberal poor law . Says M . Cochut , who elsewhere calls Law perfidious , * he Scheme , "in the firm , conviction of its founder , was to be the instrument of general prosperity . " But , as Pontchartrain said to Louis XIV ., " When it pleases your majesty to create an office , God creates a fool to purchase it . " The Company , soberly created , because the property of desperadoes , money was carried away in countless millions , lands and houses were purchased at unheard of prices , and Law , as Comptroller-General of Finance , iad to contend against jealousy , insanity , and confusion in the public mind . That his projects were extravagant , there is little doubt ; that they were misrepresented and exaggerated , there is no doubt whatever . When a

    Imndred and eighty young girls were taken bxit of prison , prettily dressed and decked with flowers , and bright little chains on their wrists , and married to as many young culprits of the other sex ; and wlien attempts were made to sweep the redundant population by force into the colonies , fatal mistakes , were made ; but M . Cochut , though he pretonds to be cautious , trusts too implicitly in the loose gos 3 ip of Buvnt and the elaborate gossip of St . Simon . The panic , the horrors , the reign of suspicion and cruelty that followed , were , as commentaries , impressive enough . It was only natural that Law , the distributor of riches , should afterwards be maligned 4 is the distributor of ruin . How far he was responsible , it is left for more philosophical biographers than M . Cochut to ascertain . One thing is certain , that he was not personally rapacious , for he oiTered to divide the wliole of his possessions among those who had been injured by the Scheme .

    858 Tjh E Iieader. " "' Jjfe;_ Jg^Jatubp...

    858 TJH E IiEADER . " "' Jjfe ;_ jg ^ JATUBPAiy

    A Batch Of Books. Jl Cyclopaedia Of Geog...

    A BATCH OF BOOKS . jL Cyclopaedia of Geography , Descriptive aiul Physical . By James Bryec , M . A ., F . G . S . f Griifin and Co . )—The loading aim of this Gazetteer , the compiler states , has been to present a full , clear , and accurate description of the known world , divided and distributed according to alphabetical arrangement . The most authentic statistics of trade , msvnufactin-es , population , and education , are added , with accounts of natural phenomenas connected with islands , continents , xivers , seas , lakes , and mountain ranges . The work haabeen very carefully executed throughout . We find none of these absurdities that disfigure more pretentious and better known compilations . The principal defects we havo noticed are faults of omission , exemplified in tho very first pnge . The Gazetteer , in fact , begins wiLh the word Ha , " to which is appended this information : —'' The name of several amall nveis on tho continent of Europe . " What ri-vcrs , and where arc they i * The position of one or two , at least , should have been indicnted . * Jpon a close inspection deficiencies of this kind arc detectable ; but in a general sense , this is an admirable geographical dictionary , convenient in « izo anaas well adapted for privuto libraries of referenco us for schools

    . w ? v * ° / x ^ 3 S **«* - - «» Epitome of Enalish History , from Colon-* , % « ll V te % lf he . **>& of Parliament , aj other J ?« hlic Records . Vol . U . « l . nSi *?! ? t Publication which will be of grent value to those who doflign to atudy English history by a systematic method . It is

    compiled in brief , colourless paragraphs , but is full of substance , illustra tion , and authority . The references are to be classified at the end of the third volume . The second , now published , begins -with the rule of the House of . Lancaster , and concludes with the execution of'Charles T . Some notices of the social state of Ireland during the reign of Henry VIII . are verv curious . The Irish nobles ivere as much accustomed to exemptions as the French y they would not permit the king ' s courts to be held in their districts fined their tenants if they'repaired for justice to the Availed towns , profited by the penalties of crime , charged their peasantry for protection and left them unprotected , and levied taxes on deaths and births : —

    Every birth , marriage , or a < 6 ath in the lord's family occasioned the demand of a sheep from each , husbandman , and a cow from cacli Tillage ; money was levied (& rake ) for the expenses of journeys , never undertaken , to Dublia or to England Forced contributions of food and money ( foy and pay , ami mertyeghty relieved the lord ' from all expenditure of Ms own when ho bad guests ; when lie hunted , his do" -s were regaled with bread and milk , or butter ; and whole quarters of . oats-were demanded when . most scarce , for bis ' gr eat horse , ' and a . composition in money exacted . The Anglo-Saxon king claimed th _ e labour of Ilia freemen to build his residence ; b ut the Irish noble exacted mustvons for the keep of all his various craftsmen , from masons to tailors ; he , -however , seldom lived at home , but passed his time in periodical visits with , an unlimited , retinue , to his tenants , when meat , drink , lodging , candle , and a . present at parting had to he provided . Four such visits to pass tlie night ( called co & y , or cosher ) were usually bestowed on each husbandman , while ihore occasional visits were often . paid for the express purpose of ruining (' eating up' ) an obnoxious inferior .

    Lady Catherine Poer , when one of her tenants was robbed , kept the property recovered by her soldiers , and fined the husbandman for his negligence in losing it . Ireland was tLen , in its feudal system , the perfect parallel of France . A Child's History of tftc United Slates . By John Bonner . ( Sampson Low . )—Two very excellent volumes , suggested by The Child's Hisiorg of JEnc / land of . Charles Dickers . Mr . Dickens ' s preface will serve as praise for Mr . Bonner ; his book ' may help children , by-and-by , to read with interest larger and bettor books on the same subject . ' A School History of Modem Europe ,, from the Reformation to the Full of Napoleon . By John Lor < l , A . M . ( Shnpkin and Marshall . )—The fault of most school .-histories is not the fault of this : it is anything but dull . Mr . Lord varies bis narrative by interspersing social anecdotes and pictures , and notices . of literary and scientific progress , with the political annals of modern

    Europe . He writes plainly but attractively , and , hi general , with a close attention to the necessary details of his subject . Occasionally , however , a lapse occurs , leaving important passages obscure . Of what value , for example , is the history of < vwar without an explanation of its results ? In 1 : 7-13 , writes ' Mr . Lord , ( c the Treaty of Utrecht gave peace to desolated and mourning Europe . " What were tlie provisions of the Treaty ? That is what should be told in a School History . Then , what purposes were effected by the peace of Paris , iu 1 T 63 ? Mr . Lord records the signature of the Tx'eatv , omitting Jill notice of its stipulations . History , written , in this style , is simply dramatic , and teaches nothing . These , however , are incidental , not characteristic deficiencies . Mr . Lord , however , should not have attempted criticism . He might have spared himself the folly of saying " Alison's history is , on the whole , the most complete account ' of-the French Revolution . " , Why , the pupils will laugh !

    Familiar -Astronomy ; or , An Introduction to the Study of the Heavens . By Hannah M . Bouvier . CXrilbner . )—This largo volume , with its elaborate apparatus of tinted maps , figures , and diagrams , is intended for the use of schools , families , and private students . It is on an ample scale , and is divided into five parts . The first treats of the laws -which govern , the heavenly bodies ; the second , of tlie components of the solar system , and the laws governing their movements ; tho third , of the sidereal heavens—fixed stars , clusters , and nebulae ; the fourth , of the principal instruments used in an observatory , and the fifth , of the globes . A very useful astronomical dictionary—a technical glossary—is added . Without being competent to test Miss Bouvier's science , we must bear witness that her book is one that tempts to study . Analytical Ethnology : The Mired Tribes iu Great Britain ami Ireland Examined . By A . T . Massy . ( Baillibrc ) . —Here is a volume of random

    gossip introduced in a scientific disguise . Mr . Massy is as much a politician as an ethnologist , and wanders from his subject to scoff at Sir John Forbes , and to abuse the ' liquid flowing from the editorial quill' of the Times Imagining that he is called upon to vindicate tire high qualities of tho Irish nation , ho digresses to tell us that Sir Hans Slojine was an Irishman , that many of the Times'' ' leaders' are written by Irishmen , 'that Marshal O'Donnell ' procurer of peace and order , ' is of Irish extraction . From ' the fossil history of words , ' also , he derives national inferences that are highly gratifying . But it is in his full-length portraits of a Celtic man and woman , compared ' with , ' dumpy Dutch' and ' globular headed Saxons , ' that Mr . Massy excels himself . Heroic dignity combined with pastoral

    simplicity , ' a soft brogue issuing from a , well-formed mouth , '' matchless tooth und lips , ' fresh , transparent ,, and elastic skin , a lion's heart , a square and muscular chest , make up th « ideal Irishman . The ideal Irish maiden is auburnhaired , and has a white , soft skin , a thinking forehead on a line with a straight , mild nose , exquisite lips and chin , well-set teeth , sott dark eyes lull of bonest love , and other attributes of tho Venus de Medici . The hand of the Celt is delicate and tapering , ' exhibiting a fineness of mind ni » d fouling that is very remarkable . ' The Saxon ' s hand is thick , coarse , uiiplinblc ; it almost creaks on tho hinges . The Saxon is nspatular-lingercd man — his foot , too , is mnd < s for countings-houses ; that of the Celt for dances , IhutrnkIos , awl scaling-ladders— a piece of undulating architecture—the grain of beauty . ' That suffices .

    A History of I ha Turks from the , Earliest Period to the Present Tim . By John M'Gilchrist . ( J . Blaokwood . )— "Whenever a title-pngo contains tho words ' from tho earliest period to the present time' the book it introduces is sure to be steady and formal . Mr . M'Gilchrist ' s History of the Turks is of this character . It is an intelligent epitome of the most interesting events of Turkish history fromtho decay of the Byzantiuo Empire to the fall oi ' Kavs .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 6, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06091856/page/18/