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    No 468,Maxcu 12, 1859.] THE lEAMB. 33 5

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    Latins, And Requires A Different And Mor...

    bodies at all times , supposing the growth of each to he equal , and so the growth of one -would fail to account for the acknowledged differences ? Captain Drayson is well able to answer this question ; and ¦ we await his reply . - . The discrepancies of all sorts Which he brings forward in support ; of liis theory are numerous and extraordinary . Among the positive arguments for the growth of the earth he notices the cracking of Gld buildings and walls , that appear as separating one from the other . Besides , the milestones are seldom in their right places . In many parts of England they have been moved within . the last twenty years . of

    There are also fossil remains at the North Pole tropical seeds , plants , & c . Admit that the earth has increased in growth , and the mystery is explained . Countries that once joined each other are now sepa ^ rated by seas . " How would these changes be effected ? " asks Captain J ) rayson . " By a rapid convulsion , pr by a gradual expansion ? " The latter he deems " most like Nature ' s usual proceedings . Do we find trees or shrubs , men or animals , increasing by convulsions ? " . He likewise explains the apparently great ages of the antediluvian patriarchs on the same theory ; and proceeds upon mathematical calculations that lire evidently correct . But his sheet-anchor consists of his astronomical

    facts , relative to which we repeat the question that we put above . According to the Captain—or rather in strict accordance -with , the positive and recorded evidence that he produces— -nearly every observatory in- England has shifted its position several hundred feet ; some of the continental observatories have thought nothing of a skip of a-few . hundred yards . The observatory of Ghi'istiana has travelled north , and has . moved . . 36 ; " or 3 , 600 feet , during the last twelve years . The accepted latitudes of ¦ ¦ different places continually'differ fromtheir actun I measurements ; In fact , measured distances will not agree as they ought ivitli sistronomical observations .

    . "When we observe , " continues Captain Drayson , " in the official Ephoneris that the position of stars , planets , sun , and moon , are given to the onethousandth parfc- of a second , and when we also remark that the leiigths of base lines are known to the -one-htindredth -part of a foot , it does . " appear curious , that , when t ! ie two departments- came to be compared , discrepancies of four or five seconds , and of four or five hundred feet , arc found not only to exist , but to remain without any satisfactory , explanation . . . Let it luit be granted that the earth is growing and its orl ) it increasing , and nearly every such mystery , Which has puzzled the learned for a thousand years , at once vanishes . "

    The submarine-telegraph cables are summoned to boar witness in favour of the ' growth , of our mother Earth . These cables laid between England and various parts of the Continent ,, fastened at each end , have what is called . a " certain amount of slack payed out . " Some of these cables exceed one hundred miles in length , and there are ' very few of them which have escaped being torn asunder after they have l > eon submerged for n , short period . From information with which we were favoured by one of the

    principal officials oi the tolegraph , in answer to an inquiry which we made upon the subject , it appears that suddenly the telegraph ceases to work ; and upon electric tests being used , it is discovered that either the gigantic iron cable lias actually been rent asunder , or the interior copper wire only has been broken . The fracture looks visually as though the cable liadbeen pulled apart by enormous forco . The usual cause assigned was a ship's anchor , but this cause was' called upon 1 o explain the fact , because no other possible reason could be assigned . "

    " Those be truths , " astho clown says in " Measure for Measure ; " and wu trust that Captain Drayson ' s mea ' suremonts , tuul his romorks upon , them , inuy receive their duo . measure of attention and bo thoroughly sifted hy the scientific . The question is Ona , in several respects , of great practical importance . Let it therefore bu put u > rthwilh in a train , as it may be , of soulouion't- — -wlicthor this onrth of ours bo increasing in sisco , and extending its orbit , or not ? An answer in requested without dolay . History of France . j from the Earliest Times to 1858 . liy thd Mov . Jiinies White , author of the " JCig'frtoon Cliristiau Conturios . " William TJlaekwood and Sons .

    character of Napoleon he is also j ust and of Welling 1 — - ton he is a great admirer . " Caesar , " he says , " never : equalled either of them in military tactics , or political organisation , or literary skill . " We can most honestly eonimehd this history of France ^ as eloquent , life-like , vivacious , and faithful . General Debility and Defective Nutrition ; their Causes , Consequences , and Treatment . . By--Alfred Smee , F . E : S . John Churchill . A work by Mr . Smee is sure to be of value ; the present , which contains the substance of an oration delivered by him before the Hunterian Society of London , on 9 th of last February , is a highly useful treatise , aiid calculated to be of great practical benefit . His remarks on defective nutrition are eminently suggestive . They apply to rich and poor , for both ,

    though from different causes , often suffer from lack of food ;—these yield to necessity , and those starve in the midst of abundance , froni caprices of the appetite . Mr . Smee regards these intanees , in most cases , as symptomatic , arid proceeds from them often , as data to regulate his practice . Sometimes the signs of debility arise from intemperance ; at other times from anxiety , from deficiency of employment , or constitutional caiises . Kailroad travelling , also , brings inconveniences with it . Tile action of foodr moreover , is different in different persons , and requires regulation by . specific attention . For this , and J other reasons , it is well for every household to have attached to it a medical adviser , at an annual payment , whose office woiild therefore be to preserve health rather than to _ cure disease . . This is Mr . Smee ' s concluding advice to his reader .

    Town Swamps and Social Bridges . The Sequel of " A Glance at the Homes of tlie Thousands . " By George Godwin , F . R . S . Itoutleuge , Warner , and Routledge . This work is by the editor of The Builder , and is a worthy appendix to his " London Shadows , " the social value . of which lias been attested by those best acquainted withahe subject . The book contains an exposure of the " nuisance-neighbourhoods , " arid proposes the remedy fur the evil . Among the alarming facts stated are these . : —100 , 000 persons in England died , in the year 1 S 5 S , prematurely ; and twice as many ' soldiers- tlie every year as would be the case if the rate of mortaility amongst them were

    only as great as among the general population , In both cases the mischief arises , from the want of pure air ; our soldiers ; in-particular , liave . been kept in . places and under conditions where healthful life is impossible . Mere over-crowding , under otherwise good circumstances , produces enervation , disease , and death . The evil in respect to the barracks was pointed out in The Builder a year ago ., " Surely , by this time , the , evils pointed out have been-remedied ? Not in the slightest degree . We vent into the barracks a few days ago ( February ) , and found it pre-. eisely in the same state as before . " Alas ! it will require many books like this to elfect the needed reforms . Success to all of them .

    Loqic in Theology ; and other Essays . By Isaac Taylor . ' Bell and Daldy . Fivk-skvkktiis of this work appear for the first time * , the other two consist of tlie author ' s wellknown introductory essay to " Tklwardts on Free-rwill , " and an essay on Unitarlunism in The Eclectic Jicvivw . Mr , Taylor ' s eloquent style needs no . commendation , and his philosophic power , so far as her goes , i , s indisputable . But ho wpuld hot be accepted n ' s a guide beyond a certain point by those to whom tlio . continental systems are familiar . Mr . Taylor ' s mind is of that class Hint early airrivcil at a . certain sort of perfection . Then it made itself up , and will not now on any account unnwko itself . It will not advance , it will not progress , In it confines itself to tlio sumo eirolo of ideas , which again ai ' ul again it illustrates , but never incvemscs . No in a popular logician , and dreads , worse 11 millionth mid-more than he loves truth , what nmy be unpopular . Nevertheless , wo always read him with pleasure , and sometimes with profit . Why should in : Learn ? Short Lectures addressed to Schools . By Emily Shlrroir . John W . Purkor and Son . , Tins Is a troaliso upon tlio vn fue of knowledge ; and tho theme Is onp peculiarly appropriate ! to the time , when knowludgu -Is so fiwl . v offuruil that the rceipionta uro not ulwiiys aufliolvnily impressed with its real worth . Too many onliniatu it lor tho worldly guln to which it may lend ; too low for its own intrinsic virtue . Thu mm , howov-or , who is uneducated ronmina a child . IMuctUion confers the true manhood \ »» d this is a Hilt tho trno value of which ' . cannot ! bo rated too highly , ouch 13 the argument of tlu above littlo work , which is ospoclttHy commomlablo ft > r Jls pure , simple , and cflcotivo stylo of ojnjpoalUon ,

    trampling , heels of another race of invaders from the forests of Germany . A little while longer they will see the civilising element , which was never entirely obliterated , asserting its power over the mixed races of tlie Fraiifcsand Gaels ; and , gradually combining , gradually reforming , gradually soitening , and giving way to the bent of their inborn genius , they will see the desceridants of . those ferocious tribes -claiming to be the most polished , -the'most warlike ; the most accomplished nation in Europe . " Such is the author ' s design , and it is admirably executed . In fact , Mr . White has treated his subject like an , elegant poet , and has accordingly produced a most captivatin g work . - ¦ ¦ -... '¦ . . ' . •' - ' ¦ ¦ -

    According to Mr . White , France is not so well conditioned in regard to her boundaries as she might be , and as nature intended her to be . Hoy comfortably would she repose with her south guarded by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees ; her west by the Atlantic , her north by the British Channel , and her cast by the Alps , the . Swiss Mountains , and the strong-current of the Rhine . . But a line is arbitrarily drawn across from a certain part of the llliine , and confines France within boundaries on the east and north . But though nature has been thus checked , France is yet favourably situated and bounded ; and moral boundaries are not always identical with the material . So it is . with her .

    The story of Philip Augustus and oiir lion-hearted Richard , and their crusading quarrels , is told by Mr . White with graphic power . Here the history of the two countries meet , and blend , and continually intersect . Mr ; White'is ' . not favourable to the Crusaders . , His portraits are photographs , and exaggerate ' -certain ' features ' .. ' The colouring of romance and tradition is thrown aside , and the prosaic fact substituted . Alas for human heroism ' . ! It will ' not " endure such stripping ; it is as repugnant to conception as Mr . Thomas ' Carlisle ' s " naked House of Tjords . " Heroes are much indebted to their costumes , both on and off the stage . . .

    Mr . White also treats us with a vivid sketch of the Hundred Years' War between France and England , dating from 1337 to the loss of the English possessions in 1450 ; for , as he tdlls us , " the Iiistorians give good measure in their vtrf- ' uation of a hundred years . " Of the . three great battles fouglit in this great strife Mr . White justly remarks that there is a wonderful amount , of sameness . For example , our arniy- - is caught in an unsafe i > ositipn , and is threatened by overwhelming numbers . ' The leaders try to temporise , and offer great sacrifices to avoid the fight . The French , presumptuous and self-willed , refuse all accommodation , assault with impetuous courage , and are exterminated , horse and " man . This , adds the historian , "is hot complimentary to-the ' generalship of our chiefs , but sj > eaks trumpet-.-tongued of the courage and endurance of our men . " As it was , so it is vet .. Witness certain events in

    the Crimea . As the character of Louis XI . has been recently produced on the stage , we refer the reader to the . portrait by another dramatist of the same monarch , though not in the dramatic form . We confess that we take a more favourable view of the character of this calumniated monarch , and regard . him-as the founder of tho Tiers Elat . It was not altogether in mockery that this man wns the first who was addressed as '' Majesty , " and entitled " the Most Christian King . " He had , at least ,

    policy and perseverance , and perhaps wisdom , though it has been the-fashion to call it cunning . Moreover , he -was successful in creating the ' . system that ho initiated . This , too , was a self-supporting mind . The political problems he proposed were " worked out in the solitude of his own thoughts ; for ho boasted that he formed all his plans without tho aUl of others . " Perhaps the right ostimato of jLauis XJ . 'h character ,- is to regard him as the first of tho politicians of Franco . The king was his own Kiolioliou , and governed as well as roiyned .

    We wish wo had space to cite our author s descriptive narrative of t ] io Massacre of St . ' Barlliolomow j but it is whoa approaching the period of tlio French Revolution that Mr . White gathers Jiis strong energies together , and prepares , for tire contest .. ' ' . - , Mr . Wliite ' ii philosophical acumen is oonsiriowblc , and tlio example of America in well put and appreciated , Tho tidings that onmo over with overy sliip wore soul-stirring ., * ' lloro" wore tho very questions wliioli had filled the works of tho oncyelopuullst ,

    enrriod out to tho arbitrament of arms before their oyos , JVo tuxon without representation ; JVo miproiw potoor except hi / tho will of ( he people ; JVo dominant scot } JYo privileged Itlrth ; No inequality of condithn . Horo ' woro tho oxaet statements | n their thoorotienl essays translated into the reality of life , " Wo nil know tha results . lloro Mr . White had a mighty themo . Ho has recognised its greatness ; and striven , not aUogothor In vtvin , to " rise to tlio height of IiIh grout argument . " To bo sure , Mr . White gives nitlior a royalist colouring to tho horrors of the tlmu ; but lie seo 8 the moral dourly enough . To the

    I 3 i 8 ToiiY'may ho citlicr a dull chronicle or a lively navrative , Mr . AVhlle , whoso dramatic powers havu boon tested on tlio fltagc , has liore exerted them in thv character of an hiatorlan , and so skilfully Unit tho volume before us is likely to bocouiu one of the most popular of tho qotison . Its stylo is rapid , flowing , graphic ; tho subjects are well grouped , ami the argumont both loarnedly and lucidly conduotod . Ho proposes , at tlio outset , to unrol , for hia * reador ' n boneflt , " " like a soritea of dissolving views , tho ' strongly rnarked periods of a groat nu ^ ion ' s caroor ; wjldp {) j ) ulfttions reclalmod liy contact with tholr llomnn conquerors , and Blnklng into barbarians again undor tho

    No 468,Maxcu 12, 1859.] The Leamb. 33 5

    No 468 , Maxcu 12 , 1859 . ] THE lEAMB . 33 5

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12031859/page/15/