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    v • . • . • ' $iw®abx 20,1855.] 1EE cLEA...

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    TBKBRUSE& - Th& Brutes of the Lebanon? t...

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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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    Miscellanea. The Author Of Blondelle Wen...

    to the pattering sound of an hour-glass ,, ig sufficient to restore that bird to his old place in our estimation . We regret-to say that it has lately been a fashion to decry him . We entreat people not to refrain from reading this book because they are not naturalists * If thejf will only read they will be interested , and as worthily as readers of lighter subjects are likely to be . THe Heir of Selivood . By Mrs . Gore . Railway . Library . ( Routledge . ) Mr ; Routledge haa added to the railway library this highrlife novel by Mrs . < £ ore » which wiEform , an agreeable diversion to the scalp-hunting excrtezaenta which , have distiBguished the latter volumes . Whether Miss . GotcSj fae & kmablet circles will appear to many readers more probable than those adveniurcBj iws will no * take upon ourselves to determine . *> -- « :- ¦ ¦—Russian Life in the Interior ; or , Experiences : of a Sportsman . By Ivan © and

    TTfeerghenieff , of Moscow . Edited by James ~ : . Meiklejohn . ( A . C B ! aek . > The Russian sportsman is here experiencing , a third language , the present translation having been preceded by a French version , from which the present is made . In the autumn of last year we noticed the French translation at some length , and we then recommended its translation into English . This version ia not all that might be . desired in elegance , but it is correct enough to convey the general spirit of the sketches . The Roving Englishman in Turkey . Reprinted in part from Household Words . ( Routledge . ) Every reader of Household Words will remember the pleasure With which he shared the miseries , of travel , wfchi the thoroughly < liscoatented Englishman whor apparently , will not live at home . / -The present volume contain * some hitherto unpublished grumbles , harmonising well with the old original complaints , whose freshness , by the way , is

    qpite unimpaired by time . It is most pleasing to find a dissatisfied countryman who does not look at home before he looks abroad . Lobster Salad : mixed by , Percy B . St . John and Edward Copping , ( Ward aad Lock . } " ' Lobster-Salad" appears to be the latest phrase for *| something of / every thing * , " It has taken only two gentlemen combined to hit upon , the notion , of a club as a medium for telling various stories in prose and verse The feat has been accomplished ,, and the humblest shilling in the land may procure the * results . Mr . St . Johny who has possibly published an autobiography , apologises i » a preface for having taken , apparently the lion ^ s share in the manufacture of the book ; he thinks , however , that the public cannot possibly mistake his style * nor confuse it with that of Mr . Copping-. " ¦ The reader / he says , is probably aware that I never perpetrated ^ verse . " Now we . who have read evervthinsr , confess , with a feeling of humiliation ,

    that we really were not aware , but the phrase " perpetrating" shows what originality may be expected if Mr . St . John ever should , as lie would probably call it * " trifle w . ^ . . The Colonial Almanack for 1855 ( Adam and Gharlea Black , Edinburg h ^ < loe 3 its best to condense into 150 pages all thatreaders interested in colonial questions can desire in the way of reference or information . As an elaborate compilation of geographical and commercial information , it is another of that «! ass of almanacks which have of late years grown so big in their utility as to induce us to wonder what will be _ their ultimate development . > _ Mr . F . Mayne ' s Voyages and Discoveries in the Arctic Regions ( Longiaana )~ make a seasonable contribution to the " Traveller's Library . " The present volume consists of a series of articles collected from the pages oCa weekly periodical . Two chapters are now added , " embodying the most recent accounts of Arctic enterprise that have reached us . " The body of * fte narrative comprises all the recent Arctic voyages from the year 1553 to

    the present time , and the last chapter closes , tragically enough , with . Lady Franklin ' s letter , dated February last , to the Lords of the Admiralty , recording her " respectful but earnest protest against the removal from the Navy List as dead of the officers and crew of the Erebus and Terror ; . a letter not only in itself most affecting , but full of interest as the best abstract o £ the History of the last Arctic eacpedition- - Messrs . Cornwell and Fitch ' s Science of Arithmetic ( Simpkin , Marshall , xind Co . ) has the merifc . of being , one of the best practical and compendious treatises we have met with upon the most elementary of sciences . "It differs , " the authors say , ¦ " from others bearing a similar title in several important particulars . " The principle of a rule precedes the statement of the rule itself ; " every process employed in . the solution of questions is referred to some general law or principle of tlie theory of numbers ; decimal calculations are given , with , a view to the proposed change in our monetary srabem i the logical relation * of the several parts of arithmetic are

    explained ; the origin of our standards ot moneys , weigntsy ana measures T * elucidated : with questionings following each section , as exercises upon tfte pupil ' s acquired knowledge . This is a fair and satisfactory statement enough of the specialities of the work ; we may observe , however , that neftfter the principle of introducing , the philosophy of a rule , nor the questions for self-examination , are here presented for the first time . J . ne book has enough of merit of its own , in its logical acumen , methodical arrangement , and comprehensiveness , to recommend it to that very largo < jl » S 8 o £ the British youth wko cultivate figures as the science of life . The last year ' s numbers of the Band of Hope Review ( monthly , price one halfpenny ) , have been collected into a folio volume . We believe this little -work does much good in Sunday schools , There is a vast amount of information , not entirely clerical , and a mass of woodcuts which must tficilitate the transmission of morals to the unlearned of three or four years old .

    Charade Dramas for the Drawing-Room . By Anne Bowman . ( Routledge . ) ThiHi volume is so for an innovation on the old system of charades , that the point * are worked out in long ; dialogues , which arc generally serious . The « 3 Bsenc © of such entertainment is , that it should be entertaining . Hogg ' s instructor has almost ceased' to instruct ; but as it nns taken to amuse ,, we make no objections . Poetry and Civilisation is written to prove tlie high mission of the poet ; and the continuation of the very nicelywritten , story of Stater Anne ia devoted to the praise of women from a womanta pe * n 4 of view . The reader * o £ poetry—those who understand and lcnreitr—watt not love Mr . GilfiUan any the more for his strictures on the Uae efMeligion-in Poetry , wherein some old charge * aro revived with new fatuity .

    V • . • . • ' $Iw®Abx 20,1855.] 1ee Clea...

    v . . ' $ iw ® abx 20 , 1855 . ] 1 EE cLEABIB , 6 g

    Tbkbruse& - Th& Brutes Of The Lebanon? T...

    TBKBRUSE & - Th & Brutes of the Lebanon ? their Manners , Custom * and History . WitB . at Translation of theix Eeligious Coda . By George Washington . ChaseeajuL . Richard Bentlev Evbbt schoolboy knows * that in the mountain range of t & e Lebanon there is a people called ( C the © ruses , " whose women wear ah abstmfly ; long horn like that of a unicorn ,, on their heads , and whose men are reputed , brave and hardy mountaineers . Beyond these two facts little' is , known , by . schoolboy or sage ahowfc the Drusea . Whence come they ? Of what raee ams they ? Wha * is their religion ? Wfcat their government , their history , their do * mestic manners and customs ? These are questions which few can . answer , at all , and none satisfactorily . Yet , certainly , there is interest enough attaching to the people in . question to make inquiries into all that concerns them worth : prosecuting . The quaint old traveller ,. Sandys , who visited the Druse country , imagine ? that they are descended from the French crusaders , and many of the Druse Emirs are of the same opinion , producing archives and relics of the followers of Godfrey de Bouillon , which have been handed down to them by their forefathers , together with the tradition of their descent from these , warriors of the Cross .. Apparently the Emirs are proud of thia supposed ! , pedigree ; we fear that even a herald ' s college would hesitate to confirm it to them . That some intermixture of French blood with that of the

    natives took place during the Crusades there can be no doubt , but that the genuine stock of the Druses existed and was in possession of tracts of the Lebanon before Peter the Hermit ' s missionaries entered the land of Syria , seems equally eertain . Indeed few people bear stronger marks of a purely Eastern origin than the Druses . It is more probable that they are of Arabian or Ishmaelite race , and without absolutely identifying them with the Hivites mentioned in the Bible as the nation that should be " a thorn i » the side of the Israelites , " we think that a better or more plausible pedigree ,

    foe them caohot be lii-vented . The question of their religion we postpone to the last as being the most difficult to answer ; even witfr the very excellent assistance of the work before us .- Their government is , perhaps , the simplest and most patriarchal now ia existence- The chief authority is the Grand Emir , an hereditary prince * whose seat of judgment is at Shouai & t , and whose duty is to decide all civil aiid aiming cases ainong his people .- And yet this fortunate priaee has scarcely anything to do ; for not only are-his people extremely moral antf little disposed to quarrelEng- and lawsuits , but , in most cases- where disputes do arise , the parties refer them to the judgment of the secondary Emirs or .

    Sheiks , one of whom presides over each village throughout the country .. These Sheiks have also to collect the taxes , but this gives them littlfi . trouble . The people like tastes , and rush to the collectors to see who shall pay first . Think of that , Mr . Gladstone S How supremely delightful ; to be Chancellor of the Exchequer in such a nation ! And yet , notwithstanding this : affection for taxes , there is one sect exempt from it—the Akals , or priests . This is extremely unkind to the clergy . Why should they be derbarred front the innocent enjoyment of tax-paying ? Is it one of the earthly pleasures they are bound to forswear ? The village Sheiks , get a per centage on the imposts they collect , and , after deducting it , remit the balance to the Grand Emir ,, who does , we presume , what he likes with it , and is a great Uuj

    accbiintaTjIeT " ""'" " ' "" " """"" ' " ~ " ~ " ~ '" '" " ~ " - ~— - - - The history of the Druses- is involved in . obscurity until about the year 1517 , after which the records are tolerably clear and connected . From that date it has been a succession-of " fearful- struggles against the gigantic power of the Ottoman Empire—struggles in which the Druses have often been victorious , and often worsted ' , but never entirely subdued . At the present moment they are nominally subject to Turkey , but are in reality as- little so as the Circassians are to Russia . Indeed , in following their own history we cannot help being reminded of the heroism , hardihood , patience , and indomitable patriotism of the brave Caucasians , and confessing that all these qualities are rivalled in the characters of the men of Mount Lebanon . But

    ther . a is one . notable difFerence in the- position of the two people towards their nominal rulers—the Circassians hate the Russians , while the- Bruses , on the contrary , evince an attachment to the Turks , and have assisted them with some of their best blood in the present contest . This feeling , without doubt , arises from the fact that Turkey does not attempt to interfere with the Druses in any way save one . She leaves them to the exercise of their own government , religion , manners , and customs : she docs not even levy a tax within , their country , but sho claims the right of conscription among the people , and tho Druses arc compelled to furnish a certain number of men . annually to the Sultan ' s army . To a warlike people this is no great hardshiand they submit withtolerable good

    willp , , In additioni to their ancient contests with the Turks and Egyptians , tho Druses have been muck addicted to fighting with their Christian neig l ^ our ^ the Maronitos . The reader will pardon us for not endeavwumg to fa . ace the catwes of those outbreak * whoa wo tell . him . that the las *« £ "" £ bloody of them ,, in 1845 , arose from a Maronito emptying a dustpMk . uto tho garden of bis next-door neighbour a Druse . _ n e ^ n mnat s £ K 5 K 333 ^ sS ^ Sgg trious as a modcf hpuscmafd , and anpear to have no p l ""*^ " * ; « M" « " £ smoking and sleeping . Above all they have the great Eastern virtue—

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 20, 1855, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20011855/page/19/