Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 23rd October 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 11, borough) watching new servants lest they...

Page 11
Page 11
11 of 32

On this page

  • Text (3)
  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Topics . For Indian Statesmen. Topics Fo...

      basking in the luxurious use of the first person singular , is he therefore to be condemned for an absurd dogmatical egotist by the idle and unconscientious book ' reporter who makes lengthy extracts , fill up columns that were due to sound reviews ? We'have been disgusted to observe such " Notices" of Mr . Norton ' s " Topics" admitted into the pages of some contemporaries , and , as it were , cautioning the public against one of the most valuable mines of condensed information yet opened to them . The learned author has expressed in more than one passage his contempt of ex post facto hetshas been even put down by these

      prop , cloud-compelling critics , who would pretend to dispose of a ponderous octavo in a page of our columns , as being himself such an augur . For our part , Aye arc " -lad to throw our little weight into the scale in his favour . His book fully works out its modest title . It discusses , at considerable length , with the fervour of a deeply-thinking man , and with the nerve and power of one versed in them , and in the art of writing some twenty main , and twice twenty secondary , topics , which every man who aspires , to Indian statesmanship must perforce master , and on which it were well that all

      who would conscientiously open their mouths about India and Indian policy should get up , if even superficially . Years ago Lord William Bentinck cried shame upon that " apathy and indifference of England to the concerns of India , " which our author and many others spent years in vain efforts to dispel . That work was reserved for the rebellion . A dawn of interest and even enthusiasm has succeeded the darkness , but if good is to result , the English public no more than Indian statesmen must ignore the topics here suggested , nor the voice of the Reformer , who cries to them from afar .

      _ ¦ Tlie little of public opinion that lias hitherto existed in tbis country about Indian goverment has been directed from Lcadenhall-street ; but under the new regime it will sooner or later demand more independent if not purer springs . We can hardly look for these from the regular governing class , to whose eyes popular enlightenment is generally "inconvenient" or "inexpedient . " Wcmay not look for a sufficient supply of information about broad Indici and her management to the columns of home iournals already overflooded with the news of little well to

      England . To whom then can we look so as our " Anglo-Indian writers who will be at the pains to inform us of the wants and wishes of our colon }' , of the dangers and duties of oiir position as rulers ? If the distance of the cry , the extent and . novelty of the subject , arc to discourage and appal the English public , they armst be content to relapse into a state of darkness indeed , and resign India to a far narrower clique than was ever the defunct East India Company , or to entrust her with her own care and commit her to her own resources , both at present obvious impossibilities . The suppression of the rebellion is now , we hope wo may say , a matter of

      time , but the new scheme of Indian government must soon press upon the attention of the Legislature , and of all who arc wont to direct it from without . If information upon so vast a question bo worth thanks , writers like Gubbins nnd Norton , differ though they do , deserve tho thanks of the public We are fain to confess ourselves incompetent to confirm or refute their facts or deductions . Time alone can bring statesmen and others , whose interest in India is or recent growth , to a sound appreciation of cither ; but the very contrast of

      opinions , and the arrny of conflicting statements put forward by Anglo-Indian authors , arc rapidly educating statesmen and all of us , nnd lime will or-§ anise an Indian public in England . It should for jo present bo the part of the neophytes thankfully to read , learn , and digest , not flippant ly to oritK'iso and dismiss tho results of a life experience , that a . ro submitted to us , To conclude , wo arc grateful to Mr , Norton , and \ vo commend him to our readers .

      No. 448, Octobeb 23, 1858.1 The Ieaber. ...

      No . 448 , OCTOBEB 23 , 1858 . 1 THE IEABER . 1123

      Borough) Watching New Servants Lest They...

      borough ) watching new servants lest they should have some evil designs against the old family mansion , " will remind the reader of Mr . Roebuck ' s latest flower of rhetoric relative to his public duties as " Tcaruin , " and will , we suspect , in the eyes of a good many , rob that oratorical escapade of half its originality . The perusal of the article is likely to excite mingled astonishment and contempt at the littleness of the high personages who figure in the rivalry for place and power , and the undignified cabals in which the leading statesmen of that day were involved in attempts to " force their own party into power , and to maintain it there when in power . Something

      reviewer reiterates his charges , enforces them b ] additional evidence , and considers Mr . Froude ' i reply is only a reply , not a refutation .

      THE EDINBURGH REVIEW . Tub Duko of Buckingham ' s very interesting " Memoirs of tho Court of England during the Rego ' noy , from original family documents , " comes ngain luidcr review , and ample justice—with a "Whig biasis dono to tho revelations of political mauoauvros and ? arty conflicts which occurred between the years Sll and 1820 . Tho pithy remark iu relation to tho Close political companionship of Lords Qrcnville nndlillonboroug-l ) , in which the pair are likened to a faithful" old steward with his must ill * ( Lord

      Ellenon a smaller scale is constantly going on in our own days , but then , it must be confessed , the actors are of a much lower grade in rank and talent compared with those who arc here brought prominently under the public eye . It is to be hoped that the forthcoming Reform Bill will make the task of governing less difficult to Ministers of honest intentions . "Bireh ' s History of Ancient Pottery" comes in for a notice in which the reviewer appears bent more upon showing his own learning than illustrating the labours of the author . " M . G ' uizot ' s Historical Memoirs" is well worth a careful perusal , and the reviewer deserves credit for the sober spirit in which

      this important contribution to French history is criticised . " Binocular Vision" embraces the recent theories and discoveries of Wlieatstone , Brewster , Rogers , and others ; and justice is done to AVheatstone in assigning to him priority as far as regards the disputed question of the invention of the stereoscope . " The Earls of Kildare and their ancestors , " -by the Marquis of Kildare , is somewhat too laudatory ; the noble author ' s labours certainly have their value , but the reviewer , in . estimating their merits , has left out too many circumstances of

      importance to warrant a perfect reliance upon his judgment . " The Slave Trade in 1 S 5 S" is a vigorous summary of the condition of this most important question . The ease as between this country ami America and Franco and . Spain , is elaborately discriminated , and a-tolerably fair statement of the different aspects of the question is presented to the reader . But the writer of this article has evidently inscribed on his banner , " No Surrender . " He is for enforcing treaties at all hazards . Referring to the United States , the following hints are broadly ventilated :-

      —All the world recognizes tlie internal uneasiness which makes every American cabinet and congress quarrelsome and rude , and dependent thus on tlie forbearance and good manners of other governments . It is abundantly evident that the Washington Government picks quarrels abroad , in proportion to its stress at home ; and the stress at home is always from the slavery question , in one form or another . Again , the bickering character of American political intercourses is deeply implicated with a consciousness of incapacity for war , for genuine « ustained warfare , which is also ascribable to shivery . Wherever slavery and labour , slavery and subordination , are connected , labour and subordination become impossible to any but slaves . While southern writers and

      other citizens regard the northern 3 'eomanry and traders as " niggers , " because they labour , the " mean whites" of the South , who ought to bo its yeomanry and traders , will not labour , nor the soldiers of those states obey , lest they should be regarded as slaves , The Mexican war showed how impossible military discipline id in a United States army ; and every long voyage , almost every trip of a merchant vessel , exhibits the cxisttnee ^ of that tyranny which is substituted when subordination fails . This consciousness explains a good deal of American discourtesy and touchiness : and it should oporato on other Powers in preparing them for a now method of warfare , if peace with tho United States could not bo maintained .

      The hitler portion will very likely bo deemed by our inieiciblo Ynnkeo brethren to contain im unpalatable menace . On the general question of slavery the writer thus oracularly speaks : — Tho Americans know , and wo know , that tho decision of this great question rcstd with ourselves and them . We do not intend to yiold it . Coat what it may , Enghuul will extinguish tUo ulavo trade , because any yielding of so clour and determinate a policy would cost yet

      moro : but a full " , froo , cordial companionship iu the ofl'ort on tho part of tho United States would save a world of guilt and woo . Tho citizens can do it if thoy will , Tho existence of slavery in their nation is their misery and their whamo . It has , lowered their reputation , degraded their national character , barrud their progress , vitiated their foreign policy , poisoned tholr domestic peace , divided their hearts and minds ; and may ultimately explode their Union .

      Tho last article- deals with Mr . Fronde ' s reply to tlie attacks in tho Jicticw on the integrity tuicl trustworthiness of portions of his History . The

      My Ladt. - . • My Lady : A Tale Of Moder...

      MY LADT . - . My Lady : a Tale of Modern Life . 2 vols . Smith , Elder , and Co . This is a very good novel , and it has had a very narrow escape from being a first-rate one . The incidents and personages are by no means new or startling , but the main incident is so well put before the reader , the leading character so finely drawn and discriminated , and the accessories so natural and appropriate , that a very warm interest is instantly created , which keeps tlie reader at gentle heat until the close . But it must not be concealed that the commencing interest is not equally sustained to the end . Tire-writer appears either to

      have changed his original intention or to have beep unaware of the strong emotion his principal incident would create . We use the masculine pronoun , but we think the book bears internal evidence of the lighter and more delicate touch of the female literary limner . The interest of 3 I y Lctdy centres on a domestic calamity which required great delicacy of handling . Lady Uniphraville , a matron of somewhat sober years , having a family of sons and daughters growing up around her , with all the comforts and luxuries of an English home at her command , finds her home , feelings , prospects , good name , and fame suddenly laid in ruins by a crushing event unforeseen , unexpected , and without remedv . . First ve will give her

      portrait : — Lady Umpliraville was middle-aged , large , handsome , with a great deal of dignity , gracious , ample , and mother-like in her whole bearing ; dignity , which made everybody respectful , yet chilled none . She had never been beautiful , even in- her ¦ youth-j her face was by no means " correct " or regular , but it was of that kind of imperfection which pleases both eye and heart . There was no small amount of decision—the promptitude and authority of one long used to rule—in the upper lip , which was just a little longer than it should have been , and in one confirmed longitudinal wrinkie "between the eyebrows ; and the quiet brown eyes could flash and could laugh , though the repose and calm of their ordinary

      brightness was so pleasant to look upon . She dressed always very richly and softly , with a preference for satins and velvets ^ but scarcely ever wore any jewels : she was not the kind of woman to need sparkles of precious stones about her ; and her round youthful arms bore no manacles of gold , but came softly out of delicate lace and cambric : there was net a bracelet or a clasp , or any kind of pricking thing about her whole apparel , —she was always safe to take into her tender arms the tendercst of babies ;—and , somehow , this peculiarity of dress added to the entire fcminniencss of her appearance . This is life-like and well drawn—you may collect

      materials for a similar portrait from thousands or English homes . Lady Uniphraville has fivej ^ children—three boys and two girls : Hugh , depicted as a young giant of noble qualities but fierce temper ; Rothes , a sturdy-minded youth ; Evelyn about seventeen years old , and a little girl and boy , Edio and Harry . Whilst living in all tho intimacies of a happy home , news is suddenly brought to Lady Uinpiiravillo by ( ho rector that her husband has eloped with another man ' s wife . The way this news is received is thus forcibly and toucfungly detailed : —

      My lady was in her chamber alone ; she had been there ever since- her interview with the rector , three or . four hours ago ; nnd there sho remained , abstracting herself from the household , as she had scarcely ever done before , though she had known a full share of ordinary troubles . She was sitting quite idly by the fire , which began to fail and die out , looking ilxedly ad the white fulling ashes , yet perceiving nothing of them . My lady ' s cheeks were ilu . ihod and her eyes looked too bright , wakeful , nnd fevoriuh ; eho held hex * hands clasped together in her lnp , and , for nearly « n hour , had never stirred

      Tho story she had heard was enough to startle any wife : her husband—a man no longer young , hor wedded partner and companion for twenty years—her husband had gono nwny , eloped , left hcv guiltily with a guilty woman , another mail's wife . Sho hnd been very alow to reall . se tho possibility of anything so monstrous ; elm would not bpllove it until proofs Indisputable wore pJucod boforo her . It was a frightful diimgo to bo wrought in one day , in a slnglo hour : tho uurtli soem «< l to liavo opened close to her foot , lonvliiff hue wUo hod boon ou peaceful common ground yc * lord « y o , u tlio ui / . ssy < "igo oi atramoiulouanraclpiou : no audcluu onrtliqualco was ever « o appalling . Tho Unit » liock wis over now : what j hail boon , no ouo could lull , for |> m « hJons and froms as wore not in my Indy'a nature . » lie « nt now by her solitary rtrosido , unobservant of everything , but not para-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1858, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101858/page/11/