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    No. 4 70, M abch 26, 185 91 THE ^EADEB, ...

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    MISCELLANIES. Parliamentary Reform ; an ...

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    Tun BujTisir Mvskvm.— Tho Quoen has been...

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    Two Journeys To Japan, 1566-7. By Ivinah...

    of the empire , and of which one writes : " The proprietors of the tea houses are licensed to purchase female infants of indigenjb parents for purposes of infamy These girls act , during their childhood , as the servants of the full-grown inmates , but are , at the same-time , educated with the utmost care ; they are not only rendered skilful in every accomplishment that can enhance the effect of their personal charms , ¦ but their minds are seduously cultivated and enriched ¦ with all the stores of . knowledge that can make their conversation attractive and agreeable . "

    Surely this refinement in the vices of Mr . Cornwallis ' s children of nature exhibits a sufficiently true view of tlie state of morals without our repeating the additional fact of the easy terms upon which the Dutch bachelor or widower , residents at I ) esima , obtain their female servants . Of course , like another Asmodeus , our author had the power of viewing interiors , going everywhere , and seeing everything . His good fortune taking care that he should , not want an illustration of a national institution , threw him in the wav of a personal adventure , which we

    • confess rather surprises us , as from all other writers we understand that the performance of tho Hai-a-Kiri , or happy dispatch , is the peculiar privilege of the high-born offender , who , by adopting it in anticipation of an imperial sentence , thereby saves the wholesale execution of every member of his -family , whether distant or near of kin , whom it is the custom of this amiable people to immolate for the crime of an individual , and for which purpose the . families of governors and princes , appointed to offices distant from Court , are . invariably retained in Jeddo .

    inasmuch as the adventure with the ladies , is given as a proof of innocence , so is this suicide quoted as a proof of the mildness and amiability of the national character , and not alone the above , for . ' "the . author in support of his theory proceeds , among others , to relate an anecdote of a Japanese Lucretia , which , notwithstanding- he tells its he picked them ap ,.. " hearsays , " we are hound to say may be found less diluted in any compilation of Japanese life , manners , and history . \ In a like " hearsay " spirit the author writes

    near the close of the first volume ¦ : — " I shall now proceed to give a somewhat copious account illustrative of the ways and means , the character , and the customs of the Empire ; at once historical and descriptive , ' gathered during the time of my visits to its shores , and which I trust will prove itself a pudding not altogether destitute of plums . " In reply to which assumption of imparting : fresh information we are provoked to add , that if not more accurate , it would have been , at least , less " trouble , had the author taken " plums , pudding , and all , " from almost any one of the writers before quoted . Without seeking to detract unnecessarily from whatever merit there may be in these Journeys ( arid we repeat there is much information for those not conversant with the literature already existing in Japan , ) , we have felt it Our duty to examine with caution a bopk which , ' while it is put forth as a truthful narrative of adventures among the Japanese people , at the sanie time bears the impress of being ¦ a kind of hybrid between fact and fiction , only calculated _ to mislead instead of inform a public whose attention at the present moment is necessarily so much attracted to that Empire . Apart from its ono ^ sidednoss , it ia a clover and amusing compilation—such a one , indeed , might have been made by a ready and imaginative man who , to the advantage of an acquaintanceship with one of the officers of . the American Expedition , from whom he might glean lo < nla and adventure , possessed tlio faculty of culling from existing authorities lively incidents and descriptions pf inunnora and customs which , skilfully put together , would ; as a whole , make a readable , life-like , book . ,. liivdl Jthymes , in Honour of Burns ; with curious illutitratioa Matter . Collected and edited by Ben Trovuto . Koutlodge , Warnos , and Routledgo . That the . Burns Celebration at the Crystal Palace , and ijts prize Ode , should stimulate an attempt to rival the celebrated "Rejected Addresses , " was a rosult to bo naturally expected . That result wo hnvo

    tations that' are ventured , perhaps that of Mr . Tupper is the best and broadest ; but that , after all , was a feat of easy achievement . Father Prout is like enough , but it is not brilliant . ^ Longfellow ' s hexameters are certainly echoed , but not rivalled ; the style is also neat , but not as imported , being evidently adulterated for the- purpose of sale , which the slightest taste of their quality may prove—e . g . " Thou wort the lad for the lasses ! - lasses tlic same are as misses ; . , . And ' 'here wo . have misses had pleased you—Missourranu the Mississippi . " ¦ And " grce . ii grow the rushes " beside them—as thy everyrcL-u cliarus would have them . " . ¦ . Tills might have been expected ^ of course . But what shall we say to the following miserable couplet ? "And though . some might o ^ joet to carouse hi this State of -M . -issneliusetts , . . Who dare forbid , when Sambo would say ,. ' 3 Iassa chuses it ! ' " ' ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦¦ . ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ Barry Cornwall also is but meagerly represented ; and Tennyson madly and spasmodically . Macaulay is , perhaps , better treated ; but the " fooling , " though " tolerable , " cannot be pronounced " excellent . " The book , notwithstanding these shortcomings , may serve to excite an occasional smile and amuse a ' leisure moment with a topic apropos of the time and occasion ; but will not , like its prototype , achieve a permanent reputation . A Handbook of the Microscope and 3 ficr 6 scopi . c Objects . By W . I / . Notcutt . Edward L-umley . Tins work comprehends " descriptive lists of upwards of 1 , 780 objects /' . and contains " full directions for obtaining , prejxiring , and viewing tliem . " Moreover , it is illustrated with " plates , including sixtyone figures . " So much information regarding the book the title-page supplies . Nor does the interior of the volume belie the pi-omise thus made . Information is given : to enable the reader to select the instrument best adapted to his means and objects , without needless expense ; and to provide himself with the apparatus by which observation inay be facilitated . The real uses of the microscope are also distinguished from the imaginary ones > in a word , we are taught how to use it as a scientific

    instru-The Causation and Prevention of Disease . By John . Parkin , M . D . John Churchill . The author , who was lately Medical Inspector for Cholera , in the West Indies , may be presumed to be fully acquainted with the subject of his treatise , and has otherwise fully . proved his Competency by previous works , and by two ireports , one pf which , the S tatistical Report of the ^ Epidemic Cholera in Jamaica , has been , published . His conclusions are the result of ' a study of all the phenomena , its relation to cholera from the first outbreak in 1817 to the present day , " and in all climates and latitudes—in the intertropical regions pf the East and the West ; on the burning sands of

    Arabia , and on the snowrcovered steppes of Russia , as well as in the temperate regions of Europe and America . " He has a difference with the . Board of Health , into which it is not our purpose to enter . It is sufficient to state that he holds the innocuousness of animal exhalations . One proof he gives is striking . — " Though almost every description of mechanic was , at some period or other , admitted last year into the Fever Hospital , I do not recollect a single instance of a butcher being sent to the establishment . " We must leave the writer in the hands of Dr . South wood Smith . This argument , however , is maintained with great learning , and merits serious attention .

    ment , rjitlier than as a toy . What the writer has evidently attempted was to give a synopsis of microscopical study ; and this purpose he has adequately accomplished . He compares the microscope with the telescope , and weighs . justly the advantages of each . The latter shows 113 that the world is one of a group and that there arc galaxies of worlds besides , some of which are altogether undiscernible . The former enables 11 s to to investigate tlie minute proportions of the infusory ariimaleule , that , notwithstanding their sniallness , are furnished' with

    nutritive and locomotive organs . They exist , too , in inconceivable numbers , and are of amazuYg fecundity ; yet is the balance so finely preserved , that none multiply to the exclusion or extinction of others . To these infinite myriads , also , food is given in abundance ; and in all beauty is profusely exhibited , and most remarkably in their intimate structure . " The inost gigantic huina . 11 . intellect is bewildered and lost in this contemplation . " Such are the marvels which the little book before us enables us properly to appreciate , A Journal of the First French Embassy to China . —1008 , 1700 . Translated from an unpublished MS . By Saxo Bannister , M . A . Newby . Tub object to bo attained by the publication of ^ this log of the officers of the French ship Aniphitrito , which conveyed the nrat French . Enjbnssy to China , is , to guv dull comprehension * as hazy as the ex- < planation of the author , who states his aim to be , ' ¦ to show that the friendly intercourse of that rcnuvrkalilo people with the western world depends ossentitilly on . our sincere observance of every measure that ought to bo introduced by both nations in furtherance of humane policy in tha East . ' '

    The Journal which Mr , Bannister lioralds to the world as an important discovery , and which forma his only excuse for this piece of the veriest book making , ' is little more than a sea log , wherein is chronicled , day by day , ohungos of win < l and weather , " spoken withs , " and other marine information , without any fact of importance not to bo found , in the almost contemporaneous " JCetircx udijiantes at curiawwf } , " of one of which , indeed , it might puss as a skeleton .

    By nrosorving , howovor this sea ( Hairy , by an unmethodical compilation of scraps from the English missions from Cat heart to Lord Elgin , and extracts from various well known sources uncut the intercourse botwoon the Chinoso and Europeans , which may bo found more Interestingly arranged in every homo book upon China , and " affixing a sinulurly oecentrxo appendix , the author has succeeded , only in producing u volume that few will road and none recommend .

    bofbro its . Is it successful ? Well , we cannot award to it all the commendation that belonged of right to the elder volume . Tlio loading fault js , that it has not taken a range sufficiently extensive Of living oolcbrUies wo have only Fathor Prout , a proverbial philosopher , . Longfellow , Barry Cornwall , Tennyson , Xord Maeaulay , and Thaokeray . Those aro supplemented by certain spirit-lays attributed to tlie ghosts of Thomas Campbell , Thomas Hood , and Alexander Pope , with a supposed unpublished poom by Robert Bums , odes by an admirer of Mlltort and an enraged B & vd , « nd a letter by Lord Brougham . Where aro the Brownings , llcraud , Marston , JDoboll , Arnold , Alexander Smith , MacdpnnUl , Francos Brown , and many others , whoso stylos would have uH ' onled good opportunities for huHutiou and parody ? Of the tml-

    No. 4 70, M Abch 26, 185 91 The ^Eadeb, ...

    No . 4 70 , M abch 26 , 185 91 THE ^ EADEB , 39 9

    Miscellanies. Parliamentary Reform ; An ...

    MISCELLANIES . Parliamentary Reform ; an Essay , by Walter Bagehpt . Chapman ' and . 'HalL Tins is a reprint , with considerable additions , from the National Review , in which a laudable attempt is made at an impartial criticism , of the existing electoral system , and sonic indication of the mode in which it should be amende-. ! . Some of the author ' s notions are confessedly paradoxical . For instance , he states that " the evident untenableness of Mj \ B right ' s , views gives them a claim on onr attention . " We find in him , therefore , what might be expected , a subtle reasoner . " Her Sister ,-r-Skall I Marrr / Her ?" ¦

    ' . ' :. '• Groombridge and Sons . We must now expect a shoal of pamphlets on this subject . The pamphleteer ' s answer to the question , proposed is in the negative . To answer otherwise , lie thinks , would be to consent to " a retrograde step , the unlimited depth of which it is impossible to forsee or fathom . " . Macintosh ' s System of"" National Defence" or " New Strategies in Warfare . " W . Clowes and Son . Muca of this work consists of official correspondence with the British Government , and we doubt not that it will receive due attention in the proper quarters .. Every Child ' s Histori / of France . By Edward Farr . . Dean and Son . This little work is a meritorious adaptation for the junior classes , from Miss Corner ' s History of France , and will prove useful . Moore ' s Melodies , with Symphonies and Accompanimen ts for the Pianoforte . . Longmans . Nos . 6 anil 7 are now published , containing twentyfour pieces , and maintain the chums to public preferonce of this copyright edition . 1 . On the Progress of Society in Enylund as affected by the Advancement of National Education . By 3 . D . Mprell , M . A . 2 . The' Difficulties of the Education Question . By the Rev . ( janon lliuiison , M . A . Edinburgh : Thomas Constable and Co . Tjiksk are two papers read before the United Association of Schoolmasters in Gr . eat Britain . Both are excellent ; and by men wljo tiro thoroughly conversant with the subject , and the practical applioa . tion of the principles that they recommend . A Comprehensive History of India , JHaokio and Son . Noa . 11 , 12 , 13 , and 14 are now published , and carry the nafrntive down to 1757 , during the administration of Clive , and in the midst of his treaty with Surajah Dowluh , the nabob of Bengal . Tlie parts are illusr tratod with engravings representing Vasco do Damn and the Zamorln of Callicut , and I l » o meeting botween Lord Clivo and Moor Jatjler , atler the buttle et Plussoy ; and tilsi ) with Bovoriil marginal woodcuts , representing natives and cusluiws .

    Tun Bujtisir Mvskvm.— Tho Quoen Has Been...

    Tun BujTisir Mvskvm . — Tho Quoen has been pleased to exorcise her right to appoint one Royal trustee for tho I 3 ri ( jsh Museum iu favour of » tho Wev . William Cureton , Canon of Westminster and Hector of St . Margaret ' s . We buliovo that no Royal trustee for that institution has byun appointed sinco tho death of the late Duko of' ( Jwnbrhlge , and tho appointment ia the present instance will bo hailed with satisfaction by tho literary world as , a recognition by her Mujosty of tho oihlnont sorvices wlUeli Mr . Cnroton has rendered to tlio suionoe of lilbllcal criticism , and . which have ajouruJ for him an European reputation . , '

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 26, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26031859/page/15/