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    ' None answer : yet by that lone voice The waves of air are moved , to be Moved yet again , eternally . Dying unheeded , I rejoice . " Long grasses hide a nameless stone : The poorest grass-root hath its seeds i What care though triumph ' s growth proceeds From vile remains of one unknown ? " Thou , God I art living . At thy side Truth sits , serenely waiting till The glass of Destiny shall fill , And Victory mount to claim his bride . " With this sigh and this hope he concludes .

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    A BATCH OF NEW BOOKS . Oub method of rapidly disposing of many new works in one article , instead of ¦ waiting' till space could be found to " give each work its more lengthened notice , has been agreeable to our readers , who regard criticism in its twofold aspect—viz ., as a sort of " book-tasting" for the public , a guide to book clubs and purchasers , and also as an occasion when literary and philosophic principles may be illustrated and discussed . Major Strickland's Twenty-Seven Years in West Canada ( Bentley ) , for example , is a work which might furnish matter for a dissertation , or for columns of readable extract , did time and space suggest such treatment . But the " taster" for the public may briefly indicate the existence of such a . work—adding , that it ia the plain , sensible record of an early settler ' s experience ( the Major began in 1825—a mere boy , of course ) , and one which , had it been compressed into one volume , would have been a decidedly valuable record ; the difiuseness and the superfluous extracts from previous writers which enlarge the oae volume into two , weaken the effect of what is really good . There have been many works on Canada ; but this the latest is not the least welcome . It is " edited" by Miss Agnes Strickland . Do we owe the surplusage to her literary care P In the Baron Von MiifBing ' s Passages from my Life ( Bentley ) , which Colonel Yorke has translated and edited , we have military memoirs interesting to all military and historical readers , who will value its materials , and be less wearied with its tediousness than we must confess to have been . The Baron was a Prussian general and diplomatist engaged

    in the campaigns against France , during 1813-14 ; in 1815 , he had a mission to the head-quarters of the AITiect army , "to keep up the connexion between the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Bliicher ;" and during the occupation of Paris , he was appointed military governor of the city . A considerable person , such as the Baron was , cannot write of the events amidst which he moved , and of the persons with whom he was in relation , without producing a work of interest ; but , as we before hinted , the interest is that of a special class of readers ; to the general public it will be found interesting only in passages—such as this , for example , which brings Bliicher and the Duke before us : —

    " During the march on Paris Field-Marshal Bliicher had one time a prospect of getting Napoleon into his power ; the delivering up of Napoleon was the invariable condition stipulated by him in every wnfonmec -rrith the French CommissinTtars sent to treat for peace or au armistice . I received from him instructions to inform the Duke of Wellington , that as the Congress of Vienna had declared Napoleon outlawed , it was his intention to have him shot whenever he caught him . But he desired , at the same time , to know what were the Duke ' s views on this subject , for should he entert ain the same as himself , he wished to act in concert with him . The Duke stared at me in astonishment , and in the first place disputed the correctness of this interpretation of the Viennese declaration of outlawry , which was never meant to incite to the assassination of Napoleon . He therefore did not think that they could acquire from thia act any right to order Napoleon to be it

    shot , should they succeed in making him a prisoner of war . But be this as may , as far as his own position and that of the Field-Marshal with respect to Napoleon were concerned , it appeared to him that , since the battle they had won , they were become much too conspicuous personages to justify such a transaction in the eyes of Europe . I had already felt the force of the Duke ' s arguments before I most reluctantly undertook my mission , and was therefore little disposed to < liapute them . ' I therefore , ' continued the Duke , ' wish my friend and colleague to see this matter in the light I do ; such an act would hand down our names to history stained by a crime , and posterity would say of us , that wo did not deserve to be the conquerors of Napoleon ; the more so as such a deed is now quito useless , and can have no object / I made use of these expressions only as far as was necessary to dissuade the Field-Marshal from his idea . It is not unimportant to preserve to history the motives which actuated the Field-Marshal in giving me this

    commission . ' Tho Legend of Pembroke Castle ( Bentley ) is one of those " historical " novels in which very young readers delight , and which their " parents and guardians" think innocent and instructive , because they aro " historical . " Before pronouncing an opinion on thia work we should wish to know tho class of readers it addresses . If the young , wo can answer for its fascination ; if those who havo glutted somewhat of tho sweets furnished by the circulating library , then wo must warn thorn that it is a very mild , rosepink affair . It docs not claim tho seriousness of criticism . Nor indeed docs Mr . Honry Spicer ' s ill-considered work , Sights and Sounds ; the Mystery of the Day ( Bos worth ) , wherein an " entire history "

    of tho American spirit manifestations , known as tho " Kappmgs , is jumbled together pellmell with all kinds of reflections and digressions . Tho " excitement" caused in many circles by those protended manifestations may send people to Mr . Spicor ' s work . He is a'firm believer ; and narrates marvels enough to satisfy / fcho most credulous . Wo havo a friend who has for years boon collecting " mad books "—i . e ., specimens of folly and eccentricity—we commend Sights and Sounds to him . It is a wide leap from such a work to one of the solid excellence and practical value of Erasmus Wilson ' s Dissector ' s Manual of Practical and Surgical Anatomy ( . Longman and Co . ) This is a now edition of the wollknown book , newl y illustrated with numerous woodcuts from drawings by tho author , and so clear and systematic in its exposition that all who

    desire a work of the kind will be grateful to Erasmus Wilson for descending from those heights of speculation and scientific research in which he has distinguished himself , to the humble drudgery of this useful text-book . It is a companion volume to the same author ' s Anatomist's Vade Meeum . The essays by Dr . M'Cormac on Moral Sanatory Economy ( Longman and Co . )—which treat of Female Degradation , Employment , Education , Household Culture , Criminal Management , Physical Training , Clothing , Food , Drink , Air , Drainage , and Prevention of Disease—are the essays of a cultivated physician , speaking from actual inspection of the present state of things , and worthy , therefore , of every one ' s niatttre deliberation . That without moral health our material interests are as naught , and without

    physical health our moral culture is ineffective—this is the lesson ± / r . M'Cormac inculcates , and inculcates it forcibly . Side by side with this volume let us place the Essays on Political Economy ( W . and F . G . Cash ) , translated from tlie French of the late admirable Frederick Bastiat . They are written with beautiful clearness , and from abundant knowledge . They comprise Capital and Interest—That which is seen and that which is not seen—Government and Law . In various ways he illustrates his master principle , which is that of Liberty . Do not devise schemes for the protection or regulation of industry , but let inthe best conditions

    dustry be every way untrammelled , and it will organize for itself ! It is a small volume , but worth a large sum . _ Lovers of antiquities and illustrated books are directed to W . Burckhardt Parker's Lares and Penates , or Cilicia and its Governors ( Ingram , Cooke , and Co . ) , which is edited by Mr . W . F . Ainsworth . It is not only an agreeably erudite narrative of the province of Cilicia from the earliest times , written by one who had abundant opportunities , but also an account of the Household Gods of the Cilicians previous to their conversion to Christianity : this portion of the work is very curious , and is profusely illustrated with woodcuts . There is , moreover , some interesting matter on the Natural History of this country ; and altogether the volume is a

    very attractive one . To those who have not been bored out of all interest in the negroes by Uncle Tom , we recommend 3 ) r . John Beard ' s Life of Toussaint L' Ouverture ( Ingram , Cooke , and Co . ) . It is a well written and dramatic biography of the negro patriot , written with warm sympathy for the negroes , and with biographical admiration for Toussaint . Speaking of illustrated works we must call especial attention to the Children ' s Summer ( Addey and Co . ) , a series of artistic illustrations , accompanied by charming prose and verse , setting forth the varied delights of a child ' s summer . The graceful pencil of E . V- B ., to which we owe these illustrations , has already won for itself a public by the last year ' s Christinas book of Child ' s Play , and that public will once more

    admire the nice poetic and artistic feeling of E . V . B ., although the more critical will remark a cartain Germanism , and with , it a somewhat noninfantile look in the children ' s faces—they are too old , too staid , too meditative looking for their age . Their attitudes are charming and childlike , and the design of each picture is ingenious . Altogether Children's Summer is a very interesting work to place on a drawing-room table . In noticing the first part of a re-issue of the Encyclopedia Britannica ( Adam and Charles Black ) , for the sake of informing such readers as may

    desire to avail themselves of this opportunity of purchasing it by degrees , we need ouly repeat the promises of the prospectus , which assures its complete publication m twenty-one volumes , in monthly parts at eight shillings , and quarterly volumes at twenty-four shillings . A considerable advance is said to have been already made with regard to the printing , in order to prevent delay in publication . We should not , however , forbear to warn the proprietors against attaching too much importance to this regularity . Better to run a slight risk than have the chemical and biological articles older than their date of publication . This First Part contains

    Dugald Stewart's well-known and delightful Dissertation on the Progress of Metaphysical Philosophy . It is worthy of mention that the publishers have given the Dissertation entire in this part , so that persons desiroua of possessingDugald Stewart ' s work , without purchasing the Encyclopaedia , or any portion of it , may do ho : it forms a reasonable volume by itaelf . Bulwer's Zanoni is with many his most popular fiction . It is now reprinted in the cheap edition of his works ( Chapman and Hall ) , with a preface and an appendix , wherein some extremely imaginary writer undertakes to give a key to the typical meanings of this philosophical romance . That koy will sot many juvenile intellects busy . Mrs . Norton ' s beautiful novel , Stuart of Dunleath , which wo reviewed at longth on its first appearance , has been included in the Parlour-Library ( Simrns and M'lntyre ) , where lovers of fiction are bidden to seek , it . They will not often find a novel more entertaining .

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    Margh 1 % 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 261

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    TH 1 E R ^ PPBTiS E ^ P © Si © . f HE wide-spreading delusion of what is called the Spirit Manifestations or Rapping—its increasing succkt de . salon—ami the solemn testimony to its truth given by persons formerly sceptical , now convinced by experiment , and those , too , often persons of ability as well as position , rendered it imperative on journalists to investigate tae matter thoroughly . The extraordinary letter addressed to me by a German friend , and printed lust week in theso columns , made me anxious to do so without delay . That letter I presume has not been overlooked by our readers ; at any rate they are entreated to read it now , for it is indeed an admirable report . Immediately after our stance it was read aloud , and the company pronounced it au unusually accurate description—in spite of its conveying au impression directly opposite to that which had resulted from our investigation . That letter places before the reader the " Rapping" aa a

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    We should do our utmost to encourage the . Beautiful , tor the Useful enconiXBffCa itself . —Goktujj .

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1853, page 261, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1977/page/21/