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Leader (1850-1860), 31st March 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 306

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      Untitled Article

      h ^ w ^^ acoaakowrf ^ rttir wSpitevtia ^ » , % « H a » , sa&Ay . as * the sun rises and sets . ; . ^ Oyui :. Ql 4 ^ iMW ^ tha . e ( Bl-to . aia . tfeusclmontcled ; . Thet . ee ! JatlML ^ trap ^ st . of travelling , . fishe 3 ; - he even-performs journeys on . land . In hoCdry summers , when ponds and pools are . exhausted he boldly leaves his home , ant f ^ dlttg-througatlHetog to the nearest water . H 6 Is-jiewMytigawrnoad ^ mpwewer ; and lwrefr . youngrtends *; pore soidfearlytKatrhe . wdi leay | thw . fiwritself , and ? cU ^ up ^ fcj ^ banks . to . satiafy his : desire , and , alas ! to fall into the snare * of . wickedmen . Other fishes , travel in large crowds all night long , and a perch iitTranquettar not only-creeps on shore , but actually climbs up tall fan--palms , Uvpttiwiit ofcoertain sltelS-fiShr , whioh form , its favourite food . Covered with viflcidsHsae ^ hegUdos'sniootlily aver . therxoughbark ; spines , which he may sheathe and un&lO ^ V will-3 firye him like hands to haag , by , and with the aid of side finsaad » powerful tail he pushea nimself upward , thus completing the strange picture of fish imdsiell-fiaidwfeHing'Mgh on ldft ^ p trees *

      Untitled Article

      . We dnwr attention lastewtee l * toi a ; striki »« paper in tlie Revue des Deux Mondes on the "Zouaves . " That article , it appears , ha * drawn down upon the Revue an official censure ; although in its rapid and animated picture ofttbeexplbit&of those strange and brilliant troops , while the names of LAMoraeiMiai eXvAiGN £ c , and Bedeatj are necessarily prominent , even the ittfemif servwes- oft Gamkobkkt and S * . xAbnaitd are not slighted . It is un-^ te 6 tooditb « fcthe > aitticlej signe&by'Mi Victor » b > Mabs , directorofithe Review , -whw-vw » also the : signer of theartioleson the Frenehnavy , contributed : by * the » PMiW >»« le ^ roiHVBWtB ^ iswhiefevthe pen of the Due d'Aumaxe .. Hence . tlie s « scep * ilwlity > o £ ~ a Government which , albeit founded on " the national wllV "'' ^* sustained / by ' * eight millions of votes * " is afraid of an article in , a Rftv 4 <«^; an < art i cle neither political nor polemical ,, but simpl y * doing-justice td'theexiloAgeneralsofiFrance , so conspicuously absent from the operations , of the allied armies before Sebastopol .

      Untitled Article

      MIT . SICK BUCKINGHAM . Auio ^ Qgra ^ y . of Jmm ? Silk ^ Buckingham . Vols , I . and II . ^ Longman . WBeaa « l 3 eadbe (( fctlwsfi'V © limies > in a spirit of the most perfect impartiality to ^ S tbe authtnJ-aad hero of them * . We had eveEything to learn on the subject of Mr . Buckingham , and had no previous enmities or prejudices to set over , before tw could fairly begin . In , his public capacity we knew that l ^ nad * founded" a species of club under the name of the British and Foreign Institute , that he and Mr . Punch had quarrelled , that in early life he had been a great traveller , and'that he had started a literary newspaper which was-a failure ih-his bands * and which became a great success in the hands of otiiersi . T , here . ottr , knowledge of Mn Buckingham in : his public capaoity stanpedIn hi * private capacity wehad no knowledge of hint . at . all to

      . bawJrQi £ r-we had never , lwwL-the advantage of exhanging a word with him ^ Axid wet djd not , even know what he looked . like . Imagine the eagerness with wmcfrwe opened the two first volumes of his Autobiography ; the fe ^ verisfrlmpatience with which we trimmed our midnight lamp , bound a wet towetooun ^ © u * ' fdreheads ^ and plunged ? into our reading . " Come ! we -esselwnsd- ^ QursQlvear . joyfully , " leJLus engage in the most meritorious of * H JQflwpajtfo » ft- * -let ; ua . enlang !? the circle of our knowledge by making , oursfivesrfaH » lkiriy ! 'acqua » atedjwitU Mr ; JamesrSilk Buckingham !" - lbbwa »« t the wisoiig end—that i is to . sav we did not begin with Mr . Buckingham ^ as-. a ^ hftby , fewfrwith M »; Buckingham , at mature years , as represented in his portrait' m-froftt . ofi the title-page of Volume I . Judging bx thias noBtraitv wV ngured ; to" ourselves -arjolly-looking-old gentleman ,.

      with brisk eyes , curly white hair . and . whiskers * aud a general expression on fcis face as if he were anxious to refresh himself by a good sneeze , and had fC « M' to acjeompUsh his . purpose at the moment of opening his mouth to be ^ in ! "A jocund veteran , **' we said , " not easily put dawn by any force of words or circumstances ; not likely to lose his way in , the paths of this world for want of asking it afc . the ni 6 k of " time of the best-informed people ; a man who has skipped jauntily through the , journey of . life ; who may have occa-. * fanallflf-tired , his travellingfccomoanions in past years ,, but who was evidently n « CV « t tired , hwaself— such is Silk Buckingham , generally estimated by the anute testimony of his portrait . Now . let us see How- he completes the outliOftofithanicturein his . Autobiography . " Excepting the great JLipsius who , as-wo are told on the authority of ^ the iteverend Lawrence Sterne " composed a work the day he was born , " we

      , never heard of so remarkable a efflitt as the child Silk Buckingham . He bti « aiv life- oh » board ship atonine * years old * , beings then as tall ( ho tells us ) , as Jads > . t > fc fifteeatin oun degonei'ateJdaysv . 8 trongopl . thanvyoung men of , eighteen , xtiuihleienough to . asce » ft , ; hwA ; over hand , from , the ship ' s deck to the maintop , and able . to swim twx > , miles at . a . stretch . Before ho was nine years old he had ' arrived at such perfection as a Little Warbler of pious melodies , that he put down a riot of Cornish Methodists by standing on a sack of corn and singinffroue of Dr . Watts ' s . hymns ^ o the infuriated multitude . At the same * e # U $£ flge lie had . already lad , local on } niau . ; O » the high Tory side on the sui ^ Cfr ofthe ^ jr enoh JRoyoltttion ?; And hwi faWen . -so violently in love , that when t& * objjflatof J * i * , « ffij 0 tiens diod ^ nd . wa * d % bwpied ,, he flung himself down u { M » tti , thet g » mief . an « Lolft 8 © iid « th « . oaanUt . lot torj » idN despauv » Iha earheatin i Kiiijjht

      ddvoktp ^ o ^ aU my tondenciiwv '' ne says , m . jaunty way ,. Hpu » . u * « m * : seMSbefowb »^ a » iini » evye « M' <) l'd ^' ware'theie »* erprisingvth « devotional * the sfmrtirtftisfagj and tke amatory . >* Itvre ? ffer » noe « to this-last " tendonoy , " we tmi& > aatti * B »~ ttt ! . having ; felt a-. morbU ^ thirst for more knowledge , and- to < Wayiiii '^^ sttfltered ' ttie most ; poignant disappointment at finding thab our aiith or ( i ^ nd ffero ) ' dlfl hofr gp ihtd particulars . This fault ought to be ainonded . m <«© noxt editiau . wo should liko to seo a new chapter introduood , with tjtetfwiajof . Th ^* BirU i ^ iJ > on ,. JHan ; or ,. the , shnour £ of Silk Buckingham before A * mm itKemhe < & > ' tTntit . tuat . ojiapter . is , wrifcton ,, we object to the Autobio * < hfWitty ,, m , iniiojtnpJ ^ tO' mdhe most intev « sti » a . a » d amaamg . passage of tho : wh # lfhbpft ) ci ^ . Ho ^ taKM » tMtatt « 'dtetaalediaccoun 6 ofi our- impression * of-lifctlo . Buckingham ,. UlNliMfffaMnumm * foil ? ir > Uruoted > on the subject of hi » infantgallaivtrios v we « lll > 'ifleWjl ( y ^ My'tl « rt' » WkougHi he strikou- us in oWUdtoood as being

      a-compound of the characters of Orpheus , Hercules , and Lothario , we are not at all surprised to find that his mother was . willing to lose so remarkable a phenomenon for a month or twe at a time * by letting her son go to sea at the age of nine years . Your prodigious children are very delightful to read about ; but somehow they don't do nicely in the nursery . An enterprising , devotional , sympathising , amorous boy , fifteen years or so in advance of his own age , is , as some coarse-minded people would say , a boy to begot rid of any how . Being too refined to go that length in the way of-expressing ourselves ; we * will only repeat that we think Mr . ; Buckingham ' s mother was quite right when she allowed herself to be prevailed on to send him to sea . Of our hero as a-young man we learn much that is wonderful and interesting , but our impression of him , on the whole , is , that he hardly performs in youth , what he promised in childhood . He does not appear before us in a sufficiently remarkable light as a man , principally , we are quite willing to

      believe , because he was so very marvellous as a boy . The superhuman child who crushed a riot with a hymn , and embraced a young lady ' s grave , tones down into an average nautical . nian of adventurous temperament . He sails hither and thither , rises , to be a merchant-captain , meets with odd characters , and falls into strange situations—but other men do that . He marries at nineteen , and writes uxorious verses of the penny-Valentine sort to his wife—but hundreds of men do that also . He leaves the sea , fails in an attempt to- set up in business * and takes to travelling with ambitious objects and new-ideas to > communicate to the natives in Egypt and India- ^ -. butiOther men have run that career before and after him . In short , so far as the first two volumes of the Autobiography extend our knowledge of Mr . Silk Buckingham at present , the older he gets the less remarkable he gets . If we might be permitted to use a common phrase , we should say that the first nine years of his life seem to have " taken the shine out of " all the rest of it .

      . However * we-must not be premature : the two first-published volumes of the Autobiography only take us to the beginning of Mr . Buckingham ' s Indian experiences . By far the larger half of his Lifeand Adventures is yet to come . Who knows what surprises may not be in store for us ?—what superhuman traits of character we may not be lucky enough to read about , when we get to Volumes-III . and IV . ? It will be no joke for Mr . Buckingham to extinguish his ; own boyhood ; but he is an " enterprising . " , and if the'thing can be done at all ,, he is certainly the person to do ifc . "So much for Buckingham ! " in our capacity as students of human character . In our other capacity of reviewers of books , we have a last word or two of advice to offer to our readers on the best way of getting through the 1

      AiitobiograpJitfj If they will carefully abstain fromperusing any of the numerous specimeas of his poetry which the author inserts , ' and if they will good-humouredly skip their way through the prose , rather than critically read through it , they may extract plenty of amusement from this book . It contains some curious pictures of manners fifty years since , some good anecdotes told in a lively , hearty way , and some interesting travellingradventurcs in the l ^ eserfc , andHon the shores-of the Red Sea . These amusiug passages must certainly be sought out through'much trivial , wearisome , and absurdly vainglorious writing ; but : we repeat that ; dexterous skipping , and moderate patience on the reader ' s part , will do much , towards making Me . ' Silk Buckr ingham ' s Autobiography a moderately entertaining book .

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      PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRIES . Psychological Inquiries : in a Series of Essays Intended to Illustrate the MutualRelations of the Physical Organisation and the Mental Faculties . By Sir Benjamin Brodie . Longman and Co Wjs . are . somewhat _ J ? ackward ^ in our notice- of this work , which has already reached a second edition ; asu ^ terest in . the public for speculations taking this direction * We do not mean simply the direction of psychology , but of . psychology based upon physiology . The conviction is now becoming pretty general that the old methods of studying the philosophy of tlie mind are somewhat sterile of fchat the is to be found in h

      results , and ^ only true basis of such a science pysiology ; For eventho thorough-going metaphysicians ' , who believe that the miiufis an abstract " entity" residing in , some unexplored corner of the brain , and " playing upon' . ' that' brain , as a . musician plays . upon a musical instrument , arc forced to confess that the state of tho instrument and the number of its chords determine the music which it is possible for tho player to bring-forftli . In-other words , the metaphysician fuels that ho can talco few steps without the aid of the > physiologist . Hence the numerous attempts in . late . years ' to illustrate the relations between' bodily and mental organisation . Sir Benjamin Brodie has brought his quota to the general store ; and the rapid sale of the first edition proves that his quota was not unacceptable . is

      Nor , if wo measure it by the easy standard of current publications , ns success undeserved . It is agreeably and popularly written , touches on subr jeotso . f universal interest , such as . Memory , Dreams , Insanity , Instincts , Sleep , Bhnenology , the Mind in Old Age , &c , and brings forward facts and illustrations many of which , will , bo new to the general reader . Hud tho work been signed by an , unknown , name ,. this praise might seem mnjilo ; but tho namo of Sir Benjamin Brodio awakens higher demands : reputation oblige . Psychological Inquiries is not a work equal to the subject , nor equal to what the author ' s reputation led' us to oxpoet . It does not contain a single now idewj it does , not contain a single important modification ot an old idea ; and it . contains sumo ideas that we cannot help considering utterly nrronanus . To . mva-our readers a , suecimen of Sir Benjamin a modo ot

      philosophising when he is in a difficulty , lot the following sullice : — lolyped , it is known ,. may . be divided into several pieces , each piece living us betoro . Sir Benjamin , referring , to this fact , says : " It is true that one of our most celebrated modern physiologists , from observing the multip lication ot poiyi " by the mere division of the animal , and fVonv some other circumstances , nas come to the conclusion , that the mental principle which presents itseil to our conceptions as-being , so pre-eminently , abovo all other things in nature , oiw and indivisible , is nevertheless itself divisible not less than the oorpoicni fabric with which it is associated . " Now this is tho dimculty-a d » ilicu ty for one who holds tho mind to be an " entity pre-ominontly indivisible , out not a difficulty for the physiologist who holds the mind to be simply ono

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      theynw ^ ora » T ^ EKEli 2 * . S & DM&HU . ' : [ S ^ TOtaB ^ jri ; « 5 BW ^» ¦ ¦ ... ¦¦ - . . . ^ r __^ __ : : ; ; _^__ *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 31, 1855, page 306, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2084/page/18/