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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd October 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 956, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      missionaries but of corporate powers , with little territorial sovereignties , estates , rents , taxes , yacht squadrons , and considerably large salaries . For instance , they have an island in the Falklands , and some one has six hundred a year for sending home well-garnished reports for the monthly publications . This somebody and his friends are tormented by perpetual jealousies , and ¦ when a man like Captain Snow happens to be at their disposal they worry him to their soul ' s content . " It would matter not what I did ; all wouid , I was sure , be wrong if at any time I was , as has been latterly shown , to be got rid of . Cunning and secret correspondence , even to a system of incessant espionage , were openly admitted as the orders to others to carry out with regard to what went on abroad . " Then , his men being conscious that their employers at home would support them , against their captain , behaved in many instances like lunatics . Two of them , got upon a desert island and refused to come off again . ¦

      Immediately after our arrival at Stanley I went to the Governor ' s office . 1 there asked the acting Colonial Secretary—a young man who had never been off the island for many years , and consequently knew nothing of the outside world ,-when his Excellency could be seen on some important business ; and lie at once , with a great deal , of supOTciKonsnesSj demanded of me a knowledge of that business . At first I hesitated to name it , wishing if possible to keep the affairs Of the Mission from be ^ - coining public talk at Stanley ; but I soon found that the secretary would get me no interview with the Governor unless I told him what -was my errand . I therefore named a part of it ; whereupon he , witl a pomposity and ; ' a manner worthy of anv artist ' s pencil who desired to represent a new T > ogberry , informed me that he was " a magistrate ( which he was , as were pretty nearly all that could rank as gentlemen or lad any moneyed position in Stanley ) ; and added , " I have only to tell you , sir , that if you lea-ve those two men on that island , and anything happens to them , a jury would bring you in guilty of manslaughter . " . - . " But , " said I ,. " what am I to do ? They won't come of the island : no one will stop there -with them ; and I suppose I must not take them off by force . "

      " As to that , " he replied , " you well know , I suppose , what is catted , ' assault and battery ; 'therefore you had better take care . But what you ore to do , I can ' t tell you . This , however , I can tell you , and I repeat it , —if you leave those two men alone on Keppel Island , or any other island , and anything occurs to them , I for one will be ready to bring in a verdict of manslaughter against you . " The people at Stanley , in the Falklands , were in a bitter rage with the South American Missions , for having reported them as an ill-mannered , immoral , and depraved community , they having being unwilling to acknowledge Mr . DespaTd as the ecclesiastical Napoleon of that place , and , all the adjacent seas . But Captain Snow himself has some criticisms on Stanley : ¦—But again I say that after all this is only human nature ; and in this respect Stanley is no worse than any other place . Where it is worse , and where on that account I conceive it to be about one of the very last places in the world I should like to reside in or

      visit , is its deficiency in the administration of justice . Putting myself out of the question , I would appeal to every poor man , -woman , or child that could understand my appeal , and are in the Falklands or have been there , and ask them if they know or ever have known it to exist . And how could it exist there ? Some half dozen gentlemen hold dominion , as it were , over the island ; and all ^ these equally hold appointments as magistrates . Differ among themselves they may—abuse each other ; but let any of them be once attacked "by a stranger or inferior , and see where that stranger or inferior will be . Court or no court , law or no law , he has no hope for a fair adjudication of his case . And hence it is why , with the insolence and arrogance many have met with from some of the secondary officials , as well as on account of the expenses , shipmasters care not to visit Stanley , but would , I believe , rather go to Monte Video . During my stay there several vessels called in , and I had an opportunity of conversing on the subject with the captains , and I found nearly all express themselves much alike .

      The spirit of the Alexandrian donkey-boys , and of the Doctors' Commons nuisances is revived in another form in Stanley : — In Stanley there are two opposing "business powers . One is Lloyd ' s Agent , and acta a Bort of banker , storekeeper , auctioneer , and general jobsman for everything . He is not only a useful man , but also , owing to his ready cash , a man of pei-haps as much real power on the island as any one . This man , for several years , had all the business pretty pearly in his own hands . At length the Falkland Island Company found it absolutely necessary , in justice to those whom they employed , to also establish a retail store . The result was , that the rival houses had to contend with each other in getting custom ; and during my sojourn at the Falklands it has often amused me to see the eagerness with which the boats belonging to either party made sail out of the harbour to intercept the stranger and lay hold of hiin . In the present case , one of these boats , having got alongside of the large American ship while she was trying to work up Port William , was very nearly crushed , owing to the stranger when tacking going astern almost as fast as she would go ahead . The movement being unexpected , the boat could not get away in time , and the consequence was that much damage was done , and ultimately the captain had to pay for it .

      Ultimately , it fell out that Captain Snow was superseded . His story of the MWion Voyage , unless contradicted and refuted in detail , will prove one of the most damaging disclosures ever published . We have presented the pith of it , leaving the responsibility entirely with the writer ; but the volumes are in a general sense so interesting , that the most ordinary reader will bear with the criminations and personal episodes for the sake of the fresh pictures of Fueeo , Patagonia , and the Falklands , which are among the least known and most romantic spots on the surface of the globe . " We wait to hear what the Society at home has to say in reply to the former captain of the Mission yacht Allen Gardiner ,

      Untitled Article

      A NEW NOVEL . The Story of My L \ fe . By Lord William Lennox . 8 vols . Hurst and Blackett . Another now novel has appeared . It is written b y a man of long experience in good society , and bears the impress of considerable know ledge of human nature . But Lord William Lennox is fur from aiming at the style of the philosophical novelist . His desire is to tell a rattling , amusinjr , eventful story , and he thoroughly succeeds . AH sorts of scenes and characters are brought upon the stage—nobles , farmers , actors , actresses , policemen , baronets , citizens , schoolmasters , and boys , and the drama moves briskly on from first to last , varied by a large invention of incidents , daahed with humorous dialogue , and pleasantly exaggerated . The account of Brighton manners at the time when the Pavilion was in its eccentric glory

      is particularly characteristic . Lord Lennox begins his narrative indeed , from a period soon after Canning and Castlereagh had fought , after-the convention , of Cintrahad been signed , after the famous mermaid had anpeaeed off ^ Caithness , after Daniel Lambert had died , after Dundonald had performed his great achievement , after Gollingwood and Hardy had made their names illustrious . Those were the merry , licentious days when the Prince of Wales executed some of Handel ' s compositions at the Pavilion Palace , when'he talked with Sheridan , Fox , and Selnryn , and when he played cricket with the county elevens . All this comes naturally into The Story of My Life , and as it is painted from memory , the perspective , though grotesque , is attractive . Lord William Lennox , starting fr om thi s point goes gaily and Confidently on to the end , and we think , amid the lengthening dulness of this young October , readers in town and country will begrateful to Mr- Mudie when , estimating at its true value a novel written for the Circulating Library especially , lie sends them these three volumes . "

      Untitled Article

      A HISTORY OF ENGLAND . The History of England , from ike Earliest Times to the Peace qf Paris , 1856 . By C . D . Yonge . Rivingtons . Ma ; Yohge makes an anology for offering this publication . Histories , memoirs , and documents illustrative of English history have multiplied so rapidly within recent year 3 that a new manual had become necessary . This , however , is not the manual that was-wanted . New materials Mr . Yono-e may have had at command in abundance , but has he made use of then ?? Assuredly not . The spirit of obsolete tradition vitiates almost every chapter of hiscompilation . He writes well ; he is a scholar ; he has the art of p lacing facts together with order and clearness ; but he is deeply deficient ill the , power of historical criticism . For him fresh knowledge has been

      contributed m vain . He has either not read Carlyle ' s work on Cromwell , or he has seriously misunderstood it . A score of other books might be mentioned—not disquisitions but absolute disclosures of new evidencewhich Mr . Xonge has passed over , so that his portraits are conventional , ¦ while jmanj" of his estimates of character are libels or extravagances . We are pained by being forced to pass this judgment on the work of a writer so generally meritorious ; but we must , for the sake of honesty , say that to place this book in the hands of young students would be a positive experiment upon their minds . It is a discoloration of English history and little rnore .: Thus , the story of the reign of James remains where it was in the old and servile narratives ; that of Charles I . is- constantly and elaborately

      perverted ; that of Cromwell is a solemn misrepresentation . Mr . Yonge strains every point in favour of the king , exaggerates every charge , believes every lampoon against the Protector , and writes , to say the truth , as a partisan . We should say that he has read the volumes of David Hume and no more , and every one acquainted with modern English literature will know what that me ans . We should as soon think of reviving Baker ' s Chronicles as of putting ourtrustin the fable as it is in Hume ; certainly , Kenneth ' s folioswould form more reliable school-reading than the short and stout volume of Mr . Yonge . Not more pleasant , of course , since Mr . Yonge writes in a finished , pointed style which interests us , notwithstanding that his relation abounds in the worst inaccuracies—those which arise from a total oblivion of * the most

      valuable contributions to the history of England . It is too late in the day to varnish Charles I . or to defame Cromwell . In another direction—India —we find Mr . Yonge ' s statements extremely partial . As he approaches our own day 3 ie becomes excessively meagre . The reign of William IV . —the period of the Uefoxm . Bill—is dismissed in eight pages ! We can testify to the literary ability displayed in this volume ; but , read in . the real light of history , it is a conspicuous mistake .

      Untitled Article

      MISCELLANIES . De . Humphreys , head master of Cheltenham Grammar School , has prepared an edition of the first part of Livy ? s Third Decade ^ illustrated by copious NoteB , Historical , Geographical , and Critical , and especially adapted for the " Use of Military Students ( Longman and Co . ) . The annotations are varied , scholarly , and , in connexion with the text , of real practical value . Avoiding all superfluous references and disquisitions , Dr . Humphrey follows the ancient narrative in the light of modern science and research , and succeeds not only in rendering a perusal of Livy more easy to the student , but more profitable and also more interesting

      Another volume with a classical purpose is Major It . G . Macgregor ' s Epitaphs from the Greek Anthology ( JSfiseen and Parker ) . We liave met with Major Macgregor before , with a cluster of translations from the Italian . These seven hundred epitaphs are rendered in varying degrees of fidelity and force . Sometimes the Major ' s echo is musical an < l solt ; often , however , it is harsh and mechanical , and grates on the ear . Horo is n couplet intended « s a rhyme—but what a parody of Antistius : — The embouchure of Aous Theo Uas destroyed , Mencstratus . The followin g is very quaint : — A little child in DiodoruB ' hall From o low ladder by a fatal fall Breaking his spine headforemost rolled , but when He saw my look of answering pity , then Forthwith his tiny Imnda ho suppliant spread : In vain . Yet weigh not down , 0 Duat I tlio head Of the young child of a . poor female slave : Spare Corux , two yenrs old , in his small grave . Many persona will bo glad to possess Major Mac < rre <; or ' 8 volume , with all its defects .

      Belonging to a different class of literature , but designed principally for the use of Behoof we have ltm . scll \ s History of Modern , Europe Jfailomised ( Koutledge ) . It is in one neat volume ; the editor professes to have verified every fact and date , to have introduced new matter where necessary , and to have revised the whole diligently and conscientiously . Conscientious he may have been . ; but ho is evidently not competent to revise a . history of modern Europe . Thus , ho makes no alteration in . Itusscll ' s account of the execution of Louia XVI ., but repeats the exploded story about his mount-

      Untitled Article

      956 . .. . ,. . "• . . ;¦ V . THE iklDE Bi . - [ iicC 3 ^ , Sc ^ be * 3 ^ 1855 : ~

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 3, 1857, page 956, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2212/page/20/