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    basking in the luxurious use of the first person singular , is lie 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 m more than one passage his contempt of ex post facto hetslias 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 , we are glad 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 evcii 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 tothem from afar .

    The little of public opinion that has hitherto existed in this country about Indian goverment has been directed from Leadenhall-strect ; 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 . " We may not look for a sufficient supply of information about broad India and her management to the columns of home journals already ovcrflooded with the news of little England . To whom then can we look so well as to our Anglo-Indian writers who will be at the pains

    to inform us of the wants and wishes of our colony , of the dangers and duties of our 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 must 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 comm it her to her own resources , both at present obvious impossibilities . The suppression of the rebellion is now , we hope we 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 be worth thanks , writers like Gubbins and Norton , differ thouerh thev dodeserve tho thanks of the

    , c arc 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 of recont growth , to a sound appreciation of either ; but the very contrast of opinions , and the array of conflicting statements put forward by Anglo-Indiau authors , aro rapidly educating statesmen and all of us , and time will organise an Indian public in England . It should for the present be the part of tho neophytes thankfull y to read , learn , and digest , not flippantly to criticise and dismiss the results of a life experience , that aro submitted to us . To conclude , wo are grateful to Mr . Norton , and wo commend him to our rcadors .

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    MY LADY . My Lady : a Tale of JModevn 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 01 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 the reader at gentle heat until the close . But it must not be concealed that the commencing interest is not equally , sustained to the end . The writer appears , either tc

    have changed his original intention or to have been 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 My Lady centres on a domestic calamity which required great delicacy of handling . Lady Umphraville , 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 nam e , and fame suddenly laid in ruins by a crushing event unforeseen , unexpected , and without remedy . First we will give her

    portrait : — Lady Umphraville 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 ; her face was by nt > 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 sTiquld have beep , and in one confirmed longitudinal wrinkle 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 not a bracelet or a clasp , or anykind of pricking thing about her whole apparel , — -sho was always safe to take into her tender arms the tenderest of babies ;—and , somehow , this peculiarity of dress added to the entire feminiiieness of her appearance .

    This is life-like and well drawn—you may collect materials for a similar portrait from thousands of English homes . Lady Umphraville has five children—three boys and two girls : Hugh , depicted as a young giant of noble qualities but fierce temper ; Rothcs , a sturdy-minded youth ; Evelyn about seventeen years old , and a little girl and boy , Edie and Harry . Whilst living in nil the intimacies of a happy home , news is suddenly brought to Lady Umpiiravillo by tho rector that her husband has eloped with another man ' s wife . The way this news is received is thus forcibly and touchingly detailed : —

    My lady was in her chamber alono ; sho had been there ever since her interview with tho rector , three or four hours ago ; and there she remained , abstracting herself from the household , as she had scarcely overdone before , though she had known a full share of ordinary troubles . She was Bitting quite idly by the fire , which began to fail and die out , looking fixedly at tho white falling ashes , yet perceiving nothing of them . My lady ' s cheeks woro flushed and her eyes looked too bright , wakeful , and feverish ; she held her hands clasped together in her lap , and , for nearly an hour , had never

    stirred The story sho had heard who enough to startle nny wife : hor husband—a man no louyor young , her wedded partner and companion for twenty years- —hor husband had gone away , eloped , left lior guiltily witli a guiltywoman , another man ' s wife . Sho had been very slow to realise tho possibility of anything so monstrous ; sho would not boliovo it until proofs indisputable wcro placed beforo hor . It was a frightful change to bo wrought in ono day , in a singlo hour : tlio earth soomeil to nave opened close to hor feet , leaving lior who had booniOu peaceful common ground yonteid / iy on tho « ll «« y ' «« « a tremendous precipice : »» smMm c . rlhquako w v so appalling . Tho lint HHoek wu over now : wl att had boon , no ono could tell , for \ umlom ad ft ™ £ ™ wcro not u my lndv ' H nature . Slio snt now by hor solitaryllo » do lobsorvant of everything , but not para-

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    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 " tearum , " 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 on a smaller scale is constantly going on in our own daysbut then , it must be confessed , the actors

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

    , arc 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 . "Birch ' 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 . Guizot ' 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 Wheatstone , Brewster , Rogers , and others ; and justice is done to Wheatstone 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 i 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 18 . 58 " is a

    vigorous summary of the condition 6 f this most important question . The ease as between _ ¦ this country and America and France 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 Unitea States , the following hints are broadly ventilated : —

    All the world recognizes the internal uneasiness which makes every American cabinet and congress quarrelsome and rude , and dependent thus on the 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 alwaj's 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 sustained warfare , which is also ascribable to slavery . Wherever slavery and labour , slavery and subordination , aro connected , labour and subordination become

    impossible to any but slaves . While southern writers and other citizens regard the northern yeomanry and traders as " niggers , " because they labour , the " moan 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 bo regarded as slaves . Tho Mexican war showed how impossible military discipline is in a United States army ; and every long voyage , almost every trip of a moroliunt vessel , exhibits the existence of that tyranny which is substituted when subordination fails . This consciousness explains a good deal of American discourtesy and touchiness ; and it should operate on other Powers in preparing thorn for a now method of warfare , if peace with tho United States could not be maintained .

    THE EDINBURGH REVIEW . Tire Duko of Buckingham ' s very interesting " Memoirs of tho Court of England during tlio Regency , from original family documents , " comes again under review , and ample justice—with a Whig bius-r'is dono to the revelations of political manoeuvres and party confliots which occurred between tho yours JLSlI and 1820 . Tho pithy remark in relation to the eloso political companionship of Lords Grcnvillo and Ellenborongli , in . which the pair are likened to a faithful " old stowavd with his mastiff ( Lord

    Ellen-The latter portion will very likely be deemed by our irascible Vankoo brethren to contain an unpalatable menace . On 1 ho general question of slavery the writer thus oraoularly speaks : — Tho Americans know , and wo know , that tho decision of this great question rests with ourselves and thorn . Wo do not intend to yield it . Cost what It may , England will extinguish the slave trade , been use any yielding of so clear und determinate a policy would cost yot moro : but a full , free , cordial companionship in tho effort on tho part of tho United States would save a world of guilt and woo . Tho citizens can do it if they will . Tho existence of slavery in their nation is their misery and their shame . It has lowered their reputation ,, . degraded their national character , barred their progress , vitiated their foreign policy , poisoned their domestic peace , divided their hearts and minds ; and may ultimately explode their Union .

    The last arliclo deals with Mr . Froudo ' s reply to tho attacks in the Jtevieio on the integrity and trustworthiness of portions of his History . Tho

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    No . 448 , October 23 , 1853 . 1 T H E L E A P E R . 1123

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1858, page 1123, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2265/page/11/