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    fcodies at all times , supposing the growth of each to De equal , and . so the growth of one would fail to account for the acknowledged differences ? Captain Prays pn is well able to answer this question ; and ve await his reply . . ¦ ¦ - "' ¦ ¦ , . ' ¦ u . The discrepancies . 6 f all sorts \' whj . cn . he brings forward in support of his theory are- numerous and extraordinary . Among the positive . arguments for the growth of the earth he notices the cracking of © Id buildings and walls , that appear as separating one from the other-. Besides , the milestones are seldom in their right places . In many parts of England they have been moved within the last twenty years . There are also fossil remains at the North Pole of

    tropical seeds , plants , &e . Admit that the earth has increased in growth , and the mystery is explained . Countries that once joined eacli other are now separated by seas . " How would these changes be effected ? " asks Captain Drayson . " By a rapid con-¦ v ulsiou , or by a gradual expansion ? " The latter he deems " most like Nature ' s usual proceedings . Dowe find trees or shrubs , men or animals , increasing ' by convulsions' ?" - lie likewise explains ihe -apparently great ages of the antediluvian 2 ) atriarclis oil the same theory ; and proceeds \ ipon mathematical calculations that are evidently correct . "Rut his sheet-anchor consists of his astronomical

    facts , relative to which we repeat the question that ire put above . According to the Captain— -or rather 5 n strict accordance with the -positive and recorded evidence that ho produces . —nearly every observatory an England has shifted its position several hundred deet ; some of the continental observatories have ihought nothing of a skip of a few hundred yards . The observatory of Christiana lias , travelled north , and has moved 36 , " or 3 , 600 feet , during the last twelve years . The accepted , latitudes of different places continually differ from their ' actual . measurements . Iii fact , measured . distances will riot agree jis they ousj'ht - with astronomical observations .

    : When avg observe , " continues Captain Drayson , * in the official Ephemeris that the position of stars , planets , sun , and moon , are given to the onelliousandth part of a ¦ s econd ,., and when we also remark that the lengths of -base lines arc known to the one-hundredth part of a foot , it does appear curious that , when the two departments caine to be compared , discrepancies ' of . four or five seconds * and © f four or five hundred feet , are found not only to exist , but to remain without any satisfactory explanation ! Let it but be granted that the earth is growing and its orbit increasing , and nearly every such mystery , which has puzzled the learned for a thousand years , at once vanishes . "

    The submarine telegraph cables are summoned to bear witness in favour of the growth of our mother ' Earth . These cables laid between England atrid- various parts of the Continent , fastened « at eacli < jnd , have what is called a certain amount of slack payed out . ' " ' Some of these cables exceed one hundred miles in length , and there are very few of them which have escaped being torn asunder after they have been submerged for a short period . From Information with which wo were favoured by one of the

    principal officials of the telegraph , in answer to an inquiry which we made upon the subject , it appears that suddenly the telegraph ceases to work ; and upon electriy tests being used , it is discovered that either the gigantic iron cable has actually been rent asunder , or the interior copper wire only hus been broken . The fracture looks usually as though the cable had been pulled apart by enormous force . ' -The usual cause assigned was a ¦ ship ' s anchor , but this causo was called upon to explain' the fact , because * no other possible reason could be assigned , "

    " These be truths , " us tho clown says in " Measures for Measure ; " and wo trust that Captain Drayson ' a measurements , and his ' remarks upon them , may receive their duo measure of attention and bo thoroughly sifted by the scientific , Tho question la one , in several respects , of great practical importance . Lot it thcruforo bo put forthwith in . a ¦ train , as it may bo , of scttlomeht- ^ -whothor this earth of ours bo increasing in sizo , and extending its orbit , or not ? An answer is requested without delay , History of Franca ; from the Earnest Time * to 1858 . By tho Kov , Jiunos White , author of tho " Eighteen Chrjstinn Centuries . " William Black wood arid Sons ,

    I-Iistokv may bo either a dull elironiclo or a lively unrrativo . Sir . White , whose dramatic powers have been tested on the stage , has horo exerted them in tho chaructor of an hiutorian , and so skilfully that the volume before us is likely to beeomo ona ol ' tlio most popular of tho season . Its stylo is rapid , ( lowing , graphic ; the subjects are well grouped , ami the argument both loaVnedly and lucidly conducted . Ho proposos , at tho outset , to uurol ,, forliis " rentier ' s boneat , " ' like a series of dissolving views , tho strongly marked periods of a great nation ' s caroer ; , wild populations reclaimed by contact with their Itoinun conquerors , and sinking into barbarians again undor tho

    trampling heels of another race of invaders from the forests Of Germany . A little while longer they will see tbe civilising element , which was never entirely obliterated , asserting its power over the mixed races of the Franks and Gaels ; and * gradually combining , gradually reforming , gradually softening , and giving way to tlje bent of their inborn genius , . they wiir see the descendants of those ferocious tribes claiming to be the most polished , the most warlike , the most accomplished nation in Europe . " Such is the author ' s design , and it is admirably executed . In fact , Mr-White has treated his subject like an elegant poet , and lias accordingly produced a most captivating work . - .. ¦ . ¦ . - ¦ " ¦ .

    According to Mr . White , France is- 'not . so . wellconditioned , in regard to her boundaries as she might be , and as nature intended her to be . How comfortably would she repose with her south guarded by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees ; her west by the Atlantic , her north by the British Channel , and her east by the Alps , the Swiss Mountains , and the strong current of the Rhine . B ut a line is arbitrarily drawn across from a certain part of the-Rhine , and confines France within- boundaries on the east and north . But though nature has been thus checked , France is yet favourably situated and bounded ; and moral boundaries arc not always identical with the material . So it is with her .

    This story of Philip Augustus and our lion-hearted Uichard , and their crusading quarrels , is told by Mr . 'White with graphic power . Here the history of the two countries meet , and blend ,, and continually intersect . Mr . White is not favourable to the Crusaders . His portraits are photographs , and ^ exaggerate certain features .. The colouring of romance and tradition is thrown aside , and the prosaic fact substituted . - Alas for human heroism !¦ It will not endure such stripping ; it is as repugnant to conception as Mr . Tliomas Carlyle ' s " naked House of T-iOrds . " Heroes are much indebted to their costumes , both on and off the stasre .

    Mr ; , White also treats us with a vivid sketch of the Hundred Years' War between . France and England , dating from 1337 to the loss of the English possessions in 1450 ; for , as he tells us , " the historians give good measure in their valuation of-a hundred years . " . Of the three great battles fought in tliis great strife Mr . White justly remarks that there is a wonderful amount of sameness . For example , our amiy is caught in an unsafe position , and is threatened by overwhelming numbers . The leaders try to temporise , and offer great sacrifices to avoid the fight . The French , presumptuous and self-willed , refuse all accommodation , assault with ' impetuous" courage , and arei ' exterminated , horse and man . This , adds thc > historian , "is not complimentary to the generalship of our chiefs , but speaks trumpet- , tongued of the courage and endurance of our men . " Af 3 it was , so it is yet . Witness certain events in the Crimea .

    As the character of Louis XI . has been recently produced on the stage , we refer the reader to the portrait by another dramatist of the same monarch , though not in the dramatic form . We confess that we take a more favourable view of the character of this calumniated monarch , and regard .. him as tlio foundor of the Tiers Etat . It was not altogether in mockery that this man was the first who was addressed as " Majesty , " and entitled " the Most Christian King . " He had , at least , policy and perseverance , and perhaps wisdom , though it has boon tho fashion to call it cunning ? ' Moreover , he was successful in creating the system that he

    initiated , This , too , was a self-supporting mind . The political problems he proposed Avero " worked out in the solitude of his own thoughts ; for he boasted that ho limned all his plans without the aid of others . " Perhaps the right estimate of Louis Xf . ' s character , Is to regard him as the first of tho politicians of France . The king was his own Kicholiou , and governed as well as reigned . We wish wo had spaco to cite our author ' s descriptive narrative of tho < Massacre of St . IJartholoinew ; but it is when approaching the period of tho French Revolution that Mr . White gathers his strong energies together , and prepares for the contest .

    M >' . White ' s philosophical acuinon is considerable , and the example of America . is well put and appreciated . Tho tidings that came over with every ship were soul-stirring-. " Hero were tho very quostions which had filled tho works of tho encyclopaedist , carried out to tho arbitrament of arms before their eyes . No tuxes without , rajirusoiihtthn ; No . supremo potoer except by the will of the people ; No dominant sect ; No privileged birth : No inaqiufliti / of condition Hero wero the exact statements in their theoretical essays translated into tho reality of life . " We all know tho rosultu . Hero Mr . Whito had a mighty theme . Ho has recognised its greatness ; and striven , noti altogether in vain , to " rise to the height of his groat argument . " To bo sure , Mr . White gives rather a royalist colouring to the horrors of tho time ; but he sops the moral clearly enough . To tho

    character of Napoleon he is also just ; and of Welling :--ton he is a great admirer . " Caesar , " lie says , " never equalled either of them in military tactics , or political organisation , or literary skill . " We can most honestly commend this history of France , as eloquent ,, life-like , vivacious * and faithful-. General Debility arid Defective Nutrition ; their Causes , Consequences , and Treatment . By Alfred Smee , FJR , S . John Churchill . A work by Mr . Smee is sure to be of value ; the present , which contains the substance of an oration delivered by him before the Hunterian Society of London , on 9 th of last February , is a highly useful treatise , and calculated to be of great practical benefit . His remarks on . defective nutrition are eminently suggestive . Tlrey apply to rich and poor , for both ,

    though from different causes , often suffer from lack of food ;—these yield to necessity , and those starve in the midst of abundance , from caprices of the appetite . Mr . Sniee regards these intan . , in most cases , as symptomatic , and proceeds from them often as data to regulate his practice . Sometimes the signs of debility arise from intemperance ; at other times from anxiety , from deficiency of employment , or constitutional causes . Railroad travelling , also , brings inconveniences with it . The action of food , moreover , is different in different persons , and requires regulation "by specific attention . For this , and j other reasons , it is Avell for every household to have attached to it a medical adviser , at an annual payment , whose office would therefore'be to preserve health rather than to cure disease . This is Mr . Smee ' s concluding advice to his reader .

    Town Sivamps and Social Bridges . The Sequel , of " A Glance , at the Homes of the . Thousands . " By George Godwin , F . R . S . Uoutledge , Warner , and Routledge . This work is by the editor of The B uilder , and is a worthy appendix to his " London Shadows , " the social value of wlii-eh- has been attested by those best acquainted with the subject . The book contains an exposure of the " ¦¦ nuisance-neighbourhoods , " and proposes the . remedy" for the . evil .. ' . Among- the alarming' facts stated are tliese .- ^—100 > 000 persons in England died , in the year 1 S 5 S .. prematurely ; and twice as many soldiers' die every year as would be the case if the rate of inortaiUtv amongst them were

    only as great as among the general population . Iii both cases the mischief arises from the want of pure air ; o ' ur soldiers , in particular , . have . . been kept in . places and under conditions where healthful life is impossible . Mere over-crowding , under otherwise good eircunistances , produces enervation , disease , and death . The evil in respect to the barracks was pointed out in The Builder a . year ago . " Surely , by this time , the evils pointed out have been remedied ? Ts ot in the slightest degree . We went into the barracks a few days ago ( February ) ,, and found it precisely in the same state as before . " Alas ! it will require many books like this to effect the needed reforms . Success to all of them . '

    Loqic in Theology ; and other Essays . By Isaac Taylor . * Bell and Daldy . FiVJc-siiVKNTiis of this work appoav for the first time ; the other two consist of the author ' s wellknown introductory essay to " Edwards on Freewill , " and an cssuy on Unitarianism in , 7 Vte Eclectic Review . Mr . Tnylor ' s eloquent stylo needs no commendation , arid his philosophic power , so fur as he goes , is indisputable . But lie would not be accepted us a guide beyond a certain point by those to whom

    tho continental systems arc familiar . Mr . Taylor a mind is of that class that early arrived-at a certain sort of pur-fectiou . Then it made itself up , and will not now on nn noeonut unmake itself . ' It will not advance , if will not progress , but confines itself to the same circle wl ' Tideim , which again and again it illustrates , but never incroason . Ho is u popular logician , and droiids , worn * than . < loath and inorethau ho loves truth , yvlmt niuy be unpopular . Nevertheless , wo nlwnys ¦ waul liini wilh pleasure , and sometinics with pi'ollt ,

    Why should ire Lmiru V Short Locturos addrossod to Schools . By y . mily Slilrrofl . John W . IVirker and Bon . Tuis is a treatiso upon tho valuu of knowledge j and tho theme Is ono pooulliirly upproprmto to tho time , when knott'lmlK < i U so frct-i . v oljurod that the recipients tiro not always aiimduntly impressed with its reul worth . Too muny oBtimnto it for tho worldly gain to which it mity lend ; too lew for ita own intrinsic virtue . Tho mun , however , ' -who la uneducated roniolns a olilld . ICtlucation confers tho fr ,, n mimhood i 4 incl this is a , ult ' ti the true value of

    which cannot bo rated too highly . Such » 3 tho argument of tlu abovo Httlo work , wliioh is especially comn-jenclublo for its pure , simple , and eileotivo stylo of oimposition .

    Untitled Article

    Ha . 468 , March 12 , 1859 ^] THE LJEADER . _ £ 1 _ ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 335, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/15/