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trieity can be insulated sufficient to settle the question . . No doubt , it is an agent more subtile than air or other gases . As to the electric condition of clouds , no satisfactory knowledge , Mr . RoweU is confident , can be obtained unless by the aid of captive balloons , whereby conducting wires could be carried up to the clouds themselves ; although experiments with kites ( being of exciting character ) have , from the time of Franklin , been conducted with considerable success in various countries , and by many
parsons of eminence in scientific pursuits . Those ofM . de Romas demand most attention . A . due consideration of them will show the probability that electricity is an important agent , rather than a minor result in meteorological phenomena ; and that the accumulation of electricity to such a degree cannot be attributed to the mere friction of air on vapour . Electricity plays a part in all meteorological phenomena , and a true theory of it will explain the causes productive of rain and all its allied phenomena .
Mr . IioWell marshals a large category of phenomena and experiments , selected from a wide survey of scientific records . It is , of course , impossible for us to go into an adequate investigation of the facts , or even to construct any kind of index to them . The reader must be referred to the important publication before us . It must suffice _ to state that , in the author ' s opinion , the . precip itation of ordinary rani is generally attributable to the escape of the surcharge of electricity from the clouds ^ when the particles of vapour attracting each other form larger bodies , and fall as rain ; therefore mountains or high hills cause rain by conducting the
electricity from the vapour , and riot by condensing it . Rain is also caused by the air between the earth and clouds becoming charged with vapour , so as to conduct the electricity from the clouds . 3 £ xtensiye fires , volcanoes , &c :, produce clouds find rain by the rising smoke , heated air , &c , conducting the electricity from the accumulated vapours and clouds to the earth . Any thing that would conduct the surcharge of electricity from the clouds would probably cause rain . Jlenee the author ' s theory , that electric conductors raised to the clouds by means of balloons would enable the surcharge of electricitv to escape , and thus cause rain to
fall . Mr . Kowcll writes in a calm , dispassionate and somewhat elegant style , and merits the utmost encouragement that can be rendered . Such a man ought to be able to devote his whole time to science , and the pension list should certainly be applied to such a case as his , so as to enable him to exchange the trade of papor-hanging for the profession of a rain-maker ;
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THE KING'S SECRET . A Romance of Eng-lish Chivalry . By Tyrone Power . Tlios . Hodgson . ' '• The King ' s Sucket" forms the second volume of Mr . Hodgson ' s new series of standard novels . It is one of the best of Tyrone Power ' s novels , and it only requires to be known that it is published cheaply to ensure it many readers .
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spoils it—as is usually the case . Cousin Stella , who has all along loved Louis Gaulier , at length marries him—when he is grey-headed and a cripple ! Surely a romantic end withal to a romantic and interesting tale . But novelists now universally adopt this principle , and we must therefore accept it , we suppose , as a sine qua non ; and yet , if true to life , should we wish it otherwise ? ¦ ¦ .
" The Curate and the Rector " is a feeble imitation of the " Vicar of Wakefield . It will posr sess , we have ho doubt , a considerable amount of interest for a certain class of readers—more especially those who delight in village scenes and pastoral descriptions generally . There is , moreover , an amount of variety which will render it acceptable to the general reader ; but the age which Goldsmith addressed was rather different from the present . Surely the clerical profession ought to feel itself immensely flattered , for of all classes this seems to present most attractions to those who are in search of a hero .
" Old Styles , " a portion of which appeared in HouseJiold Words , exhibits a certain amount of ability , and a considerable capability on the part of its author of delineating every-day life—more especially school life . But Mr . Henry Spicer is of rather a morbid temperament , and appears to be determined to put his readers in a gloomy state of mind . He accordingly proceeds to give us a whole series of second-sight adventures , and varieties of " host stories , and winds up with a most melandeal
choly and unnecessary end . There is a great about schools , schoolboys , and schoolmastersromantic confidences " between ^ masters and pupils- ^ -statues of departed sons in secret chambers watched over by disconsolate and remorseful fathers—tremendoiis fights between " new boys " and "junior cocks , " and various episodes . of a like nature . "VVe may fairly characterise " Old Styles " as a very stupid book written by a very clever man . ' ' .
COUSIN STKLLA , OR CONFLICT . By the author of " Violet Burnt and Its Inmates . " 3 vols . —Smith , Elder and ilo . TilK CL'KATK AND THE KECTOH . A Domestic Story . By KUznbeth Strut , author of " Chances and Chnuges , " " Doniostio llesldenco lu Switzerland . "—Gcoryc Routlcflffe and Co . *" OLD STYLES . By Henry Spicer . —Boaworth and Harrison . It is not often that wo meet with a work so much out of the common order as " Cousin Stella . "
From beginning to end there is an abundance ^— - almost a superabundance- —of life and animation , truthful conversations , ever varying scenes , ami briglit pictures of the world anil his wife . The character of Cousin Stella , gontlc , impulsivo , almost childlike , is most ably and beautifully drawn ; and the manner in which hur feelings and her knowledge of the world are gradually educed and developed cannot fail to excite jn the reader a sense of sympathy , and a belief in the reality of the heroine . It is great praise—and wo mean itaa such—to say that wo have not , for n vary l on £ timeperused a work in whoso descriptions of life
, VA * 4 & \? 9 UU 4 Ut 3 UV ( IV H VA Ik JA * IT'UVMW UVOV 1 lj'V « VI » H Vf * A ** W we feel ho much at home , and in which the delineations of character and scenery nrc so varied and so vivid . Tho author—ox * wo imagine we should bo more correct in saying—the authoress does not suffer hor readers to vegetate in Kngland . Wo are presented with scones on tho Continent , a sea vovago , and a most interesting and orig inal poi > traituro of life in Jamaica . Tho latter , indeed , is the most exciting , what with tho insurrcctipn of slaves , and tho rapid succession of terrible but not glaring events . The ond of * the novel , however ,
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Rev . Mr . ' s . ' s . The mistake made by thfe > former-consists , after all , in denning the human intelligence as -finite ; this is not stated by the reviewer ; but he will , if he reconsiders the subject , see that the real error lies in supposing the terms " human " and « ' finite" to be convertible terms , like those of divine and infinite . Finite only properly belongs to matter and body , and is no adjunct of spirit at all . The error is a common one , but is producing so much perplexity in metaphysical disquisitions that it must be soon exposed and abandoned . We throw out the suggestion ; it is a pregnant one for those whom it concerns . It is , in factj the truly human in us that reveals the infinite , and by it the human is distinguished from finite aud temporary sensation , or matter— -whence the immortality of soul and eternity of spirit . _ _ _
London- Review . No . 24 . —This review- appears to prefer articles of the more light and popular kind , and these it treats with a kind of grace and fervour which is calculated to render them attractive . The leading ai-ticle on Chaucer may be taken as the type of the number . There is also a paper on Freiligrath , wherein the poet ' s orientalism is treated as a veritable emotion , and a singular idiosyncrasy . As a poet Freiligrath is , indeed , essentially picturesque . That he should have gained this povrer in the midst of commercial habits and . occupation is curious . Bni the fact is indisputable , and marks a new era , in which the spirit of poetry and of business are made to harmonise ; when the muse visits the counting-house uni-eproved , and sing \ s of the wild desert and the wide ocean , in stronger language than that of the sailor and the Arab , with all of their
energy and feeling , but with more of mystic meaning . The more peaceful aspects of na-turd also have charms for Freiligrath ; nor does he neglect the fanciful and the pathetic . Sometimes his ballads are strong in human interests , but not often ; too often he is professedly extravagant . Such an effort to raise into his proper importance the last of the ( Jerman poets is honourable to the reviewer . Among the other articles is . one , theological and oxegetic , on Dr . Kurtz . It portrays rationalism in rather dark colours , but concedes that individual rationalists are not always of that extreme type . On the whole , however , the critic is himself rational , and reasons out his thesis with logical severity ;
andif we seriously consider it , seeing that the result of philosophy is to jjrove nature reasonable , why should the critic regret to find that theology , too , is reasonable ? The " Roman question " undergoes a skilful investigation . The critic denounces the Austrian system in no measured terms . The heart of a freeman , lie exclaims , burns with indignation at the thought of a people , high-spirited and intellectual as are the Italians , being forcibly compelled to submit to such misrule , by the intervention of foreign powers . On this point , the literary minds of both England and France are agreed . Keverthewith the critic that
QUARTE 31 LY REVIEWS , ETC . National Review . No . 17 . —There is much in the contents of this number which is of first-rate quality . The topics are exceedingly well chosen , and almost exhaustively treated . The leading one is of a picturesque and entertaining character . Its argument is the subject of glaciers , and theories respecting them . It embraces rare wealth of scientific information , and traces the argument in a philosophic spirit . It decides in favour of Professor Forbes' plastic or vjscous theory , the fuller development of which it anticipates as of great prosspective benefit . There is also a searching review of Musson ' s Life of Milton , to the principle of which it
reasonably objects . The critic breaks new ground himself , and demonstrates the extreme difficulty of properly criticising-the " Paradise Lost . " But the most interesting portion of tho paper is that which relates to the domestic differences between tho poet and his first wife . The critic thinks that the lady had reason to object to tho austerity of her husband ' s character ;> and ho discovers that tho poet ' s complaint was , singularly enough , that his wife did not talk . Tho complaint is registered in Milton ' s book of Divorce . ' Hq-had wished , ho informs us , " an intimate anil speaking help j" but ho encountered a *• ' mute ami spiritless mate . " Tho * ' roady and roviWng associate , " yhom ho had hoped to have found , appeared to 1 ) 0 a , " coinhabitingmisehicf , " was sullen , ond perhaps scorned boreil and tired .
And at times ho is disposed to cast tho blamo of his misfortune on theuiiinstructivcnatureofyouthfulvir-• tuo . Tho " soberest arid beat-govorncd men , " ho says , who aro least practised in such affairs , are not \ qry well awaro that " the bashful muteness" of a young lady " may ofttimes hide tho unlivellnoss and natural sloth which is really unfit for conversation j " and aro rathor in toi > groat haste to light the nuptial toroh { whereas those " who have lived most loosoly , by -reason of tlu ) lr bold-accustoming , prove most successful in their matches , because their wild directions , unsettling at will , havo boon as so many divorces to teach them exriorjonoe . " And ho rathor wishos to infer that tho virtuous man should , in case of mischance , havo his resource of divorce Ukowiso . This is , at loust , aiv amusing touch of oluiraator , ana wo thank tho critic for having made It see daylight . Another papor commands ow admiration } one on
less , we may reasonably regret , Italian liberty has met with less sympathy in this country than it merits . We doubt too much , and perhaps wrongly , the French Emperor ' s intention . The Italians , hovrever , can hardly make a change for the worse ; and the despotism of France would be light compared with the brutality of Austria . The ultimate difficulty lies , however , in the point ;—What is to be done with Rome ? On the whole , the present number of this quarterly Heview is highly creditable to the editor and . publisher . Its tone is moderate and popular , and its bias in favour of freedom and progress .
„ , New Quarterly Beview . —The retrospect of the literature of the quarter includes Mackay ' s "America , " and About ' s " Roman Question , " the other leading works of the season . Tho criticisms , for the most part , arc fair , candid , and painstalcing . The arts are also reviewed in this publication , and the summary afforded of exhibitions , pictures , and drama , is tolerably full and interesting . But tho critic is exceedingly hard on Mr . IS . i \ Wraith for his operatic doing's , or rather misdoings , at in tono of i at ¦? inor
Drury Lane , and writes a rngvr - dinate putfbry and indiscreet journalism" in ffoneral . What is good in those remarks wo liopo will prove Influential . Much , however , is consequent on the notion of a shilling opera for tho people , * hich necessarily implies a limitation '©? oxcolloneo . Tait ' s contains its usual a lovrunoo o artIc e ^ and continues its tale of " At Homo . " Uio pupor on " Wu ^—^ ns , No . » . contains eight pieces and is copyright , being edited by Mr . B William Glover , and published by Messrs . ^ JjSt imhis auw « .-By an Englishman Abroad ( Xoiiinan . )—This is the third edition of a mvSSaoi < lo"fgnod to direct the publisher in his JofllTO " to seo all that ought to be soon , in the Bliortoflt porlod and at the loast expense , " Practical Rhine Grvxma . — By the same , ( bamo nubllshor . )—Third edition of a similar publisher , having tho like purpose and design , Both are ao-
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the Manseland MrMauricetheologies No . 486 . Jvi * 16 , 1859 . 1 THE LEADE R ; 847 «^—^—^¦ fci———iWWWWiM ^ WMM" ^^^^^^^^^^ ¦ i ^^^— * ¦ ^" ¦ ¦ . i _ . _ . ^ ir ' . Tli ^ T * J HJt * - . Tlif _;_ _ 5 _ j . T T ^
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Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1859, page 847, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2303/page/19/
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