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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd September 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1016, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      1016 THE LEADER . LN . o . 493 . - Sept . 3 , 185 9

      Untitled Article

      the subject , may find it almost exhausted in the pages of the work before us . Indeed , all . . that Eertains to tobacco , smoking , and snuff-taking , is ere recorded ; and these vices , if vices they be , are found to belong to men of large ¦ intellect . as well as small . To the former , our author suggests , it may operate as a counter-irritant to the overworked brain . " Pope and Swift were snuff-takers ; the latter made his by mixing pounded tobacco with

      readymanufactured Spanish snuff . IJolingbroke , Congrev . e , and AMdison indulged in it . Gibbon was a confirmed snuff-taker , and in one of his letters he has left this account of his mode of using it : ' I drew my snuffbox , rapp'd it , took snuff twice , and continued my discourse , in my usual attitude of my body bent forwards , and my fore-finger stretched out . ' In the silhouette prefixed to his miscellaneous works he is represented indulging his habit , and looking , as Colman expresses it , —

      • Like an erect , black tadpole , taking snuff . ' " Frederick the Great loved it so entirely that he had capacious pockets made to his waistcoat , that he might have as little trouble as possible in getting for immediate use the largest quantity he could desire . It is said that , unlike the fraternity of snufftakers , he disliked others to take a pinch ' . from his box , and , once detecting a page doing so from one lying in an adjoining room , exclaimed , < Put that box in your pocket ; it is too small for both of us . ' * George II . had the same selfish , dislike , but expressed it more rudely , when he threw away his box in great anger at a masquerade , because a gentleman took a pinch . Napoleon carried snuff in a similar way ; and many of the sovereign pontiffs of the Romish Church have been confirmed snufftakers . "

      We may add that Pio Nono is a great snufTtaker , and indulges the habit even at the altar . Altogether this book is very amusing , and replete with anecdotes . .

      Untitled Article

      SKETCHES FROM DOVER CASTLE , JULIAN AND FRANCESCA , ROUGE ET NOIR , AND OTHER POEMS . By Lieut .-Colonel William Read . —Smith , - . Elder , and Co . The author is already known by an ottavarima poem on " Rouge et Noir , " which showed much skill , knowledge of the world , and humour . The leading composition of the present volume , however , differs much in character from that . It describes in heroic couplets the preludes and the progress of a storm , as seen " from Dover ' s towery steep . " Much power of serious writing is shown in these sections of the poem , and some invention in the narratives that follow .

      We have next a poem in six cantos , entitled " Julian and Francesco , " in which again the heroic measure is triumphant . ' Here the poet revels in passion and action , and indicates more than ordinary dramatic power . It is a sort of liomco and Juliet tale , glowing with amorous warmth and pathos . There is even some display of imagination , particularly in the two dreams of the two lovers , which are skilfully contrasted . The heroine , misled by a false tale of her absent lover , welds his rival . Scarcely is the fatal deed done than the former returns , and she receives his letter : — Swift from Ivor oyo Fnvncosca dauhud mvny The bl / riflljif { ' fluw thn ' t trembled In Its vi \ y ~ And snatched the scroll" JieloveU one !" Could uho err ? No : 'twns his own familiar clumieter ! Tlmt soul—with ninny a thrilling * niomory fraught : That iiumo-so dour to foullnu' und to thought !

      " S <\ Os / i ' oin tha rfcrj / , a wear // e . rlfc paused , Tliufaith / id Jttlhut In . retunmtl at Innl . " Clear us tho swallow ' s soronm of wild do light In Homo exulting circle pi' Uh llltflil , Her cry of lVantiu rnpfnro , —dark Its wane , Ah recollection Iliiethed upon the brain ! What I ^ 'iuIiih' on those lnioa with puaHlon rife 1 Awuy with tlioiu ! Ch she not I ' aiilo « wife I Bho road , mul shuddered 1 tho rvllnn . ulrtlied ho roll Jioforu It readied tho floor had pierced bur hoiiI : iLlkoonu lVom whoso faint ktun |> tho goblet slljiri Jnst as tho saving frcshnosti touched his llpn . Tho lovor , receiving no reply , hastes to . the castle of her father . Tho succooding description is good : — Ho paused upon tho greensward enphuiado Where tho m-lin fortruun flung 1 'fB » iuhh of uhudo : No watchful Hontluol pntrollod tho wall I Ho hiiw no flay ; ho heiird no warder cull ;

      The drawbridg-e down , the idle port lay wide ; And echo only , when he spoke , replied . Breathless he entered : as lie passed the moat , A faint und fur-off anthem seemed to float , Like a bewailing' spirit , in the air . And then a voice was heard as . if in pray ' r , Rising- distinctly as the requiem died : A sable curtain . then was drawn aside , Whose deep and ample folds concealed from sight The massive portal , whence into the lijjht One , bearing the redeeming" siyn on high . Came slowly forth with pad and earthward eye : Vestured in white , und following- in pair * , Each with a censor , moved the qniristere : The monk succeeded , with uncovered head , Reading- the solemn service for the dead -. And then , extended on an open bier , Strewed with the last pale blossoms of the year , l ' ale . pale , alas : and ' perishing as they , ¦ Yet lovely as in- life , Vrnncesca lav—Tho' death on her bright form his hand had laid . The charm was . undissolved that round it play'd—And , ah ! her calm faint smile , so free from care . Was such as breathing lip must never wear . Dark l ' aulo and her wo-worn sire came lust : - lUit none regarded Julian us . they pass'd . Who , stunned with agony , would fondly doom , 'Twns but the phantom horror of ii dream . Too terrible for truth ! Thus , —over thus , — The heart , altho' to hope so credulous , When ruin comes , reluctant to believe . As oft deceived , would still itself deceive ; Tho' to its doom predestined to awake , And , whatsoe ' er it prove , to bear or break : . No ! 'twas no melting- vision that had pass'd—No shade that struck the startled eye aghast . . And , hark ! once more the distant dirge recalls His senses , wafted from beyond the walls In fitful lapses by the mountain gust—And still the solemn close was , " dust to dust . "

      It is not often that the heroic couplet is in these days so gracefully -syritten . Mr . Read is to be commended for the courage with which he has endeavoured to shoot in this Ulyssean bow ;—he may also be congratulated on his success . His little volume ought not to be neglected . The miscellaneous portion of it contains some very fine lyrics .

      Untitled Article

      THEORY OF COMPOUND INTEREST AND ANNUITIES -, WITH LOGARITHMIC TABLES . By Fedor Thoman , of the Societe Credit Mobilier of Paris . — Lockwood and Co . - A work dedicated to Prince rte Joinville , and doubtless one of authority . It is also of great utility ; for the practice of logarithms renders numerical calculations comparatively facile , and in none are they more applicable than in those that pertain to compound interest and annuities . It is on these grounds that M . Thoman commends his elaborate and , we believe , thoroughly accurate work .

      " To such authors , " remarks the editor of this publication , " as Pe Moivre , Smart , Simpson , Price , Milne , Morgan , Baily , and particularly to the latter , we owe most of the improvements in the branch of mathematics bearing upon compound interest and annuities 5 but although every one of them has specified the use of logarithms an the best ond readiest mode of solution , none has embraced tho whole series of logarithmic investigations in connexion with the subject . " The great experience acquired in these matters by the author of the present work , who for some years has been concerned in advising . one of the largest foreign financial companies , and his long acquired skill in laborious cornputati jus , have induced him to layout tho information collected by

      former writers of importance with regard to logarithms , to compute the present logarithmic tables , and thereby to accomplish an object which might be to this country useful and important in tho highest degree . Tho prodigious financial business now carried on either by individuals , companies , or governments , all over tho world , lias rendered the information which 31 . Thoman conveys in his thdory particularly necessary at tho present time . At firat his introduction was intended to bo merely a key to tho following tables , but . tho largo number and variety of cases involved in computation , and liko Aviso tho financial hnportunco of certain problems which had not yet boon financially contemplated , have carried tho author into a very wldo field of inquiry , and engageJ him in writing this new and complete mathematical theory ,

      " Tho concise method followed in developing this theory has helped a good deal to convert tho doctrine of annuities into a fumilinr , regular , and uniform systom . Bosido :, as tho p , rpsent work is meant for practical purposes , M . Thoman has carefully represented tho theorems and rules by tho most intelligible und olognnt formuhu which are particularly accommodated to logarithmic calculations , attd odor tho greatest facilities for solving complicated und abstruse problems . " This extract will servo to show tho uses » tfluit tliis book is likel y to subwrvQ , and tho pains that have boon taken in its production . Not only have theoretical improvements boon introduced , but the

      means have been supplied by appropriate tables of carrying them out practically , supported by algebraical formula ? , and the quantities that enter into them . The highest degree of correctness has been secured by testing the tables through two or more different processes . The work , moreover , has claims on account of its typographical neatness , the merit of which is due to the superintendent of the Cambridge University Press .

      Untitled Article

      SERIALS . Black wood ; — We have the conclusion of " Felicita , " and continuations of " The Luck of Ladysmede , " and " Fleets and Navies—England . ' ? " A Cruise on the Tanganj'ika Lake , Central Africa , " by J . H . Speke , forms the subject of an interesting journal . " Horse Dealing in . Syria , 1854 , " is a curious , as well as the leading , article . Mr Bain ' s book on " The Emotions and the Will , " gives rise to . a metaphysical argument on voluntary and involuntary . actions . Magais , as usual , behindhand in foreign politics . Events move too fast nowa-days even for 'monthly periodicals .

      Phaser opens with an article , explaining and illustrating the " Prince of Machiavelli "—a fiimous book in its time , and whose influence has not vet perished . With that of Austria , however , it will probably expire . The critic explains his authority by reference to modern political events . The French in Italy , and the English in India , supply him with instances . The " Gold Question " , forms also an able paper . " Holmby House , " the " National Drama of Spain , " and " Sword and Gown , " are continued ; Dr . Mayo , too , contributes some remarks on Mr . Buckle ' s " History of Civilisation . "' Ah . appreciative criticism on Tennyson ' s " Idylls " places the laureate on the same level with Dante and Goethe . There is also a just castigation of Messrs . Cole and Kean * in regard-to the very foolish biography of tlie latter , lately published , by the former . The paper is altogether a capital one , and is written in the interest of truth and the drama . '

      Univeusal Review contains nine readable articles , one of which is on the Shakspeare Controversy , in which Mr . Collier is very properly defended from the virulence of the boy-criticisms to which he has been lately exposed . The number is also otherwise good and entertaining . Art Jolknal . No . LVIT . —Ruskin and Hapliael still continue tt > be pleasantly nntayonised . There are several illustrated articles—namely , " British Artists , " " Tombs of English Artists , " *• The Western Isles of Scotland , " and "Excursions in South Wales . " Mr . Cope ' s " Wolsey at Leicester . Abbuy , " Rubens' " Summer time , " and Mr . Stephens' " Maternal Love , " are the three great engravings of the number , and they are indeed finely finished . Titan . —Westminster Abbey forms the subject of the leading paper . " Getting On" gets on for four more chapters . " Walks about Windsor " furnish au entertaining article . Tho number is uf average

      merit . Constitutional Press also contains a yooil critique on Tennyson ' s " Idylls . " This number ( VI . 5 concludes the volume , and includes an index . Englishwoman ' s JouunaL has a H'ooil article on Infant Seamstresses , and its usual variety of topics . JLitii'jiK . tTivi-: S < 'iEM . 'i £ continues its papers on llumboldt , and has much pleasant " Talk about Trees , " and no loss pleasant chat on other subjects , animuto ami inanimate . Tub Viuginianh ( No . 2 . 3 ) 'continues to bo interesting . There is much in this section connected with the political settlement of a / fairs , and sonicstringent writing on points of historical moment . Perhaps the number , on the whole , is too didactic .

      Plain oh 11 jn < ilkts . — -Part 111 . abates nothing of its sporting humour ; and , wo think , improves in interest and in the development of fharautcr . ( Jnois a Wkbh ; , —Part llv—This periodical ism ) doubt destined to attain a high reputation , lVl 11 ' lll ° extrorilinary merit of this part proved that it will deserve the highest . Tho illustrations uvo capital . National Maoazinu . —Part XXXV . — This publication contiuues to bo first-rate in all its departments . ?• MJIcs Cassidy " progresses " cxcollent-wtll . " An article on English and American poetry , entltleu " Towshend's Throq , Gates , and . the . Singers of ¦ ootli Worlds , " js a masterly ploco of puatio criticism . A more elegant drawing-room table serial dot's not exist

      . Lw Follkt , No . CLVI ., . presents its aocuatonied complement of throe coloured , and one plain , engravings . Short waists are evidently in tho ascendant . Tho literature Is light of tho lightest jabstraot lovfty , emptied and pure of gravity , » k ° fashion itself . „ . . Popular IIihtouv op England . By Churioa Knight . No . XUII .- ~ This oxcwllont work is bynutifully ombelllshod and most carefully wri tten , xm .

      Untitled Article

      • During tho coronation of Ills mother , tho ( lrst Quocni of PriiBslu , sno nnxloiibly uwaitod a clmnco to got a | ilnch aurlng tho loner ceremony . She ut laut took an opportunity , when tho KJng ' H iittontlon soumod onpag-od 1 but ho « nw tno not , nnu nont 0110 of hor pointIohioh to < jpk Iwr , " wliotlit'r fn « rpinornborod th « pluco hT » o wnajln , and tlto rank eho « STrt * 1 I «« 'o . 1 > It wiib ut tlmt time ooiiHlddrott « n net 9 I' levity ^ f »«? J ? J ; cmpl 110 tl \ BUuff before roupoctablo pcTuonp , or uurlng convenmtlon .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1859, page 1016, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2310/page/20/