Page images
PDF
EPUB

successfully for its greater usefulness as a place of worship; rejoicing in its becoming the shrine of renowned warriors, artists, and statesmen, the close of his services has fitly been the detail of the antiquities of this great English Cathedral, with passing allusions to the leading events in English history, and brief sketches of the prominent personages in church and state. Through the mist of the Roman occupation of England, through the Papal despotism, through the struggles of the Reformation, through bloody persecution, through the great London fire, and the rebuilding by Sir Christopher Wren,- the grace-ful pen of the Christian historian glides on, sketching a single city church with the interest belonging to the progress of Christianity itself, making St. Paul's Cathedral a sufficient index of the church spirit of England during all these Christian centuries.

In this most acceptable monument to himself, as well as to his sanctuary, the Dean shows the great architect embarrassed, foiled, and disgraced, as modern church-builders so frequently are, by the interference of tasteless committee-men. Though the exterior was Sir Christopher's, except that he was not allowed the wide space he desired to display its fine proportions, the completion of the interior was taken from him, and given to an incompetent person by the name of Benson.

"Benson sole judge of architecture sit,

And namby-pamby be preferred to wit."

Another curious fact, besides this presumptuous interference with the plans of the greatest of English church-architects, is, that the history of St. Paul's resembles that of other old churches in the abuses of its hallowed precincts. At its west door, the lotteries were drawn during Queen Elizabeth's reign, as has since been the case in some churches at Rome. The church walls were lined with advertisements, not always the most decent; the nave and aisles were abandoned to thieves, ruffians, and the profligate of both sexes; the Common Council of London declares that "many of the inhabitants of London made a thoroughfare for fish, flesh, fruit, and other gross wares through the Cathedral" itself; and Queen Elizabeth had to forbid fighting within its walls by a special penalty. Well might the good Dean exult that of late the finer portion of the Cathedral had been adapted to evening service, and that crowds assembled regularly for united worship amid all that could impress the heart and inspire the soul.

F. W. H.

MANUALS of politeness and etiquette are a class of works which find ready sale, and which increase in number with the increase of wealth and luxury. The man who has made his fortune by traffic in hides or in pork, or by speculations in stocks, and has built his house in some fashionable city street, hastens to learn the ways of good society, and to fit himself for his proper place among the aristocracy. It is important for his sons and daughters to know the rules of courtesy and good breeding, that the advantage of their ample wealth may not be lost or wasted. Most of these treatises are catch-penny works, compiled by men who have small knowledge of fashionable life, much less of "good society," and who have got their information at second hand. Feeble wit, worn-out jokes, and thin moralizing, make the substance of their teaching. But the English Handbook which has now been twice republished, is a work of altogether more value, as wise and solid as it is quaint and entertaining. It is not made up of scraps, but is the original thought and advice of those who know of what they speak, and are competent to advise. There are two authors of the book. A bachelor writes the rules and suggestions for gentlemen; and a mature matron tells her sex what they should put on and how they must behave. The book is written for Englishmen and Englishwomen; but, with allowance made for slight differences of custom, it is just as good for the Anglo-Saxon race on this side of the sea, or for any race in civilized society. Very few of its suggestions are out of place, and none are fantastic. The long title exactly describes it, and it shows the way of making one's self agreeable in the ordinary duties and relations of social life.

*

The greatest annoyances in life are in perplexities about common things. The sins that easily beset us are failures in propriety, violations of good taste and good breeding; and far more misery comes from these than from remorse for heinous wrongs. How to carve, how to salute, how to shake hands, how to talk in company, whom to invite to parties, how to dress the body, how to arrange the hair, how to wear ornaments, how to get along with servants, how to

* The Habits of Good Society. A Handbook for Ladies and Gentlemen: with thoughts, hints, and anecdotes concerning social observances, nice points of taste, and good manners; and the art of making one's self agreeable. The whole interspersed with humorous illustrations of social predicaments; remarks on the history and changes of fashion; and the differences of English and Continental etiquette. (From the last London edition.) New York: Carleton, 1868. 12mo, pp. 430.

walk, how to sit, how to cough, and how to laugh, - all these seeming trifles are the source of endless anxiety of mind. One who can enlighten us in these things is a real benefactor. And there are very few persons of either sex who cannot be helped by hints concerning these social needs and duties. None of us are sure that our de

meanor and carriage are quite right, and that we have not habits which those around find unpleasant. No teaching of manuals, certainly, will make a perfect gentleman. There is a natural grace and refinement which lessons in etiquette can never give. But many bad habits may be put away by the advice of experts. No handbook can teach a nervous man to speak slowly, or make a very fat man light on horseback or in the dance. Yet the hints of this volume may guide any class in the modulations of the voice, and may save even the unwieldy from excessive awkwardness. .

In some things, the chief author of this manual departs from the traditions of English proprieties. He favors the beard, and thinks shaving absurd; he denounces the stiff round hat; he allows smoking in moderation, though not in the presence of ladies; he thinks that wine should be sparingly used, not more than two kinds at a dinner; he has no love for haughty exclusiveness, and thinks that gentlemen sitting next each other in railway cars or at table should speak with each other, and not wait to be introduced; and the practice of "cutting" he abominates, except in extreme cases. He is not a worshipper of rank; he treats all gambling and betting as vulgar; and he does not make field-sports essential to the education of a gentleman. A gentleman ought, nevertheless, to know how to box, to defend himself, and to apply the persuasive argument of a timely and effectual blow, if the emergency calls for it.

C. H. B.

MR. TIMBS has compiled from the standard works of Natural History, and from the best known books of travel, some pleasant sketches of the habits of beasts and birds and fishes.* But his book is by no means made up of stories of animal oddities and eccentricities. Its title is a misnomer. Because animals belong to a class not very large in the number of its species, it does not follow that they are eccentric." The rhinoceros is not eccentric, nor the hippopotamus, nor the ant-bear, much less the lion, of which Mr. Timbs has a good deal to

66

* Eccentricities of the Animal Creation. By JOHN TIMBS, author of "Things not Generally Known." Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1869. 16mo, pp. 352.

say. Nor are humbugs fairly to be reckoned with animal oddities. Mr. Timbs has a chapter on the mermaid, in which he investigates the history of this strange creature, neglecting, however, to notice the famous Feejie mermaid of the American showman. The conclusion that the whole story is a delusion should have ruled it out of the book. More suitable is the discussion on the Unicorn, which has a possible existence, though in the opinion of Mr. Weller, senior, it is a fabulous animal. Mr. Timbs is not always accurate in his statements, and has made some strange blunders; as on page 13, where, speaking of Montezuma's menagerie, he says, "To this South-American zoological garden of the sixteenth century no other of its time could be compared." One who writes about animals in all parts of the world surely ought to know that Mexico is in North America. Then, on page 145, he says that "the fleetest courser can scarcely ever run more than a mile in a minute, nor support that speed beyond five or six such exertions." It is doubtful whether he means that a race-horse can run not more than five or six miles in five or six minutes, or whether he can do his mile in a minute more than five or six different times. In either case, the statement is extravagant, and beyond any recorded facts, so far as we remember. It is rare sped for a horse to run two miles in three minutes. The story of the blackbird's poisoning the young which they were unable to release from their cage (page 218) is a hasty conclusion. Mr. Timbs is not good authority in archæology, and understands the habits of living birds better than he understands fossils or ancient sculptures. We shall not take his opinion as decisive, that man did not "coexist with Mastodons." In the chapter on Talking Birds, he barely mentions the "parrot," while he dwells on the notes of singing-birds, which do not "talk" in any sense. So in the chapter on queer fish, the famous Devil Fish of Victor Hugo's romance is quite left out of the account.

The Index at the close of the volume would be more convenient, if it were more skilfully arranged. While a whole chapter is given to "Penguins," that title is not found in the Index. The subject comes under the head of "Eccentricities." There is a picture of a "Seal" in the book, but no hint of a seal in the Index.

Yet, in spite of its mistakes and its fragmentary character, Mr. Timbs's book is entertaining. The engravings, of which there are eight, are excellent; and the volume is printed in that beautiful style which has given to Roberts Brothers their honorable place among the publishers.

C. H. B.

" is no

A SUCCESSFUL missionary's "Ten Years on the Euphrates more than Dr. Anderson or any missionary official might have done as Iwell at the bureau in Boston. The most striking fact about Mr. Wheeler's success in Eastern Turkey is the sale in one year at Harpoot of over two thousand gold dollars' worth of Bibles, showing a native demand for the word of life more remarkable than the steady increase of missionary stations, and their growing independence of foreign aid. There is almost no information given of the country or its inhabitants, no description of scenery, no narrative of events; but a great deal of shrewd advice is given to missionaries against trusting to appearances, since the gift of medicines, still more of books, gathers a crowd who are really injured by being thus treated as paupers ; while, with regard to the gift, the principle holds that what people pay for, they really value. Concerts of prayer for mens with missions, he says her then falling into neglect. Where missionaries break the costly home intercourse, they are said to sink to the level of the surrounding heathen. Common sense, knowledge of human nature, and freedom from fastidious tastes, are necessary to the successful missionary, not to say the gift of manufacturing dull books on interesting lands, which leave the reader no wiser when he has finished than before he began.

F. W. H.

are

MISSIONARY SHERRING devotes a large volume† to a minute description of the holy city of Benares, because being the living oracle of the nation, presiding over the religious destiny of one hundred and eighty millions, its future requires study. Here Hinduism is at home, in the bosom of its friends and admirers, courted by princes and millionnaires, sustained by innumerable resources, embellished by thousands of temples and hundreds of thousands of idols, swarming with pilgrims, and crowned with the offerings of a superstitious devotion. Unhappily, he confines himself too much to the surface of things, giving us the dimensions of one temple after another in tedious iteration; the abundance of images, the superabundant filth, the manifest decay, the halfhidden traces of more ancient structures, marking them with a general uniformity. These shrines of one of the oldest religions are neither so vast, so beautiful, nor so worthy of imitation, as to require or repay this minute delineation. But very few and imperfectly illustrated are

* Ten Years on the Euphrates. By Rev. C. H. WHEELER. Published by the American Tract Society, 1868.

†The Sacred City of the Hindus. By Rev. M. A. SHERRING. With an Introduction, by Fitzedward Hall. London: Trübner & Co., 1868.

« PreviousContinue »