not a very refined, is still a humorous sketch. The interest of "The Home Wreck" is made to hang upon an objectionable theme-a young lady losing her lover because she has suffered from the ravages of smallpox. John Hawker, who had not courage to tell his wife of the generous disposal of ten pounds, and the calamities that ensue, are more lively. Aunt Bridget is also a gem of a character.

After the Reform Bill had passed, and Staggerton was in the hands of the 10%. householders, we are told—

The very charity-boys appeared to be gradually losing their awe for the beadle. Small shopkeepers grew big with political importance, and aldermen grew thin with loss of power and dignity. They whose nod had made mere mortal men shake in their shoes, were now snubbed by all manner of empirics at public meetings. The country people had lost their influence, and did not even offer to insult the new constituency by putting forward the nominee who had sat in Staggerton since the time of Pitt.

The unknown son of a rich German merchant having been fixed upon by the incorruptible patriots of Staggerton, the progress of the election, which by an accidental mistake devolves for a time upon a London undertaker, is narrated in the most farcical manner. With reform, however, novel ideas and purposes of life were opened up to the Staggerton population. They began to doubt very much the wisdom of their ancestors. There were gas companies, mechanics' institutes, lectures and societies innumerable; but the final blow was the erection of a cotton-mill. The county oligarchy was aghast, and Aunt Bridget said it plainly foretold the end of the world. The manner in which love, however, effects an alliance between the wealthy manufacturer and the poor but. proud aristocrat of Crumble Hall, opens the field for a pretty little bit of romance. Next comes a railway; and the steadfastness with which Mr. Burroughs fought for Camomile Villa, has probably had many parallels in the history of these great undertakings. The income-tax is equally cleverly illustrated by Aunt Bridget, who, to win an attorney, condescends to pay tax for a great deal larger income than she really possesses. But it is impossible to give an idea of all the varieties of character which belong to a country town like Staggerton. The railway took many of its young geniuses to London; and the evils of a little knowledge are well portrayed in the mistakes and misfortunes which are to be met with on the onset of a career, looked upon at the distance, and with the enthusiasm of youth, as all success and glory. The "monster,"-for so, the author tells us, he has been designated ever since two charitably disposed old ladies, not knowing that he was editor of a morning newspaper, scandalised him for keeping late hours," the monster" who has perpetrated all these good things is, we believe, Mr. W. H. Wills, a contributor to Punch.

CRAYFORD.*

THIS is a novel of the domestic social school, written partly in the form of letters; and it exhibits the foibles, follies, and the redeeming qualities of the middle classes, with considerable unction and spirit. The author is at once phrenologist, poet, and metaphysician, most erudite if not apt at quotation, and full to overbrimming "of wise saws and modern instances." The folly and vanity of placing too much value on the opinion of others, and the evils of bad temper, are made to contrast well with the advantages of knowledge and the practice of charity, as more particularly exemplified in the Crayford family; while numerous life-like sketches of character assist in imparting interest to probably a first effort of a pen, which experience will soon teach to rely more upon itself, and not to overload a purely literary work with much reading. Crayford; or, the Force of Influence. 2 vols. T. C. Newby.

Sept.-VOL. LXXXVII. NO. CCCXLV.

K

MOOLTAN.*

THE siege of Mooltan will occupy, with the striking events which preceded and accompanied it-the barbarous murder of the commissioners, Agnew and Anderson-the gallantry and, still more, the consummate ability of Edwardes-the incompetency of the first reinforcements, and the resolute resistance of the Dewan Moolraj-with the ultimate capture of this great city of 80,000 inhabitants, and the destructive explosion of its powder magazine-a remarkable page in history. The whole is tinctured with that air of romance which is peculiarly eastern:-Agnew and Anderson, wounded and deserted, sitting beneath the lofty dome of that isolated edifice so well depicted in the present work, only to be hacked to death by the swords of their frenetic assailants.† Edwardes, at the head of a Mohammedan regiment, in which there was not a single white man but himself, arming the Suleiman mountaineers, collecting revenue, subsidising his troops from the enemy's resources, and, assisted by Courtlandt's reinforcements, beating the Dewan in pitched battle. Then the little steamers-forerunners of civilisation-the Comet, Meanee, and the Conqueror, coming up the Chenaub, the Planet and Nimrod up the Sutlej, bearing men, guns, and ammunition. What a contrast to the times of Alexander, of Mahmud Ghizni, and of Tamerlane! Columns of infantry and cavalry were advancing at the same time by land. Then comes the storming of intrenchments, a bloody action, which was followed by Shere Sing going over to the enemy, and the forced raising of the siege. At length further reinforcements arrive from Bombay, and the siege is recommenced. The Bengal regiments push the enemy from their securest positions in the suburbs; the Bombay division storm the great mound of Mundi Awa. The mortar batteries are next opened; the Bombay portion of the besieging force using gun-cotton instead of powder. The next day, the heavy guns open on the Delhi Gate, where a breach is first made, and the batteries are partially manned by blue-jackets. It was the forenoon of the 30th, when the battery was suddenly stopped by a catastrophe which was of so terrific a character as to silence the entire siege-as if every man in the force had paused to take breath after a tremendous surprise. This was the explosion of the chief powder magazine in the fort. Two graphic sketches exhibit Mooltan to us-at the moment of the explosion, and as it was a quarter of an hour afterwards, when a dark cloud hung over the devoted city like a canopy. The fortress was next stormed at two points; the Bombay Fusileers carrying the breach at Kuni Burj, or "tower," the 32nd Regiment being thwarted at the Delhi Gate by the city wall, about thirty feet in height, which had been overlooked! At the storming of the fortress we once more see the blue-jackets, prominent at the batteries. The villain Moolraj in custody of a part of H.M.'s 32nd Regiment, and the funeral of Agnew and Anderson, form an appropriate conclusion to this very interesting and peculiarly tale-telling series of sketches.

THE MARINE BOTANIST.

THIS is one of those useful and delightful little books, of which, as of Dr Harvey's "Sea-Side" book, too much cannot be said in praise. It is only the other day that we saw on a drawing-room table a number of zoophytes, including Flustra, Sertulariæ, Serpulæ, Corallines, &c., tastefully disposed in a basket on paper, and backed by the brilliant Plocamium coccineum, Polysiphonia formosa, and other seaweeds, grouped together as a mass of sea-plants. It is true that the vegetable nature of the stony structure of our British Corallines is a matter of discussion; but with such little books as these in hand, when the annual visit to the sea-side comes round, more accurate views will be entertained of the nature of the common productions of our sandy shores. Miss Gifford's work forms at once an excellent and a prettily-illustrated introduction to the study of algology; and it will serve as a competent guide to the collection and preservation of species.

*Mooltan. A Series of Sketches during and after the Siege. By John Dunlop, M.D., Assistant-Surgeon of H.M.'s 32nd Regiment. W. S. Orr and Co.

†There is an inconsistency in the text attached to these sketches, where we are informed, at one place, that Agnew's severed head was carried before the Dewan, who threw it into Sirdar Khan Sing's lap, after which it was exposed to the grossest indignities; and in another we are told that, on disinterring the bodies, the skeletons were said to have been perfect--the head of each being found with the body.

The Marine Botanist: an Introduction to the Study of Algology; containing Descriptions of the commonest British Seaweeds, and the best Method of Preserving them; with Figures of the most remarkable Species. By Isabella Gifford. Darton and Co.

PORTLAND ISLAND AND BREAKWATER.*

EXPERIENCED Seafaring men are, as we have seen, particularly in modern times, as liable to timid counsels and exaggerations as Gaul-haunted landsmen. It was observed by the great Lord Rodney, of glorious memory, in a letter to Governor Thicknesse, dated Bath, 1787, "If Cherbourg harbour is completed, then the British Channel is no more; it will be the French Channel." Yet Cherbourg has been completed, notwithstanding Earl Howe's expedition; and it is not only the central advance-post with regard to England, but it possesses the means alike of protection, of attack, and of defence. All these advantages will, however, we are happy to say, be, to a certain extent, counterbalanced by the breakwater and defences now commenced at Portland. If the parliamentary report recommending an extreme length of a mile and a quarter is to be adopted, instead of Captain Clinch's proposal of three miles, or Mr. Harvey's of about two and a quarter, there will be incompleteness at the outset, but still a step will have been taken in the right direction; and so great and so manifest are the advantages of a harbour at Portland, both to the trade and power and security of Great Britain, that we have no fear of the ultimate results. The late Mr. John Harvey, the original proposer of a breakwater, stated that a length of two miles and a quarter was necessary to completely shelter Weymouth pier, harbour, and bathing-place, when it blows hard from the south-east. The breakwater and works at Cherbourg were thirty years in the execution; while the same authority tells us, that a work of greater magnitude as a capacious roadstead might be undertaken and accomplished at Portland within a period of five years. This is owing to the peculiar fact, that in order to work the quarries of Portland stone, it is required to remove, on an average, fourteen feet thick of the upper or cap-stone, to arrive at the bed of fine saleable stone. This cap-stone, now an incumbrance, is the best possible material for a breakwater; and in Mr. Harvey's time there were already twenty millions of tons, or more than is required for the proposed breakwater, ready at hand and free of expense. We are happy to find, from one of the little publications before us, that the inhabitants of Weymouth and Portland have entered into a subscription to present the son of Mr. J. Harvey with a suitable testimonial. The breakwater, of which his Royal Highness Prince Albert has lately laid the foundation, will secure to the navy of England the full and uncontrolled sweep of the British Channel; presenting a middle station and refuge between Portsmouth and Plymouth, in a harbour of four square miles, surrounded by superior facilities for dockyards, ship-building, military arsenals, and depots. Portland Isle, always, by its peninsular form, the wildness of its scenery and unadorned rusticity, its quarries, hamlets, people, and customs, a place well worthy of visit, will now become one of the most important and rising stations on the

coast.

NATIONAL EVILS AND PRACTICAL REMEDIES.†

MR. BUCKINGHAM labours in the present work to establish the benefits of association, in contradistinction to Communism, the evils of which he clearly and eloquently denounces. The first of the great evils which afflict society-the very root, indeed, from which all the others may be said to spring-is ignorance. According to Mr. Buckingham, the second great evil that afflicts the earth, and demands the care of all who love their country to arrest it, is intemperance. The third great evil, from which all countries suffer in a greater or less degree, is national prejudice. The fourth great evil which hinders the progress of nations, is restriction on the free interchange of commodities in commercial monopolies, instead of free-trade. The fifth, is war. The sixth, competition; or, rivalry and opposition instead of union and co-operation. The seventh, the helpless and hopeless condition of the unfortunate.

That these are all great national evils, we are quite ready to admit; but that Mr. Buckingham has discovered really practical remedies for them, cannot be so readily acceded. For example, Mr. Buckingham would, to remedy the third evil, not only abolish custom-houses, passports, and quarantine establishments, but he would also advocate the adoption of a universal language. Very desirable, no doubt; but can such a suggestion be called a practical remedy? So also freetrade, adopted by one country and not by another, is as pernicious and foolish as the disarmament of one nation would be whilst its rival preserved its olden attitude. With regard to Mr. Buckingham's plan for a model town, and an associated comThe Hand-Book to the Island of Portland. Weymouth.

Remarks on the Subject of an Asylum Harbour for Portland Roads, &c. Weymouth.

National Evils and Practical Remedies, with the Plan of a Model Town, &c. By James S. Buckingham. 1 vol. Peter Jackson.

munity, it is, like everything he proposes, ingenious and plausible, and based upon high principles of philanthropy. There nothing but Peace, Temperance, and Cleanliness are to dwell. The Vices are to be expelled, to the sole dominion of the Virtues. Labour is to be limited, education to be gratuitous, law and medicine likewise. Churches, yet freedom of conscience-walks, fountains, museums, and concert-rooms, are to diversify the aspect; Beauty is to go hand-in-hand with Convenience, and Pleasure with Health. It is a noble prospectus on paper; but who will venture to say, knowing the fallen condition of man, how it would work practically?

Several of the most important moral and political problems are also discussed at length in this extensive scheme, which, however visionary, is still, in its principles, a credit to its Author's head and heart.

PANORAMA OF THE NILE.

THE introduction of moving panoramas of scenery into this country by the Americans, has been most beneficial to the progress of knowledge. We know of nothing by which so much new and varied information can be obtained in so little time, and in so pleasurable a manner, as by one of these geographical paintings. The advantages of such pictures, it is to be hoped, will insure them popularity, increase in number, and improvement in style. The Rhine, the Danube, and a hundred noble rivers, await to be conveyed to the canvass. In the mean time, Egypt being nothing more than a narrow strip, watered by the Nile's overflow, almost all its great cities and temples visible from the river, and the oldest and largest buildings in the world being made to revolve before the spectator, it presented itself as peculiarly fitted for this kind of representation. Mr. Bonomi, an old and well-known traveller and artist, had the sketches necessary for the undertaking at hand; and, assisted by such distinguished artists as Messrs. Warren and Fahey, a panorama has been produced, the fidelity and accuracy of which can be relied upon; the wondrous architectural remains, the existing towns, the boats, inhabitants, animals, and plants, the river and land scenery, are all as true to nature and art as representations of the kind can well be. There is this great advantage in the panorama of the Nile, that it can be depended upon as a representation of that which is. Even the little guide-book has been written by a firstrate hand-by the author of the best history of Egypt.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

A VERY large class of readers will be sorely grieved to find that that most amusing work of its class, Pepys' Diary, has come to an end with the fifth volume just published. It is as racy, if not more so, at the conclusion as at the commencement.-The twenty-first volume of Mr. G. P. R. James's works contains Castelneau, a story the interest of which is made to depend upon the education of a young woman by a man not tied to her by blood, and the results that ensue to both.-Cherville's First Step to French, and Le Page's French Master for the Nursery, are books exceedingly well adapted for what they propose-to facilitate a first acquaintance with the French language.-We have received and read with interest Dr. Loewe's two pamphlets, one On the Supposed Jewish Medal found at York, the other On an Unique Cufic Gold Coin.-The Statement of Facts, &c., in relation to the proceedings instituted by her Majesty and the Prince Consort in reference to the royal etchings, relate to a subject objectionable, as one for discussion in these pages, on every ground.-Mr. Gilks has successfully shown what can be done, even on a large scale, in wood-engraving, in his illustrations of Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Life. Some of the original designs of this remarkably cheap publication are,,however, very far from faultless.-Mr. Wright's History of Ireland has reached a fourteenth number.-M. Fancourt has favoured us with A New Double System of Short Hand Writing. Messrs. D'Almaine and Co. with Numbers I. and II. of a cheap yet valuable addition to the musical library, Sir Henry Bishop's Edition of Handel's Works. The first number, price sixpence, contains Acis and Galatea; the second, Israel in Egypt. Also two pretty melodies," Of what are you thinking, Jenny ?" and "I'm thinking of thee, Jamie !" and Jeanie and Donald, a ballad composed by G. A. Hodson,

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

POSTHUMOUS MEMOIR OF MYSELF.

BY HORACE SMITH, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF BRAMBLETYE HOUSE," &c. &c.

CHAPTER V.

FORLORN as was my state, and frightful as was the prospect before me, the dawning light and the twittering of the birds that announced a new day fell cheerily upon my ear. At this early hour my daughter reappeared in the chamber, and recoiling with a slight shudder as she kissed me, exclaimed, in a voice broken by emotion,-"Cold, quite cold! I fear there is no hope. My poor, dear father!" She did not despair, however, for she again knelt down and prayed fervently for my recovery, after which she retired weeping from the room. Inexpressibly grateful to me was this proof of filial affection, although it was not unmingled with self-reproach, for I felt that my recent conduct to the poor girl had hardly entitled me to such a tender devotedness.

Various matin sounds now reached me from without; the ploughman's whistle, the whetting of the mower's scythe, the lowing and bleating of cattle, the crowing of cocks challenging each other; and as I listened complacently to this rural chorus, I distinctly and vividly saw-by a species of clairvoyance for which I am utterly unable to account-the whole morning landscape commanded by my drawing-room windows. The leaves of the white ash trees, flashing and fading in the ray, looked like so many twinkling eyes; the pines and poplars waving in the breeze, seemed to be stretching themselves out to shake off sleep; the river, dimpled by the air, threw sunny smiles at every flower it passed; the gilded summits of the distant hills sparkled in the blue sky, while their bases were still wreathed in vapour, which gradually floated upwards, and all became bright and joyous as if it were the wedding-day of heaven and earth. How long I remained gazing in delight upon this beautiful revelation I know not, but probably some hours must have thus glided away, for the day had made good progress when my attention was arrested by the opening of the parlour-door, and I heard the well-known footsteps of my son George.

On reaching the bedside, he gazed at me for a few seconds in silence, after which he exclaimed, in an accent of unfeeling surprise-" Hang me if I see much alteration in the governor's appearance; a little paler, perhaps, nothing more." Laying his hand upon my cheek, and subseOct.-VOL. LXXXVII. NO. CCCXLVI.

L