REVIEW.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5324, 20 April 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVIEW.

The Life op H.R.H. the Prince Consort. Bv Theodore Martin. Vol. 3, London: Smith, Elder, & Co. The interest excited by the two preceding volumes caused the present to be looked for with an expectancy which has not been disappointed by the third just published, unless it may be considered such; that it does not, according to public anticipation, bring the life of the Prince Consort to a close. Indeed, as we read the stirring occurrences with the details of which it is filled, and are made to see the active part the Prince is to play in them, we feel as if we are following a strong robust life with no indications of premature decline. The present volume covers the Crimean war, embracing only the three years from 1854 to 1856. But what an extraordinary time it was. Although tlie battles of the Crimea are fought over again, yet the accounts are so varied by the insight afforded for the first time into the movements of i Ministers and politicians, of negotiations and correspondence with foreign Governments and statesmen, and the play of parties, that the scene is constantly shifting, and the interests are most varied. At one moment,we are at Windsor Castle in company with the royal family, presenting a domestic circle of simple quiet happiness; then we are called on to behold the Guards setting out for the Crimea, with all London in a state of proud excitement; then we are on the battle-field or in the trenches; and when the miseries are over, and peace is at hand, behold Paris arrays herself in her best to receive the Queen and Prince, in return for the visit (which is charmingly described) of the Emperor and Empress to Windsor. No wonder that Mr. Bright should declare in the House of Commons that he read this volume with intense interest, for such must be the feeling of all who take up this most captivating history. That which perhaps gives most immediate interest to the work is its bearing upon the events of the present moment. Then as now Russia aimed at the subjugation of Turkey for her own selfish purposes. Her only apparent obstacle, was that presented by the union of England and France, in the solidity of which the Czar had no belief; and, indeed, the account we have before us, strange ,as it may appear, rather warrants the Czar's notion, for we learn that the war was not popular in France, either with the people or the army. To the Emperor Napoleon’s own persistent attachment to the alliance with England is (Jne that the war was carried on to a conclusion snob as it was. It was known at the time that England was for pursuing the contest, in the belief that the designs of Russia were only interrupted, and would be revived on the first fitting opportunity—“ That the snake was scotched, not killed.” Indeed, there was a cry against Napoleon that, having obtained the glory of the taking of Sebastopol, he wanted no more, and left England in the lurch. Yet we have it now shown. that Napoleon stood faithful to the last, in spite of those who surrounded him, and who were ready to yield to Russia the most favorable terms. It was the knowledge ,of this fact which led Lord Clarendon to the determination of having the Conference held in Paris, in order that he might be in constant communication with the Emperor, and so counteract the intrigues of his courtiers' with the Russian representatives. And now, when we are told of the persistency with which Russian diplomacy tried even after the fall of Sebastopol, when her losses in men were enormous, and her finances strained to the last, to prevent the neutralisation of the Black Sea, we are led to a proper estimate of the great danger of the present crisis. In fact, Russia would not have yielded then, crippled as she was, were it not for Austria, which threatened to join against her.

Throughout all these transactions, both military and diplomatic, we find Prince Albert taking a most active and influential part. The public will learn with perhaps some surprise that the Prince was a statesman of a high order. We find that on all important occasions his advice was asked ; atd as it was his habit to set forth his views in the form of memorandums to be laid before the Cabinet, which were mostly approved, the public are now enabled to judge the Prince from his own recorded opinions. From his letters ,to his uncle King Leopold and his; friend Baron Stockmar, and from his strictures upon th& then King of Prussia, whose pusillanimous conduct served to encourage Russian aggression, it will be seen "that; so far from leaning to little despotic German Courts the Prince was deeply imbued with the spirit of British constitutional freedom. His letters and journals are admirable, and there is an account which he gives of his visit to Napoleon at the Camp of St. Omer, in which he draws the character and manner of the man in the most graphic way, leaving on the whole a very iayorable impression of him. This was subsequently confirmed by the visit of the Emperor and Empress to Windsor, and completed by the ■ reception of the Queen arid Prince in Paris at the time of the great Exhibition. , , In like manner the Queen comes out admirably in this volume. Not only is her Majesty seen to have a thorough knowledge of public affairs, in which she takes the deepest but her letters to her Ministers, to the King of Prussia, and the French Emperor, display great ability. ' All this is not so new as the light thrown upon .the private manners of the Queen. The kind and genial way she speaks of those with whom she is brought in contact shows her to be as amiable as she is thoughtful. There ' is a charming account written by herself of her visit to Paris, in which she relates how one evening she and Miss Balteel set but upon an adventure in a hired carriage. They drove through ■ all ’Paris, and were greatly diverted with what they saw on the sly. Mr. Martin has done his work right well. His style is pure, and 'although he has taken upwards of 500 pages without finding himself able to bring his work to‘a close, yet no reader will accuse him of prolixity. !

Mias Misanthrope. By Justin McCarthy, author of Dear Lady Disdain,: 2 toes. London : Chatto and Windds. 1878.: - . “ Miss Misanthrone ” is a young lady whose, real name is Miss Mihola Grey., Her mother: ■is dead. Her father, after marrying a second time, is also dead. Her. only brother, is - gone to Canada, has settled there, and has forgotten her. When her story begins she is leading a weary and lonely life enough In a little town called Dukes Keeton, in the midland counties,, Being of age she has resolved to go to London with her friend Mary Blahchet, an elderly, kindly little poetess, With some happy touches Mr. McCarthy: paints in his first' chapter the romantic, original girl, who. is the heroine of his new novel, and as he subtly develops her character, he always keeps up the impression-she then-makes upon the reader. Delighting in fiction, Miss Grey has’one ; hero close above all others to her heart, Aloeste the Misanthrope of Moliere.- . She has vowed she will not marry, for no man can be as noble as Alcesie. In this spirit she refuses, immediately after our introduction to her, with somewhat ungracious .candor, the offer of Mr. , Augustus. Sheppard, an important man in Dukes Keeton.': Shortly afterwards, however, we are introduced to Mr. Victor Heron in Paris, a “ man with a grievance,” on his way to-London. from some colonial > settlement, and we guess that he is the hero who will teach Mies Grey there are still some men in the. world ; who may bear comparison with Aloesto. Miss Grey’s-life in Condon, the society to which, she is introduced by her friends , tho Moneys,, is described by Mr. McCarthy, with keen yet kindly satire., “ Miss Misanthrope” abounds in forcible ■: and consistently drawn sketches of character. iAs might -be expected, Miss Grey has many admirers. Mr. St. John, the brother of a Duke, 'who ■ being ■ a black “ sheep in his youth, has . spent -many years in the . Western States of America, and who is a.-.ourious mixture of the' rowdy and the gentleman, is excellently conceived. Inahumorousaconohe proposes to : Miss -Grey.. - There, is so , much freshness and vigor about him that wo cannot he)p liking him, notwithstanding his Utter lack of principle. Then there. is. Mr. Herbert Blauphet, who also riaUs-iin-Jqvei with. ” Miss Misanthrope.”* jiHs fa a poet, : belonging to 'a school; whose’watchword “aesthetic,” iand, who believe that the ' failure of their work® fa

duo to the stupidity of the public. There are many amusing pages in which. Mr. McCarthy describes that school of unrecognised geniuses; their creed, their ways, their appearance/ Victor Heron, the hero, strikes us as being perhaps less strongly defined than some of the secondary characters ; .-but he is a manly English gentleman.. The story of his and Minola Grey’s love,.Hie obstacle jin.its'way that seems so insuperable, the final' happy ending, is pathetically and interestingly told. To those who live out of the old and wish to see a picture of. the whims, fashions, and absurdities of society there, touched iu with kindly satire, this novel can he heartily recommended.

The “ Daily News " Correspondent or the War. Macmillan and Co.— The Narrative op an Expelled Correspondent. By Frederick Boyle. Bentley and Sons. “The horrors of war” can no longer be uttered in a merely conventional tone, for in the volumes before us they are brought home with a graphic reality which is appalling. Mr. McGahan, whose name is with that of Mr. Alex. Forbes in .the Ddilij News correspondence, was the man who by his description of the massacre, at Batak by', the Turks first aroused the indignation of - Europe. Mr. Forbes is known best by his descriptions of the capture and defence of the Shipka Pass and the battles of Plevna, in which the Turks displayed such heroism 1 as to have almost condoned their atrocities. Mr. Boyle, .while working ably and zealously for the Standard, had his correspondence cut short ;by an order from the Russian commander for his expulsion. We must iu justice to the latter acknowledge that the question upon which this arbitrary act professed to rest is. one open to discussion. He had, it was alleged, forwarded information calculated to serve the enemy. No one will, we think, accuse him of having designedly violated the understanding upon which correspondents were’allowed to accompany the army, yet; in the present case, by describing the Russian troops as dispirited when on the point of an attack, in which they subsequently failed, and which might by ;the telegraph have been conveyed to Osman Pasha,. and so encourage him to more obstinate resistance, he must have vexed theßussian commander enough to provoke the expulsion which followed. Whatever may be thought of the Russian Government, Russian officers as a rule are courteous enough, end when we consider how severely Forbes criticised .the blunders of the staff, and was nevertheless allowed to act without restriction, we cannot think that it was out of mere thin-skinediiess Mr. Boyle' was made to leave. Too much praise cannot be allowed to all the correspondents of the public papers during the war, from the dangers of which hot one of them shrank whenever duty seemed to require exposure for the purposes of serving the interests of their employers and enlightening their countrymen as fb- the march of events. What the horrors of war really mean we have now brought home to ns. The massacre which first provoked the war was kept up as if murder was a proper ingredient of warfare. The Turks gave ;no quarter, and when they gained victories soiled their brilliancy by killing the wounded bn the battle-field. They devastated Bulgarian towns and villages, letting loose the vilest passions bn the inhabitants; nor is it to be gainsaid that there were acts of retaliation by Bulgarian peasants which , showed that they had learned some of the worst vices of their oppressors ; —more hideous ruin than , that which spread from the Danube to Constantinople never before afflicted the eavth. i ; Fire, famine, slaughter wreaked : upon -men, women, and children indiscriminately, converted some of the fairest fields of the world into a polluted desert for man “to play such tricks before high Heaven as make the Angels weep." Let us pray that the honor and interests of England may not require 1 recourse to a renewal of war, with what we now kno w to be its horrors, but that statesmen may by patience and wisdom come to such a settlement of differences as will raise up well-governed communities in the place of the brutal oppression that has hitherto reigned. . . ■ • .■ ■;