-
Articles/Ads
Article &ETIEWS OF.HEW BOOKS. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
&Etiews Of.Hew Books.
experience of the institutions and feelings of the States , he is enabled to represent them as'fhey are , and not as they appear to the ( we regret to say ) prejudiced minds of some of our countryhien . Indeed , Mr . Murray , may almost be looked upon as peculiarly repres ^^ not unlike that of some of the best American authors . Washington Irving mi ght have written many parts of ' the ; "/ Prairie B ^ not . Both writers have the same dry , scholarly humour—the same knightly
love of helm and hauberk , steed and lanee—the same diivalrotis respect , or playful tenderness , Avhen writing about women—the same love of horses , dogs , and sporting—even the same fondness for Frenchmen and French cookery . The resemblance does not end here . The studies of both these gentlemen have several times taken the same direction . Mr . Murray has lived with the Pawnees and with the wild backwoodsmen of the Missouri .
Irving has written of the Rocky Mountains . It is to Mr . Murray ' s pen that literature is indebted for the delightful portrait of M . Perrot ( the most delicate and humourous conception of a Frenchman and a French cook with Avhich we are acquainted ) , and Washington Irving has given us a companion picture , though not so elaborately drawn , among the companions of Captain Bonneville . MA Murray and the author of the " Sketch Book" are ,
according to our notions , the only writers who have ever given a really correct and . vivid idea of a Frenehman ^ his courag e , his vanity , his perpetual love-making , his egotism , his ingenuity and fertility of resource , j oined to a romance of feeling sometime s laughable , sometimes wonderfully pathetic ^ and an inner nature simple and loveable as that of a little child . It is only writers who are as kindly and benevolent as they are clearheaded and observing that canportray . such- characters as this . The later
Avorks from Irving ' s pen have been dedicated almost entirely to Oriental subjects . Mr . Murray ' s mind has again taken a similar direction , and he has presented us with an Egyptian tale , Avhich every man should take Avith him Avho contemplates a visit to the land of the Pharoahs . . Mr . Murray has not taken up his pen on the present occasion Avithout good cause . He can establish nearly as fair a title to write , about the Wile and the pyramids as he had to charm our Avinter firesides Avith adventurous tales of War Eagle
and Mahega . Since tlie time Mr . Murray entered the great world of life he has been ever active , ever observing . * The wilds of America and tlie courts of Europe are alike familiar to him . For seven years he represented Great Britain in Egypt , Avhere lie lived on terms of intimacy with the famous Mohammed Ah . He has , still more recently , been , the most prominent personage in a war which at one time threatened to be of considerable duration , and has dictated peace to the vanquished Shah of Persia .
Gifted with uncommon poAvers of study and application , Mr . Murray haw rendered himself the most distinguished Oriental scholar of his time . He has had extraordinary opportunities of becoming acquainted Avith eastern manners , and every page of the book uoav under revieAv is sufficient to prove that 'he has employed them to the best advantage . The following sketch of the modern regenerator of Egypt will fully establish Mr . Murray ' s claims to be heard Avith attention on the new subject which has engaged his pen . We give it entire : —
" At the period of our tale , Mohammed Ali was at the high tide of his personal and political career . Though upwards of fifty-five years—the hitter half of them spent in constant warfare or intrigue—had passed over his head , they had not impaired either the energy of his mind or the activity of his frame . " All opposition to his government had been subdued ; the scattered remnants , of the Mameluke hoys , whom he had overthrown , Avere fugitives in remote parts of the Soudan . The ^ divan at Constantinople had found itself compelled to treat him rather like an independent ally than a powerful vassal . Nubia , and the countries
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
&Etiews Of.Hew Books.
experience of the institutions and feelings of the States , he is enabled to represent them as'fhey are , and not as they appear to the ( we regret to say ) prejudiced minds of some of our countryhien . Indeed , Mr . Murray , may almost be looked upon as peculiarly repres ^^ not unlike that of some of the best American authors . Washington Irving mi ght have written many parts of ' the ; "/ Prairie B ^ not . Both writers have the same dry , scholarly humour—the same knightly
love of helm and hauberk , steed and lanee—the same diivalrotis respect , or playful tenderness , Avhen writing about women—the same love of horses , dogs , and sporting—even the same fondness for Frenchmen and French cookery . The resemblance does not end here . The studies of both these gentlemen have several times taken the same direction . Mr . Murray has lived with the Pawnees and with the wild backwoodsmen of the Missouri .
Irving has written of the Rocky Mountains . It is to Mr . Murray ' s pen that literature is indebted for the delightful portrait of M . Perrot ( the most delicate and humourous conception of a Frenchman and a French cook with Avhich we are acquainted ) , and Washington Irving has given us a companion picture , though not so elaborately drawn , among the companions of Captain Bonneville . MA Murray and the author of the " Sketch Book" are ,
according to our notions , the only writers who have ever given a really correct and . vivid idea of a Frenehman ^ his courag e , his vanity , his perpetual love-making , his egotism , his ingenuity and fertility of resource , j oined to a romance of feeling sometime s laughable , sometimes wonderfully pathetic ^ and an inner nature simple and loveable as that of a little child . It is only writers who are as kindly and benevolent as they are clearheaded and observing that canportray . such- characters as this . The later
Avorks from Irving ' s pen have been dedicated almost entirely to Oriental subjects . Mr . Murray ' s mind has again taken a similar direction , and he has presented us with an Egyptian tale , Avhich every man should take Avith him Avho contemplates a visit to the land of the Pharoahs . . Mr . Murray has not taken up his pen on the present occasion Avithout good cause . He can establish nearly as fair a title to write , about the Wile and the pyramids as he had to charm our Avinter firesides Avith adventurous tales of War Eagle
and Mahega . Since tlie time Mr . Murray entered the great world of life he has been ever active , ever observing . * The wilds of America and tlie courts of Europe are alike familiar to him . For seven years he represented Great Britain in Egypt , Avhere lie lived on terms of intimacy with the famous Mohammed Ah . He has , still more recently , been , the most prominent personage in a war which at one time threatened to be of considerable duration , and has dictated peace to the vanquished Shah of Persia .
Gifted with uncommon poAvers of study and application , Mr . Murray haw rendered himself the most distinguished Oriental scholar of his time . He has had extraordinary opportunities of becoming acquainted Avith eastern manners , and every page of the book uoav under revieAv is sufficient to prove that 'he has employed them to the best advantage . The following sketch of the modern regenerator of Egypt will fully establish Mr . Murray ' s claims to be heard Avith attention on the new subject which has engaged his pen . We give it entire : —
" At the period of our tale , Mohammed Ali was at the high tide of his personal and political career . Though upwards of fifty-five years—the hitter half of them spent in constant warfare or intrigue—had passed over his head , they had not impaired either the energy of his mind or the activity of his frame . " All opposition to his government had been subdued ; the scattered remnants , of the Mameluke hoys , whom he had overthrown , Avere fugitives in remote parts of the Soudan . The ^ divan at Constantinople had found itself compelled to treat him rather like an independent ally than a powerful vassal . Nubia , and the countries