Stroyan's on the extreme right, "Between 2 and 3 A.M. on the 19th The battle now commenced in earnest. 66 The enemy swarmed like hornets, with shouts intended to terrify, and proving the overwhelming odds that were against us. It was by no means easy to avoid in the shades of night the jobbing of javelins, and the long heavy dag gers thrown at our legs from under and through the opening of the tent. We three remained together; Lieutenant Horne knelt by my right, on my left was Lieutenant Spoke guarding the entrance. I stood in the centre, having nothing but The revolvers were used by my Pompanions with dendly effect. UnforFurstely there was but one pair. When Hi Ben was exhausted, Lieutenant Herne word to search for his powder-horn, and, Hosk failing, to find some spears usually Whilst thus enMost to the tent pole. papal he enw a man breaking into the fiat of om tent, and came back to inform me of the eircumstance." To avoid being entangled in the falling tent, Mr Burton now gave the word for escape, closely followed by his two companions. Fortunately the day before a small native craft had come into the harbour and anhored off the camp, and Mr Burton had been in communication with the native master. therefore, to make for the shore, They determined, in the hope of getting on board the vessel. It was peut," and the three companions sauve qui were soon separated in the melée. Mr Burton cut his way through the enemy, whose war-clubs worked withby a miracle, not, however, until a out mercy, and reached the shore as javelin had pierced both cheeks Here he found himself alone in the darkness, and spent the interval be fore dawn wandering in search of his comrades, and lying down when overcome with faintness and pain. As day broke, he found his way to the head of the creek, and was carried on board the vessel. Lieutenant Herne, meanwhile, had made for the now deserted town, using the but end of his discharged revolver as his weapon. More fortunate than either of his companions, with the excep tion of sundry stiff blows with the war-club, he escaped unhurt, and remained concealed among the empty huts until daylight enabled him to steal his way to the friendly craft where his comrade had already found an asylum. Lieutenant Speke's escape was so miraculous that we quote it at length : 66 Sallying from the tent, he levelled his Dean and Adams close to an as sailant's breast. The pistol refused to revolve. A sharp blow of a war-club upon the chest felled our comrade, who was in the rear, and unseen. When he fell, two or three men sprang upon him, pinioned his hands behind, felt him for concealed weapons, an operation to which he submitted in some alarm, and led him towards the rear, as he supposed, to be slaughtered. Then Lieutenant Speke, who could scarcely breathe from the pain of the blow, asked a captor to tie his hands before instead of behind, and begged a drop of water to relieve his excruciating thirst. The savage defended him against a number of the Somal, who came up threatening, and brandishing their spears; he brought a cloth for the wounded man to lie upon, and lost no time in procuring a draught of water. ground till dawn. During the interval Lieutenant Speke remained upon the he witnessed the war-dance of the savages a scene striking in the extreme. The tallest and largest warriors marched in a ring round the huts and booty, singing with the deepest and most solemn tones the song of thanksgiving. At a little distance the grey uncertain light disclosed four or five men lying desperately hurt, whilst their kinsmen kneaded their limbs, poured water upon their wounds, and placed lumps of dates in their stiffening hands. As day broke the division of plunder caused angry passions to arise. The dead and dying were abandoned. One party made a rush upon the cattle, and with shouts and yells drove them off to the wilds. Some loaded themselves with goods; others fought over pieces of cloth, which they tore with hand and dagger; whilst the disappointed, vociferating with rage, struck at one another, and brandished their spears. More than once during these scenes a panic seized them. They moved off in a body to some distance; and there is little doubt that, had our guard struck one blow, we might still have won the day. Lieutenant Speke's captor went to seek his own portion of the spoil, when a Somal came up and asked him, in Hindostani, what business the Frank had in their country; and added, that he would kill him if a Christian, but spare the life of a brother Moslem. The wounded man replied that he was going to Zanzibar, that he was still a Nazarene, and therefore that the work had better be done at once. The savage laughed, and passed on. He was succeeded by a second, who, equally compassionate, whirled a sword round his head, twice pretended to strike, but returned to the plunder without doing damage. Presently came another manner of assailant. Lieutenant Speke, who had extricated his hands, caught the spear levelled at his breast, but received, at the same moment, a blow from a club, which, paralysing his arm, caused him to lose his hold. In defending his heart from a succession of thrusts, he received severe wounds on the back of his hand, his right shoulder, and his left thigh. Pausing a little, the wretch crossed to the other side, and suddenly passed his spear clean through the right leg of the wounded man. The latter, smelling death, then leapt up, and, taking advantage of his assailant's terror, rushed headlong towards the sea. Looking back, he avoided the javelin hurled at his back, and had the good fortune to run, without further accident, the gauntlet of a score of missiles. When pursuit was discontinued, he sat down, faint from loss of blood, upon a sandhill. Recovering strength by a few minutes' rest, he staggered on to the town, where some old women directed him to us. Then, pursuing his way, he fell in with the party sent to seek him, and with their aid reached the craft, having walked and run at least three miles after receiving eleven wounds, two of which had pierced his thighs." "A touching lesson," remarks Hadji, "how difficult it is to kill a man in sound health." Poor Stroyan's corpse was afterwards brought on board. A spear had traversed his heart; another had pierced his abdomen, and a frightful gash, apparently of a sword, had opened the upper part of his forehead. The body had been bruised with war-clubs, and the thighs showed marks of violence after death. They buried their lamented comrade, and then, with heavy hearts, set sail for Aden; and after two tedious days, carried to their friends there the news of unexpected disaster. From the foregoing description of the treachery and ferocity of these savages, the hazard of the enterprise so ably accomplished by Mr Burton will be better appreciated than it would otherwise have been; and after such an experience we might have would have been cured of their love supposed that he and his friends of African exploration. So far from this being the case, the Eastern proverb that (6 disappointment is the salt of life" seems to hold good with them; for says our author, "The writer has had the satisfaction of receiving from his comrades assurances that they are willing to accompany him once more in the task of African exploration." Meanwhile two of the East India Company's ships are at this moment blockading that part of the Somali coast which was the scene of the tragedy, and 15,000 dollars have been offered by the natives as indemnity for the outrage; but by these measures nothing is gained-trade is hindered, and ill-feeling maintained between the natives and Franks, which will only render any further attempt to travel in their country more dangerous. Our real policy under such circumstances would be that advocated by Mr Burton, of forming an agency at Berbereh, and thus not only would the trade of the country be developed, and the teeming resources of the interior find a large and safe market, but friendly relations would be cultivated with the natives, and be productive of mutual beneficial results. "The natives of the country," says Mr Burton, "are essentially commercial, and offer a favourable contrast to their kindred, the Arabs of Adena race over whom as yet we have never succeeded in acquiring any influence. Berbereh is the true key of the Red Sea in the opinion of our author, the centre of Eastern traffic, and the only safe place for shipping between Suez and Guardafui. Backed by lands capable of cultivation, and by hills covered with pine and other valuable trees, enjoying a comparatively temperate climate, with a regular although thin monsoon, this harbour has been coveted by many a foreign conqueror. Circumstances have thrown it, as it were, into our arms, and if we refuse this chance, another and a rival nation will not be so blind." By establishing an By establishing an armed post here, we should not only protect the lives and property of Englishmen wrecked on the coast, but put a stop to that extensive traffic in slaves which is now carried on from this port. According to travellers who have visited both places, the climate of Aden will not bear a comparison with this place, which is equally on the route to India, and a convenient stopping-place for steamers. We trust that the attention of Government may be directed to the advantages which it holds out for a permanent settlement, and that the favourable moment for forming a new and most valuable mercantile connection will not be allowed to slip away. A growing tendency has been manifested, of late years, to shrink from what is termed aggression upon savages, but there are cases where the interests of humanity demand the interference of some civilised power. We have had no reason to complain of our aggressive policy hitherto; it has placed us where we are in the scale of nations, and contributed to the welfare and happiness of millions who otherwise would have been the victims of a savage despotism. We thoroughly agree with our author in his views. "The philanthropist and political economist," he says, "may fondly hope, by outery against 'territorial aggrandisement,' by advocating a compact frontier, by abandoning colonies, and by cultivating equi librium, to retain our rank amongst the great nations of the world. Never! The facts of history prove nothing more conclusively than this: a race either progresses or retrogades, either increases or diminishes-the children of Time, like their sire, cannot stand still." What is the use of those bold spirits of ours, who, like the men of no other country, "with their lives in their hands," dare everything to open up to the enterprise of their countrymen the hidden resources of unknown lands, if our Government will not profit by their hardy exploits? Our Burtons, and Spekes, and Stroyans are the pioneers of civilisation, and are made of very different stuff from those morbid po liticians who regard with dread the acquisition of every acre of new territory. We trust, therefore, that something beyond a mere blockade will be established at Berbereh. Meantime we are glad to hear that the Hadji himself starts this month for his favourite quarter of the globe; we can wish him no nobler reward to his indefatigable enterprise than that his First Footsteps in East Africa may be the track which will ultimately become a highway for nations. Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. MR RUSKIN AND HIS THEORIES-SUBLIME AND RIDICULOUS. THIS Volume" of many things" is equally calculated to instruct, to astonish, and to mislead. It instructs by carrying the mind upwards and onwards toward the contemplation of the highest truths that can concern art or humanity. It astonishes by the dogmatism of its assertions, the fearlessness of its denunciations, the paradox of its truths, the originality of its errors. It misleads by an eloquence, specious, impetuous, and ornate; by an elaboration of florid word-painting, rendering all thoughts, whether right or wrong, all topics, lofty or mean, alike decorative and seductive. It misleads, further, by an earnest truth-seeking, uniformly sustained amidst fallacies however glaring, contradictions however self-destructive, and, finally, by the presence at all times, even when encompassed by error, of earnest conviction and undoubted honesty of purpose. This volume, in short, fully sustains Mr Ruskin's wellearned reputation as a critic, a dogmatist, and an honest sophist, and as such is well calculated to instruct the wise, alarm the timid, and mislead the weak. We propose, in our present notice, to deal with both its wisdom and its folly. The volume opens with a disquisition upon "High Art" and the "Grand Style," abounding in much valuable thought, notwithstanding a wordy diffuseness and an over subtlety of distinction, often degenerating into mere ingenious trifling. We are told that Poetry, and consequently, by inference, all other forms of Art, essentially consist in "the suggestion, by imagination, of noble grounds for the noble emotions." A work is therefore "high" and "grand" just in proportion as it gives expression to noble thoughts-thus becoming itself the originating cause of noble emotions. This teaching, if not altogether new, is at least sound and important: it at once establishes a scale and standard by which art may be measured and classified; it plainly tells the artist that it is in vain to attempt the highest walks unless and until he is impelled by lofty thought; and it casts at once under the designation of "low art," every work which fails to kindle this "noble emotion." Written or spoken words, musical notes, painted or sculptured forms, are but the varied language through which the highest thought and the noblest impulse obtain a manifold expression, being in turn Modern Painters, vol. iii., containing Part IV. "Of Many Things." By JOHN RUSKIN, M.A., Author of "The Stones of Venice," "The Seven Lamps of Architecture," &c. &c. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 65 Cornhill. 1856. VOL. LXXX.-NO. CCCCXCIII. 2 M effect and cause of the mind's highest exaltation. It thus becomes manifest that the "Grand Style" is literally grand and great; that all that is little and mean and low must be exorcised from the spirit of him who would aspire to the rank of the poetartist, and so, through the insight and creative power of imagination, make subjects of religion, history, or nature conspire to noble emotion. Topics of minor import and narrower range do not necessarily demand the full resources of man's nature, or specially imply mental purity and elevation. Jan Steen found the talking of an ale-house favourable to his painting of pot-house brawls. But, on the other hand, it is the glory and justification of high art that it cannot be gathered off a corrupt tree, neither can it be nurtured as the laboured product of sterile ground. Like all that is great and good, it is heaven-endowed; it is a gift, an inheritance, and cannot be acquired by purchase. The greatest men come into the world with the fewest antecedents; and it is a favourite and not wholly unfounded notion, that the highest genius leads to universality. Thus great works, such as Giotto's frescoes at Padua, and Orcagna's "Last Judgment" at Pisa, apparently without adequate historical antecedents, take their origin in grand ideas, and become in turn the efficient grounds for "noble emotions." Such works, too, are the greatest, not merely because of their creative originality, but likewise by virtue of the universality in their range. They are no partial or onesided product of human nature, but the full, free, and earnest expression of the entire compass of a wide embracing genius. The conclusion of the whole matter, therefore, is this, that the highest art, the grandest style, is that which, in the language of Mr Ruskin, contains "the greatest number of the greatest ideas.' He proceeds to show that the "Great Style" demands the "choice of noble subject the "love of beauty," "sincerity," and, lastly, "invention." We shall, under these heads, limit our inquiries to the philosophy of the Beautiful therein implied. Mr Ruskin opens the second the division of the above requisitions in these words :-"The second characteristic of the great school of art is, that it introduces in the conception of its subject as much beauty as is possible consistently with truth" (p. 33). We are glad to find that Mr Ruskin maintains the positive exist ence of essential beauty possessing a reality as distinct and actual as truth itself. We do not demur even to the further proposition, that these two elements and attributes are independent one of the other; that beauty is not truth, and truth is not beauty. The distinction between the two may be thus stated-Truth is utilitarian, beauty is decorative; truth lies within the province of the intellect, beauty of the emotions truth sinks its foundations deep, beauty carries high the crowning pinnacle; truth is the strength of materials-the stability of the arch, the sustaining power of a buttress; beauty is the acanthus which grows round the capital-the figures which decorate the pediment. Neverthe less, we must seriously object art-deductions which Mr Ruskin proceeds to draw from these premises. It is not the first occasion on which he has placed in antagon istic opposition these two elements which nature is ever striving to join together. The fact is, that for some purposes, and from some points of view, the two are separated, from others united. It would, we think, tend greatly to the elucidation of apparent anomalies and contradictions, if a distinction were taken between what is a fact and what is a truth; "fact" standing as the all-inclusive term for whatever exists, whether good or bad, true or false; and "truth" holding a restricted signification, standing only for what is essentially true. It is a fact that the devil is at work as well as God; that creation bears the seal of evil as well as of good. These are "facts," but not "truths." Now, when the word "truth" is associated with "beauty" and "goodness," something which is in itself divinely true must, we think, always be implied; a truth which we are bound to revere as one of God's attributes, and love as one of His |