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May; 1^ 1852.] THE LEADER. 4J9
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orp Tiot the l egislators, but the mdjge...
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When the greatest dramatist of France ve...
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At the Society of Arts", on Wednesday, O...
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Louis Napoleon is not so foolish as to i...
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The readers of the Dtibats will remember...
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Amono the-books we hear, of as in prepar...
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FllK lister Fair Catalogue of the great ...
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LEITA; OE THE SILENT WOMAN. Lena; or the...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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May; 1^ 1852.] The Leader. 4j9
May ; 1 ^ 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 4 J 9
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Orp Tiot The L Egislators, But The Mdjge...
orp Tiot the l egislators , but the mdjges and police of literature . They do not Critics ~ |^ g i _ tSey interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh , Beview .
When The Greatest Dramatist Of France Ve...
When the greatest dramatist of France ventured -to ' introduce a modern tory to the stage * he felt bound to apologize , in the preface , for so great S departure from the first conditions of art , only excusable , he thought , hv the fact that distance in place was equivalent to distance in time , and that Bajazet would be as far removed from the prosaic associations of fami-Taritv as Phe'dre or Andromaque . What Would Racine say to the drama ow" ? Reality has displaced Ideality j and the subjects most rigorously banished from ancient art are those now most in vogue . uEschylus ventured on what was then a modern subject ( in the Persce ) , but no one till TUcine had imitated the example . But we have swerved from the old
path altogeihet , nous avons change tout cela . ThurtelFs " real gig" was a bold stroke ; it was nothing , however , to the last audacity of American genius . Mr * Ware , under the spell of Lola Montes , has undertaken to dramatize her life , and the realism of the stage will be so far perfect that Lola will herself play her own character ! In this drama , the ex-king of Bavaria , and his sbn Maximilian 11 . ^ will have prominent parts ; and as to poor Lieutenant Heald , there is no saying what figure he is to present , as well as his maiden aunt . But the realism does not stop there . Eugene Sue , Dujarbieb , arid other literary lions , are to " roar like any sucking dove" throug h this amazing dramai , jostling Kossuth , Prince Bobo , Horace GreeLYj and other American journalists ! Gertainly ,
Aristophanes made no scruple placing his contemporaries on the stage , and of making them ridiculous to his heart ' s content ; nor did Voltaire hesitate to hang up Piron to the laughter of Parisian audiences ; but for an actress to play the mimic scenes of her own life , is to " snatch a grace beyond the reach of art !"
At The Society Of Arts", On Wednesday, O...
At the Society of Arts " , on Wednesday , Owen Jones delivered one of the most striking and effective lectures we have heard . It was on " Colour as employedin theDecorative -Arts . " The subject was interesting , and acquired new and far-reaching interest in his treatment of it , both as reo-ards the distressing want of taste exhibited by the English in all thafr regards the employment of Golburi and as regards the exposition of a few luminous memorable principles which may serve to educate the public taste . As the Lecture is pr inted , we shall next week review it at-length . That Owen Jones is a man of exquisite taste , and of accomplishment in his own art , we all know ; that he is also a masterly thinker this Lecture now reveals to us .
Louis Napoleon Is Not So Foolish As To I...
Louis Napoleon is not so foolish as to imagine that compression is equivalent to destruction in the physical world ; hut he is foolish enough to believe it of the moral world ; or rather why should we say foolish , seeing that only by such means can he | preserve his perilous triumph ? The case is simply this . If Louis Napoleon really be the elect of the people , the antagonism of a few journalists and politicians cannot move him ; nay more , ' if any strong party-in the nation really believe in him , on that strength he may rest secure . Do our rulers tremble at every journalist ? Not they . But Louis Napoleon is as sensitive as Charles Kean , and trembles for his throne unless
incessant vivats shake the air around it . If any man presumes to question the propriety of the dictator ' s acts , Louis Napoleon " cuts him off the free list , " or sends him to Cayenne ! But being cut off a free list does not always prevent a man from " having his say out ; " and the much prosecuted Bulletin Franpais , dr iven from Brussels , and finding refuge here in London , contrives not only to assail the government , but contr ives to get itself widely circulated in France . Excessive vigilance on the part of the police , only stimulates to excessive and ingenious audacity on the part of the writers ; while the increased relish given to the articles by all this difficulty of getting them to read may be estimated by every one who knows the sweetness of stolen apples .
The Readers Of The Dtibats Will Remember...
The readers of the Dtibats will remember a series of violent , bigoted , conceited , but not unimportant articles in the feuilleton , signed Cuvillier I ^ euuy , devoted principally to the men and books of the Revolutions of ' * W and ' 48 . Written with asperity and passion , they have the force and vivacity of passion ; although their intense conceit and personality very much abates the reader ' s pleasure . M . Fleuuy has collected them in two volumes , under the title , Portraits Politiques et Rfaolutionnaires , Politicians will be attracted towards the articles on Louis Philippe , Guizot , the Duchess of Orleans , the Revolution of 1848 , & c . ; men of letters will turn <*> the articles on . Lamartine , Sue , Louis Blanc , Daniel Stern , Proudhon , and Victor Hugo , or to those on Rousseau , St . Just , Barere , and Camillc Dcsmonlins .
Amono The-Books We Hear, Of As In Prepar...
Amono the-books we hear , of as in preparation , is one which promises imuscmcnt . It is to be the Adventures of our own Correspondent in Italy , written by tho correspondent of the Leading Journal , who followed with wich urnazing pertinacity the armies of Charmcs Albert .
Fllk Lister Fair Catalogue Of The Great ...
FllK lister Fair Catalogue of the great Leipaig book-mart declares on increase on the number of books published . The Catalogue of the Autumn
Fair contained 3860 works published , and 1130 in the press . The returns of the present are 4527 published , and 1163 in the press . Turning Over these lists of Books , not one in ten of which is without its merit * perhaps , and not one in a hundred of any permanent value , we are pleased to see how rich the catalogue is in works on Natural History : they , at least , must be of value , if merely as repertories of facts ; while in political works there is a very narked falling . off—as , indeed , the state of Germany would lead one to suspect .
Leita; Oe The Silent Woman. Lena; Or The...
LEITA ; OE THE SILENT WOMAN . Lena ; or the Silent Woman . By the Author of " King ' s Cope , " "Mr . Warren . " 3 vols . Smith , Elder and Co . Has it never occurred to you to turn away with an immense ennui from some " highly intellectual" conversation kept up by a stout , but not lively gentleman , with a very emancipated female ; and to seek in the " small talk" of a pretty woman , or agreeable young man , something of that glancing light and play of mind which you missed in the " feast of reason ? " This small talk may not materially advance your " development ; " the merest modicum of" information" will appear therein , like the rare swimmers in Virgil's storm ; you gain no views of the " Progress of the Species , " and are rather conmsed on the question of " Woman and her Needs ; " but , nevertheless , the light laugh , the pleasant smile , the unaffected good sense , the fugitive caprices of conversation—discursive as suggestion can make it—leave you more charmed than if the conversation had been " highly instructive . " Just what such , small talk is to the " feast of reason , " or to more severe , elaborate discussion , this novel of Lena is to some ambitious novels we have lately closed in anticipatory terror . It is pleasant ^ vivacious , readable—one knows not why . The pages are crowded with persons , and not one character among ; them ; incidents and conversations succeed each , other in endless variety , and leave no impression : it is like the hubbub of a laree partv ; vet vou move to and fro , and listen to the several circles
not unairiused . If one were to be critical , and examine Lena as a work of art , or as a reflection of Life , some rigour would necessarily be shown j yet wherefore ? The book has no pretensions . It is a novel . It is a circulating library novel . It is an amusing circulating library novel . Without carrying with it any decided evidence of that experience which Art demands for its representation of Life , the probabilities are not outraged , nature is not caricatured beyond library limits ; while the general tone is pleasant , unaffected .
Having said so much , we will enter into no details of plot or character ; the following scene will indicate the style of the whole ; to _ understand it you must be told that Basil , Lord Morland , is engaged to his cousin Cecil , and that Laura is Cecil ' s coquettish , sister : — > " Laura was playing at draughts with Charles Dawbeney ; Mr . Hargrave and Lord Morland were standing close behind ; and she Was talking to all three , caring nothing about the game , taking every one ' s advice , and losing fast . "' I have hardly a piece left : what shall I do , Basil P ' she asked , looking back over her shoulder at her cousin . " She was seated on a low prie-dieu chair , all her rich curls fulling over the cushion behind her ; her eyes , full of electricity , raised to his . "' Lose your game ! ' he said , roughly , but drawing nearer . "' "Now , don't be cross , Basil ; you who play so well : where shall I move
next ? ' , "' There ! ' he said , pointing to the board . " The move succeeded . " * What next , Basil ? ' she asked . " He rested one arm on the back of her cjiair , and leaning over , moved her pieces for her . "' How I hate your German hands ! ' she whispered , throwing her little head back , and fixing him with her lustrous eyes . " He wore a ring on his forefinger in the ugly German fashion , which she had often laughed at ; he slipped it oft" into his pocket , and went on moving for hor .
She won the game . " * Do you thank me ? ' he asked , in a low voice . " 'No / aho replied , looking into his eyes again with a smile . "' Will you do something for mo in return ?' "' Nothing whatever , ' she replied , with the same caressing look . " ' Sing mo the Legend of the Fisherman / ho begged . '" No , I ' m too humble ; I should shock your fastidious tasto with my bad pronunciation . ' " ' Sing it ; never inind the Avords ! ' ho urged . " ' I ' m so nervous before you , ' she said , drawing the harp towards her . " ' Are you singing for me—me alone ? ' lie naked , between the verses . "' No ; beeause you don't admire me : I am singing for those who tiro moro easily pleased . '
"' Nixo ! ' lie oxclaiimed , fixing his eyes upon her . There was moro revenge than lovo in those gloomy looks of his . "' Ho calls me a Nixo ! ' exclaimed Laura , crouching a little forward ; and , pressing hor face close to hor harp-strings , hIio laughed , as if through the grating of a window , upon the listeners who had gathered round Lord Morlund ' s chair . "' Scandalous ! ' exclaimed Charles Dawbonoy . "' Do you know what it means ? ' Basil asked , morosoly . "' Not the least in the world ! ' replied Mr . Dawboney , laughing , without the least Qtnbarrassipont lit the confession . " Lord Morland muttered some polite remark in German , and drew his chair nearer tho harp . Luura Icept the same attitude . "' Toll us the locond of the Nixo / sho Raid .
" * There are a thousand stories of tho Nixe / ho returned ; ' but all to the same purpose . She is beautiful and wicked , and destroys whoever loves her . ' "' Qare ! gare P cried Laura , looking round , and imitating the tono of tho cabriolet drivers in Pnris . "' I think you » i » ig uncommonly well 1 ' cried Captain CraliHhaw ( as if anybody had said aho did not ) . "' Thank you / she lisped , with a pretty little childish shrug ; ' but I ' m not deaf !'
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01051852/page/15/
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