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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd July 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18, RICHARD FEVEREL. A History of Father and...

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      Admiration, To Cite His Own. Words * Wer...

      Southey ' s . Want of faith led to discomfiture . On the incident of Mr . Canning ' s duel with Lord Castlereagh , his biographer holds the former blameless . We much regret that our limits will not permit us to go into the extraordinary documents in relation to £ he trial of Queen Caroline ; but perhaps the whole affair is best buried in oblivion . We take up Mr . Canning ' s story , therefore , with the fact of his becoming Foreign Secretary , after the death of Lord Castlereagh—and the grand at

      explanation of his foreign policy in his speech Liverpool . Further expositions of his general conduct are , voluminously supplied , in his correspondence with the King , and in the attitude assumed by him in the last period of his life . The country ' s estimate of Mr . Canning as a statesman has , however , been long settled ; and there is no politician who will carry to future times a more brilliant reputation . As a speaker , the most polished;—as a diplomatist , wise , prudent , spirited , and successful;—and as a man , conscientious and brave . Feared , however , for his wit , and daunted by his wisdom , there were many who suspected his objects while living , who , when he was dead , repented of their malignity . George Canning was * indisputably , a great man .

      Tttb Leader. R^O- 484. July 2, 1859-

      TTTB LEADER . r ^ o- 484 . July 2 , 1859-

      Thcb, Poems Of Heine—Complete. Translate...

      THCB , POEMS OF HEINE—Complete . Translated in the Original Metres . With-a Sketch of Heine ' s Life . By Edgar Alfred ^ Bowring / — Longman , Brown , Green , Longmans ; and Roberts . A book like this is nothing less than a prodigious feat ^ -a marvel of extraordinary significance . Mr . ^ o-wring has undertaken the whole of the poems ¦> celelvrated Heine , and given them to us in h dress in one volume : —Heine , the ' " « . "O heavy li ghtness ! serious -re difficult is scarcely con' iave been so well executed ire the ^ greatest name i be as well to state published complete uiller ' s poems . He he whole of a poet's : ts real worth , and inciples . One of title-page , and is It is fidelity to the -nd . Those of Heine are .. / , and their character , and effects , depend on the actual ding this obligation Mr . Bo wring ngly happy . i that Heine wa & the Voltaire of was fond , probably , of thinking ciist , and certainly wrote in a manner to the most abstract freethinking- —in oertinism and insincerity that is equally o good taste and truth . But his genius able . Aa a specimen of his style , and of . nslator ' s skill , we cite one characteristic . ge from his best poem— " Atta Troll "—which « he story of a dancing bear treated with infinite tnour ;—Summer-night ' s dream ! All fantastic , Aimless is my eong . Yes , aimless As our love and aa our living , As Creator and creation t Ills own will alone obeying , Galloping along or flying , Revels in the realms of fable My belovfol l ' egasus . He s no serviceable , virtuous Curt-horse of the citizens , Nor a cattle-stood of party , With pathotlo neighs and stamping ! Golden-mounted arc tho hoofs all Of my white in <* winged ojiargor , Corda of pearls tho guiding reins are , And at will I lot him wanaor . JBoar mo whoreaoo ' or thou wouldost ! Over Hteop and merry hill-paths , "VVhoro cascades with mournful shrloking Warn ' gainst madnoss's abysses ! Bear mo on through silent valleys , Whore the solemn oaks . are standing , While primeval sweet traditions ' From their knotted roots have birth t Lot mo drink thoro , while X moisten My dim oycB . —ah , now . I languish JS ' pp thopparxllnif wondrous water That linpartp fcoth sight and knowledge l All my blindn «* a . goes ! my gaze Pierces to tlto doenoat rook-oieft , To the cave of Atta Troll , And X undcr » t » Qd his language 1 Strange 'tis how familiar to mo This bo ( u ? nl « tt « uug _ o now . Appenroth I In my dear homo i never Hoard thong « onnd » In enrUor days ?

      " Take away our wives and children , " Fetter us , ill treat us , even " Kill us , for the sake of selling " Our poor hide and our poor carcass ! " And they think themselves permitted " Wicked deeds like these to practise " 'Gainst us bears especially , ¦ " And the rights of man they call it ! " Rights of man indeed ! Fine sights these ! " Tell me who bestowed them on you ? " Nature certainly ne ' er did so , " For she ' s not unnatural . " Rights of man indeed ! Who gave you " This great privilege , I wonder ? " Reason certainly ne ' er did so , " For she ' s not unreasonable ! " Men , pray arc ye any better " Than we others , just , for eating " your dinners boil'd or roasted ? "In a raw state we eat ours , " Yet is the result the same " To us both . —No , food can never *• Make one noble ; he is noble " Who both nobly feels and acteth . *• Men , pray are ye any better «* Just because the arts and science " With success ye follow ? We now « ' Never give ourselves the trouble . " Are there not such things as learndd ' Dogs , and horses too , who reckon * ' Just like councillors of Commerce ? " Do not hares the drum play finely ? " Art not many beavers adepts " In tho art of hydrostatics ? " Wore not clysters first invented " By the cleverness oi storks ? *• Write not assos criticisms ? " Are not apes all good comedians ? « ' Is there any greater mimic " Than Batavia , long-tall'd monkey ? " Are not nightingales good singers I " And is Freiligrath no poet , " Who can sing of lions bettor ' Than his countryman tho Camel ? ' * I myself the art of dancing ¦ ' Have advanced as much as Riuimor « That of writing . Writes ho better " Than I dance , —yos , I tho bear ? " Men , why are yo any better " Than wo others ? upright hold yo , " It is true , your heads , but in them " Low-born thoughts ore over creeping . Men , pray are yo any bettor " Than are we , because your skin is " Smooth and glist ' nJug ? This advantage " Yo but Bharo with every serpent . " Human race , two-lcggdd serpents ! " Well I see tho reason why yo ¦*¦ ¦ " ' ? Brooches wear ; with foreign wool yo Hide your serpent-nakedness I " Children , guard yourselves against those " Hairless and misshapen creatures I 'My doar daughters , never jaxavry "Any monster that wears breeches t " More than this I'll not report now , How the boar in his wild mania For equality , kopt reasoning All about the human rocc . Theae two citations are duo to the celebrity of tjbis admirable poem , and to the poet . In the brief biography of him prefixed to this volume it ia stated that " when the private papers of Louis Philippe fell into the hands of the populace at the flack of the Tuileries , in February , 1848 , it was discovered that Heine had for many years enjoyed ayeneion of some £ 200 a year on the Oivil List . " Tliia is an anecdote honourable to the schoolmaster monarch , and speaks strongly in favour of his literary judgment . Had Uo but been something more

      We must give yet another extract from the same poem , showing how the lower animals complain of the tyranny of man . The satire is exquisite —though intensely German—and the irony profound : — - Tn the cavern , by his young ones , Sick at heart , upon his back lies Atta Troll , while thoughtful sucks he At his paws , and sucks , and growls : " Mumma , Mumma , s-warthy jewel , " Whom I out of life ' s wide ocean " Once did fish , in life ' s wide ocean " Once again I now have lost thee ! " Shall I ne ' er again behold thee , " Qr beyond the grave p ' rhaps only , " Where , set free from earthly trammels , ¦ " Thy dear soul is glorified ? . . . " Would that I , alas , could once more " Lick thy well-beloved muzzle , " My dear Mumma , which bo sweetly " Stroked me over , as with honey ! " Would that I again could snuffle ' That sweet smell , thy own peculiar , " O my dear and swarthy Mumma , " Charming as the scent of roses ! " But , alas ! my Mumma ' s pining " In the fetters of those rascals , " , the name of men adopting , " Deem themselves creation ' s masters . " Death and hell ! These men unworthy , " Aristocracy ' s arch emblems , " Look down on the an * mal kingdom " Proudly and disdainfully ,

      than a mere schoolmaster ! Better then it might have been for him and France . But who knows ?

      Richard Feverel. A History Of Father And...

      RICHARD FEVEREL . A History of Father and Sod . By George Meredith . In 3 vpls . Chapman arid Hall . " The Ordeal of Richard Feverel" ean be- designated less as a novel than as a philosophical criticism upon the various methods of educating children . Education is perhaps one of the most difficult sciences in the world ; not because it is difficult to brin » out the minds of the young , but because it is so difficult to discover whether or not you are leading i t in the right direction . And , moreover , it carries with it so grave a responsibility that no one who is not certain of his capabilities to instruct and pniiVtoen . ' ouffht to take upon himself the task of

      leading forth the bud with the flower . The ordeal of Richard Feverel is the story of a mistaken system of education . Deserted—when his child is in its infancy—by a wife of whom he was dotingly fond , Sir Austin Feverel forms unto himself a system of education for his only son , which he supposes will enable him to escape from the vices and temptations of the world . Not even from his earliest infancy does " the system" work well ; when he is a child he is wild , wilful , wayward , unapproachable ; when he is fourteen he Ls almost transported in consequence of his desire for deadly revenge . Feeling insulted by his father ' s

      request to strip before the doctor , in order that he may be examined as to any ailment which may affect his future prospects , he sallied forth ^ upon a hunting expedition with one of his friends . Shooting a partridge belonging to a neighbouring farmer , he is horsewhipped by this injured worthy , and—wailed and breathing deadly enmity—he departs to meditate upon future vengeance , lie falls unluckily enough upon a man who is out of work , and for " consideration" this unfortunate is persuaded to set fire to one of Farmer , li . laize ' s hayricks—Farmer Blaize being the enemy .. In the course of the evening , therefore , the farmer ' s hay

      goes " to blazes ; " and the boys , unconscious that Sir Austin sees theiii and overhears their conversation , stand flattening their noses against the window-panes , enjoying tlie fun . Ultimately , of course , the boy is detected—has to beg-pardon ,, and the affair is cleared tip , although poor Tom Bakewell stands a very good chance of being transported for life . At length , after many minor episodes , the lad marries at nineteen a heroine of eighteen ; and after a three months' honeymoon subsides into a careless , reckless , man about town . He has married without his father ' s consent , and leaving his spouse in the Isle of Wight , he comes up to London to obtain his father ' s forgiveness .

      The " system " now begins to work . Somehow or another his father has some crotchetty idea that ho ought to be left to himself for some time , and accordingly , for about nine months , Mr . Richard Feverel is left to his own resources in the great metropolis , awaiting in unx ions suspense his futfior ' s coming . In hw London experiences he meets with certain bland and easy gentlewomen , who bestow their favours upon the first handsome man they meet , and falls in love , as lie supposes , with one ot them . The result of this is that no disgraces himself- —is ashamed to go home to his wife—rambles about with his inamorata ; and at length , upon learning that a man has desired to seduce his wife , hts duel

      returns homo to say good-bye , ami fig a . His wife dies of brain fever , and he is left to tho reader ' s imagination . The story , although it continues throughout to be wild , fantastic , and in Home degree enervating , is not without its moral or its purpose . But wo doubt if young people will read it . Although it begins hopefully , it ends too disastrousl y' Through tho mist of morbidity and gloom which pervades the commencement wo seem to recognise " a good time coming ; " but when we come to the end we are unnecessarily and wofully disappointed . George Meredith can write well and conceive grandly , bxit he has yet to learn to correct , or at any rato to conceal , his eccentricities .

      Qoethe*A Faust, With Critical And Explun...

      Qoethe * a Faust , with Critical and ExplunatoryiNotes , By G . G . 25 erfltt , Ph . Dr . Sbnpkln , Marshall and Co The note ' s to this edition of " Vaust" will bo found extremely useful . The annotator has rightly aimed at the explanation of grammatical & idiomatic difficulties , and has endeavoured to point out the many hidden allusions with which the work abounds , and which are tho source oi' so much of its supposed obscurity . We may add , in his own words , that ' Sketches are given hero and thcro of German life

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 2, 1859, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02071859/page/18/