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16 Cfie - .&**»*?? . [SATOttPA* *
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HOLIDAY 1JOOKH. For Koine years there li...
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Bennett's poems^ Poems. By "W. C. Bennet...
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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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"Mbrkland" And "Eastbury." Merkland. A S...
and we shall come to the beginning sooner than We shall to the end . ' " Miss Lloyd laughed good humouredly : indeed , she never got through half a dozen sentences without a laugh : it had been her chief amusement all her life long , and had kept her in health and spirits under a variety of circumstances which would have crushed a less buoyant nature . She had the kindest heart in the world , and the most notable fingers : with a real genius for receipts and
remedies , that delighted in nothing so mtfoh as to give illnesses with good things , and cure them with detestable ones . Before her guests could remonstrate , she had dived into a cupboard , full to the brim with old china and preserves , and covered the little ^ table with homemade cakes and marmalade , and fruit , and raspberry vinegar , and currant wine , and pressed these luxuries on them with such earnestness and anxiety , they were forced to accept , whether agreeable or not , the stream of conversation flowing on the while . to think about this terrible
" ' Well , my dears , only fire ! Shocking , wasn ' t it ? And so unexpectedly too , added she ( as if fires ever came by appointment ); ' yet I won ' t say that , for it was somehow expectedyou'll laugh , Miss Julia , when I tell you — but the moment they began to meddle with that fire-engine said I to David , " Take my word for it , Davy , " I said , " shall hear of somebody burnt to night " These ttere my identical words , as he'll tell you—I was sure of it : the engine had been left quiet all this time , and not a stick caught fire ; but directly it was pulled about we had half a dozen cottages blazing at once . ' "
But , although Easlburi / gives evidence of talent , it also gives evidence of insufficient culture . In a second attempt , we counsel Miss Drury to restrain her religious tendencies within a healthier , truer sphere , and to confine herself to the observation and pourtrayal of country life as it is . A little rigour also should be exercised upon her style ; such words as " visioning" may be tolerated in what Disraeli wittily calls the American language , and " talented " will do for those " geniussed " gentlemen who write with ease , and are read with extreme difficulty ; but they do not greatly adorn English composition .
In all respects , as we said , Merkland is very superior to the tale we have placed beside itsuperior , indeed , to the vast majority of novels . It seems to us many a long day since we read a work of such unmistakeable power and eloquence ; and we scarcely know where to point , out of Scott , to such a portrait as that of the descendant of the " Black Douglas" : a fine , stern , prejudiced , loving , independent old woman , with such strength of
character that her prejudices and failings only seem to give her the extra charm of being thoroughly human . For it is perfectly true what Quintilian says about our delighting in the very faults of some people , while the virtues of others are distasteful to us ; and Mrs . Catherine Douglas , with her national feelings , her scorn of the Southron and foreigner , and her stern , peremptory manner , only becomes more delightful the more we know of her .
There is a slowness in the movement of the story , and a want of novelty and verisimilitude in the story itself , which will prevent this work achieving the success it deserves ; but the hand which drew Mrs . Catherine and , in a lower order , Marjory Falconer , Christian Lilie , and Mrs . Ross will surely one day redeem its noble promise . The style is admirable ; full of vigour , breadth , and poetic grace . Some of the scene-paintings show a faculty of expression which belongs only to poetic minds . To tell you the story would be to create a false impression of the book . The story is the least attractive part ; but it is the vehicle of fine things , which ia what Bayes , in the Rehearsal , declares to be the true aim and purpose of a plot .
16 Cfie - .&**»*?? . [Satottpa* *
16 Cfie - . &**»*?? . [ SATOttPA *
Holiday 1jookh. For Koine Years There Li...
HOLIDAY 1 JOOKH . For Koine years there lias been a decided and healthy reaction in favour of those fairy tales and imaginative works for children which had been banished for " useful information" and " moral " tales . Mr . Cundall the publisher has been active in this cause , and has produced a great variety ol charming works—old and new for the inexhaustible delight of" Young Kngland . The love of " facts " is less ' encouraged than the exercise of the imagination and emotions , —and are not , they " facts " ? Knowledge ¦ * ' useful " or otherwise—is as nothing in the culture of the mind compared with the active development , of the faculties . In some exquisite verses Voltaire has pleaded for fairy tales :---" On u hmini le . s demons vt 1 < h ( 6 t >» ; . Sous l ; i raison 1 « ' » (/ ihcch Moufh ' si'H Livrent iion < umuh a l'iiiKipidiu * ; ] , <• iniaoiiiur trint . « 'ilient ^ ' acnrodil . c ; On court , ht'las , <( pr ' ti id vt ' rift ] : Ah ! c . roijvz-ntoi I ' urrcur a , so ) i tiuUilc !" Krror has its merits when the error is f . he wandering of capricious fancy , and not the wandering of reason . Besides , imauination haw its truths and
its logic as well as reason . Who shall say , for example , that Mr . Rashkin ' s new fairy tale , The King of the Golden River ( Smith and Elder ) , is not as true as a cyclopaedia ? Quite a dainty book it is , with many illustrations by Richard Doyle ( not among his best , by the way ) , and as delightful to us " elders " as to the young . The scene is laid ik Styria—wild and enchanting . The actors are three brothers , and two gentlemen of a supernatural order . The brothers , Hans and Schwartz , are griping , brutal , avaricious fellows , who treat their cadet Gluck like a juvenile Cinderella ; but his kindness and tenderness meet with the reward ,
while his brothers reap what they sow . There is a true legendary tone sounding through the whole The South-West Wind is capital ; and the description of the three perilous ascents up the mountains to the Golden River is written with a fairy quill . The story itself , the beautiful writing , and the pleasant unforced moral will make this book an universal favourite . If Richard Doyle has not equalled himself in the illustrations , he has surpassed all forerunners in his Jack and the Giants ( Cundall and Addey ) the most
imaginative and artistic representation of those giants who thrilled our youth . Not in mere sizethough that is well -indicated— -but in the heavy limbs and lumpish faces do we recognize the veritable bulky brutes whom Jack destroyed . Look at that monster with two heads , or look at that grand and gloomy figure reclining on the rock , dwarfing the trees , and ask yourself whether Richard Doyle must not be lineally descended from the very youth that slew the giants , and has had handed down to him the very awe and thrill which first shook the nerves of his ancestor .
In a very different style is Mrs . Myrtle ' s Pleasures of the Country ( Cundall and Addey ) , a series of pleasant simple stories , relating to rural delights , with eight illustrations by Gilbert . The stories are charmingly told , and we observe that they please " mama" almost as much as the children . The Professor ' s Wife ( J . W . Parker ) is one of Berthold Auerbach ' s felicitous tales which depict German life more truthfully than those of any other writer . What a dear simple soul is Lorlie , the landlord's daughter 1 And how well matched with that
young artist whom she marries and follows to court ! No , not well matched ; for now her trials begin , and she reads a bitter chapter in the book of life . Her ignorance , which was a charm in the Black Forest , becomes a disgrace in a city . She is out of her element among her husband ' s friends . He perceives it ; his love declines ; he runs into dissipation ; leaves his wife to her lonely sorrow , and finally obliges her to quit him for ever , and carry her wounded heart back again to her quiet village home . Truth , simplicity , and pathos give this little book a rare excellence .
Let us also recommend for its pleasant writing and healthy moral Miss Maceroni ' s Magic Words ( Cundall and Addey ) , with capital lithographs by Wehnert . For younger children the two volumes of prose and verse , Christmas Berries , and Silver Blossoms ( Dean and Son ) , may also be recommended ; while our young ladies , fluent in their French , will be pleased with the pretty Almanack des Dames et des Demoiselles ( W . Jeffs ) , and its varied illustrations , and with the Almanack des Fleurs ( W . Jeffs ) , and its instructions in the language of flowers .
JJut , for a real treasury of amusement , to be thumbed by incessant relays of devouring readers , Merry Talcs for Little Folk ( Cundall and Addey ) is the best . It is a collection the most various , from " This is the House that Jack Built , " to the wonders of l ' errault , Madame D'Aulnoy , and Grimm . The story of the " Three Bears" is taken from the Doctor ; the tstory of the " Ugly Duck and the Kleven Wild Swans from Andersen ; while "Jack and the Bean Stalk , " " Beauty and the Beast , " ct id omnc genus , are always welcome . More than a hundred illustrations enrich this glorious little book , which , by the way , we have the greatest ; difficulty in borrowing from its readers in the nursery for the purposo of this notice !
Having disposed of amusement , let us now say a word on Mr . Gleig ' s School Scries ( Longman and Co . ) , the first hook . of which is a " History of Kngland , " and which will he followed by otheix if t . he present succeed . It is , in many respects , an excellent child ' s history , written so as to engage attention , and fix the subject in the memory . The plan is this : the first fifty pages are written in words of one syllable ; throughout the next fifty the longest word eoinprines only two HyllableH ; and so on at a progressive luto till , in the closing
chapters , the language is such aer it usually is in popular works . This is somewhat needlessly executedwhat is the use , for example , of dividing such words as " info /* " other , " " seven , " and so on , to make them monosyllables ; thus — " in-to , " oth-er , " " sev-en" ? But there is one point ia Mr . Gteig ' s book which introltes far more serious charges . At page 3 O 6 there is a table , illustrating the Descent of Heary IV ., with the reference { see page 56 ) . On referring to page 56 , we find nothing whatever ahout Henry IV . Is it a misprint ? By no means . For on turning to the little Outlines of
History , published by J . W . Parker , under the Direction of the Committee of General Literature and Education for Promoting Christian Knowledge , we find this very table , and that bears the reference to page 56 ! The six tables printed at the end of Mr . Gleig ' s History are taken verbatim from this Outlines » f History , and taken without a word of acknowledgment ! What the etiquette of Literature may have to say to such appropriations is one thing ; but we cannot help noticing the susp icion which Mr . Gleig thus draws upon his book by so careless a procedure , as not even to alter the reference so as to make it available to his own pages . For school-books accuracy is the first of qualities . ,
Bennett's Poems^ Poems. By "W. C. Bennet...
Bennett ' s poems ^ Poems . By "W . C . Bennett . Chapman and Hall How is a man to know that he is not a poet born ? In these days , when thousands have the " accomplishment of verse , " and write better poems than two-thirds of what finds its place amidst those dreary volumes of British Poets " which no gentleman ' s library should be without , "—when reasonable versification , pretty images , and quaint conceits come at bidding , and men write poems really not unreadable nor uncommendable , —how is the ambitious youth to know whether he is one the thousand , or one in a thousand ? He writes , and admires what he writes ; nay , more—he gets admiration from others ; for , as Boileau said of his day , " Ainsi qu ' en sots auteurs Notre sicde est fertile en sots admirateurs !" and a select circle of friends , with here and there an obliging critic , crown the aspirant with bays . How , we repeat , is the self-interrogating author to decide upon his own claims , if he happen to be modest enough to suspect them ? The question is not easy to answer ; but nothing is much more certain to our minds than that , in the present day , no poet could pass unperceived , and that , unless he speedily produce an effect ; unless his verses live in the memory , " Etpar le prompt effet d ' un sel rejouissant Devenir quelquefois proverbes en naissant ;" unless he is quoted and talked of when not actually in court , so to speak ( and there is no such compliment as quotation—it outweighs tons of eulogy ) , he may rest assured that he is either behind or before his age—the latter a most unlikely case ! The volume of verse before us has suggested these remarks . Mr . Bennett has a very respectable talent for writing verse ; but he is unquestionably one of the thousand . He writes well enough to make it an elegant amusement for himself , but his lines will never live in the memory of his contemporaries . There is one poem in the collection which is worth volumes of the rest , simply because it is the expression of real feeling and real observation . We have so often insisted on the idleness of men ' s " ( snatching their subjects out of the air , " instead of re-shaping their experience in forms of beauty , that we need not again recur to it ; but we may point to the following poem in confirmation : — " llAfiY MAY . " Cheeks at ) soft as July peaches ; Ijipti wIiohc tlewy hcuiIiI lenehcH l ' o |)| ii < 'H | i ; ilt'iM'ns ; round Itir /^ tt tnjt's liver grtul with new . surjiiisi : ; Minutes tilled will hli . ulclc 8 : i i'I . kIiicsh ; MiniiUiH jiint at ) brimmed with huiIudhh ; Happy Miiilt'H and \ viiilinf £ cries ; drown mid lanolin and tearful ( -yen ; I . i ^ liti * and shadows , Hwil ' ter home , 'Than on windnwrpt . AuUimn corn ; Kver lioini ! new tiny notion . Milking every limit nil motion ( CutchiiiH'tt uI * "I l''K and mum ; ThrowiiiK'ti back and i-mull uIiuiiih ; ( 'luteliinfj jhiu ^ m ¦ slriti » hleiiiv < j jerks ; 1 'wining feet whust ) e . aeh toe works ; Kie . kiu ^ s itp and stininitiff rising * ; MoI . Iici ' h ever-new Mirpriidiifrti ; I limits nil tennis and looks , all wonder Al all tliin ^ H the heaveim under ;
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 4, 1851, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04011851/page/16/
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