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134 * &|J * Qcahtr. [Saturday,
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We have treated you to no " gossip" this...
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In Germany there is one healthy symptom ...
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There is never any danger of the French ...
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MUBE'S LITERATURE OF GREECE. A Critical ...
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MADAME PULSZKY'S HUNGARY. Memoirs of a H...
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Carlyle's Stump Orator Will Probably Exa...
we cannot overlook . We mean the new number of The British Quarterly Review and its article on Socialism . Some of our readers , perhaps , never see that Review , which is more the organ of advanced thought than any of its rivals . It is also the organ of the philosophic Nonconformists ; and as such , people who do not read it assume it to be seotarian . This is by no means the case . With distinct and consistent views of religion it unites the most enlarged and' liberal views of Science , Literatureand Politics . Headers of the Leader
, who respect every variety of sincere conviction will appreciate the earnest and tolerant spirit of this Review . We particularly t refer them to the very masterly article , Recent Aspects of Socialism , as distinguished for its grasp of the subject , lucidity of exposition , and philosophic tone . Considering the quarter from which the Review emanates , we may assert that Socialism has received no more d
valuable ally . Indeed as everything in Englan goes by " respectability , " it is not a little cheering to see the progress which Socialism is making among our most respectable classes . It is no longer possible to " pooh , pooh V that which our philosophic publicists , our energetic clergy , our deepest-thinking Dissenters , our wealthiest industrialists , and even our Tory organs , unite in declaring to be the grand question of the day .
134 * &|J * Qcahtr. [Saturday,
134 * &| J * Qcahtr . [ Saturday ,
We Have Treated You To No " Gossip" This...
We have treated you to no " gossip" this week j for the best of reasons . We hear no literature talked of . The Paris elections occupy men ; and womenat least in fashionable circles—have no novel or poem so interesting as the romances of real life , among which are Prince Albert op Prussia ' s marriage with Theresa El . ssl . er , and the approaching marriage of General . Cabrera with Miss Richards—the heiress , a Miss Coutts on a smaller scale . London is desperately in want of a " sensation . "
In Germany There Is One Healthy Symptom ...
In Germany there is one healthy symptom : they can still laugh at their own follies . If the fun be not of the most intensely humorous or spirituel order , it is at any rate enough to relax their gravity , and give their metaphysic-oppressed bosoms the breathing-room of a laugh . Yes , in spite of Berlin , Vienna , Frankfort , and Erfurt , the Germans can still laugh . There is Meissner , the author of Ziska , who now laughs at his countrymen in a poem called Der Sohn des Atta Troll—a continuation o £ the famous and ail-too hilarious Atta
Troll of the incomparable Heine . In it the Parliament at Frankfort is ridiculed unsparingly , and its statesmen , its " besten Manner" its " Vertrauungsvollen" its romanticists , and its constitutionspinners , pass over the scene in comic exaggeration . But there is a stifled sob heard occasionally amid the laughter . The lips smile , but the eye is moist . A certain lyric gusto and lyric melancholy , peculiar to Heine , is traceable in Meissner ' s work .
Count Auersperg—known under his poetic title as Anastasius Grun , comes forth with a new poem called Der Pfaffi vom Kahlenberge . Some years ago we saw the first three cantos of this poem in manuscript , and the exquisite beauty of its landscapes , together with the noble thoughts expressed , make us curious to see the whole . He is the first of the modern poets in respect of genuine poetic afflatus .
There Is Never Any Danger Of The French ...
There is never any danger of the French forgetting how to laugh ; the danger is rather the other way ; their excessive susceptibility to the ridiculous needs rather repressing than cultivating . It is not a good trait in them that they have been the first to ridicule their own heroisms . If they are now ashamed of the ridicule thrown upon Joan of Arc , the spirit which prompted it remains . Only last week , Scribe delighted Paris with a buffoonery on Heloise . He has written a comedie-vaudeville called Abvlarde et Heloise j and although the real Abelard and Heloise are not the actors therein , it is their tragic story which is laughed at .
Lucikn dr la Hoddr has published his bulky diatribe against the republicans , Histoire des Society Secretes et dtt , Parti Republican de 1830-1848 , in the preface to which he naively says , that he " means not to insult but to treat as they deserve , ** the factious Republicans . It abounds in scandal , and is written in the approved style . To
all les bien peasants these revelationswill , doubtless , be very satisfactory . For ourselves , in wading through the studied insults , foolish lies , and perpetual aspersion of motives which this police-spy has gathered into a volume with all the outward professions of historical and moral dignity , we could not help the reflection that this style was
very like what we had been accustomed to in Tory journals , periodicals , and treatises . Had we not known the infamous character of the author , we should have supposed he belonged to that generous and amiable party which admits no difference of opinion to proceed from honest conviction , but brands as " the doctrine of barricades " all serious desire to remedy existing evils . Lamartine has published his Toussaint
Louverture , with a preface , in which he tells us that it was not meant as a drama , " it was a political act , it was a cry of Humanity—in five acts , and in verse "—an anticlimax which will make the reader smile . Indeed , the whole preface will do that ; especially the eulogium on booksellers . A new novel by Jules Janin , called La Religieuse de Toulouse , has just appeared : it is said to be his most careful work ; but the best " romans" J . J . will ever write are those inimitable feuilletons with which he makes Monday ' s D & bats a paper not to be missed .
Mube's Literature Of Greece. A Critical ...
MUBE'S LITERATURE OF GREECE . A Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece . By William Mure of Caldwell . 3 vols . Long-man and Co . The history of Greek Literature is a subject more than any other to task the scholarship and fine taste of the writer who should undertake it ; and as the requisite erudition rarely accompanies the requisite artistic powers of appreciation and composition , it is a subject which still , after so many ambitious efforts , awaits the proper treatment . Colonel Mure has undertaken the task , and his first instalment of three
goodly volumes lies before us . " In every work regard the writer ' s end ; " canon is excellent if criticism applies itself solely to the author , but where the public has to be considered the canon must be set aside . As " tasters " for the public , we have to inquire how far the " writer ' s end " can fulfil the public wants . Such is eminently the case with a grave and expensive work like the present . A whole number of our journal would scarcely suffice for a thorough criticism ; a few paragraphs will put our readers in possession of that information they may desire before determining upon the purchase of the work .
The Critical History of Greek Literature has certain merits of its own , and will be read with some interest by the small section of mankind indulging in "learned leisure ; " for it treats with great amplitude of detail and with no superficial hasty erudition , of topics eternally interesting , Homer and the Lyric Poets . But in no sense of the word is it a popular book . Here we note the main defect . It is not of that calibre which will assure it a high reputation among scholars and critics ; nor of that concentrated , clear , and graphic character which can adapt it to the needs of the general public . It is a carefull 3 ' -written ,
respectable book ; a labour of love , not a work of power . Colonel Mure has studied the subject with exemplary diligence . But although devoting nearly two-thirds of the work to Homer , and principally to the settlement of the " Wolfian" controversy , respecting the " unity " of composition , he has , to our apprehension , left the subject precisely where he found it , and we have learned absolutely nothing from his elaborate investigation . Compared with the chapter in Mr . Grote ' s History of Greece , where the same topic is handled , Colonel Mure ' s discussion is not more remarkable for its want of force than for
the inordinate space devoted to it . What , we ask , is to be the voluminousness of a History of Greek Literature when three volumes are needed for Homer and the earlier Lyric Poets ? Upon this scale three volumes at least will be needed for the dramatists , two for the historians and bclle-lcttrists , and how many for the Alexandrian , and Byzantine writers ? We do not grumble at this extent as objectionable in itself , wo merely suggest that to warrant such voluminousness in these days , there must be some considerable qualities : encyclopediacal extent must
at least show encyclopediacal fulness . This fulness Colonel Mure ' s work does not promise . To test him by the portion on which he has bestowed his strength , the Homeric question , we emphatically say , that while his own views are stated with an amplitude and iteration enough to exhaust the subject , he nowhere states , with the precision and amplitude necessary to a fair conduct of the inquiry , the arguments by which those who hold the adverse opinion support that opinion ; nor indeed , to speak plainly , do we feel convinced that he himself lias ever thoroughly mastered those arguments .
Take the book as the lucubrations of a scholarly and ingenious gentleman of an independent mind , thoroughly honest and straightforward , and if German works are unknown or inaccessible to you , this will be gratefully accepted . The author treats first of the Mythical Period , and the early history of the Greek Language . Then , passing to Homer , he examines the " Homeric question , " and illustrates the unity of the poems by external and internal evidences , in the course of which the characters , style , action , divine mechanism , ethical doctrines , and dramatic
treatment are displayed at great length . Herein he presents us with an agreeable but somewhat desultory criticism , showing great love of , and familiarity with the two great epics , but not showing any remarkable subtlety or novelty of view . Colonel Mure is rather a dissertator than a critic ; and as a dissertator he is diffuse and conventional . The Cyclic Poets—Hesiod—and the "
miscellaneous epic poetry of the period , " form the succeeding chapters . The Lyric Poets and the early history of writing in Greece occupy the third volume . The best portion of this volume is , perhaps , the chapter on Sappho , which , although of little value as a critu cism , is interesting as an inquiry into her moral worth and social position . Contravening the arguments by which German writers have endeavoured to exalt her into a model of purity , he establishes
very satisfactorily that Sappho was not only a woman of luxurious and even licentious habits , but unequivocally held the position of a courtezan . He does not , however , state with sufficient distinctness the great varieties which the Greek grouped under the one general term of Hetairse—a term embracing as many classes as our term mistress . To call Aspasia
or Sappho a courtezan , is almost as incorrect as to call a Lady A . a " cyprian , " because she openly lives with Lord B . or Sir Harry C . The only distinction between the ancient and the modern woman here , is that . the Hetairae were educated at Lesbos and Miletus expressly for the profession . Are not ours educated to catch a husband ?
In conclusion we ase disposed to recommend the work to students and scholars , warning the general reader that it is wanting somewhat in beauty of style , clearness and symmetry of arrangement , depth and delicacy of criticism . Its merits are prodigality of details , conscientious citation and research , admirable tone and temper in differing from the opinions of others , and modest candour in advancing its own views . It is the work of a scholar and a gentleman , not a pedant : that is its charm .
Madame Pulszky's Hungary. Memoirs Of A H...
MADAME PULSZKY ' S HUNGARY . Memoirs of a Hungarian Lady . By Theresa Pulszky . "With an Historical Introduction , by Francis Pulszky . H . Colburn Theresa Pulszky is the daughter of a Viennese banker . Her husband , Francis Pulszky , is a Hungarian gentleman ; he had from his youth taken an active interest in national politics ; and in the recent war for national independence , he took an active share . The two volumes before us will carry some knowledge of Hungarian affairs into quarters which more complete and grave historical essays would
fail to attain . The contents may be divided into four parts—an historical retrospect by Francis Pulszky ; a glance at Hungarian life by the authoress , before the war ; the personal adventures of the authoress , in her attempts to rejoin her husband ; and the historical events of the last two years . His fourth section is connected and complete , and it may be considered on the Hungarian side , at least , as being the most correct narrative that has yet appeared . On the whole , however , it does not tell much that is iin <» r % r * A + li / -v nrwTr * r > + ir \ na urViinVl it . flirfllSnflS QT 6 Ol newand the corrections which it furnishes are of
; the less interest , since the opinion of the Eng lish public , in the main , comes very close to the one which is suggested by the perusal of the work . The trnnsparent good faith of the authoress does not defend her , we suspect , from some inevitable transgressions of fact in allusions to the enemies of her country . The estimate which she forms of Jellachich appears to bo inconsistent with his actual achievements ; and his position in the imperial councils and the traits of unofficerlike conduct
imputed to the gentlemen of the Austrian army , are perfectly incredible of any number of men wearing the sword . What fell more immediately within her own knowledge , Madame Pulszky relates with the unaffected perspicuity of a woman and thp con centruterl discrimination , of u practical politician . Viewed , therefore , as a rapid glance ut Hungaiian
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 4, 1850, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04051850/page/14/
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