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^ HIE LEABBB, * [No. 276,BATORPAg,
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<*»ll^. Xa* «* i/tt^rEiul^ * -*•. ¦¦ ¦¦
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Critics sreraot the legislators, but the...
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Madame Emujs dk GutATtDTsr, -whose grace...
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The other day we had to claim for our pe...
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Passing from Magazines to Reviews, wo fi...
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
^ Hie Leabbb, * [No. 276,Batorpag,
^ HIE LEABBB , * [ No . 276 , BATORPAg ,
≪*»Ll^. Xa* «* I/Tt^Reiul^ * -*•. ¦¦ ¦¦
tmtr nw .
Critics Sreraot The Legislators, But The...
Critics sreraot the legislators , but the judges arxdpelice of Uterature They do not ni & ke 4 aws—tney interpret and try to enforce them . — Edinburgh Review .
Madame Emujs Dk Gutattdtsr, -Whose Grace...
Madame Emujs dk GutATtDTsr , -whose graceful pen and varied talents have been thoroughly appreciated in England 5 who , as DixrarsrE Gax , made Byron read her verses , and , as the writer of La Joie fait Pew , made audiences sob and laugh-with her more -truly and more heartily tkan any dramatist of the day ; whose Causeries Parisiennes will remain when much oioisy literature is silent—Madame Dje Gibabdin is dead ! She had beauty , wit * poetry , goocl sense , savoir-vivre , and power of attaching numerous Mends . Her loss will be deplored in France as the loss of a public favourite . In England , her loss vulSL be felt as the loss of a rare
and aecompKBhed writer . She had essayed her talent in various directions , and had finally , as we believe ; after many tentatives , found her true vein , ¦ wliich was ihe drama , Cleopatra has merit , Lady Tartufe shows dramatic genius beginning to feel its strength , but Lu Joie fait Peur is a masterpiece , whichTn one little act shows greater power than any five acts produced this century . Death , always saddening , even , when it closes a career accomplished , is still more mournful when it cuts short a career still in progress . Madame Dn' GnsAKMN , though no longer young in years , was young in intellect , in vigour , in originality . And now she is gone , carrying with her all those-fine powers * and the sweet affections which made her powers
finer ! We cannot terminate this brief notice of Tier better than by quoting one of her delicate and subtle sayings . Parting , she said , was more painful than absence , because " dans les adieux Vavenir c'est se quitter : dans Vabsence Faventr est se revoir . "
The Other Day We Had To Claim For Our Pe...
The other day we had to claim for our periodicals a richness and variety surpassing those of France ; and the somewhat laborious course we have this week made through the batch of Magazines and Reviews produced by hot Jiily , has reassured us that the claim was well-founded . It is no slight labouj for a reviewer with a conscience to go through the periodicals heaped upon his table . Not that the periodicals are heavy or uninviting , but the mass is oppressive ; the mind is distracted by the variety of small subjects from which it has to pass without pause ; just as a picture-gallery is so inexpressibly fatiguing from the constant strain of attention on fluctuating subjects . Had one nothing else to do , no other graver works mutely and powerfully soliciting attention , the leading of these Magazines , one af ter the other , would be a fatigue ; and having this other labour on hand , Magazines , it may be- imagined , are more welcome to the public than to the oppressed critic . Nevertheless O . C . must dismiss personal considerations , must sacrifice himself to an impatient public , and report as faithfully as if he did
it cheerily . Fraser opens with an admirable description of the ascent of Mont Blanc written by Mr . Fxotd , who accompanied Albert Smith in that ascent which the public seems never tired of hearing described . There is also a review of Stdnet Smith ' s life written hy Kingsuey , worthy of the subject and the writer . A pleasant paper on the Drama ; a sketch of Wagner ' s operas , which are now much talked of ; and an important paper on the " English Press and the American Republic , " by Chabxjss Bkistejd , who temperately and seriously lectures our journalists for the tone so constantly adopted by them . The Americans , foe says , are sensitive , and their sensitiveness is unlike that of the French ; it is not quick to take offence at personal rudeness , but is very quick at interpreting a paragraph into an insult . Mr . Bjusted says : —
On the other hand , the American attaches an . extraordinary importance to whatever appears in print , and especially in . widely circulated print , lite the columns of a newspaper . He is not always critical to discriminate the value of the source wlienae the praise or censure proceeds ; it is enough for him that it circulates . Much elated by praise , he is correspondingly annoyed by blame . This fact explains in . a great meoauro the inferiority of American literary criticism , such criticism being at a discount , because when honestly exorcised it almost inevitably leads to personal squabbles . It also goes far to account for the influence -wielded by some of the American doily papers , on influence of which we should vainly seek the explanation , eitkor in the literary merit of their articles or the personal cliaoactor of the conductors . Moat of the scandalous papers in England have died out , not because their proprietors were perpetually cowhided or perpetually prosecuted , but because the public refused to patronize them . In America the convicted libeller pays his costs and damages out of the increased circulation which the notoriety of a conviction procures for liim ; and
the thrashing received in Ms own person , or vicariously in that of one of his reporters acts as a reclame for his journal . The suit and the assault are testimonial ) of the highest kind to his powers of annoyance * And thus the Barnard Gregory of New York * becomes a candidate for a foreign mission , and the Alderman Harmar of ISTassau ^ street actually obtains a seat in Congress . But , it may bo asked , is not a oonsitiveness \ yhich leads to such results highly reprohonsible ? That is not the paint now under discussion . Reprehensible or not , wo And the sentiment existing , and its existence must be taken into account in dealing with the people among whom it p revails . Moreover , this sentiment is aggravated tenfold by an unfortunate contrast between » peculiarity of tho English intellect and a peculiarity of the American apprebensioOr The cultivated English mind delights in banter , in that species of saucy but no 4 . fnalpyolen . t raillery which popularly denominates itself chaffy and whicli does not ""^ fWJftftfcfooply & ny wont of respect or eatecin foe tho object of it , thougli its form •^ Wetter ? acftim . ything but respectful . Wliat English writers Wo to boast ofiis unaaiwihiyi ^ rtMf ^— ^ in if tl'oy » -y « r « iHo this proppnuity on their own affaira and inutitu ^ tione ctuite as unsparingly as they do on thoeo of foreigners . They oreaa critical on
themselves as on other people . The misfortune is , however , that . other , people do not always understand it so well , ami of ell people the worst Jo understand it . me the Americans- They are too serious and earnest to take chaff at ita just value and meaning . It is not within their comprehension that a paragrapnist can quiz an individual or make fun of * a nation without entertaining aa intense personal or political enmity to him-or it . . Such being the temper of our American brethren , it is surely a most unwise thing in journalists to disregard this temper , and , by so disregarding it , to provoke a feeling of enmity where alliance is on every ground desirable : and we hope Mr . Bbistb 3 >' s paper way help to repress the
thoughtless sarcasm and inconsiderate criticism so frequent m English journals . Fraser has only one political paper , Blackwood three . The editor knows for whom he caters , so we will not venture to oflfer a renrark on this predominance of politics , accompanied as it is by four " continuations , " except that it reduces our notice of the Magazine to a few words . We have but two articles to specify : " Vernier , " a poem by E » wm Abncxld , and a review of the Rev . Frederick Maurice , written in a style of sarcastic levity and theological assumption , which is extremely offensive to all whom it does not delight . • * The Dublin University Magazine is various and entertaining . A good review of Sir George Grey ' s Polynesian Mythology is followed by a pleasant gossip on Sheridan , forming number six of the series of " The Dramatic Writers of Ireland . " A new anecdote about Shertdan is an
unexpected accession to our store ; here it is : — Holland ' s theatre , the handsomest in the kingdom , was destined to a short existence , being totally burnt down on the night of February 24 th , 1809 , when it had stood only fifteen years . The following authentic anecdote in connexion with the buildmg has not before , as we believe , appeared in print . Holland couldnever obtain a settlement or even an interview on the subject with Sheridan . He hunted him for weeks ami months at his own house , at the theatre , at his usual resorts ; but he was nowhere to be seen . At bast he tracked him to the atage-door , rushed in in spite of the opposition of the burly porter , and found the manager on the stage conversing with * party of gentlemen , whom he had invited to show them the theatre . Sheridan saw Holland approaching , and knowing that escape was this time impossible , put a bold face on the matter . " Ah ! my dear fellow , exclaimed he , " you are the very man I wanted
to see—yOU have come most apropos . I am truly sorry you have had the troublo of calling on me so often , but now we are met , in a few minutes 1 shall be at liberty : we will then go into my room together and settle our affairs . But first you must decide an important question here . Some of these gentlemen tell me there are complaints , and loud ones , that the transmission of sound is defective in your beautiful theatre—that , in fact , the galleries cannot hear at all—and that is the reason why they have become so noisy of late . "— " Sound defective ! not hear I" reiterated the astonished architect , turning pale , and almost staggering back ; " why , it is the most perfect building for sound that ever was erected ; I'll stake ray reputation on it , the complaint is most groundless . "— " So I say , " retorted Sheridan ; "but now we'll bring
the question to issue definitively , and then have a . paragraph or two in the papers . Do you , Holland , gotftnd place yourself at the back of the upper galLary , while I stand here on the stage and talk to you . "—" Certainly , " said Holland , " with the greatest pleasure . " A lantern was provided , with a trusty guide , and away went the architect through a labyrinth of dark and winding passages , almost a day ' s journey , until he reached his distant and elevated post . " Now , Mr . Holland , " cried Sheridan , " are you there and ready ?"—" Yes , " was the immediate answer . — " Can you hear me ?"" Perfectly , perfectly , Mr . Sheridan ! —" Then I wish you a very good morning . " So saying , Sheridan disappeared , and was two or three miles off before Holland could descend . Another long interval occurred tsre he was able to chase the fugitive to-bis lair again .
There is also a good anecdote of Abbott ' s presence of stage-rmnd under trying circumstances . The writer is speaking of the screen-scene in the School for Scandal : — A ludicrous incident occurred one evening in connexion with this scene , at the HawMns ' -street house , in Dublin , then under the management of William Abbott . When the screen was pulled down , Lady Teazle was not there , and thus the great point of the play was lost . She had gone into the green-room to gossip or rent herself , and calculated on being at her place in time . Before the house could recover from their astonishment ,. or evince disapprobation , Abbott , who played Charles Surface , and loved a jest , with great readiness added a word to the text , and exclaimed , " No Lady Teazle , by all that ' s wonderful ! " A roar of laughter followed , in the midst of which the fair absentee walked deliberately on , and placed herself in a proper position , as if nothing had happened . The article on " German Universities " will be read with interest , and indeed the whole number is worth reading .
Bentlcy ' s Miscellany , from having long been mere whipped cream in its levity , has become the most political of all the magazines , seven articles of the present number being devoted to politics or the war . Of literature there is Dotmuey Costj & l & o ' s story , " A British Nobleman in a Fix , " and a criticism by " Monkshood" on IjEtqh Hunt , written in a kindly appreciative spirit , but disfigured by an incontinence of quotations , scraps sometimes , as in the couplet from . Sojphoci . es , dragged in without any provocation- Quotation is a delicate and difficult art ; if " Monkshood " would strike out about one-ihalf of the passages he is tempted to quote , he would find the effect greatly enhanced .
Passing From Magazines To Reviews, Wo Fi...
Passing from Magazines to Reviews , wo first open tho Westminster , attracted by a name which has peculiar and inexhaustible interest to ua—Svinoza .. The article devoted to this grand Hebrew is without exception the very best essay we have read on his philosophy , forit manages to prcsont an exposition which is at once accurate , and easy of comprehension . No one in the least tinctured with metaphysical knowledge can fiuL to understand this outline of Stckobai ' s loading doctrines , an exposition 1 Which / is «* so criticism . There are points on which we differ from the essayist ; but there is nothing like misrepresentation in his exposition or hia criticism ; and
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1855, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071855/page/14/
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