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656 THE LEADE ft. [No. 276, Saturday,
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. A Historical and Cri...
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LA RISTORI.— MIRRA. (From a CorrespdncUn...
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.
The Monarchy Of France. The Monarchy Of ...
historiettes . " The revolution of 1789 , we are told , " could not have happened during the reign of Henry IT . or Louis XIV . ; they would have Crushed the dastards in the hud . " The fall of the monarchy " can only be attributed to his ( Louis XVI . ) being the most moral , liberal , and amiable sovereign the people of France ever possessed , and for that very reason he became an object of ferocious and virulent animosity , evoked by the convocation of the States-General , and their wilful misprision of their duty . On the other hand , we learn that Peter the Great spent forty-four days in Paris though we are left in ignorance as to whether he preferred the Jardin Mabil < Tor the Cirque Imperial . " As some evidence of the partial civilisation of the Gauls before Caesar ' s time , " we are assured that they bad river tolls , wbieh subsisted during many succeeding centuries . " It is equally instructive to know that " Gaul , from an early date , had afforded refuge to
some memorable exiles—to Herod Archelaus and Pontius Pilate , who com mitted suicide at Vienne , and to Herod Antipator , and Herodias , his wife , who died at Lyons ; " and that " Caesar ' s threefold partition of Gaul was not arbitrarily made by himself . " But it is painful to find in a would-be-philosophical history , written in the year 1855 , such exploded fables as the laconic letter of Francis I . after the battle of Pavia ; while James van Artevelde is still contemptuously styled " the brewer of Ghent , " though it has long since been clearly established that he was a man of noble family , and merely admitted as an honorary member of the Brewers' Guild . Then , Joan of Arc is represented as having been condemned to death as a witch , and not as a
victim to the jealousy of high churchmen . The battle of the Spurs , near Courtrai , is attributed to the English alone , whereas the victory was really due to the Flemings . And the Prince of Rohan is convicted of " having swindled the jewellers" in the affair of the diamond necklace , " at the instance of his profligate associates , under the pretence that he was commissioned by the Queen . " It is not , however , very wonderful that Mr . Tooke should occasionally mistake romance for History , seeing that he accepts the authority of novelists and dramatists . We have already noticed his reference to Mr . James on the subject of Philip Augustus . We now copy his note relative to the conquest of France by Henry V .:
—In corroboration of the details of the various battles between the French and the English , and of the names and actions of their warriors and commanders during this reign , we would , in legal phraseology , refer to the reports of Mr . William Shakespeare , temp . " Henry V . " and " 1 st Henry VI . " passim . Having given this specimen of Mr . Tooke ' s facetious style , we are bound to furnish an example of the didactic : The disgrace of this massacre should not altogether be charged on Charles IX . ; bat kings would escape censure if they -withheld their names from being implicated -with the atrocities of their advisers . Here is an illustration of the grandiloquent :
The following Christmas , this haughty Sicamber ( Clovis ) entered the piscina of the catechumens , and bending beneath the hand of the Bishop of Rheims , burnt all that he had worshipped , worshipped all that he had burnt , and was baptised with his family and his people . The Church gave forth a joyful cry , stretched out her hand to the king of the Franks , and proclaimed him her only faithful son amid all the monarchs of the "West . Of the familiar style we have two notable instances . Philip Augustus hastily returned to France after the siege of Acre , * ' leaving to Richard all the peril , as well as the glory and the damage , which that ill-fated enterprise entailed . " And aftev the battle of St . Quentin , on St . Lawrence ' s day , Philip was so elated by the victory , that he " caused his palace of the Escurial to be built in the shape of a gridiron , the article on which the saint" ( why not " that party ? " ) " suffered martyrdom . " We observe that the author has reserved to himself the right of translation . Surely , the precaution was unnecessary .
656 The Leade Ft. [No. 276, Saturday,
656 THE LEADE ft . [ No . 276 , Saturday ,
Books On Our Table. A Historical And Cri...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . A Historical and Critical Commentary on ifie Old Testament , With a New Translation . By M . Kalisch , Phil . Dr ., & c . ( Hebrew and English . ) London , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Ufe and System ofPestalozzi . By Karl von Rauraer . Translated from the German by J . Tilleard . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . A Selection from the Lesser Poems . By William Henry Lcatham . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Dante ? s Divine Comedy—Notes on the Translation . By C . B . Cayley , B . A . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . A Few Words About the Inmates of Our Union Workhouses .
Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . The English Cyclopaedia : a new Dictionary of Universal Knowledge , based on the Penny Cyclopaedia , Conducted by Charles Knight . ( Natural History and Geography , ( Part 27 . ) B radbury and Evana . The History of the Decline and Fall of tlie Roman Empire , By Edward Gibbon , Esq . With Notes l > y Dean Milman and M . Guizot , edited , with Additional Notes by William Smith , LL . D . ( Vol . VIII . ) John Murray ! Who ' s Who in 18 f > 5 ? Edited by C . H . Oakos , M . A . Dedicated , by permission , to her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland . Baily Brothers . Margaret Maitland , qfSunnyside . Written by Herself . Thomas Hodgson . The first two books of Hugo Grotinn , on the truth of the Christian Religion , literally translated into English . By « Graduate of the University of Cambridge .
Bennett ( Langport ) . Cossach Rule , and Russian Iii / luence , in Europe and over Germany : a few Notes and Suggestions for the Present Crisis . By Alexander Graham Dunlop . tTamoa Rid ( jvray . jBradshaw ' s Illustrated Guide through Paris and its Environs ; exhibiting , in a novel and comprehensive form , all that can be t > een , and how to see it . W . J . Adnms . The Art of Elocution , as ait essential part of Rhetoric : with instructions in Gesture , and an Appendix of Oratorical , Poetical , and Dramatic Extracts . By George Vandonhon " . Sampson Low and Son . A Few Words on Paper , Flax , Hemp , and Plantain Fibre , in which it is shown that large quantitios of' plantain fibra may be profitably obtained from the West Indies , especially from JJemerara , as substitutes forJlax , hemp ) and paper-making materials . Thomas Bosworth .
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La Ristori.— Mirra. (From A Correspdncun...
LA RISTORI . — MIRRA . ( From a CorrespdncUnt ' ) . The European recognition of a great actress , worthy the name—a true dramatic artist in whom burns the spark of genius , and who is blest with the faculty of invention is an event for the young people under forty , who are tired of hearing the unanswerable answer of old fogies , " Ah ! you should have seen Siddons ?" For this , if for no higher motive , we have hailed with gratification the success of an actress whom everybody admits to be an artist of the first rank ; whose very rival ( and she ft woman ) has openly and confessedly paid her the compliment of jealousy ; against whom neither criticism can deal an open blow , nor calumny a private stab : a great actress , a true artist , a virtuous woman . There was something profound about Mdlle . Judith ' s mot about the great and wayward Camille : " Pardon , je suis Juive , moi ; metis Kachkl est Juif . " Speaking to us of RiSTORr , a German friend said— " Sie ist so weiblichc . " In that single phrase lies a whole volume of criticism .
A word or t wo upon the Mirra , her favourite part , and that in which we have seen her to the best advantage . Strange that so womanly a creature should best succeed in the illustration of so unwomanly a passion ! But this is one of those contradictions so common , and perhaps , after all , so easily explicable in art . It is a mistake to say that those can simulate best who can most readily do the thing itself . Perhaps the only real paradox in the matter is that a woman so pure , so intellectual as La Ristori is said , and as we believe her , to be , should have selected this play , which no one can ever read without being disgusted to
nausea . The old poets hung over this terrible theme with a strange admiration ; it seemed to exercise upon them a fascination . Yet even Ovid himself , not prudish overmuch , * , hought it right to circumscribe Iris audience when he recounted the tale : — Dira canam : natae procul hinc ! procul este parentes ! Worse than CEdipcs . who knew not his affinity to Jocasta , Mirk a burned for Cinyras -while she knew him to be her father . True , Alfibbi has left Ovid ' s catastrophe untouched an d veils over the confession of the guilty daughter with considerable finesse ; but it shines like a burning spot through the covering , and nothing can exceed the libidinousness of these suggestive lines—Oh madre mia felice ! . . , . almen concesso A lei sara . . di morire . . al tua fiancodelivered , too , with a liquid unctuousness of accent , such as no written words can serve to convey the least idea of .
The story , as told by Apollodorcs , differs somewhat from Ovii >' s version . The former makes Cinyras , King of Cyprus , espouse Metharmjs , daughter of PrGMAiaow , by whom he had three daughters , Obeedece , Laogo & a , and Bro 2 Sia , all of whom incurred the anger of Venus , and died shamefully in Egypt . Panfasis makes Thbias , King of Assyria , have a daughter named Smyrna , who burned with an unholy love for her father . In one point there is a striking similarity between Ovid ' s version of the 6 tory and Alfieri's — the struggle with shame and not quite extinct modesty throughout . In a very few lines Ovid tells all what Ai ^ ieri takes five long acts to do . Cinyras wishes Afit-ra to choose a husband : — Te cupiunt proceres ; totoque Oriente juventus Ad thalami certamen adest : ex : omnibus unuin
Elige , Myrrha . Alfieri puts into the mouth of Cecris , Mtrra's mother—I piu . prodi D'Asia e di Grecia principi possenti , A gara tutti concorreano ii ^ Cipro , Di sua bellezza al grido : c appien per noi Dona di se quanto alia scelta ell * era . " This one line of Ovid runs all through Amfibri ' s play : — , " Ilia quidem sentit , fcedoquo repugnat amori . And these four beautiful lines might have been penned by the poet after witnessing Ris * oni in the Confession scene ;—Ilia silet primo , patriisque in Tultibus hoerens , CEstuat , et tepido auffundit lamina rore , —• Virginei Cinyras haec credens ease timoris , Flere vetnt , siccatque genas , atque oscula jungit .
The struggle with her passion , as illustrated by Histori , is thoroughly dramatic ; rising to its height when , in the midst of the ceremony in which she is being united to the husband of her choice ( chosen as a protection against the impious flame which consumes her heart ) , she loses all control over her reason . A dramatic contrast of the very highest order is produced by the calm chanting of the Chorus : — Pure Faith , divine , eternal Peace , Build your temple in the hearts of these spouses ; Back , infernal Discord 1 Suddenly interrupted by the wild soul-agonies of the bride : — What Bay yeV In my heart , my heart , I feel the horrid Furies . There , there , With viper whips stands tlio mad Erynnis : Those are fit torches for my Hymen . The ceremony broken up , suddenly she recovers her senses : — But what ? The hymns aro silenced .
Who should embrace mo V Am I a wife ? Her father at that moment is approaching with paternal dignity to render her the assistance of his affectionate care . Unconsciously , she falls into his arms . It ia an answer to her question , with nn " Ohime / " drawn from the very depths of her heart , and combining in its sickening tone as much disgust and self-detestation as human nature ia capable of conceiving , she shrinks from him ns if ho were some horrid monster , more loathsome and horrible than the worst fancies of her over-ehargeil heart . The -whole scene is intensely dramatic . The lust scene , whore she staba herself with her father ' s sword , ia a complication of horrors too extreme for dispassionate criticism . When the mother outers , and sees her beloved daughter weltering in her own blood , she naturally wishes to rush forward to her assistance . Cinrym stops her , und hero some explanation is evidently necessary . Mirra feels what is coming , and unable to articulate a aound she < lraga herself along the ground and by mute gestures ontroats her
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071855/page/20/
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