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Aug. 9, 1851.] tRff$ Heattcr. 755
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TIIJ3 l'KKNCU ON HKKH. A Guide dc Londre...
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Xtttntuxi.
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¦ Critics are not the legislators, but t...
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"When I was young-(about fourteen I thin...
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In our last number there was an answer a...
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Ihe Magazine* are not very striking thi....
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i. I When the English undertake anything...
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I In France the tributes to literary cel...
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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Transcript
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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 Horrors Of Modern Sepulture. The For...
tion at once . It was for closing all the graveyards of the metropolis , affording houses of reception when the removal of bodies was desired , and , by purchasing up the existing suburban cemeteries , securing facility and decency in the rites of sepulture . Vested interests were to be recognized , but not as impediments . The Government chose to object . It was not convenient to them to
get forward in a business which involved so many interests . What mattered it that the poor were stricken by fever , or paralyzed by continual miasma ? They were not in the ranks of those to whom Government looked for support . Their supporters were among the men who have vested interests in corruption—who make their money by chopping and burning and desecrating the remains of festering mortality , to whom a charnel-house is a money-box , and bereavement an opportunity for gain and extortion . I But even the Whig Government scarcely dared leave us to the mercies of another autumn without I
some show of advance . Accordingly , we have now a sum of £ 177 , 000 voted—for what ? For the purchase of two cemeteries—the award for compensation not yet determined , and probably not to be determined for some time to come . The estimated cost of abolishing intramural interments is about £ 700 , 000 . Even this immense sum would be cheap were the end attained . Between the Board of Health , which would do everything , and the Government , which will do nothing , the public appear little likely to advance the matter
in , unless they help themselves . But capitalists are ever ready lo procure benefits which the people recognize more than their rulers . The London Necropolis Company , to which we referred some weeks back , announce that they have received sufficient support from the public to enable them to effect the complete registration and incorporation of their company , and to proceed at once to the application of the cemetery to burial purposes . The existing cemeteries are not interfered with by this company , which addresses itself mainly totheprovidingofburialfor the 37 , 000 annual surplus of mortality , for which no provision whatever is now made . As arrangements are also made in
carrying out the proposed benefits to pievcnt a conflict with existing- interests , there is lutle doubt of . ts taking a firm hold on the confidence of the public . Assuming such a result , what becomes of the system proposed by the Board of Health for 1850 ? or what becomes of tl . eir estimate of , £ 700 , 000 ? The new « Necropolis "is ot greater area than all the existing cemeteries put together . It is becoming a vested interest . fcliouM Government eventually determine upon i ine partial system recommended , this new cemetery must also be bought up . But at what price ? It is quite evident that in this , as in other cases , » he delay of the Government , is adding fearfully to the difficulty ; and that each > car carries that which at first , would have been easy , nearer to the impossible . With such evidence before us ,
however , we cannot but welcome any plan which promises to relieve us from the present indecent and disgusting system of sepulture .
Aug. 9, 1851.] Trff$ Heattcr. 755
Aug . 9 , 1851 . ] tRff $ Heattcr . 755
Tiij3 L'Kkncu On Hkkh. A Guide Dc Londre...
TIIJ 3 l'KKNCU ON HKKH . A Guide dc Londres , recently published in Paris , contains some serious warning to Frenchmen on the subject of iwiKlish beer in general , and London stout in particular t ) nST llC 8 Ul f ffra v l > sical » "d moral tendencies of ufl , 7 ' " T i 7 , " "i ¦ — "Plosion , obliviousnean , i or vf t ! ' , " IePp - Aft ° < iri » l »'"< beer or ft ful tw <> ™ t »> rrc days consecutively , you are struck roteo ^ TbivT ;^ . " a ^ » gi " * OUr liV
tlmY ^!^ ' ' ly i tf *™™ the justice to say «^ S ^ - ' F ^^"» Sf ,. £ tii & T ?^ £ A r &^ ; s , fn ,, l beverage of Uard . y nu < l IVrkinn , nay lui , ' /'" , «»? l" « i »» of Home Thames water in the t names water any where .
t » u s , ; , r ! , > S ''; VVIi - (! »»•• ' i » " « -li pcrpl ^ cl by (/ nvk A }'"' iirOt % k KllV <; - In wll ! lt ™« l » ' « t ix k ot . lv , ¦ lS U IUIIII » t ! l ° ;><> ' » " tli . 'licnto wrist , tho low „ , ' : " 11 )| UI Mu' . shoulder « down , c . sp ,. inlly » ' > Uir . ' ,, '" ack ; *> "t tlA <> i . rtist has utterly failed toH' / 'uinc Vt i 0 COJlvo 7 o » y thing more . -Irater ' s
Xtttntuxi.
Xtttntuxi .
¦ Critics Are Not The Legislators, But T...
¦ Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make 1 aws—they interpret and try to enforce them . ' — Edinburgh lieview .
"When I Was Young-(About Fourteen I Thin...
"When I was young- ( about fourteen I think ) I first read the German ' s Tale , " says Lord Byron in the preface to his dramatic reproduction of that tale , Werner . He has been dead nearly thirty years , and the authoress of that tale which delighted his boyhood , and which " be said to contain the germ of much that he has written , " has only now passed away from earth ! Harriet Lee was ninety-five when she died last week . The Canter- I bury Tales have long been shelved , though the German ' s Tale may be considered as immortalized
by Byron—not that his Werner was so great an I improvement upon the story ; it was indeed a I servile reproduction of the characters , incidents , and even thoughts ; nay , there is something comical in the gravity with which Byron , while full y ac' knowledging his obligations , makes this claim : — " The character of Ida Stralenheim was added by myself . " The character of Ida ! Not then for anything Byron has added to this tale , but simply because of his splendid reputation , which reflects a lustre upon the obscurest sources whence he drew materials , will Harriet Lee ' s name travel to posterity . .
In Our Last Number There Was An Answer A...
In our last number there was an answer attempted to the question , Is Criticism lawful ? Lawful or not , there are publishers—we name no names—who regard it with somewhat of the same feeling which smugglers entertain towards the Preventive Service ; and we feel bound to make the public aware that there are contraband goods smuggled into the market , which never
passed through the Critical Customhouse . — Novels are published and sent direct to the Circulating Libraries in the country , without previous [ advertizing ; above all without previous criticism ! Jones , we will say , has a novel which he knows all the critics will " cut up ";— -why should he allow them to " cry stinking-fish" when he can pass it off as fresh ? At the library , a ] J that is asked for is " a new novel . " If it be new , and the fair reader hnve not been I forewarned , she takes it with unmisgiving delight . There is thus a Literature of which we
f in the metropolis have no cognizance . A Literature which snaps its contemptuous lingers at our j magisterial authority ; which can afford to dispense with our praise , and laughs at our severity . Now , the question which continually obtrudes itself upon us is—CVra these novels—the owls of literature shunning the light—be worse than many of those birds of gaudy plumage which court the light ? Is it possible there can be works of more unutterable
able , shameless mediocrity t . hnn «„ ., « ,. r < i , shameless mediocrity than some of those which a high and impartial press " hails with delight , " and pronounces to be of " thrilling heartstirring interest" ? Every Shallow has ' we know , his Sii . knck ; in every deep thera is a deeper still ; and the horizon of tlu ; execrable is indefinitely distant ; still , works confessing theirselves worse than Nome of the three volumes which
assume grand conquering airs , would he curiosities of literature worth looking after . It used to he said , with swelling emphasis , in small circles , that the Unacted Drama was immeasurably . superior to tl » o Acted ; may not the Unrcviewed novels turn out to he in a similar position with respect to the He vie wed ?
Ihe Magazine* Are Not Very Striking Thi....
Ihe Magazine * are not very striking thi . s month 1 'rasn ; as usual , takes the first pl ; ieo . The con elusion of the pancr on Wordsworth , the graphic account , of Chamois Hunting the . pleasant gossip on the hxhibititm Season , and the « eVe , e , though well-merited exposure of Nayer and Soycrism » iem ! r all excellent articles . Mackwood continues I i }* proton statistic * , and B . h . wkh ' h novel- and i » a lively paper , called Voltaire at the < W «/ I alace , sneors by implication at the notion < tf I
modern progress . Tait mercilessly flays the Honourable G . S . Smythe , and continues its telling article on the Bishops and their Incomes Apropos of this subject , the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol has sent us a pamphlet in reply to Mr . Horsman's charges— Documents respecting the Estate of Horfield Manor —\ n which he makes out a good case for himself . But tha whole discussion is one to excite feelings of deep disgust . Laymen cannot help recalling the fact that these Bishops are the representatives of twelve Fishermen who preached the Gospel of the Poor ! ' The second number of Albert Smith's Month is a loud laugh from beginning to end . There is serious purpose in its humourous exposure of the Hotel system ; the playful hit at Charades will be less generally responded to ; the " advertisements " will produce a loud guffaw . Leech has given some admirable illustrations , and altogether a more amusing railway companion is not to be had for s ixpence . —
I. I When The English Undertake Anything...
i I When the English undertake anything in the shape of business it must be said they do it thoroughly . Besides the superb Illustrated Catalogue which the publishers have issued as a lasting record of the Exhibition , they have now put forth a German translation of their official catalogue — Amtlicher Catalog der Austellung — translated by our countryman Edward Moriarty , the German translator of Dickens . Are there sufficient Germans in London to make this speculation profitable ? WhiJe on the subject of the Exhibition , let us mention that Mr . Berger has published an engraving of the Crystal Palace as a Winter Garden , which has a very seductive and enchanting aspect . Lord Campbell , and that " gentleman and scholar , " Mr . Justice Cresswell , who are so violently opposed to the continuance of the Crystal Nuisance , will look upon this engraving with no loving tenderness ; but the public , which has to decide whether the building shall remain or be removed , may be glad to see how it will look as a Winter Garden .
I In France The Tributes To Literary Cel...
I In France the tributes to literary celebrities cast ? sarcastic reflection upon our indifference to those who have charmed our leisure and expanded our souls . Recently the town of Amiens honoured itself by erecting a statue to Guesskt , the charming author of Vert-Vert , of whom Voltairb said— " Gresset , done du double privihVo
l )' etre au college un be . l esprit mondain , Kt dans lo monde un homme do college . " CJkesskt , the author of one of the most agreeable little poems , and of the admirable comedy , Lr ? Mechant , was not one of France ' s greatest men assuredly , yet Amiens might well be proud of him who suid
—J . es !> , ms contra out souls h > talent do yne plain ,-. " The fete of inauguration was magnificent . It TOsa . sort ol 7 > fl / w « . «/ K « i in public . An immense procession of cuirassiers , national guards , corporations ot workmen in the . costumes of the Kith and mil centuries , groups on horseback representing the r / icvan ttcjovs of Lniis XIII ., XIV . and \ V with banners flying , cymbals claiming , trumpet ' s braying , jubilant crowds shouting ! Less brilliant as a fcUe , was that which in the commune of Rollot honoured the Honoured llu
, , . n ,,,,,, ™ ,. r " "" Mm , : memory of Antoink Oau . and , the . translator of the Thousand and One Ni ,, hts , by n monument . Public gratitude was reitamly due to one who had translated the work , winch , perhaps , of j , ] l others has been tl . o most universall y admired . But would any F . n ^ h town have remembered . such a debt ? A translation of Tknnynon in I-Yench nwaittf a publisher , and we hope will never find one . If no knowledge iMl ) ctterthanfalttel ( . nowle (/ gc , 7 ' i' : NNVH <) N
were bent untranslated , for nothing hut fnlmi notioiiH ean be propagated by translation . Wo liavo often insisted on this point ; aigrering with Siikm . ky thai it were us wiso to cast ; i violet into « cruciblo that you might do tec t the formal principle of itg
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 9, 1851, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09081851/page/15/
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