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1192 THE li.E A-D ff R. [No. 351, Satukd...
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BARRY CORNWALL'S POEMS. Dramatic Scenes....
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AN ADMIRABLE BOOK ON GEOLOGY. Advanced T...
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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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Tub Wise Physician. Lectures On The Prin...
very shortly after the men had eaten a large quantity of plums , and had drunk Freely of sour beer . " Note the wording— "Very shortly after "—as illustrative of the mode in-which this fallacy arises . The nearest phenomena to the event to bo explained are seized upon aa ' the cause . ' The becoming sick at Hamburg , where cholera was raging , is not noticed ; this important fact , indeed , is omitted from the statement ; nor is there a word as to the medicinal treatment , or as to other articles of diet . Doubtless , in this particular instance the illustration was given to clench the caution against ripe fruit ( the sour beer not entering into the theory ) , but which caution is itself founded on fallacious observation . This is so generally understood
now , that I need hardly to tell you , that ripe fruit , moderately taken , is one of the best prophylactics against the summer cholera , diarrhoea , and dysen t ery . Nor need I add , that of the large number of the poor attacked , amongst -whom diarrhoea is proportionately much , more prevalent than among the rich , it is only a very small minority that have the means to purchase ripe fruit in sufficient quantities for daily consumption , or even to purchase it at all . This long prevalent dogma , then , as to the bad effects of ripe fruit on the alimentary or intestinal canal , when tested by experience , is found to be nothing more than a very fallacious inference from a wholly erroneous observation . This passage "will interest the reader not only in its philosophical bearing , but also in its rescuing of fruit from the anathema of ignorant terror . If the extracts already given do not render our recommendation superfluous , we urge every philosophical reader , especially every medical , reader , to get Dr . Laycock ' s admirable little volume .
1192 The Li.E A-D Ff R. [No. 351, Satukd...
1192 THE li . E A-D ff R . [ No . 351 , Satukday .
Barry Cornwall's Poems. Dramatic Scenes....
BARRY CORNWALL'S POEMS . Dramatic Scenes . With other Poems . Now first printed . By Barry Cornwall . Illustrated . Chapman and Hall . The reawakened love of the old dramatists who belong to what is rather laxly called the Elizabethan era—a reawakening which was con sequent on Charles Lamb's specimens and criticisms—created a set of writers , some forty years ago , who all thought and uttered their thoughts in accordance with the feelings and phraseology , not so much of Sbakspeare himself as of Shakspeare ' s contemporaries . These poets were not mere imitators ; they did not simply mock certain easily acquired peculiarities of language and forms of versification ; they were men of genuine imagination and creative
power ; but , poetry having been roused out of her long sleep by the touch of masters from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries , it was not unnatural that the new practisers of the art should learn the accents of their teachers . The poetry of the present century hiis since reached another stage of development—whether for the better , or worse maybe open to dispute ; but it will not be doubted by any observant critic that the temporary recurrence to an extinct style did great good by once more arousing passion , rekindling imagination , striking out from the dead flint and steel of conventionality the wild , nimble , and freakish fires of humour , wit , and fancy , and strengthening our enervated tongue by a diction that was at once learned and homely , full of the spirit of scholarship , yet tasting of the soil ' ' ' . • ¦' . ¦ ¦ ¦' ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ - ¦ . ' - ¦¦ ¦ ' ¦ . . . : ' ; . ¦ .
Among the young poets of the reawakeningtime to which'we allude , one of the most conspicuous for similarity to his great prototypes was Mr . Procter , who , under the assumed name of Barry Cornwall , published , in the years 1819 and 1820 , some Dramatic . Scenes , full of the old elements , and exhibiting a mind naturally akin— not forced by external circumstances into a superficial resemblance—to the men who wrote for the Globe and Fortune playhouses , and more especially to the dramatic twins , Beaumont and Fletcher . Mr . Procter also wrote narrative poems , the sweetness and delicate painting of which at once gave him a place in the same category with Keats , whose gorgeous and exotic luxury he shared , though not equalling him in native energy and sustained power ; find lie has since made for
himself a separate reputation as one of the most-varied , harmonious , and emotional song-writers of the day . In the latter branch of his genius he is best known ; but , exquisite as are many of his lyrics—touching the soul of sadness , mirth , or tender meditation , with the magic of a musician , added to the greater comprehensiveness of words—we venture to think that the choicest evidences of his faculty as a poet are to be found in those brief Dramatic Scenes which take us back to the time when plays were written in the hot blood and with the throbbing brain of an overmastering imagination . Therefore are we delighted to see such productions again issued to the public , with the author ' s last emendations , and to perceive that others , hitherto remaining ( with the exception of a few brief specimens ) in manuscript , are now suffered to appear in print .
_ It is true that we do not find in these pages the highest elements of the ideal drama ; that we are not lifted onto the most exalted peaks of passion , or shown the infinite varieties of character which make up the rich web and texture of humanity ; hut we contend that here , in these Scenes is an amount of delicate poetry , of fine feeling , and of beautifully modulated versification , not usually found in the play-writing of this day . Mr . Procter is a lover of art in all its shapes—one who has fed upon the divinest dreams of Greece and Italy ; and , as a conseq uence , an instinct of beauty moves over every one of his pages . This indeed is his dominant , though not his only , characteristic , it shines forth constantly in bits of warm , soft , lulling description , which glow from out the type like pictures ; permeates the dialogue of his speakers as " a hidden brook" murmurs its undersong through the pattered colloquies of the reeds and rushes ; gives to his mirth nn airy and refining grace ; and dallies quaintly with his sadness . He has , in
tact , that strange power , possessed by the older writers , of mingling gri « f with way ward playfulness , suggesting the depth of the underlying feelings by tne very lightness with which the speaker ekima across , us a skater over treacherous ice ; and lie owns the cognate faculty of rapid alternation between riotous , sarcastic } est , and highly-wrought , full-coloured poetry . An instance of thia latter will be found in the little drama in the present volume called " The Temptation "—an admirable piece of diablerie . f **« to ® cnoroeat . of the Scenes , to our apprehension , are thoso called Michael Angelo , " " Raffaelle and Fornarina" ( both full ' of a poet's conception of art ) and " The Florentine 1 ' arty "—the last a suggestion from JJoccacio , bright with fancy and humour , and Tuscan to the heart , Wo append some extracts , commencing -with " Michael Angolo" : — . Micuakk * Methought I lived three thousand yenrg ( vjio Somewhere in Egypt , near a pyramid :
And in my dream I heard black Memnon playing : He stood twelve cubits high , and , with a voice like thunder when It breaks on hollow shores , Galled on the sky , which answered . Then he awoke His marble music , and with grave sweet sounds Enchanted from her chamber the coy Dawn . He sang , too—O such songs ! Silence , who lay Torpid upon those wastes of level sand , Stirred and grew human : from its shuddering reeds Stole forth the crocodile , and birda of blood Hung listening in the rich and burning air . Eaffaelle . Did ' st dream all this ? Michael . Ay , Raffaelle ; and so gazed On Thehan Memnon , that liis image sunk Fixed in my brain . , Lo ! this is he thou look'st on .
Eaffaelle . Sad watcher of the hours , "which slowly creep Through melancholy nights and desert days ! His look oppresses ine . Michael . Now I would rather lie on some vast plain , And hear the wolves upbraiding the cold moon , Or on a rock when the blown thunder comes Booming along the wind . My dreams are nought , Unless witli gentler figures fierce ones mix ; Giants with Angels , Death with Life , Despair With Joy ¦ : —even the Great One comes in terror Tome , apparelled like the fiery storm . Raffaeule . Thy fancy was begat i' the clouds .
Michakl . My soul Finds best communion with both ill and good : Some spirits there are , all earth , which only thrive In wine or laughter : But my nature seeks Darkness and Night , Power or the death cf Power : A mountain riven- —a palace sacked—a town Rent by an earthquake ( such as once uptore Catania from its roots , and sent it down To the centre , split in fragments )—Famine ; Plague ; Earth runniug red with blood , or deluge-drowned : These are viy dreams : —and sometimes , when my brain Is calm , I lie awake and think of God . What follows is from " The Florentine Party" : —
Emilia- In the caves he lived , Or tops of moxintains ; but when winds -were loudest , And the broad moon worked spells far out at sea , He watched all night and day the lonely shores , And saved from shipwreck many mariners . At length- ^ -he died ; and strangers buried him . DioiiEUs . Had he no friends ? Emilia . In some lone cemet ' ry , : Distant from towns ( some Wild wood-girded spot ,
Ruined and full of graves , all very old , Over whose scarce-seen mounds the pine-tree sheds Her solemn fruit , as giving ' dust to dust' ) He sleeps in quiet . Had lie no friend ? Oh ! yes ; Pity , which hates all noise ; and Sorrow , like The pale-eyed marble that guards virgin mould ; Arid widowed Silence , who will wepp alone ; And all sad friends of Death , were friends to him I ! NEiriiiL . A . Is there no more ?
Emilia . No more . My tale is told . Neiphila . Then let us seek the fresh green river-banks , And rest awhile under yon plane-tree ' s shade . Our fiiir Emilia there will touch her lute ; And with a song , where love shall sweeten wisdom , Bid us take comfort . After such sad stories , " What can be heard , save music?—Follow me . A portion of the volume is devoted to a collection of songs and short miscellaneous poems ; but we do not think these are equal to some which the author has already published . Nevertheless , they arc all genial and pleasant . Independently of its literary contents , tho book before us is a fascinating
production . Costliness and taste are visible from first to last . lhe pages arc profusely illustrated by Tcnnicl , Birket Foster , Clayton , Harvey , Corbould , Harrison Weir , & c . Of the figure subjects we cannot express any high admiration ; but the landscapes ( especially those by Birket Foster ) are exquisite , and are beautifully engraved on wood b y the brothers Dalziel , who contribute some of the designs . Then , tho thick board covers glitter with golden arabesques upon a crimson ground , and the type i s shown to the highest advantage by the delicate , crciim-colourcd ivory paner on which it is printed . A more splendid book for splendour-loving Christinas isnot likely to be produced ; and charming is it to sec an author , wlio gnvc delight to many when the century -was young , coining forward in the year 1856 to add to tho literary pleasures of the festal season .
An Admirable Book On Geology. Advanced T...
AN ADMIRABLE BOOK ON GEOLOGY . Advanced Text Book of Geology . Descriptive and Industrial By David Page , F . G . S . Blacluvood and Sons . Itjs from no invidious desire to underrate other works , it is the simple expression of justice , which causes us to assign to Mr . Pago ' s Advanced J-M ' Booh the very first place among geological works addressed to students , ftt least among thoso which have come before , us . Wo have read every woruot it , with care and with delight , never hesitating as to its meaning , never
detecting the omission of anything needful in a popular and succinct exposition of a rich and varied subject . Tho ordonnctnee of its material is clear , masterl y * nnd philosophical . The exposition is often eloquent , wjthout cver striving after rhetorical effect . The information is lucidly yet briefly given . And if , ^ on occasions , we are disposed to question a . somewhat precipitate expression—these occasions are rave , incidental , and in no wise aflcct tue fcnerally philosophic structure of the book . We will mention one of these , t ia at page 21 , whore , speaking of hypotheses , Mr . Puge says , " The logitimato progress of human science lies over a pathway of observation , tact ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121856/page/16/
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