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June 21,1856. J T HE LEA BE It, 503
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. ¦ ' ^Pffofftftti** %Mll\\l\XXl.
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Critics are not the legislators, but the...
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A good lesson in the real art of agitati...
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The English language, so constantly malt...
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If the reader is not utterly weary of he...
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We alluded, a week or two ago, to the he...
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CALDERON. Life's a Dream: The Great Thea...
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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.
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June 21,1856. J T He Lea Be It, 503
June 21 , 1856 . J T HE LEA BE It , 503
. ¦ ' ^Pffofftftti** %Mll\\L\Xxl.
literature /
Critics Are Not The Legislators, But The...
Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
A Good Lesson In The Real Art Of Agitati...
A good lesson in the real art of agitating difficult and delicate questions of Social Reform may be gained by following the procedure of that " Society for the Repeal of the Laws Relating to the Property of Married Women "
t <> which we have more than once alluded . Any attempt to interfere with marriage laws rouses the apprehensive opposition of husbands and wives ; no matter how unjust logic may prove the laws to be , " popular instinct "which too often means organized selfishness—revolts against a hint at reform . It is to be confessed , also , that our American friends and their English imitators have betrayed the cause they meant to defend ; and the woman question has incurred the double odium of being dangerous and ridiculous . Instead of" broad views" and somewhat hysterical eloquence , the Society now alluded to has confined itself to one simple , practical , and pressing question , viz ., that of woman's right to her own earnings or her own property . To get this right legitimized in law would be a great step ; and the Society tries to secure this point , leaving to future legislators to alter at their will all other points . As the purpose is direct and practical , so have the means employed been simple and efficient . Instead of eloquence the Society has given a brief statement of the present law , and the proposed alteration ; instead of invective and troublesome public meetings , it has secured the cooperation of lawyers and grave politicians , and has drawn up a masterly ' Report , written , it is understood , by Sir Erskine Pebbt , showing what is the
condition of the law in England , America , France , and Germany . The whole thing is conducted in an earnest , business-like manner . What is the consequence ? The first consequence is that the movement counts among its avowed advocates such men as Lord Brougham , Lord Denman , Lord Stanl ey , Sir John Pakxngton , Sir Erskike Pjgbby , Sir Lawrence Peel , Mr . Serjeant Manning . Mr . M . D . Hill , Mr . Monckton Milnes , & c , — men who will see that the measure be duly brought before the Legislature , and give it there the weight of their advocacy , so that we may look forward
to a reform of the law as certain at no distant time . Now compare this with the other procedure in which tirades are substituted for business-like propositions , and a " general agitation" substituted for agitation in detail . Parliament—in England at least—is to be influenced by a society having definite and not alarming views set forth in a business-like way , and urged by men of authority—men who can be secured only'by definite views—but Parliament has a quite mediocre respect for " causes" which are agitated in all their abstractness , advocated in eloquence poured forth with feminine facility and grammar of the same sex .
The English Language, So Constantly Malt...
The English language , so constantly maltreated by other writers than those alluded to in the closing sentence of the last paragraph , is , it must be confessed , in a somewhat lax condition , if not in respect of grammar , at least in respect of orthography and pronunciation ; and even those writers to whom we look for something like authoritative guidance , are repeatedly at fault . Why , for example , does Mr . Trench write ^ o-temporary and not exe mpt ? Why is cooperate deprived of the intercalated « ., which would fiji the hiatus between the two o ' s ? Reason there is none , that we know of , except the pes et norma loquendi " custom . " But if custom gives law , surely it is more correct to say contemporary !
If The Reader Is Not Utterly Weary Of He...
If the reader is not utterly weary of hearing about Spirit Rappings , wo Would ask him to sympathize with our affliction ( recently endured with some hilarity ) on a . forced reading of Mr . Newton Ckossl and ' s New Theory of Apparitions , and three numbers of a monthly journal , The Spiritual Herald , denoted to the Exposition of the Phenomena of Spirit Manifestations . Mr . Cbossland , although sublimely contemptuous in his attitude towards Science , and not less so towards "flippant critics and philosophic bullbons , " not specified , has a scientific theory of his own to announce , on reading which the reader will thoroughly understand Mr . ChosslaniVs scorn of Soience . Mr . Crossland is one of those men described by Madame de Stakl as completemcnt de son avis . To doubt the reality of spirit manifestation , is , he says , " as ridiculous and foolish as to doubt the existence of the
¦ aIam RVflt AlYft rUr . Cbossland tells us that Faraday , when he crushed the spirit-rappers , " rendered himself the laughing stock of "—what does the reader think ?—• f . pf every spiritual circle in England and America ! " But we must hasten toi quote Mr . Chosslanw's theory : — Who candid ghoat-soer , in relating his experiences , is baffled by the scoffing logician , Who exclaims— I have no objection to believe in tho apparition of Uio soul of your gmidknother , but don ' t tell mo that you really and literally buw tho ghost of her nightcap and apron ! Your dead undo , too , whom you aaw drowning ; ia his poa-Sfcktot ndowedwith an immortal spirit ? " Our credulous friend ia puzzled , and m ^ kly acquires in tho conclusion- " Wellperhap » it waa all a delus . on
, 'To meet this difficulty , I venture to offer us a eolation tho following liypottiosuj that every significant action of our lives-in tho garmentei wo war aiid in tho attttttte * and gestures of our humanity-ia vitally photoyrapted or depicted hi , the aplrit-Wfcrttt ? and that tho angels , under God ' s direction , have the power of « £ «»»«» W . « «* totopptoUtre , any specific ciroumstanots or featureu to those who have the gift of fl . ' iO . f ¦ .... . , ¦ . ¦¦ , ¦!¦ .
spiritual sight , and who are intended to be influenced * by the manifestations .- These tableaux : may represent still life , or they may be animated by certain spirits appointed for the purpose , or by the identical spirits of the persons whose forms are shown , when the apparitions are the images of those who have departed this world . The man who could believe in and print such a theory as that , may easily believe in spirit-rappings . Unhappily for Spiritualism and for this explanation thereof , other professors are by no means content with images , whether " vitally photographed" or not . Indeed , the editor of the Spiritual Herald takes a correspondent to task for expressing ignorance of the tangibility and visibility of the spirits . " Our fair correspondent , " he says ( No . III ., p . 78 ) , " seems not to be aware that heads and entire forms of spirits have frequently appeared ; even spirit-hair has been handled and playfully combed with the lingers "
We Alluded, A Week Or Two Ago, To The He...
We alluded , a week or two ago , to the hereditary instmct in Englishmen to make each other uncomfortable . One great engine employed is the interference by one portion of the community with the habits and enjoyments of the other . If I don't wear a beard you shall not ; if I don ' t like dancing you shall not dance ; if I don't like candles lighted at the altar , or an organ pealing its solemn tones in a church , you shall not light the one or listen to the other ; if smoking makes me uncomfortable it shall be no comfort to you . There is actually established in Manchester a " British Anti-tobacco Society , *' and it has followed the old tack of getting Religion to countenance its agitation , and Relig ion—at least that which in some circles passes under that name—is ever ready at the call to make people uncomfortable . Mr . Hugh Stowkll always shows great alacrity in such cases ; you cannot please him more than by giving him a pleasure to denounce , or a sin to create ;
accordingly he joins this Anti-tobacco Society , and declares his principal reason to be ° that snuff and cigars , besides being expensive ,. tend "to produce selfishness and to deaden the benevolent feelings of the heart . " It may be so , we do not see how it can be so , but Mr . Stowkll is so great a master of the secret ways of sin that his word must be taken . There is one thing , however , which we know produces intense selfishness and deadens all benevolence ; and we not only know that it is , but how it is ; and Mr . Stowem . will not hear it for the first , nor the hundredth time , when he hears that it is his method of interpreting Christian doctrine . The smoke of the cigar may deaden the heart , but it will scarcely produce so much rancorous and hideous animosity , or so much triumphant selfishness as the smoke Mr . Stowell and his sect delight in contemplating , namely , the smoke of a certain " torment that goeth up for ever and ever . " Again we say , Happy happy , England , that has its Cummings , its Candlishks , and its Stowells 1
Calderon. Life's A Dream: The Great Thea...
CALDERON . Life's a Dream : The Great Theatre of the World . From the Spanish of Calderon . With an Essay on his Life and Genius . By Richard Chenevix Trench . J . W . Parker and Son . This is a book written out of genuine love of the subject , and thereby carries with it a certain interest . Mr . Trench has written such agreeable books on " Proverbs , " and the "English Language , " that his volume on Cnlderon excited the pleasantest expectations in us ; but unhappily , although the ran «* e of his studies has g iven him many advantages in the execution of this task , the nature of his intellect unfits him for it . His grasp is feeble . Familiar as this volume shows him to be with the Spanish Drama , what he has written about it might have been written by one wholly dependent on
secondhand information . He seizes no characteristics . He places nothing definitely before you . Nor is he , properly speaking , ^ of a critical disposition : and while his opinions on poetry are generally questionable , his opinions on dramatic poetry are those of one destitute of dramatic instinct . The volume is a long plaidoyer in defence of Calderon , the result of which will be to lower Calderon in the estimation of Mr . Trench ' s readers , and for this reason : not only does he abstain irom justifying his praises by direct citations of such typical passages as would carry some conviction to the reader ' s mind , but unhappily he has given a long analysis of ' The , Ureat Theatre of tho World" in elucidation of his comments on Caldorons marvellous Autos Sacramentalcs , and this analysis will assuredly be considered by the majority of readers as evidence of a very superficial , and somewhat childish attempt to embody in poetic forms o philosophic conception . We , i « nnt ™ m mher a creator instance of self-defeat than this . After so grand
nn exordium so trivial a result is almost startling . Certain wo are that tt those who deny to Calderon tho highest powers wanted evidence for their opinion , the analysis given by Mr . Trench of what ho considers one of Calderon ' a highest productions would suffice . Calderon , however , was a greater poet than he appears under the enthusiastic treatment of his English expositor . Not we believe one of the great poets-not on the whole so remarkable as Lope do Vega , and immeasurably lower than Molifere , Goethe , or Sliakspcare—he nevertheless has his own trlk ing and peculiar merits which Mr . Trench mean to us to have . very Jper & tly seized , led away as he haa been by tho desire to ^™**§ Bomething-of that philosophic depth , and poetic grandeur , which the Schla-K « l 8 tried to persuade the world wore to be found in him- . Mr , Trench , ** any rate avoids the narrow Protestant error of condemning the Cathohc Rnirit of the Catholic poet ; although a Protestant divine , aa we cannot but ^ elsewhere than on the Vitle ^ o Mr Trench is too ^ f ^ * * £ the Catholic poet from other than a , Catholic point of ^^ g £ ™ £ ¦ ^ z ^^ x ^^ i ^^^^^ ^^ to is the following : ¦ ' ¦ •> ' ¦ ¦ ' ' . _' n .. «; i A thoughtful man must , I think , be often deeply . truck with the imm « iunir * bfc > JM' ' ' . ''' . I . ' . Pill '
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21061856/page/17/
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