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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd June 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12

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      The Avenger Newspaper. T>R0bably There I...

      plaining that their public services are quite inadequately considered by the Government ; no mere misanthropist" — — bringing to mind , - Like doomsday , all the faults of all mankind ;" no inventor bewailing the neglect of the hundred and fiftieth patent nut-crackers . What we should want would be , Sharps versus Blunts , Flints versus Steels , Stiffnecks versus Bullheads , and the several members of their families . What editor ' s mouth would not water at the idea of a Highland or Corsiean feud , paid for all by the kindred ? Ink and Joseph Gillot , instead of blood and Audkea Feeraba , and lasting- ad infinitum , without the " traces of God " of the middle agesi There aTe many subordinate arrangements , many minor benefits , of which we shall" be content to indicate only a few—most of them , be it observed , dependent on the ample scale of payment insisted upon , —payment for contributions—for the paper itself should be cheap ; not too cheap , as we are apt to undervalue what we underpay for . Even scandal , one of our greatest luxuries , would be still more highly appreciated if well paid for . Scandal has lain hitherto under a great disadvantage in this respect ; it has been too cheap ; costing rarely more than weak bohea , and trifling risk ; it would bear English pineapple price , or that of any other exotic , raised from a dung-heap , under cover , and sometimes peeped at through glass windows , fed with eavesdroppings , sweet and prickly . Rather than that the delight should be relinquished , as many profits might be raised upon a bit of mischief as there are on other articles between first growth and final purchase . The scandal discoverer , the scandal spreader , the scandal exaggerator , and the scandal listener , would all pay , and freely , for their several shares of enjoyment , if payment were necessary . ; and if people would pay extravagantly for what they know to be scandal , what would they not pay for what they believe to be justice , and justice to themselves , blended wjth sweet animadversion on the faults of others ? Our notion is that for such a gratification it would be difficult to assign a price wiiich wealthy " parties" would not be " agreeable " to put down ; but we have to consult For those also who are not in a position to invest a fortune in a debate , thongh many have wasted one in what was considerably less worth while than a ¦ vindication and redpverif of their characters . How . such a paper would win on hoth hands , from the justifiable firmiiess of the-right , and the notorious olsti-» aey of the wrong ! ~" But we should consult " means , " without permitting any to plead exactly in form '"& pauperh ; we should have our three sized types , for patrician , ' middle-class , and plebeian quarrel , with payment accordingly . We would riot have our pages polluted with " minx " and " scoundrel , " and for very strong language short . of this , there should be proportionate pay . ' What lessons would be thereby inculcated of decency in dispute ! What an improvement of popular style ! What skill , just to avoid libellous matter ! What force , without violence of expression ! What conciseness , and what keeping to the question in hand , to escape unnecessary expense ! What regulation of the winding innuendo of the educated , and desultory onset , of the illogical ! . The editor might sometimes offer a little delicate though not : finlflnn * bitTa 1 ioTTr ^ rdHt >^ nately fan the flame . Expending npw and then some of the receipts of tho paper at the secret information offices , he might arrive thereby at something of the real truth of the matter , which he . would generally be wholly unable to ascertain from either of the parties to the contest . As disputes and accusations continued , the public would begin gradually to experience a newly-created interest . Names , at first utterly insignificant , might . gradually dilate into importance ; nnd the sn ' me process might at once turn nobodies into somebodies , and supply an infinite fund of general amusement , to say nothing of instruction in style . Condensation is much wanted in newspapers at present , as in Parliament . If London would supply a harvest , what are we to say of the provinces , but that they would supply a much more plentiful one ? So the larger country towns , or , still better , a union of third or fourth rates . Here , we cure comparatively little about gossip , except the scnndal of our particular circles or the mutual abuse of our particular friends ; but further in the country , amongftt the Montagues and Capftvktb of York or Exeter , where all know everybody , and everybody talks about nil , whnt opportunities of comment upon every controversy , nnd conversational corrections of it from personal knowledge of character . What happy parties to be amused out of the material of unhappy homes ! Sumo Frenchjnnn has snid that small towns and villages paid tho lawyers , in proportion to their population , ten times better than Paris or London , and from our personal experience we should bo very much inclined to believe him . Fortunately , all people are not of Sheridan ' s temperament , who is said to hnyo attacked himself most violently in a paper , tho pages of which he could command , in of deivthrit"lie rivigllt afYprvrivrcta vindicate lijnis « lf triiunphnntly from his own charges , which after all ho was too lazy to do j nnd ho the accusationa wuro left to perform their work . Such a temperament would indeed be ruinous to our adventure j but tho fact is , no rrinn can got sinooroly and thoroughly nngry with blows which ho inflicts upon himself . Our papor Bhould bo guarded , if possible , 'from nil mock nttackH likely to die off in this extremely unsatisfactory manner . We must have— " Tho pntiont wntoh , nnd vIriI lonpr , Of him who treasures up u wronff ;"

      01 % in Shakespeaee's words , the determination " To wrong the -wronger till he renders right , "a rather indefinite process .

      592 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. [Jl...

      592 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ JlTNE 23 > 1 S 6 () -

      , The Spirits Of Tjie Age. " Rphere Are ...

      , THE SPIRITS OF TJIE AGE . " rpHERE are as good fish in the sea as any that ever came out of A it . " This is a proverb that we have frequently heard cited by disappointed men , conscious of merit , and expectant of ultimate success . That it is not believed in is , however , evident from the criticism to which the famous line in Mr , Taylob ' s ¦ " Philip van Artevelde" was once subject : — " The world knows nothing of its greatest men . " To be sure the verse in question went a step further than the proverb . It asserted that there were better fish in the ocean than out of it ; reversing another proverb also , which asserts that " a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush . '" The world is not disposed to give so much credit to the ocean and the

      bush : but , after all , this may be because it knows nothing of their real tenants , and is disposed * to congratulate itself upon what it has managed to possess . The world naturally values its acquisitions , and regards property with an affection which it cannot extend to what has not yet become property . Eesides , it cannot get on without self-flattery . It is as vain as a player or a portrait painter . Said an artist once to us , when sitting for our likeness-. " You are silent ; don ' t you like the picture ? " If you do , I wish you would say so . To speak the truth , I c an't get on without a little flattery . " So , of cour = e , we felt in duty bound to become demonstrative in our approbation . Our most popular living tragedians have the same sometimes dull and

      failing . Provincial audiences are very stupid , arid neglect to applaud in the proper or any places . The country spectator is a diffident animal , and , in fact , is afraid to use his privilege , or incapable of doing so . He is either ashamed to give his opinion , or has no opinion to give . It is not every one who has their audacity of the kitchen-maid , who , when summoned to the parlour to pass her judgment on two pictures , and called on to decide between a Bawles-nnd-Carver coloured-engraving , ( such things were celebrated a quarter of a century ago ) and a sketch by FrsELi . gave the preference to the former because it was so smooth and glossy , and the latter so scratchy and disagreeable . _ The poor player , however , who ' ^ stru ts and frets his hour upon the stage , " is little inclined to accredit Ins audience with the -virtue of modesty ,, and would prefer even the kitchen-maid ' s assurance to apparent indifference . Accordingly , the eminent actors to whom we have referred , have more than oirce come forward on the stage , and announced to the country audience that-unless , they were -applauded they ... could not possibly proceed with the performancje , so discouraging was it to be kept in ignorance whether they were liked or not . " Of-eo .-urse the audience thus appealed to did with the players as we did with the painter , applaud "to the very echo that did applaud again , " Now the world is quite as avaricious of praise as either the artist of the studio or of the i > reiMi-rooin . It expects the assent of every man who would live by it , and he who is not disposed to please the world is not very ' likely to be pleased by the world . The world , in fact , flutters itseff that the prize it . has taken the pains to capture and secure is worth more than the unknown treasure that still reriiaih' s"tfn 7 rr 0 rexi ^ or * iTrrwonT- ™ -rA ^ wl-j I et-4 lii « ' -wart ~ not ~ the , opiuiQU _ o £ him who had conquered that s . iine world—for he wept that there were no more worlds to win , and , according' to the poet , — "All ho had don » of little worth esteemed , Compared with what he yet . had power to do . " And there are speculative Axkxanpeks , too , who , in tho greatness of their imagination , •• : ' ¦ ' apprehend a world of figures" in those blank spaces of history where nothing yet has figured , and people the void for themselves with beings of impossible excellence . What proof have we that the greatness of which wo know nothing , is greater than that which the penny-trumpet of'fame has sounded with so much persistency nnd ellect ? Is it . not a fact , now accepted and undeniable , that the acknowledged great men of any age are the expressions of its spirit and principles ? There is a progress in the development of tho human being , botli socially and individually ; and tho steps , of this development murk the several ages in their succession . The rnuss of mankind are inarticulate aninml . s : but thqro are a select few who can speak , and do spenk , in more than one language' —the poet , the orator , the artist , the statesman ; and in those tho principles that govern the time aro embodied . Sometimes it happens that one among these is their single exponent ; and in him the spirit of the rnee and of the nefo is incarnate . To attain to this elevation , much force of character , much original ability , much patient waiting for opportunity lire necessary . Without opportunity , power and talent go for nothing . Henco it happens that . some readily yield to tho notion that opportunity is the all-in-all , and that tho great men of whom tho world is ignorant consist of thoso who hud all tho will ami merit , but were not blessed with tho opportunity . Such reasoners , however , forget that opportunity a ^ nm is nothing in itHelf . ¦ - — Tho . uH . iada .. oi , men have abundant opportunities ,. but neglect them . Tin opportunity is realized only by him who takes advantage of it ; mid this snme taking- advantage presumes that tho successful individual had the sufficient energy , and was on the look-out for tho chance . We , therefore ,- fled that the three must go together : ¦— £ he virtue , and the patience , nnd the opportunity ; and that thoso throe unite in tho acknowledged hero of tho occasion . On the other hand , any one who ha « had much experience with tho world , and hns rclletttod ovor ro little , unwt be awaro that thevo always is « htrgo crop of unused talent and genius iu it . In some

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 23, 1860, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23061860/page/12/