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2 g2N TELE^ L.EAD?ER.. LSAa?UBJiAY,
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FOUR NOVELS. Thorney-Hall: A Story .of a...
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Richard Laiiott Sheel. Sketches. Legal A...
n « fcliay & s- « v <» . tlie ' vritteriofc being ? masked- ; hy ? SbeilV style—for ? theyi . were writtenuartifiiaalh / i for , an EngJisJ » , Beriodicak which ! hesitated to . give the naroet on nature ofJtscontKibutor—thea . a jierce yown ^ Irish ; papist . TKe sketches are about some Irisli judges , barristers , and politicians , of the period ; the whole of whom are now forgotten * even in Ireland , and they deal with'a"Statetof 8 ociety-as-ol ) 3 oleieasii & Hdalism' . What * purpose / the r * , does surfr aop » bJica » toB : as ^ this ' fulnlf - It may i bawe am Irtshv justification ; it is toJb » ftllowe ^ ib ^ soineivolui » eewpftn tftining ( : the- gce * t speeches . . Irisfcpoliticiaosrhave had bad chajaees . of ; fame .. Provincially they are . the heroes or victims of exaggerated adulation , or delusive indignation : but * as « orsonaff * s of the emnire . they are only known in connexion with some
transkionary excitement of a moment—forgotten and powerless when the excitement haugone . And when { Jrattan is ~ not remembered , what' hope can them . be * foer Sheili ? We have the opinion : of hist- contemporaries , that Gxafcteft waSrasu unsurpassed . oxator , —and . he lived in the English age of orator * : and we know that his Roman style was accompanied by a classic grandeur ofcliaracter—in all the wanton wildhess of faction his public honour and private virtue have continued unimpeached . And he lived and acted in tlie history of Ireland , from Lord Charlemont to Castlereagh ; he saw the beginning and the end of * Irbii independence—the Volunteers and the Union Sheil , who caught without- eve * understanding his style—just as metre and
some-of our dramatists will-still write-mthe-Elieabetban manner — , wa * a very different sort , of : man— -a * conspirator and intriguer * not a stat ^ manr-aud . he- lived through ar vulgar and debasing era—that of d ' -Cojinell . Shell ' s is still a name , in Ireland and in London . We remember-the singular figure—the heap of old clothes and . the brilliant Celtic eye tbe startlihg voice , the weird gestnres , the mot and the epigram . But in ten-year * more , ' Irishmen ¦ williknovr . as little about him as they now remember of ) Iiord-Plnnketti andt Englishmen will be » as vagueabouthim * one ofitheir past pwliamentary . personages , as they at present , are about DanieL Whittle Harvewor Mr . Wakley—Shell ' s eminent contemporaries ,, yet both already
Shadows . i , n / i o JSTb such particular veneration is due as to induce us to allow Mr . bavage to bully us for a place for him in the Pantheon . His career was not cluvalric . He commenced as-a passionate patriot , and he ended his Parliamentary career : as > a careful placeman- under the Whigs ; , voting , meekly , for Coercion . Acts , suspension of Habeas Corpus , and indiscriminate slaughter ,, of poor young Irelanders who had gone mad with the poems of Moore and the speeches of Emmet and Sheil . Voting , as a . formality , to , the . last , for Repeal , which ; if it meant-any thing , meant republicanism , he died , as Lord Palmer ^ ston *§ 'dutiful' great * British and hyper-Protestant partisan , as Minister at Harenee ; He , adored O * Gonnell ; who detested the Whigs' ; but lie served the Whigs * Ha used : toweep whenlie spoke of the wrongs ofIreland ; . but wiiat he * took care . not , to , face wa 9 an . Irish meeting * . and what he contrived , -was to get elected bya borough which was in a Whig duke ' s pocket . He was tempestuously poetical . ; but he married a rich widow . -He was aiyehemenVEibeeal : butthe Whiff whipper-in was always safeof his votei and Lord
PalmQrBt © n < was-always- sura of his speech when anybody-had' -. anything- to « ayt agwutwt LowbvPalme » toir .. Hej has * often been compared to his . friend Moore ; and in this respect—ibis cool desertion of the " cause" they , were for ever twaddling about—their careers were identical ; and , doubtless , the poeliQ * ajs . distiBguished . from the commonplace , logical , nature ,. must excuse them—at least it has always done so . in the eyes of Lansdownes and Palmerstcns , to whom they were . pre-eminently useful . It is , indeed , impossible to expect public honesty in- stich cases . It is a singular fact-that all the brilliant-Irishmen '~ have been , politically rather roguish ; and it is . to be accounted for : by the circumstance that the capital of the empire somewhat overshadows Dublin .. You can no more , in . our age ,. expect that a . clever Iri ^ irgfntlemao wilirpas ^ Erin , than in the days of the Caesars you could expect . Spanish or Carthagenian gentlemen to become martyrs to their lunatic nationality . What do we see at this moment ? That Ireland , impoverished even in that staple , has to import her patriots ! For isn ' t Mr . Lucas her patriot ?
Mr ., SheiKs intellectual qualifications « were . not first-rate . He tried many things * and-gotrtbe'first place in no instance . He wrote plays which were not playable—even by-M ! ss O'Neill . He tried light * , literature , —and in these volumes you see with-what suecesst He once worked liardat the bar , but was without that-robust } mnn-of-tbe-world tact—the greatest of all talents . —whieh'produces'theperaonaTinfluence that results in fees and smiles . In the House of Cbmmona he was never more than tlie partisan warrior , useful for .-his rhetorical daring- whioh never spared a foe , and amusing from the exquisite finesse of his-well-prepared phrases * In the proper sense of the term-he wo * no debater ;~ on the other hand ; , he spoke with no party effect , for « he' represented nothing' hut 1 a few houre' work in ¦ getting upa speech ' thai-would-gratify- —himself ; and though lie- made some splendid speeches * as-that on the Dissenters Ghupels- Bill * theiperoration of which isunsurpassed inour time , yefehe was-no orator ^ forlie always set himself to astonish * never to convince , hrs hearers ; As * a statesman 'in-council ? those who knew him well'speak ofl him ast innooentand ignorant to-the last—nevercomprehendingaflfUira—never equal ¦
to managing them * But , then , lie was- a- great' " ag » tator ?' In truth , he lived on that fame—the Mr .- Sheil of lBSS-i 1848- being supported-b y the Mr . Sbeil of 1826-1880 , ULet in-the-Catholic Association he was insignificant when contrasted with the burly potency of that * grand mass of virile intellect —O'Gonnellj O'Gonnell used to- " let him-off /" and talk of Sheil ' * " fireworks . " O'Connell could be pathetieal , but-not- eloquent : powerful , but not scholarly ; and Sheil was invaluable'to him as the maker of ' speeches , which tllo-piiKzled ' mob roared * applause at , but . which the ' students-of the coontnypronounoed' direct' emanations of inspired ' genius—speeches which ' redeemed much of * the-movement from vulgarity . The- Whigs were astonished tbafc Sheil was considered in- Ireland inferior to . O'Connell : OH ^ bnneM wos so '" vulgar /* Sheil so splendid ; O'Connell-only a droll , S 4 » oil a , wit ; -theone-mere plain talk , the other all sparkle . And Sheil was-undoubtedly .. o » . tire- old Irish model—that of' Woufe , Emmet , Plttnfcetti Grattmi-, SlteilJ also < taking-a bettor' place- ( even in Opposition ) in the IDbHwofiGomniovff tlta . n < O ^ Goancll ever- oj > taioed > But nations' are good
judges of the men they want . O'Connell was a man of genius , Sheil only a man of talent ; and just as the coarse Jjuther made the Reformation , and the ornate Melancthon could but illustrate it , so Sheil , famous for no more than the " Catholic Emancipation" which emancipated no one , will never be spoken of but as the lieutenant , of O'Connell . On the w . hole , it is the finest trait in Sheil ' s history that he ever reverently recognised the greatness of tlie unassi . ve * . man who ,. at . Conciliation Hall , put . his tongue in his cheek and hinted to Dungarvon something about ^' Dicky Sheil . " We trust that Mr . Savage will exercise careful discrimination in his arrangement of-the nexit volumes .- One erasure perhaps would suffice .
2 G2n Tele^ L.Ead?Er.. Lsaa?Ubjiay,
2 TELE ^ L . EAD ? ER .. LSAa ? UBJiAY ,
Four Novels. Thorney-Hall: A Story .Of A...
FOUR NOVELS . Thorney-Hall : A Story . of an Old Family . By Holme Lee . Smith and Elder The Family Feud . By Adam Hornbook . Routledge . The EAiU ; or , A Tale of the Sixteenth Century . By Philip Phosphorus . Bosworth . OvT' World ; or , . Democrat ' s Rule . By Justia , a Knownothing . Sampson Low and Son . In reference to the novel standing first on our list , we must confess ; to having felt some doubt whether " Holme Lee" might not be an assumed name , and whether the story might not most probably have been written by a lady instead of a gentleman . On these two points it is , of course , likel y enough that we may have guessed -wrong—on a third point , however , which concerns the merit-of the book , we- feel little or no distrust of our judgment . We can confidently pronounce Tharney , Hall , whether : written by a man . or , a woman ,
to be one of the . most charming novels of its class which has ^ issued from the English press for a long , long time past . The story is . told in the autobiographical form , with such delightful taste , simplicity , and truth to nature ; it runs so delicately and smoothly through the book ; and it is graced and recommended"to the reader in every page by such unaffected ease and masterly , clearness of style , that we must decline , in common justice to the author , risking any attempt to describe , it within the circumscribed limits of the present notice . We . will answer for its effect oja : the hearts of all readers ' -of . feeling , old as well as young—and that is enough . The characters cannot claim the merit , in any case , of being original creations ; but they are developed with admirable trutbof observation , and with genuinely artist-like skill of suggestion : they lay fast hold , of the reader ' s attention and interest on their first : introduction * and look , new by mere virtue of _ unaffectedly
natural treatment . The picture of the watch-maker ' s family in the earlypart of the book . is a real g . em ; . and there is a love-disappointment , happening to the eldest daughter , who narrates the story of the Old Family , which is told with a tenderness , delicacy , and quiet touching earnestness worthy of the highest-praise and the sineerest admiration . One "blemish only ; have we detected inthis delightful novel— -the death of one . of the characters is j » ade ^ toytake . place at the battle of the Alma . We must own to some disappointment at finding that the war-fever ,. which has had so disastrous / an influence in makiiig our literature a literature of catchpenny books , should have infected , though only in a very slight degree , such an otherwise genuine ^ piece of- ^ work v &~ Thorney Hall . yVe can accept " Alma RestaurantSj ! ' " Alma- Cottages , " and newly-christened ; " Alma Joneses , '' as inevitable temporary- nuisances ; but an Alma catastrophe at the- end of . an , excellent novel , is an ill-considered concession to passing
public interests , and a blemish of clap-trap on a work of pure and high art which it sadly disappoints us to see . Excepting this one " defect , however , we have not another fault to find with " Holme Lee ' s" story ; and'we have only to assure our readers ( who must be well aware , by this time , that we are not in the-habit of misleading then > by indiscriminate praise of " books on our ttile" ) , that they , may all . procure for themselves an . evening ' s reading of ^^ the-most interesting ^ and most delightful . kind , Jby ^ orderin ^ ^ Z 7 iO £ neyjyf ^ Our next book is of a very different order of writing . The Family Feud shows in many passages the promise , rather than the performance , of good things . The author bus power and dramatic feeling , but his faculties are at present of the wild : and illi-regulated kind . He has yet to rid : himself of some ivery absurd notions on the subject of Romancerwriting , which he defends in an unprofitably flippant way in an " Address" to the reader . him
Mr . "Adam Hornbook's" present principle of working is not to confine - self to any particular method of telling a story ; but to give the reader the benefit of variety by speaking sometimes in his own person as author , sometimes in his hero ' s person ( in the way of autobiography ) , and sometimes impersonall y * in therogular narrative form . The hero of the Family Feud , " Cam Colton , " begins , with telling , his own story ( and- some of it very well ,, too ) . By the . time we are getting interested in it , Mr . " Adam Hornbook , " the author , peeps in , and obliges us by silencing the autobiographer , . and continuing the narrative in his own person because he is " afraid" that ho cannot mako His own " hero" do justice to his own story I Comment is-- superfluous on suoh an-absurd 1 misconception of ' the nvtof ronaancsrTOtuting as : tbis . Eancy an . exhibitor , of Punch , stopping jthe action of his puppets , just as they wor , o beginning ; to amuse the bystanders ; drawing up his concealment of gycen baize ; and saying ,: — " For , fear you should forget , good people , Unit tneso puppets are really puppets , and only move l
because I pull their strings , I will continue the play in my own person' by keeping the-greou- baize up , and giving you a view of me and my nimble hands . Punohj as > a . self-agent , is all very well , for a little while— -but a sight of the man whp . makes Panel * move-ia nn > important addition to vary , your pleasure , andlincrouso . your , interest in the dramatic entertainment . If any critical persons present , should , venture to hint that 1 am interfering a little with thjit Illusion of the Scene , on whioh the cilect ot all works of imagination- entirely depends , don't believe them . It is a dictum against which-1-protest as flbwing from tho false taste of this artificial and corrupt age 1 " What would the " Adam Hornbook" say to such a speech as , this ? Probably he would answer , just nt present , that ifcwa » , a . most sensible piece of , oratory ; and that . tho last . sentence ia . pavticular wuasucli u model' ofeloquent indignation , that he should be delighted to , introduce it into tho preface to the Family Feud . We have , however , a sufllciently sincere conviction of his ^ natural capacity , to believe that he will altor his opinion one ' of thesedaya * and < produce n novol which slmll bo'aAVOi * : of sus-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24031855/page/18/
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