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Aebh. 24, 1862.] THE LEADER. . . .; ¦ ¦ ...
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WitttMtt
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rVifcics are not the legislators, but th...
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To metaphysical.readers the annoiiBcemen...
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Except that Professor Nichol is at last ...
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Granier de Gassaonac, long known to Fran...
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THE FASCINATION OF CHIME. Narratives fro...
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.
Aebh. 24, 1862.] The Leader. . . .; ¦ ¦ ...
Aebh . 24 , 1862 . ] THE LEADER . . . . ; ¦ ¦ . : Wl
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Rvifcics Are Not The Legislators, But Th...
rVifcics are not the legislators , but the judges arid police of literature . They do not make laws- ^ -tJaey interpr et and try to enforce them . —Edmhwgh Review .
To Metaphysical.Readers The Annoiibcemen...
To metaphysical . readers the annoiiBcement of Sib " Wil-lia *! Hamilton ' s Discussions on Philosop hys LAierature , and University 'Reform , will > be welcome news . These essays , long known to the philosophical world , and already collected and translated in France and Italy , Sir William has been urge d t o collect and republish > for the convenience of all students . He has done so now . On a future occasion we shall notice them at length ; it is merely as literary news that we announce the Volume now . Men , who having lost all anchorage of traditional belief , and who nevertheless feel
within them a self-determination towards paramount and regulating principles , cling to the visionary hope that Metaphysical speculation may yet wrest the secret from the XJniverse j and even among those who share no s uch hope , but feel the helplessness of all attempts , there are some willing to encourage metaphysics as " intellectual gymnastics . " To the latter , Hamilton will be invaluable . His pages are the training school for Athletes ; In these days of second-hand erudition , his pages are marvellous for the extent , variety , and originality of the citations .
Apropos ofsecond-hand erudition , weak as it is , there is much to be said in its defence , provided it bie not dishonestly used . Pascal , somewhere in Les Provinciales , alludes tohaving been twitted with the citation of auth ors he had never read , and replies , " It is quite true that I have not read all the books I have cited > or I should have passed a great part of my life in reading very bad books ! " The edge of the sarcasm will be turned , unless we remember the kind of books he repudiates having wasted his life upon , ' '¦ '¦ '
Except That Professor Nichol Is At Last ...
Except that Professor Nichol is at last about to bring out his Travels zn America , and . Mr ; Stirling , a work on the Cloister Life of Charles V , gossip has nothing to circulate . The Bookselling System is the literary topic i and unless the voice of authors , aided by the obvious interests of the public , be impotent , we may conclude the question as good as settled . Only one remark we pause to make . The strongest point in the Protectionist defence lies , as usual , in an epithet , and the epithet is "
underselling * " Those who declare the discount allowed to the trade to : be disproportionately la ? ge , ~» re sneenrigly termed ¦ " undersellers ;* ¦ ' and as the public instinct ; rises up ^ against " underselling , " the assailants of the old system appear in a false light . Now the object of those who agitate for a new arrangement , is not to agitate for the privilege of underselling , but for the privilege of not paying forty per cent , porterage upon all books .
Granier De Gassaonac, Long Known To Fran...
Granier de Gassaonac , long known to France as an impudent , unveracious , reckless journalist and critic , anxious to " make noise , " were it even by firing a pistol in the air , and so attract attention to himself , has become a " personage" since the blessed Restoration ( that , namely , of Reli gion , Property , and the Family—Oh ! above all , the Family !); and this prominence has induced the republication of some critical essays written in his obscurer days . He calls them , by an involuntary irony , ( Euvres Litte ' raires : if these are his literary works , what are his other works ? The volume contains articles on Chateaubriand , Lamennais ,
Lacordaire , Corneille , and Racine , Dumas , Hugo , & c , all written in the brilliant style of French journalism—the fireworks of literature ! Cassagnac is always on the side of paradox , and the Romantic School finds in him a headlong advocate , as Louis Napoleon finds him an unscrupulous tool . Since the loved name of Louis Napoleon falls from our pen , we may record here the anagram on that nape which now amuses Paris ; after the Honor est a Nilo of Horatio Nei / son—after the Un Corse vote" le finira of La Revolution Francaise— -may / certainly be placed this anagram on Louis Napoleon Bonaparte : ( 1 W p lat et polisson j bon a Her ou a pendre ! (« Born a brute and a blackguard ; fit for chains or the gallows . " )
The Fascination Of Chime. Narratives Fro...
THE FASCINATION OF CHIME . Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland . By John Hill Burton , author of TJfe of David Huma , & o . Two vola . Chapman and Hall . Wherein consists the deep , irrepressible interest felt by all , high and low , literate and illiterate , brave and timid , healthy and morbid , in the recitals of crimes that disgrace humanity , and make the heart ache with pity P Wherein lies this fascination of crime ? Delicate women , who faint at the sight of blood , and gentle men who cannot witness any act of brutality without disgust ; are found oasrerly reading all the details—the prohoio
-and disgusting details—of tho last " shocking murder 5 " and next to a groat horo in the excitement of an ovation , there is no one gathers to such a focus of admiration all the eyes and minds of peoplo , as a great criminal on his trial . No great Artist ovor roused such deep and feverish anxiety . A wretched brute , whoso very stupidity , perhaps , is the main causei , of tho atrocity of his crime , suddenly finds himself the ' cynosure 01 neig hbouringi ^ yes , " because his passions havo found issue in a vengeance more " shocking" in its details than tho daily murders are . Something of this ia tracoablo in the profound remark of Gootlio , that ho never read or heard of any crime , no matter how atrocious , tho Y ^ u ght of which had not , at some timo , passed through his mind , as a diabolic suggestion of an aot . Wo bolieve this to bo true of tho most virtuous . The difference between the virtuous and tho vicious consists in t > w suggeetkm as a passing thought , and , the suggestion as an abiding
thought , realized in act . In the criminal , the suggestion is taken up and viewecL as a simple means to an end—it is isolated from all relations of circumstance and feeling , which form consequences fmd conscience , Ana . being thus isolated is acted upon ; whereas , in a larger mind the relations which this act bears to all circumstances , and to the whole moral being , render it so repugnant that it is rejected . Hence Socrates could say , with considerable truth , that Vice was Ignorance ; if we pould " ¦ See , as from a tower , the end of all /* . . .. we should never be criminal . In the recital of some criminal action , then , we recognise within ourselves a something which betrays a dim possibility of our committing that deed under temptation . The criminal is felt to be a brother . We are
startled at seeing " as in a glass darkly" a fearful reflection , of the worst parts of ourselves ; and this snatches hold of our interest , and forces us through all the details of the history . But beyond that dim feeling of intimate connexity with the prisoner at the bar , there comes also into play the natural human appetite for emotion , which makes the " luxury of woe , " and which gives to sorrows a keen edge of pleasure Unsuspected by the bystander . A fire—a wreck—a murder—a domestic brawlwhatever it may be that calls the emotions into play , is thereby a source of gratification ; and women , who are far more emotive ; than men , are notoriously " fond of scenes , " because in " scenes" their emotional activity is called forth . A great crime makes us shudder ; and we like shuddering .
The horrible details haunt a terrified imagination ; and the greater the terror the more exquisite the delight . Such appear to us , briefly stated , to be the two main sources of the fascination of criminal stories . Every new contribution to the literature of crime , therefore , may be certain of attention ; and Mr . Hill Burton ' s volumes will not need the adventitious aid of reviewers to secure a public . For the sake of Our readers , however , we will briefly indicate the nature of these Criminal trials of Scotland . The work is no Scottish Newgate Calendar , Crimes there are , of course but the crimes are not selected for their own sake , so much as for the sake of illustrating history . Mr . Burton has well chosen his task , and executed it with felicity and
care . By a skilful mixture of history arid moral reflection with the narratives found in old archives and Undisturbed collections , he has produced volumes that have the abiding interest of fiction , with the far-reaching suggestiveness of historical thought . With the picture of barbaric existence painted by him in his opening section , Proceedings against tJtejOlan Gregor , the thoughtful reader will be delighted ; and , indeed , _ throTighout , the materials for reflection are abundant . The criticism arid reflection introduced . . byi-Mx .-Burton , are always spontaneous , and to the purpose . The narratives are well told , often in the ^ words of contemporaries , while the variety of the subjects prevents the reader's interest from failing . We shall , in a future article , describe more in detail the contents of these volumes : meanwhile , we willdextract this characteristic
STOBY OF THE FIKE OF FBENDEAUGHT . " Gordon of Rothiemay having estates which , being contiguous to those of Crichton , had to bear all the evils of a frontier territory , there were conflicts in the law courts , followed out by hand-to-hand battles with broadsword and matchlock . One of these engagements took place in 1630 , and was fought with great obstinacy . Rothiemay was mortally wounded , and only survived for a fewdays . The relations of the slain man made arrangements for taking signal vengeance ; and in addition to their own followers , they obtained the aid of a kind of
mercenary soldiery , ready at that time for any service in any part of the worldthe Highland freebooters , of whom 200 well armed , were encamped round the house of Rothiemay , under two renowned robber chieftains named Grant , against whom the law had in vain been fulminating for years together . The head , of tho Gordons , however , tho Marquis of Huntly , and his relation , Sir Robert Gordon , used all their efforts to arrest tho threatened ' harrying / as it was termed , of the territory of the Crichtons . They were unusually successful in producing , at least , an apparent reconciliation , ' and so all parties having shaken hands in the orchard of Strathbogie , tliey were heartily reconciled . '
" Tho Crichtons agreed to pay a sum of 50 , 000 merks to Rothiemay s widow ' in composition of tho slaughter . ' A follower ov client of Crichton , called John Moldrmn , of Redhill , had been wounded in the fi'oy with Rothiemay . Ho expected some reward for his services , which ho did not obtain , and took umbrage at his chief . For a gentleman of landed property Inn method of seeking redress wouid in the present day be considered somewhat strange . ' Whereupon , John Meldrum comcth secretly , under silence of the night , to tho park of Frendraught , and con » veyoth away two of Frcndraught's best horses , Frondraught taketh this lightly , and caileth John Moldrum before tho justico for theft . Ho turnoth rebel , and doth not appear . ' Ho wns sheltered in tho strong fortalice of his brothor-in-law , Leslie of Pitcaple . Frendraught and his relation , Crichton of Conlund , met by
accident tho eon of Leslie of Pitcaple , and high words passed about the sheltering of Meldrum . In tho middlo of tho dispute Crichton of Conland drew forth 11 pistol , and shot young Leslie . Thus out of a family who had been their warm friends , tho Crichtonn made bitter feudal enemies . Frendraught , alarmed apparently at his position , appeared desirous to conciliate tho Gordons , and asked tho Marquis of Huntly to uso his influence to heal tlio feud with tho Leslies . Hut young Leslie wan lying in his father ' s hall between life and dearth , and a reconciliation under such circumstances was impossible . Frendraught hud urgod his suit whon on a visit to Huntly ' h castle , and tho chivalrous chief of tho Gordons was
desirous thut ho ' should , nt all events , bo ttafo m returning from tho castlo of Strathbogie to Uia own homo ; u very unlikoly consummation , since an armed baud of tho Loslioif were on tho watch to waylay him . Huntly , after having entertained him for a fow days , sent hia son , Lord Aboyno , and tho young Laird of Rothiomay » vh his escorts . , ' " When they reached Frendraught , they woro desired to remain there and parfcako of its hospitalities . Tho Lady Frondraught wjw owpecially anxious that thoy should fioal tho abandonment of tho old feud between tho Gordons and the-Criolitons in conviviality . In tho word ** of an old ballad :
" Whon steeds wore saddled and well bridled And ready for to rifle j Then out camo slip and falso JrendrttUght , Inviting them to bido .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1852, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24041852/page/17/
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