On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Untitled Article
preferred the severity towards one living—one whom it might have hurt and could not benefit ? Let us , while on the subject ol Balzac , cont adict the paragraph going through the papers purporting that Madamjb Eva de Balzac is left without fortune ; she had a large fortune of her own , and it adds to the feeling of regret for his early death that he , who all his life had cherished a dream of seignorial splendour , and had painted
it so lovingly in his works , should be cut off just 98 the admiration of one of his fair -Russian readers had placed it within his grasp . He did not even live to complete " son oeuvre" as he was fund of styling his varied works ; but JLa Comedie Jiumaine is a monument any man might be . proud to let his name be graven on : though whether posterity will regard , that monument . with anything like the admiration he claimed for it is another question .
Untitled Article
A new workfor children is announced by George ; Sand ; to be illustrated by her son Maurice ; its litle is Histoire du veritable Gribouille ( a Gtibouille is something like our Tom Noddy ) , and has double jjiquancy , first , as being a child's book hy la grande desolee—the terrible Liclia—the personification to some * English minds of " the shocking French school "—secondly , as being illustrated by her son , for whom she intends reserving the illustration of all her works . Booksellers and artists have made her splendid offers to allow ah illustrated edition of her writings to be published \ but she has refused them all , resolving that Maurice and he alone ¦ hall do it .
Untitled Article
ALTON LOCKE : A CHARTIST NOVEL . Alton Locke ; Tailor and Poet . An Autobiography . 3 vols . Chapman and Hall . foils is a work of singular eloquence and power , and one to make the pulses beat and the eyes fill . In respect of art there is much to -which we might object , were it not obvious that the art itself is here subordinate in the author ' s mind to the purpose of the book , viz ., its exhibition in an impassioned form of the -wrongs , the obstacles to progress , the growing
evils , the aspirations and the delusions besetting the working classes . That it is not a real autobiography the least sagacious reader will soon divine ; and it is assuredly a defect in art so palpably to exhibit the literary man ( and a highly-cultivated one , too ) berieath the dress of the working man . Nor are many of the incidents mure lifelike than the style : they are thrown in for some purpose of the author ' s , without much reference to verisimilitude . In short ,
the ' author may say . with Bayes in the Rehearsal , " Why , what the devil is the plot good for but to bring in fine things f " As the art de conter visibly declines in our day , we see this tendency to make stories vehicles for reflection and philosophy increase . Nothing c » n be more opposed to aneient ^ art . Aristotle emphatically says that the story ( , uvt ) oq ) is the principal part , and , so to speak , the soul of tragedy ; whereas the ethical portion ( ra , 5 ) # w ) comes second .
Do not , however , suppose that the story is deficient in interest . On the contrary , it seizes hold of you with a spell like that of the Ancient Mariner , who fixed the attention of the impatient wedding guestand you liotcn to its ghastly revelations -with a breath * less curiosity . It is only when the book is closed , and the mind , retracing its steps on that road it has just been hurrying along , notes with more reflective care the various figures and landscapes it has passed , that the peculiar faults or felicities of the work rise
into distinct recognition . Then , indeed , you dwell with a loving willingness on the portrait of old Sandy Mack a ye , the secondhand bookseller , —a thoughtful , kindly , cautious , canny , noble Scot , so true in his individuality that we ransack our memory to discover whom it is we have known that might have sat for the portrait—on O'Flynn , a strong , sarcastic , yet discriminating portrait of the Irish editor trading in
vehemence and sedition , yet sincere in the convictions which he makes a trade of—on the Methodists , who art ? powerfully indicated ( at least the low side of them ) in Wigginton , and in the coarse , sensual , trivial'minded missionary—on George Locke , the typo of a " rcsppctnble" pushing young man—on Eleanor , the noble , high-souled woman , moving through the volumes like a thing of heaven .
. We shall not spoil the author ' s story nor take the edge oil" the reader ' s appetite by nn anuly is of Alton Locke i enough if wo indicate the nature of it 9 eonlents . The hero is a fiekly boy loft with a stern Calvinis tie mother , und the opposition of the healthy
instincts of nature to the savage , degrading , and desolating tenets of his mother and her teachers , is powerfully wrought out in a few striking scenes . He is subsequently apprenticed to a tailor — educates himself—developes into a poet and Chartist—falls in love with a lady—is patronized by some of " the great "—is sent as the Chartist delegate to attend a country meeting , and is imprisoned for three yeara on a charge of sedition—joins the Chartist demonstration on the 10 th of April—and is finally con-Verted to Christianity in a some-what miraculous
manner . The value of the book consists in its eloquent exposition of the " Condition of England Question " —its dramatic representation of what is living in the hearts and brains of the working men—its energetic denunciation of the evils of competition , and our shopkeeper morals shutting out all noble enthusiasms and high religious motive—and in its bold utterance of unpalatable truths . But , although a Chartist novel , wr itten by one who deeply sympathizes with the working classes , it is equally remarkable for its clear
perception of the errors and failings of the working classes , and contains lessons for them , they would do well to meditate on profoundly . Indeed , in spite of the vehemence and passionate declamation in this book , it is eminently the work of a poet—and this it is which keeps it from demagoguism . The poet ' s love and gentleness , the poet ' s far-reaching sympathies , and the poet's trust in whatsoever is beautiful and noble , may be read in almost every chapter of the book ; and while reading you find yourself warming with a glow of friendship towards the unknown author .
We will now give a few extracts as whets to the appetite . Alton has been writing verses about the Pacific which excite the friendly indignation of Sandy Mackaye , who asks him where he lives ?—" « What do you mean , Mr . Mackaye ? ' asked I , with a doleful and disappointed visage . " * Mean—why , if God had meant ye to write about Pacifies , He'd ha put ye there—and because He means ye to write aboot London town , He ' s put ye there—and gien ye an unco sharp taste o' the ways o' it ; and I'll ge ye anither . Come along wi' me . '
" And he seized me by the arm , and hardly giving me time to put on my hat , marched me out into the streets , and away through Clare-market to St . Giles ' s . "It was a foul , chilly , foggy , Saturday night . From the butchers' and greengrocers' shops the gaslightsflared and flickered , wild and ghastly , over haggard groups of slipshod dirty women , bargaining for scraps of stale meat and frostbitten vegetables , wrangling about short weight and bad quality . Fish-stalls and fruit-stalls lined the edge of the greasy pavement , sending up odours as foul as the language of sellers and buyers .
Blood and sewer-water crawled from under doors and out of spouts , and reeked down the gutters among offal , animal and vegetable , in every stage of putrefaction . Foul vapours rose from cowsheds and slaughter-houses , and the doorways of undrained alleys , where the inhabitants carried the filth out on their shoes from the back yard into the court , and from the court up into the main street ; while above , hanging like cliffs over the streetsthose narrow , brawling torrents of filth , and poverty ,
and sin—the houses with th < lr teeming load of hie were piled up into the dingy choking night . A ghastly , deafening , sickening sight it was . Go , scented Belgravian ! and see what London is ! and then go to the library which God has given thee—one often fears in vain—and see what , science says this London might be ! " ' Ay , ' he muttered to himself , as he strode along , 4 sing ' awa ; get yoursel wi' child wi' pretty fancies and gran' words , like the rest of the poets , and gang to hell for it . ' " « To hell , Mr . Mackaye ?'
44 Ay , to a verra real hell , Alton Locke , laddie—a warse ane than ony fiends' kitchen , or subterranean Sinithfield that ye'll hear o' in the pulpits—the hell on earth o' being a flunkey , and a humbug , and a useless peacock , wasting God ' s gifts on your ain lusts and pleasures—and kenning it—and not being able to get oot o'it , for the chains o' vanity and self-indulgence . I've warned ye . Now look there——' 44 He stopped suddenly before the entrance of a miserable
alley" ' Look ! there ' s not a soul down that yard but's either beggar , drunkard , thief , or warse . Write aboot that ! Say how ye saw the mouth o' hell , and the twa pillars thereof at the entry—the pawnbroker ' s shop o' one side and the gin palace at the other—twa monstrous deevils , eating up men , and women , and buirns , body and soul . Look at the jaws o' the monsters , how they open and open , and swallow in anither victim aud anither . Write aboot that . '
' What jaws , Mr . Mackaye !' " * They fuulding-doors o' the gin shop , goose . Are na they a mair damnable man-devouring idol than ony redhot statue o' Moloch , or wicker Goxmagog , wherein thae auld Britons burnt their prisoners ? Look at thae barefooted , barebacked hizcies , with their arms roim' the men ' s necks , and their mouths full u' vitriol anil beastly words I' Look at that Irishwoman pouring the gin down the babbie ' s throat ! . Look at that raff o' a boy gaun out a' the pawnshop , where he ' s been pledging the
handkerchief he stole the morning , into the ginshop , to buy beer poisoned wi' grains o' paradise , and cocculus indicus , and saut , and a' damnable , maddening , thirst-breeding , lustbreeding drugs ! Look at that pitl that went in wi ' a shawl on h < -r back and cam' out wi ' out ane ! Drunkards frae the breasti — harlots frae the cradle ! — damned before they ' re bom ! John Calvin had an inkling o' the truth there , I'm a ' most driven , to think , wi' his reprobation deevil ' s doctrines !' " * " Well—but—Mr . Mackaye , I know nothing about these poor creatures . '
" * Then ye ought . What do ye ken aboot the Pacific ? Which is maist to your business?—that barebacked hizzies that play the harlot o' the other side o * the warld , or these—these thousands o' bare-backed hizzies that play the harlot o' your ain side—made out o * your ain flesh and blude ? You a poet I True poetry , like true charity , my laddie , begins at hame . If ye'll be a poet at a ' , ye maun be a cockney poet ; and , while the cockneys be what they be , ye maun write , like Jeremiah of old , o' lamentation , and mourning , and woe , for the sins o' your people . Gin ye want to learn , the spirit o' a people ' s poet , down wi' your Bible and read thae auld Hebrew prophets ; gin ye wad learn the style , read your Burns frae morning till night ; and gin ye'd learn the matter , just gang after your nose , and keep your eyes open , and ye'll no miss it . ' " Here is something more about
MODERN ART . " Why is it that the latest poet has generally the greatest influence over the minds of the young ? Surely not for the mere charm of novelty ? The reason is , that he , living amid the same hopes , the same temptations , the same sphere of observation as they , gives utterance and outward form to the very questions which , vague and wordless , have been exercising their hearts . And what endeared Tennyson especially to me , the working-man , was , as I afterwards discovered , the altogether democratic tendency of his poems . True , all great poets are by their office democrats ; seers of man
only as man ; singers of the joys , the sorrows , the aspirations common to all humanity ; but in Alfred Tennyson there is an element especially democratic , truly levelling ; not his political opinions , about which I know nothing , and care less , but his handling of the trivial everyday sights and sounds of nature . Brought up , as I understand , in a part of England which possesses not much of the picturesque , and nothing of that which the vulgar call sublime , he has learnt to see that in all nature , in the hedgerow and the sandbank , as well as in the alp peak anu the ocean waste , is a world of true sublimity , —
a minute infinite , —an ever fertile garden of poetic images , the roots of which are in the unfathomable and the eternal , as truly as any phenomenon which astonishes and awes the eye . The descriptions of the desolate pools and creeks where the dying swan floated , the hint of the silvery marsh mosses by Mariana ' s meat , came to me like revelations . I always knew there was something beautiful , wonderful , sublime in those flowery dykes of Battersea fields ; in the long gravelly sweeps of that lone tidal shore ; and here was a man who had put them into words for me ! This is what I call democratic art—the revelation of the poetry which lies in common things . " Here is a touch of an
APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT . " Government—government ? You a tailor , and not know that government are the very authors of this system ? Not to know that they first set the example , by getting the army and navy clothes made by contractors , and taking the lowest tenders ? Not to know that the police clothes , the postmen ' s clothes , the convicts ' clothes , are all contracted for on the same infernal plan , by sweaters , and sweater ' s sweaters , and sweater ' s sweater ' s sweaters , till Government work is just the very last , lowest resource to which a poor starved-out wretch betakes himself to keep body and soul together ? Why , the Government prices , in almost every department , are half , and less than half , the very lowest living price . I tell youth *» careless iniquity of Government about these
, things will come out some day . It will be known , the whole abomination , and future abomination , and future generations will class it with the tyrannies of the Roman emperors aud the Norman barons . Why , it ' s a fact that the colonels of the regiments—noblemen , most of themmake their own vile profit out of us tailors—out of the pauperism of the men , the slavery of the children , the prostitution of the women . They get so much a uniform allowed them by Government to clothe the men with ; and then—then , they let out the jobs to the contractors at less than half what Government give them , and pocket the difference . And then you talk of appealing to Government ! "
PIKST GLIMPSE OF NATURE . 44 It was a glorious morning at the end of May ; and when 1 escaped from the pall of smoke which hung over the city , I found the sky a sheet of cloudless blue . How I watched for the ending of the rows of houses , which lined the road for miles—the great roots of London , running far out into the country , up which poured past me an endless stream of food , and merchandize , and human beings—the sap of the huge metropolitan lifetree ! How each turn of the road opened a fresh line of terraces or villas , till hope deferred made the heart sick . the rain
and the country seemed—like the place where - how touches the ground , or the El Dorado of Kaleigh's Guiana settlers—always a little farther off ! How , between gaps in the houses right and left , I caught tantaliz n « g impses of green fields , shut , from me by dull lines of high-spiked pnlings ! How I peeped through ttaiin and over fences at trim lawns and gardens , ami Ionised to stay , and admire , and speculate on the names of the strange plants and guudy flowers ; and thrn hurried on , always expecting to find something still finer a-headsomething really worth stopping to louk ht—till the
Untitled Article
544 «!) * & * && **? [ Saturday ,
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 31, 1850, page 544, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1851/page/16/
-