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** But Goethe is- far from believing that he knows the Hiehest Being as it is . All his written and oral ex-S ? 88 ion 8 intimate that it is somewhat inscrutable , of which men can only have approximating perceptions and fee «« For the rest , nature and we men are all so penetrated by the Divine , that it holds us ; that we live , move and have our being in it ; that we suffer and are haDDV under eternal laws ; that we practise these , and they are practised on us , whether we recognize them or n " The child enjoys his cake without knowing anything of the baker ; the sparrow the cherries , without thinking how they grew . "
We close with this dictum on Christianity by the Grand Duke : — " It is a humane doctrine , but has been distorted from the beginning . The first Christians were the freethinkers among the ultras . In our Notes and Extracts we shall draw again and again from these volumes .
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SERMONS IN SONNETS . Sermons in Sonnets ; with a Text on the New Year and other Poems by Ohauncy Hare Townshend . Chapman and Hall . A voLUME-of pleasant , nay , elegant verse . It is not a book to produce any lasting impression by the felicity or depth of its thought , the beauty of its images , or by that nameless grace of fancy and of feeling which make meditative poetry so charming . But it is the writing of an amiable and accomplished mind , to whom verse has been an elegant amusement , and perhaps a quiet solace . It consists of sonnets on the months , of which the best are April and October : — APRIL . " April ! thy very name hath images Of sparkling showers , and larks in blue air singing ' . And rainbows to the hill their bright hues bringing , 4 nd transient storm * that move along the leas . Far off , in purple gloom , as if to please The eye by contrast more ; for sunbeams still Do with delight the middle landscape fill . But thou haat claims to love more dear than these : How youthful thou ! How full of all reminding Of our sweet youth I Nor vain those memories , Joy unto Innocence for ever binding , In one deep thought that guards and purifies ; Beloved through all the stains of manhood ' s years—If lost , to be resought with careful tears , " OCTOBER . " October comes with hues magnificent , The sunset of the year . This gorgeous roy , Brightest at parting , call it not decay , But nature ' s sum and full accomplishment ! Swift let thy fancy to those climes be sent , Where glows the vintage , —where a riper day Doth on the gold and purple clusters play , Into the wine-vat toss'd ! Then , homeward bent , Let thy glad glances find a happy goal "Where lustrous mosses gild the forest-floor . Or where rich farms their sjarner'd harvests store , Till eink the season ' s wealth into thy soul . On present joy to seine—the crime of folly—In Nature ' s children is a wisdom holy . " Then follows a poem on the new year , and one hundred and nine sermons in sonnets , each being a poetic commentary on some Scripture text . The feeling of these sermons is gentle and pious : a true poet ' s Christianity extracting all the sweetness from the text , and leaving the bitterness to polemics . Here are two we recommend to those who adopt the comfortable faith of eternal damnation : — " Can a woman forpet her sucking child , that she should not have compassion on the boh of her womb ? Yea , they may forget , yet . will 1 not forget t \ u ; a . "—Isaiah , xlix . 15 . " The thought that any should have endless woo Would cast a shadow on the throne <>/ God And darken Heaven . . . From the scarce-warm clod To Heraphs , all Him as a Fnthe . r know ; He , all aa children . Kvvn with ud below The one rebellious son more thought and lovo Than all the rent will in a parent move , « jod stirring in u * . Then how strong the glow Of ( iod ' a great heart our sorrows to rulieve I Could Ho lie bleat , beholding Bufferings , And not their end 't His tenderness would grievo If even thu least of Ilia created things Khould iniHs of joy . In it « serenity God ' s pruiieut huppineas proveu ourn to be . " Wo are olikbtened that wu be not condemned . " —I Cor . il . 32 . " Y « 8 . c ; lin « Ut <« nu > nt must bo I—only , inntrnd Of bitter vtiiigeiince , rtunl corrective love . MotbiutiH this thought would inoro impruvH und ninvo , Au < l reuli / ing influence o ' er uh shod , Thau all fantastic terrors , blgot-brnd . HouIh by the ) just and true ulomi improvo ; And truci it iti , that ill uctH from ithovu Draw down u retribution on the heud ; Hut . ut . ripcn of vengeful wruth no bettering bring . Only , when mnitte . n by a Kuthur ' u hand , Wo kiss tlio rod of heavenly chastening . That blonuoini into Joy like Aaron ' s wuinl . Oh , t |»« : u 'twnre wi «« weak mortals to protect J ' Vom throats too horrible to take effect . " We will venture on one more sonnet : — -
" In my Father '* Houw are many mansions . "—St . John , xir . 9 . " Ye orbs that tremble through infinity , And are ye , then , link'd only with our eyes , Dissever'd from our thoughts , our smiles , our sighs , — Our hopes and dreams of being , yet to be ? Oh , if all nature be a harmony ( As sure it is ) , why in those solemn skies Should ye our vision mock , like glittering lies To man all unrelated ? Must I see Your glories only a 3 a tinsell'd waste ? If so , I half despise your spectacle 1 But , if I deem that ye form jeras vast , And do , by mighty revolution , tell Time to intelligent existences ; Awe-struck . I do assist at your solemnities !"
Some miscellaneous poems follow , b » t they are scarcely equal to the sonnets ; but this is an admirable touch : — " For me Fitter the silence of some dreary heath , The dullness of some desert solitude ; For joy is such a stranger to my soul . Its touch alarms me more than that of grief . "
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THACKERAY AND THBTHUNDMER . The Kickleburys on the Rhine . By M . A . Titmarsh . Second Edition , wkh a Preface . Smith and Elder . As a general rule , nothing can be more ill-advised than a reply to 3 criticism , and , above all , to a criticism in the Times . Quite apart from the policy of 6 uch an act , there is this disadvantage , that you , the author , demurring to the judgment of the critic , are placing yourself in a false position , and the public feel this . But if you can turn the laugh against your critic you disarm the public , and in some sense triumph .
Mr . Titmarsh has certainly adopted the best possible tone , since he was determined to reply . The Times published an article on his Kickleburys j in the preface to the second edition we have the jocular answer—merciless in its contempt—for he can murder while he smiles "—and successful , as far as putting his critic in the pillory is concerned . The exposure of hollow pretension and ludicrous magniloquence is complete . He prints the whole article—does not affect to be indifferent to it—but takes his revenge by criticising the critic . For the amusement of our readers we give the whole of it :
" Any reader who may have a fancy to purchase a copy orthis present second edition of the History of the Kickleburys A broad had best be warned in time that the Times newspaper does not approve of the work , and has but a bad opinion both of the author and his readers . Nothing can be fairer than this statement : if you happen to take up the poor little volnine at a railroad station , and read this sentence , lny the book down and buy something else . You are warned . What more can the author say ? If after this you will buy—amen ! Pay your money , take your book , and fall to . Between ourselves , honest reader , it is no very 6 trong potation which the present purveyor offers to you . It will not trouble your head much in the drinking . It was intended for that
sort of negus which is offered at Christmas parties ; and of which ladies and children may partake with refresh ment and cheerfulness . Last year I tried a brew which was old , bitter , and strong ; and scare any one would drink it . This year we send round a milder tap , and it is liked by customers : though the critics ( who like strong ale , the rogues !) turn up their noses . In heaven ' s name , Mr . Smith , serve round the liquor to the gentlefolks . Pray , dear madam , another glass ; it is Christmas time , it will do you no harm . It is not intended to keep long , this 8 ort of drink . ( Come froth up , Mr . Publisher , and pass quickly round !) And , ag for the professional gentlemen , we must get r stronger sort for them some day .
" The Times gentleman ( a very difficult gent , to please ) is the loudest and noisiest of all , and has made more hideous faces over the refreshment offered to him than any other critic . There Is no use shirking this statement : when a man has been abused in the Times he can ' t hide it , any more than he could hide the knowledge of his having been committed to prison by Mr . Henry , or publicly caned m Pall-Mull . You see it in your friends' eyes when they meet you . They know it . They have chuckled over it to a man . They whisper about it at the club , and look over the paper at you . My next door neighbour came to see me this morning , and I saw by his face that he had the whole Ktory pat . * Hem I
nays he , ' well , I have heard of it ; and the fact is , they wero talking about you at dinner last night , and mentioning that the limes had—ahem !— " wu . lU . cd . into you . " My good M——( I nay , and M —— will corroborate , if need be , the statement 1 iiiulie hero ) , here in the Times article , dated January 4 th , which states ho and ho , and hero in a letter from the publisher , likewise dated January 4 th , and which nuys : —¦ " ' My d « 'ur JSir , ' —Having thin day sold the last copy of the fir « t edition ( of x thousand ) of the Kickleburys Abroad , and having orders for more , hud we ; not better proceed to u hvoouU edition ? und will you permit me to enclose un order on , ' iko . &o . ?
" Singular coincidence 1 And if every author who was tto abused by a critic hud u uimilur note from a publisher , good Lord I how easily would wo take , the critic ' s censure ! ' ' Ye « , yea , ' you eay ; ' it is nil very well for a writer ( o Affect to bo mdifforeut to a critique from the l \ m » $ .
You bearitara boy-bears a flogging at school * without crying out : but don't swagger and brag as if you liked it . « ' Let us have truth before all . I would rather have a coo d word than a bad one from any person : but if a critic abuses me from a high place , and it is worth nay while , 1 will appeal . If I can show that the judge who is delivering sentence against me , and laying down tho law and making a pretence of learning , has no learning and no law , and is neither more nor less than a pompous noodle , who ought not to be heard in any respectable court , I will do so ; and then , dear friends , perhaps you will have something to laugh at in this book . " [ Here follows the critique extracted from the Times . ']
" There is the whole article . And the reader will see ( in the paragraph preceding that memorable one which winds up with the diseased oyster ) , that he must be a worthless creature for daring to like the book , as he could only do so from a desire to hug himself in a sense of superiority by admeasurement with the most worthless of his fellow-creatures ! " The reader is worthless for liking a book of which all the characters are worthless except two which are offered to his respectful admiration ; and of these two the author does not respect one , but struggles not to laugh in his face ; whilst he apparently speaks of another in a tone of religious reverence , because the lady is a countess , and because he ( the author ) ia ^ a sneak . So re ader , jiuthor , characters , are rogues all . Be there any honest men left , Hal ? About Printing-house-square , mayhap you may light on an honest man , a squeamish man , a proper moral man , a man that shall talk you Latin by the half
column if you will but hear him . " And what a style it is , that great man ' s ! What hoighth of foine language entoirely ! How he can discoorse you in English for all the world as if it was Latin For instance , suppose you and I had to announce the important news that some writers published what are called Christmas books ; that Christmas books are so called because they are published at Christmas ; and that the purpose of the authors is to try and amuse people . Suppose , I say , we had by the sheer force of intellect , or by other means of observation or information , discovered these great truths , we should have announced them in so many words . And there it is that the differnce lies between a great writer and a poor one ; and we may see
how an inferior man may fling a chance away . How does my friend of the Times put these propositions ? ' It has been customary , ' says he , ' of late years for the purveyors of amusing literature to put forth certain opuscules , denominated Christmas books , with the ostensible intention of swelling the tide of exhilaration , or other expansive emotions , incident upon the exodus of the old or the inauguration of the new year . ' That is something like a sentence ; not a word scarcely but ' s in Latin , and the longest and handsomest out of the whole dictionary . That is proper economy—as you see a buck from Flolywell street put every pinchbeck pin , ring , and chain which he possesses about his shirt , hands , a ? id toaistcoat , and then go and cut a dash in the Park , or stcaggcr with to
his order to the theatre . It costs him no mo ^ r wear all his ornaments about his distinguished person than to leave them at home . If you can be a swell at a cheap rate , why not ? And I protest , for my part , I had no idea what I waa really about in writing and submitting my little book for sale until my friend the critic , looking at the article , and examining it with the eyes of a connoisseur , pronounced that what I had fancied simply to be & book was in fact ' an opuscule , denominated so-andso , and ostensibly intended to swell the tide of expansive emotion incident upon the inauguration of the newyear . ' I can hardly believe as much even now —so little do we know what we really are after , until men of genius come and interpret .
" Anil , besides the ostensible intention , the reader will perceive that my judge has discovered another latent motive , which I had ' locked up in my own breast . ' The sly rogue 1 ( if we may so speak of the court ) . There is no keeping anything from him ; and this truth , like the rest , has come out , and is all over England by this time . 0 that all England , which has bought the judge ' s charge , would purchase the prisoner ' s plea in mitigation ! 'O that any muso should be set on a high stool , ' says the bench , ' to cast
up accounts and balance a ledger ! Yet so it is ; and tho popular author finds it convenient to fill up the declared deficit by the omission of Christinas books—a kind of assiguats that bear the stump of their origin in the vacuity of the writer ' s exchequer . ' There in a trope for you ! You rascal , you wrote because you wanted money ! His lordship has found out what you were at , and that there is a deficit in yyur till . liut he goes on to say that we poor devils are to be pitied in our necessity , and that these compositions are no morn to be taken us examples of our merits than the verses which the dustman leaven
ut his lordship ' s door ' us a provocative of the expected annual gratuity , ' are to be considered us measuring his , the scavenger h , valuable services — nevertheless the author ' s and the ( scavenger's ' effusions may fairly , bo classed , for their intrinsic worth , no less than their ultimate purport . ' " Heaven bless his lordship on the bench—What a gentlemanlike badinage he has , and what a . charming and playful wit always at hand ! What a sense he has for u simile , or what Mrs . Muluprop culls an odorous comparison , und how gracefully he conducts it to ' its ultimate purport . * A gentleman writing a poor littlo book is a scavenger asking for a <; iui « tinan-l ) ox !
" Ah I try thin sinnll-beer which has culled down such a deul of thunder , 1 can ' t help thinking that it in not Jovo who huH interfered ( the cuho wub ncaree . worthy of bin divine vindictivenrHH ); but the Thunderer ' s man , Jupiter Jeamas , taking his master ' s place , adopting his manner , and trying to dazzle and roar like his aw / ul employer . The figure of tho dustman has hardly been flung from heaven : that ' ultimate purport' in a subject which the Immortal would hnrdly handle . Well , well ;
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Jan . 11 , 1851 . ] . *** . *«**«*? f * _
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 11, 1851, page 41, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1865/page/17/
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