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WheIn the greatestdramatist of trance , ventured to introduce a , modern story to the stage , he felt bound to apologize , in the preface , for so great departure from the first conditions of art , only excusable , he thought , bv the fact that distance in place was equivalent to distance in time , and that Bojgzet would be as far removed from the prosaic associations of familiarity as Phfdfe or Andromaque . What would Racine say to the drama now ? Reality has displaced Ideality ; and the subjects most rigorously banished from ancient art are those now most in vogue . ^ Eschylus ventured on what was then a modern subject ( in the Persce ) , but no one till Racine had imitated the example . But we have swerved from the old
path altogether , nous avons change tout cela . ThurteH s ** real gig was a bold stroke ; it was nothing , however , to the last audacity of American eenius . Mr . Wark , under the spell of Lola Months , has undertaken 10 dramatize her life , and the realism of the stage will be so far perfect that Lot . A will herself play her own character ! In this drama , the ex-king of Bivaria , and his son Maximilian II ., will have prominent parts ; and as to poor Lieutenant Heald , there is no saying what jfigtire he is to present , as well as his maiden aunt . But the realism does not stop there . Eugene
Sue , Dujabrier , and other literary lions , are to " roar like any sucking dove" through this amazing drama , jostling Kossuth , Prince Bobo , Horace Gebely , and other American journalists ! Certainly , Aristophanes made no scruple of placing his contemporaries on the stage , and of making * them ridiculous to his heart ' s content ; nor did Voltaire hesitate to hang up Piron to the laughter of Parisian audiences ; but for an actress to play the mimic scenes of ler own life * is to " snatch a grace beyond the reach of art !"
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At the Society of Arts , on / Wednesday , Owen Jones delivered one of the most striking and effective lectures we have heard . It was on " Colour as employed in the Decorative Arts . * ' The subject was interesting , and acquired new and far-reaching interest in his treatment of it , both as regards the distressing want of taste exhibited by the English in all that regards the employment of Colour , and as regards the exposition of a few luminous memorable principles which may serve to educate the public taste . As the Lecture is printed , we shall nexfweek review it at length . That Owen Jones is a man of exquisite taste , and of accomplishment in his own art , we all know ; that he is also a masterly thinker this Lecture now reveals to us . ^
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Louis Napoleon is not so foolish as to imagine that compression is equivalent to destruction in the physical world ; but he is foolish enough to believe it of the moral world ; or rather why should we say foolish , seeing that only by such means can he preserve his perilous triumph ? The case is simply this . If Louis Napoleon really be the elect of the people , the antagonism of a few journalists and politicians cannot move him ; nay more , if any strong party in the nation really believe in him , on that strength he may rest secure . Do our rulers tremble at every journalist ? Not they . But Louis Napoleon is as sensitive as Charles Kean , and trembles for his throne unless
incessant vivats shake the air around it . If any man presumes to question the propriety of the dictator ' s acts , Louis Napoleon " cuts him off the free list , " or sends him to Cayenne ! But being cut off a free list does not always prevent a man from " having his say out ; " and the much prosecuted Bulletin Fratipais , driven from Brussels , and finding refuge here in London , contrives not only to assail the government , but contrives to get itself widely circulated in France . Excessive vigilance on the part of the police only stimulates to excessive and ingenious audacity on the part of the writers ; while the increased relish given to the articles by all this difficulty of getting them to read may be estimated by every one who knows the sweetness of stolen apples .
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The readers of the De'bats will remember a series of violent , bigoted , conceited , but not unimportant articles in the feuilleton > signed Cuvillier Flkury , devoted principally to the men and books of the Revolutions of ' 89 and ' 48 . Written with asperity and passion , they have the force and vivacity of passion , although their intense conceit and personality very much abates the reader ' s pleasure . M . Fleury has collected them in two volu mes , under the title , Portraits Politiques et Re ' volutionnaires * Politicians will be attracted towards the articles on Louis Philippe , Guizot , the Duchess of Orleans , the Revolution of 1848 , &c . ; men of letters will turn to the articles on Lamartine , Sue , Louis Blanc , Daniel Stern , Proudhon , and Victor Hugo , or to those on Rousseau , St , Just , Barero , and Camillo Dii amoulins .
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Among the books we hear of as in preparation , is one which promises amusement . It is to be the Adventures of our own Correspondent in Italy , written by the correspondent of the Leading Journal , who followed with fl uch amazing pertinacity the armies of Charlks Albert .
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Tins Eaater Fair Catalogue of the great Leipuig book-mart declares an "ncreaae on the number of bookB published . The Catalogue of fte Autumn
Fair contained 3860 works published , and 1130 in the press . The returns of the present are 4527 published , and 1163 in the press . Turning over these lists of Books , not one in ten of which is without its merit , perhaps , and not one in a hundred of any permanent value , we are pleased to see how rich the catalogue is in works on Natural History : they , at least , must he of value , if merely as repertories , of facts ; while in . p olitical works there is a very marked falling off—as , indeed , the state of Germany would lead one to suspect .
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LENA ; OR THE SILENT WOMAN . Lena ; or the Silent Woman . By the Author of " King ' s Cope , " " Mi \ Warren . " 3 vols . Smith , Elder and Co . Has it never occurred to you to turn a ^ vay with , an immense cnntii from some " highly intellectual" conversation kept tip by a stout , but not lively gentleman , with a very emancipated female ; and to seek in the " small talk" of a pretty woman , or agreeable young man , something of that glancing light and play of mind which you missed in the " feast of reason ? " This small talk may not materially advance your " development ; " the merest modicum of ¦ information" will appear therein , like the rare swimmers in Virgil ' s storm ; you gain no views of the " Progress of the Species , " and are rather confused on the question of " Woman . and her Needs ; " but , nevertheless , the light laugh , the pleasant smile , the unaffected good sense , the fugitive caprices of conversation—discursive as suggestion can make it—leave you more charmed than if the conversation had been " highly instructive . " Just what such Smalltalk is to the " feast of reason , " or tp more severe , elaborate discussion , this novel of Lena is to some ambitious novels vre have lately closed in anticipatory terror . It is pleasant , vivacious , readable—one knows not why . The pages are crowded with persons , and not one character among them ; incidents and conversations succeed each other in . endless variety , and leave no impression : it is like the hubbub of a large party ; yet you move to and fro , and listen to the several circles not unaiKUsed . If one were to be critical , and examine Lena as a work of art , or as a reflection of life , some rigour would necessarily be shown ;
yet wherefore ? The book has no pretensions . It is a novel- It is a circulating library novel . It is an amusing circulating library novel . Without carrying with it any decided evidence of that experience which Art demands for its representation of Life , the probabilities axe not outraged , nature is not caricatured beyond library limits ; while the general tone is pleasant , unaffected . Having said so much , we will enter into no details of plot or character ; the following scene will indicate the style of the whole ; to understand it you must be told that Basil , Lord Morland , is engaged to his cousin Cecil , and that Laura is Cecil ' s coquettish sister : —
" Laura was playing at draughts with Charles Dawbeney ; Mr . Havgrave and Lord IVTorland were standing close behind ; and she was talking to all three , caring nothing about ; the game , taking every one ' s advice , and losing fust . "' I have hardly a piece left : what shall I do , Basil ? ' she asked , looking back over her shoulder at her cousin . " She was seated on a low prie-dieu chair , all her rich curls fulling over the cushion behind her ; her eyes , full of electricity , raised to his . "' Lose your game V he said , roughly , but drawing nearer . "' How , don't be cross , Basil ; you who play so well : where shall I move next ?' "' There ! ' he said , pointing to the board . " The move succeeded . "' What next , Basil ? ' she asked . "He rested one arm on the hack of her choir , and leaning over , moved her pieces for her .
"' How I hate your German hands !' she whispered , throwing her kilJe -ami back , and fixing him with her lustrous eyes . "He wore a ring on his forefinger in the xigly German fnslrio ? , winch who lind often laughed at ; he slipped it off into his pocket , and went on moving for her . She won the game . "' Do you thank mo ? ' he asked , in a low voice . "' No / ahe replied , looking into his eyes again with a smile . "' Will you do something for me in return P * "' Nothing whatever , ' she replied , with the same caressing look . "' Sing me the Legend of the Fisherman / ho begged . "' No , I ' m too humble ; I should ehock your fastidious tosto with my bad
pronunciation / " ' Sing it ; never mind the words ! ' he urged . "' I ' m so nervous before you * she said , drawing the harp towards her . "' Are you singing for me—mo alono ? ' ho asked , between the verses . " 'No ; ' because you don't admire mo : I ani singing for those-who aro more easily pleiised / "' Nixc ! ' he exclaimed , fixing his eyes upon hor . There was more revenge than love in those gloomy looks of his . "' Ho calls me a Nixo' / exclaimed Laura , crouching a little forward ; nnd , pressing her face close to hor harp-strings , she luughed , as if through tlio grating of ft window , upon the listeners who had gathered round Lord Morland ' s clniir . "' Scandalous ! ' excluimed Charles Dowbenoy . "' Do you know what it means P' Basil asked , morosely . "' Not the least in tyio world ! ' replied Mr . Pawboney , laughing , without tho least embarrassment ut the confession . '
" Lord Morland muttored some polite remark in Gorman , and drmv his chair nearer the harp . Laura kopt tho same attitude , "' Toll us tho legend of the Nixo / » he said . "' Thoro aro a thousand stories of the Nixo / ho returned ; ' but all to tho wmo purpose . She is beautiful and wicked , and destroys whoever loves her . ' "' Oare ! gave V cried Laura , looking round , and imitating tho lomo of tho cabriolet drivers in Paris . "' I think you mug uncommonly well !* cried Captain CrabHhaw ( m if anybody had said slio did not ) . " Thank you / eho lisped , with a pretty little childish shrug ; ' but I ' m not doafl '
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„ •!>/«» nre not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not Critics ^ Jj . i avVr _ tney interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
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RfAY 1 , ^ 85 2 . ] :.,, ; V ^ Ti J U ' | | iti : ^ $ . ;^ :.:. , 4 l 9 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 419, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1933/page/15/
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