On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (8)
-
/5j> « jL j. . - 3LIT?rtlTUrt ?
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
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.
/5j≫ « Jl J. . - 3lit?Rtlturt ?
ICitmitaL
Untitled Article
We have before us the first four numbers of the Colonie Icarienne , a journal of the colony of French Communists , founded in America by the well-kno-wn M . Cabet . The colony was first founded about six years ago in Texas ; thence it was removed to JSTauvoo , in the state of Illinois , the number of empty houses left in that town by the Mormons on their exo dus proving a temptation . \ Nauvoo , however , is only the provisional seat of the colony , and it is to be shifted to Iowa , farther west . The journal is printed at Nauvoo . It 13 established for the propagation of M . Gabet ' s system of 4 Icarian Communism ;* the chief formula of which , we may explain to uninformed readers , is the very comfortable and comprehensive one , Tons pour chacun ; Chacun pour tows : Premier Droit , Vivre ; Premier Devoir ,
TravailUr : A chacun suivant ses besoins ; de chacun suivant ses forces" ( All for each ; Each for all ; First right , to live ; First duty , to work ; To each according to his wants ; from each according to his abilities" ) - ¦ Lest that plentiful class who have large ' wants' and small c abilities' should be for setting off to N " auvoo as the very place for them , we beg to say that M . Cabet does not appear yet to have got his colony quite ship-shape . There are some black sheep among the Icarians , it seems , who are known not to give all their earnings into the common stock ; ant ? , altogether , it may "be advisable to postponeemigration till the colony has definitely settled down in Iowa . By a Census , dated July 19 , 1854 , the colony consisted of 44 ) 5 individuals , to wit , 184 men ^ 114 women , and 107 children . Of the men ,
91 were married and had their wives with them ; 8 were married , but out of reach of wife ; 13 werewidowers . j 62 "were bachelors ; and 10 w . eire gro ^ n boys ,, Q £ the women , 91 were married , and had their husl ^ si . iids with them i 2 were married , but with no husbands accessible ; 10 were widows ; and 11 were grown school-girls . Of the jtbtal 405 j \ 325 Were French ; 65 Gerniaji ; 6 Swiss ; S Italians ; 3 Spaniards ; 1 Swede ; 1 English ; and 1 Anierican . From an inspection of the list ' of names , we have been able to- pick out tlie solitary English ' fcarmn Communist' at Nauvoo , and consequently , perhaps , on the globe . It ia the .. " Veuf Davis de Londrcs ? the " Widower Davis of London . " We should like to see that lone Icarian man , and to
hear his history . After what vicissitudes did he come within the Vortex of M . pAjiE-r ? Can it be to supply his place that the colony advertises ; lis it does jn-the fourth number of the journal , for " a young man of education , with sufficient knowledge of French to understand and be understood in that language , and sufficiently acquainted with English to be able to translate from the one language to the pther , and to give a course of En « iish . ?'' By way of remuneration , the colony is to find the youth in everything , aaid give him opportunities 6 f perfectin g hunselfin French . Here is an opening ! but M . Cabet warns applicants that they must apply by -writing first , aikl not join the colony till they receive an invitation .
Untitled Article
Blachivood , as the . first of the September magazines that has come to hand , may be noticed by itself this week . It is an average number , rather defir cient in the literary department . There is a paper on the "Spanish Revolution , " in continuation of the previous papers on Spanish polities which ha-ve appeared in the magazine , and by the same hand , but not so interesting An article entitled " The Crystal Palace , " is a vehement attack on the notion now gaining ground that the ancient Greek statues and sculptures were painted ; Air . Owen Jones , as the author ofAn Apology for the Colouring of the Greek Court , being singled out as the representative of this notion . ! ' « the initials J . I . B . appended to Bellcrophon , a Classical Ballad—a poem of some length—experienced renders will detect Professor Bx-aokxe , the author of the Metrical Translation ofJEscfyliis . But the lightest and likeliest to he popular article in the number is a slashing , yet good-humoured one , by a hand that will be recognised , on Mrs . Stowb ' s Sunvy Memories , The writer banters the famous novelist in a somewhat free strain throughout ; but on the subject of her literary tnstes and preferences he is quite sovei'e . He
says :- — " Interspersed with tho nctuul nsirrntivc , nro eoinmontiirioa , or ratlior criticisms , \\ -pa \\ art miU litcrntm-c , which , for tlio smlco of tlio authcuess , wo could wiah omitted . Ilcv tuale , u , ' »» subjects of the kind , ia cither wholly uncultivated or rndioilly bad—indeed St would bo absolutory cruel to quote her observations on tho works of tlio old musters . In literature she prefers Dr . Watts , as a poet , to Drydcn , nnd has tlio calm temerity to proceed to quotation . She snys , * For instnticit , take theso linos :--' * Wide ns lua vast dominion lies Let tlio Onwtor'fl name bo known ; Loud us his tlmudur about his jirninc , And sound it U \ f (\ i c \ s his throne . Spunk of tho womlum of that love Which Gabriel plays on every chord , From all bolow ami till nbovo
Loud unuclujaiiH to tho Lord . " " '_ Slonply nan specimen of Imimonioua vorbifiontfon , / would place tkin paraphrase by iJr , Watta nbope everything in the Enyliah lungiuiffe Hot ovoii excepting Ptipo ' n Mcaoiwli' 111 , 7 noroua , * «« y » no posnossing u wminon oar , the luiea mmtt r » nk ns nlisolute doggvel , and tUo Won » winch they convfiy nro CMnmoii-i > l « oo and wretchedly cxim-ohsciI . . PTagwlicrc , »\ w Ha ^ 7 ii c < ""tai » ty do not worphip Uui old EprHhIi pocto . With the mvoption of Bliltoa nna JbluMiefljponro , tlioro is more iiotitry in tlio works of tlio writers of thu lust iifty renrs tlwn in all tlio roat togfithfer ;' ' 'Wo -wonder if ol » o over rend m line ) of Ohftueor or of Spcnfeer , not to speak of Pom and Drydein . But eho objootH ovon to Milton . Woro m n piocq oJ cnuoom which wddV thtf world to inntch : — ' There is a Qoldncas about all the turnout exuGerawe of Mtlton ] liko tho wind that Wkwa from tho glnciera ncrosa theao ilov ^ ry
valleys . How serene his angels in their adamantine virtue 1 yet what sinning , suffering soul could find sympathy in them ? The utter want of sympathy for the fallen angels , in the whole celestial circle , is shocking . Satan is the only one who weeps " For millions of spirits for his faults amerced , And from eternal splendours flung—" " ' God does not care , nor his angels . ' Our readers , we hope , will understand why we leave this passage without comment . But it may be worth while to show them the sort of poetry ( beyond Watts ) which Mrs . Stowe does admire , and she favours us with the following as a ' beautiful aspiration' from an American poet of the name of Lowell : — " * Surely the wiser time sliall come When this fine overplus of might , No longer sullen , slow or dumb , Shall leap to music aud to light . " In that new childhood of the world , Life of itself shall dance and play , Fresh blood through Time ' s shrunk veins be hurled , And labour meet delight half way . '
Beautiful aspirations—lovely lines ! WTiy—they arc absolute nonsense ; and the mere silent reading of . t | iem has set our teeth on edge . Try to recite them , and you are inevitably booked for a catarrh ! In like manner she refers to some rubbish of Mr . Wliittier , an American rhymer , as a beautiful ballad , called "Barclay of Ury . "' We have a distinct recollection of having read that ballad some years ago , and of our impression that it was incomparably tlie worst which we ever encountered 5 though , if a naked sword were at th } s moment to be presented to our throat , we could depone nothing further than that ' rising in a fury , ' rhymed to ' Barclay ofVUry ; ' and also , that ' frowning very darkly , ' chimed in to-the ' name of ' Barclay . ' But it was woeful stuff ; and it lingers in our memory solely by reason of its . absurdity . "
Untitled Article
Tie spirit of Goethe still rules in Weimar . The Duke , \ vho is anxious to preserve the traditions of tlie Court , and to make tVeiinar continue illustrious thrpugh literature ^ has started a Quarterly— . Weimarisches VierteljahrbucJi—of which Ho ^ majjk von Fai ^ bsueben and Dr . Schade are the editors .. Among the last literary novelties of AVeimar is the publication of the letters written by Goethe to Cilaki , ott : e and her husband during the Werler period . \ Froni these letters wilt be Sjeeii how close Goethe kept to the actual ; circumstances in his novel ; very often Werter i ? but an extract from the letters . Jerusalem ' s : letters—especially the one borrowing Kestneb ' s pistols— -a facrsimile of ' . ' . whic h is given—and a charnaing portrait of CHAEtrOTTE herself , help to make this book very interesting to thos ^ who are up' in German literature ; but the hook wants editing and annotating to niake it intelligible to the public ^ .
Untitled Article
In Norton ' s ( Neio Yorky Literary Qazetteaind Publisher ' s Circular , we find a list of books published in the United States between Au £ . 1 and Aug . 15 . Thisiist ^ -excluding reprints of current British works arid the like , contains seventeen-volumes . The number of pamphlets mentioned as published in . the same . time in . -the United . States is eight . In the . same circular there is a list of books published in Great Britain , in . the fortnight between June 30 and July 14 . The list includes eighty rhine items . We wonder if .. this is a fair representation of the comparative literary activity of the two countries . In the English list , we may add , there are perhaps eight or ten items which one would presume , from the titles , ' to be of some literary interest : in the corresponding American list , judging in the same manner , there are perhaps two or three of literary , as distinct from * useful knowledge . ' pretensions .
Untitled Article
The papers announce the death , at Ragaz , in Switzerland , at the age of seventy-nine , of Frederic Wiixiam Joseph Schislujio , the last survivor of that famous series of German philosophers , of which Kant , Jacobi , Herijart , Fichte , and Hkgkl , arc the other chiefs . The deceased philosopher was born 1775 , at Leonborg , in Wurtemberg . Ho studied first at Tubingen , where he and Hegejc hecame intimate friends , both being at the time very young men ; thence ho went to . Leipsic and Jena . At Jena lie studied under Fichte , whom he succeeeded in tho chair of philosophy at that University in 1798 . In 1803 , he was transferred to Wuraburg ; and in 1807 , thence to Municli , where ho remained till 1841 , when lie accepted a chair at Berlin . This chair he soon relinquished , and tho lust years of his life have been
spent nx comparative seclusion . By the nature of his speculations , doveloped in a number of fragmentary publications , chiefly in tho earlier part of his life , Scueixing ' b place in tlio great series of German philosophers is determined to be between Ficutk and Hrccsiar .,, the former of wlioxn died in 1814 , and the lattqr in 1831 ; Kant had bequeathed two contrary tendencies to the philosophy of his countrymen—that towards Objective Realism , which builds all on tho supposition of a firm external reality in tlio universe , independent of tho mind itself ; nnd that towards Subjective r < I < ialism , which regards the thinking mind as the solo reality , ftud all tho external universe merely na so much various thought of that iniml . All subsequent German philosophy has been , tho prosecution of one or other of these speculative
directions , or the attempt to reconcile them . Jacodi and IIbuijabt took tho realistic side ; and tho energies of tho latter philosopher , in particular , woro directed against those who doveloped Kant ' s system to its later idaaliatic extremes . Of tlnoso Fxowtb was tho firat and moat thoroug h-going . Kojecting tho notion , as Kant had beou content to loavo it , of tho External Universe ? and the knowing mind , tho Non-Eyo nnd tho 7 Sgo , m two co-ordinate substances , out of whoso action onoaoU other nil thought is bred , Ficuth maintained that all emanates from tho Zfyo , «>»<' . >» flict . tImt tho » mvcrao is nothing but thtmzht . Out of thin ftimlamontul notion , he evolved on extensive a » a very powerful philosophy . Towards tho end of his philosophical career , however , he began to fool uncomfortable in his doctrine of pure or absolute Idealism—which led , as ho saw , to the pit of sheer Nihilism--and
Untitled Article
Critics are not the legislators , but the judge 3 and police of literature . The / do . not naake laws— th . ey interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
Untitled Article
September 2 , 1854 . J THE LEADER . 829
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 2, 1854, page 829, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2054/page/13/
-