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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.
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shtefedfAi- ; jj-s iMrs&rssw : Sovereign the people of France ever possessed , and for that very reason he became an object of ferocious and virulent animosity , evoked by the convocation of the States-General , and their wilful misprision of their duty . On the other hand , we learn that Peter the Great spent forty-four days in Paris , though we are left in ignorance as to whether he preferred the Jardin Mabile or the Cirque Imperial . " Asr some evidence of the partial civilisation of the Gauls before Caesar's time , " we are assured that they 'had river tolls which subsisted during many succeeding centuries . " It is equally instructive to know that " Gaul , from an early date , had afforded refuge to some memorable exiles—to Herod Archelaus and Pontius Pilate , who com mitted suicide at Vienne , and to Herod Antip ator , and Herodias , his wile , who died at Lyons ; " and that " Caesar ' s threefold partition of Gaul was not arbitrarily made by himself . " But it is painful to find in a
would-be-philosophical history , written in the year 1855 , such , exploded fables as the laconic letter of Francis I . after the battle of Pavia ; while James van Artevelde is still contemptuously styled " the brewer of Ghent , " though it has long since been clearly established that he was a man of noble family , and merely admitted as an honorary member of the Brewers * Guild . Then , Joan of Arc is represented as having been condemned to death as a witch , and not as a victim to the jealousy of high churchmen . The battle of the Spurs , near Courtrai , is attributed to the English alone , whereas the victory was really due to the Flemings . And the Prince of Rohan is convicted of " having swindled the jewellers" in the affair of the diamond necklace , " at the instance of his profligate associates , under the pretence that he was commissioned by the Queen . " It is not , however , very wonderful that Mr . Tooke should occasionally mistake romance for history , seeing that he accepts the authority of novelists and dramatists . We have already noticed his reference to Mr . James on the subject of Philip Augustus . We now copy his note relative to the conquest of France by Henry V .:
—In corroboration of the details of the various battles between the French Ad the English , and of the names and actions of their warriors and commanders during this reign , we would , in legal phraseology , refer to the reports of Mr . William Shakespeare , temp . ** Henry V . " and " 1 st Henry "VI . " passim . Having given this specimen of Mr . Tooke ' s facetious style , we are bound to furnish an example of the didactic : The disgrace of this massacre should not altogether be charged on Charles IX . ; but kings would escape censure if they withheld their names from being implicated with , the atrocities of their advisers . Here is an illustration of the grandiloquent : The following Christmas , this haughty Sicamber ( Clovis ) entered the piscina of the catechumens , and bending beneath the hand of the Bishop of Rheims , burnt all that he had worshipped , worshipped all that he had burnt , and was baptised with his family and his people . The Church gave forth a joyful cry , stretched out her hand to the king of the Franks , and proclaimed him her only faithful son amid all the monarchs of the West .
Of the familiar style we have two notable instances . Philip Augustus hastily returned to France after the siege of Acre , " leaving to Richard all the peril , as well as the glory and the damage , which that ill- fated enterprise entailed . " And after the battle of St . Quentin , on St . Lawrence ' s day , Philip was so elated by the victory , that he " caused his palace of the Escurial to be built in the shape of a gridiron , the article on which the saint" ( why not " that party ? " ) " suffered martyrdom . " We observe that the author has reserved to himself the right of translation . Surely , the precaution was unnecessary .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . A Historical and Critical Commentary on the Old Testament . With a New Translation . By M . Kalisch , Phil . Dr ., &c . ( Hebrew and English . ) London , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Life and System of Pestalozzi . By Karl von Raumer . Translated from the German by J . Tilleard . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . A Selection from the Lesser Poems . By William Henry Leatham . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Dante ' s Divine Comedy—Notes on the Translation . By C . B . Cayley , B . A . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . A Few Words About the Inmates of Our Union Workhouses .
Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . The English Cyclopaedia : a new Dictionary of Universal Knowledge , based on the Penny Cyclopaedia . Conducted hy Charles Knight . { Natural History and Geography , ( Part 27 . ) Bradbury and Evans . The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire . By Edward Gibbon , Esq . With Notes by Dean Milman and M . Guizot , edited , with Additional Notes , by William Smith , LL . D . ( Vol . VIII . ) John Murray . Who ' s Who in 1855 ? Edited by C . II . Oakea , M . A . Dedicated , by permission , to her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland . Baily Brothers . Margaret Maitland , of Sunnyside . Written by Ijfersolf . Thomas Hodgson . The Jirst two books of Hugo Grotius , on the truth of the Christian Jleligion , literally translated into English . By a Graduate ' of the University of Cambridge .
Bennett ( Lnngport ) . Coesach Rule , and Russian Influence , in Europe and over Germany : a Jew Notes and Suggestions for the Present Crisis , By Alexander Graham Dunlop . James Itidgway . Bradshaw ' a Illustrated Guide through Paris and its Environs ; exhibiting , in a novel and comprehensive form , all that can be teen , and how to see it . W . J . Adams . The Art of Elocution , as an essential part of Rhetoric : with instructions in Gesture , and an Appendix of Oratorical , Poetical , and Dramatic Extracts . By Qoorgo VaudonhoiF . Sampson Low and Son . A Few Words on Paper , Flax , Hemp , and Plantain Fibre , in which it is shown that largo quantities of planUun J ibro may be profitably obtained from the West Indies , captnullyfrom Demarara , at substitute * for flam , hemp , and paper-making materials . Thomas Bosworth .
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LA RISTOKI . — MIRRA . ( From a Correspondent ) . TW FuroDean recognition of a great actress , worthy the name—a true dramatic X he European recos i i *» f eei ) iusand who is blest with the faculty of ^ SSS S glTefmotfve , wlTave ifa ^ with gratification the success of fa actress whom everybody admits to be an artist of the first rank ; whose very rTva KandMe anvomai ) has openly and confessedly paid her the compliment of WouV aSdnstwhom neither criticism can deal an open blow nor , calumny a jeaiouhy , a p junoi'" ¦ . „ .. ; , > nnilQ Wnmnn . There was some . Private i ££ 5 Ta t ™ e artista virtuous » oman There w «»
stXTg ^ , , y Extort , ' a ' German friend said- " Sie ist so weibliche . " In that single phrase l it » s a whole volume of criticism . . , . , . A word or two upon the Mirra , her favourite part , and that m which we have seen her to the best advantage . Strange that so womanly a creature should best succeed in the illustration of so unwomanly a passion ! But this , 8 one of those co ntradictions so common , and perhaps after aII .. * o easily exphcable m art It is a mistake to say that those can simulate best who can roost readrfy- do ? he thing itself . Perhaps ' the only real paradox in the matter is that a woman Spure ^ o intellectual as La Ristori is said , and as we believe her , to be , shou d have se ected this play , which no one can ever read without being disgusted to
The old poets hung over this terrible theme witb > a strange admiration ; it seemed ? o exercise upon them a fascination . Yet even Ovid himsel ^ not prudish overmuch , thought it right to circumscribe his audience when he recounted the DiTa canam : natae proeul nine ! procul este parentes I Worse than OEdipus , who knew not his affinity to Jocasta , MniRA burned for Cinykas while she knew him to be her father . True , Alfibri has left Ovid ' s catastrophe untouched ami veils over the confession of the guilty daughter with considerable finesse ; but it shines . Like a burning spot through the covering , and nothing can exceed the libidinousness of these suggestive lines—Oh madre mia felice ! . . . . almen concesso A lei sara . . di morire . . al tua fiancodelivered , too , with a liquid unctuousness of accent , such'as no written words can serve to convey the least idea of .
The story , as told by Apollodohus , differs somewhat from Ovid ' s version . The former make s Cinyras , King of Cyprus , espouse Mbthakmb , daughter of Ptgmauok , by whom he had three daughters , Okeedece , Laoqora , and Bikesia , all of whom incurred the anger of Venus , and died shamefully in Egypt . Panyasis makes Thbias , King of Assyria , have a daughter named Smyrna , who burned with an unholy love for her father . In one point there is a striking similarity between Ovid ' s version of the story and Aufiebi ' s — the struggle with shame and not quite extinct modesty throughout . In a very few lines Ovid tells all what Alfieri takes five long acts to do . Cinyras wishes Mirra to choose a husband : — Te cupiunt proceres ; totoque Oriente juventus Ad thalami certamen adest : ex omnibus unum
Elige , Myxrha . Alfieri puts into the mouth of Cecris , Mirra ' s mother—I piu prodi D'Asia e di Grecia principi possenti , A gara tutti concorreano in Cipro , Di sua bellezza al grido : e appien per noi Dona di se quanto alia scelta ell' era . " This one line of Ovid runs all through Alfieri ' s play : — " Ilia quidem sentit , foedoque repugnat amori . And these four beautiful lines might have been penned by the poet after witnessing Ristori in the Confession scene : — Ilia silet prirao , patriisque in vultibus hoerens , CEstuat , et tepido suffundit lumina rore , — Virginei Cinyras hoec credens esse timoris , Flere vetat , siccatquo genas , atque oscula jungit .
The struggle with her passion , as illustrated by KisTonr , is thoroughly dramatic ; rising to its height when , in the midst of the ceremony in which she is being united to the husband of her choice ( chosen as a protection against the impious flame which consumes her heart ) , she loses all control over her reason A . dramatic contrast of the very highest ordor is produced by the calm chanting of the Chorus : —¦ Pure Faith , divine , eternal Peace , Build your temple in the hearts of these spouses ; Back , infernal Discord ! Suddenly interrupted by the wild soul-agonies of the bride : — What say ye ? In my heart ; my heart , I feel the horrid Furies . There , there , With viper whips stands the mad Erynnis : Those arc fit torches for my Hymen . The ceremony broken up , suddenly she recovern her senses : — But what ? The hymns nro silenced .
Who should embrace me ? Am I a wife ? Her father at that moment is approaching with paternal dignity to render her the assistance of his offectionnto care . Unconsciously , she falls into his arms . It is an answer to her question , with nn " Ohime f" drawn from the very depths of her heart , and combining in its sickening tone as much disgust and self-detestation ns human nature is capable of conceiving , she shrinks from him jis if ho wero some horrid monster , more louthsome and horriblo than the worst fancies of her over-charged heart . The whole scene is intensely dramatic . The kist scene , whero bIio stabs herself with her father ' s sword , is a complication of horrors too extreme for dispassionate criticism . When the mother enters , and sees her beloved daughter weltering in her own blood , she naturally wishes to rush forward to her assistance . Ctnryaa stops her , and here some explanation is evidently necessary . Mirra feels what is coming , and unablo to articulate a sound she drags herself along the ground and by nuito gestures entreats her
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1855, page 656, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2098/page/20/
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