On this page

• Departments (1)
  • 
• Text (5)

  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.

  • 

    IP tWrrftrrtV ?LUllUUUl» January 5, 1856.] THE LEADEH. . - i5

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• 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.

    Ip Twrrftrrtv ?Lulluuul» January 5, 1856.] The Leadeh. . - I5

    Itforntm * . January 5 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . __ j £

    Untitled Article

    We liave received a letter from Dr . La . tha . m on the-subject of " Hiawatha " and Longfellow ' s supposed plagiarisms . Writing , as we do , in . complete ignorance of " Kalewala , " and consequently unable to form any opinion of the amount of resemblance actually traceable between it and " Hiawatha /' we are at a disadvantage which Dr . Latham will appreciate ; but , nevertheless , we cannot alter our present position in the controversy . The question raised has two points : one of fact , and one of literary morals . The question of fact is : —Did Longfellow know the poem of " Kalewala , " and ignore

    it ? The question of morals is : —Can the poet be justly blamed for not naming the work he has imitated ? To both our answer would ( under present circumstances ) be a negative . We do not believe Longfellow knew " Kalewala i" , if he ever read that poem , it had escaped his memory , we should imagine , at the time of writing the notes to " Hiawatha . " Our reason for this statement is that we have entire faith in Longfellow ' s integrity-He says nothing of " Kalewala / ' simply because lie felt no obligations to it . Observe , he does not claim originality . He freely mentions sources from which all his legends are derived ; and we cannot conceive a reasonable motive for his concealing his obligations to " Kalewala , " had he felt any . However , let Dr . Latham be heard : —

    Sir , —I see that the AthcncBUin is not tlie only paper that has noticed the relations between Longfellow ' s " Hiawatha , " and the fine poem , of " Kalewala . " It is a matter upon which I have always been certain that ink would be spilt ; and I have looked out for the first spirtings of it with some little interest . T-lie writer of the notice in the National Intelligencer ( U . S . ) , as quoted in your literary column of last week , says , that Longfellow has transferred from the " Kalewala" to "Hiawatha" the " entire form , spirit , and many of the most striking incidents " of the poem . This is , in the main ., a true statement ; indeed if , instead of " rnauy " we wrote " some , " it would be unexceptionable .

    * Zow , as tlie writer S ; Vjf 8 ' ' incidents , his . view . is perfectly compatible with the fadfc that Longfellow announces in his notes , viz ,, that the legends are taken from Mr . Schoolcraft ' s work on " The American Indians . " No one doubts this . The question is as to the " form and spirit " and some " incidents , " - —the " form and spirit" being the more important . Hot ? far the suggestions from the " Kalewala " ought to have been acknowledged by the author of "Hiawatha" ( and that , tinder any point of view , they are very considerable is a matter upon which there can scarcely be two opinions ) is anoiher matter .

    Suppose tbat / ten years after the first publication of " Ossiau , " a French poet , cognisant of English , Lad written a poem Oasianic in " form and spirit , " but Breton or Basque in respect to its legends , what should be the contents of bis preface or notes ( supposing lie had them ) in tlie way of allusion to , or acknowledgment of , bis sources ? Would lie be justified in referring only to the writer from , whom" lio got his legends , wholly ignoring Ossian ?¦ I ask this question without answering it ; but I add , that mutatis mutandis this is the case with the relations between " Hiawatha " ancl the " Kalewala . " I remain , Sir , yours raost faithfully , 1 H . G . Latham .

    Dr . Latham ' s illustration is excellent ; but we should answer the question respecting the Ossianic imitation by saying that it depends entirely on the amount of obligation , and the nature of the points imitated . Longfellow ' s legends are not his own invention ; the metre is not his own invention ; but the poetry is , and in a poem this is the principal matter . Goethe did not invent the story of " Hermann ¦ uud Dorothea ; " hot did he invent the metre ; nor did he ever , in note or preface , allude to the origin of tlie story , or to his predecessors in German hexameters ; yet we have heard none of his virulent critics accuse him of plagiarism or poetical dishonesty . In Longfellow ' s case the obligation to " Kalewala " is assumed : it is very possibly no direct obligation ( it all ; but , granting the obligation , \ va entirely absolve the poet foi' not having mentioned it .

    Untitled Article

    Fraser ' s Magazine , this month , opens with a second part of " Friends in Council Abroad , " not equal to the first in point of serious interest , but bright with delicate and happy touches which may make it even more acceptable to the mass of readers . Let us take a fragment from the commencement . MU-VKUTUN . Yes , Ellosmero , my Ioa'o for woods is uuabatod . There in ko much largeness , life , and variety in thum . Mvcn tho way in which the treos interfere with ono another , the growth which in hinderal , as well as thai ; which is furthered , appoars to" mo most imggostivo of human life ; and I boo around mo things that remind mo of governments , clwrches , flcotH , and colonies . Then one id not molested by tiroHoino , noiRy winds , which , thoughtlioy may lio . good things for health , wo a hindrance to thought . A little bit of il breo / o now and then Htraya into tho wood , but it is innocuous . UogardloflH of it , tlie fungi expand , tho dead boughs maintain their hold , ancl the ttiin » iuat inHOott * arc not ttincompoHocl . Kvory wood ih full of hitttory and nntiqxuty . But if you vvoro to nalt mo what I prefer uaont iu natural scenery , it would uot bo ( i wood-KU . 12 SM . KIUS . What then ? MII . VKIVTON . There aro two lcindn of noonory which fiiMcinatc a man : oiks connected with his early asHooiatinnH , tho other oorrenptHiding with hin character , You know that little rill behind our inn , which bubbles down amidst great atonoH . I wnn thinking thin morning , i \ h 1 wiitdhocl it , how unutterably fond of tmoh a rill , throughout bin life , ui . iy man would bo wlw had boon born nour it .. My fh-nt rouolloctiouH aro of a pond , and you muy laugh us you pluiuio , but lilb bcoihh womowhnt insupportable to mo without it i > ond—a tsquariuli pond , not ovor clean . You will auk mo v ; hy I do not , mako ono at Worth-Aahton . l ' orlmi > n , aH tho yours go ou , I nhall , mid tottor foobly about it in nocond childhood , having roturnod , nn wo do aH , to

    our first love . You are smiling at me . I see you are unworthy to have a nond and that you do not know the beauties of it . Thither come the more contenipfotive insects , and sit upon the waters , or perch upon the top of the reeds Quiet old fish , -who have seen much of life , make their lazy waving way through the dull waters . You can trace their movements by the light ripples on the top even when you cannot see the fish , themselves . Then , perhaps , there is a ma jesfic water-lijy ( ttere was one in my early suburban pond ); and what can more glorious to behold ? And then , too , however sma ll the pond , the sky is to be seen in it . A learned and admirable review of Prescott's " Philip the Second "

    succeeds : let no historical reader pass it over , for it is a rare thing to meet with a review of a serious work written by a man who knows the subject ; and this writer evidently knows his . The article on " Men and Women" is one of those criticisms which leave behind them a durable impression . It dwells with disproportionate emphasis , we think , on Browning ' s faults ; but tnen it is meant as a serious lecture to him , and beside it there is no lack of appreciation , keen and hearty , of his fine qualities . On a young poet such remonstrances would produce lasting benefit . On a poet of confirmed maturity we do not fancy much impression can be made .

    The critic lectures the poet ; but we feel tempted also to lecture the critic . There is one fault in this article which we should not have expected from such a writer , namely , the acquiescence in a form of expression which sounds like slang cant , and is very prodigally employed by a certain set of writers who mean to be emphatic when they talk of " God ' s sky , " and " God's earth , " and " God ' s ocean , " and " God ' s winds , " as if there were sky , earth , ocean , and winds belonging to the devil . There is more irreverence than emphasis in this form of expression , and it should be left to sermons and tracts . .

    _ Blackwoad is very political this month ; and ' politics it is not our cue here to speak . A new story , called " A Military Adventure in the Pyrenees , " is commenced this month . There is also a well-timed article on " Drinking and Smoking , " in which the writer not only attacks the Teetotal nonsease * but indicates in a few rapid paragraphs the advance of the general population from the bestial indulgence of former days to the rational indulgence of our own days . There is a long quotation from , an article by Sydney Smith .,-in the Edinburgh ( not reprinted in the " Works ' ) , which was well worth reproducing , so admirable in its mixture of pleasantry and good sense .

    Among tlie new serials starting with tne beginning of the year , our attention has been especially directed to a magaEme called The Train . We have not had time to examine this new venture very attentively , but we can honestly report upon it , at the outset , as being cheap , excellently printed , and judiciously limited as to the length arid number of the articles . Having only been able to glance at the papers in the present month's number , we cannot be expected to go into detail on the question of the merits or defects . Our general impression is that such short articles as that on the various types of

    " Boys , " by Mr . Yates , and that on " Wilkes And Xumber Forty-Five / 3 by Mr . Draper , ( whom , we hope to meet with again on the subject of Wilkes ) are of the kind that the Editor Ought most to encourage ; and that he must be well on his guard , hi the serial stories , and in tlie poetical contributions * against allowing too much of the slap-dash and wilfully smart style of writing to get into the columns of The Train . Besides the contributors whose articles we have mentioned , 3 Ir . Oxenfortl Mr . Sala , Mr . Smeriley , Mr . Godfrey Turner , and the brothers Urough are members of the " staff" of the new magazine . The illustrations are by Mr . M'Connell and Mr . C . II . Bennett . We are glad to see a paper on the " Ballads of Victor Hugo" advertised among the contents promised for next month . Honest and careful criticisms on valuable contemporary works are sure to be of help in malting the reputation of The Train . The rest of the Periodicals we must leave till next week .

    Untitled Article

    THE SHAVING OF SHAttPAT . The S / tavhiij of S / iappeit ; ait Arabian Entertainnitnt . Hy George Mcr « dith . Chapman and Hall . No art of religious symbolism lias a deeper root in nature than that of turning with reverence towards the East . For almost all our good things—our most precious vegetables , our noblest animals , our loveliest flowers , our arts , our religious and philosophical ideas , our very nursery tales and romances , have travelled to us from the East . In an historical as well as in a physical sense , the East is the Land of the Morning . Perhaps the simple reason of this may be , that : when the earth first begnn to move on her axis her Asiatic side was towards the sun—her Eastern cheek first blushed under his rays . And so tliis priority of sunshine , like the first move in chess , gave the East the precedence though not the pre-eminence in all things ? just as the garden slope thnt fronts tlie morning sun yields the earliest seedlings , though those seedlings may attain a hardier and more luxuriant growth by being transplanted . But we leave thie question to wiser

    hetuls" l ' olix end potuit rorum coguosccro causiw . ( Excuse the novelty of the quotation . ) We have not curried our reader ' s thoughts to the Kust that we may discuss the reason why wo owe it so many good things , but thut we may introduce him to a new pleasure , due , ntleast indirectly , to thut chler region of the unrth . We mean " The Shaving of Shagpat " which is hulled an original fiction just produced in this western island , but which is so intonsrlv Oriontnl in its conception find execution , that the author has done wisely ti > ^ uurd against tho sup position of its beinft « tran slation , by prefixing the stuU-uu-nt thut ; it is derived from no Eastern source , but is altogether his oivn . "

    Untitled Article

    Critics are not the legislators , but the j-udeea and police of literature . They do not make la . ws — they interpret and try to enforce them . — IZdinburgh liericw .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 5, 1856, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2122/page/15/