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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd May 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 425, Untitled Article

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      had suggested to Mra . Longman as proper for her entomological gueafe , to-day , Spericeand Kirby ; " to wit , flea-pates , earthworms on toast , caterpillars crawling in cream and removing tltemselves , " &c . &c . Called upon me in a hackney-coach . . . . gimth said * t&afr where he felt he had a good and just claim , he Considered it always a duty to himself and family to ask , and not to let the world have to say , " If he did fell into-adversifyi . ' that . was his ; ownfault , " . What he had hitherto done was all by hia-oirn exertions , as nejtfeer himself nor . any of . his ,, brothers had received a shilling ^ pvtheir ^ ffttheF .,, In talking of the fun he had had , in the early , times of the JEdiiigt ^^ JBep ^/^ mentiwed an article on Ritspn , which he and Brougham had written xtf their contributiowhichhe fol take

      ' together , } . »» 4 Pnerinftflnca joint n . gave me was as - lo ^^ - ^ 'AWe ^ oV granted ( wrote Brougham ) that Mr . Ritson supposes Provi-4 en ^ to ^ Y ^ : bad ^™ e ^ bare in producing him—^ though for what inscrutable purpgi ^^ dded ;^ dney ) we , profess ourselves unable to conjecture . " Company at the &opgmans ^ be * ides the entomologists ) ,, ; Spottiswrood , the Ormes , . &c Sung in the Ivemug ^ ud icame away earlyiah . The , rqad up to Longmans' being . rather awkward , jkehaa aeiirjfd . the hackneyrxoachman to wait . for us at the bottom . " It would M& ^ ka&flQ S *) when your Memoirs come ; to be . written to have it said , ' He went ' out to .-ditje * at the , house of tie respectable publishers , Longman and Co .,. and , being pj ' jBrtur ^ esd W ; Wa'payback ,, wascrushed ! to death by a large clergyman . '" ,, Again > - ^ -r& , tfli this is'exquisitely humourous , quite in the spirit of Charles-Lamb , or Helps : —

      fi ! Septerilber i ^ tui . ^ -Sydney at breakfast made me actually cry with laughing . I wai obliged to ' start ' up from the table . "In talking of the intelligence arid concert ; wWtfh Wrd 3 haje among each othe " r , cranes and crows , &c , showing that they must ' *^ i » sb ' m ^' meaiia of c : omiminicatitig' ^ liteir « h ! ottgh * s , he said , " I dare say they make the same remark of us . That old fat crow there ( meaningtaiVifeetlf ) -what a prodi-IgiO u > Jnbise he is making ! I have rib donbt he has- some power of communicat ? hg , " , i ^ Cf- ^ c y , / -After pursuing this idea comically for some time , he added , " But we have " the Advantage of them ; they can't put us into pies as we do them ; legs sticking up ' ^ rtir'df the crust , " &c . &c . The acting of all this makes two-thirds of the fun of it ; the 4 uickness , the buoyancy , the self-enjoyinglaugh * •> f ! A few pages before this our pencil lias marked one of the characteristic ^ plfttAfcades of Moore , and we quote it not because it is a platitude , but because , it is a platitude which is often uttered : —

      , Broached to him my notions Qong entertained by me ) respecting the ruinous effects to literature likely to arise from the boasted diffusion of education ; the lowering of the standard that must necessarily arise from the extending of the circle of judges ; from letting the mob in to vote , particularly at a period when the market is such an object to authors . Those " who live to please must please to live , " and most will write down to the lowered standard . All the great things in literature have been achieved when the readers were few ; "fit audience find and few . " In the best days of English genius , what a comparatively small circle sat in judgment ! In the Italian Republics , in old Greece , the dispensers of fame were a select body , and the consequence was a high standard of taste . Touched upon some of these points to FonblanqUft , and he seemed not . indisposed to agree with me ; observing that certainly the present appearances in the world of literature looked very like a confirmation of my views .

      In this loose logic after-dinner talk may reasonably indulge , but not printed talk . Those who talk so forget that the extension of the reading publioi although it of course brings many bad judges , does not exclude the good judges . More people read now than a century ago ; but because the many read are the few excluded ? If the literature for the many becomes of a more facile and popular nature than that of the fit and few audience , is the graver kind of literature to be altogether banished ? Upon this reasoning , *^ is clear that the . introduction of omnibuses has entirely done away with private carriages . _ . Now many poor people ride for fourpence , no rich persqn ^ can afford to keep a pair of horses 1 Of Wordsworth we get occasional glimpses in these Journals . Here are

      specimeriSj i » f his spoken opinion ' s : — - .. Spoke of the iinmense time it took him to write even the" shortest copy of verses ,- — sdmAHmfeswhole weeks wnpUiyed'ittbhtaplngtwo or three lines , l > efore he can satisfy himstlf with tlleir ; structure . Attributed m « ch of this to the unmanageablenesa of the Englishias . a poetica } . language ; contrasted it ; with . the Italian in this respect , and repeated a stanza of Tassoj to ' show how naturally the words fell into music of themselves . ' ft # 83 one where the double rhymes , " ella , " " nella , " " quella , " occurred , whtohT . be- compared with the meagre and harsh English words " she , " "that , " " this , " . 4 * 5 ., # f Cr , „ ,,...,, . Pn the subject of Coleridge , as a writer , Wordsworth fave it as his opinion ( strangely , I think ) that his prose would live and deserved to ve ; while , of his poetry , he thought by no means so highly . I had mentioned the <» iGton « vieve" as a beautiful thing , but to this he objected : there was too much of the

      B ^ nsp ^ i ^ it . ¦> ¦ / . •• „ . .. ¦ - .,. , ¦ . ¦¦ :. . . -. .. This takes our breath away . Think of Coleridge's insincere , ambitious , and lumbering prose , and of his genuine poetry ! philological . "• ¦ ¦ ' A good deal of talk with Talbot on the affinity traceable between the Celtic language and the Latin and Greek . Thus , in Irish , a man ( Vir ) Tir ? a country ( terra ) , ¦ i and from thence Tiree , tho land belonging to Y or Iona . I mentioned IJuachaill , a : « 6 wherd , from BovkoKos ( which i found remarked by M'Culloch in his " Woatorn ; Highlands ; " and this affinity , aa Talbot said , was found also in bo , tho Gaelic and Irish for cow . Fan , a chapel , is another instance , , fanum . Ho pointed out some f urious mistakes in German translation made by the reviewer of Meyer ' s Voyage , in j ., th , e Quarterly {— . "It is well kijpwn , " ( the reviewer makes Meyer say ) "that tho \ ' iChincae '^ riqk their tea without either sugar , mf lk ?( or rum ; " and then , ni a . note , , ' the critic facetiously asks , kl Who do take rum iii ( heir tea ? not , surely , tho Ger-. ' m ' ins . " ' The fact ; being , all the while , that t ) r . Meyer ' s words arc , " The Chinese take n f ^ ith 6 riidiik hoi ' Itdftoi ( i . b . cream ) in thoir ' te ^' , , ^ (^ r . litever may have said Rating but he may also have said jfcum ' x for the [ . ^ flff ^^ K ^ yfQweir ' s aucrj , which lie answers wjth so" decided p . negative , . ' . Wj »? t ; . be' aijiswereU affirmatively : tlitf ti ' crmans do take rum with their tea . , I | fc is ^ n ^ o ^ Vound with tfio milk andsngar , —we presume to give strength ., lo the Inrytuicial compound which is bircred as tea .

      ' An- * iU * . ; ., M i . i . ii . ..... . . I i . Mi . ... I ¦ a ; MK , puius , . , .. . :, -. . . Rogers very agreeable . Mentioned tho Duke of Wellington saying to some enthusiastic woman who was talking . in raptu / ea , about tho glories of a victory , " I should ni , ffr t ^ k ^ , « tcj , jrVitnesa ^ . y ^ tory , ^; & , c . & <) , —'' Wy , 4 oar mft dam , a ^ ictory is the greatosl TOj K | tf , W ^«^ to <>^ n <\ ' 44 f ' ^^ , ' : .. nu . irft » aqdm o « ^ ak jejo . fii ^ pose ^ jat whatever iq w \< lI ' m Greek or Latin nffiV"rt Rfi ; < V ? 9 ; P , rfW ^ tM" ^ . ^ M mPPy thm S both folicitpiw and waso b ^ yo Deoj » , 8 ^ 3 . . jjjiji thopQ : lpnguag ^ tjuip delusion is porpetuatcd . Aa a sample , ' ¦ . 11 ¦ . i - . ¦ ' i ¦ ¦ i * » J -iii-d fj-u .: < ii i f i . j / . /¦¦¦' . . , ¦ . i ¦ i : n . , ¦ ¦> ¦ ... Ji < • ' . ..: ' : . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ <' ¦•¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ' <« i " - » ' > •¦ . i . c , .. ' ¦ ¦ .

      of the . ** few things which struck me ( Moore ) in my Greek studies the Other day , " what does the reader think of this :- ^ - Thucydides thus tersely and sensibly describes the difficulty there is in hitting the true medium in oratory , —^ aKervbv yap to fj * rfiia > s tlirttv . "To be wet is unpleasant "—" Journah-writers are often uftw i ^ e" — Nc man is always wise , " are .-equally terse and sensible . In Gree ^ they woulc have Moore ' s citative sympathy . - « .... ¦ We conclude our present notice with a good story of Gibbon , aha tee ' xi week will borrow more . : ' ' . -

      Here is an anecdote of William Spencer ' s which has just occurred to me . ; Th * dramatis persona } were Lady Elizabeth Foster , < Jibbpn ? t the historian , . and an eminent French physician , whose name I forget ; the historian and doctor being rivals ir courting the lady ' s favour . Impatient at Gibbon ' s occupying so mtich of her attention by his conversation , the doctor said crossly to him , " Quand miletdy EUaAett Foster sera malade de vosfadaisea , Je fa gverirai , " , Ov ^ which Gibbon ,. drawing himself up grandly , and looking disdainfully , at the physician , replied , . " Quand ¦ milady Elizabeth Foster sera morte de vos recettes , Je Vim-mof-tatiserai . " The pompoui lengthening of the last word , while at the same time a long-sustained pineli of Bnufl was taken by the historian , brought , as mimicked by Spencer , the whole scene . most livelily before one ' s eyes . . ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ., - . ¦ ^ . ¦¦ ¦• ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ <•< ¦ . - . .-. , . ¦¦ -.-i ' .-i

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      GRECIAN SCENERY . The Scenery of Greece and ike Islands . Illustrated , by Fifty Views , Sketched from Nature , Etched on Steel , and Described en route . By William Lin tori . / . Published by the Artist . Me ; XiirrdN ' s volume is a gallery of Grecian landscapes . He has selected the fifty views engraved from upwards of three hundred , sketched during fifteen months' wanderings is almost every district oi -Greece . The publication of such a work has , in our time , become a rarity . "; Illustrated Toura ** are , for the most part , executed in lithography , which , unless coloured , has a rou ^ b . and woolly appearance , while , if richly tinted , as in the Egyptian eroups of Prisseor in the superb art-pieces of Owen Jones , is so costly

      , C 3 V _ _ * * ' __ , "t _ l _ j _ l l _ . j- \^ ^ 2 __ ^ . . . . ^ 11 * ^ . f as to be , to the general eye , only accessible through the printsellers' windows . Mr . Linton ' s views in Greece and its islands are lightly and freely drawn on steel , with more of softness and finish than the ordinary hard and untinted etchings , and less of heaviness and monotony than is usually found in elaborate line-engraving . They represent a large variety of scenes and subjects—the grey plain of Marathon , the Delphian cliffs , Castaly , Callirhoe , and the Styx , the snow-white pillars of Sunium , moonlight at Levadia , the white houses and lemon-groves of Kalabrita , Athens , and the Acropolis , Thebes , Argos , Sparta , Corinth—whatever is most , beautiful and most famous in the scenery and history of the land where Nature Played at will ' "

      Her virgin fancies , Wild ^ above rule or art . — Several travellers have endeavoured to draw from Greece the materials of an illustrated portfolio . Among the earliest was Sir George Wheeler , who , with M . Spon , made a comprehensive tour of the Levantine district . His narrative , though pompous , is interesting , but his engravings resemble the rough chalk studies of an amateur , buildings being laid on skies , and doors on walls , in utter contempt of perspective , aerial and linear . Ho " was followed , a century afterwards , by Stuart , who , possessing a thorough knowledge of architecture , brought home a description of the architectural antiquities of Greece , which long remained unsurpassed , and even unrivalled . He introduced , however , few plates , confining his illustrations to the Athenian capital . These ., few , . however , exhibited a remarkable advance bevond the style of Sir George Wheeler , who , though a competent antiqua-1

      rian , was , as an artist , destitute of faculty . They lire , moreover , caVefcmy engraved . During the progress of the French Revolution , several English scholars explored the ancient Grecian sites , Dr . Clarke , C ploneJLJL « ak ^ Sir William Gell , Dodwell , and Laurent being among the most distinguished . Of these , Dodwell was the bnly one who pretended to give an artistic illustration to his travels . His work was embellished with large aquatints , -which to his contemporaries appeared effective , but . which , in comparison with the line-engraving and chromo-lithography of 1856 , are not merely gaudy , but frivolous . Miller ' s engravings of YVilliams ' s sketches were , perhaps , the best for the use of the traveller until Mr . L \ hton publish ^ d ^ this beaiitilul volume ; but the plates are small , and . JLhe text consists , exclusively , of classical quotations . Mr . Linton's work is upon a . bolder scale . ( yyi $ i tho illustrationshe gives a narrative of his . own journey , brightened . bv inter >

      , ludes from the poets , fortified by references to travellera and cutics ^ And varied by pleasant anecdotes and glimpses of modem . Grecian } ti £ Q ., t < rlls began his tour , as he advises all persons to ! tegin-it , at Athens ; . apptfoaobiag which , the traveller , if he be an enthusiast ; enjoys all'the approk ) rk *« 'n ^ vtures that belong to the headlands of tho Morea ^ Taigeton , toW * rf « g » M > v « Maina , Cytheraju , the Spartan heights , and the ( Jyclades , just aa "' ft seiwo of solemn awe " belongs to the Colisseum , or miasma to the € rr # tfcq 'del Cane . If he could enter Attica at Sunium ; instead of steaming b y to P ' raeds , he might stop into Greece across a threshold of niarble ; but it . is enb . 'lurh to see the throne of Xerxes , the monument of Salamb , and finally the Acronolis aud the Parthenon , with the green background of Hymettus , ftnd foe

      Pentelican hill . Mr . Linton describes tho actual state ot Athens , ana the prodigious dilapidation of the ancient remains . When Spon and Wheeler visited it , in 1676 , tho Parthenon was nearly entire ; it is now a fragment . Btttween the Turka and the dilettanti , between barbarism and rapacity r otatuoa and temples havb boon so defaced and mutilated that , in some ca « e » y » it > ia scarcely possible to estimate their proportions . Even fingers and t < yeo , 'c * r « and noses , have been purloined , as rclica of antique beauty , Wf vbrftaOabs anxious to exhibit their appreciation of typical aH . To guard ^ afegri ^ t tbo pprpctuatlons of this pUf « r *» tf system , Uip Archmologic ^ Socife ^ ttf AtK ^ na wae establiBhea » omo years ago ; each , nimto , Pl ^ P ^ iW » by all possible means , the removal . qf . a- fljn ^ e , Grppm ^ ^ tfwk fTffp Gurdeoe ^ - Among the presidents of this ABsoci ^ ipnaxg ^ h ^ . k ^ ngftof ^ rua ^ a and Denmark , and among tho mombora * itho £ ng * wh , riJb . Wnjch ,,., A . w e ^ M ^?* and llusBian ambassudors . King- Othoy in 18 » 4 ^ by sk . nQyaland ^ wiiOP , ,. ¦ . ' ¦ ' ¦ ' i ¦ ¦ . i ., . '' />'• • ' I , ' i ' . ' i i ¦ ¦ ' - >/;¦;

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      ¦ M ** r 3 , MBfc } THE LEADER . 425

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 3, 1856, page 425, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2139/page/17/