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Leader (1850-1860), 20th December 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1219

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    • /ft 'U^. (7ft **l*' A*bjJ? JJIXW+ . *' ¦ * ¦ *
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      Untitled Article

      By the Half-Moon fell poor Norah , On the pavement fell poor Norah , Just about to be a mother . She'd been tippling with some women , Just within the Wine-Vaults' swing-door , "When her Gossip , out of mischief , Partly idle , partly spiteful , . Pushed the swing-door from behind her , Pushed in twain the Wine-Yaults' door flap , And poor Norah tumbled backward , Downward through the darkening twilight , On the gangway foul , the pavement , On the gangway foul with mud-stains . " See ! a wench falls ! " cried the people ; " Look , a tipsy wench is falling !" There amidst the gaping starers , There amidst the idle passers , On the gangway foul , the pavement , In the rnurky darkened twilight , Poor drunk Norah bore a boy-babe . Thus was born young Drop o'Wather , Thus was born the child of squalor . Drop o' Watlier is thus accoutred for his street avocations : — He had bludgreon , MiUemiikefun , ' ..::: Good strong bludgeon , made of ash-wood ; When into his hand he took it , He could smite a fellow ' s head off , He could knock him into next week . He had ankle-boots so jemmy , Good strong ankle-boots of calf-skin ; When he put them on his trottefs , When he laced them up so tightly , At each step three feet he measured . From his lair went Drop o'Wather Dressed for roving , armed for plunder ; Dressed in shooting-jacket natty , , . Velveteen with pearl-white buttons : On his head a spic-and-span tile , Round his waist a vest of scarlet ; In his mouth a sprig of shamrock , In his breast a dashing brooch-pin , Gold mosaic set with sham stones ; With his bludgeon , Miliemlikefun , , With his ankle-boots so jemmy .

      Another delightful book for the joung is Xady Wallace ' s adaptation Ironi the original' —though she does not tell us in wJiat language that is —of Voices from the Greentcood ( Bell and Daldy ) .- —The authoress supposes the trees and flowers to have a language , and to tell to one another stories of their own life and experience . The idea is very pretty , and is wrought out with a good deal of bright and sportive fancy .

      Another parody of " Hiawatha" is The Song of Milkanwatha : translated f rom the original' Feejeehy - Mare Antony Henderson , D . C . L ., Professor of the Feejee Language and Literature in the Brandy-wine Female Academy ( Cincinnati : Tickell and Grinne ) . —This is also a very clever production , though not equal to the London Legend . It is a story of hydropathy ; but the scene being laid among wild people and wild localities , the contrast between the parody and the original is not sufficiently great . Several other parodies on living poets ( chiefly English ) complete the measure of this Cincinnati volume , the author of which , in his travesties , shows a remarkable power of retaining something * of the poetry of the originals which he is mouthing at .

      A very pleasant book for boys is The History of Jean-P . aid Chopparl ; o ? -, the Surprising Adventures of a Jttinaicay ( Lambert- )— -This work , which is translated from the French , and illustrated by French woodcuts , forms one of the volumes of " The Entertaining Library , " , in its red and gold cover , would form a pretty present at Christmas . Jean-Paul is a bad boy , who runs away from his father , and ( like every boy in a story who runs away ) falls in with a rascally travelling showman , but is eventually restored , rep entant , to his forgiving parents . The tale is professedly a moral tale , but is genial instead of canting , and pervaded by a cheerfully religious tone , altogether free from sectarianism .

      Some charmingly written tales for the young are issued hy Messrs . Smith and Elder , under the title of Mound the Tire : Six Stories , by the Author of * ' The Day of a Baby Boy , " &c The writer ( a lady , we are convinced ) has the art of telling a story in a manner -which we shoiild say would be certain to interest those for whom she works , and which assuredly is capable of interesting us . Her action is dramatic , her command over our emotions considerable , and her descriptions beautifully felt . The stories are supposed to be narrated by children ; and this is made apparent in the language , without injuring the effect of the narrative . A little less melancholy and a little more cheerfulness , however , would be an improvement .

      A little quarto pamphlet , called The History ofoitr Cat Aspasia , by Bessie Rayner I ? avkes , and illustrated by Annie Leigh Smith ( Bosworth and Harrison ) , is a trifle from which we have derived great pleasure : firstly ( to be gallant as well as truth-speaking ) , because it is written by Miss Parkes , of whoso poem about Shelley we retain charming recollections ; secondly , because the scene is laid mostly in Wales , the home of romance and legendary poetry ; thirdly , because it is about cats , for which sleek and elegant vermin we confess , like Miss Parkcs ( and also like Dr . Johnson and Voltaire ) , to haying a partiality ; fourthly and lastly , because here is chronicled , besides Miss Aspasia , " a young cat called Tobias , and , for short , Toby "—the very etyle and title of n piece of black mischief on four legs owned by our awful selves ; for why should we not , when on these genial grounds , abandon the

      < 5 old disembodiment of reviewers , and confess to something of a warm learth-rug personality ? " Toby , " snj-s Miss Parkes ( and we ratify the ¦ descri ption ) , " was a very handsomo fellow , with strong little legs , covered Tvith the thickest , softest fur . " The adventures of Aspasia are told in this little book with delightful vivacity , playfulness , and truth . The incidents * re all of the simplest kind ; yet Miss Parkes interests us from tho first page to the last b y her own enjoyment of her subject , licr bright good humour , and her little bits of description of Welsh scenery , in which , with her re"iiniscences of King Arthur , Sir Launcelot , and Queen Guencvar , wo detect the hand of the poet . Miss Smith ' s illustrations are quaint and pretty ; and altogether here is a very pleasant eightconiiennyworth .

      Untitled Article

      SIR ROBERT PEEL AS A TYPE OF STATESMANSHIP . Sir Robert Fed as a Type of Statesmanship . By Jelinger Symons , Esq . Longman and Co . "We have , on more than one occasion recently , devoted considerable space to a consideration of the public career of Sir Robert Peel . The forthcoming volume of his Memoirs , announced for January , will again bring him under notice . \ I * is not , therefore , from any want of respect to Mr . Symons that we decline to discuss with him the merits and failings of the statesman whose character he has undertaken to analyze in this volume * But we cannot give him credit for all the impartiality he attributes to himself , or even for that faculty of . appreciating the acts and motives of public men Avlrich could have enabled him , under any circumstances , to become the biographer of Sir Robert Peel . Mr . Roebuck has said that Peel ' s strongest sympathies were with the nation ; Mr . Symons affirms that they were not . " His idol was power . " In justification of this remark , Mr . Symons adduces no evidence whatever . This is simple assumption : —

      Tor some time previously to Ms death he was pondering even on further parliamentary reform : and there is reason to believe that the great difficulty'which perplexed him . and embarrassed his schemes , was how to propitiate the Church without offending tlie people . There is little doubt that had his life been prolonged , he would have successfully carried sweeping reforms while the latest act of his official life would have been perchance to resign the Premiership to the Right Honourable Richard Cobden , then and long previously a member of his Cabinet . Nor is this a fair statement , —it is not fair , because it is imperfect : — If Sir Robert Peel was deficient as an orator , he was equally so in the creative faculties of Statesmanship . He never originated a single great measure ; bu 6 no man equalled him in accomplishing them : and he was signally skilled as an administrator . Such is the dispensation of Providence ia the division of labour . It is

      designed that one man should conceive , and another execute : that one should be the man of vision , the other of action . Sir itobert Peel performed the latter function with devoted zeal . His mission was that of Alexander : he -was no philosopher , least of all an Aristotelian philosopher . It was said of him "by "Wilberforce , "who estimated his powers leas highly , that no man could drive a pair letter than Peel , but that he could not manage four in hand at all . Mr . Doubleday falls into a similar mistake , and says that he "was timid in dealing with abstract questions of magnitude No man showed less timidity in dealing with them when they lecame the road to office , or the means of retaining , it : Catholic Emancipation and the Repeal of Corn Laws to wit . But during three-fourths of his life he was the Minister of stationary interests , and therefore the opponent of questions of magnitude , which , are essentially questions of progress .

      But we are not arguing "with Mr . Symons . To represent in general terms his theory of Sir Iloberfc Peel , we will quote the last paragraph of his laborious essay : — : Though we are removed from the vices and fatuities of the ^ Liverpool and Newcastle Cabinets , and the minor profligacies of later dynasties , vye are bereft of the elements of any order of power essential to the fruits of legislation and the functions of Government . This is the natural result of that subjugation of principles to the chances of Parliamentary majorities , of -which Sir Robert Peel ' s career was a type and a sanction . It is the harvest we must expect to reap from the nrisjudgment which attempts to raise that able administrator , that dexterous debater , and useful man , to a reputation which history and the maturer wisdom of other times will hold sacred to an order of Statesmanship , characterized by the greatness of Chat&aji , the talents of Burke , and the consistent probity of Lansdowne . We , on the contrary , undertake to say , that however great was Chatham , and however eloquent was Burke , there was never a more honest statesman than Peel .

      Untitled Article

      JPecember 20 , JL S 56 . ] ______ j ? H E LEADER . 1219

      Untitled Article

      THE GALLERY OP ILLUSTRATION . Four , or five new characters have lieen added to Miss T . Horton ' s lively and clever entertainment . The name alone of this delightful actress and admirable singer is a pledge of success ; and now that , as we understand , the entertainment is under the auspices of that able st and most popular of impresarios , Mr . Beale , an additional guarantee of excellence is offered to the public . The added scenes are divided into two parts , and supported by a somewhat feeble donnec , Mr . and Mrs . T . German Keeo are supposed to be setting off on a musical tour round the world a la CUtheiune Hayes , and are on the look-out for a fashionable governess to superintend the education of a ' ward , ' in their

      absence . Miss P . Hobton personates the ' parties' offer for the situation with infinite spirit and humour , and transforms herself with astonishing rapidity . We cannot say very much in praise of the dialogue ; and the songs and accompaniments are unfortunately the weakest part of the entertainment , quite unworthy of the noble voice and accomplished vocalization of Miss P . IIokton , whom we can never hear without regretting that she is not at the Opkua . Mr . T . G human Hkkd is a little shy and uneasy at times dramatically , and his accompaniments are not altogether to our taste . But , on the whole , tlie scenes are veil sustainea , and the Mrs . Carrictyergus O ' ConoUt / is a masterpiece of faithful and lifelike personation , without the slightest exaggerationof which any one familiar with Irish society will atte 3 t the reality .

      , The Surhky company have been performing Romeo and J-uUet , v ? it \\ Mr . Creb-¦ wick as Itomco , Mr . Shkpuisud as Mercutio , and a new actress , rejoicing in the not very romantic name of Bii > i > lks , as Juliet . A little piece by Mr . Kobisrt Buough , based upon a trifle recently produced at one of the Paris theatres , first saw the light in an English dress at tlie Oivvmmc on Thursday evening . Dreas , by-thc-by , ia the subject of it , since it treats of , and is entitled , Crinoline . Mr . llonsoN has hove one of his favourite parts—n jealous husband ; the audience laugh and sympathiso alternately ; and the farce is successful .

      /Ft 'U^. (7ft **L*' A*Bjj? Jjixw+ . *' ¦ * ¦ *

      Cljeltteu

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 20, 1856, page 1219, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2172/page/19/