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Tue current number of tke Westminster Review opens > vith an article on what niay at first sight appear a light and trivial subject : 'female Dress in 1857 / So far from being reaUy trivial , however ^ this is rapidly becoming one , of our giavest social evils . It is no longer a mere passing caprice , of fashion , a temporary eccentricity of taste , but a public nuisance , which the persevering satire of Punch and . lighter humorists is powerless to abate . For a time we lived in the pleasing hope that the vanishing bonnets and expanding skirts must have natural li mits , be } r ond which the first conditions of their existence could no longer be fulfilled , and that when this point was reached there must be a reaction- But no such reaction is apparent . On the contrary , the bonnets continue to diminish till they have almost reached the minimum visibile , and . the dresses to expand till their awful proportions blot out sun and sky in . the foreground of our social life . 3 ? emale dress is , however , obnoxious to more serious charges than those of vitiated taste , outraged propriety , and violated use , which are , however , in all conscience , sufficiently heavy . It is bad enough that the dress of Englishwomen no longer accomplishes i ts first end —that it encumbers without clothing the form , so that they encounter wind and storm at once heavy-laden and unsheltered . It is bad . enough , again , that to the man of eesthetic mind half the beauty of tlie world is gone , that he can no Longer beliold loveliness of form or grace of motion , and that , instead of comely matrons and fair maidens he meets now only moving heaps of animated haberdashery . Beauty , however , is a vital and pervading essence which can only be effectually extinguished at enormous cost . And the frightful expense of the present tasteless style of dress is , socially considered , its
gravest offence . In this aspect it becomes a national evil , threatening to destroy the peace and comfort of home , and undermine the very foundations of our domestic life . These swollen dresses require ways of life equally hollow , reputations equally inflated to support them , and if the passion for heavy , tasteless , costly' dress continues to increase , our social life will become little better than an enormous wbid-bag , soon to be pricked into hopeless collapse by a milliner ' s bodkin or a dressmaker's needle . The subject is , therefore , quite important enough to arrest the attention of the most dignified journalsj and we are glad that the Quarterlies , are beginning to take it up . The article in the Westminster , written with knowledge , spirit , and ability , discusses the subject throughout in an earnest , temperate , practical spirit , as will be seen from the following extract touching what is literally the greatest evil of the present style : —
The middle-class man , then , finds his house and garden too small . The dinnertable -will not accommodate the old number ; and if a leaf 13 inserted , the waitingnaaid can hardly get lound , —a process the more difficult from the number of breadths in her skirt , and the extent of stiff cord in her petticoat . The most delicate flowers in the garden are cut off by the ladies' hems as they walk the path , and the little greenhouse is no place for such tragedy queens ; they cannot move without knocking down half a dozen pots . If the children are young , the parent dares not commit more than one at a time to the charge of the nursemaid , for a neighbour ' s child was actually swept into the water from a bridge by a stiff skirt which went flaunting by —the wearer being unconscious of the mischief . If he walks with his wife , he liaa to be on his guard all the time . If the wind blows , he is fettexed \> y her superfluity of garments ; and if it rains , no umbrella can cover them both . If the weather is settled fine , the lady ' train raises a cloud of dust , and sweeps thte path of all loose filth as they go . If they enter the parks , the steel rim of her petticoat cuts his leg as they squeeze through the narrow . gate ; and if they try the high road , there is too much probability that the whole apparatus may become inverted , by a sudden , gust catching the balloon . Umbrellas get turned wrong side out ; arid the existing skirt is much more easy to invert . If it is to be a drive , and not a walk , the good man runs the risk of being dismissed as a haughty actress dismissed an old friend . With a vehement prohibitive gesture she drove him back from the enrriagc-stop , with " Pardon mc-r-l and m . y dress occupy the carriage . " The same women who in their youth marvelled at tlie slavery to fashion which induced their grandmothers to kneel in the carriage for a drive of many miles to save their lofty head-dresses , now banish Lusband or father to the box , or compel them to walk , to make room for the accommodation of flounces and . steel springs . Sunday is changed . The children cannot go to « hurcb , because miimma leav « s no room for them ; and papa has to stand aside , in the face of U >« congregation , while his lady is effecting the difficult enterprise of enters ing her now ., Are the ladies aware that the dulness of church is relieved to bachelor gentlemen l > y the amusement of watching , and , afterwards discussing , the coiriparatiyo skill of the ladies iu passing their pew-doow ? We are concerned' to find that a new _ methyl . of gqtting . up Prjiyor-Ueoks and Bibles for church use enables the ladies to find ¦ their , own amusement -while apparently ongagod in worship . It oeems to be really , the fact that tlio ladjos' Prayer-books have « small mirror bound up with the cover ,-tt probably of about the- same aizoas that iu the hat-crowns of dandies , which tlioy consult while devoutly covering faces on enteringtheir news .
, ; . la , the present- travelling 8 ca » on , the trip is found a pursuit of pleasure nnder . difuV . c "' ti , Q 8 , unless the . jtodics , w » H , retrench their garments ., It is now i \ common thing to takomorq places everywhere than the number oC individuals requiring them ; and on c ^ oasjgads , ; where tonohes and posting » wi the oulyaneans of conveyance ,, the . gontlomou hftvo "o . olwnqe of . rqom unlefls , tlieJ « ulio 8 iakemor « places than thoy . wunt . On 0 V 11 0 U"' 1 '' Knglisll > ' * " » J »« Jty& oa ,, the . , < eck 3 of . the . small , atoainers are uua afe for tu » aren und o 4 , hqr uinroc ^ - nurtsongera amidst th « , bw eep of hoops niuJUiidueuclotheH"A «« . i ; , U i 3 . out , A ) f tiu ^ questtoii , furvthe lamias * o- } rust themselves ! to . a ,, pouy fora tn » i - \' ' Wrhil ° ^ f'y ' ntttW' ^ aUQOH about their wuiats ; , aiHl ., thBy cannot climb ^ i « W , 5 i < 4 «« s .. Aaa ,, droHH , a 81 hoiivy Hdlheinaaveaj ftni , longer th * n their ( mrt . heels . , If "' W . VAnUweoji . foraiKaimvel , UwsprovailiiwCaahion . coiliheJe . a UmL -ami anuwlut of nrir f ^ -T , W (! h | jl * ii 8 * llliWu ^*' * fHroi | y « ° < int < 'A « d » ta >» ds , tIw ; xe ( M » m ; 1 »(« « ^ uw J . . . JC , it : it * trauUkaomu at Juoine , that no wardtobew . oloscbwili hold ine household aawfla , It . ip flaiBewufinsaticmjtO ; witness thoi affect ; , of < , Hiato . dfccaaea . iu * . ompany . An admiring father , who till lately delighted in his daughter's grace and
not in the narrow sense to which Mr . Buckle restricts it , divorced from government , religion , and literature . Such abstract knowledge has never been a moving power amongst men . JLt . is knowledge . brought into living union with men ' s passions and imaginations that produces revolutions , overturns ancient empires , and determines , the progress of the race . And it is a serious defect in an historian to underrate the influence of the imagination and the affections as motive powers in the development o-f national life . The article on ' Aurora Leigh , ' though rather late , is well worth reading ; while doiug full justice to Mrs . B . Browning as a yoetessy and , indeed , exaggerating some of her peculiar merits , the author signalizes the false philosophy of her poem , more clearly than we have seen done elsewhere .
hghtness of movement and her elegant figure , now sees her deformed arid trammelled , whether at the piano , in . the dance , or simply sitting on the * ofa . In the first Case * she can perform only at arm ' * length : in the second , she steora about-like a great steamer on the river , which all boats get put of the way of with all speed and in the third case , tie spectator is reminded of nothing so much as the old way of . bathing at path , when the ladies waded aoout in the ponds , finely dressed to the shoulders while hoops and the waters concealed all below the waist . r The fourth article ; devoted to Mr . Buckle ' s elaborate and acute work on ' The History of Civilization in . England / gives a full analysis of the author ' s plan , and justly criticizes his fundamental principle , ' that the totality of luuaan actions is governed by the totality of human , knowledge . * No doubt knowledge is power , often a social and political power of enormous strength ; but
llie last number of the British Quarterly Review is weak in the department of literature . It is social , industrial , political , scientific ; theological , but not ia any marked degree literary . Of the two literary papers in the number , the first , devoted to ' Statius and his A . gej' contains an elaborate analysis of the bad taste and barefaced imitations' of that weak and pompous writer , well done , bat not worth the doing ; the second ; on Beranger / is a biographical and critical sketch of the great lyric poet , displaying throughout keen , reflective insight , and fine , sympathetic appreciation . It is bj far the fcest account of Bebaug-er we have met-with . Here is a description of the man and the poet : — - ¦ .. ¦" . ' . '
Be " ranger is described as having been a little man , of stout , healthy , and cheerful appearance , with lively eyes , and a large , bald forehead . He was never married , and lived latterly as a brisk old French bachelor , with a circle of lady correspondents , some of whom are beginning , we see , to publish his letters . He was polite to English visitors , and knew something of . English , literature , through translations . His habits in composition were slow , and every song be wrote was the result , of the most careful study . The thought , the sentiment , came to him suddenly , and often , as he said , at night ; but the form and the expression , even to individual lfnes , rhymes , and words , were submitted to the strictest and most fastidious scrutiny ere his taste was satisfied . Something of this painstaking exactness , may be seen in bis handwriting , in a specimen of which , prefixed in fac-simile to the large Paris edition of his works , every comma and semicolon is distinctly marked , while the writing itself ia close , regular , and neat . The effect as regards the style of iBe ' ranger was a perfection of logical accuracy such as has hardly been equalled by any other French poet . He has the Horatian felicity of phrase in an extraordinary degree ; and when we add to this the wonderful charm and variety of his metres , it will be seen why , even among lyrical poets , he should present peculiar difficulties to the translator .. We have glanced at one or two English translations of songs selected from his entire collection ; but , with every wish to make pur quotations from him in English ratber than in French , we have found it impossible . to use any one translation we ha . ve ' seen without such a misrepresentation of the poet as could not be warranted . Scarcely ! in one instance have the translators made an attempt to keep the metre of the original ; which , in a translator of songs , is In itself an unpardonable offence .
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the Rebellion in india : The Rebellion in India ; How to Prevent Another . ' By John Bruce . Norton . Richardson Brothers . Wk receive with gratitude a book written in India on the Indian mutiny . But we must also receive it with caution . The writer is an able man , of long , and large experience , but ; in common with most * Indians * military or civilian , Iiq is liable , to very warping influences . He is in danger of becoming a partisan ; ho is in danger of mistaking tlie coloutf of public opinion at home ; he is in danger of being carried away by . hia personal ieoliags . Honest and talented as it is a who will deny tluit the Indiun press oversows with personalities , and who will doubt , after reading thjs yolunQe , that Mr , Norton is exactly such a writer as might ^ contribute to the Bengal Hurkaru ,
the Madras Athenteum , or the Bombay Telegtaph and- Cbnrier ? His mind has beat to the opinions of a party 5 nevertheless , he is . a counsellor wo-rth hearing at this unexampled crisis . That which we doubt i $ his capacity to surmount all prejudice , and within clears ciilnrv , penetrating ey c ^ to take a bird ' s-eye -view of the actual affairs of Jn | c | iaJ His « qati « i « a . ts aarry him too far . We might also say that , if , ^ flr . Norto n were an iufyllibJb authority , everythin « r oiliciaHy done in British Iu < lia , lor the la ^ t ten years has been wrorig—alwuys ' uivvfise , frequently iinmorul . ' iliis tendency to exaggeration , detrncts from the value of ' a ' really' important publication . Thus Mr Norton a ( Iirmstho rebellion tb' b 6 national ;' but his" evidence amounts to little or nothing . Ha .-quote ' s two Or three testimonies m to' th < 3 bad feeling
of the natives ; but the only fact cited is , th « t out of ten thftseeldurs in the Meerut district but one has remained , faithful .. The villagers in many instances have thruet forth the . Ch » -Mtiiin . fugitives and bid them pass on . This may be a proof of cn ^ aity orof corjjirdice ., ; $ Lk . Norton ueks , vylwit agci « ultural population Iras rallied in ( lefei ^ c ^ qf ordqr . What In . diiirt jj gxiculturnfc iibnuTa'tidii has tJver'done s ' q , has ever checked the advance rC .. » " ewoiriv , ' has' ever resisted bayon ' cts , br'talccli Viart ^ Jth ' the inii ' iori ^ y i . J ^ iiq p'bJnfc has iV ) ' ! sigiu ( icuince whatever . We rireb « itt 6 fint > liife ' UHb lftSt «? n whoi ^ JV lV . 'Nbi ^^ h cpmes ^ ol tl ^ pactual incidentfl bf tVni ' ' ihiHtni'y revolt . '' ' Wi ^ itin ^' aoriie tteoki ^ lii ^ Oa he nt ) ti < iai ? tlvat aji Mu'dv at * a ) ig (» vdrniii « ivt buM-lind rfaien ^ da ^ edoitti ' uiuIqb a E , iu'ope « a guard , ; eachfmdwitnrring twentyvowmU ; of bAilJcairtri « Jgo : in his nou-ch , that Triplicane was in a panic , Lliat certain Mohaimnedana at
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? . Critics are not the legislators ,-but the judges and police of literature . They do ' not make laws—they interpret and try-to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review * - . ..
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_ jgto ! j 9 ^ -Qog ^ BB 10 , 1857 . ] - ? -- ----g-- ^^ ---Jb ^ A'P-B - B . - : - ¦ - 977-
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 10, 1857, page 977, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2213/page/17/
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