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I tore my Sorrow from my heart , I cast it far away in scorn ; Bight joyful tliat we two could part , Yet moat . forlorn . I sought ( to jtake my Sorrow ' s : place ) Over the world for flower or gem , — But she had had an ancient grace , Uriknown'to them ! T took once more with . strange . delight
3 fy slighted Sorrow . . Proudly now , "I wear it , set-with-stars of-light , Upon rny brow ! .-Another whole poem almost as perfect in the composition is the one which is called *• Ti-easures ; " ' meaning sorrows , turned to account ; another is " Judge not , "" an admirably' worded piece of advice on that admirable 'tesLt ; and a third is entitled "A / Love Token . '" This , to be sure , is a " con-. ceifc ; "'but'it is . a conceit of the'first water ; say rather , a fancy rich , with fi 3 efilin ^ ,-6 uchias would l ) a \ re graced tlie page of . any poet ; and the epigrauirtnatic turn at the conclusion is at onee . a satirical surprise > wholly unlocked for from the general character of the book , and furnishing * a ^ fine warning ibrroaiantic Sestowevs of hearts upon . the heartleas : —
• • A" LOVE'TOKEN . Do you grieve no costly offering To the lady you can make ? One there is , and gifts less -worthy Queens Iraxe stoop'd to take . Take a'heart of virgin silver , Fashion it with 'heavy blows , Cast it- tlien in Love ' s hot furnace , "When it fiercest jrtows . With Pain ' s sharpest pojnt transfix it , . A . ud then'GaTVe > in : lettersifair Tender dreams and quaint devices , : Fancies strange und rare .
Set within it " Hope ' s blue sapphire , Many changing opal fears , Blood-red Tiiby-8 ton « s of daring , iMixed with . pearly tears . / AndAvhen-yoii hare wrought" arid labour'd Till < the » gift is all complete , Youini ^ y humbly lay yourloffisring '' At :-t . he > Liftdy . s'feet ' * . ' . "" .- : Should ilier mood : perchance be : graeious >—With , disdainful-smiling pride She :, will place ; it-with the . trinkets QKttenng . at her side .
-jSatire iowe ^ er , able as she here shows herself to inflict it , is very rare ^ with our <« eBsi * ive and thoughtful poetess . She ; is too sympathetic for it ; Itoo charitable , ; ( too wise ; has little faith : in its use or its beauty , and a great rdfial . in . the goad of : thinking the . best , and in encouraging people ' s best . ^ qualities , instead , of . exasperating > their . badones . We . had . marked a number of : passages to ( juote from the " A . n" -el's . Story , " "; My Picture , " " One by One , " " A . Knight Errant , " " Homeward vBound" ( : a , terrible . 6 tory ) , " The Tomb-in Ghent" ( beautifully descriptive , but-with a morbid foundation ) , " The 'Wayside Inn" ( note the lady on horseback— Her sunny ringlets round , her A golden-cloud hail made , TThile her large hat \ vas keeping
Her calm blue eyes in shade }*; " , TlheDark Side" ( a lovely rebuke to the G \\\ -seeH ? it /\ ^ Incompleteness " ( a . Platonical . argument , . most wise , for completeness hereafter ) , "Words " ^ showing the might of them ) , "A ' . Tryst . with Death" ( very melancholy ) , " The Sailor Bpy" ( a story of a wedded wife apparently unloving by . nature , owing to . a hapless . first love ) , " Grief / 1 " Home-Sickness" ( most . true , though for a : home most . sorrowful ) , "Mlush ! " ( a story of sick waiting and listening , till the heart is broken ) , and lastly , " Unexpressed , " % charming variation upon a Jine passage in Marlowe , showing that no artist can ever . thojroughly express what he wishes , to . bis own satisfaction . He is forced , to
Bow beneath a . noble discontent . Things of time have voices : speak and perish . Art and love speak—but their words must bo Like sighings Of illimitable forests , And waves < tf mi unfathomable sen . Those are nol 31 e verses . Musical readers will have noticed the line cadences ^ modulations ' of Miss Procter ' s verse . She inherits those lyrical graces of her father , which fortunately for a community which at length is learning to' 8 tng , have been more or Jess felt , by all ihe world . Like him t . nr , «!„>
teels tor the , ooor , and can sing of their rights ; as he did long before ho was followed m the saime admirable direction by . admirable Thomas Hood tuo keynote Laving been given perhaps to bofcb , by Charles Lamb in his SJShflii ^ fT fUnCralS ° ? ' and P ° - > ™ ™ could ad ^ i though the ( point , however aupenor on poetical grounds , is of inferior moim JSSST ^ r ™ ? ul < 1 have ' bee " ™ y aliv ^ !« Mr . ProcteA person , to the merits of a writer of plays , who was the first since the oil poeta to . restore natural impulsive dialogue to the drama ; -to say nothing of wh -h ^ v ? aCme , " faiU 0 US for isoWd phrases f nay , * tbr one or two r . " 110 ftve ul ™ y s repeating . In Mr . Procter's tragedy of Mimndola worn out P " * ' ' ° " 1 OUtU ° ' * ^ S ^^ nn man , wtosc heart is fairly
I want to die—^ erfuSeT " t 0 b ° ^ uotllbI « ^ »^ e of the finest tl . at ever
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, Ko , ^ 30 , " J-ywEi 19 , 1858 . ] THJB L E A D E E , * ^ 9 ^
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iMR . WIKOOTP AND LORD > PADMBRSTON " . ¦ A New Yorker at theToreign Office , and liis ' Adventures'in Paris . By Henry Wakoff . Trttbner and Co . The plain truth eoneerning Mr . WikotT appears sto be this : that he was employed by Lord Palmerston at a salary of ^ 500 ^ . sterling a year to keep up a good feeling , through the press , between England and America , that bis agency < wasnot found valuable , - and that he was drsmissed , after ample notice , with half a yeai- 's payment by way of gratuity . Judging from his Own account of himself , we should say that those » with wliom he conversed must have
found huu , after the fir 3 t few nnsits , an insufferable bore , « nd v a twaddler into the bargain , with enoTmouS'self-conceit and an affectation of diplomatic art altogether ridiculous . r i ? he Foreign-office having parted wrfch him , he entangled himself in some affair with which the public has nothingto do , and now he writes this curiously shameless book to revenge himself upon persons -who had been civil to him . The effect will certainly be to create surprise that Lord Palmerston should ever have . admitted Mr . Wikoff to his table , and that men of the TWikofi "; and iBirch stajnp should be engaged by ^^ vMiuisters of State .. to act . upon -opinion externally ; but the Jtrriterwvnll take nothing by bis motion , unless , indeed < . he will be satisfied withi a little revival
of 3 iotoi-iety , for his story is undoubtedly amusing . / He arrived iniEurope from America in 1849 , and went to Paris , where , as is not surprising , 'he-was personally ; known- to Louis Napoleon . The President politely greeted his former intimate , -who dineil » t the Kljpsee , played the part of J 5 illy ^ Barlow to perfection , took notes of the principal guests , which with impudent simplicity he . prints , and thus describes a Bonaparte dinner : — :-Conversation at table went on in an under-tone . The President quietly ate Ms dinner , occasionally di-opping a comment ixpon some remark be chose to overhear . I fell into easy chat with Count "Mold , who , fancying that I was deep in the coun . denco of the President , gave unreserved expression to his opinions on the strange events of the past , and the prospects just dawning . His astonishment was almost . ludicrous -whenT proclaimed in reply the strong democratic notions that r possessed me . I stated
my belief that the time had come when something niore than Parliamentary discussion ^ vas necessary to meet the desire of France for material , progress , . and that . unless , the Prince and his advisers gave lieed to the national conviction , that , perhaps , the gulf of revolution was not finally closed . The ex- ^ linister of Louis Philippe-really s « emed not to comprehend me , for . so absorbed was he in Parliamentary intrjgnes , land so embedded in routine , that plain , common-, sense sounded like thejargon of < an unknown land . He stared . at me for a naoment , and . then- cotieluding that I was oaly employiiig jffinesse . 'tb concealuay real ppinions , w « nt . on-with his vrepast . . The President , £ could see , was not ; unconscious of what » wasgt ) iag on , and , Itfanciedywastryingtocoaceal Ms : amusement , at t 3 ie . unexpected ^ eollisicm of- a stannch Monarchist of the old school likethe Count 'Blole . iwith an ^ Anierican democrat , ! who ; looked at 'fiictsras : they were ! and at things . as'they ought to be .
iAbout . theniiddle . of . the banquet M . Thiers'raised his voice , and gave , strong utfer-Jince ito . his indjguation against the . intolerable Iiceatiou 3 ness of the Press ,-which respect ed neither place nor . peirson . He called attention to one of the moriuWpapers that had outraged decency in its coarse vituperation of the President . The mote < vras caught up till every one at table had joined in the chorus of anathema , againat p « ccant journalism . "When the tide of sympathetic horror had fairly exhausted itself every eye was turned upon-the President , whose feelings , it was hoped ,. might , be touched , and above all , whose opinion cm this vital point it was thus artfully sought to extract . The-silence was profound . The President seemed to reflect , when , draining his glas 3 of the few drops it contained ,. he remarked" Every one of . course , has his own point of vi « w . I can comprehend-3 'ou . r dissatisfaction- at the licence of the Press , and your anger at . their violent attacks upon myself ; but , Messieurs , shall I own the truth ? " ¦ ' Every head converged towards the President .
" I read these diatribes , " he continued , " each morning at breakfast , and assure you they afford me so much amusement , that I am kept in good humour for the rest of the day . " It was >\ vith an effort that I-suppressed my mirth . at the blank disappointment 1 detected in every face around nve . Next year , "AVikofl" was introduced by a secretary of the Paris Embassy , to Viscount Palinurston , who immediately asked him to dine and sleep-at Broadhmds . In the library lie was met by the famous statesman , " , a very pleasant gentleman of some fifty years , apparently , perfectly off-hand . and unatleuted in his demeanour , and singularly vivacious and playful in his z-emarks which were accompanied with a sort ofi-unning chuckle . " Then came the presentation to Lady Palmerston , " a tall , finely-formed woman , with a handsome , . " " iV- ' yery elc S arit i" « nnors , and apparently still in the prime of lite . , . Dinner was announced , the stranger gave his arm to . Lady Palmerston , and th& affair " passed oil delightfully , my Lord Palmerston talk' £ r joking , and laughing ' in a way which was supremely pleasant to the TSew Yorker : — J l
it % - : vcrAl «» ccdotcs , full of ; point and admirably told . I could . not for the lile Ot me imagine I was in the presence of one of tho leading men of Europe , who had been a memher of tl 10 Cabinets that had ended the terrible war against Napoleon 1 and begun that against the United States , in 1812 , and that at this moment had more to tlo with the destinies of nations than any othor man living . I waa not long in detecting , however , that th-e lively , facetio-. is exterior of Lord lahnorstaii was hut a . musk aaiumed before the world , though always worn with dignity , and that underneath lay concealed that vast-intellect , fearless character , and mighty . energy , which had raised him , without connexion , interest , or wealth , arid in the teeth of prejudice , to . the position he then held , and which . would likely carry him later into the Premiership of England . After dinner , the Minister retired to his cabinet .-
—I learnt afterwards that he was in the habit of retiring to his cabinet for an hour or n 1 m , i ^ Tn s r , r r llis ( k > s l mlchos . lowing in upon him every day . from oil quarters of the world . Ho camo in again . ubout eleven o ' clock , drank a cup of . too , fin , rl 7- ' \ \ 3 »? lcas » nt Wft 3 ' ' nlld < li «» Pl > oarcd once more . He had returned , I foil ml , to lua Btmly , where I was . surprised to hear ho frequently passed part of tho ni ( , i t at work . I have hhico discovered that Lord Pa liner * ton ' a caiMwityilbr lubour is prodigious and ; h IS energies , mental nnd bodily , never ¦ flag under any pres .-mro of tjusiiiens . His intQlhg « nce ,, cxporience ,-and activity enable him to accomplisli evorytuing without , ftppearauco of haateor , losa of time . Whether it bo that l . i . s ta » k is congenml , or that hia nntiiro tlenmiulH constant occiipation , certain it is that Loixl Palmer . ston labours ns incesanntly aa . any opemtivo or former ' s man in England . "Ho requires no recreation , is never seen at plitcos ofmrniiscment , and is freo MVom all thoso iiwlnonablo vices so common nmongat Statosmon / aiiil Di | Jomati 8 l 8 of . all > eountrkw . i lattenng but unpwlinenfc . It would not be dillicult to "ueas nt tfio improssion produced on the statesman ' s mind if he wero over toromltheso
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1858, page 595, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2247/page/19/
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