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Untitled Article
We now come to the character of the Provost . That Bertulphe is an excessively proud man is clear enough , nor should we object to it in one who possessed such qualities of
greatness , provided it had been the ri g ht sort of pride . But although there is much in it that naturally , and in most cases necessarily , appertains to the consciousness of intellectual powers that have been the architects of the individual ' s fame , station , wealth , and mankind ' s admiration and respect ; it has
also a strong alloy of the rankness and base dross of that mere conventional pride in nominal honours and externals , which stand in opposition to all real grounds for admiration and respect , and which assume to neutralize and supersede them . Bertulphe is also utterly despotic in character . He has no respect or consideration for the will and feelings of others , where they are opposed to his own . When he hears that his son-in-law , Bouchard , has had a quarrel with some noble , he commands a reconciliation , " whatsoe ' er it be" and an atonement ! But the moment he learns that " this foolish quarrel " is with his own enemv . it becomes a most serious nuarrel . and
he commands Bouchard to fight to the death . As to his patriotism , we are afraid we must to a great extent agree with the opinion passed upon him by the serf Denis , albeit not so bitter a cynic . But Philippe , be it observed , and perhaps Denis in a less degree , had inherently all tlie worst without the noble
qualities of Bertulphe , besides many vices of their own , and would have exercised them if they had possessed the power . Bertulphe evidently does , in some degree , espouse the causo of the serfs against their oppressors from a love of exercising * his power over the Earl , and to remind him of early
obligations , by the influence of his opposition to him and the majority of the nobles ; yet far more , we think , from a personal consciousness of his own origin . All this is quite
natural ; but there ini ^ ht be much in addition , without drawing the bow beyond its fair tension , and craving an ideal perfection . He does not appear to have much abstract feeling , or philanthropical patriotism , if any . And this is no doubt the character the author intended to pour tray . Is this , then , our reason for saying that the " Provost of Bruges" is not a great tragedy 'I By no means : our reason is
because the chief character is not great in virtue or in crime , nor by a powerful mixture of both . That he is not ^ reat in crime , is plain , since unexpected circumstances inspire and impel him to seek the death of Thancmar , and not the
uain any case , ns applied to tho malicious old boast , Philippe . The action and gesticulation of Meadows were finely characteristic , and continually had the appearance of a grey half-starved , toothless old tiger cat . The manner in which he sometimes clawed the air , » a if his mind ww grappling- the p ** y of Ids viciouA jeyeDge , yr * thought perfect .
Untitled Article
134 The Provoit of Bruges .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1836, page 134, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2655/page/6/
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