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    63Q* The Saturday! Analyst and Leader. \...

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    ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. rpHE English are...

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    * The Illustrated London Jiewt.

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    SERIALS. rpHE Westminster JZeview for Ju...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    New Poems.* W E Have Three .Volumes Of P...

    little ones in heaven . These , and other pictures , will remain in perpetual memory . Mr . Langford ' s verses on Shelley are in the true vein . Theyare flueiitlv and feelingly written . The view he takes of the poet ' s life andcharacteris thecorrectone . Much of Shelley ' slife , and what errors were ii \ it , were merely the natural and inevitable reaction against a corrupt state of society and opinion . By thought and poetic . pro- , duction he had well nigh worked himself free from the chains of early association . But mysterious Death set his seal upon the unfinished work and forbade further progress . The occasional poems of Mr . Langford are fair samples ot" lyric effort , and all arejuarked with a melody of utterance which gives pleasure to attention , and cheers the critic ' s labour . The poet ' s talent lies in the reflective direction as well as in the descriptive . He can penetrate " the dimdiscovered tracts of mind , " as well as the open champaign of

    cultivated nature . Mr . Tatam is a spirit of a different order . He thinks himself equal to the ottava rimg ., and the telling' of a good story in it , ei <* ht cantos in length , on the average more than a hundred stanzas each - but he somewhat overrates his ability . There are , howe , good stanzas in the "The Buggy , " and many happy lines ; some felicitous turns of expression too , and here and there a striking linage or an appropriate reflection . But to succeed in this kind of composition discipline the most severe is indeed required ; whereas '" Mr .. Tatam has thought it to be the lightest and easiest ol writing .

    63q* The Saturday! Analyst And Leader. \...

    63 Q * The Saturday ! Analyst and Leader . \ 5 \ nx 7 , I 860 ,

    Illustrated Literature. Rphe English Are...

    ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE . rpHE English are certainly a wonderful people , for , in spite of X the ever-increasing commotion in public affairs , they continue to advance with unwearied steps to higher ground in Art and Science . Sir Isaac Newton tells us of a comet ( that of 1680 ) which lia & " imbibed so much heat from the sun , that if it had been metallic it would have required fifty thousand years to cool down ; and later writers , having applied this figure to the political world , declare that the fearful ferment into which it is thrown could only be moderated within a lapse of some three hundred years . There is a philosophic precision about the statement which is somewhat startling and we can only marvel that : in vtew of-a conflict so serious Art ; should exist at all ! _ Certain , however , it is that Art exists and flourishea ; and that a comparatively new branch of it— -that which is-united with and ¦ forma n basis for the illustration of literature— -exhibits an almost ¦ infinite rangeof development . The ancients ( unhappy ^ men !) linew liotliing of an illustrated book ; T not could they-boast even of an illuminated MS . On this point the Alexandrian collection would present us with only a beggarly amount of empty shelves . Yet what an immense amount of useless comment would have been spared us if illustration had been the order of the day among Greeks and Romans . Take up the single instance of the sufferings of Philoctetes ; how happily , if the burin had been in : existence , should' we have escaped the . infliction of Lessing's attack on Win-K ^ r . MAyN in his " Lao-coon , " and ^ Hebdeb's onslaught upon I . ESSINO in his" Kritiache Wal 3 erl" JSot untirtlie art of ' engraving- on copper was considerably advanced does it appear that even any isolated attempts at the illustration of books was attempted ; and , for the most part , we must , perforce , content ourselves with the rude effigies of a title-page . Our neighbours appear to have been the first in the field—rif we may judge from the very beautiful engravings which embellish the " Henriade" and " La Pucelle" of Voltaire—while among ourselves , at a later period , Stotiiabd came to the rescue with his charming pictorial commentary on Cowpeb , and on others of the poetic brotherhood . Some further examples might be adduced , but the interval is by no means rich in specimens of art , and its appeals to the eye as well as the inind . We shall , perhaps , be asked what interval ? and our reply is , the period intervening before the introduction from Germany of the " Annual . " Then , indeed , the flood-gates were opened , and most lavish was the supply of pictured volumes . A collection of all the engravings produced during the four years the mania lasted would form a portfolio of much interest . We should there find a mixture of many elements ; much of excellence with much of rubbish , from Tdbner and Calcott to Dick Tinto . It cannot be denied , however , that the effect generally was good , and that a true art-feeling was disseminated amongst all classes . In furtherance , too , of this step onwards , came the first illustrated newspaper , * a journal which still holds its ground against all competitors . In connection with this organ the talents of some of our best book-designers have been nurtured—GltBEBT , BlKKETT FOSTER , HABBXSON WeiB , and DUKCAN among the rest—while many artists have been brought into notice by transcripts from their exhibited works . At the present moment the art of embellishing books with engravings is in a healtliy condition : it is profitKbl © , and employs muoh talent and many skilful hands ; and although it cannot be Bald that it has arrived at its acmS , yet we think that in a further article on the best works recently published , we shall be able to show that there is riot now muoh more to achieve . The wealthier classes , we are glad to , perceive , are not insensible to bo mighty a means of social advantage , unmoved by the many tasteless growlers who would"cry down improvement . <

    * The Illustrated London Jiewt.

    * The Illustrated London Jiewt .

    Serials. Rphe Westminster Jzeview For Ju...

    SERIALS . rpHE Westminster JZeview for July opens with an exceedingly -L able and comprehensive article on " Strikes : their Tendencies and Remedies . " The question is so fully discussed as to leave little more to be said about strikes . We are informed how wages are determined , about the wages of agricultural labourers , the influence of combinations , current errors respecting strikes , co-partnerships induced by strikes , and the results of co-operation , tot-. Win ' " ' this article is a review of " The Mill on the Floss . lne article is an excellent one , and interesting as a statement of reasons concerning the sex of the author , why " Adam Bede" was believed to be the work of a lady . " Rawlinson ' s Bampton Lectures lor 1859 " come in for a fair share of criticism . There is a lengthy and important article on " The Post-office Monopoly ; " its history , Sir Rowland Hill ' s reform , private letters opened by Government , and the irresponsibility of the Post-office , the Times on the wages of postmen , and Marine Mail Contracts—their cost . " The Irish Education Question , " " Germany : its Strength and Weakness , and "The French Press , " are articles whose value and merits cannot be overstated . The British Quarterly contains powerful articles on the followin " subjects : — " Henry Lord Brougham ; " " Prison Ethics ; * " Victor Hugo—French and English Poets ; " " The West Indies—Past and Present ; " " Marsh man ' s Life of Havelock ; " " Mansel and his Critics ; " " Church Questions in Australia ; " "Owen ' s Palaeontology ; " " Cambridge University Reform , " and "Our Epilogue on Affairs and Books . " The London Review ( quarterly ) for July has tlie usual number of well-considered and able articles on a variety of important subjects . " Darwin on the Origin of Species" constitutes the subject with which the present number opens . The author is not so favourably treated in this article as he has been generally . " Slave Polities and Economics ; " " London in the Thirteenth Century ;" " Limits of Religious Thought ; " " Mansel and his Critics , " " The Oxford Essayists , " deserve attention . FrasersMagazinefor July opens with an admirable article on " Froude ' s History of the Reigns of Edward VI . and Mary . " The excellent tale entitled "Wheat and Tares" is continued . There is

    also a popular and useful paper on " The Volunteer Course at Hythe School of Muslcetry , " by Viscount Bury . " Gryll Grange /' by the author of " Headlong Hall , V is also continued , and contains an interesfcing diacussion on music , its great masters and interpreters , " On the Importance , of Energy in Life" is one of the best articles on an important subject that we have seen ; Csesar , . Hannibal , the two Pitts , Brougham , and _ Bright are cited as great and shining examples of energy , and what can be attained by it . " The Physical Theories of the Phenomena , of Life , " "An Old Rod for New Poets , " "The Literary Suburb of the Eighteenth Century , " " A Plea for Truth in Advertisement , " " Social and Political Life Five-and ^ thirty Years Ago / ' and " Chronicle of Current History , " comprised in the valuable

    contents of Fraser for the current month . BlacJciobod ' s Magazine for July contains , first , an elaborate article on M The Secret History of the Russian Campaign of 1812 —Sir Robert Wilson . " Then we have Part III . of the highly interesting narrative of Captain Speke ' s Adventures in Somali Land . "TEfa [ H" ^ e ~ arTicle ~ 3 n ^* P criticised fully , and with perfect justice to their merits and their faults . " Judicial Puzzles—The Campden Warder , " though omitted in the table of contents , is in the magazine ; and is moreover an article" well worthy of notice and attention . The remaining articles are , " The Royal Academy and other Exhibitions , " " Norman Sinclair : an Autobiography , Part VI ., " "An Election in France , " " Erinnys , " and " The Reform Bill and the lory Party . " We need scarcely add that these articles , especially the last , exhibit the high , talent and popular sentiments for which

    Blackwood is distinguished . Dublin University Magazine for July contains an important paper on " The French Treaty of Commerce . " The subject is considered in all its bearings on industry and trade . Following this is a second and very able article on " Paleontology . " In this part ' we have a descriptive sketch of the great series of remains of animal life , given without technical language , so that the subject may bo understood by every reader . There is likewise a second chapter on " The Work-a-day World of France . " " Vonvcd the Dane , Count of Elsinore , " is continued . " Tennant ' s Ceylon" is an article of much interest and value . Professor Do Vericour has written a most excollent and critical article on " Rienzi , " thehoro of the historian and the novelist . The other articles of note aro the " History of Jurisprudence , " " The Marshals of Napoleon the Great" and " Foreign and Domestic Politics . " ' .

    , Macmillan's Magazine for July well sustains its intellectual eminence . " SwissrFrench Literature—Madame De Gasparin , " i » the leading paper , and for its historical and critical character will be interesting and instructive to the general reader . " The Fair at Keadyv --by Alexander Smith , is a apirited , descriptive , and . ftniusins paper . There is also a brief , but well-written and useful article on . " The Social and Economical Influence of Gold . " " The Volunteer ' s Catechism" is a paper very much to the purpose , and likely to bo of service in promoting and improving the great national movement . Tom Brown at Oxford" is continued . " All ' s Well / a poem , " My Friend , Mr . Bedlow ; or , Reminiscences of American College Life , " " Female School of Art—Mrs . Jamieson / ' and " Garibaldi and the Sicilian Revolution" aro articles of o popular character , and eminently interesting and improving " .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071860/page/12/