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Leader (1850-1860), 10th January 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18, 4% T'KCB Ii-lilPglK, [Ncft S55V S^-prbay...

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      Monarchs Retired From Business. Monarchs...

      Georgian- greatness explained- by Thackeray ; it is useful , in default of a Thackeray or a Suetonius- irt tlie * fieldy to have Dr : Boranbending ; at the atraoiirted ; and telling , us to listen to the ^ echoes from those hollbw heads ! THe servility of the whofe CHristiaa world ; for eighteen hundred jears , has only been able tb _ pick out twenty monarch ' s , fft for canonization ; of these ^ same . ape- more . than , half !" apocryphal ' , as Lueius . of England ; others are shadows , as Elesbaamof ; Ethiopia ^ : Sigismuad , the saint of Burgundy , was a- murdener . ; . and . it was- aot . discovered : that Joan of Orleans-deserved an apotheaaia until two . hundred years . a & er . her death . Of thjet British ; sovereigns whoaabdicatedjox were deposed ,-Rofcerfc the Normanandi Arthur tt © PlantagBnet » Tf 0 renev « r "fli & realoocupanteoPthethronei Robert-was blinded , des ~ git ^ tHefinjunetioa ofthe eiaperor Constantine , vhd held it impious-to deferm ttre-fSce ^ t & e reatf of celestial beauty ; though Gbnstantine .,- as Dr . Doran obeervesr , \* farcrkilled his awn son , had-era right to say anything on that subject . Of tire : two" conapicuoius examples in our history—Edward . II . and Richard

      131— -neither deserved ' much' sympathy . James 111 was petted by the French Gourt andlcantiimed to the fast revengeful ; frivolous ^ and selfish ., Not one admirable , quality was brought out , in his ^ character by the austerities-of . hiscompulsory ; seolusioiu Onitie Scottish ] throne * , of thirty-seven ; monarchs : who ruled from , the nintbiCJBntnry-txr : the date-oft the Umonionly ten died natural deaths-, and ofr these Half ware broken-hearted . Twenty-two perished in ' the- field or by assassination ; andione on the-scaffold ,- ; four resigned ttreir sceptTes , but of these nrof one-interests usr-by his personalcharatjteristicsj or by any romantic incidents- that marked' his -uncrowned' career . The Irish , kings , being innumerable , may soon be passed ' over . The mysticism of Gormac did not prevent K £ m from cHoISng . hirnseir ' witli a fish-bone ; in fact , Ireland , modest by , proxy in tha-person of Dr . Doran , admits that of all her unfortunate monarchs , only one was arrespectable man . The Welsh kings were chiefly fanaous ^ for drinking ^ , while of the king * of the Scilly Isles , the most distingnislz & cLwa & . 3 aint . Constantine who abdicated , and for seven years carried on the 2 bnsineia » of a miller .

      Kra . gr John in' the Savoy , and * Iiouis Phillipe at Olaremont ; are familiar persoHage ^; -less notorious iff KingTheocloTe ; who was crowned with the laurel ! o £ Corsicai He only reigned for eight monthsybut : put a good many person * tcodeath-in ; proof of his prerogative , then ran aXvay , and came within the-raeaning . 'of the : vagrant act . Howeveiy the idle society of London -was delighted to-have ^ a toy king , and so Theodore drank tea at Lady Schaub ' s * and ; Horace . " Waljjole went there to see him , andVne might have enjoyed the airy dominion of atitlef hadinot certain creditors arrested him and cast him into 3 tb » debtors ! gaol . THere he lived on charity , but maintained tHe dignity as Tfcte ; Wmque ; and . sat in- fallen maiestv under a caaony comoosed of the as a-iaewmque ; anctsat ra- fallen majesty under a canopy composed of the

      tiopr , of apEftifctesterbedstead ; Hir instituted- an order-, made knights , and mimiicirag ^ ttieingemiitj of a British minister , lived upon the fees ; Walpole , w ^ g ^ t' ^ ff asabacription . ih . hisbeHalf i was afterwards forced to complain of Hi s ¦ " dirty knavery . "' At , last ,, the cashiered kingling , died , and was burrad ^ philanthropicall y / and . ostentatiously ,. by an oilman of Soho , who did not . p * y > the undertaker's bill . Corsica suggests Bonaparte , and Bonaparte Elba : and * Si .- Helenaj , but those ! retirements , have , gone to the : diorama paintews , William-Frederick- ofr Holland waa- remarkable ; in . only one respect—he illustrated the . value of De Pauhny ' s axiom , that kings never remain long in love without makings fools of themselves . Yet lie was not an unmitigated simpleton , for he appropriated to himself thirteen millions

      Sterling , for thecomfbrt , of hist old age .. Tlia story . of ! Henry IV . is uninteresting ; that of Charles- "W . has , been completely-, told-byv Preacott and . Stirling .. Eecdinand , of-Austria , amuseds himself , after his abdication , by giving ; dinner parties to : ladies ; Frederick , of Bohemia , the -winter king ; by fishing , and disciplininghis thirteen children . ; . Ludwig . of Bavaria bewails hia first meeting with Lola Montes . The history of the deposed popes is . a history of cruelty , and . degradation ; , that , of the deposed czars , is grotesque in ats barbarity . Ivan . IV .. waa the . most- prominent example . Catherine ,. who spoko'ol her . murdered busband as her neighbour ,, made an inxpression on Horace . Walpolels . minds by her treatment of this , miaerable cieature , very different . from , that produced , on . the mind of Edmund Burke , He called her

      tneinoctera : Athaliah ,. a devil in . a diadem , more unnatural than Semiranais , by instinct a , poisoner .. Certainhistorians j . nevertheless , adulate her memory , as certain , othera adulate , that of Christina of Sweden , the murderer of Mon ^ ldeschi .. This lady ^ , who was-whipped by her mother after she was a queen—for . illicitly ; drinking her rose-water—was , throughout her life * passionate ,, ribald ,, and cruel , and . after ? sha had caused her unhappy councillor to . bo stabbed to death , at Eontainebleau , condescended , to the basest attir tunes ; of . hypocrisy ^ .. Eromjfiritf to , last ,, this processionof bareheaded kings , and queens presents few examples of virtue or majesty . In nearly every case , the retirement-ofctbeisavBreign . wfluld have been a blessing to the people had ho not moa « . wa # forc an-eqna % . odious sucoessor . Dr . Doran notes the exceptional cages ,, aad . does , full justice to some of the abdicated , who wore too noble , fo p thews thrones . ; , but ; Ida gallery ia hung , in general , with sombre and , fiiwstea poriwwiw-auggesture ,, chietty ,. of bigotry ,-. gluttony , ; and . re-

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      Eoeus.Andjbla^Iabists: Alexander. Smith ...

      EOEUS . ANDJBLA ^ IABISTS : ALEXANDER . SMITH 7 tt *' -4 fcAl » fM 8 « i » ., N * : lS 24 ) j ( Orbnwary 8 td-, 1857 ) ^ Sr ^ rSl ^ v V ^ - ^ ^ . ° f tliescasow ' " » d may fairly be fSJS ^ n ^ mtlcl ? r critic *; but ' tHc ^ , « ^ 4 s printed S ^ jniJ w'J" ™ - 0 ^ ' ^ i corTOS P ° * cnt * , wlrich forccs uSto S ^ J ? - «^ J 2 £ ^ J 5 ^ ^ - inilttW ' concerning Alexander Smith , im ^ Z ^ Tr K ? ^ . l i ^ nation of considerable literary imRortfetic ^ rhe -editor of the Athenonm ; of course , inserted the letter with JSttttiSSS ?" lttt > thebest of al 1 P ° S 8 ible testte-the opinion of hn-_ Ttr © articj ^ itx question , which-extends to five columns'of tMe-Athmunm l ^ emonrtnmce " in the intwesf of literary integrity , " against AlexandSSKft **?'** "tg & L V *«»»«« Ci deliberate and ' whoSe plagSm hm iKttmramaia torbe made up from the oemfll 0 f other writer fand ^ u

      proof of the accusation , passages are quoted side by side . Ofr the Hasty or unthihkhtg reader , the e € fect of this article' will assuredly be very In . jurious to Alexander Smith ; and as a question of " literary integrity ¦»• we very earnestly beg our readers to- consider the matter . ' Two general propositions may . be laid down . First : That all young poets have exhibited ,, and . will continue to exhibit , abundant , reminiscences v \ tleir language , imagery , and ' thoughts ; They have read poetry- with , keener sensibilities than most men , and . are prompted to reproduce what they have

      read ; sometimes they do so consciously , at onier times quite unconsciousl y . Secondly : That the distinotionbetween reminiscence and plagiarism—between ¦ reproduction and-appropriation ;—is always-discernible in the manner of the writer , and in the nature of the source whence he derived the appropriated material : No one talks-of Milton's * plagiarisms . ' To take thoughts or . images from writers familiar to all readers , is to expose yourself to instant detection ; but to take ttouglits or images from forgotten or . obscure ¦ writers is open to more suspicion . Even then , the question is , Has the thought beea stolen , —simply appropriated , —or has it been enlarged , improved , and altered in its , application ?

      The two propositions just 1 laid , down enable us , we-think ,, to dispose of the charges brought against Alexander Smith . It required no "Z " to write to the Athetmnm the announcement of the discovery that the young noet abounded in reminiscences—that tricks of phrase , and wellknown images , Tvere assignable to previous po « ts . This defect he has ia common with all young , poets ; not more than others , however . Shelley , Tennyson , Keats-, and Bailey have been read by him , and may claiia 1 their thunder' in occasional lines . But Alexander Smith never plagiarises If he reproduces an image , he adds to it a touch of'grace , op gives it a new application . What he has taken maybe all restored . to > its owners , and

      leave him little poorer as a poet . His finest passages are not ia " Z ' s" list . "Z , " alluding to the fact that the young poet had never seen the sea , nor the midland counties , declares the " whole mystery of the new poetic system stood revealed" when he , " Z , " reflected that Shelley had seen the sea , and Keats the midland counties . If we understand this , it means that Alexander Smith has taken his sea and landscape from Shelley and Keats ; yet when " Z'' comes to cite his specimeai of this plagiarisms , he does not give a : single one from Keats having , the remotest reference to such scenery , , nor does he quote : anything from Shelley having a . peculiar touch of ^ the sea in . it ! But let us = grapple with the specimens * The two poets contrasted'in these extracts are Tennyson v . Alexander Smith . ' ' : ' . '¦ ¦ ; ' ¦ ; ' ' " ¦; l . . ' ' ¦ ¦ " . . " ¦' . ¦ . The foU-juiced apple , waxing over mellow , Our beings mellow , then they fall , Drops in . a sileut autumn . night . Like o ' erripe peaches from the -wall ; All its allotted length of daygj We . ripea , drop , and all is o ' er . ( p . 61 . ) The flo-wer ripens in its place , Ripens and fades and falls , . ... All things have rest and . ripen toward the grave . ( " Lotas Eaters . " ) ... ¦ ¦'¦ . ¦ ¦ ' •¦ ' ¦ ¦ . . 2 . : ¦ : ' . The shattering trumpet shrilleth high .. . Hia voice that shivered , the mad trumpet ' s They . reel , they roll , in clanging lists . blare ,- — ( " Sir Galahad . " ) A new-raised standard to the reeling field . ( p . 69 . ) Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw And witn a sttong aim hold the rearing the world . ( " PjtincesSj p . 166 . ) world . ( p , 69 . ) 4 . All my bounding heart entanglest ' liearta Are tangled in a golden smile . In a golden netted smile . Q" Madeline . " ) ( p- 79 . ) 5 . My Herculea , my Roman Antony , My Hero ! my Heart-god . ! My mailed Bacclius ; My dusk Hyperion , Bacchus of the Inds ! ( " Dream of Fair " Women . " ) . My Hercules . ( p . 75 . ) 6 * . The leader-wild siran ia among the stats Long strings of geeso como clanging from Would clang . ( "Princess , p . 93 . ) the stars . ( p . 117 . ) 7 . . a beacon-tt > iT « r above the waves th « lighthouse in the gloom .... Of tempest ; -whcnthecrimaon-rolling dye- ' If opes 5 ts ruddy eyo , the night'recoils , Glates . ( Ibid . p . 9 8 . ) A crini & on line of light runs out to sea . < p . 120 . ) o ; The heavy cloelcs knolling the drowsy The drowsy- steeples tolled the- hour of hours . (" Gardener ' Daughter . " ) One . ( p . 136 . ) 9 : » Sow'd all their mystic gulfs with fleeting ; Great gulfa of silence , blue , and strewn starB i ( Ibid . ) with stars-. ( p . 138 . ) 10 : WBat time tlio mighty moon was gather- Se « the great moon .... iug light . ( Love and Death . " ) Is slowly from the darkness gathering light ! ( p . 202 . ) In these there are sonae reminiscences , but not one plagiarism . r Xhc first passage is as old as Hesiod . The second has little resemblance . The third mif ^ inia 8 ' and : a finer one . The fourth is . a < poetical commonplace . JJlie nftli is one of those resemblances which only microscopic hate could discern to be a plagiarism . The sixth is a'closer romintsoonco than usual . J . he seventh is also a reminiscence , but how completely the poet 1 lifts made it hia own , andwhat a fine addition is that ; " tlie night recoil * -, a crimson line of light runs out to sea ! " The eighth has one word ; "drowsy" like the original . TI 10 ninth is a reminiscence . So is the tentli , hut m-oatly improved by making the moon " gather the ligJit from tlie darkness " Lot us now turn to Keats : — gold vase-omboss'd great cup of geld Wdth 4 oBg ^ foFgotten stoi 7 ,, & c . All rieh and , rough witb : stories of the (" Endymion , " B- 8 . ) godai - ( p . 18 . ) r JDhe new version , undoubtedly suggested 1 TjyKeatffi is-much fltucr more coacrete , and thus haa become origTnal .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 10, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10011857/page/18/