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    _ V356 „_______,__ THE LEADEB, Jj^68 , S...

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    THREE WORKS OF FICTION. The Metaphysicia...

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    THE LITTLE WORLD OF LONDON. The Little, ...

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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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    The Man With The Paper Mask. Jtmius Lord...

    | ¦ tirement of the minister during the period of the Junian fulminations —his madness ., or gout , or whatever it was , real or feigned , that kept him j shut up at Hayes—his bitter hostility to King , Lords ., and Commons—the cessation of the " Letters " when his party had become thoroughly broken up—his intimate connexion with the Court , even while officially severed from it- —his fearlessness of the consequences of his denunciations—the timidity of the King and courtiers , who feared to stretch out their hands to arrest the speaker of evil against dignities—the general belief that it was no understrapper or clerk concealed behind the mask- —the concurrent pointing by contemporaries to some mig hty political commander —the analogy that exists betxveen the speeches of the one and the writings of the other—the similarity in the handwriting between some of the MS S . and that of Lady Chatham—all these points are made useof byMr . Dowe in support of his hypothesis . He goes further . He "admits Philip Francis , who owed everything to Lord Chatham , into the conspiracy . His purpose has been to show that young Philip Francis was the confidential agent of Liord Chatham during the Junian period . And in adverting to the correspondence of Lady Francis on the subject , he remarks : — " The strong necessity of truth produces from Lady Francis the admission so damaging to the belief to which she is attached , that Xord Chatham had a hand in the letters . He certainly had , and a head too . " In summing up Mr . Dowe is more explicit . "Lord Chatham and Francis were allies . And ifit . be conceded that each would play his natural part—that the eloquent and exasperated statesman avouUI act like himself , and the smart little clerk of twenty-seven would stick to his proper vocation—we shall not be very much at a loss or at variance about recognizing the truth of the matter , unless indeed we should have some other logical reasons for ouv particular belief . Everything , in fact , leads us to this : Junius was Lord Chatham . " Here the question rests—a question that has taxed the legal acumen and critical penetration of not a few of the ablest men of the last three-quarters of a century . To those who would wish to sift further the statements and arguments of a Chathamist , we recommend the work of Mr . Dowe . His views are clearly stated , with , however , a little affectation of pleasantry , and an unfortunate introduction at times of inelegant and untranslatable Americanisms . ^ * — — ^

    _ V356 „_______,__ The Leadeb, Jj^68 , S...

    _ V 356 „_______ , __ THE LEADEB , Jj ^ 68 , Sa t ^ r ^ ay , ' » & . J _ — ¦ ° _ _ ** •¦•' . ¦¦ ' ' .- - '_ . ' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ MHMI ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ fc—^^^^^^^^

    Three Works Of Fiction. The Metaphysicia...

    THREE WORKS OF FICTION . The Metaphysicians . Being a Memoir of Franz Carvel , Brush maker , written by Himself ; and of Harold Fremdling , Esq ., written and now republished by Francis Drake , Esq . ( Longman and Co . )—There will-have beea a decided advance on literature when one third of the stories published are as clever as The Metaphysicians . The book not only contains good writing , but exhibits real thought . The good writing is occasionally overdone , the thought is overwhelmed amid conceits and commonplaces , yet the residue of talent and originality suffices to mark with superiority the chronicle of Franz Carvel ' s experiences , and the life of Harold Fremdling . The author is , in his own way , a humorist and a philosopher , dry , cold , quiet ; he laughs and moralises , moralises and laughs his heroes mock the world , and the world retaliates upon his heroes . In the one narrative he portrays the individual , growing and learning ; in the other , society aspiring and expanding , and in both a hazy lore of metaphysical subtlety rises between the eye and the object it discerns . It must be premised that this is our interpretation of the aim and scope of the work , since Drake and Carvel , are not a little obscure in their ultimate exposition . This obscurity arises not so much from a want of precision in the style—we have said the stories are well written—but from a certain density enveloping the point to -which the incidents as well as the dialectics converge . Franz Carvel is a disciple of Immanuel Kant , and his treatment of that philosopher ' s doctrine is sufficiently ingenious , though it may be necessary , now that the sin of studying at secondhand threatens to corrupt the flow of our literature , to warn all impulsive readers against supposing that they know anything of Kant without having studied him for themselves . Suffice it that they understand a book who have read it ; summaries , commentaries , quotations , are for the most part worthless , always imperfect , often stupid , sometimes positively false . Harold Fremdling , whose connexion with Franz Carvel is very close , is the disciple of no metaphysician whatever ; he approaches such topics reluctantly , and almost under compulsion . Yet his , also , is in one sense the romance of metaphysical investigation , the satire closing keenly with the technicalities of philosophy . Of course , it is easy to ridicule every science the terminology of which abounds in curious words , to play fantastically with the noumenon , and the several potences , with subsumption and the Aristotelian apparatus , but it is quite as easy to ridicule the common cant of trade—the lively pepper , the brisk rice , the dull barley of trade reports—as to follow the Absolute in its undeveloped essence through the realism and idealism of its indifferences . But the author , who is obviously familinr with the su persubttetiea that furnish the materials of his pedantic comedy , touches now and then , with a firm hand , some other topics of the times . His Francis Drake , for example , discusses whether , shutting out Judaism , Mohammedanism and Buddhism from view , it is possible to fix a state standard of religious education . Be it Christianity , it is suggested . Tlien what Christianity ? Athanasian or Arian , Roman or Lutheran , Armenian or Caivinistic r Clearly , tho wisdom of our ancestors has settled that question by providing the Church of England . But what Church of England ? The High ot tho Low ?—the Puscyitic or tho Evangelical ? That which admits tho right of private judgment or that which denies it ? That which seeks supremacy for the Ecclesiastical corporation , or that which refers all disputes m the Ecclesm to Parliament ? We have no doubt that the book will make its way among thinking readers , who will have to pardon , however , some occasional coarseness and interludes of monotony The Confidence : Man and his Masquerade . By Herman Melville , Author of "Omoo / rypce , " & c Authorized Edition . ( Longman and Co . ) -In this book , a bo , philosophy is brought out of ita cloisters into tho living world ; but the issue raised is more simple i-whethor men are to bo trusted or suspected I Mr . Mclvillo bus a manner wholly different from that of the . .

    anonymous writer who has produced "The Metaphysicians" He S * ' i 7 scholastic , ^ ! more sentimental ; his style is not so severe ; on the contrar ? festoons of exuberant fancy decorate the discussion of abstract prob Snathe , controversialists pause ever and anon while a vivid , natural MissisSnnl landscape is rapidl y painted before the mind ; the narrative is 2 rhythmic , the talk is cordial , bright American touches are scattered ! v the perspective-the great . . steamboat deck , the river coasts , the grouS belongm-to various - gradations of . New-World life . In his Pacific ItorS Mr . Melville wrote as with an Indian pencil , steeping the entire relation in colours almost too brilliant for reality ; his books were all stars , twinkle " flashes , vistas of green and crimson , diamond and crystal he has now ton ' pered himself , and studied the effect of neutral tints . He has also iSri satireto his repertory , and , as he uses it scrupulously , he uses it well ' HU fault is a disposition to discourse upon too large a scale , and to keen hfe typical characters too long in one attitude upon the stage . Lest we should seem to imply that the masquerade is dramatic in form , it is as well to describe its construction . It is a strangely diversified narration of events taking place during the voyage of a Mississi ppi river boat , a cosmopolitan philanthropist , the apostle of a doctrine , being the centre and insniration ' of the whole . The charm of the book is owing to its ori ginality and to its constant flow of descriptions , character-stretching , and dialogue deenlv toned and skilfully contrasted . ° ' . * "JC Madaron , or , the Artisan of Kismes : an Historical Romance of the Sit teenth Century . By D'Aubi gne White . 3 vols . ( Cash . )—This is a novel elaborately constructed of historical and romantic materials . The author is at once inventive and studious . He has ransacked the chronicles of the religious wars in France , he has closely copied the manners and costumes of the sixteenth century , he has gone far in search of testimonies to the characters of such personages as Charles the Ninth , Henry of INavarre . the Chancellor L'Hopital , liene , the royal Perfumer , and the Cardinal of Lorraine . Then , Madaron . is a dioramic picture of southern French scenery along the Rhone and Durance , of Eoman antiquity and feudal customs about Avignon , Nismes , and Sisteron ; the ; civil strife of Languedoc lends its _ passion and tumult to the story , which gains in . tone and variet y by being interwoven with the adventures of the Vicomtesse de Clavaro , of the ancient chateau of Beaucaire . Madaron himself is a development of the historical figure sketched by the accurate and learned De Thou . Blaise de Montluc and the savage Beaumont stalk across the scene ; Tintoretto comes with his easel to paint a sacred Virgin ; more is said of Catharine de Medicisthan would be warranted by Brantonie , who compared her beautiful hands with those of the goddess Aurora ; much , indeed , is boldly imagined . The result is a , clever , extravagant sfcny ; but Mr . White is fatiguin « l y " diffuse . He might have spared half his space by cutting down the dialogues , omitting altogether a weighty oration on Opinion , sacrificing a number of unimportant though laborious details , and suppressing a variety of incidents neither intrinsically dramatic nor- converging towards the general catastrophe . A few notes on Madaron wiLl sufficientl y illustrate ^ its qualities . We have Lucrezia Gazzi , a Trasteverine Aspasia , painted on an altar-piece by Tintoretto , and Ximenade Clavaro at a feast intlie Boccacian gardens of the . Villa D'Armagnac ; we have a gallery of Cleopatraii portraits ; among these is that of the Vicorntesse of Beaucaire , " dressed in a white , glittering material , which shone like floating silver , " " thin and transparent . " She wears a double tunic of this Hetairian texture , a girdle of uncut rubies , gold bracelets engraved with , hieroglyphic characters , a jasmine wreath , a Saracen shawl . Mr . White indulges continually in . descriptions of such fairyland loveliness and light attire as might harmonize with the diaphanous architecture of the Purple Halls of Ineffable Felicity , of which children go home to drearn at Christmas , especially when he relates how the young nuns and tho luxurious Benedictines hold a jtfemphian revel—the monksin scarlet and gold , the snowy-armed penitents in Druid drapery and embroidered turbans . By way of variety , he adjusts the delicate limbs of Ximena de Clavaro upon a rack , and allows Madaron to personate the executioner , and to deceive the jud ges by torturing her tenderly . Again , the confession of llene is a spasmodic effect introduced to intensify the melodrama . We have no doubt that Madaron has been the -work of many patient days ; it certainly evinces knowledge and talent , but there is a . superabundance of romantic blazonry ; the interest is generally of a barbaric kind ; in fact , Mr . White has endeavoured to compose a story almost entirely of pearl , gold , poison , passion , Olympian beauty , white tunics , and surprises . ' " % _

    The Little World Of London. The Little, ...

    THE LITTLE WORLD OF LONDON . The Little , World of London .. By Charles Manby Smith . Hall , Yirtuc , and Co . Mb . MANnnf Smith presents us with a picture of London life , after the Chinese school of painting , only that his colours are not so brilliant . There is a total want of perspective . His figures , individually , are drawn with a recognizable degree of correctness , but they are all of the same height and dimensions . His colouring , too , is monotonous—a dull , cold grey pervading every part . Or , perhaps , we should more correctly describe the impression we have received from a conscientious perusal of his work , by likening his sketches of character to those silhouettes in black paper cut out with a pair of scissors by some itinerant untaught genius . The outlines are sufficiently accurate to enable one to recal the features of a well-known countenance , but utterly incapable of affording any clue to tho character or disposition of a stranger . The physiology of London life will ever be an interesting study to the philosopher and economist , and might be made equally amusing to the million . It is a favourite subject with magazine writers , and has also been frequently taken in hand by popular authors , possessed of descriptive powers almost equal to their faculty of perception . And yet from some cause or other it has never been t routed in a manner worthy of its importance . There are two opposite faults , into one or both of which the illustrators of London life have invariably fallen—a tedious enumeration of details , or a pronencss to hasty generalizations . As statists the Brothers Mayhew Btand without a rival near their throne , and their investigations have evidently been cou-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 11, 1857, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11041857/page/20/