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Leader (1850-1860), 16th December 1854, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18, JNA.VAL NOVEJU3. JMw Two,,Adminc&a. By J...

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      The Hose And The Ring. The Rose And T7ie...

      SBKcid . JBtofiy ^ so'T ^ iafeihfcatea / bufc-notJtbe less a' & Uowbg in prose : English of what the author of the Tannliauser ballad has done in German verse . To fee cKI ^ tads'foiimply alfairy tale-of powerful kings with fabulous = > weaith atf 4 inrramerable : armies , ^ alcnjrous young ~ 3 ieroes , opportune-fairies , hair-J > readth . ese ? pes arid . ajgeneral and unutterable "confusion of-time , space , ani ^ hujgiiage ,-sfithout-vtjiich a fairytale is sure to be a failure . Young Ilkuucaraul ^ pore azer'itihy & e . glimmevwg . fire-li » ht with . engrossed inteiWBfc aoiLgo . to J > ed . and . dream of ' ¦ . Giglio and Jlosalba . and -Kiag Padella , srf ^ le , i » la . Xoga ^ Virilis , taking up the book , will « rt with . a genial pleasure in laa faeattjtaaadya . quiet eurl atiihe ooraees of iiis . ni & uth , , as he-sees in the Rose > cattdz && ( JJnsgriluHQcmr ^ ftua , ' < cpat £ t sarcasnvjusefiil -. lessons for . grxwrn men and wx « nea- ;«^ ministered through , ruder puppets , and'enjoying . aT thing unique in H * erattnre--HJharaAfcers'in an extravagant fairy tale always acting and talking « m the'irruestanft detest principles of human- nature . ° ^^ ProDDca'bodfc-aialrTiearji ^ everybody will buy it is useless to extract , but we cannot refrain , from : giving one or two specimens of . Thackeray on anew

      jgKmna s— iA HINT raa-FAXEIES . ( . Between . : tlie-kiqgdoms : of . PaiLagania . and JGrimJIartary there . lived . a mysterious pfiraonftge ,. who-reasknaTrnrin . those cauiitriesjas . the Eairy Bl & ekstick , fiomthe ebony ¦ wand or crutch which she carried ; on-xKhich she code to the-moon sometimes , or - upon ¦ o ther excursions of business or pleasure , and with which she performed her wonders . ^ iVfcfflirShe ^ was-young , and had been first taught the art of conjuring-, by the necro-SMm « er , - ler father ^ she ^ asalwayspractising her-skill , whizzing- about from one king-« tam . fe » aaother . upon her black stick , and confeningiier fairy-favours upon thisprince or that . : & heiiad ^ 8 core £ vof royal godchildren f turned numberless wicled people into ijea ^ Sj . birds , millstones ,-clacks , pumps , . bootjacks , umbrellas ,-or other absurdt-shapes ; aad kisavword wasone of . thermos t active and officious of the -whole college of fairies . ' *^ at-a & er . two or three , thausaud years of this sport , I suppose Blackstick . grew . tired sbflit . J 5 x , perh ^ ps ^ h & ihQaglit , " What good am I doing . by sending -this Princess to sleep for ^ Jbjuidred . yeat 3 ? by ixinga Tjlackpudding on to that booby ' s nose ? by ? caufflBg'diamonds Arid , pearls . to dropi from one little , girl ' s mouth , and vipers and toada irom another ' s ? 'I begin to think :. "I do as much harm as gpdi by my performances . idnight-as well shut iny incantations up ,-and'allcrw things to tale their natural ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦

      course . - , . ¦ . ¦ . . ... ' ^ here were-aaytwo young- goddaughters , King Savro ' s wife , arid Duke Padella ' s TvSfe , I gavethem each a . present , which was to render them charming ; an ; ihe eye 3 : 6 f itbeir i « D & baaids , 'iand ; secnre the . ^ Section : © f . those . gentlemen -as long . as they ; lived . rSBh ^ jg ^ diaiai flsay / JE & Mef ^^ and ^ iny : King dp . Jiese-two waoaen ? JJoiie on eartk . from having alhiheir . wdnms indulged by then ^ Jhuabantds , thay , became capricious , lazy , ilK inunoared ,-absurdly vain , and leered ' . ; and languished , .. and iancied thexnselveairre-, j *^ lyJaeai ) tifu ^ .. T ^ H . they wererfi ^ y i Q ^ uite oldvaai ^ deous ,: the ridiculous . crea--fcuriis' ! Theyusecl actually to jpatronise me whenil went to , pay . them a visit 5—me , ^ the ' -FaLry ^ Blackstick , -who knows all the wisdoxa of the necromancers , and who could "teTe'latned them into-baboons , and all their diamonds into , strings of onions by a single wave of nry rod !" . So she locked up her books in her cupboard , declined further magical , performaiice 9 ,-and-scarcfiljjisedier waniLat all except as a cane to walk ¦ about -with .

      So when Duke Padella ? s lady-had a" little son ( theOiake-was at that time only one « rfithe prinfflipalr . nQblemen in Grim . Tartary ) , JEUaclstick , . although -invited , to . the fihrifftR-ning , would , jot so much as attend ; but merely sent her compliments , and a Slyer papboat for the baby , which was really japt worth a couple of guineas . About ¦ the'same time f the 7 Queen . of PA-flagonia / present ^ d his Majesty with " son and heir ; ¦ ffltd ^ gontff cvyere iirijd , ! the capital 511 umiaated , aKd no ' end ' of feasts ordained to celelw ^ tto g « mi ^ Pimce's ! birtl ^ ' it wast thought the ; fairy , who -was . asked to be his tgcSbatMxaier ^ wwdaiat ^ east'ha- ^ e presented him TOthumiinvisible jacket , sa inying horse , ai . 'Eortuaaatus ' s purse , . orscaneiother . valuable . token . of hen favooir ; . but instead ,. Black-^ t ick went , up , iotbe cradle-of the-, child GigUo , ( When , eYerybc < ty-. was admidng . him and > coTr > nliiriantin g- 'hia jpjsil , papa ; andjnamtna ^ uuidaaid , 'IMy poor . child , the . best . thing Xcan send you . is ^ a liitl & misfbriunp , " and this was , all she would . utter ,, to the . dwgust of . Gfigllo ' s parents , who 4 ied very , saon . after , -when Giglio ' s uncle took . the . throne , a ? ¦ we . rea'd in Chapter . I-

      NOTBINQ . USE A'MORAitH < A . 'Sdlftiw , 'ihtoco ,-must-needs obey v hia orders : muie are to help his-Majesty -BddeUn . Arid 1 also ( though alack-that I should say it !) to seize -wherever I should light-anpon- hina—— - " •« ygSist « atch . yourtlvare ! : ha , Hcdzoff ! " exc 3 aimed ., his Royal Highaeas . __ ' U ^ . ^^ thp ^ dy . iof ; 'GiiEsrWp , / 'Brhilome Ponca-of Paflagonia , " Hedzoff' wont' on , with andaevuaibaJJlatemotion . * VMy > ftrhicB ^ . ^ ye ^ pvyout'aword-wxthoutjido . . Look ! wo , are 4 hirty-., thcru 8 aad : men . to ; o » e !" •" . CkiveaipjiDrjr . swoid ! Gjiglio ^ Lv & uphiasword 1 " cried . the Prince ; and stopping W & lJio & matd . an to the . balcony , : tb-o . royal . yautiht , without preparation , delivered , a

      ^ peecb . 'so magnificent that n . o report . can > do justice to it . , It was all in blank verso 0 tt wliich , "from ^ this' timo , he Invariably spbke ,-as moxo becoming his majestic station ) . It lastddTfor three'days and three Rights , during which not a single person who heard aam ^ was-tired , 'or remarked -the diffeienco between 'dayliight and'daxk . The eoldicra onlyotjheeTing tremeoiio « 8 ly ,- 'A' ( rhen occasionally , onco in- nine hours , the Prince paused * ovm » k : van > orangeywMch : Jones tobk out of ? the bag . Ho explained iu terms which wo s « ry w « shall-notija ttetnpt ; to'convey ,-. thewholeibistory of theprevious transaction : 1 and Ma ^« fcttJHiiQiUian / aiot only , n » t , tojgive-. upihi 3 awoud , but to-. ftsauiBO 3 iia rightful crown : And . « ftttibjQ ond , of , thiarcxtKaordinary , thi » tuujy , y »^« E *» oeffort , Captain Hcdssaff iinng tap his helmet , and « ried , " Hurray 1 Hurray ! Long liveiBing Giglio !" ^ ajuch . vwerp . tho qoj ^ 0 ( monce 3 < o £ . ha-vinjg ^ raj ) loyod . kia . time wolbat ^ collogo !

      : AsD-srrixE not imisoictijbd . . tAJtl } jif JjdtadAhe jmn ^ f ua ^ ir Archibald Alison ,-my dearfriemla , 'wo , » hl Inot naw ^ jxtortmn ^ -pauwMJi-tho acoaunt of . a most ; tremondous Bhindy , ? ,. Shvoiuld , not . fine , . blows i > o , Ktruck ? dr «» afoJ 7 WO 4 uida : lw , dolivered ? ,, arrrtvv-3 . aarkfin , thaAii : ? oannon-balla crash through the . hattali ( m 8 ? . « avab ^ icharfie . in ) £ ttn 4 ; ry ? , infantry pitch into cavalry ? .. bu , glea » low 5 drums' beat ; ihox ) 8 Ci 9 . jnoigli , 5 fifea , ai ^ g ; , soldiers roar , * awoar , JixurKay ; officers tfionfc out , "'EoEward ,-my mon 1 " « Thia wny , lads 1 " u Give' it W , bpys . Eight for 'King XMglioy and the cause of rjightl" " " King Padolla for over 1 " Would I not do-^ ecicifcerall this , ' I siKy , arid in the very flneat'ianpaago , too ? But this humble pen does snot ^ pojssww the ftliill ¦ necesanry for -iho description of oombata . Iiv a word , the over-Jjhw > w > o'ffiEing Padolla ' s armywas so comploto , * hatif they had hoeu llusBiana you ^ auldinot . lwvo . tviriBlied them , to bo mi oro uttorly aunaehod and confounded .

      333i, J1e Ilzeja-Ber. ____J[Satohda^

      333 i , J 1 E ILZEjA-BER . ____ J [ Satohda ^

      Jna.Val Noveju3. Jmw Two,,Adminc&A. By J...

      JNA . VAL NOVEJU 3 . JMw Two ,, Adminc & a . By J . FonimoroOoopor . Kontlodgo , OCniDitiine twill certainly oome when , tho inllucnco of novels on tho mind of 4 b . o <; O 0 Mntmr / will "receive the consideration of a philosophical historian . OalyrtiiQ . othen clayiwe coad , on the authority of Pcwxizzi , that Mr . Huilaux

      had : much regretted the wast of the novels of a certain period in the , British Maseuxn . ?> Mr . ( Hallam knows what good literature is , , and if he proposes : to himself'the task of wading-through-a mass of such productions as loader'the name of novels "deluge ^ English book-shops , it m « at assuredl y be with- a clear conviction , ihattutrash y" or . not'trashy , the works in question have anim- ' portant effect on the formation of public opinion . Even to know what onlv the fools of . a century ago liked , is certainly usefuL in its way , and belongs to history . 2 ? ow , the ifooTs « f that period are to be judged of from the bad aoyeis-r ^ as from the good ones we judge of the tastes , © pinions , and . ways of living 1 of the sensible portion of the community . Innumerable readers in

      aur owm eeatury hare been made tones by Scott ; and , assuredly nav ^ l novels have sent many a youth of England . and . America to sea . Ifcis characteristic of the novel that it divides itself into such immense varieties that every class of life and opinion has its own works of fiction . Our business a . t present .. is only with those novels which profess to deal -with sea-life , and particularly with the life of the . English navy . This work of Cooper ' s forms a very . appropriate text , for the English navy is the scene of its action—a > nd just ^ t . the present time tie : English navy occupies even a more prominent position than usual in the eyes of Europe . ^

      • Witlutke -ancients sea-life was a comparatively unimportant afiair . 3 The poetry , of that beautiful sea , of which alone they knew much , found its / way into ttheir songs and their traditions , "of course . But the seaman by profession was of the poorest class of freemen , and held in little esteem . The 6 ghting-man in the ship was quite a distinct person—and , indeed , was only a soldieT temporarily changing his element . Antiquity had no Nelsons nor Collingwoods , and looked on a man who made the sea his career as an unhappy mortal at the mercy of the watery Orion , with the records of whose dangers the temples . were full . The terror which . breezes , braved with

      indiflerenee by-our current brigs , inspired in their writers , is a sufficient testimony tliat "Tom , Bowliijgj" ( or "Bowlxngius , " as a commentator would call him if making these remarksiina-note on the 6 t Otium Ptvos" ) vras one of that laro-e class of -productions " unknown to - ' the ancients . " There is undoubtedly ^ a likeness between all sailors , but Tom Bowling is so infinitely superior to these , that it 'would bean injustice to dwell upon the points of similarity . The Northern Sea developed our ancestors into a very different race . The brawny and bony fellows above \ viiom ' : the raven floated were the founders of our ^ nautical power . To a great extent we got sailors by the necessity of having : commerce—but , also , wegot commerce because we had sailors . To

      this day the best French , sailors come from 13 brmandy . GoUingwood derived his lineage from , Danish Northumberland , and Nelson bore a Scandinavian name ; ' ^ JNorth-countrymen " - ' .-are still the best seamen afloat ; and , on the whole , our ^ ^ hipsiaresupplied from the same placeswhence seamen have always been supplied . ; In trutibyitis" seamanship , " steictly so called , that constitutes pur , superiority . We have seen a . Russian brig in harbour beat an English one in -routine performances . No one doubts that the French . are brave men anki good gunners , ; but it is when it is blowing ; , and the snip has to be handled well ,. that the superiority of Englishmen shows itself . The Yankees take" to the sea- —after their ancestors—though they have never yet chosen to _ exert themselves to have . the great navy which it is in their power ,.-and will probably be oue day their destiny , to attain . Bj dint of our naval literature , th « seaman has become a familiar object to the : English mind—being represented by a permanent figure , as Punch isand . this figure , when , -we trace it backwards ,. is not found to have material changed . The boatswain in the Tetnpest has an immense deal in common

      with the present boatswain of the popular imagination—and both hail a brother in Gongreve ' s sailor in Love for Love . The sailor whom the English love to fancy , is a fellow in whom all extravagances are pardoned for the sake of his pluck , and his fidelity , andhis hard life— whose drunkenness—whoso noise—whose lavish pecuniary expenditure and questionable relation to " . Poll"" are . not iarshly treated even by . Stiggins . He is the most charitably treated of all Englishmen by public opinion , occupies a fairy world where the instincts are allowed full swing and everything is pardoned for its spontaneity ; and the . pei-son who should hint at his d—n —~ g ' ( at least in war time > would be thought orthodoxuideed , iut a little too strict . He has been always and everywhere iso considered . Mnnxleville , in the 'Fable of the ' jBees , mak « s a very happy illustration out of the case of the Dutch sailor , his countryman . Says he—if he bad the least prudence—if he did not instantly , on landing , get a ^ fiddler , a coach , get well drunk , and all the rest of it , —if he saved , and retired , —why , where would bo our . East India trade ? Whcro-• upon , Maiidoyillo ( a highly humourous philosopher ) insists tliat " private vices are public , benefits , " at least . in the case of the sailor .

      The naval officer ( of tradition ) is very much the . flame person ns the humbler tar . For a while , indeed , military men . or private gentlemen iserved afloat , and fought , and-came on shore again—tiauoh as w » is done in the'Greek and Roman davs . Tiieee gentlemen , are represented iu our literature by DorsetV * well-known and capital song . But such a custom could-not Jiave lasted—could only have been exceptionally successful—and , if permanent , would have made us a farHnferior naval power . Most of our great naval men have been at sea-from bovhood— -for the sea xlcinnnda a whole life like everything elso-rand sailors respect an officer , as a sailor , more , pea-baps ,, than in any other capacity . The great captains of the lust century were .. naval . jmen ,,. And . nothing but . naval men : their representative in literature is Smoliott , who drew -Trunnion from life .

      Smollett , -was * not at soa Jong ,: and ihat only as a surgeon . But an . eye like Smollett ' s : ( whose talent , as Tiwiokeray has justly remarked , was lesa for . invention than . for delineation of what 1 he had seen ) sees a great deal in no great -while . Naval Ufo , then , was infinitely coarse and hard ; and iui officer was bo much at sea that- ho' ^ ifibrod from the rent of Iub family as a farmer differs from a Cockney , or a " digger" from n dancing-master . Ha was looked on , when ho came on shore , ns a . dill ' orcnt kind of animal , and examined with feelings of awo and wonder . His contempt for all human employments on shore—hia loud voice—his execrations—lua insatiable appetite for grog and . tobacco— -his mortal shyness in the compnny of Lady Marv , and the equally remarkable ferocity- with which ho courted the dimy-iwuil —his figurative use of nautical language , in which alono ho , g-o « orally expressed himaelf— combined to form a man whoso vocation in life waa to

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 16, 1854, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16121854/page/18/