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    , . THE'GOFfiHiNINQ CLASSES«. Tkt>"G<mmT...

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    LADY BLESSINGTON. The- Literary Iitfe an...

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    Oxfobd, We Know, Is Stirring With New Li...

    reviewer ; wto ^ the happy art pol arizing - subject out | Writmg down to ' the ignorance of unscientific readers . MV jv A : 3 ?& oTrt >^ s Saggestions on tfife Bes t * Means of ; Teaching English SUtarg cfcatleftge ^ he -respecf Au » to itte writer- of ti * 6 se brilliant historical fftgftt ^ - fainSliar tt > - tKe' reaAcw of tnii ntjw ^ ries of t & e Westminster ^ y ?^/ ^ twe « at thre towe and tfife tetideircy ; of ttrese ** suggestions . ** Mi-. Eii & TOtfmay h * tight in suggesting die 'Statute ** 4 argfc as a text-book for hjstortcal students , though the bare ifle ^ ^' stich ^ a task is drtowgh to daunt tibe railway ' reade ' rs of this rapidiage . Hr ; FibtxCE inaybfe right in regarding all extant English histories ( with the single exception o £ HtrsflB ) as perniciously unsound , superficial , inexact ,

    ind cbYrttadictoYy ^ at ^ so tnatiy pitfals fb * the ingenuous British mind , ^ con-1 » 5 ved % viewy theorists and partisans ; but we doubt the efficacy of tfrs an-4 & fote fbr iftis ps ^ o 4 iistorieal ~ virus ,= and we shall be content to wait ' for ijtie" reakttt "of "Mr . i ? fcdtr : iHs * s own researches into the Public- Acts . Unhappily ffltfi Tto & vp-to appesrsto bein a transitional state of mind not entirely favour-¦ afrle to Ifistoriijai investigations . A sentimental faith in retrogress , Mr . JjteotJim wiM . pSrdoivus for saying , is almost as unsound as that" * ' faith in a tfrysteriousetftitywhich . I ^ y call progress / ' at which M * . Fkotjb-e sn « ers *^ atH ;& c ^ perity , of S-etnorse ; Iri tke same equable spirit Mr . Fxomne ^ ntooaacW thfe ^ duba ^ oti-al ^ ste nv of ^ n-fetormed * Oxford " singularly sotmd nis ** is measflrelessOxfordif

    = a nd-simple ^ M sbbtti to * GOwer-gtreet" . , W < s ' a * etotrtistf $ Er . FBtotiirts , * ' has thdught it sufficient if ' she can bring her pupils to understand something of man by studying his actions in close and xnibtfrtte detain * : ? ' NoWy we caohotsay 1 * iat ^ we should liiayeiyeen disposed to iroint-ttrOxford' as"tfce best ^ chooi fbr the study of mati , unless , indeed , the * r ttrdy of * tnsa ction ' s fti-cldseand minute detail * ' * efer to thB Study" of Awrsiroti *^ Ethics , iJhe- onljr text-book fbr the study- of man ' s " actions in close « nd mthute detail ** recognised tit Oxford . Mr . Faou & E Is eloquent upon what Oxford has not done , and there wonld be no difficulty in enlarging ^ on that ampl e topic ! bat when he tells us Itoat " sne has done well what 4 & e fas done ** - ' * - the lift btear fitness

    ^ ; Anfrsh * Mr & y nype & proudly and ^ tetl ^ to expferldiice of to for her . When the men whom she and Cambridge havefld ^ catfedpass « ont into the arena ¦ of-the wor ^ vin atoite : Of all that has been said , theymaintain there aneasy supremacy . ^ Hiey have ga ined at the universities not , perhaps , information , but whatlies at the ^ tom of ^ MpoWW'to g « En , infoWnation ibtanyxtsdftd pnrpose ^—a povrer of active ire-*^ c- * ito ^ « MWJ »* i » ii < Aw ^» , whirfL tbe moKe ^ hawy edsacation . of rival systems , is Borne--thing less successful in conferring— - . V ( e are reaUy tempted to ask Mr . Froude to what audience he ^ is addressing these preposterous phrases . They , may be a harmless flattery to Oxford , l $ ut " to Hie poor Unlettered public they are almost an insolence , Mr . Fboudb would have us to believe that the " easy supremacy" has nothing

    whatever tb do with class , prestige . Not perhaps , infoiination is a naif avotfal , but this hs the first . time we have heard " an active insight into -common fhings ' >" -ascribed » to a system made up , like a mummy , of dead languages and obsolete ¦ " ** science . "' A'ftfer such , a bundle of paradoxes , we are not Surprised to find Mr . Fkoude , who considers belief in the law of Eternal " progress a vulgar error , referring us back with fond bitterness to the a ^ e ^ f thV ^ uD ^

    best possible of Worlds , at least in England . All these disastrous fallacies WoSilft ^ e unworthy of correctioir if "they proceeded from an ordinary writer . BuV Ttt'r . Fitotitoii invests £ hem with so subtle and dangerous a charm of iorm arid" colour , ttiat Vre are almost persuaded to accept his pictures for realised . And with afl that is wild and false , there is so much that is sound and'feensible , dexterously mixed , so much of fine feeling , just observation , and Wbte impulse ,. the effect upon incautious readers is . doubly dangerous * jtod ' deserves a double reprobation .

    '¦ ' t ^ 6 have already glanced at tlie article on Alfred defflussef . We must add , that it is , ^ from first to last , po far as we have been able , to decipher it , a mistkfe & . ' Tto readers familiar , with tlie literature and society of modern France ' it is even ludicrous in its appreciations . And what shall be said of a critic wh ' p "seeks the . life of the poet in , the disgraceful pages of M . Jacquot , a * br"t of literary bandit , who , under the disguise of " Db MiftEcouBT , " defames-conteinporary celebrities who deollne to pay him to , be silent , and ¦ caricatures with' odious inventions the victims of his praise . Tlie feeling of this article fr Madly , and that is nil that can be said in its excuse .

    "On * the whole , we are unable unreservedly to Congratulate Mr . pAnKKa oih Ws * first Volume of "Oxfofcd Essays . We think he might hnvo inau-^ fuvated ' so . excellent a scheme with' a stronger selection of writers and of topical Where are the names o ^ Jowett , Stanjlkx-, Goij > win Smith , Congbevb ?—conspicuously absent from the present volume . We trust we may meet them in succeeding numbers of a series which deserves to be successfW . In the mean time We hail' witli-pleasure the forthcoming companion VtAitth & of e & mbtSdfre Eteays . OxlbYd- ^ as a "bad rtatt . "

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    , . The'goffihininq Classes«. Tkt>"G<Mmt...

    , . THE'GOFfiHiNINQ CLASSES « . Tkt >" G < mmTdn 9 ! Ol *™'' cf > Gr * XtBrittti * , By Edwwrd M . WMtty . , < ,.,. Trttbnerand Co . 1 M 4 * A » wbswhv » i Mtdti i * toUigon | i . roadera ^ who hav » thooghi our joumai / worth . fV **^* ® jO 1 *^ jQjfiiW T ^ ll ^ Ave r « € (> g » ized aa expr ession , in the . llitma tof , Joto , not onlycni ^ BOM ^ t iu itself , but in the time and manner of its reappearance . We say ^ reappearance ** advisedly , fbr the Times has only now

    consented to bestow all the weight of its immense publicity upon a formula which the Leader , more huinble , ; biit' iiot less constant and sincere a minister of opinion , created two years since . In August , 1853 , at a time when the moderate party included ill ! parties , we were enabled to offer the hospitality of our columns to an esteemed ; . fellow--worker , - who without engaging too directly the responsibility df th ' e journal , did us the . honour to consider the Leader the fittest , the freest , the most historical depository of bis ultimate political convictions . Under the signature of . « Non * Blfector , " itsdf a . strikino-commentary upon . our constitutional fictions , and . under tlie equally striking title , " The Governing Classes , " he contributed from week to week to our pa < yes a series of political portraits representative of our hereditary caste o ? statesmen .. The times were quiet then ; ruffled only by a somewhat parochial tempest of indignation against a Prince who was sinjmlariv supposed to have a voice in the foreign policy of his adopted country .

    There was no strain upon our . constitutional machmery ; ail went smoothly enough with the time-honoured compromises and the ; traditional servilities of an enlightened people . Still , even in England ,, as we know , these political sketches excited some curiosity : the personal of the sketches were highly diverted—at each other ' s expense . ^ In France , " The Governing Gfewses " have been partially reproduced ; in Germany , many of the sketches were translated into a journal at-Berlin , and the Allgemeine Z ^ itung devoted a searching and eulogistic criticism to their sense and spirit . In America and Australia , we need not say , they were read and reprinted . But few at that moment imagined , certainly not the writer , how soon a time of trial would test their sincerity and attest their truth . Their repubhcation m a collected form was excused by the writer on the plea ^ that they were written with a consistent political purpose ^ and tbat tlie * op ! ic is « permanent topic , viz ., the governmental . system of Great Britain . Thus- each separate sketch is the attempted portrait of an individual representing ; a class withm

    the-governing class . ' ,,. ¦ ,-, - x-c .-Had our friend waited only a year he would have needed no justifacatioa . Less tfcto one year of war , with its " strain" upon ouv governmental system , has-Stamped his wild words-with the authority of oracles . It were no doubt beneath the dignity , we do not say the magnaninHtj-s of t *? e Times to recognise the initiative of a < so » te * nporary only five years oW , jouag enough , alas ! to be honest , rash enough to confront the perils , and . to . assume the responsibilities of a difficult name and a dangerous cause . Far from us to indulge in querulous and idle lamentations , to the tune of

    Sic vos non vobis . We are too proud to find the bread we cast upon the waters ; coming . back to us after many days , to cavil at ^ he instrument of so national a benefit , lie * us be ignored , and letour doctrines prevail , must be the watchword of tfeoseTviH > « spire to lead tfc ' fr niarch of opinion . Fortunately , however ^ ¦ if the great journal at home assimilates with - out acknowledgment tlife ideas of its lesser brethren * there are journals abroad ,- with a circulation not inferior to the Times itself , which can afford to do justice where justice is due . Our great _ Fmich contemporary , La Presse , noticing the impatience Of opinion in England at the incomrretencv of 6 ur aristocratic administrators , expresses itself

    as follows : ' — " Even the Times , ever prudent , with all its haugjhty petu * lance , but ever careful to catch the wind of opinion , has published , day after'day , artioles complaining severely , of what it calls the Governhxg Classes . That is the expression , but it was not invented by the 7 » wes-- it was pronounced two years ago , by a writer of infinite esprit , Mr . Edward Whitty . Unfortunately , Mr . Whitty has one disadvantage ; he belongs to no -coterie , and tells the "tirutti equallyjto all , and in no country dot ^ hjese men get on . They ~ ar ^ B kllQoys who commit tKe uKpardona ^ sdbn , and of calling thingshy their right names . " Not for any purpose of Jdlc self-glorification do we reproduce this emphatic , this European , recognition of our contributor . But it is a duty we owe to those of our readers who have honoured as . with their steadfast confidence to support it by independent and disinterested testimonials . Nojournal v letusobse » Tve , Topresents the opinion of its founders ^ or of' its writers only ; it represents , awd can onlv » xist bv reoresentftiar . faithfallv . the feelittjr of the comMuftity , or at

    Jeast of sowre'section of Wie community . We say then : Yes ; it is our danger , our difficulty , and our cjtofy to tell the truth too soon , and to call things by their tight names . What , if not tin ' s , does our very name import ? And the despised democracy , the * negroes of the constitution" at home ( as General Thompson with all "bis picturesque energy has expressed it ) i the unnamed heroes wlio die unmurmuring victims of insolent incapacity abroad , may depend upon it , we shall persevere * Tlie times are full of : difliculty , but to « Macerity of purpose-difficulty is an encouragement .

    Lady Blessington. The- Literary Iitfe An...

    LADY BLESSINGTON . The- Literary Iitfe and Correspondence of the Countess , of Blestktgton , By R . B Maddea * , & c . & o . 8 . vol » . N « wby . 185 & TiiADr BiASMMGTONvms th « last of along and brilliant series of reincude salon , and" when rigid law * that htMiears wot the Muses when- the 'Castalinn debts are not duly paid , laid its rude hand on Gore House and despoiled the shrine at which shts had so long _ been-Priestess , English Society saw the last of a system of gjfavo fhults owied under exquisite refinements , acting Very strongly on th'e literary character for good and ifor evil , but cliiufly , as we conceive , for evil .. Gore House was for many years the last existing step . in the slow progress of literature towards its final goal—perfect and

    unlettered freedom of writing and pwWisUing without external inipeUnncnc or aid , wkU the gi'oat reading public ' aa eole ai'bite »\ s of success * Everyone knows itow f ut th « beaiihy Klizubethaa d » y »» - literature flourished under the manly patronage of individuals of rank and fortune , success apart from tfafese fcetog < u » aough « fe * * nd impossible ; l » w t / tyt patronage grew bo indiewrin ^ iftfite on < tfc » otte hhnd , so holtow und ittfsincferifc on ttoo otker , until , iw ( He * n * d < tte of last century , gr ^ at Johnson blew it to the winds by ins famous tettdr to tovd Chestorfield . But literature efthio * Was not ablo to walfc . atoneiot' thought it was not , nnid authorcraft sanl j into a pitiable p % li 1 t until a new hvta of patronage arose , without ., the direct degradation of dedications nnd fees , though with hardly less radical evils , however

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 17, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17021855/page/18/