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    m$ TH E LEAD E R. [Saturday, iiirt 1 ¦¦n...

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    BETTERS- OF AN AMERICAN. <Lelters of ah ...

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    Mrs. Stowe On T Her Travels. Sunny Memor...

    wfeil & jthe rest of the party walked on to get a distant view of Ben Lomond , Mr . S . and I a sttfereU . ourselves to be taken * iototlie carriage of oar unknowa friends , and carn « Tup to a i ] cUarmin- little Italian villa , which stood , surrounded by flower-gardens and pleasuregrounds at the head of the locb . VYe were ushered into a most comfortable parlour , where tionir -window , made of one ctear unbroken sheet of plate glass , gave a perfect-view of the I Wcb / with all its woody shores , with Koseneath Castle in the distance- My good hostesses UtecallviOPerwhelarad m * withvkiminess * but as there * was nothing I really needed so much c as * little < iuiet rest , they took me-to a . cozy bedroom , of which they gave me the freedom , c for the present Does not every traveller -know-what a luxury it is to shut one s eyes some- t times ? The chamber which is culled ' Peace , " is now , as it was 111 Christian s days , one of q the best things-tfaat Charity or Piety could offer to the pilgrim . Here I got a little brush j from the wings of dewy-feathered Sleep . , . * " After a-while oar party came back , and we tad'to fa moving . My kind friends ex- 1 oresaed'so much , ioy at having met we , that it was really almost emfcarrassmgv They-told me that they , being" confined'to the house through ill health , and one of them b y lameness , ( haaijad no hope of ever seeing me , and that this meeting seemed a wonderful Rift of Pro- ^ vidCnce They bade me take courage and hope , for they felt assured that tho Lord would r yet entirely raakfi an end of slavery through the world . " "We have already referred to the good' sense that characterises some passages of Mrs . Stowe ' s boot . Kead this specimen of the honest and fear- less- ' Sramneria which she writes what she really thinks about pictures by the Old Masters : — « ' Mrs . B . says that to-morrow morning we shall go out fo see the DulwTch Gallery , a fine collection of paintings by the old masters . Now , 1 confess unto you that I'have-great suspicions of these-old masters . Why , I wish to know , should none but oldmasters be thought anythiog of ? Is not nature ever springing , ever new ? Is it not -fair to concludo thai all the mechanical : assistants of painting ai-e improved with the advance of society , as much as of all arts . ? May not the magical tints ,, which , are said to be a secret with tho old masters , be-tbe effect ortiineinpart ? or may not modern artists have their secrets , as well , for future ages to study and admire ? Then , besides , how are we to know that our admiration of old Rasters is . cemrine ; since we can bring our- tasteto anything , if we only know we must , and try Idrfg ehongh ? " People never like-olives the first- time they eat them . In fact , I must -confess , I have some partialities towards young masters , and a * ortr « f suspicion that wq are passing over better paintings at outr side , to get at fliose . which , though the best of their day , -are notso gootf as tfte best of ours . I certainly do not worshi p the old English poets . \ Vith the exception of Milton and Shakspeare . there is' more poetry in the works of the writers of the last mty years than in all the rest together . Well , these are my surmises- for the present ; but one thing I am determined—as my admiration is nothing to anybody but myself , I ' wiirkeep some likes and dislikes of my own * and will not get into any raptures that do not ^ risebfthemselres . 1 am enti rely vyrillibg to be conquered by any picture that has the power . I ' wnr-bfranpn-reslstant , but thatte all ' . . ,, . .,. " May 5 . ' Welt , we saw the Dtilwieh Gallery ; . five rooms filled with old masters , Aliirillos , Claudes , Rubens ,, Salvator Rosas , Titians , Cuyps , Vandykes , and all the rest of them ; probably not the best specimens of any one of them , but good enough toiJegm with . C . and I i ; ook different courses . I said to lum , « Now choose nine pictures simply by your eye , and see how far its untaught guidance will bring you . within the canons of criticism . When he ¦ MaVgonethrough all the rooms and marked his pictures , we . fodnd he had selected two by Jtubens , two by Vandyke , one by Salvator Rosas , three by Mbrill ' o , and one-by Titian . Pretty sacceasiUl that , was it nob , for a first essay ? We then took the catalogue , and -slle ' cted'ail'the pictures of each artist one after another , in order to get an idea of the style of each' ; Tii ' ada great curiosity to see Claude Lorraine ' s , remembering the poetical things thk ^ had been said ? and sung of him . I thought I would see if I ceuld distinguish them by my / eye without looking at the catalogue . I found I could do so . I knew them by a certain OTKty ^ naHty nt the atmosphere . I was disappointed in them , very much . Certainly they wexegood ! paintings ; I had nothing to object to thfem ,--but I profanely thought I had seen OTctures'by'modera landscape painters-as tar excelling them as : a brilliant morning excels a cool , gray day . Very likely tile-fault was alt in me , but I could not help it ; so I tried the Mui-HUbh There-was-a Virgin and . 'Child , with clouds around them . The virgin was a very pretty gjrfj such aa you may see by the dozen iaauy boarding-school , and the child was a pretty child . Call ' it the young mother and son , and it is a very pretty picture ; bnt call it Mary and tha . Infanfc Jesus , and it is an utter failure . Not such- was the Jewish princess , the inspired poetess and priestess , the chosen of God among all women . " This passage is one of the'best in the hook ; and , as wo desire to part with Mrs . Stowe ° on the friendliest terms possible , we will now close " Sunny Memories' * -without attempting to make any more extracts . ^^ if p I l ; ' ¦ ' !¦ ¦ f - » " . ; ¦ t \ 3 r A e ^ „ n | ' £ it s ,. h y ,

    M$ Th E Lead E R. [Saturday, Iiirt 1 ¦¦N...

    m $ TH E LEAD E R . [ Saturday , iiirt 1 ¦¦ n —¦ ' ¦¦ ¦¦¦¦————¦^^¦

    Betters- Of An American. <Lelters Of Ah ...

    BETTERS- OF AN AMERICAN . < Lelters of ah American . Mainly on Russia and Hevolution . Edited by Waltor Savage Landor . Chapman and Hall . Republicans at'twenty are-as rife as the illusions of that happy age . Republican ^ at seventy , are more rare .. We live in days of we will not say political decrepitude ; .. thov germs , of young life ave hidden in the crumbling soiL ; , but jpC > T * earinqs » . if not of indiflj 3 renco of doubt if not -of'disgust . The 4 v » Eau » phor © ' of public life * seems withered by the dry heat of material jnrogress , and , asin certain climates of America . and Australia , active men are old before , they . have known the glory and the delight of . being young . Tobis-premature decay of tlbe larger , and . more , generous beliefs mayibe the punishment . o £ excessive « redulityv of immoderate enthusiasm for ' eternal principles ; ' it may be the lassitude of exhausted aspirations ; it may be the « vil and necessary consequence of a reign of order in which ' interests' and sooial tr « nqpriHity ( tempered' by ingenious crimes- and . economical debaucheries ) are an established religion , and human rights and national liber-< tiw >» miBohievons and . abusive rhapsod y of wordsv Suffice it'for tho moment that we recognise : the universal , sterility . We are aware that the world still T & eps -moving at the orders . of moro than , a metropolitan police , and that <> ur existence is . transitional . Wo may be pardoned a . passing oxpueasion-of regjrei . \ tihat we wer not ouc own . postqratyi ; and with that single rosorvation we anot ' content to > join in ' tho national responses to that creed'of the nine * toenth cenrtury , which commences , " We believe in atoamors , cotton , and telegraphs . ' J 3 uohr however , dooa not appear to bo the creed , perhaps we should say the jwlwk < ioceed ,. of that exceptional ' -republican at seventy , ' WAi / nsn Savackh I / ANDOB . Xjlta faith in'freedom anrtl detestation of all forms of hereditary misgovern-Mient . and servility , wax stronger with , years , and burn brighter and clearer ah , the general obscurity , lie . dooa uot comedown from the placid heights ofagot . to ,, visit with condescending banker , and complacent pitjy the-generous follies of a now generation ; ho dooa not oven withdraw from the wcariogvpettinoBflGB ^ ot pigmy . gpvernora to tho grander and more inspiring companionship of heroic suffer era and thinkers in tho past , whoso immorM leg ^ cUis , arenot \ oaa the cousolntion of old ago than the incontivo of youthif ; ho ; dpeainot"retiiro > tunquant in portunti , into the calm rctreatB of philoaophyi siiU less does ho content and oonsole a cultivated leisure with a saddfeiied trmild nt human agitations , and , IUco Michel do Montaigno , oonsign ? e e- iy Lg ie al sn g . ig al ie id e- r- nt ld lat of on io * nd tine cm rn- rer hto ) us iu > ing m > i of hi- ! i a ign

    ! ^^^^^^^^^¦ a ^^^ ^ j ^ jt ^ j iM gag ^^^^^ BB ^ r " Tr" *" tf T ^™ ' *'"^*' " ** " —*«* T * " —— ~—all mea and things to one universal formula of indifference . On the contrary , he seeks repose in the groves and halls of the Academy he mingles gladly with thfi crowd in the Agora , and beneath the grateful shade of the Tusculan lane-trees exchanges anxious glances with the men of the Forum . It may be that the classical robes , which he never quite throws off , lend a certain antique and unreal air to the modern tyrants and patriots whom he denounces with so correct an anger , or celebrates with so chastened and di < miried an admiration . Bui for this sculpturesque drapery of thought , sometimes eccentric , always noble and elevated , never mean , we may perhaps be thankful . Convictions sp ' extreme' could hardly have preserved their freshness and their vivacity in a move modern costume . Not long since Mr . Landor collected a mass of his more fugitive writings of later years ( some of which appeared originally in . our journal ) into -a volume , on which he bestowed the touching title " Last Leaves from an Old Tree . " We confess to have shared the doubts of many of the author s friends whether the old tree , like many another vigorous oak T would not put out some more last leaves under the influence of a stormy summer , after other and less vigorous trees had shaded , rather tban refreshed us with their luxuriance of useless foliage . % . •» Dropp ing the ' tree , ' we shall not be accused of indiscretion u \ ye con- » sider Mr . Jonas Pottinger and Mr . Ephraim Maplebury , the writer and recipient of these twenty-three remarkable letters as , if not " LeiiveB of an old Tree , " at least , to adopt the familiar language of fond fathers -who have quite made up their minds about the authenticity of their offspring " . Chips of the old Block . " With all our faith in the destiny andjthc duty of America as a nation , we have a grain of doubt as to the classical ^ republicanism of that highly respectable and influential citizen of New England , Mr . "Ephraim Maplebury , " supposing that gentleman to ^ be a real entity . It . is quite possible that Mr .. Maplebiuy might , as he does in these letters , cond . emn the acquisition of Cuba us a southern speculation , and might propose the purchase from England of the Hudson ' s Bay territory . Whether . he would propose to defend Canada and Nova Scoth for England against an enemy , in case of any future war , is another question which Mr Maplebury would ( we trust we do him no injustice in supposing ) , probably determine by a rough calculation in £ s . d . We should be delighted to give Mr . Maplebury credit for any other considerations where the fortunes of his " Mother , " ( as he calls England when he writes with Mr . Landor ' s " fine Roman" pen ) or the Ti g hts and liberties of nations are concerned . Let us , however * permit Mr . Maplebury to abandon his assumption of a filial patriot , a lorer of liberty for its own sake , and a traditional Puritan , and to sink peacefully into the more congenial dress of a cousin of Mr . Cobden , entertaiuiag much the same " views , " a man , without doubt , of strict commercial integrity and acuteness , and decidedly not enthusiastic about the liberties of Europe or the honour of England . Wo can afford him some degree of respect in that character , while we reserve the higher feelings of admiration for his sponsor , Mr . Walteb Savagk Landor . There is no sign of age , except of its maturity , its mellowness , and its dignity , in these terse , vivid , and vigorous letters . Mr .. Landor has seldom written with more force and point : he has often written with more eccen-¦ tricity , and less continence of style . There is scarcely a page we have not marked for some sentence , which Tacitus Avould hardly have disowned , for that brevity and fulness which indicate at once the hand of the stylist and the self-possession of the master of his thought . With most of the opinions of the writer we need scarcely say the Reader is essentially identified , though a journal dealing with contemporary practicalities must-meeds make sonie deductions from abstract opinions , not so much for the sake of success , asfor the sake of existence . We may trust that monarchy in general will some day be " garnered up in our museums and exhibited with the megatheria , " but to discuss the movements of an amiable and innocuous Court from that point 6 f view would be at once silly and impracticable . We may hold that a battue of the Almanack de Gotha would be a summary and effectual process of putting a stop to revolution : by abolishing the occupiers of great and little thrones ; but to propose such a " solution of the European question" would be to inour , if not to deserve , the reputatioa of a . G-reenacre at large . We may celebrate the myrtle-crowned daggers of Haimodius and Aristogeiton ( we were taught tyrannicide at Eton , uecording to that awful system of Pagan education which the Abbd Guumc dcnounces ) , but to pi'opoae tho exploit of those fortunate youths for modem emulation would put us out of tbe pale of received , we do not ssiy of conventional , opinions . There is scarcely any prominent topic in the politics of the . day which Mr . Landor haa not here touched and adorned with the strength and grace- of a master . Tlie bitterness is Attic , the terseness Roman , the sturdiness Saxon , but tho pervading spirit , in the largest senso , humane . We have no space here for the many extractablo passages in these twenty * three short letters on tho impolicy and indignity of tho Austrian alliance , on the perfidious conspiracy of thrones against nations , on the backstairs , intrigues : of palaces , on thu necessity of crippling Rtissin , on the true cauBe of revolutions and the true description of revolutionists , on the theological burlesques of Christianity , on the weakness and vacillationi of English ministers , on the restoration of Hungarian , and Polish nationalities , on . tha corruption , of tho Universities , and the Fuseyito fopperies of the Church , on the supposed tailoring propensities of a . " ucld-murshcul on other Holds than those of buttle , " on the impotence and imbecility of our diplomatistsj on tho jobbery of our dockyards , on tho importance of the Isthmus of Suoz to England , on the policy of America towards Cuba , on tho mournbr « jicea of the British soldier as compared with tho French , on tho " sagacity , " the power , and tho opportunities of Napoleon III . There ha « undoubtedly boon a considerable revulsion of feeling in this country towards Louifti Napoleon ; nnd this ohnngo wo must be allowed to nssuro our French friends , whoso proscription we denounce and doploro , is not tho mei-o consequence of a supposed political necessity : it is tho gmdual por-Huaaion that the flomotimo lodger of King-Htroot , St . Jamos ' H , \ a really animated by friendly rocoHoctions of England , mill convinced « t tho udvantages of our allinnco . In another p lace , however , wo ahull any more onvthds subject ; . Mr . Landor speaks of tho present Emperor of tho French in the highest terms of admiration and roapoot . No pen wuh more novoro on the porftdias , tho crucltioa , and the crimes ' of tho coup-d'Stat than Mr .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 22, 1854, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22071854/page/18/