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    im w . t _ ^ — j 4£g " THE LEA PER. [No....

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    im w . t _ ^ — j THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES O...

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    Ruskin's Modern Painters. Modern Painter...

    accurate obaervatidns of Nature , and thus close his volumes with a sense of latitude , and a conviction that he has taught us to look at pictures and at ffature with fresh insight . Such a writer is really a national possession . He * dds to our store of knowledge and enjoyment . His influence is germinal , and will extend through many channels . It ts quite easy , nothing more . easy , to criticize him , and " show him up , " , as the phrase goes . But a writer makes his way by what he has of positive in him , and all his errors , all Jus shortcomings , " let them be never so reprehensible , serve but as food for critics ,, they do not obstruct his real progress . # We shall not here enter on any of the argumentative or technical parts of this volume . Our readers will be better pleased , if we leave such to other ¦ critics , and select rather some of those incidental topics which serve to vary Mr Ruskin ' s discussions of abstract principles , and in which all the world las an interest . On the very first page we meet with one . It is on our

    < ieli"ht in Ruins , a purely modern feeling which never appears until the ¦ days of the decline of art in the seventeenth century . The love of neatness and precision , as opposed to all disorder , maintains itself down to Raphael ' s childhood without the slightest interference of any other feeling ; and it is not until Claude ' s time , and owing in a great part to his influence , that the new feeling distinctly establishes itself . Did the reader ever think of this before ? ° Did it ever occur to him that the exquisite delight , the joyful sadness , the strange yearning of half-sorrow which steals over him in the presence of a noble ruin , was a feeling so modern as it has just been shown to be ? We confess that until Mr . Ruskin made the remark it had never occurred to us , familiar as we were with the fact of the modernness of our poetical feeling for Nature . A Greek would have been made as uncomfortable by the sight of a ruin , as we should be by the

    . sicht of the ruin restored and modernised . So would Dante , so would Shakspeare . Both of these poets would have been amazed to read what Mr . Ruskin ' s impressions are of the Calais tower , though both would have admired the wonderful power with which he expresses himself . " I cannot find words , " he says , to express the intense pleasure I have always in first finding myself after some prolonged stay in England , at the foot of the old tower of Calais church . The large neglect , the noble unsightliness of it ; the record of its years written so visibly , yet without sign of weakness or decay ; its stern wasteness a ? idgloom , eaten away by the Channel wintfs , and overgrown with the bitter sea-grasses ; its slates and tiles all shaken afcd rent , . and yet not falling ; its desert of brickwork full of bolts , and hcfcs , and &<* ly fissures , and yet strong like a bare brown rock ; its carelessness of what any one feels or thinks about it , putting forth no claim , tgving no neither

    beauty , nor desirableness , nor pride , nor grace ; yet askinjjpbr pity , jaor , as ruins are , useless and piteous , feebly or fondly garrulous $£ better days ; but useful still , going through its own daily work—as some & dfisherman beaten grey by storm , yet daily drawing his nets : so it stands , p ith no complaint about its past youth , in blanched and meagre massiveriess and . serviceableness , gathering human souls together under it ; the sound of its bells for prayer still rolling through its rents ; and the grey peak of it seen far across the sea , principal of the three that rise above the waste of surfy sand and hillocked shore—the lighthouse for life , and the belfry for labour , and this for patience and praise . " No one will see Calais church with the same feelings after reading this passage . Indeed are not all our seeings of Nature due to the suggestions of poets , who , having looked on Nature fondly and in varying moodshave taught us to see in the waving branches , the jutting

    , ledge of rock , the gloom of the valley and the vapoury mists curling above the hill , something of what they saw in them at a given time ? Mr . Ruskin is peculiarly rich in such 6 uggestiveness . He is a true poet in his love for scenery , and a true modern in the intensity with which he symbolizes the aspects of nature . Oftentimes this is , as with poets , mere mood and caprice . For instance , speaking of Turner ' s melancholy windmill , he says , " There is a dim type of all melancholy human labour in it—catching the free winds and setting them to turn grindstones . It is poor work for the winds ; better indeed than drowning sailors or tearing down forests , but not their proper work of marshalling the clouds and bearing the wholesome rains to the place where they are ordered to fall , and fanning the flowers and leaves when they are faint with heat . Turning round a couple of stones , for the mere pulverization of human food , is not noble work for the winds . " Note

    how entirely this is the poet ' s wayward mood and method of interpreting things . In a poem the thought would be acceptable ; in prose , where we look for truth , not moods , it is instantly called in question . The mind at once declares that to pulverize food for man is work quite as noble as to bear the wholesome rains to the place where they may assist in the growth of that food , and infinitely nobler than the mere " marshalling of clouds , " to vary a landscape or please the poet ' s eye . Mr . Ruskin has a great horror of the word * ' subjective , " otherwise we should tell him that much of the error of his writing consists in his not sufficiently discriminating between his subjective impressions , and those of others ; and especially in his giving way to them too much as if they were absolute and final . But instead of criticizing , it is pleasanter to listen to him . How eloquently be discourses on mountains and their uses as well as their beauty ! Their

    first use , he teUa us , is to give motion to water . " Every fountain and river , from , the iooh-deep streamlet that crosses the village lane in trembling clearness t & tha massy : and silent march of tlie everlasting multitude of waters in Amazon or Gang ** , ow « their play , their purity , and power , to the ordained elevations o £ the earth .. Gentle or steep , extended or abrupt , some determined slope of the earth ' s ; surface is of course necessary betore any wave can overtake Due sedge in its pilgrimage ; and how seldom do we enough consider , as we walk beside the margins of our pleasant brooks , how beautiful and wonderful is th « t ordinance , ofwhich every blade of grass that waves in the clour water 3 » . « perpetual sign , that the dew and the rain fullen on the earth shall fi » d no re & tiag-p lace ; shall find , on the contrary , fixed channels traced for tfceoov & am the ravines of the central crests down which they roar in sudden rank * affoam to the . dark hollows beneath the banks of lowland pasture , roirod which they rnuatdrcle slowly among the fiterns and beneath the leaves

    of the lilies . " On a future occasion -we must borrow from him some valuable remarks On Art generally , a subject on which ho is always heard with advantage .

    Im W . T _ ^ — J 4£G " The Lea Per. [No....

    im w . t _ ^ — j 4 £ g " THE LEA PER . [ No . 322 , Saturday , , __ — ¦ - — " -- ——^—————^^_^^__^_^_^ M , MMMM . MMM . ^ , M _ . __^_____ 2 ^__^_ --

    Im W . T _ ^ — J The Productive Forces O...

    THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES OF RUSSIA . Commentaries on the Productive Forces of Russia . Vol . II . By M . L . de Tegoborski London : Longman and Co . We have already , in our remarks on M . Tegoborski ' s first volume , published last year , limited the extent of confidence that ought to be reposed in the statistics of the present work . We showed that his figures depended upon official statements which he himself was obliged to admit were incomplete and in many instances incorrect ; that he confidently arrived at many a grand total which in detail he entirely overthrew ; that he added , subtracted multiplied , and divided his amounts , if not at random , at pleasure ; and t hat he was constantly producing results which were not for a moment tenable We showed that these guesses at truths , in works affecting to be statistical , were worse than valueless ; that while they misled the economist on most important returns , they presented the appearance of work done and thus delayed the collection of reliable information .

    M . Tegoborski in his second volume deals equally lightly with , his figures whilst he presents us with a further description of the textile manufactur es ' of Russia , —of its fabrication of woollen , silk , and cotton goods , —its chemical products , the yield of its iron mines , its paper factories , its tanneries . To these are appended the official returns of the domestic and foreign commerce of the kingdom . AVith all his statistical errors we must give M . Tegoborski credit for the earnestness with which , as far as a Russian councillor of state can do so , he pleads for the development of industry in all its branches . We feel that he is sincere when he points out the impolicy of the present system of duties levied nominally for the protection of trade , but which really impede its operations ; and when he reproves the want of skill and honesty which signally characterises the manufacturers of some of the most important articles of commerce . In the manufacture of woollen cloths we find accusations brought ajrainst both the

    wool-grower and the manufacturer . We are informed that it is a practice amongst the majority of the flock-masters , who only look to the gain of the moment , to mix the fleeces of the living and the dead animal together ; that the wool is wasned in hot water after it has been shorn from the backs of the sheep , and that the scouring is effected with fuller ' s earth , which injures the fibre , whilst the assortment consists in the agglomeration of heterogeneous qualities . We further learn , on the authority of M . Hayemeister , that with a view of economising labour and raw material , the manufacturer weaves slightly ; that the warp is not sufficiently stretched ; that the cloth is not properly fulled ; that to soften it , it is so strongly impregnated with steam that it contracts a disagreeable odour ; that in spinning the yarn , oil is applied but sparingly ; and that in the dyeing , mordant acids are made use of which inevitably deteriorate the wool .

    In the city of Moscow and its neighbourhood it appears there are ninetythree factories , working 3 , 667 looms , and employing 10 , 783 workmen . In the other districts of Moscow there are thirty-nine factories , with 2778 looms , and 12 , 133 workmen , making a total of 132 factories , G 445 looms , and 22 , 910 workmen . Next to the government of Moscow , the government of TsehernigofF possesses the greatest number of cloth-factories , but there are no statistics to indicate either the number of looms or the number of hands employed . Again , we are informed that cloths are woven in the scatis find

    tered villages of the various districts ofwhich no account kept , yet we that the gross va of the woollen goods manufactured in Russia is estimated at 46 , 000 , 000 silver roubles , and that 300 , 000 persons are engaged in this particular branch of industry . An apology , it is true , follows this statement , for M . Tegoborski acknowledges that he has taken these manufactures in their largest acceptation ; but it would at least have savoured of a meritorious diffidence if M . Tegoborski had stated upon what grounds the difference between 22 , 916 and 300 , 000 , or in other words , how 277 , 084 hands are to be accounted for , seeing that not one-fifteenth of the gross calculation

    has been statistically verified . We have heard much of the virtue of an if , but we never so thoroughly appreciated its importance until we met with it in M . Tegoborski ' s work in company with Arabic numerals , which it twists and turns about with all the facility of a magician ' s rod . M . Tegoborski wishes to build up a total or a particular amount . Nothing is easier . The sum is given ; and away flies the magic if to work at once , to support the dogmatic " it is estimated , " "it is assumed ; " "it must be . " Take page 152 of this volume : we have , " Of the vintage , which we have valued at 7 , 700 , 000 , m may assume that half , or , in round numbers , four millions , " & c - >/ , * crude produce of the meadows we will reckon but a tenth , " & c . ; " the ilax and hemp crop must amount to , " & c . ; " the product of the forests bus been approximately estimated at 135 millions ; // we reckon a third , " & e . ; tlie annual return from large cattle we have estimated at 100 millions oi roubles , and the portion of this coming into commerce we way safely estimate at twofifths , & c . " It is thus-, that upon estimates without any reliable foundation , M . Tegoborski attempts to raise sum-totals to the tune of many millions , and omleavours to convince us of the rapidl y growing prosperity <» . when

    country . It is not well , however , that his patriotism or enthusiasm , - ever it may be , should carry him away into statements be cannot suDstantiato . The very object he has in view—the development of the manufactures and the resources of Russia—would be better attained by ji more modest table of figures , a junior estimate of facts . In England the <* ° ™ V inent returns , we may presume , are as reliable as any wo may meet wiw elsewhere , yet every one knows the omissions and the additions Unit constantly occur , and render statistical registers anything but records ol unquestionable certainty . How much more difficult must the collection « ' truL " " fill account * bo in a vust , thinly-populated , ill-governed empire like »^'"' where officials are privileged to look after their own interests first , 1 . no of their country second , and where detection is neither desired nor vuj

    practicable . . r nn , Having thus done our duty by warning the reader against tho liginos m the assumptions ho will meet with in M . Tegoborski ' volumes , wo ' » , ° L to say they are not without interest , though to u grout extent valuuiMa the eyes of tho economist . His descriptions of the processes of smni » "k ' weaving , tho preparation of leather , the fab rication of paper , & e ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24051856/page/18/