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    618 THB LEAD1 B. [Nck 431, Jtjne 26, 185...

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    PELOPONNESUS. Pdoponne3U8: Notes of Stud...

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    MR. J. E. EEABE'S NOVEL. The. Light of O...

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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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    John Webster. The Works Of John Webster....

    dxiw ^ ia sepwlchres ,, yew-treea » and ouunaus relics of the . tomb ; , troaaon . texeailed m ghastly , metaphors and fatal , pageants ^ echoes ^ Avith a . meaning mthea > 1 ( , baunting , old , decayiUvg , churchyardsi , tortoi * e v madness , fratricide , poispnQtl : njrcitures ( to kiss which is death ) , unholy , conjurations ,, and superzuiktucal' visitants ; -r-6 Uch . are , the . chi ^ f materiala of Webster ' s tragedies . 3 ^ , JfaiM * a ? id > Kirgi # ici , however , is an exception to the rule . That , % hie 6 et uiatejrials . poaseasr an iiumense fascination itt , such hands aa > 3 iis b , unc ^ iiesfcloniibl ^ v < b ^ ut the power is not of the highest kind ^ because itiis not ; of" ! tb % ; healthiest : Yet , with all , drawbacks , it , must be admitted , that T ^ eh ^ ter ' s was a gpeat ^ though an irregulaiv genius . Sl » akspeare hitcself & aanothing finer . tUan , some of Ins gusty fliiws , of passion ; and he often waavh , eathe ve ? y , fountain-head cf tears . Of his comedies it is not so easy ta ^ u . ftak » , be « auae they were written iii . conjunction with other writers , and ifc . ujjiflpoasible , tu . determine AV « bster ' s precise share , Tbe edition of . the old dramatist now . before us is handsomely , printed in a aingle vohame ,, with , double columns , and will prove a great , boon to the lovers of tbet Jing | Iah drama .

    i i » -: . „ : ( , « . for ir » tl » e-prefiice to ti \& . WAUe Ddoil , he confesses that t ^ ° J ^ S % t « Z * h T ^ o ^ quill winged with tuea feather ^ , ' and inti-* £ S ffii ££ ! £ ^^ ™* -ish we could I ^ SSTjiiswopkft hear siijns of this carefulness ; but , vith all their wonder ! ul nSrar « ndJgeiHiiSv they are sadly irregular . It is . thought : that Webster was SiactoBi . asfwell . asa . iwMter of plays 4 though , thi * is by no xiwans certain . An Atteinpibmjheenimade : to show that John , Webster * the dramatist , was tfce ;«» me , ma »*!» a certain . John . WtsbstPr ,. at one time ; a chaplain in the armrvw * i <> . l « fcQ »' M » * bAJ 8 fi * eaiifc € e « tl 1 century , wrote some highly sanctimonious seKffiotta worka ;; : bufewft are hapjynto find that the Rev . Mr .. Dyee is enabled t » show ; beyoad doubt tbnt tbe dramatb ^ did not degenerate into the « ti » Jl and . fanatkail ' ser » oni 8 er . We have one such hmniliating instance iw tU ^ pweeni day , and are glad ta be spared anotber in v coanexion with a ¦ 0 rM £ er > time . . ¦ -: ' ¦ : ¦ " ' - ' - . ' - ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ " ' :

    Websterihad , m , him . some : of the finest elements , for- a dramatic poet ever possessed by any writer ; but he was deficient in . some others no less impooiant , and , bis vrojkasuUer firom the dootble fault oi' excess of pow « r in aow « . 'paete » aad w « nt of po » er in other parts . His passioa and pathos : were arodedou »; his sense of terror and . gloom never ; surpassed ; but he wanted aiperception , ofl tb « fin « r aad . nuor © delicate , shades of-character , and his mmbt -w « i 8 faoaM »^ iB * e » 'alcttosbbjftttal . in its . reckless defiance ; of nature and ia & ~ iakemoat of the ^ pradiietioMi of ; hia ; eonteinporaries , his works are dafivient as . entHetiesvan « lrastound one morain the shape .-. of extracts tU & n ^ riienr ^ idr & onii tbei b ^ icudng to ,-the end . " Webster probably wrot « to meet the ^ necessitiaaf . of tb « mnuvaotj though ihew / rota slowly ; andhe appears tohavaLthoughttoo much , of the effect tabe prodaeed oa has > audience . Indeed ,, iBJonetofbiaipreiUoasvibA confeaatsbtbat : he . wa & tuMlfir' that > necea ^ shjn ; Stilli . it is nutratelioas that ; jaj na * awbot could-writ © sa grandly a-s he often did should also have sunk into , such drearyrflata and sandy reaches of vague , dull , fantastical talk ; should so frequently have overwrought and coarsely coloured his characters ; should have wasted so much of his ink in the poorest ribaldry of the famir « ajv and sl > Duld . have constructed ^ his plots M » th sa little regard ta the consistent unfolding of ayents . Occasional pasaa ^ e ^ of the . wos fc roagnificent poetry ; are . to be found , inWehster ^ but , as ¦ ' ¦ a rMle * . he . is ^ o . t poeticaJ . His blank veraeri * choppy , and hialyricagenexrally -wantnpiuaic and itajnilge ^ though one of them * eulogised by Lamb ( a dirgt fn 1 $ & i ^ Stif &^ w ^ ooimmencing . *• CaU for tl » e robin redbreast and the wr ^ n' ^ t & uijdaubtedly . very fineV The reason of this lyrical deficiency we . tatertt tte ^ tbat Welter , wantedT the exaltation ^ perception of beauty , belief ; am 9 / xais was uisumiuamiiu

    of nower . Qi enjvynaen « , v * . u poei . ^ nms eaiiuy , .,. JMiee ^ ing ., ruisjiniUropicaU Very little , humour or geniality lightens the sullen , jgjoiom , 6 f ^ his horrors and iiis depressing disbelief in the existeace of ^ u oy ^ ug goiQd . in human nature * He . takes us into a world of various clia-CTCTeir 3 »^ buj |» v « ti 6 us only in the exhaustless affluence of their villany ; and wja ae «* . as in . a feverish dream , a turbulent , masquerade of murder , lust , ; and Wjjaoity ,. . with a swarm of little meannesses ouzamg abo > ut those , more . gmjuitic ^ vices ., Jtemoraeless mea and shameless women : ; palaces reddened with homicrdal crimes ; charnel-houses , and " talk fit fori a charnel" ( the « irA-p < la « i * a ^? l <* ¥ \ c !• £ > ¥ •* a rvisn and nturKf ctanil oa a mnst +. i . rw fn liic urrki ^ lreX * ill

    618 Thb Lead1 B. [Nck 431, Jtjne 26, 185...

    618 THB LEAD 1 B . [ Nck 431 , Jtjne 26 , 1858 ^ /

    Peloponnesus. Pdoponne3u8: Notes Of Stud...

    PELOPONNESUS . Pdoponne 3 U 8 : Notes of Study and Travel . By William George Clark , M . A . 1 J . W . Parker and Son . CB ^ onBCE lias been neglected . by ordinary tourists , and the reason is , that the cmjotry w not one for unlearned travellers . Eustace found every step in Italy- ; classical , but thousands , may follow him r without a fraction of hisi scholarship ^ yetdeHght in tlie monuments of Rome and the palaces of Til 8 CanV . 'PIlB ' JtthiileimifV \ m ntftnHAnttv viuiforTK */ nnv nnn wit I . i . n mra fi \ r >

    rocli and water landscape * and fracture *! 'heights of architecture , but the mind ! ofno lincuHureu ^ mart can thoTougHly eniioy a journey in Greece , tM « i rtelbponnesus . especially . To . him Peneus ' , the Styx are mere names , dMraMim « r distant Wends ; Otympia arid Mycene are unmeaning : the Albheua and the ; Stymphalic lake belong only to halfcremeinbered poems ¦ tte . rouieroberB no games of ; Sicyon , and at Ar ' gos ; sees little more than the composite caatle ; . Therefore- the pleasant paths of Greece are forsaken , and although the regntfn itself abounds . in beauty , as wayfarers and artists ltfWteatiHeu \ this is by no means unintelligible , ftp whatever the land may ttav 4 ) . been iri its palmy amj it is . probable that , even in picturesquoness , it has frir deteriorated ' . 1 lire mountains of Peloponnesus were not always so batfe uanow ; there -was a time when they waved with woods * and when the aprings gushed ' more ptenteousty into more ornamental streams , it may bo wjrv nmovnwj inM

    » u » m «« e » > u « < >« uu » raa -Bu , unu aepenueu tor theu etluct in tHV lawtacawi upon ttfejr foliage no l ' osa than upon the tinted surface and « trang « outWne of their rocks ; Mr . OtarK , is © fa contrary obinion . and . he lsc ^ rtainty right in rebuking ; those pwat * who convert theislands of the ^ S ** T >^ l 5 !! LB roE h ' I **!? * * oFJIiiwftla and Hbnololu , with » ll their Vtfm * anu . u » # ew ; lihrtt he w u posmVo writer ^ and having a portfolio

    well-filled with quotations—though / not from some authorities which he might wisely have consulted—he discourses at hi & own free will , and with , a facility occasionally surprising , upon topics which , to say the least , are not now for the first time discussed . This contempt of his reader ' s doub ts breaks forth in numerous passages like the following : — " The most picturesque of poets was a Scotchman and a writer to the signet ; " a phrase which will seriously diminish the respect of most persons for the powers of Criticism ' attributable to Mr . Clark . With the proviso , however , that Ms notes of study and travel challenge frequent pretest , and that his ' argument is often , even in its erudition , flippant and inconclusive , we must say that we have read this volume with eagerness and pleasure . It is a welcome addition to a too-limited ¦¦ literature . All are but gleaners , the author confesses , in the steps of Colonel Lenke , who has rendered services to Greek geography , archaeology , and literature , similar in extent to those of . the"historian of ancient Grecian manners and customs , in whose work the entire literature of Greek anti quity is condens ed , and formed into a series of pictures . Mr . Clark , however , lias examined the -views of the principal writers who have preceded him , and , while holding independent opinions which he generally attempts to justify by reference and analysis , furnishes an ample' though sketchy account of the Peloponnesus as it is , . with-interesting . disquisitions on the geography of Homer , his descriptions having been written , in im-st cases , upon the spot , with little modification afterwards . Following Leake and Penrose , " Wordsworth and Stanley , tie is ^ an entertaining and informing , if a dogmatic and somewhat impetuous inquirer . ^ Prom Athens , Mr . Clark proceeded to Megara , passing of course by way of Eleusis and its dwindled stream , and Over the site of the obliterated long walls . Hence , across the neck of the peninsula , he reached Corinth , where the field of his Peloponnesan researches opened , and whence , at . every point of interest on the road , he discusses antiquarian topics with Colonel Leake and others among the more authoritative of his predecessors . From the Corinthian rock he traced a panorama of Grecian scenery which may perhaps send-wanderers from the Italian lakes to compare their beauty with the beauty of Helicon and the jE ' tolian hills , the Saronic Gulf , and the tills i a"b 6 ut Nemell . All this part of the journey lay through regions crowded ¦ with historical associations , with Homeric allusions , arid with the traces of i an art ages ago extinct . Mr . Clark , in his traject of the peninsula , visited ( Argos , descending thence to . Sparta , and taking . within , his ranjje the entire > . Peloponnesus , quitted it at / Corinth , reached by way , of Sicyon . This [ : volume , therefore , marks a line by-which the future tourist ,, with a suggestive l u ^ uv uiiii ^ uijl iiuui v /&«< x rvriuiv iv .

    U . I 1 V 1 CApiuiiuiui j' wui ^ auiuH , utij ^ ^ twiu * uwi , frcan Klis to Argos , from Cape Matapan to the IhfernaV liiver . Mr . Clark , however , does not limit himself to topographical speculations , or to the ' criticism of Homeric epithets—though -with some of these he deals freely ; be noted , as he went , the manners and habits of the people , their costumes , tHe traces of ancient customs and : character among them , their political and social progress , and : the moral and intellectual developments of their clergy . Regarded as a nation the modern Greeks ^ he thinks , stand low in the s « aTe , in a physical no less than in a moral and intellectual sense . Many English vouths . he affirms , would suddIv better models to sculnturu . as Anollos .

    than the flower of Greece , a proposition in which Mr . Clark is not supported by all the travellers upon -whose testimony we are disposed to rely . " Modern Greece , ' * he adds , " has produced no great artist , nor statesman ,. nor general , nor poet , nor philosopherV an assertion . which may . provoke a challengfe frcm the panegyrists of Soutzos , and Spiridion Trikoupi , but which we believe to be substantially justifiable . The literature of" the modern Greeks is ornate and shallow ; their language lias been indescribably corrupted ; their sculpture 5 s far from comparable with that of Germany , and , though the journalism of Athens is respectable , it claims no high Tank , and , indeed , could scarcely be expected to be more than an advance upon Ottoman muteness and insensibility . Mr . Clarke ' s volume of notes and studies , though it may offend some minda—as it probably will by its laconic assumptions—is one which scholars will read wilh delight , and ordinary readers with pleasure . It is the work of a highly-cultivated and observant writer , the delicacy of whose taste led him to Greece , and the extent of whose knowledge enabled him thor <> "g hly to " travel' * in a country wLere " travel , " iiv the strict sense of the term , is impossible except to the r « fLned aud largely informed .

    Mr. J. E. Eeabe's Novel. The. Light Of O...

    MR . J . E . EEABE'S NOVEL . The . Light of Other Days . By John Edmund Rendo . 3 vols . Hurst anil Blackctt . It would be a mistake and an injustice to confound this with the ordinary novels of the season . Mr . lteado has not written down to the circulating libraries . But , on the other hand , ho has produced a story which lurea the reader on , although through strunge scenes and abrupt windings * from tlm first ti \ f * . liik liiaf " . r \ n ivn Tri t-li '« k « uK ^\ l ^ k ^ sr / ki < b- tl \ Ana l ^ » -. ^« . l . i ^ . .. nk ^ -k . ^ . /^ tA « il . i # » i » iiiht . Kni or ^ vi # ^^ tiviq , bilv / l #

    » -v w . av *<« u . ' w . * ji |^ k ^ ^ a * . «> . ^* « a-v . Vf 11 ? HvbUlU !; LUU 4 IUUU I ^ HIui j •«» - »»» . » -q conventional . The book is not , as might have been expected , a prosopoem ; it is singularly free from figures of speech and exuberances of language . Mr . Xieade , having , a tide to tell , wlkich ahuost seems a disclosure of a family history , develops it in a style vailing -with the nature of the scenes , and incidents are so familiar as to take ua by surprise , especially when we remember that it is imputed to him , as a poet , that he has aeonstunt tendency to the recondite and the obscure . His principal fault as a novelist ia that novel writing is apparently new to him . lie has bestowed little pains upon the construction of bin plot ; his dramatic contrasts are excessive : he leaves it to the reader to infer much that he doea not explain , and some of the maim events , although peculiarly striking , in themselves , di > not appear essential to the conduct of tlie story . It seems , to us . a defective art when any claborutely startling situation is produced without as ^ tiug tUe real

    movement ot the narrative . Mr . Uoude ,, hovyavor , has publiahed no novels p revious to this , and to all appearance had r « iud few , except the best ; it is evident that he is studying no model , that lie bus an , idea , and i * working it out . Another advantage ) ho enjoys , is tha < i of a long ; experience in society , and acquaintance with all sorts imd conditions , ot men . The reault is a novel totally out of the cocnuaon ,, sneculutjiyet . witUouL beingiduili admirably

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26061858/page/18/