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Leader (1850-1860), 28th June 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 14

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      France Is Just Now Paying Tribute To Her...

      been a long while in getting up this tribute to her greatest painter—one in some respects worthy to rank among the greatest . " Better late than never , " says the wisdom of nations ; and at last Poussin has his statue . The account of it , reported in the Dtbats , ia immensely mirth-provoking . The city of Andelys had , we are informed , " neglected nothing to give this fete of the Fine Arts all

      possible splendour and majesty , " and having assembled thousands of " individuals , " all avides demotions , they made speeches , and read the fragment of a poem . "Ina word , this splendid dayworthy of a people whose Art is one of its most eminent glories—terminated by a brilliant display of fireworks in the ruins of Chateau Gaillard . The ruins , lighted by variegated lamps , presented the most fantastic aspects ; while the fireworks let off

      from the great tower lit up by its million of sparks the banks of the Seine , and the detonation of the bombs was repeated in distant echoes . It was a spectacle of unusual grandeur—c ' etait un spectacle des plus grandioses / " The grandeur of fireworks , and the exquisite tact which brought them to give eclat to a really great artist , will delight the English reader !

      610 Wfrt %T&Tltt* [Saturday , •

      610 Wfrt % t & tltT * [ Saturday ,

      Notwithstanding The Intense Heat, Thacke...

      Notwithstanding the intense heat , Thackeray ' s fifth lecture was as crowded as the first : but although he treated of such great names as Hogarth , Smollett , and Fielding , the lecture was less interesting than those which preceded it . He dwelt at great length on Hogarth , and pointed out how much of his success lay in the simple conventional morals of his works ; gave a graphic analysis of the Marriage it la Mode and the Idle and Industrious Apprentice j and humorously set forth Hogarth ' s pretensions to the sublime in

      historical painting . Smollett was dismissed in a few pleasant paragraphs . Fielding called out the hearty admiration of the author of Vanity Fair ; and amidst the panegyric there were some admirable passages , notably one on the scorn and hatred Richardson and Fielding unaffectedly felt for each other , and the sincerity which may animate even the most contemptuous criticism . The opinions Thackeray stamps with his authority , we constantly find open to question ; but it is not as a Course of Criticism that these

      Lectures have their inexpressible charm , and it would be possible for a man to dissent in toto from the views put forth , while at the same time he held them to be among the most delightful lectures he ever listened to .

      Lord Matdstonk's Abd-El-Kader. Jlbd-El'k...

      LORD MATDSTONK ' S ABD-EL-KADER . jlbd-el'Kader . A Poem in Six Cantos . By Viscount Maidstone . Chapman and Hall . This is an elegant volume to grace a drawingroom table ; but it will create less effect on Parnassus—that peculiar locale caring more for grandeur of thought and beauty of expression than for delicate binding and luxurious typography ! Ahdel-Kader is the poem of a nobleman : it has external elegance and a sounding title . As a nobleman cannot be announced without causing us to turn our eyes in his direction , at least for a moment , so this volume cannot fail to attract the momentary attention of those who chance to see it . Cut if you enter into conversation , with that nobleman , you will find , perhaps , that his nentimonts , opinions , tastes , anil expressions are not of a very lofty , delicate , or ingenious description ; you will find him rather stupid than otherwise , his mind moving in commonplaces , with an occasional aberration into foolishness peculiarly his own . Something of this you will find tho present handsome volume to be . Viscount Maidstonc has written a poem such as thousands and thousands of men could write ; but which no man , not

      absolutely—After a prose introduction , giving an account of Abd-el-Kader * s career , Lord Maidstone enters upon his poem , the scheme of which we do not profess to understand . It is sung in a jogging ballad style —very suitable when the singer has the true mastery of his art , but from its very ease demanding greater mastery to produce effect . Any one can jingle a ballad tune ; few can make the verses throb with varying music . Lord Maidstone is not of the few . His poem cannot be accepted as a good story of Abd-el-Kader ; it is rather a string of verses suggested by the subject , than a poetic setting of

      the great Arab chief ' s career . Something of the Oriental picturesqueness of the scene he may have caught in transient gleams ; but on the whole we found the painting indistinct , the characters null , the wisdom null , the poetic beauty faint-r-anxl no impression of any kind remains on our minds ex * cept that of having read a quantity of passable verses . Imagination , fancy , eloquence , delicacy of expression , rhythmic variety—whatever manifests the true poetic spirit—will , be sought here in vain . But a single passage , one of the very best , will better illustrate our meaning than columns of

      criticism ;—" Shots are pealing from the Desert , Atlas in his glens replies ; Crashing cymbals answer trumpets , Clouds of dust in volleys rise . From the bosom of Sahara , "With barbaric pomp and din , Full five hundred chosen warriors ( Khaled ' s band ) are coining in . Part on fleet Maherries mounted , Part on steeds of fiery race ; Snowy haicks , and striped bomooses , Swarthy lithams for each . face . From the wings , unnumber'd horsemen Dash at speed , with eager cries ; Matchlocks ringing , jereeds glancing , « Lelies' challenging the skies . All the Deira ' s best are muster'd —• Sheikh and cavalier are there ; At their head rides Abd-el-Kader , Governing the coal-blaek mare . Pearl of Nedjed ' s tents—unrivall'd For endurance , strength , and speed—Djeroua , the pure of lineage ! Djeroua , the matchless steed ! 2 . " By a knoll of shady lethel , With o ' er-hanging palm-trees graced—Like a king he takes his station-On the margin of the waste . Round him throngs a staff of chieftains , Exiles from a thousand hills ; From a thouaand glens—and dashkrahs Cliff-built , by a thousand rills , Interwoven in Kabai'lia—Chequering the keen blue sky ; Like white marble , cut on azure Of the lapis lazuli . 3 . " Bather should a brave man wander , Lacking bread , by wood and wild , Rather perish in his harness—Or go forth in arms , exiled ; Craving pittance at the stranger ' s Insolent and niggard hand—Than breed flocks , and pasture horses , In a servile fatherland ! Stony are thy paths ! oh Freedom ! Roughly do thy children fare ! Base convention , dooms their slaughter—¦ Tyrants join to atrip them . bare . Little ease attends the patriot—Gold and gems are not for him ; "While the fools he shepherds , slumber , He must peril life and limb . Captive —shortest shrift ; attend him , Winner—jealousy of friend ** , Ruler—base ingratitude , — But with life this malice ends . Firm in register of nations , Stands apart the mighty name ; Kvery freeman learns his story—Warms him at hia beacon flame . Ancient siros , to list ' ning children Babbling it , in life ' s decay — As the glorious theme progresses Dash whole years of frost away . Kindling at the true recital Of heroic vjrtuo proved , In the furnace of affliction— - And Fabricius-like unmoyed ! 4 . " Round their Chief in lesn'niug circles , Now tho Desert ' s chosen wheel ; Dark as night their savage gUnces- ^ Bright their trappings—brown their steel . Proudly Khalod gazeth on them ! Proudly supp liant—turns ho then

      To the chief , with glance that speaketh Plain as trumpet— ' These are men ! These are clan Zemmoura ' s chosen ! Burning for the promised fight . And I claim the first adventure , Sword of Islam ! as their right . ' 5 . " Fiercely sparkled Abd-el-Kader ' s Master eye of serene blue , Yet before his mental vision Burns the past , in Bterh review ; And the ten years' war of races Shaped itself , ' in memory ' s glass ; Stript of patriotic varnish , Grim and cold the shadows pass . Smoking ruins—towers dismantled—Battles to small purpose won— - Leaguer'd bands of blue and scarlet—Peats of valour idly done . Fieroe and valiant was his nature , But experience had brought Judgments calm , to temper daring , With the stern alloy of thought . Yet he gazed upon strong Khaled , Young enthusiast , at his side , With an eagle ' s self-complacence , Or a stately lion ' s pride ; When the callow eaglet Btareth On the sun with quenchless eye , Or the tawny cub ariseth , Wrathful , at the jackal ' s ery !" The least-practised eye will discern the frippery of poetic costume which is here employed for picturesque effect , and the poverty of material which this frippery covers .

      " Impelled by hunger and request of friends , ought to publish . The world did not imperatively demand it : trunkmakcrs were already amply provided : and , aH to " gentle readers , " every one knows that" Duns I ' art dungoroux de rimer et d' ^ crire , II n ' est point do degr 6 a du inediocro au pire . " Poetry is nothing if . no * exquisite ; and tjie rqost charitable cannot pronounce this Abdel-Kader more than a mediocre performance .

      C. Knight's Publications. Excursion Comp...

      c . knight ' s publications . Excursion Companion . Cyclopaedia of London . Cyclopaedia of the Industry of All Nations . C . Knight The completion of these serial works , issued mainly with a view to the exigencies of 1851 and the crowds of travellers , calls for notice . They have each a permanent , as well as a temporary interest . Having served the purpose of the hour , they will be placed on convenient shelves for constant reference . The Excursion Companion is a volume of charming guides to various places—Brighton , Hastings , Canterbury , Isle of Thanet , Bath , Bristol , Windsor , Eton , Oxford , Portsmouth , Southampton , Isle of Wight , Dorchester , Weymouth , Exeter , Plymouth , Cheltenham , Stratford-on-Avon , Graveaend , Leamington , & c . —wr itten in a style which pleasantly enlivens the dulness usual in such descriptions ; and as persons may desire to have separate " Excursions" to pack in the portmanteau without the inconvenience of carrying a stout octavo , the volume is divided into five separate parts , each part containing a group of towns , e . g . Bath , Bristol , Exeter , Plymouth .

      The Cyclopaedia of London is in the main a condensation of the four admirable volumes on London , previously issued by Charles Knight , assisted by various contributors . Without superseding that agreeable and instructive work , this Cyclopaedia has a definite aim and an immediate utility . In the London , some of the most interesting papers were on collateral subjects—such as Street Cries and Rogues' Tricks ; but in the Cyclopadia only

      those objects which are necessary in a guide-book are selected ; Indeed , it may be called a gigantic Guide to London , describing the historical and actual features of the Parks , Gardens , Churches , Palaces , Theatres , Exhibitions , Museums , Asylums , Schools , Bridges , Docks , Companies , Courts of Law , Squares , Markets , Clubs , and Railway Stations . It is well arranged , easy of reference , and amusingly written .

      But by far the most important is the C yclopadta of the Industry of All Nations , which is a sort ot Dictionary to the Industrial Exposition ; containing a brief , yet sufficient explanation of all the subjects of inquiry suggested by the varied articles there displayed . It is the work of Mr . George Dodtf , whose excellent Days at the Factories moat ot - - «* " v "' ^* ^ - * ' m \ j ^ j m m ^ s m m v ~ M ^ \< m 9 M \ P i « % * % / m * ¦ V - " *™ V * " ^^ * ^ — 4 tn

      our readers will remember . He has founded c Cyclopaedia upon materials , the copyright of whic 1 is in Charles Knight ' s hands , adding thereto whatever waa deemed necessary for the purposecomprises also an immense mass of geograp hic : ' knowledge , and accounts of tho various manuw " turinjr processes , illustrated by engravings- To those visitinc tho Exhibition with anv other purpose than 1

      that of curiosity , who wish to learn something " . it , this volume will be extremely welcome j w ) I those who do not possess a Cyclopedia wiU ^ , it a tolerable substitute , containing as it does a ' most everything in the way of useful information

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 28, 1851, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28061851/page/14/