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Leader (1850-1860), 28th June 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 17, « OHNE HAST, OHNE RAST." " Never hasting...

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      Jnne 28, 1851.] Ntfte Tleairer* 613

      jnNE 28 , 1851 . ] ntfte tLeairer * 613

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      We Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The...

      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for tbe Useful encourages itself . — Gobthe .

      « Ohne Hast, Ohne Rast." " Never Hasting...

      « OHNE HAST , OHNE RAST . " " Never hasting , never resting , " "With a firm and joyous heart , Ever onward slowly tending , Acting , aye , a brave man ' s part . With , a high , and holy purpose , Doing all thou findst to do : Seeking ever man ' s upraising , "With his highest end in view . Undepressed by seeming failure ; Undated by success ; H eights attained revealing higher , Onward , upward , ever press . Slowly moves the inarch of ages ; Sk * wlxjf * ows * he forest-king ; Slowly to perfection cometh . Every great and glorious thing . Broadest stream from narrowest sources ; Noblest trees from meanest seeds ; Mighty enda from small beginnings , Prom lowly promise , lofty deeds . Acorns which the winds have scattered , Future navies may provide . Thoughts at midnight whispered lowly Prove a people ' s future guide * Such the law enforced by nature Since the Earth her course began ; Such , to th . ee she searcheth daily , Eager , ardent , restless man . " Never hasting , never resting , " Glad in peace , and calm in strife ; Quietly thyself preparing , To perform thy part in life . Earnest , hopeful , and unswerving , Weary though thou art and faint ; Ne ' despair , there ' s God above thee , Listing ever to thy plaint . Stumbleth he who runneth fast ; Dieth he who standeth still ; Nor by haste , nor rest can ever Man his destiny fulfil . " Never hasting , never resting , " Legend fine , and quaint , and olden , In our thinking , in our acting , Should be writ in letters golden . Birmingham . John Alfred Langford .

      Imaginary Conversation. By "Walter Savag...

      IMAGINARY CONVERSATION . By "Walter Savage Landok . Nicholas , FredericJt- William , Nesselrode . Nicholas . Welcome to Warsaw , my dear brother . ( Presents Nesselrode . ) Count Nesselrode is already known to your Majesty . He admires your military prowess , your political and theological knowledge ; and appreciates the latter qualities so highly , that he declares you are the greatest professor in Germany . Nesselrode ( aside ) . These emperors see no point in anything but the sword ! Nick , ( aside ) lie bows and murmurs his assent . Frederick * William . I feel infinitely bound by the favorable opinion of your Imperial Majesty , and can never be indifferent to the approbation of so wise n gentleman as Count Nesselrode .

      Nessel . ( aside ) . If either of them should discover that 1 intended a witticism , I am a lost man . Siberia freezes mercury . Nich . Approach ua , Count ! you never were intended for a corner . Let small princes stand behind our chairs : let every man take his due position . ( Jt-oonis may keep their distance ; but the support of a throne must be at hand . My

      brother , you have acted well and wisely in following my advice and indications : so long as the German princes played at constitutions with their people , no durable quiet was to be expected for us . We permitted you to call out an army , ostensibly to resist the menaces of Austria , and you very dutifully disbanded it at our signal . We thank

      Fred ' Will . I am confident I may rely on your Majesty , in case of any insurrection or disturbance . Nich . The confidence is not misplaced . At present there is no such danger . We invited the President of France to suppress the insurgents at Rome , the Socialists and Republicans in France . This has rendered him hateful in his own country and in Italy , where the priesthood , ever selfish and ungrateful , calls aloud for the Austrian to supplant him . This insures to you the Rhenine provinces for several years . Fred-Will . Surely your Majesty would establish my family in the perpetual possession of them ?

      Nich . Alas ! my brother ! what on earth is perpetual ? Nesselrode ! you who see further and more clearly than any other man on earth , tell us what is your opinion . Nessel . Sire , in this matter there are clouds above us which obstruct the clearest sight . Providence , no less in its beneficence than in its wisdom , hides from us the far future . Conjecture can help us but a little way onward , and we often can help us but a little way onward , and we otten

      slip back when we believe we are near the summit . Fred-Will , ( to himself ) . I like this man ; he talks piously and wisely . ( To Nesselrode . ) Be pleased , Sir Count , to give us your frank opinion upon a subject very interesting to me personally . Do you foresee the time when what was apportioned to my family by the Holy Alliance , will be taken away from us ? Nessel . Sire I I do not foresee the time .

      Fred-Will , ( to himself ) . He will speak diplomatically and ambiguously . ( To Nesselrode . ) Do you believe I shall ev er be deserted by my august ctlll 6 S ? Nessel . Sire ! there is only one policy in Europe which never wavers . Weak men have succeeded to strong , and yet it has it stood the same . Russia and the polar star are alike immovable . Nich . We owe this to our institutions . We are one : I am we .

      Nessel . True , Sire ! perfectly true . Your senate is merely a woolpack to shield the battlement : it is neither worse nor better than a reformed House of Parliament in England . With your Majesty ' s permission , I shall now attempt to answer the question proposed to me by his Majesty the King of Prussia . The members of the Holy Alliance , compact and active in 1815 , are now dissolved by death . New dynasties have arisen in France and Belgium . At one time there was danger that Belgium would be reunited to France . Perhaps it may be found that she is

      too weak to stand alone ; perhaps in the convulsions which are about to agitate France , the element always the most quiescent may lean towards its parent stock , and separate from the Power to which it was united by violence . Alsace , Lorraine , Franche Comte " , and whatever was seized from the ancient dukes of Burgundy , may coalesce into an united kingdom . Your Majesty ' successors , or ( if it should soon occur ) your Majesty , would be well indemnified for your losses on the Rhine by

      security in future against French aggression . Germany might then disband her costly armies ; until then never . The French themselves , after their civil war , would have slaked their thirst for blood , and would retire from a table where they have often lost their last franc . The next war will be a general war ; it will be more destructive than any that has ever preceded it , and will be almost equally disastrous to all the parties engaged in it . Nich . One excepted , Nesselrode .

      Nessel . Many feathers must inevitably drop , even from the eagle ' s wings ; and possibly its extremities may be amputated . Nich . No croaking , no croaking , my good Nesselrode ! iiii Nessel . Let us rather pat others on the back , and hold their clothes , and bring them water , and encourage the fighters , than light . We may always keep a few hundred thousands in activity , or at least in readiness . Fred- Will . Such forcea are tremendous . Nich . To the disobedient . In sixty days I could throw a million of soldiers on the shores of the Baltic . Fred-Will . Might not England interpose i

      Nich . Not in sixty days . My naval force is greater than hers ; for my ships are manned , hers are not . She ia only the third naval power at the present day . America can man more ships with good English Bailors in ten days , than England can m forty . Franc © haa in the Channel a greater force than England has , and every man aboard la

      well disciplined . All I want at present is to keep England from intermeddling in my affairs . This I have done , and this I will do . When she stirs , she wakes up others first ; I shall come in at the proper time to put down the disturbance and to conciliate all parties . They will be so tired they will be glad to go to sleep . I take but little time for repose , and I grant them the precedency .

      Fred- Will The thanks of your Imperial Majesty are greatly more than a sufficient compensation for what the turbulent call a Iohb of dignity and independence . . Nich . Independence ! I am surprised that a crowned head should echo that hateful word . Independence ! we are all dependent ; but emperore and kingn are dependent on God alono . We are the high and pointed rods that carry down the lightning into the earth , rendering it innoxious .

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      Art Or Amusement ? There Was Something O...

      ART OR AMUSEMENT ? There was something of a mournful feeling rising in my mind as I sat out Andromayue the ^ other night , and began to see that my admiration for the French Classic Drama was , to a certain extent , an anachronism . Yes , I freely admit that this is a

      form of art which has passed away ; and those who scornfully condemn it are not so deplorably wrong as I used to fancy ! It is I who have been wrong . I am not of my time ; they are . This confession may be accepted as the amende honorable , but must not be interpreted as a retraction of opinion . That which I have for many years studied with delight , and always thought exq uisite as Art , is not dashed from its pedestal because I now perceive the " time is out of joint . "

      The secret of the whole quarrel "between the Classic and Romantic schools—between High Art and the Fast Critics—became suddenly revealed to me as I sat , warm and wearied , witnessing the performance of Andromaque . I could not but confess that the -audience was anything but amused . I myself was not amused . Yet at the theatre one seeks amusement above all things . Whereupon it flashed across my mind that , from the time w ° en the Drama ceased to claim for itself the exalted aims of Art , and chose the lower aim of Amuseto de

      ment , the real greatness of the stage began - cline . I do not believe that ^ schylus , when he transfixed Prometheus to the Caucasus , or brought theEumenides upon the shuddering scene , thought much of Amusement ; nor did Sophocles , when he told the terrible Labdacidan legend , or depicted the madness of Ajax and the sufferings of Philoctetes . Theirs was a solemn office ; poetry to them was something deeper than the casual flattery of an indolent soul . They worked through Amusement up to Art ; they did not work to Amusement as to a worthy aim and end .

      To a less extent this may be said also of Racine , Corneille , Moliere , Shakspeare , Johnson , Goethe , and Schiller . By them the Drama was regarded as an Art . The sources of Amusement were employed only as means to elevate the spectator ' s soul up to the poet ' s region—to arrest the wandering attention , and fix it on great ideas . Gradually what was Secondary has risen to be Primary , the means have displaced the end , Amusement has the attractions of

      usurped the throne of Art—all decoration , scenic pomp , and stirring events , are oug ht , because they are " amusing , " and the material stifles the spiritual . Instead of asking , " Does the new drama brighten majestic truths in the steady light of noble poeiry ? does it exhibit character and elemental passions ? " People ask , " Is it splendidly * got up ' ? are its ' situations * striking ? " _ . , statement do

      This is not a criticism ; but a . I not here inquire whether such a condition he or be not defensible ; I simply state what the condition is . Right understanding of what is expected may save writers and managers from confusion und ruin . If the public demands Amusement ( as unquestionably it does ) , let the means of amusement be studied . If the public demands Artwhich may be questioned—let Art be given . But to hamper Amusement with the necessary conditions of Art , or to degrade Art by making it secondary to Amusement , is not wise . In the davs of Racine , the audiences were

      delighted with beautiful verses , and cared more tor the rigorous fulfilment of certain critical conditions than for " getting up , " or exciting situations . " The audiences were composed of critics . They demanded an artistic enjoyment . 1 he glitter of processions , the clash of swords , the tumult of oreUno , the splendour of dreBHCH , he movement , noise , screams , and " grand effects '' which dftzzlennd confuse uh , were unknown to them ; in the silence of admiration they listened to the cadence of a verse , tasted the delicacy of an expression and pondered on the subtlety of a thought . They left the theatre , not as we do with aching heads and confused judgments , but with expanding minds , touched to fine issues by the magic oi

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 28, 1851, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28061851/page/17/