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Leader (1850-1860), 9th November 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 784

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      away without doing some " work of noble note , not unbecoming men who strove with gods , " signs that the whole intellect of the nation is employed in attempting to appreciate the extent of social evil and to suggest the remedy , signs there are that make life worth living for , and give to our daily struggles the dignity of an exalted ideal . Among them , and not the least significant as an indication , we count the new journal , The Christian Socialist , less for the ability it displays , though that is

      remarkable , than for its earnestness and the elevation of its truly Catholic spirit . There we find clergymen , and the friends of clergymen , openly avowing that they will fight the cause they hold as true , yea , even in the ranks of Chartists and Infidels , recognizing truth even when propounded by their antagonists , and resolved to merge differences in the broad union of agreement . This is the true principle . Let us move together to accomplish whatever we hold in common , leaving differences of opinion to adjust themselves in due course .

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      Literature in France is without any novelty just now . That novel by Paul Fbval , Beau Dimon , of which we spoke last week , turns out to be an exciting story of the bandit class ; and those who love the Abruzzi peopled with romantic , high-souled scoundrels , will canter through the volumes at an agreeable pace . Germany has presented us with a specimen of effrontery we never could have looked for . There is a new edition of Goethe in thirty volumes 8 vo .,

      issued at a high price ; and the two first volumes which have just appeared rival tt ; e shameless French novels , in the unwarrantable waste of space , by which one volume is extended into two . Several pages have only half a dozen lines of print ! and , whenever there is a new division , its title is used as a pretext for occupying a page by itself , and the second page is given to the motto ! By similar tricks one of George Sand ' s novels , which was

      sold by her to the publishers as one volume , grew , for the public , into three . In striking contrast to this prodigality of margin stands the new edition of that very useful work , the Converzations Lexicon , the page of which is heavier than in any work of the size we remember ; the object of Goethe ' s publisher has been to give as much paper as possible , the object of the Converzations Lexicon to give as much print . While noting these new editions let us not omit the pretty little pocket edition of Shakspeare , translated by Tieck and Schlegel—an admirable help to those who are beginning their German studies .

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      Contemporaneously with our account last week of Gottfried Kinkel ., furnished by an eminent German author , there appeared in the Household Words a graphic picture by an English poet who had known Kinkel at Bonn . At the close of his paper he appeals to the Literary men of England to unite in a strong expression of sympathy with the unhappy victim , trusting that if it were " duly and respectfully made known to the King of

      Prussia or to Baron Manteuffel , the Minister of the Interior may induce his Majesty" to set Kinkel free , and suffer him to emigrate to England or America . We agree with the writer that a strong expression from England would greatly influence the King ; but will the Literary men of England unite for the purpose ? Hitherto they have shown little disposition to unite for any purpose whatever . The thing is , nevertheless , worth trying .

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      mrs . crowe's light and darkness . Light and Darkness ; or , the Mysteries of Life . 13 y Catherine Crowe , Author of the" KighUido of Nature , " &c . 3 vols . Colburn . Mns . Cnowjs ' s speciality is a mastery of horrors . Her world of fiction is peopled with phantoms and criminals . She enchains the reader with a tale of mystery more skilfully than any other writer , by the directness and unmisgivingness of her style . But what

      suppers one must eat , to enjoy the nightmares purauing her waking dreams ! What loins of pork must " sit heavy " on our imaginations ! How she herself must shudder at graveyards by moonlight ! What picturesque terrors must accompany her travels ! Or is it thatJQjmiJiarity breeds contempt , and that she has so ^ of ^ bltf n ^ nTs ^ ress of the realms of horror as to feel n ^^^^^ A 1 ^ ' but this wo know , that for ^ r ^^?^ Hl 2 S ° ° f inc i ( lcnts to mnko your hair # fimlpj 0 ^ ifi | i «« 4 jctful porcupine , " or fur anecdote * « V a ^^/ V * rS § brcatU » 8 U 0 hlls no superior . .-Jkjtnis . Ke ^ JTWit ^ libHcivtion -we have a collection of

      tales , all turning upon the criminal and diseased parts of our nature , without any claims to literature beyond a certain straightforward matter-of-factness which enhances the reality of the stories , and a certain dexterity in the development and unravelment of a plot peculiarly her own . There is no surplusage ; none of those wearisome passages thrown in as ballast by unskilful writers , and remorselessly " skipped" by dexterous readers . The narrative is never retarded while the writer makes reflections , or luxuriates in descriptions . Her plots are never like those of Bayes in the Rehearsal , meant to drag in «* good things ; " they are there for their own sake , and are their own " good things . " Analysis of motive or elaboration of character is never attempted . She has

      a story to tell , and tells it . We defy any one to read the " Accusation , " " Monk ' s Story , " " Poisoners , " or the " Priest of St . Quentin , " pause till he comes to the close . On the other hand one is forced to admit that the stories leave a very disagreeable impression : all this horror is unrelieved by beauty , by heroism , or by philosophic purpose . The influence cannot be good . It is well now and then that the grave should be opened , and living men forced to look into it ; but if one can have too much , partridge , still more can one have too much graveyard ! Humanity is not Ghoulism . Such a story as the Unseen Witnesswith which . Mrs . Crowe enriched our columns—is

      worth a dozen volumes of Light and Darkness—its quiet everyday truth bore a sound lesson , and it depicted human beings in their normal condition . From the very nature of these tales , it is difficult to select an illustrative extract ; the one best suited for our purpose is this of

      the—SOMNAMBULIST MUBDEBEE . " * Somnambulists are sometimes subject to strange hallucinations , ' he replied ; ' their dream is to them as real as our actual daily life is to us , and they not unfrequently act out ihe scenes of the drama witti a terrible determination . I will just give you one instance of the danger that may accrue from a delusion of this nature . At the last monastery I inhabited , before I became Prior of Pierre Chatel , we had a monk who was known to be a somnambulist . He was a man of a sombre character and

      gloomy temperament ; but it was rather supposed that his melancholy proceeded from physical causes than from any particular source of menial uneasiness . His nightly wanderings were very irregular ; sometimes they were frequent ; sometimes there were long intermissions . Occasionally he would leave his cell , and after being absent from it several hours would return of his own accord , still fast asleep , and lay himself in his bed ; at other times he would wander so far away that we had to send in search of him ; and sometimes he would be met by the messengers on his way back , either awake or asleep , as it might happen .

      "• This strange malady had caused us some anxiety , and we had not neglected to seek the best advice we could obtain with respect to its treatment ; and at length the remedies applied seemed to have taken effect ; the paroxysms became more rare , and the disease so far subsided that it ceased to be a subject of observation amongst us . Several months had elapsed since I had heard anything of the nocturnal excursions of Brother Dominique , when one night that I had some business of importance in hand , instead of going to bed when the rest of the brotherhood retired to their cells , I seated myself at my desk for the purpose of reading and

      answering certain letters concerning the aflan in question . I had been some time thus occupied , and had just finished my work , and had already locked my desk preparatory to going to bed , when I heard the closing of a distant door , and immediately afterwards a foot in the long gallery that separated my room from the cells of the brotherhood . What could be the matter ? Somebody was ill , and was coming to se « k assistance ; and I was confirmed in this persuasion when I perceived that the foot was approaching the door , the key of which I had not turned . In a moment more it opened , and Fra Dominique entered , asleep . His eyes wore wide open ,

      but there was evidently no speculation in them ; they were fixed and glassy , like the eyes of a corpse . Ho had nothing on but the tunic which he was in the habit of wearing at night , and in his hand he held a large knife . At this strange apparition I stood transfixed . From the cautious manner in which he had opened the door , and the stealthy pace with which he advanced into the room , I could not doubt that he was bent upon mischief ; but aware of the dangerous effects that frequently result from the too sudden awakening of a sleep-walker , 1 thought it better to watch in silence the acting out of this fenrful drama , than venture to disturb him . With all the precautions he would have used

      round , hastened towards the window , which he opened , and , had it been large enough , I think would have thrown himself out . But finding the aperture too small , he changed his direction . Again he passed close to me , and I felt myself shrink back as he almost touched me with his tuuic . The two lamps that stood on my table made no impression on his eyes ; he opened and closed the door as before ; and I heard him proceed rapidly along the gallery and retire to his own cell . It would be vain to attempt to describe the amazement with which I had witnessed this terrible scene . I had been , as it were , the spectator of my own murder , and I was overcome by the horrors of this visionary assassination . Grateful to Providence for the danger I had escaped , I yet could not "brace my nerves to look at it with calmness , and I passed the remainder of the night in a state of painful agitation .

      " ' On the following morning , as soon as breakfast was over , I summoned Fra Dominique to my room . As he entered I saw his eye glance at the bed , which was now , however , covered by other linen , so that there were no traces visible of his nocturnal visit . His countenance was sad , but expressed no confusion , till I enquired what had been the subject of his dreams the preceding night . Then he started , and changed colour . " * Reverend father , ' said he , « why do you ask me this ? ' " ' Never mind , ' said I ; * I have my reasons . ' " * I do not like to repeat my dream , ' returned he , ' it was too frightful ; and . I fear that it must have been , Satan himself that inspired it . ' "

      We pass over some pages , and alight upon the monk ' s explanation of his tendency to wander thus murderously at night . He tells the Prior the story of his life—how his sister married a dissolute Italian , named Ripa , who , after squandering their money , quitted them for some months . One night he—then a child—slept with his mother : — "' I suppose I fell asleep directly , for I have no recollection of my mother ' coming to bed , nor of anything else , till I was awakened by the pressure of a heavy hand on my breast , and , by the faint light of a lantern which stood on a table , I discovered my brother-in-law , Ripa , the Italian , hanging over me . But it was not at me he was looking , but at my mother , who , fast asleep ,

      was lying on the other side of the bed . An instinctive terror kept me silent and motionless ; and presently , having ascertained the position in which his victim was lying , he raised a large knife he held in his hand and struck it repeatedly into her breast . At the third blow my horror and anguish overcame my fears , and I uttered a cry , which seems first to have revealed to him my presence ; or , perhaps , he did not know it was me , but was only startled by the sudden noise , for , as his purpose was undoubtedly robbery , I do not see why he should not have despatched so insignificant an obstacle , and fulfilled his intentions . However this may be , he took fright and fled , first to the window , —for he seemed to have lost all presence of mind , —but , finding no egress there , he turned and retreated by the door .

      ... " I was afraid he would return , and , almost dead with terror and grief , I lay still the rest of the night , without courage to rise , or to call the servant who slept in the kitchen . When she entered the room in the morninj ? she found my mother dead , and myself bathed in her blood . Ripa was pursued and taken , my testimony was fatal to him , and my poor sister died of a broken heart a few months after he had expiated his crime on the scaffold . " ' A long and fearful malady was the consequence to me of this dreadful event , and I have ever since been subject to these dreams !' " « What dreams ? ' I asked .

      " ' Such as I had last night , ' he answered ; ' wherein I feel myself constrained to act over again the frightful scene I witnessed . ' " * And pray , ' I enquired , ' do you select any particular person as your victim in those dreams ? ' " « Always . ' # " * And what does this selection depend upon ? Is it " No , ' returned Dominique , ' it is a peculiar influence that I cannot explain . Perhaps , ' added he , after some hesitation , ' you may have observed my eyes frequently fixed on of late ? '

      you _ . . . ' " ' I remembered that I had observed this ; and he then told me that whoever he looked at in that manner was the person he dreamt of . ' "

      not to arouse me had he been awake , he moved towards the bed , and in so doing he had occasion to pass quite close to where I stood , and , as the light of the lumps foil upon Ills face , I saw that his brows were knit , ami his features contracted into an expression of resolute malignity . When he reached the bed he bent over it , felt with his hand in the p lace where I should have been , and then , apparently satisfied , he lifted up his arm , and struck successively three hravy blows—so heavy that , huvimj pierced the bed-clothes , the blade of the knife entered far into the mattress , or rather into the mat that survoil ni « lor one . Suddenly , however , whilst his arm w ; is raised for another blow , ho suricil , mul turning

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      MAZZINI ON ITALY . WninUrjand Jlepublicnnism in Hal ,, ; or , Notes a , id Documents relating to the Lombard Insurrection , and to the Jiouul IVaroj 1818 . By Josc-pu Muzzini . u "Upm , '»""•

      ( Second JSolice . ) It was the fear of the Republic , as we have paid , which drove Charles Albert across the Ticino , and it was the fear of the Republic which prevented him from conducting the Avar with that vigour and enthusiasm which must have commanded success . There were men in Italy , as elsewhere , who styled themselves Moderates , a word which often serves ( is a mask to cover impotence and conciliate respect . These men trusted in Charles Albert and distrusted the people . Weak and illogical , they did not see that the first condition of victory was daring , nnd that to

      expel invaders , who had occupied the Italian territory lor three hundred years , it was necessary that the pe ople , not only of Lombardy , but all Italy should risic , and conquer by main force and the irresistible

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      784 1 &ff $ 2 Leat ! $ t + [ Saturday ,

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 9, 1850, page 784, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1858/page/16/