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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd September 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 861, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ., teu ] ptcd to forsake her Alonzo tfye brave for the more solid advantages of wealth , 1 S nd a marquis ' s coronet . Of course the lovers , Diego and Lola , meet again ; and the person who presents'the gallant cavalier , who has just saved his life , to his astonished wife , is the Marquis de Montero , the lady's hushand . Mutual recriminations follow , and these are , in my opinion , the best speeches in the play . The only attemp t at a dramatic situation is the scene where Diego meets Lola as the marouesa , and is first made acquainted with her infidelity . to him . however , the play had a ' great run , and was . exceedingly popular in Spain , possibly from its being a tale of every-day life , and therefore coming home directly or indirectly to the feelj , ' of many of the audience . " .

      Poor as this work intrinsically is , we thank Mr . Parker for having made us acquainted with it , and trust he may be induced to give us more illus trations of the modern Spanish drama—especially of Zorilla and Hartzembusch . In an illustrative volume , they -would have another interest beyond that of their intrinsic merit . Mr . Fitzgerald ' Six . Dramas of Calderon must be regarded less as an attempt to convey an accurate idea of Calderon ' s greatness , than of Spanish comedy generally . He has not selected the finest plays—and his selection is deliberately confined to those requiring a less poetical treatment , so that the inevitable loss undergone in translation may be somewhat

      diminished . His mode of translation , moreover , is somewhat arbitrary , yet suited to his purpose of giving us effective dramas . Thus he has curtailed long passages , suppressed scenes , simplified perplexities , and , " while faithfully trying to retain what was fine and efficient , sunk , reduced , altered , and replaced what was not . It is not Calderon , so much as an English imitation of Calderon—sometimes skilfully , sometimes indifferently executed . We are writing this away from Spanish books , and cannot therefore compare the translation with the original ; but certain passages , living in our memory , are not rendered with felicity —e . g ., Crespo in JEl Alcalde de Zalamea , being told that all he has he owes to the king , and therefore cannot resist , says : —

      " Al rey la hacienda y la vida se ha de dar ; pero el honor es patrimonio del alma y el alma solo es de Dios . " " To the king belongs my wealth and life ; but my honour is the patrimony of my soul , and my soul belongs to God alone . " This Mr . Fitzgerald renders , " My goods and chattels , ay , and my life , are the king ' s ; but my honour is my own soul ' s , and that is—God Almighty ' s . " This is surely an unnecessary weakening-of the original .

      To quit details , and consider only the ensemble , we may say of Mr . Fitzgerald ' s volume , that it is an acceptable contribution to our dramatic literature , and interesting to the general scholar . Translation is at the best such an ungrateful task that one cannot wonder if translators stretch their license somewhat ; and it should be observed , in conclusion , that Mr . Fitzgerald has done no more in this way than M . Damas Hinard " , whose French translation does not avow itself as executed on such " free " principles .

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      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encouragea itself . —Goethu .

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      MEETING AND PARTING . From Goethe . " Es schlug moin hcrz—geschwind zu pferde I " I . My heart beat quick—To horse , away ! Swifter than thought , and onward still I Soon on the plain the evening lay , And soon the night hung on the hill ; And through the mist , the oak that loomed A storied giant seemed to rise , When darkness through the thicket gloomed Drearily with a hundred eyes . II . Sad , from behind a pilcd-up cloud , The" moon looked forth upon the night ; Strange harp-like moanings , deep , not loud , The winds were uttering in their Iliglit , And formless horrors thronged my road—Yet , all , my soul was glad , was free ; My blood was burning us it llowed—My heart wan warm with thoughts of theft ! HI . I saw thucj , and a tender joy Streamed from thy gentle glance to mine ; Against thy side my heart bent high , And every breath I ( how was thine : A brightness , fresh as spring-tide , ( lowers , About thy dourest faco there grew , Where beamed thy lovo for me , —kind powers !—My hope , but nil beyond my duo . IV . Too . soon the sun . stood in the sky , When we must part—my heart wan wrung— . Then in thy kisses , O what joy , Then on thine eyes , what sadness hung !

      I went—thy glances followed me . Tearfully eager , on my road —• But O , what bliss beloved to be ! To love thee , what a rapture , —God ! . / , » GOLDING PenBOSE .

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      VIVIAN NAUTICAL . Avast there , Reader ! ^ Nature has swabbed her decks , and it will be hard lines for a poor invalided mariner like me , if on such a day as this I can't have a taste of the briny , shiver my timbers ! Having flavoured my style with that dash of salt water , as a bit of local colouring , and to show sceptical females that I can hitch up my trousers , and do the British Tar with any man above Erith , when it pleases me , I will resume my own natural language to tell you , for want of dramatic gossip , how I spent Monday last . You are not curious to hear ? Perhaps not ; but if you don't want to hear , perhaps I want to tell ! Ainsi 1

      The weather was paradoxically beautiful—as if JNature , the coquette , had concentrated in one day all the tenderness and sunny brightness she had withheld for a week . ( How like a woman ! sobbing on your shirt front , irrespective of appearances , for two hours , and then , as you are about to leave , brightening up for twenty minutes of distracting tenderness !) I needed the fine weather , being in a languid , limp condition . My very whiskers wouldn ' t curl ! It was thought the sight of the Fleet would give my nautical mind a fillip , and so we drove to Gosport , which struck me as not being an impassioned city . Having arranged about dinner , we took a boat , and were rowed to the Victory , Nelson ' s old ship , an historical sight , if there is such a thing , to every Englishman . There is something in a man-of-war peculiarly grand and impressive ; but to walk over that ship , accompanied by crowding associations , and to mount upon deck , and there see on a small brass plate the words , —

      Hebe Nelson fell . is to feel something tremulous within which keeps you silent , reverentially sad . And then you are taken down to the dart cockpit , where they point to the knee of the ship , against which his head rested as that great heroic heart sank into a last sleep . There are not many spots in England that would have affected me so much . Having seen the Victory , we went over the Neptxtne , which was all ready for sea . She is next in size to the Wellington , and a finer vessel cannot be named . But grand , clear , bright , efficient as everything seemed on board this ship , which was like a floating city to the mind's eye , it wanted the peculiar interest to us of the Victoey , to which our thoughts and speech were evermore recurrent .

      Do you think , oh , eminently respectable England , that your conduct is virtuous , and worthy of the nation which could produce a Nelson , in your treatment of Nelson ' s daughter ? You are lavish in your pensions and honours to those who have oftentimes but moderately served youyou are magnificent to royal bastards—but your " propriety" forbids your acknowledging Nelson's child . Is this healthy ? is it moral P Let us suppose your propriety outraged by the erring mother , and your respectability utterly setting its face against her , yet what has the daughter done that she should be so terrible to Respectability ?

      And you , Reader , do you think our hero would have been the hero he was , had he not been capable of so profound a love P It may not be necessary for a man to be an able commodore that he should be madly in love with some woman ; a man may gain great battles , and be an immense admiral , without having that capacity for profound and enduring affection which is manifested by great natures . Therefore , when I pub that question respecting Nelson , 1 don't mean to ask if his love was the cause of Aboukir , or Trafalgar . I mean that Nelson would not have been the hero ho was without his love . The exaltation of his faculties , the restless , sublimely daring forgctfulness of self , the heroism of the man , Avas intimately connected with what many a weather-beaten old aommodore would consider his " weakness . " You don't agree with me P Thon you are Avrong . I shall not detail our visit to Portsmouth , and our observations on the Fleet . But if any man brings out a nautical drama during the next throo mouths , wont I bo down upon his loo scuppers ! Vivian .

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      THE COkSMOS INSTITUTE .. An interesting proposal lias been made public respecting Mr . Wyld ' s Groat Globe inLeicestor-squai-o . The preliminary stops bavo been takon for establishing jm association to be called the Cosmos Institute , the object of which is to establish a museum of maps , models , specimens , and books illustrating geographical science , open to the public at a small charge , and thus placing one of the sciences most essential to understanding the- current knowledge of the- day -within reach of every class . It is agreeable to observe that many of the public institutions , intended for purposes of amusement , have gradually boon converted to purposes of -practical , instruction . In the case of ( Ho panoramas , . fixed ov moving , this has been . Institu

      particularly the caso . Polytechnics , Crystal Palaces , and other - tions of tlio kind , arc still closer oxarnplcs , and the- Cosmos Inatituto would take- its place in tlio list mul supply an existing vacuum . Amongst the- names of tlio natrons wo sec those of the Bishop of tinint David ' s , Von Huinboldt , Francis Beaufort , and Mr . Laynrd , besides many persons of high rank and metropolitan influence . TJio President ; of . tho Institution is Lord Stanley , whoso ambit-ion has Cor tlio most ; part ; shown itself in aelivoly useful du-ocbioiiH . Tho basis of thin museum is to bo tlio Groat ; Globe , with ho much of its accessories as have boon , collected . The sito is to bo lioicostor-yquaro , tho present building being completed for that purpose

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      Untitled Article

      i ¦ . September 3 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 861

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 861, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2002/page/21/