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    anWitW* JLIUrUlUl U

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    Anwitw* Jliurulul U

    Itatort

    Untitled Article

    It is never agreeable to make a mistake , still less so by a mistake to commit an injustice . Of course in our critical capacity we commit mistakes , not being of the privileged class which has immunity from error ; but that we never shrink from , avowing them , when pointed out , our readers know . Matters of opinion cannot be rectified , matters of fact may . A courteous correspondent , conceiving that ire have committed a mistake which is an injustice in * our article last week on Balder ^ -wishes to rectify it , assuring us that Haider does not murder his wife and child . We should have preferred the authority of tie poet himself for this denial . It is true , considerable obscurity hangs over the death of the child ; so much so , that until the friendly critic in the Atherueum stated in plaia unmisgiving language that Balder had murdered his child , we confess no > such solution of the mystery occurred to us ; but we accepted it as comiag from one who seemed to know . About the wife ' s murder we entertain no doubt whatever , and we beg to refer our correspondent to the last three pages of the poem for , proof ; if more proof were needed than the lines : ~ - *• I struck unkindly- — - And I have murdered thee before thy time . " And : — -v ¦ <¦ " If there lie heaven this is not To kill thee . Now . " If , however , we have misapprehended the poet , while we apologise for the mistake , let us express a hope that it may not be without its use in suggesting to him the necessity of attending a little more to clearness in the structure of his works . —

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    Thus is Magazine week . In looking at- tlie pile before us , and silently estimating the amount of labour , hope , ambition there gathered into ephemeral existence , a curious feeling arises as to the very different aspect the articles severally present to their writers , and to us , the critics . To each writer each article is of interest and importance ; to us how . few , and the effect how transitory 1 We do not even come unbiassed ; for the effect of reading one Magazine after another , passing from subject to subject in swift alternation , is really not favourable to a just impression . And yet we remember in old days , when our own appearance in a Magazine was a matter of keen interest , it seemed to us strange that the critics should pass our papers over with , no mention , or with mention ao sKght as to he quite dispropom tionate to their importance in our eyes . Critics , we have long forgiven those omissions ! May we , too , in our turn , be forgiven ?

    Macaulat , as an orator , meets with a severe—we think too severe—yet acute critic ; and Gbat is charmingly treated of by another writer , from whom we must borrow the following pleasant illustration ; "Taming over the pages of a work of Memherr Feuchterslebea on Medical Psychology we meet with the remark , that the effort to enjoy or attend to some of Our finer TCuatfons was not always followed by an increase In those pleasurable Bensstions . Tims , he says we distend our nostrils and inspire vigorously "when we would take our fill of Some agreeable odour , and yet certain of the more refined scents escape us by this very « ffert to seize and appropriate them . Passing bj a bed of violets , the flowers themselves perhaps unseen , how charming a fragrance has hit upon the unwarned sense ! Turnback , andstnenuoualy inhale for the very purpose of enjoying it more fully , the fairy favour has escaped you . It floated on the air , playing with the sense of him who nought not for it ; but quite Tefusing to be fed upon voraciously by the prying and dilated nostril , Something ukft this inayi be observed in the case of poetical enjoyment . The susceptible reader feel * it , though hesought it not , and the more varied the culture of his mind , the more Kbely is he to be visited by this pleasure ; but it will not be captured by any effort of hard , 'vigorous atten > tion , or the merely scrutinising intellect . The poetry of the verse ,. like th& fragrance of the violet , will not be rudely seised ; and he who knits bis brow and strains" hjs ^ faculty of thought over the light and musical page may wonder how it happens tlat the ^ ch&rm grows less as his desire to fix and to appropriate it has increased ^ \ ' We feel disposed to question the justice of ; one of his mticisnos . Spe » k ^ ing of Gbat's artificial imagery , the writer adds ^ -r r " We might venture even to take for an instance the ^ popular line- ^ r ^ ¦ . ?¦ 'E ' en in oar ashes live their wonted fires . * . This quotation has obtained a general currency : ' ashe ^ V « qd , their . 'fires'Twareach other out so well , that tie careless reader has no doubt . ' iflie ^^ meani ^ nif >|^^ righ 1 t ^^ ' !^^! ro suspect that very many quote the line without any distinct ^ neapftijj ; " whl ^ ef ^* ttfcch 6 i to it . And for this reason- —no Englishman would evet ostfxu&ly , b ^ sentiment in this language . Men , at least some men . " are . c ^ fut ^^ e ^ xhi ^^ ifi ^ vliw " their bones ; they would sleep amongst their fathers , ¦ 'Jbe ' lrco ^ tryM ^^ ra ^ p ^ l ulSiiiiF some seek a retired spot , some where friends will cong 1 reg » telj wj ^ . ^ w ^ ' ^^^ vuii ^ 0 some the shadow , They endue the dead clay that wil | belying under ^^^ g ^ s 0 ^ ji 0 Btt ^ vague sentiment of feeling- —with some residue of the old ftffectionti . ¦ ' ¦ w&ttiil ' % i ^ y fl ^ fi ^ jijB £ | y man , impressed with such a feeling , go back in iotarinatioa to ^ s ^ body was burnt , and speak of ' ashes' which n <» yer wili ex ^' -raitau ^^ ing corpse which bus eye must be following , as' he sge ^^~ i a ^^^ ' ^^' ^^ m ^^ S ^ whole stanza : — ¦ ¦ ¦ ; . r < - ' ' ¦ ' . ' - * . *"''' - ' "™ : '' - ' ¦ •' . " ¦ ^?\*^ : & $ pvs . . ;^ ' On some fond breast the parting soul relies , . ¦ .-. ,. j ¦ Some-pious drops- the closingeye requires , E ' en from the tomb the voice of nature cries , E ' en in our ashes live theur wonted fires . ' - ' ,

    In this criticism it is assumed % hat Gbat wastfciiiking ofifae classic tiinest bat surely our own . scriptural language warrants the use of ifcBe : word •' ashes ? " ¦ ' l t ' , ' ; ' "' ' \ - ;*' ¦ ;¦ - ¦ - ? U * : ; ** p *' y ' Z . Fraser opens with fhe first part of a t&ney ¦ pF ^ rjsjc ^ , ; w ^^| jrtfe ^ haustible subject for critics . The very able examination . o | the C % j ^ r ^« lion of London is continued , and so is Gen&al Bouncyf t ( The pjoems > of Mathew Aknom > are warmly praised ) and the 4 tiQ && ^ 3 $ ii ^^ in ati ^ afticle , jRtt *« a \ mnlma \ N < mmy > DenmarkiandthBBaUv :. A ^ f ^ frK The JStew Monthly has a . sketch of Lsssnro , onfj ^ fcq |>¦ $$ & ' fS f *||<»| gfceffect v a portrait of Pbescott , from the pleasant pencil of SurNiTELiwtii ; the usual amount of stories and magazine papers ; ^ d sont ^ l&il ^ peilpi ^ Sjai the Gommonpldce Book of a Deceased Author , from which me borrovf this pretty illustration , which only needs verse to be a poem : — " shadows . ' t * . " : » ' I have an odd firacy that those shapeless , beckoning forms that waver abottt ^ dwallr by fire-light , are the absorbed shadows of former days drawn 'foiWalg ^ B | f -tnl ^ t ^ iU ' excitement revises images on the memory . Messengers from the ^ ent Taii ^ inut | l , and unable ' to tell their errand ; " v ,-. -te *¦** There is a touch of our old dramatists injuiis on " FAME . _ _ ' . '¦¦ ¦ ;; ¦; " Famel why it's a mere question of the dctay of oblivion ; a pyramid « ta ysi the triuddy tide for a few ceatnries , Persepolia and Baalbec dam it back for a little longer , ^ and . JoneftV marble slah only fourteen years . What a petrified ^ sneer at famt it' a monument with ; to * name erased , and the lying list of virtues and charities remaining . Thewidest ^ ipj ^ le doM not last long . The merry undertaker will sine as he nailf toother youV last packing-caee ; will leave half the work undone if he can , undetected ; and -wul ^ a ^ igh "' Is la rmgs down -hi * empty pewter ^ pot upon the lid . The crones wlo lay you but will quarrel witK angry fiwel over your calm corpse for their vrages of gin and snuff . The sexton who knolls for you wll midge the time from his warm inn-fire ; and the gravedigger , who is so themnatic he can hardly hobble out of the grave now he ' s dug it , curses its dampness , « nd wiahes peopltf would noT die and want to be buried in wet weather . " In this month ' s Tait there is a story—The Assassin of ike Pas de Calaiswliich we defy you to begin and leave unread . At first we thought a younger brother ofEBGAB Pob was holding us with a spell ; but as the denouement began to unfold itself , we saw that no such writer was at work The conclusion of the story , and explanation of the mystery , are commonplace and disappointing . The Mythology of the World to Come is a startling title : on examination , the article turns out to be the commencement of a series of excursions into Hades * and the Future World as depicted by the poets—a good subject , and in cunning hands . Let us recommend to the writer , when he comes to treat of Vibqii ,, a glance at Pieiuhd Lkbodx ^ work , De VHu . man . iti . It is many years since we read the work , but ^ ( if memory serves ) there is some curious matter in it . In this paper there is a fragment from . Homer translated ( with an apology for its irregularity and absence of metre , which would have been needless Lad the writer printed ifc in prose ) , and we transfer it , that the reader may taste the quality of Hojiaa when not disguised by Popb : " Slu spoke to mo all this ; but I with troubled heart , Longing to feel again my mother ' s dear embrace , Three times enfofded her , and thrice oat of my hands She elided like a shadow , she fled like a dream . Then came up in my heart greater heaviness of grief , And I sent forth , speaking to her , flying words ot speech ; 'Oh my own mother , why dost thou not stay for me , That Lere too in Hades , with touching of tho hands ,. We may fondly revel in cold com fort of woe ? Oh id it but a picture that tho scornful Proserpina

    BlacJcwood this . month is very interesting' We note an increasing tendency towards the metamorphosis of & Magazine into a Review in Blackwood , always remarkable for its reviews . In this number , out of eight articles five are devoted to recent publications , one of them a German work . Besides these , there are the Quiet Heart continued—& paper on the National Gallery , which we have not read , being thoroughly wearied of that subject —and a Glance at TurkUh History , which every one will read , for its bearing on present affairs . The writer informs us that : — " The onlr modern European nations which pretend to be mentioned in Scripture , are the Turks and Russians . Historical antiquaries tell as that Togarmah is used for Turk ; and they affirm , that the Xarghitaoa of Herodotus , whom the Scythians called the founder of their nation , and the son of Jupiter , is identical with the Togarmah of Moses and Ezekiel . " Th » Riicninna fan Virtual nf lmiiiVli mnni nrpciRft nnhinrt in Sorintlirfl than their enemies

    the larks . Though their name is omitted in our translation , it occurs in the Septuagint three times , and und « r the peculiar ethnic denomination in which it reappears in the Byzantine "historians . Tho word is ' Pcbs , and on this name Gribbon remarks : ' Among the Greeks this national appellation has a singular form as an undeclinable word ; ' but he does not mention that it is found in the Septoagmt . The second and third verses of th « tbirtytiighth chapter of Ezekiel , according to the Greek text , read thus : ' Son of man , set thy face ugainst Gog , the land of Magog , the chief prince of the Russians ( j&pxovra ' P&s ) , Mesliech and Tubal j and prophesy against him , and Bay , Thus saith the Lord God I am against thee , O chi « f prince of th « Russians , Mesliech and , Tubal . ' And again , in the first verse of the thirty-ninth chapter : "Therefore , son of man , prophesy agaiost Gog and say , Thus saith the Lord God , Behold , I am against thee , 0 Gog , the chief prince oi the Russians , Meshech and Tubal . '"

    Knew you that , before ? In co-ncljiding his sketch the writer says : — " The great feature of the Othoman Empire at the present day is this , that capital cannot bo profitably employed in the improvement of the soil , and , strange to say , this peculiar feature of its social condition is common to the new-created monarchy of Greece , and to no other European state . Trade often flourishes , citks increase in population and wealth , gardens , vineyards , and orchards grow up round the towns from the overflow of commercial profits , but the canker is in the heart of the agricultural population \ a yoke of land receives the same quantity of seed it did a hundred years ago , and the same number of families cultivato the same fields . This is the most favourable view of tho case : but tlio fact is , that many of the richest plains of Thrace , Macedonia , and Asia Minor , are uncultivated , and have only the wolf and the joclcal for their tenants . In Greece , too , under the scientific administration of King Otho , and -with a representative government A la Frangaise , wo see the plains of Thebes , Messeniu , and Tripolitz > i , present the same agricultural system which thejr diil under the Otlioman government , and agriculture in general quite as much neglectod and more despised . Now the lino of demarcation between civilisation and fcarbaristn really consists in tlno profitable investment of capital in the soil . Tho agricultural population ia the basis of a national existence , and unlesa tlie soil produce , two bushels of wheat from tho same Burfaco where one formerly grew , arid fatten two sheep where ones merely fintliered a subsistence , a nation gains little in strength and well-being , though its cities double their population . The political and social problem , with regard to tho governments of Constantinople aind Athens , which now requires a solution , is , to determine tho causes th » t prevent the cultivation of wheat oa the European and Asiatic coasts of tho Archipelago , aud iu the fertile iskud of Cyprus . "

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    Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them .. —Edinburgh Review . .

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    Fjebrtjary 4 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . ljQ

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 4, 1854, page 115, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2024/page/19/