Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 24th January 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 88

Page 88
Page 16
16 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • r3lV ,, , ^iJJ^ ||tr^ - * donot
  • Text (5)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      Iris very desirable to check if possible the current of popular errors ; and one means of doing so is to substitute precise language for the loose and approximative language in which popular errors gain currency . M . Henbi Mabtin , in an interesting article , "La Persecution sous Henri II . " in the Revue de Faris ( January 1 st ) , repeats and emphasises the error of attributing to Sebvetbs the discovery of the Circulation of the Blood , a discovery made by many anatomists in detail , but by Hakvet alone as a full

      and rational explanation of the phenomena . The merit of Servetus is great , his discovery awards him an immortal place in the History of Science , but it was not what we moderns mean by the circulation of the blood , and should not be confounded with it . Let us be more accurate in our statements , and more just to discoverers . Skrvetcs was but an indifferent anatomist , yet he first proclaimed the fact of the pulmonary circulation , that is to say , he first proclaimed the fact of the Wood passing wholly from the right chamber of the heart into the lungs , and from the lungs back into the left chamber . This is however only half the circulation , the lesser circulation , as it is called , the other and larger circulation he knew nothing of . But Sbbvetcs added to the importance of his discovery , by recognising the lungs sls the true seat of the transformation of black venous blood into red

      arterial blood , in contradiction to the reigning opinion which made the liver tie seat of that transformation . Sebvettjs is one of the strange figures of the sixteenth century , known to all readers by his unhappy fate , but known to few readers in any intimacy . TM . Mabtik tells us nothing new about him ; tout he quotes the phrase with -which Melancthon—the " mild" Mixancthon—approves Calvin's odious act . " The Church thanks and will for ever thank you ; your magistrates have acted justly in putting this blasphemer to death . " But as M . Mabtik truly says , " La posterite nVpas avoue" la parole de Melancthon , ni \ es fanatiques reponses de Calvin et de Beze , a la voix chretienne qui , de B&le , eclata contre les juges de Geneve . " It is very useful to keep the memory of such episodes green .

      In the same number of the Revue de Paris is a pleasant article on the famous quarrel of the seventeenth century respecting the Ancients and Moderns , in which , among other things , we read with amusement Pebratjlt ' s verdict on Plato : " Platon est juge : il ne plait pas aux dames !" In Putnam ' s Monthly Magazine there is a paper on the " Odors of Plants " in which , among some sentitnentalisms and some inaccuracies , we find many curious details and suggestions . Few of us are aware of the influence exercised over us by a flower-scented atmosphere , unless the scent be obtru-Bive . Every plant that rises into the sunlight affects the atmosphere even though in deserts unseen by man it blushes with purest ray serene : —•

      There is ever a strange and mysterious feeling of heaviness weighing upon our mind hi a forest , whether we walk in the dim shade of broad-branched fir-trees with balsamic fragrance , or in the lofty arcades of royal palms . The cause is , in both cases , the same—a thousand plant-lungs are hreathing heavily under the dense canopy , and the thick vapours , seeking in vain an outlet through the branches and leaves , pass wearily to and fro in the close air . The South and the North afford here , of course , still more attractive and decided distinctions . The noble forms of Grecian pines and laurels , the graceful outlines of the asphodel , crocus , and lilies that grow at their feet , and the aweet fragrance exhaled by all alike , had , no doubt , their profound effect on the bright , beautiful myths of the children of Hellas . In the home of our forefathers , on the contrary , dense oak forests , frowning for ever in dark , mysterious shade , with countloss hosts of poisonous plants hanging in rugged ravines , or bred in damp darkness , and giving out a close , overwhelming smell , lent their colouring in like manner to the sombre and often bloodthirsty worship of the Druids .

      : Putnam , also , this month makes an upright stand for " International Copyright , " refuting the sophisms with which so many Americans are still in the habit of defending the present dishonourable state of things . From the opening paragraphs the tone may be gathered : — It is time , and more than time , that something were done by our national legislature towards securing the claims of foreign authors to their works . We have considered the subject in its pros and cons for many years ; the bearings of it are well understood , and the public mind has attained as groat a uniformity of conviction in regard to it aa it is possible to attain in the existing diversity of human interests and feelings . Many , -who were once hostile to any notion in the premises , now profess to he in favour of it : no formidable opposition to the scheme exists anywhere , that wo are aware x > f , and the inauguration of a now administration is an auspicious hour for the initiation of a new policv .

      AH times , however , are fitting timea for doing justice to our neighbours ; and this question is one , as it has always seemed to us , not of expediency merely , but of positive right . It 18 pre-eminentl y a question of justice . Has the maker of a book—by which -we mean of the inward contents , and not of the outward form alone—a title to the control of ita publication , and to the profits that accrue from the sale of it ? Has -1 ° t Pff ™ "" ? interest in it , to the extent of declaring when , and where , and how it ahull bo used , as the owner of other property has ? If he has , then the laws of every «> vdized country ought to proclaim that right , and protect him in the enjoyment ot it ; and , if he ha 8 not , then the laws which already recognize it , in so many forms , as the patent Uwb and domestic copyright , are a gratuity , and ought to bo repealed . Uur readers will note with pleasure the statement , of a change of opinion which this writer expresses on the part of those even who onco wcro hostile to an international copyright . In a few years the law must pass .

      Untitled Article

      of exalted genius , the other a man of so sprightly and fertile a talent that in . the dearth of Italian comedies , his works still retain an eminent position ia dramatic literature . Both of these celebrated men have written their own Memoirs , and Written them with so much force and vivacity that it is to be regretted Mr . Copping , when he schemed his pleasant volume , did not see the advantage there would have been in translating , abridging-, and annotating their narratives , instead of rewriting them in his own way . The little he has been enabled to add would very well have come in as notes and introductory remarks . We should then have had vivid pictures instead of the somewhat vague and characterless indications of this volume . The reader not already acquainted with Alfieri will gain but a blurred indefinite image of him from this volume . The facts are given , but the spirit is

      absent . We do not make acquaintance with that ardent , haughty , irascible nature , struggling for so many years with the restlessness of genius , which has not yet become conscious of its powers , not yet found the issue for its activities ; travelling aimless ; driving his own carriage to London parties , and instead of mingling with the frivolous crowds in thoselighted rooms , remaining outside on the coach-box—a coachman among coachmen ; falling into the snares of a worthless woman ; fighting Lord Ligonier in the park ; detecting his mistress in infamy ; turning from society to study , and becoming conscious of his genius ; henceforward living the life of a writer , and knowing the joys and sorrows of creation . Mr . Copping has not made us acquainted with this strange figure , at least not more intimately than essays on great men usually do , and far less so than Alfieri ' s own Memoirs do .

      The same remark applies to his sketch of Goldoni , though with Ies 8 force , because Goldoni was a more superficial character , and easier to sketch . Nor does Mr . Copping compensate for this inferior biographic interest by introducing us to the times in which these dramatists lived . He has modestly refrained from such extensive criticism , of the various chefs d ' eeuvre of these writers as might in some sense convey to the English reader an idea of their peculiar genius . Ke touches on the state of dramatic literature , but he does not treat it with the fulness and specific detail which would have added advantageously to the interest and utility of his volume . We extract what he says of Italian Comedy previous to Goldoni ' s reform :

      Since the sixteenth century comedy may be said to have died out in Italy . It had flourished during that century with considerable vigour . A host of writers had arisen , not , it is true , cf commanding talent , but of sufficient to keep the comi « stage at a fair intellectual level . The fertility of these writers was profuse , the age considered . More than a thousand comedies are said to have been written at this period . If there was no great genius exhibited , there was plenty of facile invention . During the whole of the following century there was even more abundant invention , but it was of much lower order . Manners had grown more corrupt , public life more stagnant , virtue less and less recognisable ; the comic dramatist , as in the days of our own Glorious Restoration , and of King Charles of virtuous memory ( son of the Blessed Martyr ) , aided the general prostration of mind and morals , instead of striving to raise them from their degradation . The literary merit of these writers was so far inferior to that of the writers who had preceded them , that it scarcely obtains recognition . Comedv had , in fact , become extinct .

      The pieces played in its name—and there -was no lack of them— -were mere frameworks filled up at will by the actor . The author wrote out the plan of his piece , the order of the incidents , the disposition of the characters ; the actor did the rest . This system , so utterly prejudicial to the true development of the dramatic art , had been growing in popularity from a very early period . The strolling quack , who with his Merry Andrew traversed the country from town to town , is supposed , and no doubt with reason , to have been its originator . From a mere dialogue between two persona , the Knave and the Fool , the transition would be easy to a little farce sustained by three or four characters . In time , as these farces grew in importance , they were deemed worthy of publication . Flaminio Scala , it has been said , was one of the

      earliest authors of these pieces whose productions had that honour . But Scala ' s farces date no further back than 1611 , while those of Beolco Euzzante were published as early as 1530 . Increasing in popularity year by j'ear , these scenarii , cornmedk deir arte as they were called , had , during the seventeenth century , almost complete possession of the comic stage in Italy . Nay more , they penetrated into France , and assisted in establishing genuine comedy there . Molifere ' s first essays in dramatic composition were , we know , adaptations of these pieces . His farce , " LoMe * decin Volant , " is only a free translation of an Italian piece , " II Medico Volante , " afterwards versified by Boursault . " La Jalousie du Barbouille " , " and some other farce 3 of Moliere , which have not reached us , were from similar sources .

      At the commencement of the eighteenth century the improvised pieces were stil supreme in Italy . If a few comedies , fully written and developed , were from time to time produced , they had no chance against their less restricted rivals . They seemed stiff and pedantic by the aide of pieces which allowed to the actor the fullest liberty of speech and action . They might please the educated few , although their merit waa not always sufficient to produce that result ; but the public at large cared nothing for them . They could only find amusement in . the improvised pieces , and these sank to a lower level , intellectually and morally , day by day . One remarkable feature in these productions , which tended to k « ep them at a low literary ebb , was the little field they afforded for invention on tho part of the author . Four characters appeared in every piece , under different circumstances it ia true , but invariably with tho same attributes . They were the very pillars on which Italian comedy waa supported . Kcpreacntativo types of character , they were endowed with

      names , dress , and manners , which never changed . Tlie first of these personB was tho Pantalone . He was an honest old man , a trader of Venice . Ho wore a black robo and woollen cap , a rod waistcoat , breeches cut off short like drawers , red stockings and slippers , and a beard ridiculously long . It was the costume of tho early Venetian traders , and is that still worn by one of our old friends of Christmas pantomime . The next was a member of tho learned professions ; he was tho Doctor . Supposod t 0 , ^ of Bologna , he wore the dress of ita university . He also was old . The remaining characters were two valets , Brighella and Arlecchino , wlio sometimes had other names . Their droas was poor , patched with unnumbered pieces of different stuffs and colours . A hare ' s tail ornamented their hats . Brighella was all cunning and . nddreas . Arlecchino was somewhat of a blockhead . Such were tho four personages of the Italian comedy . Dut in addition to this unchanging feature of tho scene , tho fomulo characters were almost al wave cast ia tho same mould and boro the samo names , livon

      ALFIERI AND GOLDONI . Alfieri and Gojdoni : their Lives and Adventures . By Edward Copping . Addoy & Co . It was a happy thought to present , in one compact readable volume a picture of the great tragic and comic drainatfsfcj of Italy—one really a man

      throughout Goldoni , nearly all the young lady heroines ore cither Beatrice or Itosaara ( tho one lively , pert , and rattling , tho other tender a , nd submissive . Tho servant > s invariably Oolombina . We can imagine tho intellectual ho ? fil \ t of Ttalinn comedy with such a system >» operation . All real mental labour wn . s t <\ kon from thenuthor . Creation of character was a thing lie never dreamt of , Ho juul not even to invent nnmea . Hin four persona were there , like four puppet ;) ) ho had only to pull a . fow strings and put tliom » &

      Untitled Article

      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 ' — -

      R3lv ,, , ^Ijj^ ||Tr^ - * Donot

      Etteaturt '¦¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ . ? j - ,

      Untitled Article

      83 THE LEADER . [ No . 35 ? , Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 24, 1857, page 88, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2177/page/16/