On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• 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

    " Latter-Day Poetry" ) with two volumes of translations from the German which will be of service to those -who , ignorant of the great Teutonic tongue , are yet desirous of knowing something of its poetry ' . —The German lyrist ; or ) Metrical Versions from the Principal German Lyric Poets , by W . N . ( Cambridge : Macmillan and Co . );—and The Book of German Songs , from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century , Translated and Indited by H . W . £ > ulcken ( London : Ward and Xoek ) . The latter is very handsomely brought out , and is profusely 3 quaintly , and beautifully illustrated .

    Untitled Article

    THE EVE OF ST . MARK . —PHOTO THE SULIOTE . The Eee of Si . Mark : a Romance of Venice . By Thomas Doubledny .- 2 vols . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—Mr . Doubleday is a particularly versatile writer He has published a Financial History of England , a . Letter on Ancient Northumbrian Music , an J 3 ssay on the Law of . Population , a . Political Biography of Sir Robert Peel , and this Romance of Venice . Contrary to our expectations , The Jive of St . Mark is an interesting story , vividly coloured , and not a little dramatic in its . construction . The style is occasionally exaggerated , especially where Mr . Doubleday resolves to describe beauty in beautiful language , his portraits toeing more luxurious than natural ; but the pictures of old Venice are careful studies from history , and the tale

    moves rapidly through a stirring succession of incidents . The appearances and disappearances of the mystic Valid £ are skilfully managed , us well as the dramatic circumstances of the Englishman 1 ^ visit to tho haunts of the pagan HJsmeralda . Most readers would have preferred a less harrowing catastrophe ; but Mr . Doubleday had the proprieties of time and place in view , and did not feel bound to force on . a " happy for over and ever" conclusion . The book is really a romance—a diorama of antique Venetian life , enriched by the tints of legendry , and heightened in effect by elaborate descriptions of architecture , furniture , costumes and manners , and glimpses into the wild world of mysticism which the darlt-ago philosophers loved to explore .

    Photo the Sul Me : a Tale of Modern Greece . By David 11 . Morier . 3 vola . ( Booth . )—Mr . Morier has a perfect knowledge of modern Grecian manners , " and , we should say , of Turkish character also ; but that has not enabled him to compose an interesting tale . His Photo is a theatrical figure ; his Angelica , dead and living , seems like a reminiscence of a hundred bygona heroines ; the romance is inado up of caverns , Klephtic lights , pistol shots , half-consumuiatod executions , a beautiful woman bathed against her will in a Turkish harem to make her ready for the monstrous Turk , and a perpetually lengthening series of dialogues broken by snatches of Greek and at

    TurkjBh , wanting once in emphasis and euphony . No doubt the scenery is correctly painted ; tho character-sketches arc often striking , hut the story —it nmst ho said—is dull . Indeed , it is to be regretted that Mr . Moriet undertook to make heroes of tho modern Greeks , even with such aid as Klephtic costumes could lend him . Photo , perhaps , was a beautiful boy , but what of one Apollo in a gang of ielon-faoed iahmdera and mountain banditti i 1 ho women are tigresses , without their terrible beauty . Mr . Moritir has a . theory , which he expounds in his third volume , concorningthe duty oi England towards the inhabitants of tho Ottoman Empire , which

    Untitled Article

    " The vanquished have no friends , " " JEeally , sir , I do not know whether I am most overwhelmed by admiration for your wit ami politeness , or by gratitude for your kindness . " Or some phrase like this will occasionally be appropriate : " I am afraid , sir , I shall plume myself too highly upon your good opinion . You do me much honour ; " or , " It -will be " devoir , as well as my happiness , for the future , to deserve your commendation , sir ; " or , " You inspire as much as you encourage me , clear sir ; if I possess aiiy claim to your flattering compliment , you have yourself elicited , it . " -To a compliment to one ' s wit , or the like , one rriay reply : " Dulness is always banished by the presence of Miss ;" or , " Who could fail to be , in some degree at least , inspired in such a presence ?" A man who could talk in this manner must be , we think , the perfection of a fool . With ladies , however , Though all mere silliness and twaddle should be regarded as equally unworthy of them and yourselves , yet , in general association with the fairest ornaments of creation , agreeabilily , rather than profundity , should be your aim .

    THE LAWS Ol \ POLITENESS . The American Gentleman ' s Guide to JPo ! ite ? iess and Fashion . By Henry Lunettes . Low and Co . Good linen , plenty of it , and countrj * washing , according to Beau Brunimell , sufficed to constitute a gentleman . The Lunettes code , if more elaborate , is quite as silly . All Fashion Manuals that we have ever seen , indeed , are silly , all Guides to Good Manners , Hints on Etiquette , Rules for Correct Behaviour- They are , in general , the concoctions of ill-bred pedantry , and set forth such maxims as maybe supposed to domineer in the minds of very foolish footmen and uncommonly inane lady ' s-maids . A book was lately published o » a the art of conversation , explaining the most appi-oved methods of opening a dialogue . Thus , should you desire to know whether your companion at table has visited Damascus , it would be boorish to ask , < eDid you ever visit Damascus' ? " while it would be phesterfieldian to insinuate , " Doubtless jour mind is -well stored with experiences of travel . "

    The individual who calls ^ himself Colonel Lunettesis a conspicuous specimen of that sort of moral idiotcy which , accompanies a servile adoration of fashionable forms , the o > nly palliating circumstance being that he knows no more of fashion than o > f syntax , and mistakes simpering for civility and bad anecdotes for good manners . " Never make offensive personal allusions while you are conversing , " intimates this master of ceremony , who nevertheless caps a long list of commonplace stories about Johnson ' s dirty shirts and dangling hose , by informing us that Horace Gr . eel . is never visible except when encased in a voluminous drab-coloured over-coat . From wit to wisdom : Colonel Lunette deplores the American part iality for black dress clothes , so different from the taste of England , in which blue , brown , or green garments are quite as common . He has a notion that the British are generally an overwasKed people , and that their hair is usually so closely cropped that they might be supposed to have suffered from an epidemic of nervous fever . Then follow certain incontrovertible axioms : that one should not wear too

    many diamonds ; that one should not look like a travelling Jew ; that one should avoid the similitude of a loafer ; that one should not wear a plaid taking -two me . n to show the pattern ; that a gentleman cannot properly dress like a jockey ; that a pocket handkerchief should not be as large as a sheet ; -the less absolute principle being next laid down , " Never wear a coloured shirt . ' Choose JExeelsior for your motto , and avoid lemon-tinted gloves ! If tall and rickety , assume a Talma ; if brief and Rotund , clasp a close coat about you / Moreover , do not imitate Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer , who , Colonel . Lunettes informs " the American gentleman , " appears in the House of Commons one day with black hair , eyebrows , and whiskers , and

    the next with light whiskers , eyebrows , and hair . We hope the American gentleman will profit by the information . Similarly , a great Union lawyer , originally a Green Mountain Boy , maybe observed , " his broad pock-marked face luminous as a coloured lantern outside an oyster saloon , " walkingthrough the Empire City with a cloak turned wrong side out . Why not take example by Count Orlo : fty who , although a man of genius , wears an unexceptionably cut eoat ? Beware lest a red cornelian ring upon a fat finger resembles a cranberry jam in a setting of puff-paste . Incoherence is one of the privileges affected by Colonel Lunettes .

    As to the Americaa gentleman ' s wedding-dress , it depends on the hour at which , the ceremony is performed . If in the morning , adopt a rich deep brown frock coat , bla . ck cashmere-waistcoat with violet-coloured palm-leaf figure , black and cherry silk neck-tie , delicate drab trousers , and primrose gloves ; if in the evening , a claret dress coat , white-ribbed silk waistcoat , black " unwhisperables , " silk stockings , and shoes—be careful otherwise to have a-well-appointed hat , faultless gloves , and immaculate boots , and wad a little if necessary , since " wadding is the homage which snobbishness pays to symmetry . " Parenthetically , if you aro an emperor , do not hold out your hand for your mother to kiss , as did ^ Napoleon . It is touchingly chivah-ous , if you are a boy of sixteen , to kiss your mother and say , " Mother , you are the most beautiful and irresistible of your beautiful and irresistible sex . "

    However , when in claret , or rich brown cloth coat , hold up your head in ihe street ; if you meet ladies and gentlemen together , bow to the ladies , and * ' include the gentlemen in a sweeping motion , " but do not oiler to shake Lands with a lady in full morning- costume should your glove be darkcoloured or your hand uncovered . Lift your hat to each , in succession of age or rank , -with some such playful expression as" I ana sorry my glove is not quite fresh , Mrs . , but you need no assurance of my being always tho most dovotod of your frieuds" or " admirers , " or " Really , Miss , you are so beautifully dressed , and looking so charmingly , that I dare not venturo too near !"which would be the perfection of chivalrous manners . Herein is disclose ! the perfection of social colloquy , as recommendod to the American gentleman : —

    A ready and graceful reply to a compliment may alao be regarded as a conversational embollishment . It ia aot polite to retort to the language ol courtesy with a cliargo of insincerity , or of flattery . I'lugfulneaa frequently affords the best resource , or tho retort courteous , as in Lord Nelson ' s celebr ated reply to Lady Hamilton ' s questions of "Why do you differ bo much from other men ? Why are you so superior to tho rest of you , r eex ? " " If tlcro wero more Emmas , there would bo more ^ Nelsons . " One may say , "I fear I owe your commendation to tho partiality of friendship ; " or , " 1 trust you may never be undeceived in regard to my poor accomplishments ; " or , " Really , madam , your penetration cuablus you to make dLscovcrieH forme . " Then , again , to one of the lenient aex , ono may re (> ly , " Mrs . Blank sees all her friunds through , tho moat becoming of glasses—her own eyes . " And to an older gentleman , who hoaaurs you with tho fiat of a compliment , thus proving that it may aoiuetimcB be false that

    If you ever happened to visit the scene of a mutilating railway accident , and picked up n young girl ' s foot with a boot on it , avoid alluding to that incident in the presence of ladies . Would Cuvier have talked in such presence of the modern dogs that found the mastodon in Siberia , and gorged themselves upon antediluvian beef ? Should you poach on an irascible British gentleman ' s estate , and be caught in the fact , ask yourself cordially to lunch , and the British sense of humour will be tickled into conviviality . Above all , dread those peculiarities of American colloquial language which Colonel Lunettes affirms may be heard in very good society in the Empire State : — " Do tell , Jul , " . exclaimed a young lady ; " where haze you been marvelling to ? You look like Time in the primer ! " ¦ " No you don't , " returned the young lady addressed ; you can't come it over dia chil- !"

    "No , no , " chimed in a youth of the party , " you can ' t come it quite , Miss Lib ! Don't try to poke fun at us !" " You ' ve all been sparking in the woods , I guess !" " Oh , on , " laughed one of the speakers , " I . thought you'd get it ' through your hair , at last—that ' s rich !" ¦ "Why ! " retorted the interlocutor , tartly ; " do you think I don ' t , know t ' other from which ?" " I think you ' know beans' as ^ well as most Hoosiers , " replied her particular admirer , in a tone of unmistakable blandishment . " Everybody knows Jul's some jnimphins , " admitted cyie of her fair companions . " Come ,. Jul , rig yourself in a jiffy , " said a bonny lassie , who had not yet spoken ; " you are in for & spree !" " What ' s in the-wind—who's to stand the shot ? " cautiously inquired the damsel addressed . ; : . " We're bound on a spree , I tell you ! You must be green to think we'll own the corn now ! Come , fix up immediately , if not sooner ! " So sayiug , the energetic speaker seized h « r friend round the waist and gallopaded her out of the room . " To eat , " Disraeli says , " really to eat , one should eat alone , in an easy dress , by a soft light , and of a single dish at a time . " That sentiment is repudiated on the part of American gentlemen . They prefer the society of ladies , and are prepared to sit accordingly : — It is then suitable to sit upright , with , the feet on the floor , and the hands quietly adjusted before one , either holding the hat and stick ( as when paying a morning visit ) , or the dress-hat carried , in the evening , or , to give ease , on occasion , a book , roll of paper , or the like . This " clotted nonsense" is contained in a bulky volume of professedly serious purport .

    Untitled Article

    Maech 28 , 1857 . 1 THE LEABUS . 307

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 28, 1857, page 307, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2186/page/19/