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Leader (1850-1860), 8th January 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 47, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      embodied , the standing army is liberated , mid what we conscious of our own motives , call a defensive mea sure , is regarded by our neighbours as possibly a ^ rcssive . And so both nations ^ go on strengthening their resources , as . it is called , by wasting their capital , the real blood , and sinews of their system , while the gods and the political economists look on -with loud laughter or in silent , contempt . A literary paper upon " Sir Philip Sidney , a co-ntribution upon " The Ancient Btishan and the 'Cities of Og , " another upon " Commissioners and Colleges , " and a fourth upon " Hieratic , Papyri , " compose the six cssavs- ot the volume . They are creditable as University productions , though an atmosphere of amateur feebleness and scholastic heaviness hangs over all .

      Untitled Article

      LAYS OF MIDDLE AGE . Lays of Middle Age : and other Poems . By James Heddorvvick . Cambridge : Macmillan ami Co . These are the productions of a mind that has reached its maturity , and the scope of which has consequently been ascertained . Among the poems are several which have been for some time in circulation in an anonymous form . The principal pieces . the " Lays" intended by the title—are a consecutive series of short poems ( consisting , in fact , of twenty-seven lines , or three stanzas , each ) , which followa train of feeling and thonght in association ¦ wi th the public events of the day , and the development of the author ' s own character . They are all

      scholarly compositions , and indicate great refinement- ' of taste , and mellowness of experience . There is , likewise , a severity of style , for which in these days , when , aiffusenessis so much encouraged , ¦ we cannot be sufficientl y thankful . The lighter poems , though deficient in the marks of ripeness which -make the value of the group of " Lays , " are distinguished by delicacy and richness of fancy , and an elegance of * touch , which justifies the comparative popularity that some of them in their anonymous state have attained . There is one of them , in which the linnet ' s song is described and imitated , that- is of great excellence and beauty , and there is none without some special merit or degree of interest .

      The reader will , we arc sure , be grateful for the poem of " The Linnet , " and therefore with this we venture to conclude our brief notice of the book : —

      , THE MNNIiT . Tuck , tuck , feer—from the greeii and growing leaves ; Ic , ic , ic— -from the little song-bird ' s throat ; How the silver chorus weaves in the sun and ' ne ' ath the eaves , While from dewy clover fields comes the lowing of the beeves , And the Summer in the Heavens is afloat ! Wye , wye , chir—' tis the little linnet . sings ; Wout , weet , weet—how his I'i py treble trills ! In his bill and on his wings what a joy the linnet brings , As over all the sunny earth his merry lay he flings , Giving gladness to the music of the rills ! Ic , ic , ir—from a happy heart unbound :

      Lug , lug , joo—from the dawn till closo of day ! There is rapturo in tho sound , as it fills the sunshine round , Till the ploughman's careless whistle and tho shepherd ' s pipe are drown'd , And tho mower sings unheodocl 'inong tho hay . Jug , jug , joey *— oh , how swoot tho llnnot ' s thomo I Pou , pou , poy—is ho wooing all tho while ? Does ho dream ho in in heaven , and is tolling now his

      dream , To soothe tho heart of aiinplo maidon sighing by tho stream , Or waiting for hor lovor at tho stile ? Pipe , pipe , chow—will the linnet never weary ? I 3 ol , bol , tyr—in ho pouring forth his vows ? Tho maidon lone and oorio may fool hor hoarfc loss dreary , Yot nono may know the linnet ' s bliss oxcupt his love so cheery , With hor little household nostlod 'mong the boughs .

      Untitled Article

      RECOLLECTIONS 01 ? A LITERARY LIFE . Jiooolleotiona of it Literary Lifts ; and Snlooi'ions from my Favourite Poeta and Prose Writers , By Mary Jtussoll Mltforil . Now Edition . Richard Uentloy . Tula is n charming book for those who havo leisure to dwell on ila pages dreamily and enjoy communion with'the writers mind , sharing in hor tastes , aud partaking in tho dolighfc of thnt beauty which , for her , invests the , ' oommon day with a pocmliar radiance . It is no formal biography thnt wo moot with in those light and airy pagoo , but n retracing of those mental assoointious by wuioli tho writor is

      ideally united to those great authors by the study of whom she has grown to intellectual maturity . Miss Mitford recals for us our impressions of the Percy Reliques , with which she rightly commences the history of modern poetry . To them the most original minds of the century resorted for fresh draughts from the springs of nature , which ,.-in that ballad collect ion , . continuall y greeted the poetic pilgrim as the-eye wandered from page to page and wooed him to take pleasure in simplicity and childhood feelings . As one of her great favourites she quotes " the fine ballad of ' . Kyng Estmerc '" Froin rhyming lore of this sort she passes on to the Irish Wrists , narticularlv Thomas Davis , whose

      " Sack of Baltimore" she cites as an extraordinary composition , with a specimen or two from the Nation ; not forgetting to celebrate John Baniin . as the founder of the truly national Irish novel , as well as the writer of peasant songs , and the tragedy of Damon and Pythias . Nor is she slow to express a wonder that the lovers of the true lyric have always felt , that " with such ballads as these of John Banim , Thomas Davis , and Gerald Griffin before us , Mr . Moore , that great and undoubted wit , should pass in the highest English circles for the only song-writer of Ireland ? " Ay , to the right

      reason , this is strange enough ; yet , m experience such errors are so common , that , the strangeness is not apparent . Miss Mitford asks a significant question on the point , which it is our duty to enforce . "Do people really prefer flowers made of silk and cambric , of gum and wire , the work of human hands , however perfect , to such as Mother Earth sends forth in the gushing spring-time , full of sap and odour , sparkling with sunshine , and dripping with dew ? " Yes , we must answer . In an artificial state of society like ours , the artificial will ever appear more natural thaii the real , until found out by those few minds whose unsophisticated tastes are destined eventually to correct the vulgar errors that are . alwavs in the first instance preferred to the truths they" substitute . We have to earn the appreciation of good , and ' require time for the

      process . Mr . Noel , too , the author of Rhymes' a ; i < l ¦ Ito-iinde h / yrs , andol the well-known ballad , \' s The Pauper's Drive , " is a favourite with our reminiscent . So is Anstcy , the author of The Pleader ' s Guide ; so is Longfellow , the American Darwin ; so is Pracd ; so is John Clare ; so is Oliver Wendell Holmes , ( he American Drydeii ; so is W . C . Bennett , George Dark " , and William Mo . thcrwcll . Of John Clare , and poets of his class , Miss Mitford makes good account , and gives seasonable admonition , which it becomes needful . more and more to repeat . She lauds his genius , she laments his lunacy , she would restore him to society .

      We cannot ( she soys ) do too much for John Clare ; lie has a claim to it a * s a man of genius suffering under the severest . visitation of providence . Hut-let us beware of indulging ourselves by encouraging tho class of pseudo-poasant poets who spring up on every side , and aro amongst tho most pitiable objects in creation . One knows them by sight upon the pathway , from their appearance of vagrant misery—an appearance arising from the senso of injustices and of oppression under which they sutler , the powerless feeling that they have claims which the whole world refuses to acknowledge , a perpetual and growing senso of injury .

      If . is a worse insanity than John Clare ' s , and one for which thoro is no asylum . Victims to their day-dreams arc they . They have heard of Burns and of Chatterton ; they have a certain knack of rhyming , although oven that is by no moans necessary to such a delusion 5 they find an audionco -whom their intense faith in thoir own powor conspires to delndo ; and their quiot , their content , thoir every prospect is ruined for ever . It is this honest and unconquerable persuasion of their own gonius that makes it impossible to reason -with or

      convince them . Their faith in thair own powers , their racking sunso of tho injustice of all about thorn , makes one's hotirt acho . It is impossible for tho sternest or tho sturdiest teller of painful truths to disenchant thorn , and tho cousoquonco ia as obvious us it is miserable . For that shadow every substance is foregone . Thoy boliovo pootry to bo thoir work , and thoy will do no other . Thou comes utter poverty . , Thi ? y haunt tho alohouso , thoy drink , they sicken , thoy starve . I have known nmnv such .

      Tho importance of this extinct is its best apology . Thoro is a warning voioo indeed . In those days particularly , lot it , 00 well hoodod . Turn we from , such prospects , and disp 6 rl , nwhilc , in ' the company of our authoress , with the Old Masters of Iho divmo art , who with their hinging robes put on tho Scholar ' s : with Cowloy , Hm-iek , Wither , Sir Philip SydnoY , Webster , . I ' onson , Milton , Androw Marvoll , lsacou ami Jeremy Taylor ; men

      who , whether in verse or prose , were poets , profound thinkers , and had studied nature " with a learned spirit of human dealing . " Miss Mitford ,, ' as a dramatist , sympathises strongly with the drama , and is indignant with the impediments which the modern arrangements of the stage throw in the way of original production . . She laments the fate of Tobin * Griffin , Barley , and others who have more or less recently shown dramatic genius without sufficient , recognition . Part of the

      evil complained of has beea done away with ,.. by the extension of the arena ; but another still continues . Modern actors have grown up in the study of drawing-room plays , chiefly taken , from the French , and are disinclined to engage in the sterner contests of the poetic drama . They consult their owii ease rather than the public good ; but an opinion is growing which will , we trust , provide a remedy , and again right the balance . Miss ' Mitford has been remarkably successful in

      her poetical specimens : some of them are of a rare description , both in regard to excellence and vogue . One we must cite , as a specimen . It is a sonnet by the late Mr . Blanco White : —

      TO NIGHT . Mrsterious Night ! when our first Parent knew Thee from report divine , and heard thy name , Did he not tremble for tins lovely frame , This glorious canopy of light and blue ? Yet ' neath a curtain of translucent dew , Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame , Hesperus with the . host of Heaven came , And , lo ! creation widened in man ' s view . Who could have thought such darkness lay concealed Within thy beams , O Sun I or who could find ,

      Whilst riy and leaf and insect stood revealed , That to . such countless orbs thou niad ' st us blind ? Why do we then shun death with anxious strife ? J If Light can thus deceive , wherefore not Life ? This sonnet was declared' by Coleridge to be the finest in our language . The beauty of the execution is equal to the grandeur of the thought . Most remarkable , however , is tlie fact , that its author was born and educated in Spain ,-and wrote English very imperfectly until he was turned of thirty . Such is the taste with which Miss Clifford ' s selectioiis have been made .

      Untitled Article

      MAGAZINES . Blackwoop . —We have had to criticise better and worse numbers than the one now before us , Bulwer Lyttoii ' s ibur-vblume novel " What will lie do with it ? " comes to a conclusion , and , as we have elsewhere reviewed it , we shall make no comment here . 44 Burmah and Burmese" is interesting reading . " A Cruise in the Japanese Waters" is full of pleasant information . " IIow to boil Peas" is a dreary specimen of Scottish humour . "An Angling Saunter in Sutherland" is readable . " Popular Literature—the Periodical Press" would malce an excellent and instructive article in experienced hands , but we feel tolerably sure that the writer of this article has very scant practical information on the subject . The " JKoyal Proclamation in India" finishes the number .

      Phaser—begins , the new year with vigour . The opening article is entitled " Holmby House : a Tale of Old Northamptonshire , " by O . J . Whyte Melville , in which we are treated to a prospect of some scenes and adventures in the stirring period of Cavaliers and Koundheads , There are four chapters , and they seem to promise that the work will not only keep up , but add to the reputation of the writer . " Concerning the Art of Putting Things" will be found suggestive , nnd quite worthy of attentive reading . " Schloss Eishausen : . a Mystery in Three Parts , " of which Part the Ifirst is ouly vouchsafed , will

      awaken attention , and oonipel tho reader to look forward impatiently for tho next number of tho magazine . " Mr . Gladstone on Ilonior , " by-tho Rev . Barhom Zincke , is tho production of a learned and impartial thinker . " Dramatic Treasure Trove" is full of curious incident . "Mushrooms" is a rambling and readable article , " sicklied over with learning " on certain cdiblejr <

      Tim Dum . iN Univkusxtv—steps boldly into the foremost ruuk among these serials . The articles arc varied in character , and evidently fi'om no uupractised pens . Wo have read nothing better or more just in respect to Dr . Arnold ' s position as a toucher , wt fa made a prutty strong mark on tho age in which ho livoil , and his general literary abilities and statue , than the article with which the number onons . Tho oritiquo an Carlylo ' s Ju-ederiok dm Great id equally good . Lover . continues his " Gerald Fitzgerald , " and thoro aro ton more' articles all good in . ' liotusolvctf . The pressure on our limited apace at

      Untitled Article

      No . 459 , Janttauy 8 , 1859 . ] THE LEADER . 47

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 8, 1859, page 47, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2276/page/15/