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    I. MASON JONES'S ORATION ON LORD MACAULAY. his oration

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    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.

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    we can only designate as excellent articles on obviously useful and ^ Wu e ^ Famtiy ^ c ^ nomist , an illustrated weekly penny magazine , is deserving ot thd most favourable notice . Its contents are entertaining and instructive in a high degree and we call atteatunr to its well-filled pages , feeling certain that the stories of "So the Worid Goes , " its papers on " Scientific Recreation , " " Waxen ¦ Plnwers and Fruits , " together with a variety of brief papers on Ppufar topics , for the Jost part illustrated , will fully satisfy the int " r ! Tv of d " Cassell ' s Illustrated History of England , " the text bv William Howitt , ranges from 1776—78 , and contains a portrait of Lord Howe , and several interesting sketches of American scenes . " Cassell ' s Popular Natural History " continues the history of the Dog , of which many good illustrations are given . We have also received the May number of Cassell s Illustrated T Tlr l t XlTtf ' '' Cassell ' s Illustrated Family Bible " contains the "Book of Ruth and the first Book of Samuel , which are very beautifaSTiU JSStea ! " Ruth Gleaning in the Field /; and •¦ The Storm in Harvest , " among the characteristic engravings wluch greatly enhance the value of this part . ...... . l i The Ladies' Treasuryfor May is rich with interesting articles ¦^ ftSJ ^ SSSS ^ STSSv . of the valuable " Memoii . of Thomas Moore , " published by Messrs . Longman and Co . It embraces three years of the poet ' s life from 1822 , and his biographer has traced Moore ' s life history to the age of forty-six . In this part is a portrait of Sir John Stevenson , M . D .

    ^ speciaij . ; _ Ttjbin , May 5 , 1860 . OUR King ' s triumphant progress through his new states is still - the universal theme . Gratifying as are the demonstrations of respect and affection with which he is every where greeted , it will , however , be quite a relief when he returns once more to Piedmont , and state affairs are suffered to relapse into their normal ^ ondition . More than a year has now elapsed since Tuscany threw off the rule of her Austrian dictators . The past twelve months of freedom and prosperity , of obstacles overcome , of difficulties surmounted , were well calculated to excite the people of Tuscany to give n warm and ^ -ent-hu « ia 8 tic ^^ ception-to-theiEuneiy-a 0 £ fcC . ejglL ; « nd , indeed , nothing had been neglected by any class , sect , age , or sex to prove the heartfelt gratification , the true-hearted loyalty and _ devotion nourished by the Tuscans towards Victor Emmanuel . , 1 he reception m the Romagna , though greatly marred by the inclemency of the weather , has been such as to show the gratification of the people at their exchange of , priestly for temporal rule . A few months ago Sig-nor E P . Rossi brought out a book which forms a useful and complete manual of the history of the Pontifical domination , and its systematic repression of the just desires of its subjects . In tracing out this history , it is clearly shown that no people has ever acted according to more consistent and unvarying rules in its constant opposition to Papal tyranny . Signor Rossi ' s narrative shows that . Macerata hal revolted from the Pope eight times ; Sinignghn , Ascoli , Fulieno , Orvieto , Ferrara , and Ancona , ten times ; Tivoli , Citta di Castillo Osirno , Fano , and Pesaro , eleven times j Fermo , twelve times ; Spoleto , Todi , and Camerino , thirteen times ; Imola and Ravennaf fourteen times Cesena . and Urb . no , fifteen times ; Viterbo , sixteen times ; Rimini , nineteen times ; Forh twenty times } Bologna and Perugia , twenty-one times ; Fnonza , twenty-two times , and Rome ° seventy-nine times . These figures are far too eloquent to require comment , and are of themselves the most powerful protest possible against the erroneous and repressive system pursued by the Roman Curia . We have ever / reason to hope that a people , who have thus consistently and peraoveringly opposed tyranny , will no less persevenngly and consistently do all In their power to strengths the hands ot their now Sovereign , and aid him in carrying out the reforms which the , tad Government , under which they have grofimnl , have made essen Hy requisite . It is not to bo hoped that the relations between Sovereign and people can always retain the coulcur da rose t ^ » V ftrou » d them by the rejoicings attendant upon a royal program Mutual , combination und concessions will be required , exactly < is in tho arrangements of a large family . . . Tfniian Siaio The work of consolidating and arranging the » 2 | JJj" ; JJJ will be laborious , arduous , and sow . The difflonlUM n « jw ^ ¦ srsswws snss «| SH 3 ^^ t ^^^ T ^^ S ^ ^ Sr ^

    I. Mason Jones's Oration On Lord Macaulay. His Oration

    I . MASON JONES'S ORATION ON LORD MACAULAY . his oration

    Mat 12 , 1860 . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 453

    Untitled Article

    MR . Mason Jones delivered on ^ " » 7 ^ ji ,- I essayist , statesman , prose writer , and poet , at Willis s Rooms , on Monday evening last . In thus stating the circumstance , we have quoted the announcement on the programme as nearly as possible with due regard to the wording of it . The name of the orator is well known to the public ; in fact so well and favourably Imown from his series of popular and eloquent orations of last summer , that the mere announcement ^ his- ^ appearance ^ in the same capacity upon a subject of so wide and deep an interest as that of Macaulay , was quite ^ sufficient to . attract a large bolhant and intelligent audience ; and such it evidently had the effect of doino .. Before the orator took his place on the platform the room washed by hearers who , we feel sure , anticipated a **** .. *** from the expected speaker for no sooner il % ^ . ' ^ if ^ . lecturers , " as Mr . Jones had been represented by some of our contemporaries last season , appear , than be was hailed with warm expressions of delight and applause . ; Of course it was not the Weetinff which a less intelligent and fashionable audience would have Siven to its idol—not of that loud , quick , spontaneous , and turbulent kind which a . popular M . P . would receive from his constituents , but it was nevertheless strong enough to assure ^ lecturer that he was cordially remembered and appreciated . So Mr . Jones , xvhorn we were happy to see again , must have felt . Howeveivto be brief , in spite ofthe very JavouraMTilHpT *^ tmbn us / and the convition which he had , with others , that he would ultimately become an orator of rare and transcendent powers , we must now say plainly that he has not , an our opinion improved upon his first effort in the same room last year . Indeed we think that he has rather deteriorated . His style does not appear to be so terse and vigorous , his wit so keen , Ins imagination so brilliant , nor his penetration , figures of speech , comments , and powers of analysis so fresh and original . We do not make these remarks out of any spirit of ill-feeling to Mr . Jones ; on the contrary , we admire the remarkable gifts which [ he has displayed the great ability he has m anifested , and we are sorry to find that he Should stand still , or , what is worse , even retrograde . Mr . Jones possesses , we admit , plenty of information , and a thorough knowledge of whatever subject he takes up ; he has evidently a great memory , and an unusual command of language ; a copious flow of fanciesf and a poetic temperament . But what he lacks , or does not pay adequato attention to is , the selection and compression of his ideas , and the careful arrangement of his sentences , Hence , through this carelessness , some portions of his speeches appenr to be mere chnsms bridged over by a few commonplaces ; others too exuberant and puffy , and at times tediously protracted by dissertation that may as well be omitted ; and the whole , consequently , with all its merits , painfully suggestive to the hearer of the Unwelcome exclamation , «• Too long by half ! ' Now , tins , wo think , was tho great fault of nn otherwise excellent oration on Lord Maeaujny . Coldly and drily beginning , as sorn * music begins , with a recitative or minor , he detained us much too long m Westminster Abbey at the funeral of the illustrious historian . We certainly did not expect the commonp lace homily to which Mr . Jones treated us at the outset ; and we wish not to be offensive when we say wo were glad when it was over . Solemnising , indeed , imist bo the funeral of a great man whose dust is laid in the pace where kindred dust has long before reposed ; but we think the circumstance may be more solemnly , fittingly , and effectively told in a few words than by any long verbal description , however eloquent , if it Xu ^ as much time , is did the Funeral Service itself . This over , however , the lecturer instantly changing his tone from grave to gay , proceeds to give a rapid Bketch of the life of Macaulay . The quickness and brevity with which this was done , though we were

    strongly reminded of the manner in which it had been done elsewhere , made it highly interesting . Then , after long and ^ carefully descanting upon the respective merits of his essays , histoiy , poems , and powers of speech-making , an argument that was not . . . concluded without a good deal of redundancy , he pronounced an opinion on the intellectual ' character of Macaulay . In doing this , he did , we think , perfect justice to Macaulay . In the lecturer ' s judgment he is neither a great statesman nor a great thinker—but a celebrated essayist merely . In this estimate of Macaulay we coincide , and must content ourselves with this general statement of it , for Want of space to follow Mr . Jones through his argument . Neither was Macaulay an orator . Now , while listening to Mr . Jones , as he pursued his discussion as to the literary speciality of the great essayist , we thought that his own style of speaking resembled that of Macaulay—his oration on him being so like a spoken essay ; and that his remarkable powers will , if he do not take great care , degenerate into the habit of making long speeches only . We also think Mr . Jones ' s speeches would be much improved if he were more chary of the use of the words " splendid , " " sublime , " " transcendental , " " spiritual , " and " divine , " the constant repetition of which is not at all pleasant or tasteful . Some puerilities of sentiment , too , he will do well to get rid of if he would satisfy the maturer judgment of his hearers . We certainly cannot subscribe to his creed that a poet is a " prophet / a "legislator , " lawgiver , " and so forth , at whose feet we must humbly sit and mumble over his music as if it were divine revelation ; nor do we like to hear preached pn a purely literary subject the theological dogmas of any sect . . . At the conclusion of his oration , Mr . Jones , to our thinking , made also a serious mistake . The end , as well as the beginning of it , seemed out of place ; better for him , perhaps , had he put the beginning at the end , or substituteda peroration of his pwn for the " Lays of t he Roundheads , " " Horatius , " and " Virginia ; for considering that these poems are well known , that they are likewise very long , and that Mr . Jones is not a good elocutionist , his recitation of them was about as injudicious a thing as he could have committed . The applause , therefore , was neither hearty nor unanimous . „ , . « By a paper which we received on leaving , we find it announced that " Dean Swift" will form the subject of his next oration , on Saturday morning , May 19 th . - _

    Foreign Correspondence.

    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 12, 1860, page 452, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2347/page/17/