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TfffET liEABEIItr [No. 328j SIttopay, Oa...
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It is the fete of celebrated men to be e...
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,'l^^f:.opens this month with a paper of...
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THE SUBALPINE KUSTGDQM. The SubuJpine Ki...
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.
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Transcript
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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.
Tfffet Lieabeiitr [No. 328j Sittopay, Oa...
TfffET liEABEIItr [ No . 328 j SIttopay , Oav / ; — "
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It Is The Fete Of Celebrated Men To Be E...
It is the fete of celebrated men to be expensive in printer ' s ink , and whenever much ink is used it will be the vehicle of not a small amount of nonsense . Monstrati digito may , or may not , be agreeable ; all depends upon the digit . In the same way , to be written about , to have one s name , deeds , biography and mistakes worked up into memoirs and criticisms , is doubtless a very miestionable draft on that impalpable banker , Fame . Here , also , all depends on the digit . We do not imagine , instance , that Thomas BSnrGTON MacauiAy will read with any satisfaction the " Biographical Notice" which is affiked to the Photographic Portrait of the Historian published by Messrs . Mi . vr . i- and Poi . ybi . ank . The portrait itself will be very
acceptable , and the vast ignorance of the public will perhaps accept with gratitude the meagre details of the Memoir , learning with interest that Maca ^ i-at is the son of Zachaby Macatjlay , the anti-slavery advocate * and of Selika Mills , the Bristol bookseller ' s daughter—so that his love of liberty and love of books inay be affiliated on hjs' parents , assuming that the farrSBMNA read ¦ prhather father sold ; a gratuitous assumption we admit , for , in . general , pastrycooks dp no $ eat largely of tarts . ^ If this detail and the-half-dozen idat ^ s interest the reader , he may forgive the style of the Memoir , although the price of this publication ought to command something more creditable .
,'L^^F:.Opens This Month With A Paper Of...
, 'l ^^ f :. opens this month with a paper of unusual interest , firstly to us sputhrons because ittells us of Scotch clergymen , and secondly to Scotchmen , because it tells them of their General Assembly , which they either love and reverence $ . s dutiful sons of the Kirk , or abominate as schismatics . If any One of our readers wishes to get in an easy way a general idea and picture ofn" Edinburgh during- the General Assembly / 3 let him open Iraser :- — 'As the days lengthen towards the close of May , and the foliage grows thicker in the Frincea-street and Queen-street gardens , an unusual influx of black y coats and white neckcloths annotulces the season of the annual meeting of the Scottish Convocation , the supreme legislative and judicial court of the Kirk , the General Assembly df' th « r Church of Scotland . The ecclesiastics of Scotland have chosen for their
meeting liter ^ Tjr"the " season atween Jdhe and May , " twelve days divided between the latest of May and the earliest of June . It is a time of those delightful long twilights which Scotland gains over the southern counties of England , by some six or seven degrees of latitude farther towards the north . By the 25 th or 26 th of May the streets swarm with , clergymen of every possible diversity of appearance , and from every corner of Scotland : old college friends , who had parted as striplings , meet again as responsible fathers of families ; at the railway stations we are constanly being run against by men with -white stocks and large portmanteaus ; the lodging-houses are crammed with them ; not only does the General Assembly of the Kirk meet at this time , but also that of the " Free Church , ' \ which ha 3 closely copied the organization of the national establishment : there are more clergymen , for the time , in Edinburgh ,
than there are priests in Borne . A very minute and graphic description of the ceremonies follows , interspersed with criticisms and anecdotes . Of the former , we select that on Dr . Robertson : — ; ' 1 / ¦ - 'The recollection of what Dr . Robertson has done for the Church m the way of f 6 unding ~ new parishes , ' will always , we trust , " daus ' o him to be listened to with respect ? akd-his speeches ' Tare really characterized by'massive sense , great acuteness , and much piety and earnestness . Bat he seems to feel it Incumbent upon'him to speak at tremendous > length on every 1 question that ' . cornea ^ befo re the . > Assembly 5 . and : he is boyoad comparison r the Wat insufferably diffuse « fnd tedioua « p <} akw , wo ev « r listened tq . # te , ha « ajfatal , fluency .. wfticb . enahjes him , tq speak on any subject ^ for any given time . He generally sits , at the . table , ' ^ d apeajks standing , . beside it ., . The stranger
, entering ; the Assembly Hall , at any . hour ^ of any day , is quite sure in ahttle while to pw ' ceiye a j ^ hort , yery ^ oufc pl ^ , gentleman , with white hajr , rise from his seat near tne ^ pderator , and begin ( to speak in a , fearfully , harsh voice , with an . awful Aberdeenehire . accent , \ yitha anuff-box in his hand , and turning on his axis like , a roast before ^ e ^ re ,, )^ e , g ^ adu ^ llytalks himself , into a hurricane of loudness , the very driest metap ] dvaical matter < being apparenfjy piifficient ip excite him to the highest degree . vvW on . i s a ^ th dpfts $ ie Bay K .-k-k-kfroyst when , he would utter the Saviour ' s name ? 3 $ hy " qoea ' ft £ talk , of , at ^ urratoh when be , mpans authority ? and wherefore should lie weak Qf ^ vyoqrhia ^^ tau loife , —roif poanda , shuijena , and panse ^ —of the Endoainunt pj fcaun w $ its , gr ? at ; oabjuct , —of Jjie ' sayuigjOf th ^ taxua and the advantage to the wfu ^ feel ^ fhat wp ^ d fpflowif tha ^ s ) faitq ,. were Tn ^ intohncd akkurding to the views of % hv 1 , feyejffna doctor ' pn . tfte , other soya , of t ^ house ? ' . , ' ¦ ' ..,. n-jiOStixo latter , onoon the , unsuspected , advantages of railway tunnola ;—
i i / WecannoD heh > repeating a narrative , which wo heard on one such occasion , told with infinite gravity by a clergyman whose name we at once inquired about , and of vthom yr * shall only aay . thafl hois one of tho best und worthiest of the sons of / the Kjrk , aad , Jknows wb # n to l > 0 < 8 Qripus as well as , when , to jest . " Don ' t tell mo , " said he to a simple-looking Highland brother , who had apparently made his . first trial of railway travelling in coming up to the Assembly , " don't tell me that tunnels on railways are an unmitigated evil ; they Berve high moral and cesthctical purposes . Only the other day I got into a railway carriage ) ^ pd . I had hardly taken my Beat wh ^ ^ hajt *^ started , Qn looking up , I saw sitting opposite me two of tho most TADid Duua ^ iien . 'in S cotland . I felt at once that there could be no pleasure for mo in
Wa ^ , | ourne 3 f ,, ^ , pd with gloomy heart and countenanco I leaned back ia rny corner . But all at ' once we plunged into a long tunnel , black as nign t , ' and when wo emerged aTtW 6 ftieV )^ d ' , llffl | W < Wi Wflfa'denr nnd ni ^ ill-hiimbttr was entirely dissipated . jWiyirr ' teltyott'howtliW da ^ eUd be ? ' All the way through the tunnel I was shaking ifl ¥ flse'W th « l DIAsentirtf ftt 6 « , 'atl « 'rftaldng libmblo mdnthBat them , and thitt relieved ini attdAOt'nmiAll'rtoht : > DonftlApotAE . against tunneLsiagain , my dear friood 1 " Tfflt i'OH £ ki . ifelSb 1 tilW ^ takes Sir Ei > wiN LandShbr l ^ sttiitty ' H $ ' ti ^ sk fok 4 ^ riB P ^ 8 ^ n B the red deeri by ilrivlnir them two inches more of tail than they really possess ; and this mistake appears to bo Always made by the artist , in s pite of his general accuracy . Tho point was
quite worth insisting on , and Mr . Bones las done it in a friendly way . He also notices Landsebb ' s treatment of antlers : — ^ "We remember but one instance where an imperfect acquaintance with the formation of the feature in question is disclosed . It ia in the otherwise charming plate which forms the frontispiece to Mr . Scrope ' s Deer-Sfaiking . The antlers of the stag to the right are incorrect . Whatever number of points a stag may have besides those termed " brow "" bray , " and " tray , " they always belong to , and contribute to form , tho group at top composing the crown . Below this group , between it and the bray antler , no point ever shoots out of the beam . Ia the instance in qustion there are two such supernumerary points : which , consequently , is wrong . It would not . have been wrong , however , if the two , and half a dozen besides , had been added to Me crovm . The following is worth extracting : —
The antlers , as Landseer gives them , always greatly heighten , sometimes indeed who ll y make , the effect . He goes occasionally to the very utmost limits that he safely can . A step further , and the consequence would be bombast and caricature . There being such a diversity in the growth of antlers , their sweep and formation indeed often surpassing our most fanciful imaginings , we think it is to be regretted that Landseer should introduce , as the point of attraction or interest , the same "head which has already figured in a former picture . Its mighty beam and long brow antlers may make it very effective ; but others are to be found quite as much so , and there were no need for the " Monarch of the Glen" to wear the same royal diadem we had already
seen tossed skywards by " The Stag at Bay . " We may be called hypercritical m this , but be it remembered that the antlers of a stag are his badge , the feature by which he is known and identified year after year , on mountain , and in forest , among hundreds of his fellows . They are what a strongly-marked countenance is among men . For , as a sportsman , Sir Edwin will know that there is a personality in a stag as much aa in the human race . He is recognized directly he is seen . To put the same stag therefore into several pictures , is as if Wilkie had introduced a characteristic weUknown face—the Duke of Wellington ' s for instance—in his " Beading the Will , " Distraining for Rent" and again in two or three mpre of his beat works .
, Of all the animals we have seen by this great master , the stag also is the only one in representing which he ever seems to think pf an " effect . ' We do not say it is always so ; but neither is it always otherwise . Yet with his hinds there is never a traceVsuch endeavour , ; they are , as if daguerreotyped from nature on to the very But the stag ' of the Highlands is Landseer ' s hero ; and where there is a trace of the " heroic" to be found in his picture , 'tis some Grampian royalty that is sure to be its representative . To us who have , been among the red deer in their homes , who have watched them when scaredwho have seen the stag keeping the maddened
blood-, hound at bay , and have heard , and followed the while , as he roared with passion , we confess he seems in Landseer ' s pictures occasionally a little theatrical . He puta himself into position , and " calls up a look . " At such , times there is that about him which we see in the portraits of actors ; a certain unmistakable something , an evident pose which reminds us invariably of the stage . It is not merely a proud bearing , but rather an air of hauteur , which Sir Edwin gives his stags ; they are evidently intended for effect , and , to borrow a phrase , are expected " to bring down the house . " This is the more striking , because Landseer ever seems indifferent about such results ; as carlelesB of them as a child how it may have folded its pretty limbs in sleep .
We , to whom tae stag is no unfamiliar sight , deem such imperious air to be out of character . The royal hart is always a magnificent presence , and in such hands aa Landseer ' s cannot fail to be impressive . But when he stands at gaze , wondering , and at a loss to know what sounds disturb him , his bright widely-opened eye seems inquiring rather than defiant . If the breeze has borne towards him the taint of a foe , his sudden start then is marked by apprehension . If the head be flung back , it is to listen ; not in pride or with a sense of his dignity . And when in the rutting season he dashes down upon the intruder , or , looking round , challenges him to the battle , there ia in his own mien more of blinding frenzy than of calm conscious power . Blackwood , ^ besides two stories , and a continuation of " Travels in Circassia , " contains three papers of general interest . " The Scot Abroad—The Man of Council , " is another of that well-devised seric & of hist 6 rical pictures , and notices the eminent Scotchmen who . have played , great political parts in
foreign countries . ' ? The Speoial Embassy in 1698 " will be very attractive just now , when ' every one' has laid down Macattlat ' s fourth volume . It 13 an account of the embassy of Poktland to represent William of Oeange in negotiations respecting the Peace of Kyswick . Pobixano took with him , as his secretary , MatPbior , our twice favourite poet ; and it is from a manuscript diary kept by the poetic secretary that the writer in Blaokicood draws the' principal details of his curibus paper . We have only space to mention in a line theinteresting artielcion ?* Greece and Italy , " in which the writer eloquently espouses the cause of the Greeks against the Turks .
The Subalpine Kustgdqm. The Subujpine Ki...
THE SUBALPINE KUSTGDQM . The SubuJpine Kingdom ; or , Experiences and / Studies in Savoy , JPiedmont , and Genoa . , By Bayle St . Jolin . 2 vols . ' , Chapman and Hall . Tins is a book of pictures and opinions ' . As it ia not our duty to criticize it , we will pass lightly over tho pictures . ••• ¦ They represent tho town and country life of Savoy , Piedmont , and Genoa ; the gambling saloons of Aixles-Bains ; the public and private inannors of Turin ; the forms and procedures of the new Italian Constitutional Government ; palatial , parliamentary , villa , shop , and cafe" interiors , —all things , indeed , that an Englishman , accustomed to travel , possessed of the language , habituated to political society , and provided with good introductions , might bo , expected to describe . Mr . iBajlo St . John discourses of nil these , matters : how ho discourses , liis critics must say .
We prefer to offer a summary of hip opinions , the rosulta of his " experiences and studies . " Adopting for the States of Sardinia tho Italian appellation of the Subfclpino Kingdom , he states at once his belief that the Piedmonteso Government has , diplomatically speaking , placed itself \ n a , false position . Its tmo policy would have been , not to have discou , ntenancod and discouraged the Italian democracy , but to have conciliated and assisted it . This , ho thinks , the ministers of Victor Emmanuel have never done . They are resigned to their constitutionalism , not proud of it . They aoparatc themselves from the national party of progress . While decrying Austrian tyranny , they flutter French usurpation . And this in tho face of tho historical fact'that France , not Austria , has , been tho worse bnno of Italy . _ After preparing the reader by a series of historical retrospects—containing many aniecdott )« thUt will b 6 iiavr to the admirers of Galjehga—Mr . St . Jolm cdmnierices his political exposition by a review of the press * in Piedmont . Tho liberal journals of Turin have done ua the honour to quote our writing "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 5, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05071856/page/16/
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