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1168 THE LEA.DEE, [K"o. 350, Saturday, ^
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JCiteiituT^
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The power of style is marvellously exhib...
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_ Uut A v jr re tue aior the.^ .. . "^ c...
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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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.
1168 The Lea.Dee, [K"O. 350, Saturday, ^
1168 THE LEA . DEE , [ K " o . 350 , Saturday , ^
Jciteiitut^
JCiteiituT ^
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The Power Of Style Is Marvellously Exhib...
The power of style is marvellously exhibited in De Qoikcei ' s contribution to Blackioood this month , " The recent Confession of an Opium Eater . In itself the thing is nothing , a mere figment , a dream-combination ; but m its manner of presentation there is a peculiar charm , the style arrests you like the eye of the Ancient Mariner arresting the impatient wedding guest , and compelling him to listen to the tale ; paragraph after paragraph of strange grave humour and powerful writing keeps your attention on the stretch . In another style , but also by mere force of style , another contributor to the same number fixes your attention in an article " On the Food of London , reminding one occasionally of Wilson ' s mirth and fancy , as , for example , in speaking of the Vegetarians : — . . ¦ . ¦ . . . Some few years ago the vegetarians ,.. who hold all flesh ^ abho " . ^ ° ^ * ° bring themselves rather prominently forward under the auspicesof the Peace Society , It was believed that , by abstinence from beefsteaks and suchlike , and by a ™™*» substitution of brocoli , cucumber , beans , and Jerusalem artichokes v all pugnacity would disappear , and the spirit of the nation be tamed down to such a point that war could occur no more . These lads , whose addiction to onions rendered them exceedingly unpleasant in conversation , hdd soirees in various towns , . . * P * Jy ^™^* £ forage . We have heard nothing of them foi a long time ; but prefer , ^ S ™ J they have relapsed into the meat heresy , to the awful supposition that they ha > periahed of bowel-complaints . And this rhapsody : — The grandestwaking aspirations of Apicius or Lucullus , habituated as they were to stewid lampreys , barbels' beards , nightingales' tongues , and other approved com £ tures of the Roman kitchen , must hare been feeble , dull , and indistinct-, compared with the visions which nightly haunt the sleep of the supperless convict . ^> iiy pity him for the scantiness of his fare , -when * re know that this forced abstinence has opened to him the vast realms of the world of imagination ? Hears he not m his sleep the gurgling of perennial porter from pewter fountains as capacious as the springs of the Ganges , and cool as the lymph of the glacier ? Fancy-driven by the gentle spiriting of thirst , he wanders by the margin of the brown aromatic stream , until collecting itself for a gigantic effort , it thunders down , a glorious IS lagara of stout into a whirlpool , compared with which , the biggest vat of Barclay and Peikms is an infant's poringer . Ah , celestial froth—product of a million dream-pots—how pleasant seem thy whirlings in that barmy abyss to the parched palate « ftbe sleeper But a new phase intervenes . Hunger reasserts her prerogative , and the convict , led by Pluck , not Puck , marches along a road paved with penwinklss instead of pebbles , through an infinity of baked-jotato stalls—a streaming ^ avenue , where the savoury tripe , and the glutinous cowheel , and the bullock ' s liver , fit offering to the gods , mingle their meaty incense ; and , in his distorted dream , he moans over the infinity of his choice . Pity him , indeed ! Wh y ^ the proudest alderman of London—nay , the Lord Mayor himself—would gladly surrender his dignity on condition that he snouia be visited by visions such as these . Tancy a City magnate retiring to rest—or what he supposes to be rest—after one of those civic banquets of which the newspapers give us such abundant detail . After two , or it may be three , helpings of turtle , with its concomitant punch—after a huge portion of turbot after entremets , which , Like wafers , are absorbed by the enormous gullet-after capon and venison and game , not to mention pies and tarts , andcustarda , and marrow-pudding , and whipped cream , and blanc-mange , and jellies—the whole heterogeneous mass being washed down with sherry , champagne , madeira , hock , port , and claret—how can his slumbers be light , or his visions blissful and Elysian ? Haunted is ho by apparitions more horrible than ever rose before the view of geologist when contemplating the ruins of an earlier world . The turtle , swallowed so late , reappears in the form of a cawana or snapping tortoise , resting its unwieldy weight upon the aldermanic chest , and epilepticaliy struggling upwards . Saurians surround his bed : pterodacty les rattle through the curtains . Bleeding turkeys and half-executed geese gobble and hiea in his ear . Tisionary pies open of their own accord , and disclose a nest of serpents . Fear trans- forms him into an effigy of blanc-mange , and he dreams that he is smothered in custard . Thus does nature avenge the rapine of the remorseless and -unconscious gormandizer . - n Style is a far more important element of literary success than is generally believed , and the reason why its importance is little recognized lies in the vulgar error of style consisting in mere manner or mere diction , whereas style ia the expression of the writer ' s mind , bright , various , pliant , and full of images or suggestions when the mind is bright , capacious , and keen heavy , monotonous , flaccid , and commonplace when the mind is all these If men think commonplaces their style is commonplace , if they think for themselves their style becomes by that very fact instinct with life . Most minds are echoes , and almost all literature is consequently little more than words . Thus when the writer of the amusing biography of Talma in the Dublin University Magazine says that Talma was inferior to Gabbick in ex ecutive versatility , but he far surpassed him in classical acquirement and 2 » found study of the ancient models , " he is senselessly echoing a -very foolish phrase often uttered by men who attach no definite ideas to what they say Had Talma been the editor of a Greek play , or the historian of ancient literature , his supposed classicul acquirement and profound study of ancient models would have been just claims to our respect ; but inasmuch as he an actor , a French actor , an actor never called upon to perform the ancient modela , and unable to make any use of his profound study in his attempts to portray the passions , the critic ' s praiaeis singularly misplaced . To make it more bo , after echoing the platitude , ho hastens to add that Talma " took nature for hie exclusive guide I" The article is nevertheless amusing , and may be road oven after Rkg niek ' s admirable memoir in the Biographic Universelle . The following answer given by Talma , to one who asked Mm if he were not deeply affected by emotions he represented , ia worth citing : — "Acting , " said he , ? ' is a complete patadox ; we must possess tho power of strong \
phleg ] expec tons ^ ^ natur ^ ^ becon . , b H ( av artil £ enrpl Nfl and redu { tlie * * cogiii e the s no lo ^ dentj - been ftlosc I fUr ? . wit ] i featl , gtolll , gi ( m as befo ] fleot ) ! feeling or we could never command and carry with us the sympathy of a mixed audience in a crowded theatre ; but we must at the same time control our own sensations I on the stage , for their indulgence would enfeeble execution . The skilful actor calcu- I lates his effects beforehand . He never improvises a burst of passion or an explosion I of grief . Everything that lie does is the result of prearrangement and forethought I The agony which appears instantaneous , the joy that seems to gush forth involun- I tarily , the tone of the voice , the gesture , the look , which pass for sudden inspiration , I have been rehearsed a hundred times . On the other hand , a dull , comp osed , I phlegmatic nature can never make a great actor . He who loves his profession and I expects to excel in it , must study from himself , and compare his own proved sensations under grief , happiness , disappointment , loss , acquisition , anger , pain , pleasure , and all the ordinary variations of human events and feelings , with the imaginary emotions of the characters he is supposed to represent . Not long ago , " he added , "I -was playing in ' Misanthropy and Repentance , ' with an admirable actress . Her natural and affecting manner , deeply studied nevertheless , completely overpowered me . She perceived , and rejoiced in her triumph , but whispered to me , ' Recover yourself , Talma ; you are excited . ' Had I not listened to the caution my / voice would have failed , the words would have escaped nay memory , my gesticulations yould have become unmeaning , and the whole effect would have dwindled into insignificance . No , believe me , we are not nature , but art ; and in . the excellence of our imitation lies the consummation of skill . " Here is an anecdote Talma , used to tell of Napoleon when that young ' . artillery officer had j ust returned from Toulon with reputation but without I- employment : — ' Napoleon had successively pledged whatever trinkets he possessed , rings , brooches , : and watche" and his resources were entirely exhausted . The man of destiny was r reduced to despair , and resolved to end all by a plunge in the Seine . On his way to : the Pont Neuf he ran against some one in his abstraction , and raising his head , ieb coffirized an old schoolfellow of Bricnne . The latter had just received from his notary 3 the sum of twenty thousand francs ; the former was intent on suicide , because he had no longer the price of a dinner . They divided the money between them , and Najoleon returned to his lodging . If that warm-hearted comrade of the college had accib dentally passed down another street , the history of the next twenty years would have - been written without the names of Lodi , Marcngo , Austerlitz , Jena , Fnedland , i BIoscow , Leipsig , and Waterloo . i The writer then describes Talma ' s appearance in Macbeth : — s He was habited in a modern tunic or surtout of claret-coloured cloth , trimmed with 3 fur tiffht pantaloons , and hessian boots . On his head was a round , black velvet « ap , 3 with an indistinct border of what appeared to be meant for tartan , and a single ostnch e feather dangling from one side . He presented the appearance of a middle-sized , L stoutishmaii , with a bull-neck , features of no particularly denned outline , . or expres-: ion iu repoae , and action of no extraordinary grace . He had not spoken a dozen ^ lines 9 before it was evident that we saw before us a mighty master of elocution , and a refleotor of the passions , deeply studied and bountifully endowed .
_ Uut A V Jr Re Tue Aior The.^ .. . "^ C...
_ Uut A v jr re tue aior the . ^ . . . " ^ cu , rar the fr 0 o SSSser be , I j ^ ^ tli ^ o £ re 3 ? ; so . ^ tl vs - P <> " v 0 . 11 I o 11 was IJ 1 I , u i ¦ - i the I HISTOliY OE THE ERENCII PEASANTRY . History of the Peasantry ( Histoire des Pa * jsan ^ $ c ) Jror » the Close ° f ^^^ . to our own Times . I 3 y Eugene Bonnemere . 2 vols . lans . Chameiot . A paKobamic suminary prefixed to M . Bonnemcre ' s history represents the trasses fei £ ? i ^ & s t ^ r ^^^ t ton a ^ l feudality ,- ami th enfranchisement of the conunu ™^ ared j Essss ssws ^^^ af better . By political writers in France of both parties . tins s 6 J ^ rn qr & aaSSSqfl ^ Bg ^ , the human race on any discovery made since the *? 1 * ? . ^ ]^ $ ^ f late as 1789 , the stains of savage centuries were visible ; »^ c ^ K ^ re B of France-traces of Phallic rites in the X . nnouBin-, and cu ^™[ ™ ll mor s repnlsive at Poitiers . Even to ibis hour IWhcal fires « f « 11 Paris on St . John ' s-day , and tho peasants of Brittany , the best wjnoune . say , are disgracefully barbarous . 'Ihc ruling orders , inaeo ^—tho nobtei «^ ; the clergy , aided i / later times by the b 0 urpoisie-accompl « h ^ tM ! was in Sir power to destroy the intellect and to deprave * lie nowta Jt ^» ir peasantry . The peasant was to be made a ^ c , that the ^ ^"; cn * roves * Lute might safely be inflicted upon ^^ J ^ S ' iS ' n that , wherever he rose above the evel of imbecilitjs ho mari « d he ^ ie with blood , and provoked a social war . Ihc pictuie drawn oi ^ peasant by ' the azWists of the monarchy has usuaUy b ^ e n ^ t ^ [ assassin ; history , before the Revolution , was but little u f ° ^ J ^ on eroli ° " with the serf Nor has it yet atoned for the ungrateful and "WS f * omission At Versailles , assays M . Taxilc Delord , an -S ^> - ^ y . M . Bonnemere ' s work , royalty , clorar , nobility , mag is tmey ,. and bo in tit are represented , but there is no illustration of the pea an try . x nt peasantry , from Vercingetorix to 1814 , . have . borno ^ ^ \^ bflVo a 9 national conflict-have repulsed Koman , E" ^ ^""' ^ L thoy had « o * " a 9 f never had a statue ; and , until ; M . Bonnenibre ^ rojc , they baa at torian . M . Bonnornerc himself complains of the sJat ^ " ; " gLped bv »«» which the rural classes have been treated . They h ^ J ^" J ^ Jg of all ke the poets and abandoned by tho clironic crs 'llicy h ? J ^ ffij ' ^ c oleok ages and races , from Hesiod to Boueellai , from Virgil to Vameie , bfato their idyllic labours , and create marvellously ^ ^ flC ft r n wfty S ) and m ideas of their felicity ; but tho historian has wandered in ot ^ a ^/ y n 0 t ? CO followed the sword-bearer in preference to the P » ougbman . Anttjr ^ ^ rer Tho ploughman has done little , hitherto , for the progress o tl e ^ ^ -he tho results of the soldier ' s activity have at least boon impo tant . x cm M . Bonnemere , while ho partly belies his accusations of ne « Lcci , ^ ^ , ng from page to page a dense array cf authontios , has found the annai
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06121856/page/16/
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