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January 8, 1853.] THE LEADER. 41
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This is magazine week. Bentley's Miscell...
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RECENT POEMS Mnpedoclcs on Etna and othe...
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.
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January 8, 1853.] The Leader. 41
January 8 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 41
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This Is Magazine Week. Bentley's Miscell...
This is magazine week . Bentley ' s Miscellany takes a new start , and seems inclined to run the race with greater vigour , though with the same jockeys . Albert Smith leads off at a hand-gallop . Shihley Brooks following with the opening chapters of a novel , which promises to be gay and sparkling —( What a graphic touch is that about the lawyer ' s clerk , who " wrote a beautiful hand , borrowed money from every new clerk , and was rather supposed to be an atheist because he never swore , and because he
had been detected in reading Voltaire ' s Chains XII .. '" ) Professor Creasy commences a mouthy work of historical declamation on the " Imperial Four , " which , however , will find admirers , we have little doubt . There is also a remorseless contributor of more Wellingtonianaj and a portrait of Ada Byron , Lady Lovelace , which will excuse the "letter-press " accompanying it . While alluding to this engraving , let us not forget that Leech's unrivalled pencil is called in to lend its gaiety and observation to Bentley ' s Miscellany .
Fraser is excellent this month . Its charming articles on fishes—so learned , so racy , and so piquant—are continued by a curious account of the thunny , rightly named the " fish of many names , " with its various titlesthunnus , thynnis , pelamys , sarda , auxis , xanthias , triton , thersites , cheledonias , melandrya , synodon , cybia , cete—not farther to extend this polyonymousness ! Even the most unlearned reader will follow the writer through his etymologies ; while for curious facts , take a sample here : — . " The roes deposited at the beginning of June , shortly afterwards become young fry , and at the end of the first month are about the size of gudgeons , and weigh between an ounce and a half and two ounces ; by the end of the next month , their volume and weight are trebled ; by the time October is out , these infants of four
months old are twenty-fold their original bulk , and weigh above two pounds ; greatly exceeding in this surprising power of development , not only all the inmates of lakes , rivers , and ponds , but those also which , in common with themselves , fatten upon the salt (?) of the sea . All , however , do not live to exhibit this sudden growth , but many come , instead , to a sudden end ; by far the greater portion of the nascent brood never reach maturity , being hunted out and eaten up by the unnatural mother , as soon as the mass of roe is quickened into life : only a small fraction escape their infanticidal dam , whom , when a little older , and able to protect themselves from her jaws , they follow ; and pay a first visit , under her escort , to the Mediterranean Sea . All that winter they do not change either name or condition , but the next spring , on again accompanying the thynnis on a new
spawning expedition to the Euxine , they bury themselves in the fattening ooze , and come out pelamyds ; so called , says one great authority ( Aristotle ) , from this concealment in the mud : irapa to iv to nrjhui pveiv ; or merely , says another ( Plutarch ) , from a habit of herding together : bta to ire \ eiv < i / za . After passing the anniversary of their first birthday , theso pelamyds were considered to have a tained maturity , and were dubbed thunnies in consequence . Aristotle does not si y how long they enjoyed this majority , but as he limits the life- of a dvvvos to two years , it follows , l > y inference , that he is only a thunny for the space of one year . What , then , becomes of this large fish when two years have passed over his head ? According to the above author , in his ' poetics , ' not ' logic , ' of natural history , lie dies ; not , however , in fact , but , like Boileau's inamorato , only in a
metaphor' loujours bien mangeant , qui mourt par meStaphore , ' to come out some time after , a new fish with a new name—an orcynus , of unwield v dimensions , or , iih Athenuus informs us , a cete , or brevet whale . And hero we ar ° forced to stop , for at what precise period of this great scomber ' s career he rejoiced in the appellations of triton , cybin , mnlantlrys , or xunthiue , we know positively nothing , l ' ope , imitating . Juvenal , ri ]> enks , in n well-known passage of the Dunciad , of the difficulty in naming a handful of obscure critics and libellers' Souh of a « luj ! just buoyant on tlio ilootl , Then numbered with the . puppies in tho mud ; Auk you Wwir names Z ' could tut soon ( HhcIoho ( The Jiimie . s of Uieno blind jumpies as of ( Iioho . '
There is also another natural history article—Bison Jluntiny in India , which few will leave unread . In curious contrast with these stands the interesting sketch given of Conrad Gessncr , the great scholar and naturalist of the sixteenth century , whose learning ' would have amazed our pundits , whose ready writing would have appalled even our ready writers . There arc several other papers in the number , among them , as may be expected , articles on MooitK , WkiiStkh , and Slavery . Mni-kumad also has its article on MonitK and on Slavery . Tho former
descriptive rather than critical , with n good pica urged for literature . It also begins u new story , hndi / Lett ' s Widowhood ; and ends u very long one —My Novel , by Sir IIiimvkk Lytton . The Letter to Husetuus on Many T / iiw / s , has nil the pleasant thoughtfulaess of its predecessors , and we shall draw upon if , for our Notes and Extracts . Meanwhile , the following bit of genealogy , setting forth the title of Loijih Napoi , kon to the Unglish crown , will junuse the reader : — " If Louis Buonaparte . should bo ho absurd as to invade Knglimcl , what will tho
nou resistinir peaeo Hoeioties think of a now claiiiu whidi Jm may m \ . up , without niiy other m . v « . v belli -no lew * ih . ui a claim , by genealogy , to the ( . Vown <> j Ku - I ( I ! Here let me pause n moment , to nelmire ) lh <> quaint , wit of Lord St . Vincent ,, who used to nay , in <> t , hor days , when tho invasion was talked of- " I don't May thev ain't eome ; 1 only sn . y they ain't , eo . uo by sea . " Hut l <» *•¦ " « K «< nnilo inil I Spunieoti an Italian , and BillerHleiu , a ( iemmn , two authors who were ' paid hrJsun . s by lluonaparto ( an we lun . st call hi ... ) tho Kir . sl ,, preteu . led to prove IK » llown- -That the Huouuparto iiimily , before their onngrut . ou Iron . 1 uncany ti . Cond « 400 y « nn und more ago , wore allied to tho iui * t uuoicul lu « cuu tauukw ,
even to that of the house of the Medici ; and as this house has given two queens to Prance , the Buonapartes are , therefore , relatives of the Bourbons ; and the sceptre , therefore , of the French empire is still , under Buonaparte the First , in the same family , though in a more worthy branch . Spaniceti received 1000 Louis-d ' ors in gold , a pension of 6000 livres f or life , and the place of Chef de Bureaux in the ministry of the home department of the kingdom of Italy , producing yearly 18 , 000 livres , or 1501 . The Bourbons would surely use the proverb , " Call me cozen , but cozen me not . " I wonder if this genealogy will flourish in the pageant on the crowning the Emperor . But here is the further claim , which ho may , when he thinks fit , present with his compliments to Queen Victoria : for Billerstein , the Bavarian genealogist , proved the pedigree of the Buonapartes as far back as
the first Crusades , and that the name of the friend of Richard Cceur-de-Lion was not Blondel , but Buonaparte ; that he changed the latter for the former only _ to marry into the Plantagenet family , the last branch of which has since been extinguished b y its intermarriage and incorporation with the house of Stuart ; and that , therefore , Napoleon Buonaparte is not only related to most sovereign princes of Europe , but has more right to the throne of Great Britain than had George the Third , then reigning when this precious genealogy was composed , being- descended from the male branch of the Stuarts , while George the Third was only descended from the female branch of the same royal house !! This is going it pretty strong ,
and is quite fit for emblazoning , by the sound of trumpets , on tho coming day . Billerstein was presented with a snuff-box , with Buonaparte ' s portrait , set with diamonds , valued at 12 , 000 livres , and received 24 , 000 livres ready money , together with a pension of 9000 livres , or 375 Z . per annum , till he should be better provided for . He was , besides , nominated a Knight of the Legion of Honour . It cannot , therefore , be denied that Napoleon rewarded like an emperor—a great encouragement to genealogists to try the liberality of the nephew . By this genealogical arithmetic we may learn the relative value of the two crowns . Of that of England , there is scarcely a genealogist of any country , we should think , out of France , who would indorse the table with ' I wish he may get it . ' "
Every one will look for an article on the Defeat of the Ministry , and sure enough there it is , confident , prophetic , regarding the defeat as perhaps , on the whole , a triumph , and looking forward to speedy re-accession to power ! The British Journal is certainly a liberal sixpennyworth , and opens the new year with a very good number . Among the articles will be distinguished the commencement of a novel by Mrs . Hooper , entitled The Pride of the Bridgenorths ; the Habits of the Emperor Nicholas ; and Mr . Alfked Cole ' s account of Bush-fighting in South Africa .
Recent Poems Mnpedoclcs On Etna And Othe...
RECENT POEMS Mnpedoclcs on Etna and other Poems . By A . B . Fellowes . Poems . By B . H . Parkes . John Chapman . Poetry differs from Prose , as we constantly declare , in kind more than in degree ; it differs from Prose as Song differs from Speech , and this not by reason of any rytlmric melody of language so much a . 3 by a'peculiar and inseparable melody in the thought itself . There may be perfect metro and unexceptionable diction without a pulse of that life we all recognise as poetry . In every Art there are countless Amateurs , of varying degrees of merit , but all stopping short of mastery . Wherein lies the secret of
this mastery we cannot say , but tho effect is distinguishable enough . Poetry , like every Art , has a . few masters ; men born poets , whether they practise at College or at the plough ; it has also its countless aspirants , among them highly gifted natures , capable of producing verse that has every quality but that mysterious quality of Song ; and there being no ready test a man can apply , to determine in his own case the elifle : rene ; e between aspiration anil inspiration , he is forced to ask the Public to answer the question for him . The public does answer it , emphatically—by silence . The readiness with which they welcome any man who has a spark of poetry in his soul may be seen in the reputations of several contemporaries .
Although it is quite true that Poems in the real sense of tho word are rare ; , it is also true that very delightful verses are often written by men and women whom one cannot , strictly speaking , name poets . In prose ; Literature , genuine Hooks are rare ; and yet an ever-teeming press incessantly issues volumes that have their merit , their purpose , and their charm . As critics ( hen—tasters for our Public—wo are bound to show that attention to tho verses we show to tho volumes , and , while maintaining the principles which make our praise ; chary , elo justice when vv . e ; can .
To notice ) all , ov anything like all , tho poe ; ms se ; nf us would he teelioiiH anel ulle ; we ; select twe > voluine ; s because they bear the trace's of cultivation , seMisihility , elelicacy , anel poetic ; feeling ; although it , is clear that , ne'ither of these penifs would liavo expresseel the ; mselves in ve'rse ; , had there ; ne > t bee ; ii ihidhtouh wingers before them inciting the m toevmnlaliem . In hoth we ; se ; o the ; pen ; try of the ; Amateur . They have ; ne > t luhouml at the ; Art with flu ; patieMwe <> 1 " a . passion ; the ; y have ; been e ; asily satisfied , not sensitively fastidious ; M . e ; y have ; t , ake ; u tlie ; image that came * first , and tho epithet that was ready ; they have ; mounted Pe ; gjisus ue > t rieldcn him .
hhnpcdoclcs on J' ftna and other Poems , is re'ally a elelightfnl volume ' , and issue's from a liigl . ly-eudturoel , highly tempered ! mind . 11 , hears thin epigraph : 2 oc /> a > T « roj > , x / joj / ov' iiMvpixKii yn \> tiuvtu , hie ; h may bo lMiglu > lu ;< L A wonderful Sophist is Time , for nothing e . scnpeth his vision , anel Time ; serins here to have taught a meditative ; iniiid many a Hiiel anel many a erhee ; rful lesson ; but Time ; has not taught this lewum in Art ,, that " lie spares jioMiing elono wif . hexit his aid " - - Jie temps n ' epiu-gnu pan e-e qu'on fait sans lui , and the ; pe > ol , has I . iinse'lf to thank if his verso be ; less durables than , ho wishes .
Th <; principal poem we ; regard as altogether a mistake . . Empoelewles , disheartened with the world , ascends Mtna , and lifter a clue ; nme > unt , of luemologuo precip itates himself ii * to tho exate ; r . But , what , llicii F VVhe ; re ; lore the' poem P It is not ; n , pe > etic expedition of the phih ) se ) phe ; r ' s life ; , nor e > f his doctrine's , it , is but a slende ; r fhmiel upon which " A . " may wtriug atvay thought * and imugca . Moreover , the eluHBiculify
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 8, 1853, page 41, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08011853/page/17/
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