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QcfbBfeR 9, 1852.] THE ifeADER. ^7
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PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC. XI. Hesperia...
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THE CHIVALRY OF LABOUR EXHORTED TO THE W...
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THE WINTER THEATRES. Now our season may ...
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.
Viii. Audley Hall, Werneth, Jan. 17, 185...
English spirit is gone . The public meeting seems to me nothing but a conventional machinery to collect pence for some trading statesman of the class , for some " secretary" always out of work ; and to collect customers for some landlord , who broaches revolutionary principles as a . whet to the a dvertisement of his own beer . That every man who begs should not be respected for that mere fact ! Undisciplined helpless numbers , rapacious trading agents for agitation , turbulent bullying and timid trimming seemed to my unfamiliar eyes the traits of this public meeting . " Political power !" out of all knowled
The working classes of England seem to have grown ge that political power is not a " right , " but a facts their leaders evidently view it neither as a right nor a fact , but only as a catchword for an advertisement in the " agitation" trade . I noticed a policeman solemnly taking notes of the nonsense , especially of that wild gentleman who suggested to the company in this public house parlour the . example of Hampden and Cromwell : Werneth conjectures that these reports are duly sent up to the Office of the Interior ; and the Secretary of State holds that by such means he is well informed as to " the state of the country , " and " the feelings
of the people" ! This " liveried servant of our tyrannical and despotic oppressors / ' was a standing figure in the eloquence of the benevolent-faced secretary ; and I believe that the policeman at such a meeting , like the wooden Highlander which I see at the door of a common dealer in tobacco and snuff , is worth many pence to men like Boiling . Once the English were free , and able to defend their own freedom ; now they are content to play at being " slaves , " and to make the claims of their order a wretched farce . At least , so it appeared to me , who have little in common with them now— -little beside a common history—an " old almanac" !
The sun is rising as bright and clear across the wintry grounds , as if no Boiling had threatened over night to set the world in order ; but something seems to be amiss in this house : I see policemen outside , and hear a bustle , so that I may be interrupted . I hope I am not going to be pilloried in public ridicule as a " patriot" after the new English fashion . p . S . Do not be afraid ; it is not I whom the policemen want ; but I will tell you what it is next time . I am off for London .
Qcfbbfer 9, 1852.] The Ifeader. ^7
QcfbBfeR 9 , 1852 . ] THE ifeADER . ^ 7
Passages From A Boy's Epic. Xi. Hesperia...
PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC . XI . Hesperia . She ceased , and Bacchus standing near her throne , Smiled , and the assembled princes thus bespake : " Hesperian Powers ! that in Heaven ' s earlier days Once knew me as the father of ail life , Yet lone , remote , and in the eternal depth Of Godhead , self-absorbed and self-sustained :. Now know me as I know myself through love , For the true knowledge dwells with love alone , And Gods are then most Gods when most they love . I stood among the Olympian potentates And told them thought was life : that to behold Beauty and weigh it in the even scale Of judgment that preserves an equal soul , Was the fit work of Gods . I said that love , And all large passion felt by dying men , Might yearn or sit upon melodious strings , To round the life of heaven ' s imperial sons To fuller knowledge , but that starry looks May not flush high , nor deathless pulses throb With the sweet fire that burns in lowlier blood . And so forsaking all the gentler Gods , I stood alone , nor loved , nor was beloved , And I knew life , not feeling what life was . But this was in the Past . Henceforth I live Among the other Gods and love like them . To-morrow feasting shall make glad the heavens . And golden trumpets blow and garlands twine Round the dim heads of Gods , and faces gleam In wavering beauty through the shadowy clouds . But now farewell , ye Powers ! that rule a world , When light and fragrance and soft azure calm Lull the tranced spirit in ambrosial dreams , Or lift it singing to the golden homes , Where endless morning dwells . Here , gentle Gods , Here in your starry loveliness abide , Serene and still as waters when the winds Ruffle them not , but sunlight colours them . Soon as he ended , glad acclaim arose And through majestic halls the Gods advanced , Mid glimmering mazea of purpureal light , Nor paused , until they gained the liberal sky . There were the tidings told , there joy revived , And voices , like great waters , rolled aloft . But soon the Gods paced down the marble streets , While crocus , rose mid lily , white or red , With orange , oliander , and sweet lime , Made beautiful their going . Far away The moving glory of their mighty inarch
Continuous shone , nor was there any end , But in egression infinite they moved , Both van and rear , a galaxy of Gods . At length emerging in a boundless plain , Their line of march broke up , and all the night , Beneath a fairer moon in fairer heavens , With melody of harp and Lotus flute , And beat of dulcimers , they danced and sang , And ever as they danced a stormy sound Now rose , now fell , as when the inconstant winds Now fall , now rise , in hollows of old rocks . So danced and sang the Gods , but Bacchus left Dionium and the palace of the Queen j And plunging low into the purple depths Of surging air , with stedfast motion dew , Like a continual brightness , down the night . M .
The Chivalry Of Labour Exhorted To The W...
THE CHIVALRY OF LABOUR EXHORTED TO THE WORSHIP OP BEAUTY . Our world oft turns in gloom , and life hath many a perilous way , Yet there is no path so desolate and thorny , cold and gray , But Beauty like a beacon burns above the dark of strife , And like an Alchemist , ay turns all things to golden life . On human hearts her presence droppeth precious manna down , On human brows her glory gathers like a coming crown : Her smile lights up Life ' s troubled stream , and Love , the swimmer ! lives ; And O 'tis brave to battle for the guerdon that she gives ! Then let us worship Beauty with the knightly faith of old , O Chivalry of Labour toiling for the Age of Gold . The first-fruits of the Past at Beauty ' s shrine are offered up , From which a vintage meet for Gods she crusheth in her cup : And from the living Present doth she press the rare new wine , To glad the hearts of all her lovers with a draught divine . Earth ' s crowning miracle ! she comes ! with blessing lips , that part Like mid-May ' s rose flusht open with the fragrance of her heart : And Life turns to her colour—kindles with her light—like flowers That garner up the golden fire , and suck the mellow showers . Come let us worship Beauty with the knightly faith of old , O Chivalry of Labour toiling for the Age of Gold . Come let us worship Beauty where the budding Spring doth flower , And lush , green leaves , and grasses flush out sweeter every hour ; Or Summer ' s tide of splendour floods the lap o' World once more , With riches like a sea that surges jewels on its shore . Come feel her ripening influence when Morning feasts our eyes—Thro' open gates of glory—with a glimpse of Paradise : Or queenly Night sits crowned , smiling down the purple gloom , And Stars , like Heaven ' s fruitage , melt i' the glory of their bloom . Come let us worship Beauty with the knightly faith of old , O Chivalry of Labour toiling for the Age of Gold . Come from the den of darkness and the city ' s soil of sin , Put on your radiant Manhood , and the Angel ' s blessing win ! Where wealthier sunlight comes from Heaven , like welcome-smiles of God , And Earth ' s blind yearnings leap to life in flowers , from out the sod : Come worship Beauty in the forest-temple , dim and hush , Where stands Magnificence dreaming ! and God burneth in the bush : Or where the old hills worship with their silence for a psalm , Or ocean ' s weary heart doth keep the sabbath of its calm . Come let us worship Beauty with the knightly faith of old , O Chivalry of Labour toiling for the Age of Gold . Come let us worship Beauty , she hath subtle power to start Heroic word and deed out-flashing from the humblest heart . Great feelings will gush unawares , and freshly as the first Rich Rainbow , that up-startled Heaven in tearful splendour burst . O blessed are her lineaments , and wondrous are her ways To retouch God ' s out-worn image in the suffering human face ! Our bliss shall richly overbrim like sunset in the west , And we shall dream immortal dreams and banquet with the Bleat . Then let us worship Beauty with the knightly faith of old , O Chivalry of Labour toiling for the Age of Gold . Gekalo Massky .
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The Winter Theatres. Now Our Season May ...
THE WINTER THEATRES . Now our season may really bo said to begin . Fogs have returned with that unapproachable superiority so unmistakably . English . J * ama have washed our windows with an Anglo-Saxon perseverance . Iho lalotot and Great Coat in ample magnificence envelope , the British torqo , and Theatres open , to purify and elevate tho British Soul by some , 9 rq ^) ior « v naffapatv anticipated by Aristotle , but not yot discovered by Viyian .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/21/
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