On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (7)
-
December 9,1854.] THE LEADER, H67
-
—. + * t ICttofort ¦
-
Critics are nob the legislators, "but th...
-
There is now a lull in the war, and, in ...
-
The fourth volume of Sir Wim-iam ILvmilt...
-
It is always interesting to hear a poet ...
-
STORIES OF THE WAR. Our Camp in Turkey, ...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
December 9,1854.] The Leader, H67
December 9 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER , H 67
—. + * T Icttofort ¦
ICttoturt
Critics Are Nob The Legislators, "But Th...
Critics are nob the legislators , "but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws— ther inter nret and tw tn f > nfnrf >(> t . hp . m TSJtM . Tm . iMih . Tt . ani . ean
There Is Now A Lull In The War, And, In ...
There is now a lull in the war , and , in consequence , literature begins to raise its head again . The advertising columns of the newspapers begin once more to have a good show in the literary department—publishers reminding the public of their old , as well as announcing new , books ; and , more symptomatic still , the daily papers have again had a spare column or two for literary notices . Probably Parliament , with its storms , will cut short this period of revived leisure , so dear to publishers and authors . On the whole , ho-ivever , we expect that the coming season , let the war rage on as it may , will not be one of comparative literary fertility . Should this Treaty with Austria , and the " Four Points" negotiation which it is to set on foot again , lead to peace—that is to say , should the Emperor of Russia ,
finding Europe too strong for him at present , see fit to draw back , and wait some years till he can renew his great game with less hindrance—of coarse , we shall be able to fall back on our literature , and other things . Or , should the -war go on in this strait and narrow groove to which the Austrian alliance , if undisturbed , will tend to confine it , then , also , as all profounder European interest will be taken out of the wax—as it will stir no topics of novel interest , and move no man ' s heart to its depths—we shall not be so engrossed but that we shall have a moderate disposition for anything that may "be offered in the way of Literature . We have already fathomed the war to this extent , and we know all that can be got out of it . There is a chance , indeed—more than , a chance—that , in
spite of all the efforts of official politicians , the war will not go on long in this groove ; there is a chance—niore than a chance—either that the democracies and nationalities of Hungary , Poland , and Italy , which have been waiting to see how this matter of the Austrian alliance ¦ would turn out , will , now that they find France and Great Britain in concert with Austria , proceed to act for themselves without any regard ( why should they have any regard ?) for our policy , or that the Czar himself , driven to his last resource , will try whether he caanot use the democracies and nationalities on his side , and sway them in the service of St . Petersburg . In either case , the war will be interesting enough ; and , engrossed with its topics , we shall have to forego Literature . Such a tremendous enlargement of the war , however , is still only prospective ; and the book-market may have a brisk interval . We are glad to think that during this interval ,
lo . ig or short as it may chance to be , we shall have a return to " legitimate " literature . The clieap rubbish system—which has of late been ruling the market— -has fortunately proved a failure ; and our publishers are returning to their senses . Not only are we once more having handsome and wellprinted volumes from the superior firms ; there is even a tendency to the artistic embellishment of books . Mr . Ruskjn's advice the other day to out artists to revive , in a fashion suited to the time , the old art of illuminating valuable books , is a suggestion which will gradually meet with more and more acceptance . To us there is no minor form of art more pleasing than a beautifully-ornamented book . "We hear , therefore , with interest , that nri edition of Tennyson's Collected Poems is in preparation , with illustrative designs by Eastlake , Mixxais , Rossetti , and other artists . We cannot fancy a finer example of the kind of art Mr . itusniN recommends than such a volume is likely to be .
The Fourth Volume Of Sir Wim-Iam Ilvmilt...
The fourth volume of Sir Wim-iam ILvmilton ' s edition of Dugaijd Stewart ' s Works has just been published by Messrs . Constable and Co . This volume completes the " Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind . " There are to be live or six more volumes , making nine or ten in . all . The fifth is to contain Stewart's " Philosophical Essays 5 " the sixth and seventh are to contain the " Philosophy of tlie Active and Moral Powers ; " the eighth is to consist of Stewaut ' s Lectures on " Political Economy , " never before published ; and , as at present arranged , the ninth volumo is to contain the Biographical Memoirs of Smith , Rookbtson , and Reid , with nn Original Memoir of Dugaivd Stjiwakt himself by Sir Wim-ia-m
Hamimoh . Altogether , the work will bo us perfect an edition of a philosophical author as wo havo in our language . In noticing the former volumes of this reissue , along with Professor Fkuiuek ' s Institutes of MetapJiysUf , we alluded to the fact that there begin to bo symptoms of a revived interest in philosophical and metaphysical literature—particularly in Scotland . Various philosophical works by new Scottish nuthoivs huvo recently been published or announced ; and we hoax tlmt ono work of this kind , long in preparation , and of which those who know the author lmvc formed very high expectations , is now all but ready—an original work on Psychology by Mr . Ammcandur B . vin ' , already author of various less extensive writings in this department , and in that of physical science .
It Is Always Interesting To Hear A Poet ...
It is always interesting to hear a poet theorising on poetry ; and the following extract from n report of a lecture on Uukns , delivered lust week by Mr . Ai-mxandibr Smith , at a provincial Meehnnioa' Institute , is more especially interesting , us it shows in what attitude Mr . Smith , as n clxiuf among
the new poets , himself stands towards the criticism -which Ire and others have educed : — The old poetry of incident and action , of men in collision -with these felloes and the forces of nature , seems to have fled from England . The heroes of modern , poems are generall y students ; instead of action there is conversation on all manner of abstruse and metaphysical subjects . Soliloquy is immensely employed . Its woes are mental , itB despair is philosophic . Certain alarmed critics are crying out that poets uo-w-a-days are altogether wrong , that they- have strayed from the paths of their fathers , that if poetry would again be strong and healthy , she must , like Antaeus , touch the earth , and draw from thence a new supply of strength and beauty . It seems to us that this outcry is in a great measure useless—no other kind of poetry could be written at present : it was sown , in the past , it is the necessary product of oar circumstancesi
—n a rich , civilised , and luxurious country , where men have not , as in earlier days , to contend for very life with , the blind forces of nature , when the passions , those wild beasts of the heart , aTe so far tamed and domesticated , where struggles are chiefly mental , and energetic action next to impossible , where men are tlirown , if they would escape ennui , into politics , literature , and science , where science is only advanced far enough to see discordance and discrepancy , -not harmony and completeness . Of snch circumstances the style of poetry of which we have been speaking is an inevitable product . Those who think it an evil may comfort themselves with the thought that every evil rights itself at length . Nothing expires sooner than a -worthless nook-How quietly the Delia Crnscans died ! Gently as a sigh the Minerva novels , and noiselessly as ghosts , however trumpeted and applauded , will the amiy -which no man can number of stupid authors -walk into oblivion , each happily with his books under his arm . This passage shows that Mr . Smith can give and take with , the critics ; that , tested even in the element of doctrine about his own craft , he is no weakling ; and that , in fact , he knows what he is about as well as most of his critics can tell him . Is was thought that Mr . Lockhabt's death -would leave a valuable appointment to be filled up by some other literary man . ; but itturns out that the Auditorship was vacated some time ago by Mr . Locehaut , and that a Mr . Bertolacci got it . People of course are asking , " Who is Mr , Bertolaccx ? " Two M . P ' s have books forthcoming 1 — -Mr . Massey , a book on English History ; and Mr . Stirling , a book on Spain . There is a story of a new manuscript novel of Scott ' s having turned up in France * Scott , it is said , made a present of the MS . to somebody or other , on condition that it should not appear -with his name , as he did not think it good enough .. * Lord Cocjkbtjrn of Edinburgh , besides his numerous Marginalia has left , it is reported , several complete manuscript volumes , entrusted to the editorial care of Lord Rutherford , formerly Lord-Advocate . Two of the volumes are said to consist of " Notes of the Circuit . " They -would be doubtless , a rich treat to those who are fond of books of historical gossip , and characteristic of social incident .
Stories Of The War. Our Camp In Turkey, ...
STORIES OF THE WAR . Our Camp in Turkey , and the Way to It . By Mrs . Young . Author of " Catch , " " Western India , " " Facts and Fiction , " & c . Bentley Mrs . Yodng ^ s memoranda remind us a little of the energetic preparations of our Government for the prosecution of the war—they are just too late . But the Government retains this advantage : reinforcements are always better late than never ; whereas in this dreary December , while all eyes and ears arc intent upon the crisis of events in the Crimea , we are not at all persuaded that we have any retrospective attention to spare foi the diary of a lively and intrepid lady , who shared the ennui and discomfort of Gallipoli , and the disastrous inaction of Varna , while the war , like our Minister of War , was in its infancy 5 an infancy of indecision and delusion in , the council , of chafing impatience and fretting disease in the camp .
In war time we live in the present and in the future , but as the tide of action sweeps us on , we take little thought of the past , with all its errors and deceptions . We therefore beg respeetfully to warn Mrs . Young that her graphic and animated journal , -which bears the date of only last spring , may prove to readers in this present December an unwelcome revival of a wornout story of which we had hoped we were well quit . We might suppose that Mrs . Young had , like many other hasty bookmakers , taken unnecessary trouble to appear unseasonably and out of place . It will be almost offensive , certainly irritating , to the taste and feelings of many , to be assailed with pages of smart rattle and frivolous vivacity at a moment of devouring national anxiety , when the very existence of our heroic Spartans is at stake . Wo have read this clever book , let us confess , witli a vexation rather sharpened than appeased by the cleverness . Tlio authoress , if we are not much mistaken , will come to acknowledge the sin of mal-h-propos she has no doubt unreflectingly committed ; -wo regret it for the sake of a book so genial and entertaining , for the sake of a
lady whose society is so agreeable , whose intelligence is so bright and penetrating , whose humour is generally so happy and refined , above all , whose heart is so kind and so true . One more reservation and the disagreeable part of our task is performed . Mrs . Young's experiences ashore ( she is a little too often at sea in the course of her narrative ) arc limited to the allied camps at Scutari , Grtllipoli , and Varna . Surely we have read all Una before in the columns of " Our own Correspondents , " who , wo cannot doubt , had as good opportunities of observing , if not as good a faiculty of describing , as Mrs . Young . We do not mean to imply that Mrs . Young has borrowed from " Our own Correspondents , " nor do wo deny her the merit of seeing with her own oyea and writing with hur own pen ; what wo complain of is a . certain unintentional affectation of novelty in presenting reminiscences which arc , wo fear ine-vitably , too recent to be historical , too old to be interesting , and too painful to bo considered wort . li repetition . When the war shall be happily over , tho spring at Scutari and the summer at Varna in 1854 will form chapters of a stirring history : to the present moment that epoch Deems flat and unprofitable . ITow , having cleared our conscience of an unplcaaing duty , lot us , m justice to tho authoress , and lo renders who do not approciuto our suacepU-
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 9, 1854, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09121854/page/15/
-