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Ko. 464 ^ebb ttary 12, 1859.1 THE !L E A...
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LITERATURE, SCIENC E, ART, &o.
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LITERARY CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
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The publishing season is still very dull...
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CIVILISED AMERICA. Civilised America. By...
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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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Ko. 464 ^Ebb Ttary 12, 1859.1 The !L E A...
Ko . 464 ^ ebb ttary 12 , 1859 . 1 THE ! L E AJD E R . jjffJL
Literature, Scienc E, Art, &O.
LITERATURE , SCIENC E , ART , & o .
Literary Chronicle Of The Week.
LITERARY CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK .
The Publishing Season Is Still Very Dull...
The publishing season is still very dull . With the exception of a History of France , by the Rev . J . White ( W . Blackwood ) , and . an ¦ important-work on the Colonisation of New Zealand , by Mr . William Swainson , for many years her Majesty ' s Attorney-General in that colony ( Smith , Elder , and Co , ) , there is not much to record . Perhaps the most notable matter of literary import this week is the conversation upon the paper duty held between Lord Derby and the deputation from the association for the repeal of the same , at the Treasury yesterday at two o ' clock—a report of which will be found elsewhere . ' . . . , A curious point of literary plagiarism , though perhaps venial under the circumstances , is disclosed m the ' Critic ot yesterday . It seems that , in answer to some inquisitive questions as to her age , in a review of her Autobiography , Sydney Lady Morgan addressed to the Atk & ueum a morceau , which was considered to be not so bad for one who must certainly have outnumbered the years of Ninon de l'Enclos , and which began as follows : —• . TO MY REVIEWER . My life is not dated-by years , For Time has drawn lightly his plough , And they say scarce a fanovr appears , To reveal what I ne ' er will avow- . Unfortunately , however , for the originality of this impromptu , a correspondent of the Critic remembers a little jeu d ? esprit between Lord Byron and Lady Blessington , and which he believes to . have never been printed . This is worth quoting , both for its story and for itself . . ' . _ ¦ ¦ LORD BYKGJT . . ' •• .. . I . ¦ ¦ You _ have asked for a verse , the request In a rhymer'twere hard to deny , But my Hippocrene was but my breast , And my feelings—the fountain is dry . ¦ ¦ ' ' II . , ¦ X am ashes where once I was fire , And the bard in my bosom is dead ; Where I loved I now only admire , And my heart is as grey as my head . HI . My life is not dated by years , There are moments that act like a plough , ' And there is not ajurroto appears But is deep in my soul as my broio . LADY BLESSINGTON ' . I . When I asked for a verse , pray believe , 'Twas not vanity urged the desire ; For no more can my mirror deceive , And no more can I poets inspire . n . But as pilgrims who visit the shrine Of some saint , bear a . relic away- — I sought a memorial of thine To cheer mo when distant I stray . iir . Oh , say not that lyre is unstrung , Whoso chords can such rapture bestow , Nor that mute is this magical tongue , From whenoe music and melody flow .
IV . An . 4 tho' Time , ore thy youth it has fled , May have altor'd thy locks' jettj' hue , Still the bays that encircle thy head , Hide tho rarager's mark from our view . We , like the correspondent of the Critic , are not aware that these versos have over beou printed bofore , and Lady Morgan may stand oxcused for hor plagiarism , since it ; lias led to such an interesting discovery .
time prefigured by such enthusiasts as Mr . Beresford Hope , who would class journalism among , the regular professions . It will be time enough for that when its ranks are as bounteously supplied as are those of the " regular professions ; " but in the mean time we view with pleasure and satisfaction anything that tends to prove an increase of . public respect towards this " outside profession . ' * Some weeks ago we recorded the presentation of a handsome testimonial to the editor of the , ¦ Law Times j but this week wo have two gratifying instances of a similar compliment being paid to two hardworking and comparatively unknown brothers of the pen . The first was the presentation of a purse containing
five hundred pounds to Mr . Henry Adams , who has been for more than twenty years hon 6 urabl . y connected with the Derby press . The other was the gift of a testimonial to Mr . Thomas Whitehead , lately chief reporter to the Liverpool Albion . News of Burns matters continue to pour in from all parts of the world . America celebrated of course . What does she not celebrate ? The Rev . Henry Ward Beecher delivered an address to the Burns Club of New York , and banquets were held at Astpr House and the Mozart Hall . Iii Denmark also they celebrated * and on the evening of the 25 th Professor Stephens delivered a leeture on
the Ayrshire bard to the University ot Cheapinghaven . The hall is said to have been ciwyded , and not only Lfanes , but Norwegians , Swedes , _ and Icelanders were present , doubtless recognising an affinity of wild and vigorous strength between the poet and their own bards ^ an affinity which has been already pointed but in the not very at rocious pun that there is no very great difference between Scalds and Burns . ' The New York Commercial Times announces that a , propos of the Burns Festival ; Messrs . Delisscr and Procter announce a hanidsome edition of the " Life of Burns * " by that . quain t , biographer and deep thinker
Carlyle , price fifty cents , " which , we need h a rdly say , is nothing but a reprint of the famous review which has been purchasable on the English book-stalls for a shilling this many a day . Talking of the Burns anniversary , we are reminded that Messrs . Routledge have , seized upon the hint dropped in these columns some weeks back , and announce a collection of " Rejected Addresses . " The only objection is that this is a day after the fair . The competition was publicly known many months back , and the parodies should have been ready for the occasion . Now , we repeat , public interest will be found to have flagged . The project
for reprinting the " six next best" poems has fallen through , owing to some objections on the part of two of the authors . The Critic , however , gives one of them , the contribution of Mr . Stanyan Biggs , author of " Night and the Soul , " and of a recently published novel , " Alfred Stauntou . " Judging by this specimen , the judges seem to have dealt fairly ; for , although written in good sounding language , Mr . Biggs ' s composition is decidedly commonplace and turgid in parts , and altogether inferior in every respect to that of Miss . Isa Craig . In France , M . Chassih has dono good service by finishing the biography of Edgar Quinet , the critic who for many years wielded a powerful pen in the
lievua des Deux Mondes , and tho eloquent Pralessor of the Languages and Literature of Southern Europe in the ColMgo do Franoc . Among other publications of interest wo may noto " Une Visitc choz Soulouquc , " by M . Paul do Hormays , and t \ " Promenade cu HolUuiclo , " by Madanio Louise Oolet . M . de Buranio ' has rcnubnshod his " History of tho Maid of Orleans" from his groat work on tho Dukes of Burgundy ., M . do Baranto believes that she fell a victim to the English . What will
M , Octavo Dclcpiorro say to this , who stoutly maintains tlmfc tlio Maid lived to outgrow all her bellicose propensities , to marry an honest fannor , and becomo tho mother of many children ? Another work which is looked for with great intorost , in Paris is tho "Life and Correspondence of tho late Duohess of Orleans , " -of whom Napoleon 111 . justly said that sho waa " tho only man of her family , " one bf tho fo \ y \ v'il ; l . y sayings of him on record . Tho editress of Ihis inoinolr is spokou of a » " a lady of tho Faubourg Si . Uormuin , and a daughter of ono of Louis PhUippo ' a ambassadors . "
It is gratifying to find that tho almost unknown and unseen worker upon tho press is not always loft without his reward . Hitherto tho complaint has been , and not unjustly , that those who cast their broad upon the waters of journalism have to wait so many days boforo they soo it again , that in the mean time thoy die of starvation . Certain it is > that tho groat quicksands of the newspaper pross swallow up many a bright and original mind which , wore thovo no suoh trade as journalism , and no suoh moans for publishing crude matter , hastily thrown off , might have matured Wdrks wliioli ' woukl have brought thorn und y ing reputation . We arc not among those who look forward , vary hopolossly to tho
Civilised America. Civilised America. By...
CIVILISED AMERICA . Civilised America . By Thomas Colley Grattan , late her Britannic Majesty ' s Consul for the State of Massachusetts . 2 vols . Bradbury and Evansr . That so many English tourists and travellers should have recorded and printed their impressions of the United States and the Americans is not to be wondered at . That so few" of their -works should have gained for themselves more than a temporary popularity , and a mere circulating library run , at first sight elicits astonishment . But further reflection easily diminishes the first wonder . It is not wonderful that there should be a constant fresh .
appetite for such books . We look upon the States as a former partner of ourselves , who had interests common and identical with our own , but who , having dissolved the close bond of connexion and set up for himself , still awakes in us something of the old curiosity and solicitude ; and the more so , that if not . still our partner , he . is yet in large measure our " correspondent , " sharing with us common ventures ., and , in the political field , working out what are in the main common problems .
Most seasons , for many years past , have yielded books on the States by visitors to their shores and cities ; and their list has presented such individual names as Lord Carlisle , Mr . Dickens , Mrs . Trollope , Mr . Silk Buckingham , "Colonels Maxwell and listcourt , & c , each more or less confessedly presenting credentials of trustworthiness in statement of facts and expression of opinion . And yet there is not one whose pictures have not had considerable exception taken to them by the Americans themselves , and ¦ therefore" been accepted by us with a reservation and
unauthoritatively . Almost all thcsejvriters have been casual visitors to America ; and no mere visitor , no one who has not really lived in a country , can bear away with him a truly adequate transcript of its real general characteristics . It were impossible to expect that Mr . Dickens , hastily touring over the Union ,, with everything ready for his eyes in its show dress , or Lord Carlisle , bowed and salaamed to as a live lord , from New England seaports to the mushroom cities of the west , should tell us when they come back what America and the Americans really are .
Mr . Grattan possesses the advantage denied to them . He lived in the States during several years subsequent to 1 S 39 . The business character , equally with the official and public nature of his position as consul , have given him opportunities peculiarly favourable for forming a correct and mature judgment . His book is , iu the main , not unworthy even when tested by the exigent standard by which it must in justice be measured . To be equally commended with the best books as yet written on America it must be bettor than any of them ; and , in some respects , we believe it to be so . It has , however , undoubted faults and shortcomings . We shall ease our critical conscience by
designating these at the outset . The title chosen , Civilised America , is explained and justified , partly in tlio introduction , and partly in a map . The iinap , by a graduated tonmg of colours , of three degrees , the first and darkest marking the original thirteen states , the second those admitted previously to 1 S 21 , and . tho third thoso admitted sinco , and hardly freed from the probationary period of " territories , " reserves only the darkest portion as . the civilised part of the Union . The following sontpnecs further explain the designation : — My volumes do not intond to onibrneo ' aJl tlio topics of importance oonneetod with the United States . lhero are many portions of the country whioji I have not seen * and much which I hail littlo wish to see . The parts
with which I was i'umillnr are tlio most settled , containing tho clrclos of grontost refinement . Tlio ( lays aro passed when I would liavo more enjoyod tho atlvontures of tlio prairie , tlio forest or tlio mountain range , tho rude oocontrioltlow of half-oultiviitod inon , nnd the wild romance of nature Tlio reader hns , therefore , to expect in tliofo p < i # en observations on tho bettor part of the American peop le , an cstabllnhou community , who , being heir * of an o . u-llor wlst | oi ) . i Hum it falls to tho gonoral lot of liutloiird to inherit , form tho materials of a grand experiment in ciylllwaiioiv , for othovu to follow or to shun . 'Evem hml tlio acquaintance ) ol Mr . Ci ml tan oxtomloil lo 1 ho western producing regions , as yet but sparely held by . htiuum hands nud hauls , or tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1859, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12021859/page/11/
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