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tfo. 503. Nov. 12, 1859-] THE LEADER. 12...
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WOMEN ARTISTS IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES....
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MISCELLANIES BY CHARLES KrJfGrSLEY, Rect...
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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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Shadows In Which Memory Invests The Past...
water ? If not , it will fare badly for Jamaica , and will probably also fare badly in coming years for the rest of the West Indies . Whether other immigration be allowed or no , of one kind of immigration the supply into Jamaica is becoming less and less . Few European white men now turn thither in quest of fortune . Few Anglo-Saxon adventurers now seek her shores as the future home of their adoption . The white man has been there and has left his mark ; The Creole children of these Europeans _ of course remain , but their numbers are no longer increased by new comers . "But I think there is no doubt that theyj are nt — -these coloured people , to undertake the higher as well as lower paths of human labour . Indeed , they do undertake them , and thrive well in them now , much to the disgust of the so-esteemed ascendant class . They do make money , and enjoy it . They practise as statesmen , as lawyers , and as doctors in the colony ; and , though they have not as yet shone brightly as riivfnes in our English Church , such deficiency may be attributed more to the jealousy of the parsons of that church than to their own incapacity , J ? - *' There are , they say , 70 , 000 coloured people in the island , and not more than 15 , 000 white people . As the former increase in intelligence , it is not to be supposed that they will submit to the latter . Nor are they at all inclined to submission .
become all dark and black . . Oh , riiy friend , let there be no one there to speak to thee then ; no , not even a heart ' s brother . As you stand there speak only to the waters . " . With , this extract we may safely disniiss the reader to the book itself , which he will find one of rare excellence .
"But they have still an up-hill battle before them . They are by ho nieans humble in their gait , and their want of meekness sets their white neighbours against them . They are always proclaiming by their voice and look that they are as good as tlie white man ; but they are always showing by their voice and look , also , that they know that this is a false boast . " And then they are by no means popular with the negro . A negro , as a rule , will not serve a mulatto when he can serve a European or a white Creole . He thinks that the mulatto is too near akin to himself to be worthy of any respect . In his passion he calls him a nigger—and protests that he . not , and never will be like buckra man .
" The negroes complain that the coloured men are sly and cunning ; that they cannot bo trusted as masters ; that they tyrannise , bully , and deceive ; in short , that they have their own negro faults . There may , doubtless , be some truth in this . They have still a portion of'their lesson to learn ; perhaps the greater portion . I aBirm , merely , that the lesson is being learned . A race of people with its good and ill qualities is not formed in a couple of centuries . " And if it be fated that the Anglo-Saxon race in these islands is to j'ield place to another people , and to abandon its ground , having done its appointed work , surely such , a decree should be no cause of sorrow . To have done their appointed work , and done it well , —should not this be enough for any men ? "
The isthmus of the Panama , commands from Mr . Trollope a considerable amount of admiration . The line of l-ailwny is maintained at great cost ^ nevertheless , it pays a dividend of l * 2 i per cent ., and the real profit , is stated at twenty-five . The rango of subjects in this volume is two extensive for complete detail ; it includes Central America , but not the Falls of Niagara . Mr . Trollope declines " doing the IFalla . " llu recommends , however , that those who would visit them s hould place themselves , each alone , between , the rooks and the waters of the Horde-shoe Fall after sunaet , and there ' remain ibr-half-an-hour .
" J 6 \> r tho first five minutes ho will bo looking but at the waters of a cataract , —at the . waters , indeed , of such a cataract as we know no other , ami at their interior curves , which olsewhere wo cannot see . But bye and bye all this will change . Ho will no longer bo on a shingly path beneath a waterfall ; but that fooling of a cavern wall will grow upon him , of a e . ivern docsp , deep below roaring sons , la which tho waves are there , though they do not enter in upon him ; or rather not the waves , but the very bowels of tho deep ocean . Ho will feel as though the floods surrounded him , coining and going with their wild sounds , and lie will hardly recognise that though among them ho is not in them . And not
they , as thoy fall with a continual roar , hurting tho car , but musical withal , will seem to move us tho vast ocean waters may perhaps move in their internal currents . Ho will lose tho son so of ono continued doscont , and think that they nro passing round him in thoir appointed courses . The broken spray that riaea from tho depth' below , rise * so strongly , so palpably , so rapidly , that tho motion In every dirootlon will scorn equal . And then , us he looks on , strange colours will show themselves through the mist ; the shades of gray will become green and blue , with ever and anon a flash of ¦ white t und then , when some gust of wind blows in with greater violence , tho sea-girt cavern will
Tfo. 503. Nov. 12, 1859-] The Leader. 12...
tfo . 503 . Nov . 12 , 1859- ] THE LEADER . 1253
Women Artists In All Ages And Countries....
WOMEN ARTISTS IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES . By Mrs . E . F . Ellct . —Richard Bentlcy . The number of books devoted to female merit , and in celebration of female talent , is one of the signs that show the influence of woman in its growth , and points to its increased . operation on the morals of society . A similar work to the present has been published in Berlin , by Ernst Guhl , under the title of " Die Frauen in die Kunstgesehichte '; " but his collection of women famous as painters , sculptors , and engravers , closes witli the eighteenth century . Mrs . Ellet has made ample use of Ilerr Guhl ' s work , and
The seventeenth century was ripe in all manner of eventualities . Academic imitation in all arts yielded to diversity of style ; the romantic succeeded to the classical , the popular to the scholastic In the same direction has'been the progress oi events since . Naturalism once fox * all set in , and the spirtual perforce submitted to a divided empire . Mrs . EUet has paid due attention to the art of the present day . Mdlles . Bonheur , Fauveau , and Hosmer flourish in her pages as they have done on the world ' s stage . . The nineteenth century , inJEngland , America , and Germany , is rich in female genius . What hope for the world in this proof that its civilization is on the advance , _ and the benign influence of woman visibly increasing .
added niucli of her own . The names of womenartists included in this work occupy in tbeir enumeration ten closely-printed columns ; they are more , in fact , than five-hundred in number . Of all these we cannot venture to relate the story . We must be content with indication and selection . The earl / ages of art were characterised by a vagueness , which leaves it difficult to decide on the degree of female influence exerted on it . In eastern countries the love of dress and dornainent evinced an artistic taste in the female mind .
Women , too , we know then rendered help in works upon wood and metal , as well as in the productions of the loom . " The fair Egyptians , " states our authoress , " covered their webs with the most delicate patterns , and the draperies , of the dead , and the ornamented hangings in their dwellings attested the skill of the women of Assyria and Babylon . " Greece also had her poetesses , indicative of a yet nobler female life . Is not . the following a pleasing illustration of tlie growth of early art
?" But although few Grecian women handled the pencil or chisel , and women were systematically kept in a degree of ignorance * , we find here oil the threshold of the history of art a woman ' s name , that of Kora , or , as she has been called . Cullirhoe , the daughter of a potter , named Dibutades , a native of Corinth , said to have resided at Sicyonia , about the middle of the seventh century before Christ . Pliny tells us she assisted her father in modelling clay . The results of his labours were arranged on shelves before his house , which the purchasers usually left vacant before evening . It was tho office of his daughter , says n . fanciful chronicler , to fill the more
elaborate vases with choice lluwers , which the young men came early to look at hoping to catch a glimpse of the graceful artist maiden . As she went drapud in her veil to the market-place , she often met a youth who afterwards became an assistant to her father in his work . He was skilled in much learning unknown to the secluded' girl , and in playing oif the reod ; and the daily life of father , daughter , aiul lover , presented an illustration of Grecian lifts and beauty . The youth was at length constrained to depart , but before the event the vows of betrothal were exchanged between him and Kora . The eve of their parting was sud . As they sat together by the lamp
light , the maiden suddenly ros ~ « , nnd taking up a piece of pointed oharcoo . 1 from the brazier , and bidding the young man remain still , she traced on the wall the outline of his fine Grecian prptile . as a memorial when ho should be far away . ' Dibutados saw the skotoli she had made ,, and recognised the likeness . Carefully he filled the outline with clay , and a complete medallion wus formed . It ; was the first portrait in relief . , 'JUius a new nrt was born into the world , the development of which brought foruinc and funio to the inventor ; tliu atory is at
least as probable as that of Sauria » discovering the rules of sketching and contour from the shadow ot his horse : it was not tho first nor the lust time that love becamo-a teacher . Might not the fable oi Momnon thus find its , realisation ? It is related that Dibutados , who had followed up his medallions with busts , became so celobratud that numy Grecian states elaimod the honour of , his birth , and that his daughter ' s lover , who cumo baok to espouse her , modelled wliolo figures in Corinth . A school fur modelling was instituted about this time in Siayonia , of which Dibutados was the founder . "
One tale of Una kind in « y etund for all such , and prove euggostivc iiimany ways . Modern art at its commencement wus possessed' of many female artists , The sixteenth century boasted ot no fewer than six wonderful sisters , Anguisoiola , Helena , Solbufaua , Minerva , Europe Lucia and Anna Maria , all gifted in music and painting .
Miscellanies By Charles Krjfgrsley, Rect...
MISCELLANIES BY CHARLES KrJfGrSLEY , Rector of Eversley . —John W . Parker and Son . Manx of these articles have appeared in JFraser's Magazine and the North British Review , where they have already commanded the admiration of a large and appreciative public . If a profundity of thought and a vigorous style entitle an author to attention , Mr . Kingsley merits the utmost ; His taste is formed on the highest as well as the oldest models , and the Hebrew poets and historians are his chief exemplars . Hence , of all subjects he takes not only a logical , but a theological view , nnrl subordinates them to the laws of a Divine
Philosophy . We are not surprised , therefore , at his defending the Mystics from the levity of Mr . Vaughan ' s charges ; and were , in fact , not a little pleased that he raised the argument to a higher level , whence the critic was able to look down on the bookmaker . Mr . Vauglian bad , indeed , only taken a popular view of mysticism , and had not penetrated to its causes and laws . Persons for whom Mr . Coleridge had the deepest reverence , such as Jacob Bobnie , were by him , treated with a sort of pity and contempt , just as Voltaire treated Shakspere , mingled with , extorted admiration for occasional merits . Mr . Kingsley has been careful to correct tins partial and unfair view , and claim
for genius , however manifested , its privilege to an independent judgment . Such men . are to be judged on their own ground , and the laws drawn from their own writings , to which , they are amenable . The facts of their lives are based on truths to which the biographer must pehebrate before he can understand their significance . Above all , he must have a strong faith in the Invisible , in order to qualify him to approach the topic in-the most distant manner . I \ ot a cursory but a deep acquaintance must be had with it , to give him the least right to an opinion . Also , he must be likemindedSvith them , for " spiritual truths' can only be spiritually discerned . "
Such in brief are Mr . Kingsley ' s views , and he has therefore no patience with the quiet scorn indulged in by dillulanti gentlemen over their wine and walnuts , on ways of life and ways of thinking beyond their experience or their apprehension . He will not permit them to dispose of the case of Angela de Foliguj , by a contemptuous reference to the deaths of her mother , lieu husband , and her children . Uc does not think these are amusing facts , or likely t <> bring her consequent loneliness and sorrow into ridicule . Death , solitude , ana grief are with him high and holy things , and what come from them ( ire High and holy also . What U tlic ' so be , what Mr . V . mglian doajsribos as " violent cli . votioii . " ' "toilliiiffHI , " " Buffering incessant
nniruisli from a complication'oi disorders , " ' having rapturous consohitiona and tei-nlie temptations , and " being d . whe . l in ft moment from u scat of glory above tho empyrean . " . Mr . Kingsley will not be moved to liuwliter by this merry statement ; nor will he see anything to laugh at in it . bacred be tho lone widow-in her grief and desolation , — motherless , hu » bundles , childless ;—and tho suites of mind that grew on such , bo they sacred nlso , und lot us learn from them what tlwy certainly contain , und not seldom dramatically manifest . Jn tliin manner wo nifty learn Hometlnngto our prolit ; while the scorner miist needs remain a fool .
In like mminer , ho dares to vindicate our Mmiuothau worthies , and to justify them by reference to ' thoir times , and the work that such times noeesaiirily imposed on onergotlp spirit * , bir Walter Jtuloiirh is by him cleared of tho insidious suspioioiistliat his biographers havo inovo or loss sutlerod to stain their pages . Prejudice has been nonnjtled to taint tho unwilling judgment of these witcra , and oven to invalidate tho natural doduo -
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 12, 1859, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12111859/page/17/
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