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February 14, 1857.] THE LEADER, 161
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• 3l y *+ + iLu*£(lXlttE» ?
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Critics are not thelegislators, but the ...
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Why is it that teachers of Elocution usu...
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Those readers who felt I heir interest f...
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THE INDIAN NAPIER. The Life <ind Opinion...
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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February 14, 1857.] The Leader, 161
February 14 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER , 161
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Critics Are Not Thelegislators, But The ...
Critics are not thelegislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not makelaw 3—bh . ey interpret and txy to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review-
Why Is It That Teachers Of Elocution Usu...
Why is it that teachers of Elocution usually have either a brogue or a stutter , and that essayists ou Style usually display a remarkable deficiency of those very qualities they would have others acquire ? Longintjs , indeed , " himself the great sublime he drew ;' but his successors are , for the most- part , dull dogs . In the new number of the North British some juvenile Longiktjs discourses on " Modern Style . " How competent he is to appreciate Literature will be estimated by every reader who meets tins sentence on the very first page : " Now we have no Drama but the French—no Poetry but a Laureat ' s—no Humour but the shilling wit of Egyptian Hall ; " and how delicate a sense of style guides our critic ' s pen may be estimated from this sample , both of his writing and his thinking : —
But the style must differ in proportion to the subject , and when this requires it , there are beauties which must be brought in . Yenus must not be slovenly and unkempt . These adornments , like the blemishes -which we have pointed out , are some derived from genius , some from education . The former must not be striven after , but their absence in , a writer of celebrity is justly censured . Such are power , warmth , enthusiasm , and lofty flights . Yet the excess of these virtues constitutes some of the vices mentioned . Mr . G . P . K . James is a signal instance of too much power ( whether natural or not , - \ ve leave the reader to decide)—becoming bombastic , unnatural , and even ridiculous ; and Mr . Dickens , whose forte lies iu character , not in description , has often goae to the most absurd lengths in his attempts to divest a necessary picturing of its tedium . Again , all these beauties must be used sparingly , and in the right time and quantity . If you cry wolf too often , your neighbours become deaf .
The opening article of the Review is more worthy of it than this auibitious article on " Style ; " it is on the "Employment of Women , " and continues the excellent series of papers on the Woman question which the Review has of late years produced . It mainly treats of employment for the lower classes , but glances also at'tlie higher . On tke folly of rearing girls , solely with a view to marriage , the writer well says : — . This la the great cardinal error of our system . High and low , it is all the same . Instead of educating every girl as though she were bora to be an independent , selfsupporting member of society , we educate her to become a mere dependent , a
hangeron , or as the law delicately phrases it , a . chattel . In some respects , indeed , we err more barbarously than those nations among wbom a plurality of "wives is permitted , and who regard women purely as so much live stock ; for among such people women are , at all events , provided with shelter , with food , and clothing—they are ' cared for' as cattle- are . There is a completeness in such a system . But among ourselves , TVe treat women as cattle , - \ vithout providing for them as cattle . "We take the worst part of barbarism , and the worst part of civilization , and . work them into a heterogeneous whole . " We bring up our women to be dependent , and then leave them without any one to depend on . There is uo one—tbere is nothing for them to lean upon ; and they fall to the ground .
Now , what every woman , no le 3 S than every man , should have to depend upon , is an ability , after some fashion or other , to turn labour into money . She may or may not be compelled to exercise it , but everyone ought to possess it . If she belong to the richer classes , she may have to exercise it ; it 1 to the poorar , she assuredly will . In the same spirit , and in tones of earnest , direct , almost lloinan eloquence Miss - Bakbaka . Leigh Shiitji lakes up this question in an article published iu the Waverley Journal ( Feb . 7 th ) , and reprinted as u threepenny pamphlet by Boswokth and Hakmson , of llcgcnt-street , under the title of " Women and
Work . " This very remarkable pamphlet states in a few pregnant decisive passages the rational arguments which demand a place for women among the workers in . modern society ; showing how such an extension of woman ' s sphere of activity would not only ameliorate her condition , physical and moral , but also ameliorate society . The style is distinguished by its nervous concision , directness , and propositional clearness ; in this absence of all hesitating wordiness there is power , which is felt all the more because a ground-tone of deep feeling , like a fine moving bass , runs through every paragraph . This is the style in which women should advocate the cause of women .
In this same Waverley Journal ( which , by the way , is in its third volume , although we never heard of its existence before ) , there is an interesting letter by Miss Bessie ILyynek . Paiikes , on " French Algiers , " and one still more interesting , by the same writer , on , a school kept by a French lady in Algiers for the instruction of MoliamecUui girls in some of those European accomplishments—sucli as French , Arithmetic , Sewing , & c ., which , to the little Moresque beauties , must be an education equivalent to a social revolution . " Every Moresque thus educated , " says Miss Paiuces , " carries into her home the seeds of a better state of moral thought and feeling , genus of a kindlier sentiment towards the conquering race , and . a prospect that her own little daughters will have to contend Avith fewer social prejudices in working ont a good and useful career . " We have had the " Schoolmaster abroad" for sonic years , " with results , " as C . vuM' / iE would say ; there is still greater hopes for society now that the Schoolmistress is also abroad . For , although the poet sings truly , As the husband is the wifu ia , them art mated -with a clown ,
And the grossnesa of his nature shall have weight to drug tlice down ,, the converse is still more deplorably true , and the husband is either held aloof from sympathy altogether , or else daily ( hid : ; all that is line within him " growing coarse to { sympathize with eluy . "
Those Readers Who Felt I Heir Interest F...
Those readers who felt I heir interest for "Kats" awakened by the entertaining article in the last Qnurkrly , should read the paper on " Histrionic Huts , " in the National Magazine , which describes the performance of u comedy by a
troop of these rodent comedians , admirably drilled by their Swedish manager We trust that the ingenious Swede will bring his troop to London , that we may add our " inextinguishable laughter" to the applause of all who witness these interesting beasts . Let us , in passing , also call attention to an article on Thackeray , in the Revue des Deux Mondes ( for January ) , by M . H . Taine , a young writer of more than ordinary promise . It is essentially critical and appreciative , not a mere pouring out of common-places .
The Indian Napier. The Life <Ind Opinion...
THE INDIAN NAPIER . The Life < ind Opinions of General Sir Charles James Napier , G . C . B . B y Lieut .-General Sir W . Napier , K . C . B . "Vols . I . and II . Murray . Arx the letters , all the journals , of Sir Charles Napier are interesting . A certain interest is possessed , also , by Sir William Napier's narrative ; but Sir Charles speaking for himself is immeasurably more impressive than Sir William speaking for Sir Charles . Yet to be impressive has been the one object of the biographer , and the effort has gone far to spoil his book . He writes in an invariable strain of pomp , is always florid in his eulogy , violent in his criticism . He appears , indeed , to suffer from a mononianiucal p ersuasion that to lea Napier is to top the world , and that , as Sir Charles ' s prowess were heroic , the words of Sir William are oracular . We have read these volumes , therefore , with a feeling of regret that the " Life" was not
composed by a less partial pen , the more so , because the partiality is indiscreetly displayed , and , in consequence , fatiguing . It is only to the spirit and to the manner of the work , however , that any objection can be raised . Sir William Napier is a ready writer , knows how to arrange his materials , is always vigorous , and occasionally brilliant . He has not the art of literary modulation ; his style is monotonously rotund , heraldic , defiant ; but , with not a few defects , this book of biography and " opinions" is a remarkable publication , which most persons will read to the end with unabated curiosity . Sir William ' s conspicuous fault , as we have said , consists in his affectation of pomp . The two volumes are divided , as a History of the World might be , into sixteen " epochs , " and the epochs into " periods . " The first volume ^ begins , " This shall be the story of a man who never tarnished his reputation by a shameful deed ; " but the stentorian biographer , if he loves large words , hutes long paragraphs , and strikes at once into the substance of his narration . The course of Sir Charles Napier ' s life , from his birth at Whitehall in 1792 , to his administration of Sindh in 1843 , presents a series
of prominent episodes , Irish , Peninsular , Italian , Ionian , Greek , Australian , English , and Indian . It is not too much to say that he distinguished himself under , every circumstance , and in every capacity , and that when past his sixtieth year , his genius seemed brightening with the lapse of time ; nor is it unjust to add , that he was not always generously or gratefully used by the government he served . Sir William JSTapicr , of course , applies his most imperative emphasis to accusations against men and factions ; and in spite of his acrimony , he appears to be right , though there may have bsen reasons not stated by this biographer , why a Napier should never remain lon « on friendly terms with any administration . Sir Charles , like the rest of his family , was vain , impetuous , eager to command , as fearless in correspondence as in battle , an excellent general , but a very indiscreet lcttorwriter- It must not be supposed , however , that his epistolary style resembled the historical style of his biographer ; the one is curt , simple , easy ; the other is ostentatious and swelling—the reGnement of bombast , the burlesque of epic .
Sir Charles Napier was eldest son of the Honourable George Napier the pupil of" Hume—and Sarah Lennox , daughter of the Duke of Richmond—the lady who , at eighteen , declined to marry George III ., and who afterwards would have been happy to accept bis hand—instead of which he sent her an apology . Charles , rendered sickly in his childhood by " the misconduct of a barbarous nurse , " was stunted in his growth , but evinced , as certain trifling anecdotes are intended to show , precocious signs of genius . At twelve years of age he obtained a commission in the Duke of Wellington s legiment ; was transferred to the command of Lord Moiro , and , after a brief' interval of life in camp , was sent to an Irish seminary . There he organized the pupils into a volunteer corps , and was educated to the art of arms until 1799 , when he became uide-de-camp to the general in command
of the Limerick district ; next he was on the stall"in London , and saw much of Pox , plnying cricket , fri ghtened by a snail . We then find Napier in the Peninsula—at Viiniera , at Lisbon , on the line of retreat from Corunnn , in an enemy ' s prison . In his twenty-eighth year began his long series of disputes with the IJritish administration . Says . Sir William , "his claim to promotion was mut by shuffling , cold evasions ; it was his right , and of course was denied him . " In the following year he received the desperate wound in the jaw which affected him through life . Without quoting a few passages it would be impossible to indicate the sprightly style of the letters . " That two spiritual fountains constantly played within Charles Napier ' s heart is evident , " says Sir William ; " the one sparkling to the light of glory , the other flowing full towards the tranquillity of private life . " There was a third fountain , however , frothing with abundant gossip and levity . This is to hi . i mrithor : —
" You arc the most provoking woman alive : you tell me you Lave been ill in a copper-plate hand , and of your being better iu a scrawl like mud where a hundred chickens hud been walking . As to JLudy Bellainont , you have chopped her and the Bible together , ho that 1 fear for her character ; she cannot well be separated from Solomon ' s concubines by the best decipherer of tcLcgraphic despatches : you see the impropriety of your carelessness- Solomon puts mo ia mind , through Methuselah , of old people . Colonel Ferguson haa an aunt alive , at Richmond . She knows Wellington , and slie did know ' Eugene and Marlborough ! Sl » o m niece of tho celebrated Lord Htair , and v / idow of a General I 31 und , who wrote on military disci pline , and was ndjutant-gcncral to the British amiy at Dcttingcn iu 1713 . "
And UuH in his profession of politics : — " Whigs huvo all the Tory faults and their own bcHidos . A Tory ia a bold open bandit who avows hia trade and takes all cbunces , doing at times liandHomo and generous things . The Whig ia a sneaking pickpocket , pretending to elegance and
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 14, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14021857/page/17/
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