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1218 THE LEADHR. l$^TvimAY ,
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Critics are not the legislators, bub the...
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The new number of the -Irish Quarterly R...
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There have been disputes aboutHomee's ex...
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Amonf* the few French books which call f...
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It is a difficult and delicate matter th...
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B O OIC M B E If O K E 0 U K T BIB U N A...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
1218 The Leadhr. L$^Tvimay ,
1218 THE LEADHR . l $ ^ TvimAY ,
Idtenttmt.
IDtenttmt .
Critics Are Not The Legislators, Bub The...
Critics are not the legislators , bub the judges and police of literature . They do . not make laws -they interpret and try to enforce them .-Hdinbui ' ffh Review .
The New Number Of The -Irish Quarterly R...
The new number of the -Irish Quarterly Review opens with ^ an article on Limited Liability in Partnerships , which will aid in the enlightenment * of our legislators on this extremely important topic , one fraught with the interests of the whole commercial world . It is with * some pride that we observe a 'dew originally proposed for - English adoption in these columns , and advocated with persistent ardour , now becoming the general view of political writers . We do not of course for one moment arrogate to ourselves the having in any way created this movement ; but we take some pride in hlm ^ been the first am ong journals which pointed out the Fren ch law of partnership , en comviandite , ° as one eminently adapted to our industrial condition .
There is also an amusing biography of Mackxin , the actor and dramatist , in this Review , which our dramatic readers will do well to lookj ' after . Mackxix has the honour of having restored Shylocklto his Shakspearian sdignity : — " His first character , after his trial , was Ramillie , in Fielding's Miser ; bat he was now upon the path of fame and fortune . He was the Peachum , of the Beggars Opera ; Sa * ub , in the Beaux Stratagem ; the Marplot , of the Busy Body , with all the full round of other Important parts , and his crowning triumph and success occurred on the 14 th of February , 1741 . For many years Lord Lansdowne ' s Jem of Venice , altered from Shakspeare's Mer-• chant of Veniee , had been performed , and the latter entirely neglected . It seemed to Macklin a very great error , that this fine tragedy should be forgotten , and the great poet ' s design completely perverted by making Shyloch a low comedy part ; he accordingly resolved to adhere closely to Shakspeare ' s text , to take the character on himself , and placed the -piece in rehearsal , At the rehearsals lie merely repeated the words of his part , leaving the actors in entire ignorance of his intended mode of representation . The performers , the
manager , nearly all the friends of the theatre , predicted a failure , but when the appointed 3 . 4 th of February arrived , Mackhn was resolute : not so , however , his brother actors , and he was forced to endure the frowns of Portia , Mrs . Clive , and the lamentations of Antonio , Qmn . The house was , " crowded from the opening of the doors , and the curtain rose amidst the most dreadful of all awful silence , the stillness of a multitude . The Jew enters in the third scene , and from that point , to ^ the famous scene with Tubal , all passed off with considerable applause . Here , however , and in the trial scene , the actor was triumphant , and in the applause of a thousand voices the curtain dropped . The play was repeated for nineteen successive nights with increased success . On the third night of representation all eyes were directed to the stage-box , where sat a little , deformed , man ; and whilst others watched Ms gestures , as if to learn his opinion of the performers , he was gazing intently upon Shyloch , and as the actor panted , in broken accents of rage , and sorrow , and avarice—* Go , Tubal , fee me an officer , bespeak him a fortnight before : I will have the heart of him , if he forfeit ; for were he out of Venice , I can make what merchandise I will : go , Tvbal , and meet me at our synagogue ; go , good Tubal ; at our synagogue , TubaV—the little man was seen to rise , and , leaning from the box , as Macklin passed it , he
whispered' This is the Jew , That Shakspeare drew . ' " TJie speaker was Alexander Pope , and in that age , from his judgment in criticism there was no appeal . " Thus were genius and discrimination triumphant , and so they ever triumph . Thus , Mrs . Pritchard , the great Lady Macbeth , had ever , in the sleeping walking scene , held the lamp in one hand , and touched its palms with the fingers of the other , and so represented the washing of the damned spot : ' but great Siddons resolved that she wonld depart from this conception , and though Sheridan wept , and prayed , and entreated , that she would return to the established mode of representation , she was immovable in her resolution- —she kid the lamp upon the table , passed hand over hand in the strong will , yet despairing hope , to cleanse that stain which ' all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten . ' Did the audience iuss , or laugh—no—night was around them—the chill of the tomb was upon all—the great Demon woman , yet the poor criminal , conscience-driven , was before them , tsho who was , even in sleep , pursued by iiends , and in
the' What , will these hands ne ' er bo clean ? they know the socrct of the bleeper ' s gesture—and sat in stony silence—wondering at the genius of the poet—the genius of the actress . Thus too , when ftdmund Kcan resolved to jjlay this same S / iylocJc , man never played it before , they all told him it could not succeed —ho attends the last rehearsal—goes home to his poor lodgings—dines on the beefsteak and pot of porter which liis fond , true , long-suffering wifo had procured—returns to the theatre , carrying his wig , his collar , and his old black silk stockings in a pocket handkerchief—he goes on foot through the snow , enters upon the stage—plays out his part—leaves the theatre -amidst the shouts of nil , and glowing with his triumph , rushes to his home—wild with joy , cries to his wifo— 'Oh , Mary ! my fortune's made : now you shall ride in yqur carriage '—. and snatching little Charles from his crndle , ho exclaims , whilst rnptuouuly kissing him , * Now , my boy , you shall go to Eton . ' Thus does tho ' Aut Cifdur , aut nullus' of genius triumph . "
¦ In the next number of this Review there is to be a biography of Banim the novelist , and in the present number those piquant , anecdotical papers , The Streets of Dublin , are continued . The editor shows sagacity in thus quitting the beaten track of Quarterly Reviews which others still preserve , although the whole spirit and purpose of the Reviews have changed . From the moment the Review ceased to be a Review , and became a quarterly publication of Essays , the old restrictions became unnecessary . The Revue tdes Deux JMondes is the pattern editors should have before their eyes . We iiave once before suggested ( and we repeat the suggestion because it seems to us not without importance ) , that considering the impossibility of establishing a journal of Scientific Memoirs , translated from the finest continental productions , our Quarterly Reviews would do well in some sort to fill such a place by giving insertion to translations of very remarkable scientific papers . Apropos of science , Dr . Fju « i > kiucic Licks , of Leeds , in a private letter to
us , writes : "I have just been making an experiment in relation to the mooted question of Spontaneous Combustion , which , as I am writing to you , I may as well mention . Having had a stomach for the last seven yearn preserved iu alcohol ( not my own ! for that I preserve without , as you know , but one taken nt a post-mortem from a drunkard , who waa drowned ) , I thought that , us it had been well-steeped in alcoholics both before and after death , it ought , when fired , to show at least some combustive behaviour akin
to the case of poor Krook—if his happened to be a record of fact . I brok the head of the vessel and set fire to the pint of alcohol in . and around th ^ organ . The spirit burnt away , and as it burnt it singed the upper part of the stomach , but when all the spirit was consumed the stomach was still there—stubbornly incombustible , as Iexpected . " . This is an interesting record , establishing a fact , which , indeed , did not require fresh evidence , to any one conversant with the structure of the body but which to the general reader seemed inconceivable . We said that the living body could not be steeped in alcohol ; and , moreover , if it were steeped it alcohol it would not burn . The experiment of Dr . Lees will , we hope suffice to convince the sceptical general reader . '
There Have Been Disputes Abouthomee's Ex...
There have been disputes aboutHomee ' s existence ; Wixxiam Tell has been proved a myth , and ingenious men have shown that we have no proof of Shakspeare being altogether unmythical ; but what will Glasgow say to her . Alexander Smith being considered a mere nom de plume , as Bakry Cornwaxx is for Mr . Proctor ? There is something so prosaic in the name of Smith ( " which is not precisely an Italian name , ' as a friend once gravely remarked ) that America may be excused if her citizens get up a theory of historical scepticism , based primarily on this prosaism , and secondarily on the " suspicious circumstance" of Alexander Smith having been the name under which Kossuth sailed for England . We are not jesting . That theory has been started , and Kossuth is credited with a Life Drama .
Amonf* The Few French Books Which Call F...
Amonf * the few French books which call for the attention of our readers , let us name the eighth volume of Sainte Beuve : Les Causeries du Lundi , Not , indeed , so chaining as the other volumes we have from time to time announced , yet more delightful than any other volume of criticisms coming from Paris . It contains articles on Gibbon , Prince i > e Lig > e , Gabreexle d'Estrees , R < ederer , Mignet , Suixt ,. Mezeray , Bernis , Guy , Pa ™ , Maxherbe , and others ; and , as Grax wished for a sofa and eternally new novels , so will the literary readers desire eternally new volumes of Les Causeries du Lundi .
Let Us also name Madame Emixe de Girardin ' s repubhcation of Le Vi comte de Launay's Correspondance Parisienne . Lovers of light , witty , gossamer-gossip will remember her Lettres Parisiennes , which were ihefeuilleton chronicles of 1836 , 7 , 8 , and 9 . The present volume is a continuation , and tells the gossipping , unwritten history of Paris during 1840-48 . It is full of anecdotes , mots , ingenious paradoxes , and things " so French . " There is a chapter on The Duty of a Pretty Woman to be Pretty , which should be read by all women , and all who admire them ; that is to say by the whole world . We were greatly tickled by her picture of weddings , which , as she says , en general pechent par les oncles ; danscette noce il y avail des effets d ' oncles merceilleux ! ( which in a rough translation means that weddings in general are spoiled \> y the uncles ; but in this -wedding there were some marvellous u uncle effects" ) .
It Is A Difficult And Delicate Matter Th...
It is a difficult and delicate matter that of reconciling the claims of the " flesh" and the claims of the " spirit "—to fulfil your " contracts with Government , " and fulfil all the Church demands . The Directors of the General Screw Company are in this position . They are appealed to by four clergymen on the sin of coaling ships on Sundays . 'J hey admit the tin , deeply deplore it , but what is to be done ?—have they not made a " contract with Government ? " There is something very instructive in the correspondence which passed on this point . The clergy paint a graphic and somewhat ludicrous picture . They complain that divine service ( like dinner ) was " provided" for the passengers ; but during the whole time this provision was partaken of the sailors were ahoy-hoy-ing at the ropes ( ahoys , we wi not altogether unaccompanied by endearing curses ) , and not on y
suppose , thinning the " attendance on divine service , " but noisily mingling tUcir accents with the mild parsonic intonations . What a picture ! curses here , and threats of hellfire there : -damnations plentiful as blackberries I Not content with tlie picture , they attempt to reason , and as usual rum their case . They argue thus : Coaling a ship need only occupy one day « each week ; if that one day Verc ; * sacrificed with ^ the express purpose o " honouring the Sabbath , " these clergymen confidently assure the JJirecio > that " no real loss will follow in the long run ; " so that , after all , the sc ^ commercial motive is thrust in advance . We are advised to honour
Sabbath that we may in the long run be gainers : we bait with a gu < g to catch a pike . And this is what they call taking " higher g round I directors bo appealed to would , on figures being produced , of colll's * trflct 8 respond . Meanwhile they point out that prayer is desirable , but con ^ are imperative ; if the captains can ho arrange matters as to give i ^ day in seven , to prayer and petitions for gain in the long run , an ( y ^ longer on the voyage than the contract stipulates , they , «» g ooc Directors , will heartily say , be it ho ! Not otherwise .
B O Oic M B E If O K E 0 U K T Bib U N A...
B O OIC M B E If O K E 0 U K T BIB U N A h . ^ ^ Arx . readers of the French Involution will have noted ' ^ ' ^ n . rfjien ^ prisoners appearing before Fouquikh Tinvh- ^ k had to undergo a o j ] junC > > examination , others were sent to the guillotine in batches—a gin ' ^ fl [ 5 rioU . ' » and a floui-iHh of the pen sufficed for them . Yet their crime was ^ ^ { ha jih the crime of those who were . honoured with a longer truil ; 1 jfl 0 I 1 er i ^ crime , but the criminal thus honoured . In . one caso wo moo tn 1
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 17, 1853, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17121853/page/18/
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