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April 18,1857.] THE LEADER. 875
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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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April 18,1857.] The Leader. 875
April 18 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . 875
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. - ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ' . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ——?¦— ¦ ¦¦ . ¦¦ • . ¦ . Critics are not the legislators , "but the judges and police of liieratnre . They do not make la-ws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Hevieto .
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- -V - . _ - We said last -week that the Reviews this quarter were better than usual , and this week the new number of the Edinburgh comes in to confirm tlie statement . Those who are in the habit of watching the progress of periodical literature must have motieed with pleasure that this patriarch of the Quarterlies is of late , after a somewhat wintry season , renewing its vigorous youth . Fora time , certainly , it seemed to have passed into the hopeless barrenness of age , the once vivid . pages being wholly Glled witlx dreary statistics and still
drearier dissertations on subjects of at best but little interest , and often of no interest at all . Like the melancholy peculiar to tailors , which , according to Chables Lamb , may be traced to the sameness and singularity of their diet ( they are well known to be , as a body , Vegetarians , ' living almost exclusively on cabbage ) , this melancholy condition , was too evidently produced by want of nourishment rather than weakness of constitution . The Review , living wholly on Blue-books , by a natural process gradually became subdued to the colour of what it fed on . No doubt Blue-books are very good , but as they supply only one of tbe constituents of intellectual strength , their too exclusive use tends to impoverish the blood and'dry up the vital juices , until a more liberal regimen becomes indispensable to mental health . The salutary effects of such a change arc seen in the recent numbers of the Edinburgh . "With
a more generous and ¦ stimulating' diet , it has regained much of its old vigour ^ variety , arid incisiveness of intellectual action . This is seen not only in the subjects chosen , but in the spirit with wliich they are treated . The choice of subject , however , is by no means an unimportant point as an index to the power and vitality of a Review . The last number of the Quarterly , for example , con ^ tained three articles on " Salmon , " Perns , " and " Rats , " respectively . As natural history is faslnonable— -minute botany and marine zoology being quite the rage just now— -there is no doubt a certain wisdom in this . But it w ^ s felt that , for such a- journal to give three out of eight articles to the minutiae of a single subject , was , to say the least , an uncalled for abnegation of its higher functions ; and though the papers , being well written , were decidedly interesting , tbe number was fairly open to the charge of devoting too many great articles to small subjects . .
jSo such complaint can with justice be made against the current number . of the Edinburgh , two of its . best articles being dedicated to recognised celebrities , " Alexander the Great , " arid "The Atlantic Ocean . " The first is a defence of Ai / exandeh ' s character and conduct against the wilful misrepresentations of Niebtjiik , and the more temperate and judicial depreciation of Mr . Guote . The article , though , not brilliant , is interesting throughout from the scholarly research it displays , the care ' - . with wluch it is written , and the broad and liberal spirit it breathes . We may add that the writer , as it seems to us , does his hero no more than simple justice . Ai / exandisr the Gbeat will always be judged very differently by two parties more or less opposed to each
otherthose who look on him as the destroyer of tlie old , the semi-barbaric warrior who helped to extinguish Athenian independence ; and those who regard him as tlie founder of the new , the great general who helped , by his genius and conquest , to diffuse Hellenic civilization—the precious vase of Attic culture being broken only that its fragrance might fill all lands . In this view he simplythough in a sense not intended by the poet—" gave up to the East what was meant for mankind , " thus commencing the spread of that culture which , since Ins day , and in great part through his instrumentality , lias extended to every quarter of the globe . The writer thus sums Up his discussion of the subject : —
If he overthrew the liberties of Hellas , in flieir native seal ; , he gave to the Hellenic mind a wider scope , and eventually a yet nobler mission . He was the precursor of Heraclms restoring the True Cross from its Persian bondage , of Leo beating back tlie triumphant Saracen from the walls of the city which Philip himself had besieged iu v }"" victories of Christian Emperors , the teaching of Christian Fathers tin abiding life of the tongue and arts of Greece far beyond the limits of old Hellas , perhaps the retention of Greek nationality down to our own times , all sprang from the triumphsof tins perlu-ips " non-Hellenic conqueror , " but , in his ultimato results , most truly Hellenic missionary . And though wo may not personally attribute to him the praise ot results which neither ho nor any mortal could Iiutc contemplated , let us at least do Justice to tlie great and noble qualities , tlie extended and enlightened aims , winch marked his brief career on earth . Many faults , and a few crimes , indeed stain " ! Si ? ' , ' , , P * P B noil ° mortal race ever went through such an ordeal . It leen
mSSnm h w ? a ™> ral mirncle if a fiery and impulsive youth had passed vouth a Proof ^ l ; . I > tations « s ^ d « ovop bosct humanity before . A down nm'S J , mln 7 Tf ° > a t } . \ « would liavc bcen moTO than ™ an had he looked dovii quite undazzled from the glddy eminence of what he might well deem suner-S'Zf r % T ' r ? ° r ° CVC 11 th 0 mT ) lo 8 t cf ^ qucrora niuaryicld to that of the peaceful ^ benefactors of their species , or of the warders whoso victories do but secure the liberties of nations . We do not place Alexander beside Leon las or Washington , beside Alfred or William the Silent . But wo do protest SSatn view which p aces Mm in tie same cIohs with Attila and JcnghiL an Sou ? Their warfare was devastation for its own sake ; Lis was conquest which went Tan 1 in hand TiaXhTT } m v ™™ ° *? Their , was a wild beast ' s thirst of blood , a barbarian a lust of mere dominion ; his was « an ambition which ohnont grow into one with SucJf \? - : vhid \ r «« c ' ^ ^ « io desire of knowledge andil . o love of goou » Such is tho judgment of one who yields to nono in the -extent of his research and vet mI . ZZZ yiCl ? *? , " ° ° ? hlS con 'P otI'o » »» « . « brilliancy of original discovery , br / lSvTvo S V T . T and judlcU 1 faCllUiCH ' witll 0 Ut wlli <* «*»« * Ja onumncy a » o vain . By the judgment of that great historian wo still abide ihor ! r ' ? ° » Atluwtio Occun" &*<**<** d «« and vigorous style the Gulf-atroa » n , the Arctic currents , the forces which determine their course
and the laws -which , such , chartered libertines as winds and "waves are now known to obey . Ifc also famishes an account of tie Atlantic telegraph , the rival lines of mail steamers—the Cunabd and Coxlens—giving , of coarse , tLe palm for speed and safety to the former . The waiter , in the following passage , accepts Lieutenant Mauris suggestion for lessening the risk of collision , which experience proves to be considerable : — It is not , however , a rivalry without risk . In seeking for the maximum of speed , safety is jeopardized in all these great lines of mail steamers . Winter storms , icebergs , fogs , tropical hurricanes , and collisions with other vessels , are all encountered at high rates of velocity . Experience and discipline have done much to protect against these dangers , but serious hazards still exist ; and especially those of collision , which are constantly augmenting in an ocean every year more crowded with ships , seeking to find the shorrtest passage across it . In these daya , however , of bold design and prompt execution , there are few ; ills which , do not bring with them the suggestion ef remedy . Lieut . Maury , and others in . sequel to him , have urged the adoption of " steam lanes" across the Atlantic ; that is , definite lines of navigation of a certain
width , and distinct from others throughout ; so appropriated severally to vessels going east or west , that the chances of collision may he greatly lessened , if not actually removed . The -width of the zone of ocean now traversed by the mail steamers is about 250 miles . It is proposed to mark off lanes , 20 or 25 miles in width , on the northern and southern , borders of this zone , as the routes respectively to be followed and adhered tc , by all steam-vessels crossing in one direction or the other . The scheme , or some one equivalent to it , we ; doubt--not-to be practicable ; and such , ia its obvious utility , that we as little doubt its being eventually carried into effect . The phrase of a Steam lane may somewhat startle those wlio are wont to associate with ; this Tvord the cross roads of a midland rural district—the high hedges , deep ditches , and straggling cart ruts ; the bushes of blackberry , hazel-nut , ' and hawthorn , and the Urundred sweet flowers and weeds whicli luxuriate on . the hedge banks . We cannot quarrel , however , with this new use of the term , if the object be fulfilled to which it is applied;—iilong lanes of ocean ,.. " which have no turning , " be really laid out for the safer navigation of the seas . The very simplicity and familiarity of the name ia a tribute to that pro-wess of man , which , has taught him thus to mark out and pursue a fixed path through the wide wilderness of waters .
Tlie paper on " Tlie Last Census of France / in a careful and dispassionate review of facts and figures , with the causes and consequences they suggest , gives a picture of the resxilts of Imperialism gloomy enough , and even menacing . We can only , in passing , recommend it to the serious study of all who wish , to know the actual state of the French people , -whose interests in many respects are so identified with our own . We have , however , dealt with the subject in another department of this journal , and we shall not allow it toeicape the close attention of our readers . Tlie -article on " The Dilettanti Society" affords an illustration of the
improved spirit we have referred to as characterizing the Edinburgh of late 3 the disposition to recognise and appreciate the influences which , in the evolutions of modern life , are unconsciously changing the form and character of society . We ought to say , parenthetically , that the history of the Society given in the body of the paper certainly takes away from its labours the character of polished-trifling , and elegant but utter uselessness , which somehow or other we bad supposed naturally belonged to them . On the contrary ,-the Society lias evidently done nvuch for art , as well as for historic science and archaeology . Towards the close , the writer of the article considers the influence of classical
culture now in comparison with its position arid power half a century ago—in what spirit will be seen from the following extracts .: — It requires no deep philosophy to understand that the moral and intellectual eha ~ racteristics of any period can hardly be discerned by those who are close upon them : eacli man reflects them in bis own nature , and believes the coloured or distorted object to toe the reality . With this reserve , we express our belief that our lot is cast in that moment of this world ' s life in which the great instrument of civilization , the Classical Culture , is ceasing to occupy the minds and regulate the intellectual motions of mankind . There arc many who would find in this persuasion no causefor regret , and these not among the ignorant nor the vulgar . If tlie tradition was a guide , it was also a check ; if it drew up the ordinary intelligence , by certain fine and analogous processes , to a certain level of noble thoughts and graceful expressions , it cramped within the same framework many luxuriant growths of fancy , and many genuine diversions of genius . As long , indeed , as the Latin language was the vernacular of tlie education of Europe , by that very fact it acquired a certain liberty of development ; and while it might lose something in its philological structure , it
gamed in its adaptation to the various requirements of the advancing world . But when the modern languages gained their perfect stature , and claimed to bo written and spoken by all men as the organs of their separate nations , and the classic tongue declined to the use of mere scholars , and soon ceased to be the medium , of general communication even there , no variation of its authentic shape was longer possible , and it only retained the powerless faculty of a dead form of speech . Mr . Conington , in the interesting lecture to which wo have before alluded , regards this circumstance as an advantage for the study of the language ; but wo so little agree with him , that we look on the fact of the appointment of a Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford as in itself a strong proof of the diminution of the classical spirit . This very eulogy of the Latin language reads like a funeral oration over that condition of study , when the colloquialisms of life , the banter of youth , the academic sports ( of which tho " Westminster Play" is allowed to linger as a belated representative ) , tho principles of philosophy , and tho verities of religion , spoke the great common diction . It seems to us like establishing an annual lecture upou the principles of Liberty in tho place of the working of the British Constitution . . . .
] Jut it ia still a stronger index of tho intellectual tendencies of our time that even those who succeed in attaining tlie highest classical honours at our universities dismiss tho subject from their minds when they mix . in political and common life . It is not only that the young politician's " first speech , " with its apposite quotations and its scliolaily tone , is a custom of the past ; not . only that such a publication as established the reputation of Payne Knight , and made him a man of fashion , would now exclude him from respectable houses , and seriously damage his prospects in life ^ but that in the writings and tho speeches of these very men ,, in their occupations , and in their amusements , you nro not conscious of tho presence of the old spirit , you do not taste the flavour of the ancient grace , and you think that they might just as well have been devoting their youth to Sanscrit as to Greekto German as to Latin .
, . . . r foundations of this change in tho thoughts and expressions not only of this country but of the civilised world must Uo deep . Not to go farther back , the great I « rench Revolution ( " the Dowager , " tho French now call her ) accelerated , while it pretended to arrest , tho full of tho traditional literary authorities . Our friend
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 18, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18041857/page/15/
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