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Aug. 18 I860.] The Saturday Analyst and ...
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FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. SPECIAL... '¦- H...
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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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Biological Criticism. F F^ Kiticism In O...
aristocrats to-morrow ; pocketing the pay now of the demagogue of Athens , now of the oligarch of Sparta , now of the tyrant of Macedon Such were the Lysiases and Isocrates , the Demadeses and JEschineses of the Athenian Cema . Some of the diatribes of Lysias and Demosthenes . will be found to be admirable archetypes of that sort of judicial rhetoric which passed current before a Scroggs and a Jeffries . The speeches of Demosthenes and Cicero contain matter that would have made even such furious adepts as Swift and Junius stare and gasp . The fact may be accounted for and in part palliated by the consideration that Cicero and Demosthenes held the same position and fulfilled the same functions in their society th & t Swift and Junius did in the generations that belonged to them . There was no press . The drama of Aristophanes did for the sophists what the more formal circulation of Butler's poems did for the Puritans The oratorical productions of Isocrates are pamphlets
a remark which is due to Lord Monboddo . The difference between modern and ancient oratory may he gathered from a contrast between the formalities of the Old Bailey or Westminster Hall and those of the Areopagus or the Forum . An Englishman can have but little sympathy with that sentimental justice that yields to the exposure of a beautiful bosom , and melts into tears at the sight of a bloody cloak or a gaping wound . A Roman or a Grecian , on the other hand , would have regarded with supreme disgust the impartial majesty of that stern judicature which saw unpitied the weeping children of Strafford , looked unmoved at the bleeding loins of Lilburne , and laughed aloud at the impassioned dagger of Burke . former le
Mr . Windsor prefers Demosthenes to Cicero—the simp ; the latter tricky , time-serving , and specious . He furnishes an elaborate parallel of the two men ^ after the manner of Plutarch . Burke's name is frequently mentioned , and the ParHamentary eloquence of England is freely canvassed . Qriee it lisped : but under Elizabeth it acquired dignity . Bacon spoke as well as wrote . Of him Jonspn remarked , "He commanded when he spoke , and had his judges angry and pleased at his devotion . The fear of every man that heard him was , lest he should make an end . " Then came the . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Rebellion , and the mouth spake from the fulness of the heart . From the Restoration to the Revolution , we have a period comparatively barireii . Yet during it the science of debate became the
developed ; still the pamphlet had more influence than speech . Elocution was studied in oratory * not its : more material qualities . The charm of this goes , in these times , a verj ' little way . Chatham exemplified the philosophy of action , and is pourtrayed by our author , grand in outline , rich in colour . He was the dramatist and actor in one He was , however , misplaced in the House of Lords . « ' The ^ BritishHouse of-Cdmmons is the most perfectarena for the dispiay ' of oratory that the most sanguine rhetorician could have imagined for himself . " Recent influences are gradually assimilating the style of debate to that which prevails in the American Congress ; that of an agent or ah advocate . The two Pitts are also described , Fox likewise , and Sheridan . Brougham is dilated on in a note . But it is with a fuUrlength portrait of Burke that the chapter and
the book conclude . y „ ,. , ' .,- ¦' Meagre , as it has inevitably been , our analysis of this chapter must suggest to the reader an idea of plenitude both in power and in detail . It is utterly impossible for us to illustrate in the same manner-the-preceding-Ghap ter-s . —One ^ f 4 he . ^ ostUriier ^^ in them is the rise of pamphleteering , arid , as France is now going through that phase which England has survived , some remarks on it may prove instructive . Versified satire had preceded its avatar ; but public matters grew too complex for the poetic form . _ The process of action and reaction had enlarged and intensified itself . Things were emerging , as it were , from chaos ., There were the claims of James and the claims of William—claims of the Church of Rome—claims of the Church of England—claims of Dissent .
Opinions divided the House into separate parties . " There were Whigs like Nottingham and Portland , attached to William ' s person and title ; Whigs like Godolp hin and Marlborough , in correspondence with St . Germains ; old Wliigs , like Harlcy , indifferent alike to the King in exile and the King in possession , and only jealous of the prerogative . There were Tories who were Jacopites ; and Tories , who , though they were not Jacobites , woro certainly not Williamites . All these ' several parties , again , joined in their political prejudices , were subdivided in their theological tenets . There were Non-juring High Churchmen , Non-juring Low Churchmen , High Church Jurors , Low Church Jurors , Dissenters arrayed against the Church of England , Dissenters arrayed against the Church of Rome . The more * varied the faction , the more varied
the literature . This state of things was the fountain of pamphleteering * . The increase of political discussion was such that it was regarded as u fatal disturber to the poaco and welfare of families ; " tho meanest of the shopkeepers and handicrafts spending whole days in coffee-Iiousoh , to hear news and talk politics , whilst their wives arid children want bread at home , and they themselves are thrust into gaols , or forced to take sanctuary in tho arriiy . " Pamphleteering RuppiiedAynatrwas wanting-ta ~ tne" « reBH-of ~ the-day ,-which-WHs exceecunjrly limited in its sphere of activity compared with that of ours , oeing little more than a mere chronicle . Among tho Pamphleteers Do Foe ' s in a f * roat name . * ' In an ago when to bo a political writer was to be a venal one , his honesty won . him tho pillory and a prison . " Next to his is Swift's . The chapter to which wo are now directing attention is full of anecdotes . Do Foe and Bunyan are compared ; and it is stated that De Foe is Bunyan in the garb of a layman , and that Bunyan is Do Foe in the pulpit . Do Foo in also compared with Swift . The former painted the familiar ; tho latter exacts our wondor or
excites our scepticism . Rousseau apostrophises the author of ' Robinson Crusoe" as far above Aristotle , Pliny , and Buffon . Withal , De Foe was thoroughly national . In him " we meet with the plain unembellished existence of the Anglo-Saxon element , exemplifying itself in its vigorous common sense , its epigrammatic expressiveness , its honest and prosaic , reality . " . " Cobbett , " adds our author , " did not deal less in sentiment . " We have now enabled the reader to form some idea of a book which impresses us with a sense of dignity . In its diction there is a majestic tone , and a breadth in its inductions , which invests it with a philosophical character . The author Jmust take his place
among the great essay writers of the day . : We are at a loss , how ^ it ever , to assign his position in the field of argument , or to determine the system to which his inquiries are auxiliary . There is an accumulation of detail , but we know not the propositions that the illustrations are intended to strengthen . There are parts , but we have yet to apprehend the whole to which they belong . Perhaps the writer did not wish to limit himself or his subject , and affected a largeness of argument and of mind . Decidedly his grasp is extensive , and his fertility apparently inexhaustible . To the higher class of readers , his labours will prove eminently suggestive ; and their minds will expand as they peruse this well-stored book with the extraordinary amount of knowledge it displays .
Aug. 18 I860.] The Saturday Analyst And ...
Aug . 18 I 860 . ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . t 37
Foreign Correspondence. Special... '¦- H...
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . SPECIAL .. . '¦ - Hanover , August 14 ^ 1860 . npHE following " Story of Six Prussians , " which I translate X from the feuilleton of the Weser Gazette , illustrates very pithily he popular view of the national task of Prussia : — - A short time ago six Germans met casually in a Cafe , at Paris , and , very naturally , their conversation turned upon German , affairs . They spoke about the agitation for unity and centralisation , about th 0 reawakened sentiinent of nationality , and the firm resolution Of all Gerriians to put an end to all the pettydivisions and jealousies which had obstructed the political and material progress of the countryy and to transform themselves into a compact , powerful , and cpnunanding nation . Prussia , being the country to whichtall Germans look as destined to carry into effect the universal desire , came more especially under discussion . The conversation grew more and more hopeful and animatedj till it reached a pitch of the most ardent enthusiasm . Only one ^ sat quiet arid silent , and appeared pot to share the general patriotic excitement .. ' ¦ ' ¦ : ¦¦ ¦ : .: ¦¦ .. ¦¦¦ ¦ '• ¦ ¦ ¦• . _ . [ . '' - .. '' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ~ ¦ * ' You are , perhaps , ppposed-to the internal policy of Prussia ? " . said his neighbour , a young artist , half in earnest , half ¦ in . jest . " On the contrary , " replied the other , cahiily ,- "rlove Prussia for two reasons ^ fiist , because I am a German ¦; secondly , because I am by birth a Prussian . " . .. Q ,, " You do not , however , seem to share our patriotic sentiments ? " My patriotic sentiments are less ardent than yours , because I am neither a German nor a Prussian . " " How is that ? Are you banished ? " . " Yes" and " No . "
, - ¦ " ^ te ^ do ^ oxrwairijy ^^ ' . ' . '¦ " ' " I am no Sphinx , " answered the person addressed , smiling , " but a simple man of business , and I will solve you the riddle at once .- I am a Prussian ; butj having omitted to get my certificate of settlement renewed , I have lost my country ^ I am , consequently , no loriger a Prussian ; and , as I am no longer a Prussian , I have also ceased to be a German . The Prussian embassy will not give me a passport , and if I want to take a journey to Germany , I must beg a passport from the French authorities , and explain to them that I have no country , because some wiseacre of a legislator has concocted the paragraph of a law by which I am deprived of my natural right . Is the riddle solved to your satisfaction ? " .. .
"By heavens ! I am in exactly the same position , " said the artist , rather cowed . And it soon turned out that the other four were likewise similarly situated . They were six Prussians , who , by the law of 31 st December , 1842 ( sec . 28 ) , had lost their quality as Prussian subjects because they had not thought of acting m due time , as the law prescribed . . A pause ensued , which the merchant at last interrupted with these words : — " Gentlemen , my sojourn abroad has not caused mo to forget my native land ; on the contrary , the knowledge I have obtained of other countries makes me love it niore fervently , and I am more than ever convinced that the man whose heart is sound prefers the countrv of his birth in suite of all cosmopolitan tendencies . I
have , however , during my residence abroad , shaken off many a prejudice , and renounced many a false view . I rejoice with every patriot at the political resuscitation in Prussia , and the national spirit evinced by-tfoontiro ^ eople- ^ from myself that in this movement fine words and p hrases are much too prevalent . There is a groat deal too much « ud in prose and verse about tho enemy who threatens the boundaries ot Germany , while very little is dono to make Germany indeed , ana , in fact , Iho country of Germans . A Prussian loses hl * s ^™ ' * 1 * he lives six years out of Prussia without , renewing lm sot ^ ement certificate , no matter whether this period bo passed in fwkey , m India , or in the Duchy of Nassau . The Prussian police ^ horities regard every non-Prussiaii country as a foreign one . f ^ i * ™ can I be proud of a country of which I may so easily bo deprived /
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 18, 1860, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18081860/page/9/
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