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Oct. 18, 1851.] &!> * £ *&&**« 995
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r-ritiesare not the legislators, but the...
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The first indications of an active " sea...
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The French are inimitable in Memoirs. Wh...
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All over Kuropc, lleaction displays its ...
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The Baroness von IJkck case still excite...
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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.
Oct. 18, 1851.] &!> * £ *&&**« 995
Oct . 18 , 1851 . ] &!> * £ *&&**« 995
£ Iterator*.
£ iterator * .
R-Ritiesare Not The Legislators, But The...
r-ritiesare not the legislators , but the judges and pohct f literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
The First Indications Of An Active " Sea...
The first indications of an active " season " arrest attention now , after so long a period of flatness ; whether any great books are in gestation it is for Time to prove ; enough for us , as litterateurs , that there are new books forthcoming . Already our table is becoming inconveniently crowded , and the dear old books which had crept stealthily from the shelves taking advantage of rare leisure , are now huddled back unread , or unreread , till that indefinite " some other time , " ces annies qu ' on ajourne toujours et quine viendront jamais ! A new Review is a matter of some interest , and
a new Review we are to have in December , taking the name of the Westminster and Foreign Quarterly , which it replaces , while continuing . Miserably low had that Review sunk in general estimation , although scarcely a number came out which did not contain at least one first-rate article to keep it from utter extinction . It hss now passed into new and energetic hands , with capital to back it , with great talents to animate it , and with high purpose to consecrate it . We may be sure of seeing it a Review which will do honour , as it did of old ,
to the Liberal Party . Mr . John Chapman , the publisher , to whom Free Thought owes such substantial services , has become the proprietor of the Review ; but we rely too much on his sagacity to entertain the fear , not unfrequently expressed , of his making the Review over theological , which would be its ruin . We have already commented on Mr . Chapman ' s efforts to extend his publications into the more extensive departments of general Literature , and we take it the Westminster Review is only a symptom of the same tendency . A passage from the Prospectus will best explain its
purpose : — " The Editors design the revie . v as an instrument for the development and guidance of earnest thought on politics , social philosophy , religion , and general literature ; and to this end they will seek to rendet it the organ of the most able and independent minds of the day . " The fundamental principle of the work will be the recognition <> f the Law of Progress . In conformity with the principle , and with the consequent conviction that attempts at reform—though modified by the experience of the past and the conditions of the
present—should he directed and animated by an advancing ideal , the Editors will maintain a steady comparison of the actual with the possible , as the most powerful stimulus to improvement . Nevertheless , in the deliberate advocacy of organic changes , it will not be forgotten , that the institutions of man , no less than the products of nature , are strong and durable in proportion as they are the results of a gradual development , and that the most salutary and permanent reforms are those , which , while embodying the wisdom of the time , yet sustain such a relation to the moral and intellectual condition of the people , as to insure their support .
" contradistinction to the practical infidelity and essentially destructive policy which would ignore ( the existence of wide-spread doubts in relation to established creeds and systems , and would jj tiflt ! all inquiry dangerous to prescriptive claims , the Keview will exhibit that untemporizing expres 3 sion () opinion , and that fearlessness of investigation and ' 'ti < : i « In which are the results of a consistent faith in t"e ultimate prevalence of truth . "Aware that the same fundamental truths are apprehended under a variety of forms , and that , there-< re , oppoHJng systems may in the end provo comple-»> cntH of each other , the Editors will endeavour to iiKiitute
such a radical and comprehensive treatment ° « those controverted questions which are practically '" omentouH , as may aid in the conciliation of diver-K ' » t views . In furtherance of this object , they have lerinined to set apart a limited portion of the work , "iKh'r the head of « Independent Contributions , ' — ° r the reception of mticlea ably aetting foith opinions Y . n » though not discrepant with the general spirit j the Jteview , may be at variance with the particuar mean or measures it will advocate . The contribu-1 "'! H l <) *•»» department will not nccesHarily be , lll ( i ( 1 to articles in the ordinary form of review *" , j . « Inay » at »»« ' discretion of the Editors , consist oi ¦ ' * "" )'* , lranslatiohH , or even Lettern , when of suOitate 7 , l ) omn ( '<; J H »« piiinury object being to facili-I ) nw u - < x I » eHHion of opinion by men of high mental 1 cr Jmd vulture who , while they ure zealous
friends of freedom and progress , yet differ widely on special points of great practical concern , both from the Editors and from , each other . " The Review will give especial attention to that wide range of topics which may be included tinder the term Social Philosophy . It will endeavour to form a dispassionate estimate of the diverse theories
on these subjects , to give a d efinite and intelligible form to the chaotic mass of thought now prevalent concerning them , and to ascertain both in what degree the popular efforts after a more perfect social state are countenanced by the teachings of politicoeconomical science , and how far they may be sustained and promoted by the actual character and culture of the people . "
This is very well ; but there is one essential point Mr . Chapman must not lose sight of—he must give us an amusing Review . Unless it be amusing it has no chance ; all the philosophy in the world will be unavailing : wing your arrows with the light feathers of wit , fiction , biography , and they will carry far , as we see in the Quarterly , the most amusing and popular of Reviews . Very sad , does the reflection make you ? Sad , or the reverse , it is the stern plain truth . How adroit the Quarterly is in this respect !
and what disreputable politics it makes us overlook 1 For one adherent it has twenty opponents among its readers . Look at the last number . Besides its proper modicum of politics and religion , see how it gilds the pill , and lures various classes by an entertaining paper on " Widow burning " ( surely a very estimable practice !); a biography of Bishop Ken ; a first-rate scientific article , on which we expatiate elsewhere ; and a long tirade against Revolutionary Literature , very animated , very foolish , very amusing—written by an unmistakeable hand .
We are sorry to say the Edinburgh has no such varied entertainment for its readers , although the pleasant picturesque article on the Dukes of Urbino , is of the right kind , and the energetic paper on Neapolitan Justice will make King Bomba and his satellites pale with rage . Certainly a free press is a great thin ? . Naples may be the scene of iniquities ; but flagellated by a Gladstone , by the Edinburgh Review , and by the Times , the whole world is called to be spectator of the infamy . Since tyranny commenced , it has had no such punishment as that inflicted on it by the English Press !
The French Are Inimitable In Memoirs. Wh...
The French are inimitable in Memoirs . Where shall we look for such prodigality of wit , character , anecdote , and subtle observation as in the varied Memoirs they offer us ? In St . Simon we have the whole seventeenth century ; in Grimm and Madame d'MriNAY , the eighteenth . Nay , this talent for writing Memoirs has exercised itself in extensive fabrications of Memoirs ; those of Cardinal Dunois , Madame dk Maintenon , Pomi » ai ) OITh , CuuQUi , and Diihakhi , those of Fouciik and Homespikrric , have all been proved
fabrications , and arc not the less read on that account . We now see announced the Causeries et Confidences de Mile . Mars , the incomparable actress , but with a name attached to them which does not inspire confidence , Rookii dk Hkadvoiu . But we shall keep an eye upon them , and our readers shall be duly informed if the Memoirs turn out amusing . Except a new story by AijKxanduk Dumas , the younger , llevenants , and a reprint of Major Fkidolin ' h story , La Rctraitc des Dix-Mille , from the R & vue des Deux Mondes , we have nothing to chronicle .
All Over Kuropc, Lleaction Displays Its ...
All over Kuropc , lleaction displays its haughty and inveterate imbecility , playing the game of Revolution , by enlisting the sympathies of even moderate men against its foolish and wicked tyranny . I ' ahcai , long ago announced that there was no stability between the two extrcmcH , Tyranny an < l Freedom , Force and Thought ; and Donoho Coiitkh , as we aaw recently , proclaims the conviction ho incessantly proclaimed in these columns , that the real buttle of the world lies between Catholicism and Socialism—a proposition upon which the whole history of the last three centuries is a commentary . Look where we will , out of Eni / laml ,
at this moment , and we see the most vexatious and systematic prosecution of the Press . La Tribum del Pueblo , which so recentl y we welcomed as a comrade in Spain , informs us that four prosecutions already hang over its head ( and it has onlyreached twenty-four numbers ) j and we read in the Times that the editor has been sentenced to a fine of thirty thousand reals . In Germany no man dares " say his soul is own "—indeed , the desire to say so implies a very preposterous ambition ; what should he do with it ? In France , we know where the republican writers are lodged .
The most promising symptom is that the Catholic and Absolute party throws off disguise , scorns Jesuitical adroitness , and expresses , with unequivocal directness , what its aims are . The Inquisition is loudly demanded . The Holy Inquisition ! M . Blanc St . Bonnet , the hope of his party , formally demands the suppression of every
species of free thought : Books , he says , are Poisons . The simile is ancient , but inexact . Poisons have no respect for persons ; and , as Eugene Pelletan says in the brilliant feuilleton from which we draw this , " How comes it that M . Blanc St . Bonnet ' s writings do not poison me , nor my writings him ? ' *
There is M . Barbey d'Aurkvilly , too , who has published a work , Les Prophetes du Passi , which , as we learn from Eugene Pelletan , declares that the evil corrupting society is the pesfc Liberty : —the Church made a fatal error in not burning Luther in lieu of burning his books ; and he concludes that the Inquisition is a " logical
necessity" in every well-constituted state . He eays this with a grace worthy of notice : —• "Luther burned ] Does this startle you ? But I do not absolutely insist upon the auto-da-fe ( mais je ne tiens pas ess entitlement au fagot !) provided error be suppressed in the man who professes it , and call it truth . "
M . d'Aurevilly is an intrepid logician ; he presses onwards daunted by no conclusion , alarmed at no absurdity ; nay , rather caressing it as a pet child : and in this mood he concludes that the only three veritable sovereigns now living are the Emperor of Russia , ( he Emperor of Austria , and Bomba ; yes , " ce gloricvx Bomba an surn <> m ecrit par lafoudre aux Icvres de ses ennemies ! " What think you , Reader , of a system which is based
upon the negation of liberty , which denies Reason ( considering it , we presume , as a faculty bestowed by ( jod on man to had him into error !) , and which ends in proposing Bomba as an ideal ? We are fairly warned . The Holy Inquisition is to be reestablished if ( he Absolutist party giiin the victory , it is well to know what to expect . If the psirty ne tient pus rssentiellemcnt au fagot , at any rate it only waives that us a matterot grace .
The Baroness Von Ijkck Case Still Excite...
The Baroness von IJkck case still excites much attention . Mr . Bknti-i . y has issued a pamphlet which proves that , were the Barone-s an impostor or not , his transactions wilh her were straightforward and generous . But no one ever supposed otherwise . On the main question— -ilia , ? , niimcly , of her being a spy—a cloud of obscurity rests , which might easily be cleared up if people would only say distinctly all they know . Meanwhile suspicion goes all round ; everybody suspects everybody . We are vehemently urged by
separate parties to take neparate positions ; each party , too , of a kind that commands our highest respect . Each wishes us to believe its account the true one , and to stigmatize the other . We cannot do ho . We are as anxious as any can be tor the . full and ex plicit statement of the truth , and we declare ourselves willing to Uikc . all ri . sks in llu ; publicnlion of it ; but we must have positive
evidence ; we cniniot take up a cause on suspicious and half-reserved Hfatemc . ts . The question in more extensive in its reaching * than any uninitiated reader can imag . nc : il touches lngh personnir .-N , involves M . e renutnlion of important people If is n <» l Hie Until we . shrink from--it is Ihrrxfutrte statement . We have not dropped ( he subject .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 18, 1851, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18101851/page/15/
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