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Nov 430, JuNE l^ , 1858.] THE LEADE1. 59...
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MR. WIEOEF AND LORD FALMERSTOlf. A Nkvj ...
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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Transcript
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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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Legends And Lyrics. ' Legends And Lyrics...
I tore my Sorrow-from my heart , I cast it far away in scorn ; Right joyful that we two could part , Yet most % rlorn . I sought ( to take tny Sorrow ' s place ) Ovex tlie world for flower or gem , — ' But she had had an ancient grace , Unknown to'them !' Itook once more witn strange deliglit My slighted Sorrow .. Proudly now , r wear it , set with stars of light , Upon my brow T Another whole poem almost as perfect in the composition is the one which Is called ir Treasures ; " meaning sorrows turned ' to account ; another is "Judge not , ' an admirably worded piece of advice on that admirable text ; jmd ' a tiiird is entitled ""A Love Token . " This , to be sure , is a" -conceit ; "' but it is a conceit of the first water ; say rather ,, a fancy rich "with feeling ,. such as would . have graced the page of any poet ; and- the epigrammatic turn , at the conclusion-is at once a-satirical surprise wholly unlooked for from the general character of the book , and furnishing a fijne warning foil lonianticbestowers of ' hearts upon the heartless 1 : —
; A'EOVETOKES-. Do you . grieve no costly offering To the lady you can make ? One tliere is , and gifts less -worthy Queens have stoop'd to take . Take a heart of virgin silver , Fashion it "with heavy blows ^ . Cast It tflierr iir Love ' s hot" furnace , " ; : When it fiercest glows . "With Pain ' s sharpest point transfix it , AiKlthen cauya in letters fair . Tender dreams and quaint devices , Fancies strange and rare . Set within it Ilbpe ' s blue sapphire , Many changing opal fears , , Blood-red niby-stones of daringy - Mixed with-pearly tears . . " :-.. And -when you : liav « wrought aad labour'd Till the gift is all complete , * You may hutnbly lay your offering ¦ ¦ '¦¦ ' ¦ .. ' . ¦ . ; ¦ ¦¦ . At the Lady ' s feet . / ¦ . ; ¦ ¦ ' / ' . . - . ¦ ¦ ' ' ' ¦ Shooldiher mood , perchance be grajciouBir—W ^ itli disdainful-smiling pride She will place it with the trinkets Glittering' at her side . Satire howewsr .,: abk * as she here shows herself feo inflict it ,, is very rarewith- our sensitive and thoughtful poetess / She is too sympathetic for it ; too . charitable , toO ' wise ; has > little faith . in its use 01 ? its beauty , and a great deal in the . good of thinking ? the . best ,, and in encouraging ; people ' s best qualities ,, instead of exasperating ; their bad ones . W « had . marked . a > number of passages * to quote from the "Angel's Story , " "My Picture , " " One by-One ,, " "A Knight Errant , " Homeward ; Bound ? ' ( a-terrible story ) , "The Tomb in Ghent" ( beautifully descriptive , bu * with a . morbid foundation ) ,. " The Wayside Inn" ( note the lady on
horsebackllert sunny ringlets round her A golden cloud had made , While her large hat was keeping Her calni ) blue e 3 e 3 in shade ) ; ** The Dark Side" ( a lovely rebuke to the evil-seek if iff ) , " Incompleteness " ( a . Platonical argument , most wise , for . completeness hereafter ) , " Words " ( showing ; the- might of them ) , "A Tryst with Death" ( very melancholy ) ,. w Sailor Boy" ( it story of a wedded wifa apparently unloving by nature ,, owing to a hapless first love ) , " Grief , " . " Home-Sickness" ( most true , though tJor a home most sorrowful ) , "Hush ! . " ( a story of sick waiting , and listening , till tho heart is broken ) , and . lastly , "Unexpressed , " a . charming variation upon a line passage in Marlowe showing that no artist can over thoroughly express whsii ho wishes ,, to his . own satisfaction . lie is forced ) to ,
Bow beneath a noble discontent .. Thingra of time hare voices : speak nnd perish . Art and love speak—but their words must bo Liko sighings of illimitable forests , And waves of an unfathomable sea . Those are noble verses . Musical readers -will have noticed the fine cadences and modulations of Miss Procter ' s verso . She inherits those lyricaL graces of iier father , which fortunatel y for a community which at length is learning toeing , have been more or less felt by all the world . Likeiiim too she feels-for tho , poor , nnu can sing of their rights ; as he did Ions before he
-was tollowcd m the same admirable direction by a . dnurnblo Thomas Hood thtt keynote having been given , perhnps to both , by Charles Lamb , in his wses on tue different funerals of ricli nnd poor . We wish wo could add though the point , however superior on poetical grounds , is of inferior moral consequence , that the world could have been equally alive , In Mr . Procter ' s person , to the merits of a writer of plays ,, who was the first since the old poets to restore naturul impulsive dialogue to . the drama ; -to say nothing of passages worthy of the same poets in point of beauty and Grandeur . < Jorneille and Racine are famous for isolated phrases ; nay , for one or two which cntiC 3 aro always repeating . In Mr . Procter ' s tragedy of Muandola tliere is a phxase in the mouth of a long-sulloring man ,. whose heart is fairly worn out— J
I want to die — which appear to us to be quotable by the Bide of tho finest that evd weiro lit tercel .
Nov 430, June L^ , 1858.] The Leade1. 59...
Nov 430 , JuNE l ^ , 1858 . ] THE LEADE 1 . 59 S
Mr. Wieoef And Lord Falmerstolf. A Nkvj ...
MR . WIEOEF AND LORD FALMERSTOlf . A Nkvj Tor / iet" at the Foreign Office ^ and ' Ma Adventures in Paris ' . By Henry WnkofF . Tjiiftner and Go . The plain truth concerning Mr . Wikoff appears to be this : thsvthe was employed by Lord Palmerstoh at a salary of 5001 . sterling a year to- keep up a good feeling , through the - press , between England and America , that hia agency was not found valuable , and that he was dismissed ! , after ample notice , with half a year ' s payment by way of gratuity . Judging from his own account of himself , we should say that those with whom he conversed must have found : him , after the- first few visits , an insufferable bore ^ and «• twaddler into the bargainy with ' enormous self-conceit aiidan' affectation of di plomatic art altogether ridiculous . The- Poreign-office having parted with him he
entangled himself in some affair with which the public has nothing to do , and now he writes this curiously shameless book to revenge himself upon persons who had been civil to him . The effect will certainly be to create surprise that Lord l'almerston should" ever have admitted Mr . Wikoff to his table , and that men of the Wikoff and Birch stamp , should be engaged by Ministers of State to act upon , opinion- externally ; bafc the-wDiter will take nothing by his motion , unless ,- indtsedy he will be satisfied witb > a little revival ot notoriety j . for his story is- undoubtedly amusing-. Hie arrived in Europe from America in 1849 , and went to Paris , where , as is not surprising ' , lie-was personally known 1 to Louis J > f < apoIeonV The President politely « reeted his former intimate , who dined'at : the 15 l £ se * e ; played the- part of JBuly B ' arlow to perfection , took notes of the _ principal guests , which with impudent simplicity he : prints , and thus describes a lJ ' onaparto . dinner : —
Conversation at table went on in an under-tone . The President quietly aJ ; e hi 3 dinner , occasionally dropping a comment upon some remark he chose to overhear . I fell into easy chat with Count Mold , who , fancying that I was deep in the confidence of tlie President , gave unreserved expression to his opinions on the strange eveuta of the past , and the . prospects just dawviing . His astonishment was almost ludicrous -when T proclaimed in-reply the strong democratic notions that possessed me . I ' stated my belief that the time had comewhen something more than Parliamentary discussion ¦\ va » necessai-y to meet the desire of France , for material progress , and that unless the Prince and liis advisers gave heed to tlie national conviction , that , perhaps the / rulf
of revolution was : not finally closed . Tile ex-Minister of Louis Philippe really seemed not to comprehendme , for so absorbed was he in . Parliamentary intrigue-Sj and so embedded in routine , that plain commonrser . se sounded like the jargon of an unknown laiidr He stared * at me for w moment , and then concluding that I wasonly employing finesse , to conceal- my real- opinions , went on with lis- repast . The President ^ 1 could see r was not unconscious of wliat . wa & going : onj and ,. I fancied , was trying ! to conceal his amusement at the unexpected , collision of a staunch Monarchist oE theolll school like tlxe Count Mole , with ; an American democratj who looked at factsiaa-they were , and at things astliey ought to be .
About the middle of the banquet M ^ Tliiers raised his voice , ami gav-e ^ ' sfcrong utterance to his indignation against the intolerable licentiousness of the Press ^ which respected neither place nor person .. He called- attentiont to- one of the : morning papers that had outraged decency in Its coarse vituperation of the President . The note wa » caught up till every one at table had joined in the chorusof anathema > . agah ) st peccant journalism . When the tide of sympathetic horror had fairly exhausted itself every ej ^ e was turned upon the President , wliose feelings ,, it was hoped , might be touched , and above all ' , whose opinion on this vital point it Avas thus artfully sought to extract . The silence > yas ' profound . The-President seemed to reflect , when , draining his glass of the few drop * it contained , lie remarked . — - . " Every one , of course , has his-own point of view . I can comprehend your dissatisfaction at the licence of the- Press , and ! your anger at their violent attacks upon myself ; but , Messieurs , shall I own the truth ? " Every head converged towards the President .
" I read these diatribes , " he continued , " each morning at breakfast , and assure you they afford me so much amusement , that ! ¦ am kept in good humour for the rest of the day . " It was with an effort that I suppressed my mirth at tho blank , disappointment 1 detected in every face around me . , ¦ Next year , ^ Vikofl" was introduced by a secretary of the Paris Embassy to Viscount Palmerston , who immediately asked him to dine and sleep at Broadhinds . In the library he was met by the famous statesman , " a very pleasant gmitlenmii of some fifty years , apparently , perfectly ofT-hand and unaffected in his demeanour , and singularly vivacious and playful in his remarks , which were accompanied with a sorb of running chuckle . " Then came the presentation to Lady Pulmerston , " a . tall , iinoly-formed woman ,, with a handsome countenance , very elegant manners , and apparently still in tho prime of life . " Dinner was announced , the stranger gave his arm to Lady Palmerston , and the affair " passed ofF delightfully , my Lord Puhnorstoai talk'" Si joking , and laughing . " in away which was supremely pleasant , to , the New \ orker : —
lie related sevcrul anecdotes , full of point ami . admirably told , i could not for the lifo of me imagine I was in tho presence of one of the leading men of Europe , who had been a member of the Cabinets that had ended tho terrible war against Napoleon I . and begun that against the United States , in 1812 , and that at this moment bad more to do with the destinies of nation ' s than any other man living . I wns not long , iu detecting , however , that the lively , facetio . ia exterior of Lord Palmerston was hut a mask , assumed before the world , thought rtlWuys worn with dignity , and that underneath lay concealed that vast intellect , fearless character , and mighty energy , which had raised him > -without connexion , interest , or wealth ,. and in tho teeth of prejudice , to tho position ho then held , and which would likely carry him later into the Premiership of England . After dinner , the Minister retired to hia cabinet : —
I learnt nfterwnnla that lie was in tlio habit of retiring to bis cabinet for an hour or more alter dinner to glance over bis despatches , flowing in upon him every day from all quarters of tho world . Ho camo in » gain about eleven o'clock , drank a cup of tea , chatted ' awhile in hia pleasnnt way , and diaappeurcd onco more , lie had returned * , I found ' , to his study , where I was surprised to bear ho frequently passed purt of tho night at work . 1 have since discovered that Lord Pahr . er * ton's capacity for labour is prodigious , and hi « energies , inentnl nnd bodily , never flag nm |« r any pressure of busine-is . His-intelligence , experience , and activity enable him' to Jiacomplmh everything , without appearance of linsto or loss of time . Whether it bo tlmti liin tank is congenial , or that his nature demands constant occupation , certain it in that LordPalmcrston labours na incessantly as any operative or farmer ' s man in England' . Ilo requires no recreation , in uovor seen at . pluces of amusement , and is'froo nv > m > rtll ' thoso fushionablu vices so common amongst Statesmen mid Diplomatists of all- tioimtriest Fluttering , but impertinent . It would not bo dillicult to guess at tho impression produced on tho statesman's mind if ho wcro cvur to roml fclieso
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1858, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19061858/page/19/
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