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930 SCI) * &£&&**? [Saturday, ^ ~ "-— ¦ ...
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. The Girlhood of Shak...
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JVuthering Heights and Agnes Grey. By Ac...
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A Protestant Bishop of Westminster.— It ...
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Pendennis. The History Of Pendennis. By ...
it , does not lie in his mocking spirit , but elsewhere . It lies—if we have read his nature aright—in a predominating tendency to antithesis . Other writers have this tendency ; but in him it acquires peculiar force . He does not , as others do , manifest it in antitheses of diction . His writing , one may say , is remarka bly free from that . Nor does he proceed with the false systematic method of Victor Hugo , in whom the love of antithesis amounts to a disease ( to be sure , Hugo excuses himself on the plea that God is greater in
that department than himself , God being le phis grand faiseur d ' antitheses !—a modest and satisfactory exculpation !) , but , nevertheless , the law of Thackeray ' s mind seems to be a conception of oppositcs , which makes him a perfect Janus Bifrons . No sooner does he think of poetic aspirations than his mind suddenly swerves to the other side to contemplate the foolish sentimentalism which apes those aspirations . If he were drawing Caesar , he would lift up the laurel
wreath to expose his baldness . His own VVamngton is seen drinking beer like a coalheaver , and yet you couldn ' t but perceive that he was a gentleman . " Miss Fotheringay is a splendid actress and as ignorant as a horse . Poker is a blackguard in his tastes , but a gentleman in feeling . We might run through the volumes and point out this constant antithesis , but the reader must know very well how characteristic it is . Enough if we have indicated the reason for its
constant presence . That it does not arise from a mocking spirit , may easily be shown by reference to the examples , in which he shows a soul of goodness in things evil , as well as the spot of evil in things good . Ijook at Old Costigan , the Major , Strong , Altamont , and see how characters which in ordinary hands would be simply contemptible or hateful from their selfishness and scour drelism , are preserved from corruption by the salt of human virtues , and your very
scorn is modified , human sympathy appealed to , and Charity made to own a brother in the sinner . The same tendency of his mind which makes him see that a hero has the gout , makes him perceive that a scamp is not all vice . The antithesis in the one case may proceed from a mocking spirit : it cannot in the latter ; unless we are to suppose him destitute of all reverence for human worth , and wishing to revile even goodness by locating it in vile places : a
supposition contradicted , we venture to say , by the whole temper of his writings . Thackeray is a man who loves all worth , and reverences whatever is true , though his scorn of pretence is uncompromising enough . It seemed to us while reading this work , as if he had drawn himself in Worrington—a sad , thoughtful , kindly , yet sarcastic man , whoso \ 'ery scorn proceeds from love of what is high and noble ; whose dislike of pretence is so great , that he is afraid of being suspected of pretence if he adopt a more
s manner . Not a mocking spirit but a loving spirit has he ; not a Mephisto but a Goethe sits at his elbow . Goethe , too , is often reproached for the same thing , and is pronounced " cold" because he was not onesided . Moreover , Thackeray ' s antitheses differ from those of Sue and Victor Hugo in arising out of the actual truth of nature , and not out of a systematic desire for contrast . You do not catch him selecting his type of Chastity from among young ladies at the tapis franc ; in depicting the paternal and maternal sentiment he does not seek a Triboulet or a JLucrcce
Borgia ; to show the venerableness of age he does not exhibit a brutal bandit ; to show the power of love he does not choose a courtezan . He takes the Contradictions ottered him duily by Nature—such sis they arc in us and in those around us ; and the difference between him and other novelists is that he sees these Contradictions , they do not . In Vanity Fair we felt the seoundrolism and pretence oppressive . In Pcndcnnis this is no longer the case . It abounds of course , for Thackeray is above all things a satirist ; but in Pcndennis we note a very
decided advance upon Vanity Fair with respect to a brotidcr and more generous view of humanity , a larger admixture of goodness with what is evil , and a more loving mellowed tone throughout . It brought the tears into our eyes at several passages of manly pathos , and revealed to us capabilities for more serious writing than is to bo found in Vanity Fair . Nevertheless , it is not so popular ; partly because it is not ho now , but mostly because it wants tho leading interest of a story : Pen is not so strong a thread to hang pearls on as Becky . Yet Vanity Fair has no
such charming woman as Laura , no such noble fellow as Warrington . Old Bows , too , is very touching : his hopeless love for the Fotheringay , and then for Fanny , and the way he educates these two only to see others carry them off , are in the best manner of poor Balzac . Miss Fothsringay has been pronounced a caricature—by those not very familiar with theatrical life . But it was a bold and a successful stroke thus to paint the truth and to show the public that success in acting implies no commensurate intelligence , or
even sympathy with the passions depicted . There are exceptions , but , speaking generally , actors are certainly below par rather than above it in intellect . So much of acting is factitious , so much tradition , that a very mediocre person , with tolerable physique and mimetic powers , may ' take the town by storm . " You might as reasonably suppose the leading tragedians endowed with all the heroism of the parts they play , as capable of intellectual sympathy with them . If any one doubts this , let him listen to a greenroom conversation for half an hour !
" We find that we have said little or nothing of the faults of Pendennis ; but , although we could have indulged in that antithesis without much expenditure of ingenuity through some columns , yet in truth we thought little of the faults while reading , and care not to be critical just now ; they seem to us all resolvable into natural defects which no criticism can cure , or into that carelessness which , at the outset , we
declared to constitute his one inferiority to the great writers of other days . But this we will say , that we do not count it as a fault when we see him holding up an unflattering picture to society ; nor do we think the truth immoral , " It must be bad , indeed , " says Goethe , " if a book has a more demoralizing effect than life itself , which daily displays the most scandalous scenes in abundance , if not before our eyes , at least before our ears . "
930 Sci) * &£&&**? [Saturday, ^ ~ "-— ¦ ...
930 SCI ) * & £ &&**? [ Saturday , ^ ~ " - — ¦ ¦ - — -
Books On Our Table. The Girlhood Of Shak...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Girlhood of Shakspeare ' s Heroines ,- in a series of Fifteen Tales . J 3 y Alary Coivden Clarke , Author of the "Concordance to Shakspcare . " Tale 1 . Portia : the Heiress of Belmont . W . H . Smith and Son . Mrs . Clarke ' s design in this fanciful work has been to trace the probable antecedents in the history of some of Shakspeare ' s women ; to imagine the _ powe " We circumstances and influences of scene , event , and associate , surrounding the infant life of his heroines which might have conduced to originate and foster those germs of
character we see in their maturity in his plays . Ihere is something ingenious and poetic in the conception . It remains to be seen how the public will be interested in it . The first tale—Portia—is a good specimen of her powers for realizing her design , since it certainly does , without any farfetched incidents , give a possible history to Portia , and leads us up to the point where Shakspeare begins ; but while admiring the construction of the story for its purpose , we cannot say that the story in itself interested us ; and before pronouncing judgment we wait to hear what a jury of young ladies and gentlemen will
say . Knight ' s Cyclopeediaof London ; Part I . Knight ' s Cycloptedia of Industry of Jill Nations . Part I C . Knight . These are two serial works issued to meet the wants o the public at the " great time coming , " and incompleteness , utility , and cheapness , may fairly be said to take an excellent position . The first is a digested abridgment of the six volumes formerly edited and published by Charles Knight on ' * London , " with the addition of particulars useful to visitors to the various places , such as maps , modes conveyance , admissions , & c . It will be complete in one volume . The first part contains the parks , botanical gardens , royal palaces , and Palace of Westminster . What we read of it we found very entertaining ; as well as instructive ; and the volume cannot fail of becoming an admirable guidebook to London .
The second work is not so entertaining , but is more distinctly useful as a work of reference . It is a Dictionary of Trades on a large scale . All that man ' s industry can produce in the shape of Arts and Manufactures , together with all the commercial places where such things are produced , here finds an alphabetical chronicler , historian , and statist . The articles are brief , yet full . But we should counsel the omission of some of the weekly frontispieces : they nrc not always of sufficient interest to balance their inconvenience in a volume .
Table Talk . To which ; iro added " Imaginary Conversations of Pope an « l Swift . " Uy I . eisyll Hunt . Smith and Klder . Leigh Hunt table talks as felicitously as he does anything . This is the sort of volume you are glad to put in your pocket to charm railway ennui ; glad to take * up while your wife or sister is " putting on her things , " or during the quarter of an hour which piecedes dinner , at any odd leisure moment , in short , you may open it and he pleased ; or you may do as we did , read it at a sitting . It is really table-talk ; grave , gay , critical , anecdotical , suggestive . There are several passages which might have been omitted with advantage as unworthy of a reprint ; but it was a good idea to select from old and fugitive writings just those little bits worth preserving . In our Notes and Extracts we shall draw upon this volume pretty largely .
The Fairy Mythology ; illustrative of the Romance and Suner stition of various Countries . B y Thomas Kei ° -htlev An / Z Edition revised and greatly enlarged . ( Bonn ' s Antiquarian Llbrar y- > R . G . Bonn . We are glad to see this new edition of so entertaining and so erudite a work , which has long been prized by lovers of Folk Lore , and will now make a pleasant Christmas Book for the young and imaginative . Not the least amusing portion of this new issue is the biographical preface , in which Mr . Keightley blows his own trumpet with amazing vigour . He quotes the verdict of ?« a most competent judge " to the effect that his work on Mythology is the most elegant work , on a classic subject , in this or , perhaps , any other language . " We should have been better pleased had the name of this most competent iud ^ e
been given , and also to have known whether he said so in public or to the author , and whether he knew all the works in other languages on this subject . But , with respect to his other works , Mr . Keightley not having " competent judges " at hand , delivers judgment himself , with , a modesty all will appreciate . ' * They are as yet unrivalled , " he is kind enough to say , " and may long be unsurpassed . My History of England is generally allowed to be the one most free from party - spirit ; that of India to be the best manual for the servants of the Company ; while mine is actttally the best History of Rome in any language [ surely this is worth knowing !] , and my Outlines of History is , one may say , unique . ' * But , if any one should be prejudiced against this work by such self-glorification , he will be wrong ; the book is a good book , and will keep its place .
The Guards and the Line . By Lieut .-Colonel Hort . J . A . Darling . The object of this work is to show how the Guards are carpet knights , and have only drawing-room difficulties to overcome , while all the real labour of service falls upon the line . This object is carried out by a scries of tableaux , in which the contrast is as forcible as need be . The idea is better than the execution . Alfred Crowquill ' s illustrations are neither humorous nor graphic . Almanack for the Times , 1851 . 4 , Crescent , Blackfriars .
A very neat and even elegant almanack . At the foot of this handsome sheet we find a collection of facts , and aphorisms , and statistics respecting the Anti-State Church Movement , of great value . The almanack , mounted on canvass , with rollers , is cheap at one shilling , and without these appendages it may be had for twopence .
Jvuthering Heights And Agnes Grey. By Ac...
JVuthering Heights and Agnes Grey . By Acton and Ellis Bell . A new edition revised , with a Biographical Notice of the Authors , a selection from their literary l'temains , and a Preface . By Currer Bell . Smith and Elder . The Kicklehurys on the Rhine . By M . A . Titmarsh . Smith and Elder . The Alpha ; or the First Principles of the Human Mind . A Philosophical Inquiry into the nature of Truth . Chapman and Hall . Knight ' s Pictorial Shakespeare . Part V . { All ' s Well that Ends Well . ) Charles Knight . Tracts of the Anli-Stale Church Association , Nos . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . Anti-State Church Association , Address to the Wesleyan Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland . Anti-State Church Association .
Address to the Members of the Church of England from the Anti-State Church Conference . Anti-State Church Association . The Anti-State Church Movement : Us Designs and Tendencies . A Dialogue . Anti-State Church Association . Description ami Historical Sketches of Islays . By William Macdouald , A . M ., M . D . George Gallic Magic / Fords . A Tale for Christmas Time . By Emilie Maceroni . Cundall and Addey . Monk and Washington . Historical Studies . By F . Guizot . Popular Library . 1 vol . George Houtledge . Romanism , the Religion of Terror . An Oration . By Samuel Phillips Day . " E . Truelove . The Red Republican Song Boole . A Collection of Patriotic Songs ' Compiled by J . B . Leno . S . Y . Collins .
Sysfcme de Frntermte . Nos . 2 , 3 , 4 , o . Au Bureau du Populairc , Paris . The . Church and Mr . Bennett . A Letter to my Countrymen By James Biden . Arthur Hall , Virtue , and Co . Introductory Lecture on the Study of the Roman Civil Law . By John Ans ' tcr , LL . D . Longman and Co . Four Let tern on the Workings of Money Capital ; showing its present inefficient and limited Agency for Commercial and Social Purposes . With a proposed Remedy for the Evils resulting therefrom . By W . King . Cleave . Aspirations of Manhood , intended to indicate the Solution of the Great Problems of the Aye . By Joseph Morgan . James Pattie . The Man that never stopped Growing J A Christmas Story for the Young . By Caliban . John Chapman .
" Charles James" Lord Bishop of London ! What he can do , What he has done ! An Appeal to the People . By n Member of l . incoln ' s-inn . IUdgway . Catholicism , the Religion of Fear ,- contrasted with Rationalism , ( lie Theory oj Retixtin . With Kight Flatus from a remarkable Catholic IJook . By George Jacob Holyoakc . Watson . Catholicity , Spiritual and Intellectual . Jin Attempt at Vindicnting the Harmony of Faith and Knowledge . A Series ol Discourses . By Thomas Wilson , M . A , 2 s o . 3 . John Chapman . Household Words . No . 39 .
A Protestant Bishop Of Westminster.— It ...
A Protestant Bishop of Westminster . — It is not generally known that there has been a Protestant Bishop of Westminster . In 15-11 , Henry VIII . changed tho Dean into a Bishop , who squandered the revenues ana impoverished the see , till in 1530 he was translated to Norwich , and the bishopric abolished . The diocese was the county of Middlesex , the name of the prelate inirioy . —Leigh Hunt ' s Journal .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 21, 1850, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21121850/page/18/
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