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Si g h ' IT-BE Dv X*B A 3>E J£. . [ftfoi...
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W Cuitics>arsaibt.tlie Legislators, but ...
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The staiotmceiHeHli of * new story by Mr...
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We liave been permitted during the past ...
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The last number of the J&evue de Paris c...
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AN OLD BLAOKWOOD CONTRIBUTOR. Essays con...
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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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Si G H ' It-Be Dv X*B A 3>E J£. . [Ftfoi...
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W Cuitics>Arsaibt.Tlie Legislators, But ...
W Cuitics > arsaibt . tlie Legislators , but tlie jodges andpolice of ¦ literature .. They do no * ^^^ raafee la ^ r—fjSey interpret aaa try to enforce bhein . —Ziainburffh Beview .
The Staiotmceihehli Of * New Story By Mr...
The staiotmceiHeHli of * new story by Mr . Thactobray would be at any time & very wefleome ^ one , bat just bow it is peculiarly so , as there is no literary intelligence erf any kind 1 , and no monftly serial of any mark . We believe we not correct in saying that the author of The Newcomes -will recommence his raontnry / visits ift the well-known yellow covers oa the 1 st of November . This is almost sooner than we expected , considering Mr . Thackeray ' s long lecture reason , and ! his more recent electioneering efforts , which seemed to indicate a
. growing tendency towards public life . " We had of course no right whatever to object to this , and theoretically on public grounds we approved of it highly . Privately and personally , however , we were getting wrathful and indignant—• for the mOst selfish reasons , it must be confessed . We wanted a new story ; : and : though the lectures were not only delightful , but full of noble teaching -we cherished against them a kind of involuntary grudge , as delaying the lecturer ' s return to his peculiar province . So again , though we should be very glad to see Mr . T-HAexjutAX in the House of Commons , and have no ¦ dfoubi th & k by ^ and-by ,, he will take his seat there , we cannot but believe he is quite as tisefally employed in preparing for a new story as he would be
yawning on those dreary benches just now . . To himself , personally , his . failure at GxiejrdiHiissfc be animmense escape . He ought to be eternally grateful to the £ ew vetex » who turned the scale against Mm . Thiak what it nnaat be to sit in that half-deserted hall for sixteen hours at a stretch , and listen to Mr . GiLAD-« 3 EoariB ' s twenty-nine speeches on-iihree lines of a single clause in the Divorce Bill . ; and after ally when your patience and temper aTe utterly exhausted , be ^ exasperated to madness by hearing him solemnly claim to be considered peculiarly < iB & nscientipus in his reserved and temperate opposition to the measure . 2 ? aa ? 'better be ' the representative of the division of Chiltern , ' and waste the widmght oil at home , with fragrant smoke instead of ' "musical wind' as a
trelief from mental toil . : Mr . Thaceerat ' s new story , which is to be called The Virginians , will probably , as the name seems to imply , contain sketches of American life , or at least of American-Gharacter ^~ naos ± likely of both . We may be sure , however , tha * tlte sketches wiE be drawn in no unfriendly spirit . Thackeray is popufer m America , has a kindly feeling towards the Yankees , and said , when there , that he did not intend to write a book about them and their
inhibitions * peculiar , domestic , or otherwise . But this by no means implies any promiae to avoid American characters in his stories . And we sincerely- hope He means to introduce them , for in the whole range of fiction we do not possess a ny , sketch of genuine Yankee character such as Thackeray could draw . We 4 aw » © tiyxafaad & ws , -distorted outlines , and caricatures . Thackeuay , ° aU VrifersjliastllLe-Teast tendency to exaggeration . He paints the reality as he see & ii ,, tliegooda 8 well as the evil ; , and pictures of American life and character tiiua , painted ,, would be a positive , addition , to our national . literature .
We Liave Been Permitted During The Past ...
We liave been permitted during the past week to look oveT some proof sheets of . tne ninth , v-olume of M » Louis Blanc ' s Mistonj of the Revolution * which incidentally fuTnish a decisive reply to certain charges recently circulated with industrious' malice against the Republican refugees in this country . A notable attempt , as our readers will remewiber , was lately made in Paris to convict them as a body of cherishing murderous designs against Louis Napoleon , -by associating the names of some of the most distinguished with those of , such worthless creatures as Giiiixi and BAB / roLQim—mere Italian vagrants , belonging , to the . lowest class of continental police agents . How utterly false such a representation is may be seen from the third chapter of M . Louis Biansra'fe newvofrune , written , we need scarcely say , several months ago , though .-still-uugjujblisued ' . This > chapter is . devoted to the death of Marax at the bauds of the . beautiful aad heroic . Cikaxucoxxis Coe » a . y , and' at the dose the author
takes occasion to discuss the- general question of political assassination . We are sorry tBat wo . have only space to quote the concluding , reflections of tliis discttssion— 'R most interesting and . instructive one- ~ which sufficiently shows the light ip . whichrovm extMwno repubUomis regard 1 a proceeding-so lawless and unjust as assassination . The tone that pervades it , moreover , doos honour to the 'writeiv by showing that exile , instead of perverting his judgment and embittieniag his feelings , has 1 mb cleared the one and calmed the other . Instead of indulging in the reckless vituperalaon common to self-interested and solfidbisDrJiuig partisans , ho wriies with , the tempered severity and strength of truth ,, Tbo loisuBO afforded by exile , quiet devotion to his choson duties , undisturbed by exciting proooou"pwtion 8 , and the opportunity of becoming' praoticaily fax » awtt ' 5 ntti English : freedom and' the working of English institutions , have admirably fitted H . Louis Blanc for bia work , ;; and tiro volumes of his history written in banishment evince a rare combination of accurate research and
truthful exhibition with sound political judgment aud a fine discriminative symp {* t % for . the faults as woH as . the virtues of both parties in , the groat JRovolution . Tlw follofwipg aTO tue refl > etsta » ns iritik which lie conoludes the chapter dfcvotcd . fcp JRkxjM and GmuojXiTm Coiudat : — fe may hqre repeat in con * « lw ^ wi 4 i 5 ^ i 4 l , tko . aAiUiwity of the facts just detailed , what wo have
arm may change the course of historic laws ! Any man in the street by pulling the trigger of a pistol may convulse the world ! No , it is not moved thus . Evil , when it exists in the midst of a society , springs from a vast number of causes , amongst which the existence of an individual , however powerful he may be deemed , has only an accidental pre-eminence . To no man is accorded the honour of holding a people ' s life in his own . Begging pardon of Pascal ' s shade , it appears to us that he lias wantonly degraded humanity in making the fate of the universe depend on the length of Cleopaxba ' s nose . The occasion is ^^ J .. _ .. w >' A 9 a ^ a - * m __
already said in another work —that assassination is a- mistake as . well as . a ¦ ec iane whichi ougiht to be left tor aristocrats and tyrants . When Henri II alluxestke Bake o £ Guise into the Gliateau de Blois and causes him to be straBgled by ttee bravos of the ante-ehanTber ^ when the Royalists attempt the life of J & afoleon by am infernal machine—these- are crimes worthy of those who commit them , but democracy refuses to be assisted thus * Such means are essentially opposed to its genius and principle . For who can , without presumption i arrogate the right of setting himself as . an avenger of liberty or . as the Nfemesis of destiny , in the place of a whole people , almost in the plaee of history ? The stroke of a dagger is usurpation . Where is the power answering to that monstrous right ? What ! then the first comer by raising his
only the surface of the cause , but we too often confound the one with the other . We think to destroy tyranny by destroying the tyrant . Vain thought ! Evil , whenever it exists , is at the root of things . It docs not exist because it has a representative , it is represented because it exists . You have stabbed Csjsar ! UfiJteappears in the more terrible form of Ociavius . Have you compelled Nero to commit suicide ? You do not escape Yitellitts . Marat expires bathed in blood . See Hebaux succeeds . It avails nothing to destroy the personification when you leave untouched the principle personified , which always finds instruments for its work . "
The Last Number Of The J&Evue De Paris C...
The last number of the J & evue de Paris contains a paper of peculiar interest —a veritable art ^ critieism by ! Diderot , one of his celebrated Salons hitherto unpublished . These Salons were , as our readers may remember , detailed criticisms of the annual Erench exhibition of painting and sculpture ( very like Mr . Huskin ' s- yearly notes on the B-oyal Academy ) , written by Dideroi in the form of letters to his friend and literary associate , tlie adroit and courtly Baron Grimm . Four of these Salons have been already published , those for the years 1759 , 1761 , 1765 , and 1767 ; and M . Walferdin , the editor of the present one ( for the year 1763 ) , has discovered the existence of four more , which he intends to publish without delay . ' -M . Wauerdin has satisfied himself that Diderot wrote nothing on . the exhibitions of the intermediate
years , so that the new Salons , with those already published , will complete the series . It rarely happens in modern times that fragments of such great value are received so long after the death of a celebrated writer . These Salons , apart from the interest attaching to tlieir authorship , and the charm of their style , have a permanent value . Though chiefly known as a philosopher , Diderot was far more of an artist than a thinker ; and , had circumstances been favourable to the fall development of his special power , he would have taken the very first rank as an art-critic . His desultory contributions to the subject are amongst the most valuable fragments of true criticism that we possess . Goethe , it will be remembered , thought his Essay on ' Painting
worthy of being translated by himself . His Detached Thoughts , on Painting , and the Salons , helped to create a' new school of French art , while the latter forms by far the best histoi-y wo have of the school that flourished during the latter half of the last century . The special criticism of the Salons is unrivalled for clear and animated description , often rising into the most vivid word-painting , flashing artistic insight , quick and generous appreciation of excellence of every kind . The new Salon , published in the Revtw c / a Paris , which is equal in force , insight , and vivacity to auy of the previously published ones , contains , among other things , a charming ; criticism oi ! a wellknown picture by GatiuzE , ' The Paralytic . '
An Old Blaokwood Contributor. Essays Con...
AN OLD BLAOKWOOD CONTRIBUTOR . Essays contributed to BkoJnooocFs Magazine , liy the Kev . John Eagles . Blaakwood anil Sons . It is a mistake of oar age to confound transient with permanent reputations , and one sort of success "with another . It is supposed that if an assay makea a good magazine article , twelve such articles will make a good volume . This is a great error ; , and to such an , error we owe half the reprints of the day . We wonder thfit no superannuated contributor to the Time * has " ° t thought of republishing his columnar disquisitions , pronounced miignilioont in their generation , but a week after dato unreadable . A similar
misconception attends certain speculations in print and paper , which happen not to fail . Let a novel Mt a topic of the day ; let it , without a spark of genius , or true eloquence , or a touch of literary circumlitio—even without a dash of oharacter-rpainting— -associate itself with tvpopular sympathy , and the author claims a front place in literature , styles himself a writer , and bettor men scribblers , and , like Christopher North , chullengos all assailants to come on and , die one by one , wriggling upon the point of his pen . Agninst these delusiona no protest can be too emphatic . There , are varieties of success—but they do not in every case entitle the successful individual to roputution or to literary eminence . Now , Mr , Eagliss , "the Sketcher" of Mac & iooocZ was a f ' aoilo writer , and gossiped pleasantly from month to momih ; he was not very vigorons , but l * o lwd a light clmtty manner , and was for ever ready with a quotation , often trite , often pedantic , rarely recondite , aad nat uxvfroquently
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 22, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22081857/page/18/
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