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186 THE LEADER, [No. 309, Saturday,
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THE BANES AND THE SWEDES . The Danes and...
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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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Samuel Rogers' Table Talk. Recollections...
Waller Pepys said that the pit was often almost empty . But , on his return to England , people were mad about seeing him ; and Sir George Beaumont and several others used frequently to get admission into the pit before the doors ¦ were opened to the public , by means of bribing the attendants , who bade them - "be sure , as soon as the crowd rushed in , to pretend to be in a great heat , and to wipe their face & , as if they had just been struggling for entrance . Jack Bannister told me , that one night he was behind the scenes of the theatre ¦ w hen Garriek was playing Lear ; and that the tones in which Garnck uttered the ¦ words , " O fool , I shall go mad ! " absolutely thrilled him . whereafter
Garrick used to pay an annual visit to Lord Spencer at Althorp ; , tea , he generally entertained the company by reading scenes from Shakspeare . Thomas Grenville , who met him there , told me that Garrick would steal anxious glances at the faces of his audience , to perceive what effect his reading produced ; that , one night , Garrick observed a lady listening to him very attentively , and yet never moving ; a muscle of her countenance ; and ihat , speaking' of her next day , he said , " She seems a very worthy person : but I hope that—that—that she won't be present at my reading to-night . "—Another evening- at Althorp , when Garrick was about to exhibit some particular stage-effect on which they had been talking , a young gentleman got up and placed the candles upon the floor , that the light might be thrown on his face as from the lamps in the theatre . Garrick , displeased at his offioiousness , immediately sat down again . Of Mrs . Siddons we read : —
After she had left thestag « , Mrs . Siddons , from the want of excitement , -was never happy . "When I was sitting with her of an afternoon , she would say , " Oh , dear ! this is the time I used to be thinking of going to the theatre : first came the pleasure of dressing for my part ; and then the pleasure of acting it : but that is all over now . " When a * grand public dinner -was given to John Kemble on his quitting the stage , Mrs . Siddons said to me , " Well , perhaps in the next world women will be more valtied than they are in this . " She alluded to the comparatively little sensation which liad been produced by her own . retirement from the boards : and doubtless she -was a far , far greater performer than John Kemble
Combe recollected having seen Mrs . Siddons , when a very young woman , standing by the side of her father ' s stage , and knocking a pair of snuffers against a candlestick , to imitate tie sound of a windmill , during the representation of some Harlequin-piece . Of Byron we Ivear often , but nothing very new or remarkable , except the following reminiscence of his Memoir : — I remember that it contained this anecdote : —on his marriage-night , Byron suddenly started out of Ms first sleep ; a taper , which burned in the room , was casting a rtiddy glare through the crimson curtains of the bed ; and le could not help exclaiming , in a voice so loud that he wakened Lady B ., " Good God , I am Purely in hell !" There is considerable humour in this reply of Lady Jersey ' s : —
At a great party given by Henry Hope in Cavendish-sqtiaTe , Lady Jersey said she had something particular to tell me ; so , not to be interrupted , we went into the gallery . As we were walking along it , we met the Prince of WaleB , who , « h seeing Lady Jersey , stopped for a moment , and then , drawing himself up , snatched past her with a look of the utmost disdain . Lady Jersey returned the look to the full ; and , as soon as the Prir ce was gone , said to me with a smile , " Didntldoitwell ?"^ -I was taking a criva with Lady Jersey in her carriage , ¦ whe n I expressed ^ with great sincerity ) my regret at being unmarried , saying that 11 If I had a wife , I should have somebody to care abotit me . " " Pray , Mr . Rogers , " said Lady J ., " how could you be sure that your wife would not care more about somebody else than about you ?" "What a glimpse is this of Moore , and how it explains his ioumals !
Moore is a very worthy man , but not a little improvident . His excellent wife contrives , to maintain tlie whole family on a giiinea a-week ; and he , when in London , thinks nothing of throwing away that sum weekly 031 hackney-coaches and gloves . I said to him , " You musfi have made ten thousand pounds by your musical publications . " He replied , « More than that . " In short , he has received for his various works nearly thirty thousand pounds . When , owing to the state of his affairs , he found it necessary to retire for a while , I advised him to make Holyrood House his refuge : there he could have lived cheaply and comfortably with permission to walk about unmolested every Sunday , when he mitfht have dined with Walter Scott or Jeffrey . But he would go to Paris ; and there he spent about a thousand a-year .
Singularly enough we have !> ut few of the numerous good things uttered by Sydne y Smith ; here are tw ~ o , both exquisite : — He said that —— was so fond of contradiction , that ho would throw up the window m the middle of the night , and contradict the watchman who was calW the hour . ° When his physician advised him to « take a walk upon an empty stomach , ' Smith asked , " Upon whose V Of the Iron Duke there are a few anecdotes ; this is worth quoting : — Of the Duke ' s perfect coolnesa on tho most trying occasions , Colonel Gurwood gave me this instance He was once in great danger of being drowned at sea . It ™& , s bed-time when tho captoui of the vessel came to him , and said , » It will soon be all over wath us . " - « Very well , " answered the Duko , " then I shall not take off xoy DootSt We have thus run through the volume , quoting aa many titbits as our 2 S TJ ft" *!? * there * re more but the reader must seek them in the volume itself , lo tl ^ so reco lections of Rogers are added some recollections of Porson , gIVen by Dr . Maltby to the editor ; from these too we may stealI pQSSflGjO . *
• Porson was not more celebrated for his Greek than for his capacity in drinking . We suspect it was a disease : — ' y T J °° ! \ USe < l V , ^ , * f " ? ? raoa WOuld drinlc hlk rath 01 > t ] not drink at all » Si 011111 ? ' '" ? W * hi « g . , Ho vnw Hitting with a gonttemiui , after dinu , ? Jk 5 ^ ™ ™ of ft mutual friend , a Templar , who was then ill and confined to « mbr « £ « ?* i ° ftme lnto * h « \ ° ? m > « ont thithor by Ma nrnator lor a bottle of P ^ vson W WaS ° " ° ^ iwnoyP ^ oo . "I drank it an hour ago , " said ^ rChX uJb . l 0 ldOm Wittj ' bUt thefoll ° * " worthy of Sydney oemfemod to mo ana tho ^ ont Btabop of Durham ( Maltby ) , that ho know
comparatively Uttle of Thucydides , —that , when he read him , he was obliged f * mark with a pencil , in almost every page , passages which he did not understand And it speaks for his modesty and wisdom—in this case synonymousthat He was a great reader of translations , ana never wrote a note on any passao-e « f an ancient author without first carefully looking how it had been rendered bv th « different translators . ' It is amusing , though not surprising , to learn that Porson sent Thomas Taylor ( the PlatonistJ several emendations of Plato ' s text for his translation but " Taylor from his ignorance of the Greek , language was unable to use them " People who have puzzled over Taylor ' s translations may now understand whv they were puzzled . While on this subject , of translation it may be worth recording that Rogers once asked Porson how long it would take hi m to translate the Iliad literally correctly into English prose . The answer was " at least ten years . " '
186 The Leader, [No. 309, Saturday,
186 THE LEADER , [ No . 309 , Saturday ,
The Banes And The Swedes . The Danes And...
THE BANES AND THE SWEDES . The Danes and the Swedes : Being an Account of a Visit to Denmdrh , and a Journeu across the Peninsula of Sweden . By C . H . Seott , Author of " The Bal tic . the Blaefc Sea , and the Crimea . " Longman and Co . This volume is amusing , because it abounds in anecdotes of Danish and Swedish life , incidents of travel , antiquarian glimpses , pleasantl y tinted sketches of scenery , of architecture , of islands and lakes , of bridal rites , still redolent of the old Scandinavian fancy ; and village interiors , shining and warm , and prim as toy cottages in Switzer valleys . It is interesting , because it treats of Northern politics , of the navigation of the Sound , of the relations of Denmark and Sweden mutually , and to the rest of Europe , of the armies and navies of tie Baltic kingdoms * of their Court policy and popular tendenciesattractive "
*— subjects now , although a gleam of peace has shot across the world . Mr . Scott , a practised traveller , visited the Scandinavian countries in 1850 , and penetrated by an irregular route from Kiel through Schleswig-Holstein , and the Danish isles into Jutland , and across the Peninsula to Sweden , visiting Copenhagen , Fredericia , Elsineur , Gottenburg , Stockholm , the summer camp of the Swedes , and the Court of King Oscar . He bad already investigated , in a liberal spirit , the history of the entire region , and qualified himself to speculate on questions the solution of which involve the political destiny of tlie North . His narrative , therefore , though commonplace in style , arid blemished by dashes of flippancy , deserves the attention of the General Reader ., G . R . beiug now moved by events to read up" Scandinavia . On his route from Altona , through Holstein , Mr . Scott remarked the
prevalence of extraordinary industry among the population , and to the end . of his journey , at Stockholm , saw evidences of the same prosperous enterprise . The poorest classes in the Danish and Swedish as well as the German provinces appeared healthy , contented , and independent . In their domestic economy they displayed a fantastic taste , and in their conversation an appreciation of national rather than of personal liberty . In the cities and seaports the middle and th « indolent orders preserve their old characteristics—a love of magnificence , quaint but discreet humour , and a determination to maintain , against all comers , tlieir political franchises . Successive princes have encroached on these rights , but successive agitations have regained them . The Russian and German Powers press enormously on the Scandinavian Courts ; but the Governments know that the ancient constitutional
machinery by which they rule is not yet obsolete . It has survived the violence of centuries , and still controls the policy of the Baltic Kings . Mr . Scott assigns tlie political precedence to Sweden , Denmark is approaching the crisis of her precarious history . The Government , it is true , has projected fresh developments of her commercial system and an enlargement of hernaVy ; but it must be long before the Danish fleets can be what they were at the beginning of the century . From twenty-five to thirty liue-ofbattle-ships then left her ports , with frigates in proportion . Now she has only five of the first-class and six of the second , though from the extent of her coasts she has a seafaring population capable of manning such a fleet as Dundas took last year into the Danish and Swedish seas . The blow inflicted by England in 1807 has never been recovered , though , by the people , long It lialf the influence of
forgiven . destroyed the kingdom ; it laid a heavy burden on its treasury ; it wounded the national pride ; and is still spoken of with regret and emotion . But Mr . Scott declares the general sentiment is favourable to England . There exists , no doubt , a small Russian clique , influential through its activity , which is engaged in promoting the Russian succession to Schleswiff ; but the prevailing opinion is , that the political and material interests of < xrcat Britain and Denmark are inseparably identified . In the event of an alliance against Russia , their gunboats and smaller vessels , with the admirable pHotago they command , would have been of particular value ; while to them the adoption of a British policy wonlil have constituted an act of protest against the menaces , not of Russia only , but of the German powers . It is to be remembered that ( Wing the Schlcswi ^ -IIolstcin war , an Austrian army came uninvited into Denmark , and that Prussia recommenced lier intrigues to gain possession of a port on tlie Danish coast . Since that period , a reform of the general constitution of the kingdom has united letl
more compey the German and Scandinavian provinces , though public liberty is still confined by a system of oligarchical restriction . Iu Mr . Scott ' s opinion , universal suffrage might safely be established in Denmark . The Danish Government , empowered by tbc Treaty of Vienna to levy tolls on all vessels , except ships of war and yachts , passing tho Sound , is now involved in ft serious dispute with the United States on the subject of this anomalous impost . It is no doubt nn ancient privilege under the " sanction of a modem congress ; but it has always been obnoxious to neighbouring States especially . 1 'irst Holland , and then Sweden protested , ( j reut Britain does not appear to hav * o proposed the abolition of the tax , though it operates most injuriously on her Baltic trade , and confers a species of protection on that of Russia . At the commencement of tho century , thirty per cent . <> i ' vessels passing the Sound wore British j the average is now fourteen . T <> nil objections Denmark replies , that besides instructing and maintaining pilots for the Baltic Sea , she keeps lighthouses , buoys , and signals on tliut dangerous coast ; nnd that aho enjoys tho privilege na a compensation for lior losses during the great war . That is to say , tho dominating powers of the ( lontincn
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 23, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23021856/page/18/
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