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,,ji,__ „ jdaiMijpW < ±3kMw&
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3 > *+A**«Yf*tt*A : ¦ - yLrVXZvXvXX* ______
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C-ities are not the legislators, but tb....
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There is a book which even Macauxay has ...
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EUSTACE CONYERS. Eustace Conyers. A Nove...
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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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.
,,Ji,__ „ Jdaimijpw < ±3kmw&
,, ji , __ „ jdaiMijpW < ± 3 kMw &
3 ≫ *+A**«Yf*Tt*A : ¦ - Ylrvxzvxvxx* ______
: ' tftttfftnvt .
C-Ities Are Not The Legislators, But Tb....
C-ities are not the legislators , but tb . e judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them .. —JEdtnburgh Rev % ev > .
There Is A Book Which Even Macauxay Has ...
There is a book which even Macauxay has not read ; or , if he has read it , he has not been conscious of the fact : we mean the Book o Jashar , referred to by some writers in the Old Testament as a popular work of their day . There are many reasons why even large appetites are kept away from certain books : there is difficulty adding its weight to worthlessness ( as in the case of Ltcophbon ' s Cassandra ) , there is insipidity ( as in Simcs Itaxicus ) , and finally there is the fact of non-existence , which perhaps may rank as a chief impediment . In this class ranks the Book of Jashar : it is non-existent ; or was until lately , when Dr . Donaldson , in a Latin treatise published at Berlin , proved to hi 3 own satisfaction that the book was extant and not extant , that in fact it was wrought up into various parts of the Bible . He undertakes to reconstruct the book out of the fragments which have been
worked up in the canonical writings . He undertakes to fix the date of the work , as the age of Soi-omon . He undertakes to point out the influence of Mm / ton in modifying our traditional theology . He undertakes many other things , among them to prove that the Serpent is to be understood as a Phallic symbol ; with all of which we do not presume to meddle , leaving competent scholars to debate such intricate questions . We allude to the work because it has passed out of the circle of Biblical criticism into the
wider notoriety of scandal and theological acrimony . Dr . DoNAia > so 3 r has been attacked for heresy and indelicacy : heresy , because he takes the truly bold step of attempting to criticise the canonical writings as he would the writings of Livr or Diodokus ; heresy , because he treats the third chapter of Genesis as an allegory ; and indelicacy , because he has spoken of tilings which the Bible speaks of with unhesitating plainness . In answer to one of his assailants , the Kev . John J . S . Pkbownb , he publishes a pamphlet , hot in temper , indignant in orthodoxy , and peremptory in refutation .
Respecting the charge of indelicacy , he says : — Now I have not only employed a dead language , which removes the discussion from the cognizance of the English public , but I have expressed the great reluctance ynth which I felt myself obliged , as an honest interpreter , to enter into anatomical details , which , though revolting to us , were familiar to the ancient Jews . As Gesenius says of the metaphor in Numbers xxiv . 7 , these things are " ex nostro sensu obsccena , sed orientalibus familiaria ; " and theological learning , like medical science , looks -with calm , cold gaze on all tie operations of nature . Those who can really understand the Hebrew words , which we render " male and female created He them , " ( Gen . i . 27 ) , will find nothing more shocking in all the mysteries of oriental allegory . Mr . Perowne , ll h
however , must allow me . to remind him that " unto the pure atings are pure " ( Tit . i . 15 ); that prudtshness is too often the " result of a prurient imagination ; and that perfect innocency knows not the blush of shame . A well-regulated mind is not affected by the grossness of a primitive people ; at any rate it would be the height of absurdity to maintain that a repugnance to modern ideas of delicacy detracts from the probability of an interpretation of this Hebrew text . The plain-spokenness of the Old Testament , in matters which we never mention , afforded Voltaire a ready plea for his scoffing depreciation , and it cannot be denied that , according to Mr . Porowne ' s view of the matter , the English Bible must be the most indecent book in the English language !
The Book of Jashar , by a natural transition , leads us to the Etudes sur VArt Judalque , by M- de Saulct , the tenth and last article on this subject appearing in the new number of La Revue Contemporaine . A treatise on Jewish Art will sound to most readers like a description of the hair of a bald man ; the Mosaic Arabs , whatever their excellences , not being celebrated inthe department of Art . M . de Saulct , well known for his learning and ingenuity , has ransacked the Bible for indications , and by dint of a liberal use of the term Art , has contrived to get materials / or a small book , curious enough to those curious in such matters . The same number of the Revue ( which , by the way , is decidedly superior to the preceding number ) contains a paper oh the " Legend of Adam , " as treated in the middle ages , and tin analysis of a recently-discovered miracle-play of the twelfth century , entitled Adam ; tvpaper well worth reading . Sainte Bkuvb contributes tin article on " Werther" apropos of the correspondence between GoKTirE and
Kestnkk ; but the absence of any knowledge . of the period and of German literature prevents Mm from touching this subject with his accustomed felicity . One remark wo are led to make , because the trait is characteristic of the nation , and is not a mere trait of the writer . It is this : In a mote referring to the French translation of the work ho reviews , M . S-ainte Bbovic has the effrontery to say that this translation has " preserved the perfect exactitude and the character of the original . " Now wo beg the reader to observe that Saintk Bbuve is entirely and confessedly ignorant of <* erman > yet , this , ignorance ia no impediment to his judgment , it never
suggests to him a doubt of his capacity in discriminating between an exact translation and ono inexact , it d 6 es not even mnke him qualify his assertion by any modest disclaimer . Ho pronounces as if the evidence were before him . Had he known German , and had he road the original , he would have seen ( as the extracts given in his article prove ) that the translation is hy no means exact ; but had it boon literally accurate , how should Sainte Bbuvm knpw , it ? This is French . In no German or English work will von find anything so palpably , unblushingly , naively impudent . If a German or an Englishman is ignorant of mathematics , he never thinks of pronouncing on mathematical questions ; if he confessedly knows nothing of Latin or
Italian , he never commits the imprudence of an opinion on a translation from these languages ; he may deceive himself as to the extent of his knowledge , he may try to deceive others as to its extent , but when he confesses ignorance he never assumes the right of passing judgments . Among Frenchmen this prudence is rare . What they do not know , they divin e . They fly even in vacua . The Revue Contemporaine has an article from wbjfih we learn more of the doctrines of the " new school" in poetry which M . Maxime du Camp hopes to found . As an energetic reaction against Imitation , especially imitatio n
of classic ideas , there is truth in the new programme , almost amountin g to truism . But a great mistake is committed when in advocating the Poetry of the Present an attempt is made to idealise the uses and the usages of the Present . It is the thoughts and feelings which stir within our souls , the hopes and aspirations , not the machinery and inventions of our day , which can form poetic material . Locomotives and Cotton Mills are wondrous things , but so are the Differential Calculus , and the Aerometer : they are children of our day , but they will not furnish the poet with subjects for his art . The distinction between Use and Beauty is fundamental ; it is as wide as the distinction between Speech and Song .
Eustace Conyers. Eustace Conyers. A Nove...
EUSTACE CONYERS . Eustace Conyers . A Novel . By James Hannay . Hurst and Blaekett . The reason why Mr . Hannay—though essentially superior to all other naval novelists in the possession of genuine wit , subtle feeling , and delicate scholarship—always insists on taking to the sea when he wants to fit a story to a novel , is suggested in this pleasant passage from the present work : — Nights like these make a man meditative . : and sailors are more serious than ia generally supposed ; being serious just as they are gay because they give themselves up to natural impressions more readily than other people . At this moment , the least conventional men now living are probably afloat . If you would know how your ancestors looked and talked , before towns became Babylonish , or trade despotic , you must go and have a cruise on salt water . For the sea's business is to keep the earth fresh ; and it preserves character as it preserves meat .
But we cannot declare that he altogether takes advantage of these opportunities of picking up character , for , while admitting that he is the only one of the naval writers who gives an accurate conception of the actual condition of the " service " of our day , his characters appear to us to be somewhat characterless , mere machines for tbe elucidation of Mr . Hannay ' s mots , and at any rate are characters that would seem more at home in May Fair than on the quarter-deck . We should be sorry if our literature were without Mr . Hannay ' s sea sketches 5 they are true as to facts ; they give a noble aspect to sea-life that cannot but renew our national pride as a sailor-race , and so do a better sort of Dibden work in taking our young braves from the counting-house to the coast . But we rather think that , so far , this brilliant writer has not selected the best form for the development of his best faculties . This is a novel without a story ; and why should a man ,
having something to say , encumber himself with a machinery irliich he cannot or does not choose to manage ? We have said that Mr . Hannay ' s way is to fit his story to his moral , in which sense his novel lias & s little of the dramatic effect as a religious novel ; and is it not evident that a didactic sea novel is as great a difficulty as Miss Martineau undertook to surmount when she ^ decided on combining , in novelettes , the passions and political economy ? Mr . Disraeli , in Coningsby , Sybil , and Tancred , three books which have produced a profound impression in our day , has set a fashion which Mr . Hannay , with a fascinating aptitude for taking generalisations and an eager tendency to political satire , 1 ms been perhaps g hid to avail himself of . But the fate of Plunier Ward ' s books , so imposing m their day , ought to warn men of his class of mind that their chances of literary fame would be better in the biography and the essay . Novels are the proper domain of the story teller : and the philosopher ought not to pouch .
Whatever may be said of the novel , there can be but one opinion that the book is full of first-class writing and greater praise we may offer in the opinion that the work is healthy , dealing Avith a rosy phase of existence , leading to enjoyable conclusions , and compelling us , even when we tough nt too much Conservative affectation of the feudal point of view , to laugh without sneering . That those who may come to the reading this novel without a distinct conviction that the disorganisations of our civilised lite are to be set right by our falling back on the " old families " will laugh consumedly at numberless insinuations in these pages iu favour of our lnenu them that Mr
the oligarchy we guarantee them ; but we can also assure . Hannay is a very pleasant sort of Tory , and thnt he is partial to the aristocracy , not for the snob ' s but for tlic herald ' s reason * , only because a lord is more likely than his lordship ' s tailor to bo of good blood . And , undoubtedly , the young Conservatives , —if they might feel more intensely antagonistic to plutocracy , and on the whole , fiercer Tories , after reading hnstace Conyers—me likely to come to tho end of this book with the sensation ot a clearer un < l more serviceable consciousness of what a Conservative P ^ v ought to be at . In this respect the novel , which ia perhap smoro political than naval , does useful political work . n ,.,. The best character in the book is that of a captain who " gets on . l » c sketch is strained—but the hand is very strong : —
An easay haa yet to bo written on the " success of modiocritioa . " When tlmt esaay is written , Captain Mogglostonlough will occupy a corner , in it . Without my superiority of talent , and ( what- in stranger ) without any very great ndviHiUffrc connexion , he was notorious for his professional good fortune , and when ho not i " Hildebrnnd , " people did not wondor , though many wore angry enough—iw some , indeed , aro angry when anybody g « ta anything . What wus the aocrot of tuo mtain ' a aucceasV Doubtless , his star ( Saturn , though a lei * don , i » a lucky etiu ; «» something to do with it ; but the truth is , there was a kind of bland and oily ll | Cll " J about tho man , which had boon as Horyiceablo to him in lifo ' s struggle , aa oil * \ . tho anciont wroatloro . Ho had risen , ontiroly , by availing himself of this i'er » ou «
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 23, 1855, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23061855/page/16/
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