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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd June 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13

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      , The Spirits Of Tjie Age. " Rphere Are ...

      instances we are aware of seeds of greatness that appear to us to be full of the sublimest promise . But disappointment ensues from various accidents—lowl y station , the force of competition , and early death . The last is a frequent cause . _ If good foutune be exDedient to a prosperous career , most of . all is that of being born with a lasting constitution . " A sound mind , in a sound bod y is of itself the primal privilege , and constitutes in itself a condition ok success above all others . In cases where " the spirit is willing : but the flesh is weak , " it is probable that we should recognise the unsuccessful great man . In these judgments , however , we do the hody wroiv The greatness we would predicate is nearly as much dependent on the body as on the mind . Such a man would make a srreat preacher , if only he had the requisite organ to make himselt therefore credit him with the preachers i

      heard- shall we powers By no means . Another would make a valiant soldier , only he has not the physique , and is not tall enough : shall we therefore credit him with the warrior ' s fame ? It would be perfectly absurd . Another man might be a poet , but he lacks " the accomplishment of verse : " shall we therefore award him the honours ot the minstrel ? Notwithstanding some authoritative dicta to the contrary , still we answer , Certainly not . The final'test iu all these cases is wanting the triumph over the last difficulty . The spiritual and material coalesce in the production of indisputable greatness . Lon « - life belongs to Nature ' s great men by right of birth . Some few indeed , have won fame early , and died early . These have been favoured by a special Providence ; but , in general , greatness is tested by the wear and tear of a life-long labour ; a long

      stanuup tight against difficulty and danger . ' " Virtue in elevated region . dwells , A steep and rugged road , moist with the dew That Labour from his wrinkled forehead shells , Scaling the rough ascent . " But here we must guard against misapprehension The argument does not require that success should be produced as the test of greatness , but notoriety . It must be Icnoion by the world to have struggled , to have persevered , and to have died . Ihat is all that is required . A great man need not be a conqueror , it . is sufficient that he works in the daylight . Also , iie m : vy have Jns conboast of his

      quests , but not be-finally triumphant . He may Leipzig and his Marengo;—and yet have his ^ W ^ terloo ^ and St . HeleVuV . For this , However , liels not the less the hero ; his grea tness in fact , may come out strongest in his reverses and his fall . No , publicity is all that is asked for . Martyrs , are great men , thou gh they perish before their cause is established . Savonarola is as ° prouda name as Luther . Greatness as activity , actuality-, not ah abstract possibility . Power incapable ; of exertion or development is merely a tantalising irritation ; -it qualifiesas vanity , not as genius . It is a lazy , indolent assumption or merit , not the diligent proof and fruitful evidence ot it . It is the barren figtree ! on which resteth the curse . - . _ _ .- _ .,,, sometimes considerable

      There is more than one reason why very talent fails in obtaining publicity . Sometimes it is behind the age . Public ... en , we have seen , are the embodiments ot prevailing principles , which demand , and through them achieve , utterance The man of talent , whose instincts are conservative of old usages has simply cohW Wiftir-woHdHi ^^ a ready done to his hands . With the woric that is doing , or remains to be undertaken , he has no sympathy . He lives in the past only vegetates in the present , and has no faith in the future . No public i-P-mlt cm nossibly be generated by the wrigghngs of such a See of i , S 3 SfetJaV senility . Witii . such , litei-ary or artistic effort is all » vanity and vexation of spirit . " Were they listened to UllOl L la tul ******** y «»•» . » »**¦ - — ------ — - - ± m t f IV motions ot the universelime

      there would be ti stop to the vital . must retrograde to suit itself to the snai pace of their reluctant activity , ftelorm and improvement would have no name to Jive , and ideas would revolve in a circle without any progress . on . It is , in fact , mercy to minds like these that their borrowed notions flhou d confine tliemselves to a sphere of pnvacy , the walls ola cathedral town , or the back parlour ot an old marine store-shop . Their interference with the real business of society would only apply the drug-chain while the vehicle was labouring up-hill ; and it it gained the top , would find that the effort had left no chum at all to Sate L Journey down the opposite side . It is , however , by " tile decree of the Watchers" that , ancient prejudices , however obstinate , shall dissolve before the sunbeams of advancing truth and that their advocates perforce bury themselves in the night and

      obscurity of the past . . . , r Doubtless , also , there are some men of genius who are before their age , anu , accordingly , find difficulty in commanding' «* " »<&* * attention . Prophets like these may d > e before they can get the slightest hearing ; and many of such visionaries and ^ reamers are , indeed , ahort-lived , men of delicate constitutions , and little calculated for perwnal contact with the busy competitors in the i aiket of life , with whom they most unwillingly associate . Nevertheless , asaelass , they have ... no reason to cp . nplainjiortlieir drean ^ seldom i iatify themselves , and become the leading facts of tho future ; thus their work is done , though they may ™* W \** ° *« £ * of it . Prophets , however , . arc rather favourites with chmies and coteries , and obtain , especial' recognitions among follow workers , and thua eai nit bo said to be entirely jgn 6 red by the world they live n Some have even risen to fame and power , though not ultimately

      small sects and churches , but on which the broad seal of the world's chancery has not been set . After all , we may grant that the world knows less than it ought of some great men . There is many a good man who conceals his benevolences , and " lets not his left hand know what his right hand doefch ; " and in such reticences .. there is . a greatness . above the World ' s appreciation . In spiritual and moral martyrdoms there is frequently an unutterable majesty . There is a supernatural kind of power , as to which the revelation is also the hiding of its manifestation ; it so perpetually expresses itself in negations , owing to the inadequacy of the utmost affirmation . It comes in clouds and darkness , and remains , however powerfully expressed , still inarticulate . This is the mystery of goodness , which rather avoids than seeks recognition .

      On the other hand , there are many writei' 3 who insist on a divorce between Goodness and Greatness , and would not allow that the heroes of the former are to be confounded with the latter . But is it advisable that universal ideas should be thus broken into sectarian conceptions ? If some of our so-called great men may not be properly ranked also as good , nevertheless is there ^ any so bold as to assert that the good deserve not likewise the epithet of great ? Is not , in fact , goodness the only true greatness P Amou < rsfc these , we may readily enough apprehend that the most illustrious of the illustrious obscure are to be found . That quiet , secret goodness which haunts the by-ways of life—which , while it seeks t its sorrowful

      keeps itself unspotted from the world , ou places , and wherever it penetrates dispels , like the daylight , the shadows of sin and misery that skulk in the darkness of its mighty capitals , and love the veil of night , because of the evil of their deeds—that serene virtue which , while in itself it is godlike , arrogates nothing , but pities and relieves every sufferer as a brotherthat ever-present charity which endures all , believes all , and pardons all ;>—such is the goodness which is the soul of the highest greatness , and without which the latter is but an inanimate body , however Titanic in its dimensions , and seemingly grand in its exterior form . It is like the letter which , however eloquent , still killefch- while the former , like the spirit , not only liveth , but maketh alive . ¦

      We have already mentioned Savonauola , and wo might a < ia the names of many mystical thinkers—names not unknown to literary iu ^ iraton ^ wr without disci ple * , constituting after their death *

      June 23, 1s60.J The Leader And Saturday ...

      June 23 , 1 S 60 . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 593

      : Jchota And Japan:* T He Decision Of Th...

      : jCHOTA AND JAPAN : * T HE decision of the French . Government to send an Embassy to China has resulted ia a valuable record of the mission , -On . the : 7 th " ' . May , 1857 , the Moniteur stated that Bjiron Grps _ had "heen appointed by his Majesty the Emperor to proceed to China , iff the capacity ofSpeeial High Commissioner , " Lord Elgin had received a similar commission from the Queen of England . The Russian and American Governments were also invited to comhfue in the demonstration , but they refused to take any part in the affair . The latter proceeded upon the usual policy of tlie United States , which was , never to become bound by treaty with a European ^ power-The French Embassy effected their departure on the 27 th May , in the frigate Audacieuse . They arrived in the Canton river on the 14 > th October . Three days afterwards , Baron Gros proceeded to Hong Kono > , and received a warm welcome from the English authorities . After remaining five days in the roads at Hong Kong , HBaroir ^ os-r ^ ur « ed- ^ - € astle ^ squadron . On the spot where a few miserable junks used timidly to anchor , in terror lest they should be set upon by pirateis , there , is now-a forest of ships of war and merchantmen belonging" to every nation under the sun . A great amount of cap ital is employed in new buildings , which were rapidly going- forward . Sn- John Bowring entertained them to dinner on the day after their arrival . The Baron was surprised at the -familiarity and ease with winch the English mixed with the Chinese , while at war with their country . He learned , however , to ' , associate , with the English authorities , and they visited a Chinese play together . The drama commenced at eight o ' clock in . the ' -morning , and continued without interruption till six o ' clock in the evening , the stage never being altogether deserted by the players during the whole ot the period . " Gods and heroes , and mythological personages . ot divers sorts , make their appearance ia the pieces performed , and do battle with each- other after a fashion altogether preternatural , lor . pautoinimo-the Chinese actova are ¦ unrivalled , and nothing can surpass the richness of their costumes , which literally glitter in ailkaiid gold Women never make their appearance on the stage m the Middle Empire ; they iu-o prevented from doing so by religious precepts , and consequently the female parts are taken by young mon The tone of tho voice of the actors ia so sharp and grating , and the muaic is so deafening , that tho patience of a European spectator who understands nothing of what he sees never outlasts half an hour . " , , . 1 ( , , ^ ,, ,. Much of the Baron ' s statement relates to the Iloraan Catholic establishments in China ; but there is nothing in regard to them that need detain the reader . What roUtes to the war with the ' Governor of the two Kwanga is of more interest . . Lord . blgm and Barott Gros agreed in the step to K ; taken . AH waa hie aud activity iu' prepa » 'i « ff for battle . The liriug of cannon was-tson-Htiint . Every day tho disembarkation companies went on shore for eyeroise , uud to get used again to the fatigue of ' long marches arid tho drill on land . On l > oard the Nemesis thoatrlc . il per-

      * Memtlloetlum Of Jjamn «•«>»' Jsmbassy ...

      * Memtlloetlum of JJamn «•«>» ' JSmbassy to OA * ua and J < itu *^ 18-7 —58 . Uy the MAiutuis de Moans , Attftohu to tlio MiS 8 ««»^ < A" *"" 1 « L . Trunslatftn . ) With Coloured Illuatrutiqns . London ami Ola ^ uyr ,: KU . Griffin & Co .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 23, 1860, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23061860/page/13/