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August 23, 1856.] THE LEADER. 809
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iLtt^rUtltr^*
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? Critics are not the legislators, but t...
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The only periodical which France possess...
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The photographic portraits of " Living C...
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The American expeditions in search of Si...
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Last week wo spoko of the increasing ser...
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Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, T...
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CHARLES READE'S NEW NOVEL. It is Never t...
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.
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August 23, 1856.] The Leader. 809
August 23 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 809
Iltt^Rutltr^*
ICitmittttt ,
? Critics Are Not The Legislators, But T...
? Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature They do-not make law * -they interpret and try to enforce them . —J 3 dtnbur < fh Review .
The Only Periodical Which France Possess...
The only periodical which France possesses as a rival to the Revue des Deux Mondes is the Revtce de Paris , which , after four years' existence , now seems likely to hold its ground as an organ of liberal opinion . In the July numbers there are , besides other papers of interest , two of more than ordinary ability , written by M . Frederic Morin , on the " Philosophy of Science sought in its History . " We by no means agree with the conclusions articles
of this writer , but we call the attentio n of thoughtful readers to his . He endeavours to prove that the vulgar notion respecting the characteristics of ancient and modern science is a vulgar error ; and it is certain that the majority of men hold the opinions he combats , although the few do not . It is only the superficial who think that modern science differs from ancient science in placing all its solicitude in observation , and rigorously excluding everything but fact . Men often talk in this way at meetings of the British Association , and on the platforms of lecture rooms , but no competent persons think it . Those , however , who neither say nor think it , would hesitate before accepting M . Morin ' s conclusion that we must either declare science absolutely separated from all metaphysics , or else restrict it to the bare
observation and enumeration of facts . He explains how ancient science was guided by metaphysics , how the Ptolemaic system of astronomy was inseparable from the metaphysical conception of " substantial forms , " and could not be overthrown till that conception was displaced ; he explains how the ancients did not neglect observation of the study of facts , more than the moderns ; and having shown that ancient physics depended on metaphysics , he concludes that modern physics also depends on modern metaphysics ; and that the present condition is only transitional , awaiting the proper elaboration of the metaphysical idea of force . It would lead us too far to discuss the various points of M . Morin ' s essay , but we may sum up our main objection in a sentence . The difference between the
Metaphysical and the Positive Methods is , not that the one employs Reason and the other Observation only , Jt > ut that the hypothesis which the metaphysician employs as a reality , the positivist employs as an artifice ; on a basis of . fact both build ; but the metaphysician ekes out observation by the produce of his own thought , and believes in the equal validity of the two ; the positivist does not believe the interpretation of equal validity with the fact , but uses it as a provisional explanation which subsequent observation may verify . In a word , the peculiar character of modern science is that it insists on the verification of every fact , hypothesis , or law ; whatever is not verified is held as provisional . A single illustration will suffice . Several persons gently lay their hands upon a table without pushing it , and the table moves round . Such is the fact . A metaphysician desiring to explain this fact , declares it
is produced by Spirits , or by Electricity . The positivist demands that this shall be verified . Not accepting the validity of a mere hypothesis , he insists , first that the presence of Spirits or electricity be proved ; next , that the action of Spirits or electricity on a table is such as to make it move round . The metaphysician hears these demands with scorn . He is content with his hypothesis because it explains the fact . The idea of verification has never entered his head . He is content with reasoning ; but , as Bacon profoundly says , such explanations arc valueless , for the subtlety of nature greatly exceeds the subtlety of argument—subtilitas naltirce sicbtilitatem argumentandi mult is partibus supcrat ; sed ctxiomata a particularibus rite et ordiue abstracta ¦ nova particularia rursus facile indicant et designant ; and it is these " new particulars" which form the links in the chain of causation .
The Photographic Portraits Of " Living C...
The photographic portraits of " Living Celebrities" which Messrs . Maujli and Polyujlank are publishing , will include , apparently , the most various types . After Professor Owen and T . B . Macau ^ ay , we have now Robert Stepmknson and J . A . Rokiiuck . Physiognomists and phrenologists will be delighted with the solid sagacity of the great engineer ' s head , his large perceptives , and his resolute look . The Reformer's somewhat querulous doggedness , rendered pathetic by the evident traces of feeble health , looks out from this photograph with unmistakable verity . We must , however , once- more complain of tho poorness of the biographical notices which accompany these portraits .
The American Expeditions In Search Of Si...
The American expeditions in search of Sir John Fhanklin were noble acts on the part of our sister country , and America scorns determined that the expedition shall not have been , altogether fruitless . The second expedition—during the years 1850 , ' 54 , ' 55—furnishes a sp lendid work which Dr . Kank has written , and which Messrs . Tuubnkk arc about to publish , ia two richly illustrated volumes . A casual glance at these illustrations lias excited our curiosity about the work itself , in which wo anticipate a rare combination of romance and science , of adventure and observation .
Last Week Wo Spoko Of The Increasing Ser...
Last week wo spoko of the increasing seriousness with which Suakspkaue is now appreciated in France , und the best example of this is before us in the shape of a translation of the Poems and Sonnets by M . Krnkst Lafo « i >
In England , we are accustomed to make merry with French translations ; not without cause . But M . Lafond has produced a translation which , for accuracy and elegance may stand beside the German translations , allowance being made for the difference of the two languages . He has printed the original at the bottom of the page that his accuracy may be severely tested . We will quote one sonnet , literally opening the volume at random : — Fatigue" de courir , je me couche en mon lit , Ce doux champ de repos pour l'homme de tout age : Mais dans ma tete alora je commence on voyage Et fais apres mon corps travailler mon esprit . Car mes pensers , actifs & quitter mon re'duit , Entreprennent vers vous leur cher pelerinage ; Je tiens mes yeux ouverts pour pouvoir au passage Derober quelque chose aux ombres de la nuit . Heureux ! quand j ' apercois , par les yeux de mon ame , Votre forme apparaitre aux plis de mon rideau , Et dans l ' obscurite" briller comme un joyau ! La nuit est belle alors ; mais vous voyez , madame , Qu'il n ' est point de repos , au dedans , au dehore , Ni la nuit le jour , pour mon arae ou mon corps .
Weary With Toil, I Haste Me To My Bed, T...
Weary with toil , I haste me to my bed , The dear repose for limbs with travel tir'd ; But then begins a journey in my head , To work my mind , when body ' s work's expir'd . For then my thoughts ( from far where I abide ) Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee , And keep my drooping eyelids open wide , Looking on darkness which the blind do see : Save that my soul ' s imaginary sight Presents thy shadow to my sightless view , Which , like a jewel hung in ghastly night , Makes black night beauteous , and her old face new . Lo , thus , by day my limbs , by night my mind , For thee , and for myself , no quiet find . A close comparison will detect in this the weaknesses inevitable in translation ; for how could the same felicities be preserved in a different form ? For example : — And keep my drooping eyelids open wide , Looking on darkness which the blind do see , is weakly paraphrased : — Je tiens mes yeux ouverts pour pouvoir au passage Derober quelque chose aux ; ombres de la nuit . And further , les yeux de mo > i cime do not reproduce the force of " my soul's imaginary sight . " When , however , we reflect on the differences of the French and English languages and poetry , and remember that the translator has the exigencies of rhyme to observe , we shall admit the translation to be singularly successful .
Charles Reade's New Novel. It Is Never T...
CHARLES READE'S NEW NOVEL . It is Never too Late to Mend : a Matter of Fact Romance . By Charles Reade , Author of " Christie Jolmstone , " & c . 3 vols . Bentley . This ' matter of fact Eomance' has many qualities which will fix the attention of novel-readers , and , above all , it has the quality of readableness . Without being peculiarly fastidious , the reader will frequently be annoyed by certain defects of matter and manner , but even the most fastidious will go through the three volumes interested , sometimes excited . Mr . Keade has rightly judged that subjects such as prison-life , and life in the Australian settlements and diggings , afford the romancist abundant material of what is at once intensely real and terribly startling . He has dramatized a . Blucbook on the prisons ; and his readers will perfectly well remember the horror with which the exposure of the cruelties and stupidities practised in the Birmingham gaol was received a little while ago , after the benevolent Captain Maconocchie was superseded by another governor , less benevolent and less wise ; but most readers will at the same time perceive that , in the
dramatizing of these terribly real practices , the author has been guilty of exaggeration as injudicious as it is painful . He has repeated the character of Legree . He has painted unmixed , unmitigated villany , and the black colours have been laid on with a trowel , not a brush . Indignatiofecit librurn —he has been too indignant to draw steadily , he has been too angry to see clearly . The horrors of Birmingham gaol required nothing but simple statement to arouse the reader ' indignation ; but in this novel we see the writer in a passion—excusable as passion , but inexcusable as art . This is the more to be regretted because the scenes of prison-life have strange fascination , and in many respects are painted with strange power . Mr . Hawea is too gratuitously diabolical , and Mr . Kdcn too romantically perfect ; neither of them is a human being , yet they keep the interest for ever on the stretch . Mr . Reade ' s object is to excite unmitigated horror for the silent system , and he succeeds ; but having an object beyond that of simply thrilling novel-readers , he will learn to regret that his advocacy should so much have damaged his cause by its violence and its exaggeration .
The scenes in Australia , and at the diggings , have doubtless a solid basis in fact , and even if greatly exaggerated , the exaggeration belongs to romance , and will do no harm . The Berkshire farmer ' s first experiences of the settlement are touchingly told , and so also arc the relapses of the penitent thief , and his difficulties in getting back into honest ways of life . The adventures in the diggings are full of excitement—the perils and . escapes , the villany and the virtue , the ups anil downs arc so managed that we read on with unflagging intercut , if with slight belief . It ib a romance , and the romance-writer uses his privileges . Probabilities are not to be asked of him , only interest , and interest ho gives . Although as a matter of excitement the scenes in prison and at the diggings surpass the quieter scenes of rural life with which the novel opona , wo greatly prefer the quieter scenes . Nothing can bo older than the
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 23, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23081856/page/17/
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