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ctly 86 ¦ &$$ %*&***• [Sati?r0a^v
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Kitttainn.
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Critics are not the legislators , but th...
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them shelter, because its members had a ...
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We hoped that the questions of " animali...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Ctly 86 ¦ &$$ %*&***• [Sati?R0a^V
ctly 86 ¦ & $$ % *&***• [ Sati ? r 0 a ^ v
Kitttainn.
Kitttainn .
Critics Are Not The Legislators , But Th...
Critics are not the legislators , but the iudges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . — Edinburgh Review .
Them Shelter, Because Its Members Had A ...
them shelter , because its members had a laudable desire to see the Review . No sooner does Mr . John Chapman take the Review into his hands than the nasum theologicum ( quicker at detecting stinks than perfumes ) at once scents out "heresy ;" although , in point of fact , the reproach which we ' * heretics " all bring against the Review is , that it is too orthodox !
The second illustration we should draw from the Rambler , the January number of which opens with a bold and able article on Galileo and his Condemnation . This is taking the bull by the horns . The case of Galileo is one of the stones perpetually flung at the head of Catholicism ; and in truth it is an ugly affair , for not only does it show the Mother of -all Truth to be absurdly in error , but
We might write an essay on Persecution apropos of three topics which this week furnishes . The first is the expulsion of the Westminster Review frpmaScotch Institution , on the charge of" heresy . " This is an amusing illustration . When the Review was in other hands , its "heresies" were avowed without scruple ; yet the Institution quietly gave
because the error is now confessed , it suggests uneasy suspicions of " infallibility . " If the Church could be wrong on the question of the earth's rotation , she could be wrong on other questions . But the Church is infallible , and can ' t be wrong . The writer of the paper in question gets out of this dilemma through an issue which may prove a dangerous avenue of attack . He says : —" The Church has never claimed the gift of infallibility for her decisions about all matters ' of fact . ' Her infallible authority is limited to the sphere of revealed doctrine , and facts therewith connected . " Ah ! if the Church really thus limited her claims !
On the question of Persecution as a thing lawful , nay righteous , hear how boldly this writer announces his belief : — "We have no intention of entering now upon the general question of religious persecutions ; but this we will say , that those who believe the Old Testament to be the word of God cannot deny that He has sanctioned the crushing of falsehood by material means . To make a great outcry about a
Christian having put into practice the same principles which were enjoined by God as rules of action upon Moses , Josue , and Samuel , -which were applauded in David , and which S . Peter was inspired to put into practice , may be good policy in one who wishes simply to protest against Rome , caring little what becomes of Christianity , but is suicidal in the Protestant who wishes at the same time to uphold Uhe whole Bible * as the pure and exclusive revelation of God . "
Perfectly true—and useful to keep alive in the memories of men , that the true spirit of the Bible be fairly appreciated ! Louis Napoleon must be a man after God ' s own heart , according to the Bible theory ; and , indeed , we see that the Holy Catholic Church blesses his deeds , and glories in his righteous triumph ! O Holy , Holy Church
O noble exemplar of man ' s highest aspirations You bless the Tree of Liberty in 1848 ; in 1852 you bless the ruffian debauchee ; in 1853 , if the Goddess of Reason be triumphant , and hold out hopes of sharing with you " the loaves and fishes , " you will bless her ; nay , you will sing Te Deum to the Devil himself if ever his dusky majesty should
get the upper hand ! for is not " order ' . ' the one desired thing— " being ' s end and aim ?" Our third illustration might be taken from the able article on Descartks , in the Edinburgh Review—essentially an article about his " Life and Genius , " not a philosophic exposition of tho Cartesian philosophy . In it , after commenting upon the want of courage Descartes showed in his unnecessary servility to tho Church , the essayist flings what may be called almost a sarcasm at Philosophy , because it has not inspired men with the same enthusiasm which Religion inspired into its Martyrs . . We answer that this is not true
as a matter of fact , and not fan : as a comparison . Philosophy without its Martyrs ? What , then , was Anaxagobas—what was Socrates—what was Vanini—what was Giordano Bruno—what was Servetus , the pantheist ? What were the countless victims to that slow torture of private persecution which , like a bloodhound , hupts down the
daring innovators in science ? If the martyrs have not been so numerous as religious martyrs , the reason is not that Philosophy inspires man with no noble enthusiasm , but that its convictions are not of the same awful responsibility . The religious martyr dies for his salvation ; the truth or error of his creed is not only of infinite moment to him , but of infinite moment to mankind * The
philosopher knows that his creed is , after all , only an explanation of the great mystery such as suffices to him—an explanation possibly erroneous , for absolute certainty no man can boast of—and knowing this , he does not feel called upon to die for it . He thinks with Pope : — " 'Tis with , men ' s judgments as their watches ; none Goes always right , yet each believes his own !"
Some set their watches by the cathedral clock , others by the modest country church ; this man will only follow Greenwich time , that only the Horseguards ; one trusts in the clock on 'Change , another sets his by one in a gin palace—meanwhile the ^ fr eat Horologe of Time strikes its -hours
through the Universe with unalterabIe ~ Tegulanty and we are left to the confusion of our watches , squabbling about the right when all are wrong !
We Hoped That The Questions Of " Animali...
We hoped that the questions of " animalism " in erotic Poetry , and the right of Art to consecrate by its beauty things which are withdrawn from the vulgar , were settled . But the originator of the discussiqn , W . M ., has again addressed us , and in fairness , we are bound to give him this fina ^ hearing . " Glasgow , Januai-y 16 , 1252-Sir , —In my unlucky communication of the 20 th ultimo , I indicated the fact of my being aware that there is such a thing as poetic license , although , upon being honoured with the strictures of the critic in the Leader of the 3 rd instant , I must confess I was
much enlightened as to the extent of that privilege . I now perceive that the trifling escapade upon which I had animadverted is , in fact , no blemish at all , but rather the reverse ; that the poet knew his ground perfectly ; and that he has only to improve upon the hints now thrown out to rise higher still in the estimation of his readers . I had previously no conception that ( I ) the furor amoris like all the other inferior passions , is not liable to excess—that poetry and the arts possess the virtue of an alchymy so complete and absolute as that ( 2 ) what is in its own nature morally faulty or worthless , ceases to be so
when clothed in numbers , or when transferred to the canvas or marble ; or , in fine that ( 3 ) poets and artists can not only themselves handle pitch without defilement , but can , through their respective mediums , convey the same immunity to their students and votaries . All this was new to me , although , as it appears , not so to others ; and hence the scorn and recrimination with which I am met . I am obliged , however , by your sense of justice , which has shielded me from the aspersion of being actuated by
unworthy motives , which it seems have been freely attributed , notwithstanding my original disclaimer of any such as might have been supposed to have a bearing under the circumstances . I was certainly not without a distinct presentiment that I deliberately exposed myself to not a little hostility ; still , it is a pity that the gentle art of poetry should number so many intemperate and unscrupulous adherents . Let the silence it has been thought fit to impose upon such bo to them a lesson to abstain for the future in
judging of others by what may be passing within their own minds . " To your Newcastle correspondent I am bound to defer , especially as he professes to have submitted the point in dispute to the test I proposed . Without ubating . my own opinion—and while I do not hold myself responsible to recpneilo tho discrepancy—a Scotchman does not like to be outdone in gallantry . I therefore submit tho following towards
an explanation . If it bo admitted ( but which , upon the whole , fleems to bo doubtful ) that ( 4 ) the natural passions may be indulged and expressed licentiously , then the boundary between what is innocent and what is otherwi & o must be placed pome where ; while , at the same time , in minds of equal purity , but possessing different degrees of moral intrepidity , what may repel in one case may be approached safel y and without any recoil in another . The case cited in the Leader of tho Roman princess who sat naked to
^ aTnTra ^^ n-not-conBidexJBtri analogous ; atill _ j £ __ it may be used as an illustration of what Ihave now advanced , it may be remarked that many Romau ladies , her contemporaries , would no doubt have declined such , an ordeal ; and which , if no proof of their superior delicacy or purity , would at least prove their superiority in . point of moral hardihood . Some minds live and thrive upon excitement and stimulants , others must be content with more homely fare ; or , as the old proverb hath it , " one man ' s meat is another man ' s poison . " I think there is nothing of casuistry or hair-splitting in this .
. «• But if it be true , as asserted by the critic , that ( 5 ) poetry and art consecrate anything and everything to which they choose to give expression and embodiment—and , stripped of technical verbiage , this I think is the sum of what lie has enunciated—then we may cease to wonder that those who subscribe to such , a doctrine should not be very squeamish as to what is set before them , or at ^ the occasional aberrations of unfledged authorship . Upon the same principle ( 6 ) your Newcastle correspondent might introduce the poet , and invite him to recite his
amours in his family circle ; I do not see any difference . Then , the poet emboldened by critical sanction , might try how far the principle would stretch ; only let him avoid being dull , prosaic , or ambiguous—the more intense and unspoken the better . Moreover ( 7 ) , if the furor amom may be sublimised by being taken out of the hands of the vulgar , why might not the artist evolve his conceptions in giving permanence even to the most tumultuous ebullitions of appetite ? The whole might be
tested as to its applicability to the literature and art of this country , according to many examples , ancient and modern . Our neighbours across the channel , to compensate perhaps for their want of political freedom andrstabilifry , ^ ire ^ iccustomed _ to a g ood deal oflicense in many other matters . But then , and probably as a necessary consequence , the melancholy fact is , that * French society is corrupt , it is rotten to the core ; this is the cry of the Government organs , and it is nerfectly true . ' * Is it desirable that it should be so here ? . W . M . "
We will endeavour to dispose of this question once for all . The capital distinction between W . M . and ourselves is , that he regards Passion as an " animalism * ' to be repressed , or at any rate to be indulged i n sorrow and shame , as something pleasant but degrading ; whereas we look on it as one of the great energetic instincts given us by God , and sacred in all healthy minds ; we say with the old dramatist : — " The motions which it feels Are fury , rapture , ecstacy , and such . . As thrust it out , full of instinct and deity , To meet what it desires . "
For the sake of brevity we have numbered the positions in W . M . ' s letter . If you will refer to 2 , 3 , and 4 , you will observe . that he argues upon the implied assumption that the furor amoris is in itself morally faulty , licentious , and defiling . Between persons who so radically disagree there can be no final agreement ; but we will reply to W . M ' s . letter nevertheless . No . 1 . Furor amoris is , of course , liable to excess , and its excess is " animalism" in the degrading sense of the word ; but we cannot
for a moment admit that Mr . Smith ' s sonnet deserved such an epithet . Nos . 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 » The position maintained by us is , not that Art can consecrate anything and everything , but that everything it chooses to express it may lawfully express . The reserve implied in choice relates to the very nature of Art as Art . It could not choose " animalism , " or it would cease to be Art . And for this reason : There are many things perfectly natural , yet interdicted from the domain of Art , simply because they are in themselves
incapable of exciting the emotions from which Art springs . Art does not appeal to Sensations , but to the Emotions through Sensations ; any object that excites the Sensation without bringing a subsequent activity of the , Emotions is , from its very nature , excluded from Art ( except as an accessory ) * This is the reason why the poet may not express the most ' tumultuous ebullitions of appetite ( 7 ) , and why he may express tho most tumultuous ebullitions of passion . With the latter are associated the emotions of tenderness , of reverence , of clinging devotion , of divine rapture ; and it is these * Vide tho Leader ' s * ' Own Correspondent , " in ft recent number .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 24, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24011852/page/18/
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