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1024 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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MOKE VERSIFIERS. The Dream of Pythagoras...
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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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Lord Carlisle In The East. Diary In Turk...
at Windsor . He looks pale , old for his age ( about thirty-one , I believe ) , and he has lately grown corpulent : the impression his aspect conveys is of a man , gentle , unassuming , feeble , unstrung , doomed ; no energy of purpose gleamed in that passive glance ; no augury of victory sat on that still brow . How different from the mien of the Emperor of Austria as he rode at the head of his cohorts , though t 3 iat may not have had any special moral significance . The Sultaa looked like Richard II . riding past ; Bolingbroke , however , has not yet arrived . The French Ambassador , M . Delaconr , and several ladies , arr ived too late for the exit of the procession , but saw its return . Lord Stratford did not come , but we had his interpreter , and an imposing array of four cavasses , a sort of armed policemen . We were then transferred to the interior court . Here the Sultan takes his place on a gold or gilded couch ; the Sheik Islam , or head of the Church , and a descendant of the Prophet from Meccaoffer ua
, p short prayer , and then , in succession the whole Ottoman array of dignitaries and officers file before him : the first few of the highest grade kiss his foot while he stands ; he then sits down , and the great bulk of military and civil employe ' only kiss the tassel of the couch ; the cadis ( judges ) , ulemas ( professors of law ) , and muftis ( much the same ) kiss the hem of his garment . The Sultan ' s band played marches and airs all the time , chiefly from Semimmide , and extremely well . The sight was extremely picturesque , somewhat barbaric , highly suggestive ;—picturesque from the variety and brilliancy of costume , the gleaming of uniforms , the clasli of music under the dark rich green of the cypresses , and the quaintness of the surrounding architecture ; barbaric , from the idolatrous forms . of prostration ; suggestive , from the thought that always follows nie here , from minaret to minaret ; from one silver sea to another , " How long ?"
TURKISH MSE OF BATTXE SHIPS . July 26 th . —^ breakfasted under a vine in the garden . Poor Captain . Woolrige , of the Inflexible , died here this morning , of fever , which I fear was brought on and aggravated by excitement at the prospect of undergoing a court-martial , for his ship having > been run aground by its pilot . Lord George Paulet and I were called fox by Captein Borlase , an English naval officer , who has been here for a year or two , instructingthe Turkish fleet in gunnery , and taken by him on board the largest Turkish inai-of-war , the Mahmoudieh , of 122 guns , She is very immense , and of iinusxtal depth : she was built , like most , I believe , of their ships , by an American . Even after my residence with the fleet , I do not assume to be a naval critic , so I Spare my reader all detailsLord
. George seemed on the whole very much satisfied with the arrangements ; the captain , who had been for some little time at Portsmouth , seemed a very intelligent man . I was particularly pleased with the care they appear to bestow on * the sick in the ship ' s hospital , though there was an array of sweetmeats for them we should . not have found in our vessels . The crew looked active and healthy ; not quite so clean as otur men . We had of course pipes , sheribet , and coffee . We -went to another ship of 78 guns , where we found two Turkish admirals , Achmed Pasha and Mustapha Pasha , the latter of whom served for some years in an English ship , and speaks English perfectly . Here we saw the crew work the guns ; and Lord George thought , as I had heard from others before , that no English crew whatever could have done it better . This is highly to the credit of Captain Borlase .
THE POMTICS OF MODERN" GREECE . I have barely adverted to the politics of modern Greece : during one fortnight , at least , ancient Hellas repels all other intrusion , and , truth , to say , there is but little attraction in the modern competitor for notice . I should also shrink from any direct references to those with whom 1 have conversed ; I may , however , most truthfully sum up , from all that I have seen , or read , or heard among persons of different nations , stations , and principles , that the present Government of Greece seems to be about the most inefficient , corrupt , and , above all , contemptible , with which a nation was ever cursed . The Constitution is so worked as to be constantly and flagrantly evaded or violated ; the liberty of election is shamefully infringed ; and where no overt bribery or intimidation are employed , —charges from which we Englishmen can , I fear , by no means make out an exemption , —the absence of the voters , who regard the whole process as a mockery , is compensated by the electoral boxes being filled with voting papers by the gendarmerie , —a height of impudence to which w « have not yet
soared . Persons the most discredited by their characters and antecedents are forced oa the reluctant constituencies , and even occasionally advanced to places of high trust and dignity . The absence of legislative checks is not atoned for by the vigour of the executive in promoting public improvements . Agriculture stagnates ; manufactures do not exist ; the communications , except in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital , where they are good , arc deplorable ; the provinces—and here I can hardly except the neighbourhood of the capital—teem with robbers . The navy , for which the aptitude of the people is remarkable , tjonsiats of one vessel : the public debt ia not paid : an offer by a company of respectable individuals to institute a steam navigation , for which the seas and shores of Greece offer such innumerable facilities , was declined at the -very period of my visit , because it was apprehended that it would be unpalatable to Austria . Bitter , indeed , is the disappointment of those who formed bright auguries for the futuTO career of regenerate Greece , and made generous sacrifices in her once august and honoured cause . Yet the feeling so natural to
them , so difficult to avoid for us all , should still stop far ahort of despair . When it is remembered that , about twenty-three years ago , the only building at the Plrasus was a small convent , and that at the same time there was not a single entire roof in Athena ; and that wo now find , at the harbour , noble wharves and substantial streets , And at the base of tlio Acropolis , not indeed a renewal of its elder glories , but what would be thought anywhere a fresh and comely city;—it would bo impossible to deny either tho possibility , or presence of progress : it 5 s of deeper importance , that , aa I believe , thoro undoubtedly aro solid materials for advance and improvement among the bulk of tho Greek people themsolves ; their high intelligence no detractor could think of denying ; they seem capable of patient and persevering industry ; tho zeal for education pierces to tho very lowost ranks ; many instances are known of young men and women coming to Athens , and engaging in service for no other wages than tho
permission , or opportunity to attend some place of instruction : and when an exception ia made of tlio classes moat exposed to contact with tho . abuses of government , and tho frivolities of a society hurriedly forced into a premature and imperfect refinement , thoro is much of homely simplicity , cheerful temperance , and lioarty goodwill amidst tho main body of tho country population . Tho moat essential element in thus forecasting tho destinies of a people , ia tlieir religion : it ia notorious that tho religion of tho modern Greeks is encumbered with very much both of ignorance and superstition . I boUovo that , in instituting a foil comparison of tho Greek Church with her Latin sister , sho must bo acknowledged to lug behind her in tho activity and zeal which constitute tho missionary charaotor of a church , and in the spirit of association for purposes of boncvolonco : but sho possoasos n superiority in two points , full of vnluo and pregnant with promiso : sho has more tolo-Tanco towards other religious communities , and sho encourages tho perusal of the
Holy Scriptures . Before -wo close Lord Carlisle ' s volume , it is only justice to him to say that ho writes without any reference , oneway or tho other , to party politics . Paragraphs and sentences may very possibly bo picked out of his book as texts , from whioU Opposition membora , next session , may speak agaiinst tho Turks , and tho Palmorstonian sympathy for them . But a fair perusal of Lord Carlisle ' s Diary , and a fair comparison of detached paiBsagea with each
other , will , we think , prove that he writes impartially even on the subject of Turkey . He speaks on topics of present and powerful interest in the character of a spectator , not of a partisan ; and though he says but little , that little , in virtue of the speaker ' s moderation , may claim to have a value of its own .
1024 The Leader. [Saturday,
1024 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
Moke Versifiers. The Dream Of Pythagoras...
MOKE VERSIFIERS . The Dream of Pythagoras , and Other Poems . By Emma Tatham . Binns and Goodwin . Poems by William Bell Scott . Smith , Elder , and Co . Sonnets on Anglo-Saxon History . By Ann Hawkshaw . Minor Poems by James S l ices . Idyls and Songs . By Francis Turner Palgrave . John W . Parker and Son . The Village Bridal , and Other Poetns . By James Henry Powell . Whittaker and Co-Induxgent old Michel de Montai gne was almost tormented into severity by the excessive escrivaillerie of his time . Yet he lived in an age comparatively innocent of ink . What would he have said if his fate had fallen on these evil days of fungoid poetasters ?
" Poetry , " in the modern acceptation , seems to be the refuge of weak minds incapable of prose . Sometimes it is but a premonitory symptom of that moral enlargement of the hearfc , which precedes the total loss of h « ad ; and then it deserves our amused pity : sometimes it is the motley of a melancholy dilettantism : sometimes it is the harmless offspring of a too retentive memory and a too facile mimicry . Once or twice in a century it is an inspiration , a gift , a creative power , an art . We do nofy of course , include in these sweeping definitions the innocuous pastime of nice young men who scribble in albums , or the still more innocuous accomplishment of nice young ladies who take to writing " poetry " like puppy-dogs to rnilk . Whenever we hear that very common remark , Oh ! she is so clever she writes poetry ± we can only smile pityingly , and silently regret that the young .. - 'lady should allow her feelings to get the
better of her p ' s and q's , and stain with horrid ink those delicate pickers and stealers which we cannot doubt were originally created for domestic cpjokery and crochefc- ^ -not to > speak < df the poetry of plain needlework ! JEUsing to higher considerations , we may ask , why should beauty descend from the shrine ^ to mingle with r the vulgar crowd in the temple ? why should the worshipped become a worshipper ? Young ladies , be content to be the Poem , and let those rougher mortals with whom , since your mother Eye , you have waged an cverlastitg war , be the despairing poets . Here is an unpretending little volume of •* poems" by a young lady who , we can scarcely be surprised to learn , has " not hitherto published . " Many of the pieces were written , we are assured , when the authoress was sixteen or seventeen years of age . These extenuating circumstances are undoubtedly prepossessing ; and we should ; have nothing to add at present in acknowledging the receipt of The Dream of
JPythagoras , and Other Poems , but a word of unfeigned sympathy and regard for a young mind so full of fine and fervent feeling , so rich in aspiration , so refined in culture , so pure and delicate in thought , so accomplished in expression . _ But we cannot resist the duty of warning , we trust in a spirit of sincere kindness and true respect , the friends of this young lady against the practice of enclosing in a copy of the poems a sheet full of " opinions of the press . " If a lady were not the unconscious subject of this ill-advised naivete , we should be disposed to resent it as an intolerable intrusion . It is an equally foolish and impertinent attempt to bias the judgment of the reviewer whose conscientious judgment is appealed to , and who is presumed to be overpowered by a cloud of " favourable notices . " In the present instance , nothing could be more fatal to the reputation of the " poet" tlian the so-called" Opinions of the Press" mow lying before us . Here is a specimen of the suit we are indirectly requested to follow :-
—" Miss Tatham is , indeed , a poet . If great imagination—immense depth of thought and feelings-exquisite tenderness—great power pf expression , combined with a harmony of metro rarely surpassed—be the qualifications of a poet , then , indeed , may Miss Tatham lay claim to a high rank in tho field of English poetic literature . We could have -wished , indeod , that her inspiration would occasionally indulge itself on subjects less serious than those which she has treated—not that sho is not equal to such themes , we believe her equal to anything—but because she would come more home to our hearts in matters connected with the evory-day world around us . " This friendly critic n ' j / va pas de main morte . But we confess his enthusiasm is not infectious . Here is another , whose raptures almost run away with his grammar : —
There ore so many individuals claiming rank in these days as poets and poetesses , that it is natural to contract a distaste for every now poetic book , nnd to turn away in loathing as if nothing good could now descend to us except in solemn and sober prose . Tho same fato may await tho inspirations of Emma Tatham ; but we take this opportunity of saying that we should he aorry to find her shelved , because it is somewhat extraordinary that a female mind can bo found among us aspiring to tho most classic and sacred heights of poetic art . Miss Tatham will not condescend to write about subjects of a more earthly or social kind ;—she must bo a Miltoness or nothing at all , and her chief poonn ia therefore an elaborated , a complicated , a metaphysical , and a daring rendering of the dreams and visions of tho greatest philosopher and myth of ancient Greece . Men of most manly mind would not oven havo dared so much ; but Miss Tatham knows sho has great , powers , worthy of croat deeds : and if yot a .
young lady , the better for herself and her country . " Undoubtedly we should be sorry to find any amiable and accomplished young lady " shelved : " tho position would be most trying and uncomfortable ; hut with regard to tho pooms , a shelf after nil is better than a wastepaper basket or tho buttorman . It is nob our fault , nor , we believe , Miss Emma Tatijcam ' s , that we havo been diverted into a criticism of her critiua instead of her own verae » ; wo havo already said all wo have to suy about her refined and pensive exercises in metro . Mb . Wiixiam Bisr . r . Scott has caught a mannerism or two of Tennyson , and this mimetic knack hns probably driven him into rhythm to express obscurely , and therefore feebly , thoughts and perceptions offcon subtle , always scholarly and refined , somotiinea even profound .
Miss IIawksijuw has in a loving spirit of reverence transcribed , in ninetyeight sonnets , tho chief epochs and episodes of Anglo-Saxon history . Tho stylo of tho Bonnets ia a -vigorous sobriety . Mr . Jambs Syk . bb sends us a copy of his Minor Poems , printed , yvo find ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 28, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28101854/page/16/
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