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Even our experience of the extraordinary convplausdtuse of author % Bo prodigal of praise to mediocrity , will not explain thi * sentence . The « gossip" is vulgar , affected , pointless—such as no periodical of taoderate reputation in our country would purchase ; but since ottf Verdict will not suffice against that of so accomplished a writer as Washington Irving , we will open at random— literally at random—in order to be fair , and quote what we find . Our nrst opening is at page 32 : — ' , « L ' s ^ emin&ence of Boyhood was a positive treat . WeH do we remember The Execution of the Ground-Mice , as performed by ' Ollapod and the writer hereof , when we were ' wee things . ' The prisoners were caught m the act of theft , under « shock' of cut-cornafter an ineffectual attempt at escape , and were con
a , fined in a square stone prison , « digged V the earth' of the meadow . We slept but little the first night of their ' confinement ; we thought of them during the nightwatches , and talked of them , as Giant Despair talked with hw wife of Christian and Hopefhl , shut up in Douhting-Castle . In the morning we Visited the prawn betimes , and fed the ' plaintiffs' and < examination ^ ' them as well as Dogberry himself could have done . We continued to visit them for several days afterwards ; and their bearing evincing no penitence , they were condemned to be hung , and a day was appointed for their execution . We had seen a model of a gallows on the cover of the Story of Ambrose Gmnett , and ' Ollapod' constricted a . very arrivedwith all
secure ' institution' of that kind ; and when the fatal morning , due privacy the culprits were brought forth , the thread of death which was to clip the thread of their lives being round their necks . They were addressed in moving terms by Ollapod , and assured that all hope of a reprieve was ridiculous ; it fioold not be thought of by the « authorities' for a moment . ' They must prepare to mount the scaffold ! ' They walked , « supported' partly by the ' rope around their necks , with firm hind-legs , up the latter , and the ' fetal cord' was adjusted to the transverse beam . It was a moment to be remembered . At a signal given by the jotter-down hereof , the trap-door fell , and they were launched into—liberty ! Tor the thread broke , and the < wretched culprits' were soon safe in the long grass of
the meadow . It was a narrow escape for ' em !" Our second is at page 105 : — , «« I ' ve always remarked , ' says that profound observer , Mr . « Chawls Yellowplush , that when you see a wife a-takin' on airs onto herself , a-scoldink , and internally a-talkin' about her dignity * and 'her branch / that the husband is inwariably a spoon ' A friend of ours says that he was reminded of this sage remark the other right , ' in coming down the Hudson . A large , fat , pompous woman , who was ever and anon overlooking her husband , ( a thin , lank personage , with a baby in his arms , who exhibited every mark of prolonged annoyance , ) in reply to a meek complaint on his part of fatigue , and the expression of a wish that the nurse might very soon get over her sea-sickness , said : t " * I never saw a man conduct so before—never , on the face o the globed airtn ! If I'd ha' known that you was goin' to act in this way , I certainly would tit la '
" The gentleman straitway sang the ' Lay of the Henpecked' to the crying baby , and from that time forth , was as mum as an oyster . " Do you relish the humour of these ? They are fair samples . What think you of a volume of such scraps P m As we have inflicted these extracts on our readers , to justify our remarks , we will quote what seemed to u « the most amusing page m the volume : —* ,, PTTZZMNG QUESTIONS Jtf " LOGIC . ...
«• Most likely many of our readers will remember this ' vexed question in logic : « It either rains or it docs not rain : but it does not rain ; therefore it rains / This used to puzzle m hugely ; as did also the mathematical problem , in simple equation * which ensues : ' A cat has one more tail than no cat ; no cat has two tails ; ergo , a cat has three iaiU F The conclusion is irresistible . Here is something , however , which i « of deeper import : ' Johnnon studied law with Dobson , under the agreement that he « hould pay Dobson , when he ( Johnson ) gained his first cause . After a time Dobson got tired of waiting for the conditions , of the contract , and sued Johnson for his pay . He reasoned thus : ' If I sue him I shall get paid at any the decision of the urtif I
rate , because if I gain the cause , I shall bo paid by co ; ^ aJ ^ it I shall be paid by the conditions of the contract , for then Johnson will have rained his nr * t cause ; therefore I am safe / Johnson , on the other hand , being prodigiously frightened , sought counsel , and was told to reason thus : ' Dobson reasons well , but there must be a flaw in Im argument ; because land not he will gam the victory If the suit goes in my favour , I shall gain it by the decision of the court ; if it goes against me , I shall gain it by the terms of the contract not having « t won my flirt cause . Of course T shall not have to pay him ! ' Fit , * la Logout /" If it bo true that every bad book obstructs the usefulness of some good book which might have earned its purchase-money and its time , critics should make a stand against Scrap Literature as not only an impertinence W an Siunr . An author may ho excused from publishing a W book ; not do
he does not think it bad ; but a book which does pretenavo goou , which avows itself the " sweepings of a study , " the scraps fallen from a poor man ' s table , that can have no excuse .
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THE PLAINT OF FREEDOM . The Plaint of JPreedom . A costly and elegant volume of intensely democratic verse has been sent to us we presume for review , although it appears to have been printed fbVwivate circulation . Wo are somewhat puzzled what to say respecting it If it be the work of some very young man it is abounding in promiM ; if what we take for buds be the consummate flowors—if its crudity be not Htaplyunripeness - but want of vital power , our verdict would of course Sea totally different form . Speaking absolutely , without reference to youth or ngi , tho volume seems to us the work of one who has iwd poetry with diligence and passion , but who is not himself a born poet ; tho Care not bad , some of the lines' excellentbut nowhere do wo detect thTtraces of original ! ty-of individuality . They are readable , but we have road them before . . . _ . , The Plaint of Freedoms a serios of poems having continuity of thought -and purpoBo—vifc ., an elegiac sadness over fallen England , a land which once w * s the land of Freedom , but which now the poet thinks , has fallen intole ^ harcic cowwrdioo needing to be aroused by tho trumpet voices of its elder hcrocB ; accordingly Milton , Alfred , Arthur , Bobin Hood ,
Edmond Ironside , Wat Tyler , and othet sOttnding B ^ ' ^ t ^ udW etanzas of the In Memoriam fashion , and in a style which may be judgea by the specimens we will cite : — « Can WicklifiVs heir * permit the Pope ? May Cromwell ' s lieges court the Tsar ? Or Alfred ' s lineage shrink from war , "With shameful peace for only hope P - .. . •« And yet , thy sword a liar ' s tongue , Thy highest faith some trick of trade , — What marvel England ' s name is made * A synonym for Coward Wrong ? « The land that boldly judged a king , And slew the traitor for his crimes , Now stoopeth to the poorest mimes Of Tyranny , —an abject thing . " No wonder that thou darest not pile My beacon-fire : 'twould light the world To see the hydra-slavery curl'd In thine own heart , Unhappy Isle !" It is rather exceeding " poetic license" to call England a " synonym fo £ coward wrong . " Phrases like that are foolish not powerful , and take the keen edge from the truth the writer so indignantly utters ; but ltis orte > ot the many phrases which indicate the writer's youth . Young writers are seldom solicitous of the nicely adjusted relations and powerrulpreomonot truth—they aim at " effect" and shoot over the mark . Hearken to tfcis " rapt rabidity of rhyme "" The circled honour and the place ^ Of Genius stolen by the Mean : What poor weak parody of a Qneen Insults the Elizabethan race ! " A peerage , —traffic ' s motley throng ! ¦» A Church , —where prelates build their styes ! And courts of law , —where Jefferies Remains a precedent for Wrong ! * ' And in the halls where Vane was heard , Some rascal Shopman , drunken-brave , Babbling of State , while Fool and Knave Applaud a He in every word I * ' A People : thousands crowd the streets , Exclaiming , —Freedom ! let thy grace Be given us in the market-place , Where slave his fellow-coward meets ! " So realms are colonized with thieves , Despite the moss-grown hearths at home } And starved men through the bleak world roam . That native fields may fatten beeves . " New chapels built , new school * endow'd , Of jails or hospitals no lack : Yet evermore the Poor Man ' s back Endures the cross and vulture-goad . — " Yet , with the gift , of parrot tongues , Priests prate of heaven , and earth a hell ; Or preach to Outrage , —* It is well ! God ' s luck to Villainy belongs / " And Patriots by snug parlour fires Dream of their pleasant oaken wreaths , And well-earn'd apoplectic deaths , In memory of heroic sires . " The Plaint of Freedom is a political poem , it is not the outpouring of fancy and imagination , " Singing of summer in full throated ease , it is not written to delight but to teach . Yet the P . ™ % re « msi te of a teacher is that he have some wisdom to endow us with . We do not flgl wisdom in these pages , we find the reverse . We hear a k «* *^™ J is meant to be a trumpet-call , but wo are not moved . When the poet shouts : — , , " What gain is Chaucer s valorous rhyme , What prize the fame of Azincourt , If England ' s heart and life fell short Of deeds and poesy sublime P " If Wrong contending aye with Wrong , And Robber Robber mastering , Be all the sad shamed years may bring Their dark blood-slippery path along ? " Hate copes with Hate , Power strives ' gainst Power : What happy strength may Discord know ? From bitter fount what stream can flow P What fruit shall follow canker'd flower P " Tho door the fool Injustice built Lets in his fellow . Nought can stay Crime ' s Shadow . 1 'ierce-wing'd Ruins lay Their dragon-eggs in neat of Guilt . " he leaves ne perfectly untroubled . If wrong contending aye with wrong , and robber robber mastering , be all that the years have brought us , then indeed it ia time to gird up one ' s loinH , —but does our young poet wwiously mean us to believe in such a statement P England to our eye * weara quite another aspoct . Indeed the poet doeB not anticipate that th « nfttiom will answer to his trumpet-call , but in some , of the best lines in tho volumo sighs forth this lament : — " Tho leaf hath fallen , tho pool is BtirM : Spread , yo slow circles ! far and wide , And reach the shore on every fide . So falloth my unnoticed word .
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aftO THE MLEADIE . ¦ ^ XP J ^ ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1853, page 260, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1977/page/20/
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