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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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Critics are not the legislators , but the jai&ges and police of literature . They do not make la ws-tiey interpret and try to enforce them . — JSdinburgJi Heview .
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It may be important and welcome news to some of our readers to hear that The Guild of Literature and Art has obtained ithe sanction of an Act of Parliament , and that the long-deferred statement of the objects and rales of the society is at last to be published . The delay in the production of thi 3 statement—which has been viewed in certain quarters in no charitable spirit—haa , we are informed , arisen in the main from two causes . In the first place , the accounts of the amateur company could not be closed until the Theatrical . Property was disposed of ; and this property , appealing of necessity to a very narrow circle of purchasers , remained some months on
hand before it could be advantageously disposed of . In the second place , when the scheme of the society was prepared for publication , it was discovered that the objects of the guild were of so comprehensive a nature , that the public announcement of them in a printed form would be punishable with a penalty , in consequence of certain recent enactments , unless the society previously obtained the sanction of a Charter or an Act of Parliament . This second obstacle occasioned of course a second delay , and retarded , up to the present period , the publication of the society ' s scheme . As soon as that scheme reaehes us , we hope to return at-greater length to the subject of the Guild of Literature and Art .
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The new number of the Quabterly Review is more generally interesting than usual . It opens with an article on the House of Commons ; not very carefully written as to style , but amusing as to matter—being evidently the production of a writer thoroughly well acquainted with his subjectj and capable of presenting it to the minds of his readers in a graphic and lively way-Sketches of Parliamentary manners and customs , and some clever pen-andink portraits of famous Parliamentary men , mainly occupy the article , which the general reader will be glad to hear keeps commendably free from political disquisition or antiquarian research . Another interesting contribution to this quarter ' s number is a paper on the modern drama in England . The writer of the article manfully steps out of the wearisome beaten track , and is actually satisfied with our present actors , and sanguine as to the future prospects of the " British Drama ! " We cordially subscribe to
¦ at he says on these two points ; and , as to a third , yre go a little beyond him . When the next great tragic actor appears , we most sincerely hope that he will not come out in Shakspeare . The inexhaustible delight of reading Shakspeare's poetry is too often confounded by managers , actors and critics , with the terminable enjoyment of seeing Shakspeare ' s plays . It is one thing to open the pages of Hamlet over and over again , and another thing to witness the acted story of Hamlet over and over a ^ ain . When people have seen that story performed—as all play-goers have—at least half a dozen times , they must , and do , begin to groAv weary of it , though it is Shakspeare ' s . Let us have our new man ( when we get him ) , or new woman ( when-she comes to enslave us ) , in new plays , where neither lady nor gentleman need challenge comparison with their respective predecessors , or disadvantageously exhibit themselves as interpreters of a story , which long experience lisfs made the audience thoroughly well acquainted with beforehand .
A . third article , which will be read with equal interest and profit , gives th ° History of the rise , progress , and present condition of the Electric Telegraph , both at home and abroad . The following account of the first application of the telegraph to police purposes , on the Great Western Railway , is very curious and remarkable—quite an episode in the social history of our own times : — " The following extracts are from the telegraph book kopt at tho Paddinizton Btaition
" ' JUon Montcm day , August 28 , 18 < U . — -Tho Coin mission rs of Police lmvo issued orders thut sovornl oiheera of tho detective force ahull bo stationed at Piiddington to watch tho m « v « xnonta of suepioious persons , going by the down-twin , and give notico by the electric tolvgruph to . tho . Slough btulion of the number of such auapected peraons , and droas , their names » jf known , also the carnages in which they aro . ' " Now como tho incssap ;™ following one after tho other , and influencing tho f « te of tho marked individuals with all tho celorily , certainty , and calmness of tlio Nemcsia of tho Greek drama : —
" Pmldington , 10 . 20 . a . m . — " Mall train just started . It contains three thioves , named Sparrow , Bum-11 , and Spurgcon , in tho iirat compartment of the fourth iirat-oluss earriaigo . " 4 k ' Slough , 10 . 48 . a . m . —' Mail train arrived . The officers have cautioned tho three t / ueves . " ¦ * Paddington , 10 . 50 . a . m . —" Special tmiu just loft . It contained two thioves- ono iinniod Oliver Miu-tin , who in dressed in black , empe on hitt hat ; tlio other named Fiddler Dtak , in hlack tvouaera and light llowuo . Both in tho third compartment of tho ur « t aocondclnas carnugo . " ' »* Slough , 1 l . lfi . a . m . — " Special tniin arrived . Officers lmvo takon tho two tliiovcs into custody , a lady having lout her bng , ooutiiining n pumo with two noveroigns unduuino uilvor in iL ; ono of tlio Ho-voreigns wan bwom to by tho luJy an having been her property , It wuh fouud in Fiddler Didc ' ti watch-fob . " * ' * r
It appears tlmt , on tho arrival of tho train , a jiulicoinnn oponetl tho door of tho third roinniirtawnt of Uio first , « ooo » id-cl «» s ciirritigc , ' < tml naked tho pnwnongerH if they hud rnjuHod anything ? A oenroh in pockets and biign accordingly ensued , until ono lady called out th . it ™ m « WIMI i R 9 ? 0- ' VMU > r Dlcl < i y ™ « ro wnniod , ' wan tho lmmcdii « te donumd of the Jlk « nvn ° " " ' bt ' "' t 1 K t 0 tl 10 culprit , who vnmo out of the carriage thundorutrivk at tliu ,, mn 'ft nn rt . «*? - S . maolf U I > . to olhor with tlw booty , with tho air of a completely beaten book : — u « pturo 8 o cleverly brought ubout i « thus tyahau of in tlio tdograph cloWn 2 r ! SnH ' , ii ! ' h | s " 'r ' ^ , " 1 of tl 10 bm P CGtoA poraoiiHwljo camo b y tl 10 vnriouH mo of rCm oam . ahwt BUwH »» . uttcrhl F Wtt « r invectives ngninnttho Ufograph . Not ouo ot Uionu ciiuiioni-d l » au venturgd to proceed to tlio Montom . " '
Ever after this the light-fingered gentry avoided the railway , and the too intelligent companion that ran beside it , and betook themselves again to the road—a retrograde 6 tep to which-on all great public occasions they continue to adhere . " ' About six months after the date of these entries , the foulest murder of modern , times was committed near Slough , and the telegraph becamefcuaons throughout the length and breadth of the land , . by securing the arrest of the murderer—Tawili . Another interesting passage is this short narrative of the Dinner in which the telegraph was first set up in Switzerland -: — *• " The history of the telegraph , in Switzerland is an evidence of whaktetriotio feeling is capable of accompJishisg . Although by far the best and most extensive fora , mountainous country in the world , it was constructed by the spontaneous efforts of'the "people . The peasantry gave their free labour towards erecting the w * e& and polea , the landlords -fojaad the timber and garo the right of way over their lands , and the communes provided station rooms in the towns . Thus the telegraph was completed , so to speak , for nothing . "The peculiarity of the Swiss telegraph is that , like the greatwallof Uhma ^ it proceeds , tofcjdly tne
reganuess or nature ot the . ground . It climbs tba pa $ 3 . of the iSunploa in prooseaiqg from Geneva to Milan—it goes . over St . Gathard in its way from Lucerne to Como—it mounts -the Splugen , and again it goes from Feldkirch to Innspruck by 4 he Arlberg pasathu& . aseendirjg the great « hain of the AVj > s ~ as though ifc were only a , ge » tie . hill-side . The wires caurse alopg \ ke lakes of Lucerne , Zug , Zurich , and . Constance ; sometimes they are nailed to precipices , sometimes they make short cuts over unfrequented spurs-of' . the mountains—going every way , in short , that it is found most convenient to hang them . The . completion of the telegrapliic system of this little republic , which stands in the same relation to Southern as Belgium does to Northern Europe , was of great consequence , as it forms the key-stone between France , Prussia , Austria , Piedmont , and Italy . " Wonderfully as the telegraph strides through Switzerland , over mountain and valley alike , the most impressive situation which it has yet seized on is at Rome . There , the messenger of modern civilisation tas invaded the mightiest ruin that remains to tell us of the barbarisin of the old -world . The electric telegraph crosses the Colosseum !
From the Quarterly we must now turn to the Edinburgh ,. ancj find that we have not changed for the better—principally , perhaps , because we have no relish left for retrospective political articles on the subject of the present war . We are as patriotic as most people , in our - ovm " ^ way , and as anxious as all critical gentlemen ought to be , to give our readers the fullest and latest literary news . But we . really can-not read any more about the "Diplomatic History of the Eastern Question " ( which is tie first article in the he ^ v lEd inburgK ) —we are also in much the same predicament in respect to the " Orders in Council on Trade during the War" ( which is the sixth article )—and as for the " Russian War of 1854 " ( which is the . last article ) , we know quite enough already about its past history , and are only anxious for information ahout its future prospects . From these subjects , and from
other political topics , which occupy nearly nine-tenths of the space in the present Edinburgh , we turn to the only literary article in the number , and find it to be a deeply-learned review of Hermanj ^ s JEschylus . After looting through this , we finally address ouyeelves to an essay on a subject of general home interest— " Teetotalism , ; and Laws against the Liquor Trade . " Here there are some pages which readers of all kinds will find pleasure in examining . Amazing extracts from teetotal literature are given ; ; and , in : a note , ive have a fac-simile of the teetotal arms—^ a bottle rampant , with a muscular arm , a hand , and a threatening hammer , opposite : the effect of which device upon us is , that the owner of this muscular arm is in such a hurry to swallow the liquor in the rampant bottle that , iwstead of waiting to uncork it , he has precipitately made up his mind to knock tie . neck off . We have not done with the Reviews yet . The New Quarterly claims notice , and deserves all praise , as a very complete book of reference for all buyers and borrowers of contemporary literature . In a critical point of view , this useful periodical will increase in value , when the contributors write in a less flippant style than that now adopted by the majority of them . The Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine varies the necessarily technical nature of most of its articles very agreeably and usefully , by a travelling story from tho pen of Mr . Dudley Costex . x . o , and by some pleasant antiquarian pages dedicated to The Tomb ofJohiStowe . Tho Southern Quarterly Review reaches us from America , and imitates the English Reviews closely enough , but has no feeble prejudices , on that account , in favour of England . In an article called * " Africans at Home , " the writer accuses the British of ahming at the destruction of the Caffre race , with the object , as he subsequently suggests , of teaching them "to use opium 1 " Surely the staff of tho Southern Quarterly must include a Chinese gentleman to write the foreign articles ?
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We referred last week to tlio absolute stagnation of literary enterprise in Franco . The drama in Paris , however , still shows abundant symptoms of vitality . A new play has been produced at the Thbatris Franc ais , with Voltaire for a hero . Wo aro told that it was admirably acted and "justly applauded ; " and wo therefore recommend it to tho attention of Mr . Wioan , who might make a " part" of Voltaire . At the Gymnase , the last novelty has boon a drama called Zett Couurs a"Or , written to contradict the theory of the marblo-hearted nature of Indies of easy virtue , tin advanced in Les Wiles
da Marbru— -wliivh tho reader itrny remember was itselfa rebuke ndminwtorefl to tho u inextinguishable sympathies" of the younger Dumas for " courtesans , " as expressed in the Dame aux Camelias . Tho relative mcritfl of tho Cardinal Virtues and tho Easy Virtues eooin likely , at thin rate , to found quite a now ( lrnma of moral recrimination . Wo have had already tho proposition , the rejoinder , nnd thu reply . What in to como next ? Possiblyji thqatrji « a , l summing-up by a dramatist with a judicial mind , who , iw regard both'to tho Cardinal Virtues and the J 2 s « sy Virtues , will strictly confine .. hiwaelf to taking a nnd < Llo course ?
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July 22 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . $$ 7
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Leader (1850-1860), July 22, 1854, page 687, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2048/page/15/
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