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    Nonnaii 1866 . 1 THE LliDEE . \ m

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    " Four days is the spirit ' s journey To the land of ghosts and shadows , Four its lonely night encampments ; Four times must their fires be lighted . Therefore , when the dead are buried , Let a fire , as night approaches , Four times on the grave be kindled , That the soul upon its journey May not lack the cheerful fire-light , May not group about in darkness . " Farewell , noble Hiawatha ! We have put you to the trial , To the proof have put your patience , By the insult of our presence , 33 y the outrage of oui * actions . We have found you great and noble . Fail not in the greater trial , Faint not in the harder struggle . " When they ceased , a sudden darkness Fell and filled the silent . wigwam . Hiawatha heard the rustle ^ As of garments trailing by him , Heard the curtain of the doorway Lifted by a hand he saw not , . Felt the cold breath of the night an-, For a moment saw the starlight ; But he saw the ghosts no longer , Saw no more the wandering spirits From the kingdom of Ponemah , From the land of the Hereafter . America has now her epic . The intellectual greatness of America , which every dispassionate eye must see , will one day be ' commensurate with her territorial greatness ( and of which , even now , there are unmistokeable signs , in the originality of several writers ) , may , and probably will , produce epics grander in substance than this of Hiawatha ; but the glory of having given his country her first national poem worthy to be placed beside the national poems of other'lands , will always belong to Longfellow .

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    THE LIFE OF FIELDING . The Life of Henry Fielding ; with Notices of his Writings , his Times , and his Contemporaries . By Frederick Lawrence . Hall , Virtue , and Co . It is not a very creditable fact that , up to the present time , there has been oo such thing in English Literature as a complete Life of Henry Fielding . Biographers , in want of a subject , have wandered back into the Middle Ages , and have gone abroad desperately in' search of foreign worthies , while the life and achievements of one of the founders of the English School of l ' lction still remained unwritten . Scattered articles in Magazines and Cyclopaedias , and biographical notices prefixed to various editions of Fielding s

    worksthese last including a delightful . sketch of the author of Tom Jones , by a greater novelist than he , the author of Rob Roy—axe the biographical materials which have hitherto done duty , as best they might , for a ^ Biography -of Fielding . Thackeray , in his admirable f ' jdiugusu xxUulGiirio « . S , » mo Vci"y lately revived the interest of the subject ; and now Mr . Lawrence comes forward with the first complete Life of a famous English writer that has been offered to the English public . It is something , in these days , for an author to have the stage to himself . We are happy , at the outset , to be able to congratulate Mr . Lawrence on the creditable manner in which he has rilled a

    new position . For the present work eveiy available source of published information appears to have been examined ; errors of previous writers have been corrected ; and omissions , as we are informed , have been supplied . The result is a book , which , within the comp ass of one volume , contains all those biographical facts in connection with Henry Fielding , and all those anecdotes -of the remarkable men with whom he lived , which have hitherto been scattered over many publications . Mr . Lawrence has performed his task tastefully , skilfully , and in an excellent spirit . He does not attempt to present his readers with anyth ing that is absolutely new—he only aspires to collect for them particulars which they may not have the patience to hunt out , or the ability to arrange for themselves . This modest and useful purpose he has thoroughly executed . The interesting and varied career of i t f

    Fielding , as dramatist , journalist , novelist , barrster , and jusice othe peace , is clearly and sensibly followed from first to last . The manly , generous character of the great novelist is developed with honest and tender appreciation ; his errors are candidly confessed , and his noble qualities of heart and niind are earnestly impressed on the reader ' s attention . In short , we may fairly say of this book , that it deserve s to take its place on the library shelf , as a valuable biographical accompaniment to any collection of Fielding ' s works . Caieful and reliable in giving information , hearty and sincere in appreciating the . character of his hero , Mr . Lawrence is also modest and discreet , if not very original , in his estimate of Fielding ' s genius . Following in the path which other critics have cleared for him , he falls into the same error ( as it appears to us ) which his predecessors have , for the most part , committed .

    In his desire to do full justice to Fielding , he does not lay sufficient stress on the advance which the Art of Fiction has made since Fielding ' s time . To the marvellous humour , the solid , masterly English style , the excellently developed characters , and the skilfully conducted story of Tom Jones , let us nceord the highest admiration ; hut , at the same time , let us not forget—because its author has become what is called a " Classic "—that it is by no means a perfect book . As the Art of Fiction lias been practised since Fielding ' s time , grace , tenderness , pathos , and poetical feeling have grown to be important ingredients in the making of a good novel . Are any of them to be found in Tom Jones ? or—excepting one or two paragraphs in Amelia—in the whole circle of Fielding ' s works 1 In so far as it is the vacation of the novelist to make men wiser and happier , Fielding waa a master of his art . He could amuse his readers , and he could instruct thorn in the knowledge of human nature ; but will any man venture to say that he could so touch their tendcrest

    sympathies as to make them weep ? that he could purify , an& .-ehayate th $ u hearts by thoughts which wanted nothing of poetry but the jingle" of rbym , e . Surely not . So far as his faculties led him , he did liis work manfully anc nobly ; but he left much to others to do in the perfecting of the Ait of Fietipn Books as humourous and as wise as Tom Jones , and with other qualities beside which Tom Jones does not possess , have . been written since Jlelding ' s time . This assertion will sound paradoxical and irreverent enough :-to some persons ; but , if it could be put to the proof , we should have little doubt of the truth of it being established . If two audiences of intelligent people could be collected in two different rooms ; and if Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews could be read aloud in one , and The Bride of Latnmermoor and Tfce Old Curiosity Shop in the other , we would leave it to the appearance alone of the two assemblies at the end , to settle the question as to the advance which the art of novel-writing has made since Fielding ' s time . But we are straying away from the main business of . this notice , which ja to make our readers acquainted with Mr . Lawrence ' s book . We will not , in justice to our author , take the story of Fielding ' s Life out of his mouth , and then uselessly tell people to go and listen to him , after we have done . Specimens of his tone and manner , of his digressions and anecdotes , we may fairly give ; but for the narrative , which forms the main interest of his book , we refer readers to the volume itself . They may take our word for it , that the Life of Fielding is sure to interest them . As a specimen of our author ' s manner—sensible , if not striking—take these paragraphs on FIELDING AS A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN . " Soon after his marriage , Fielding settled in Dorsetshire , and commenced a new course of life . The experiment was attended with some difficulties , and unluckily he stumbled at the very outset . Though neither qualified by nature or education for a hermit , a life of comparative privacy and seclusion waai that best adapted to his limited means and intellectual tastes . Instead of this , he prepo terously resolved to become a squire of the first magnitude . His ambition wa to be talked about . He determined to show the rude squirearchy of Dorset how superior to their order was the London-bred gentleman , lamily pride also whispered to him the expediency of keeping up an appearance corresponding to the dignity of the distinguished race from whence he sprang . Accordingly , Squire Fielding soon began to create a sensation in the country . His mansion was the Bcene of profuse hospitality and riotous enjoyment . His horses and hounds were numbered amongst the glories of the neighbourh&od . His equipage outvied in splendour and elegance the carriages of his richer neighbours , and the yellow liveries of his serving men were long held in remembrance . The selection of such a colour was characteristic of Fielding ' s thoughtless extravagance . Yellow plush , however splendid , proved by no means an economical article of attire for the careless lackey . Directly the glories of a suit were dimmed or soiled , it was thrown aside- for the rustic flunkeys considered it their duty to keep up the ^ bquire 8 character by the lustre of their personal appearance . Such was Yielding fl Household ! It may be asked how it was that Mrs . Fielding—the Salisbury beautydid not , with a woman ' s quick sense of propriety , interfere to check tins ridiculous extravagance . Alas ! it is to be feared that , from vanity or weakness , she abetted him in his follies , or , at the most , confined herself to a timid remonstrance , without venturing on a firm expostulation . Poor girl ! her fortune waa soon dissipated" to the winda ; run away with by horses and hounds ; lavished on yellow plush inexpressibles for idle flunkeys ; banqueted on by foolish squires , or consumed by other senseless extravagances . Not being a strong-minded woman- * that is pretty clear—but rather , it would seem , a fond and foolish one , she was dazzled by this brief dream of pride and pleasure ; and though the future might have worn to her eye a lowering aspect , she was too much gratified by her hushand ' s popularity , and too proud of his wit and agreeable qualities , to check him in his mad career . .. The day of reckoning came . In a very short time Fielding found that all was spent and gone—all swallowed up in the abyss of ruin ! It seemed like a dream , a wild , incoherent vision . The roar of mirth , the deafening cheer , the splendid liveries , prancing horses , staring rustics , full-mouthed dogB , faded before him like some " insubstantial pageant . " He had been generous , hospitable , profuse ; and what was his reward < Those who had Bat at meat with him now ridiculed hia extravagance . Even the gaping boors of the neighbourhood cracked their heavy jokes at his expense . The prudent gentlemen and ladies who had not scrupled to sit at his jovial board , and partake of his cheer , now shook their heads , and gravely condemned his prodigality . Those of hiH more ambitious neighbours whom he had recently outshone in splendour , rejoiced in his downfall , without attempting to conceal their satisfaction . In the midwt of all these untoward circumstances , he had to escape from bin creditors an best he might , and to seek for happiness and a livelihood in some other sphere . " llerc is an interesting anecdote of OABIUOK AS AW AMATEUR ACTOR . " Very early in his dramatic career , or rather ere it actually commenced , Garrick hud mado acquaintance with the wit and genius of Fielding . Before be trod the boards of any theatre , or resolved on making the stage his profosmon , he privately performed a character in ono of Fielding ' s farces in a place and under oiroumBtanceH of some interest , Tho place waH the room over St , Johns-gate , Clerkenwoll , where a utago was improvised , and suitable decorations and drosses invented for the occasion . Tho time was soon after damok s friend mid tutor , Samuel Johnson , had formed a olose intimacy with Cave , tho printer and publisher of " The Gentleman ' s Magazine ; " whilst Garnck was still in the wine-trade with his brother Peter , and secretly meditating a withdrawal from it , in order to adopt the congenial ( but in tho opinion of his mercantile friends ) disreputable calling of an actor . Tho audionco was composed , first , of Cave hnnnolf , who , though not a man given to mirth , or with an idea beyond his P ^^ W " *' had been tickled by Johnson ' s description of his young ^™ f ^ « £ ™* ' TJ wan willing to boar an experiment upon his risible nerves , lhon theio whMW « burly Johnscm-in those days very shabby and seedy indeed , but F ^^^ ' ^ f his way in the world , and not alittle elated by reflecting on % J ^ ° tt %£££ Z boys , who had enjoyed with him and Garr ok the advantage of boi ^ r taught by Mr . Hunter of Liohfleld , wore likely to ' «« y "/^ J ^ Webb , the Cave ' s literary handicraftsmen were doubtless » ' » W *^» ° "Xae soriou * poetry enigma writer , Duiok , the pon-cuttor , and Tobacco « £ « ™ paiion ^ The oven the religiouH Johnson confessed himself »" ttlJl " ° ™ { Cave ' s journeymen aotors who assisted Oarriok upon this ooowuon wo >« J "' ^ rooitod tho port , printers , who laid aside their oompoang- »«*** ' * Fioldin «' B successful frroe allotted to them as woll as they could . l « o ITLd- " in wluoh tho dilntiatU « J of " Tho Mock Doctor ; or , the Dumb I * dy Gumi , " » course played tho part of Gregory . "

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 24, 1855, page 1135, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2116/page/19/