On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (5)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
r Xihfltfttft 2L4«VUURf» •
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Caklylb says , referring to Voltaire , and the numerous memoirs , lives , recollections / and anecdotes that were published concerning him , " We have read great part of these thousand-and-first ' Memoirs of Yoltaire , 'by Longchamp and Wagniebjs , not without satisfaction , and can cheerfully look forward to still other memoirs following in their train . Nothing can be more in the course of nature than the wish to satisfy oneself -with knowledge of all sorts about any
distinguished person , especially of our own era ; the true study of his character , and peculiar manner of existence , is full of instruction for all mankind ; even that of his looks , sayings , habitudes and indifferent actions , were not the records of them generally lies , is rather to be commended , nay , are not such lies themselves when they keep within bounds , and the subject of them has been dead for some time , equal to snipe-shooting , or Colburn-novels , at least , little inferior in the great art of getting done with life , or as it is technically called , killing time ? For our own part , we say , would that every Johnson in the world had his veridicalBoswELL , or leash of Boswdll ! With regard to Voi / EAnuB in particular , it seems to us not only innocent , but profitable , that the whole truth regarding him should be well understood . " This natural desire seems likely to be fully satisfied . la addition to the Lives of Volxaike by friends and foes , to the authentic documents and recollections published to the
by his secretaries Collini , Longchamp , and Wagni ^ be / Baron Dii Gmmm ' s collections , and to the ' six-and-thkty volumes of scurrilous eavesdropping , long since printed under the title of Memoires de Bachaumont * we have now just issued ; two thick volumes of Unpublished Correspondence . These volumes contain upwards of twelve hundred letters , written by Voltaire to his private friends , and to various public men of his day . The letters , which have been diligently collected from all quarters by M . de Cayrol , are . edited with an introduction and notes by M . Francois , and introduced to the world in a preface from the ready and able pen of M . Saint-Marc Girardin . The editor in his introduction , after explaining the nature of the collection , undertakes what we should have thought a very needless work in Trance at the present day—a defence of Voltaire ' s character and influence . The fierce denunciations against the
• Apostle of Reason * as ' a monster of impiety / ^ sophist / ' atheist , ' apedemon , ' and the like , once so common on . both sides of the Channel , are now rarely heard even in this country . By slow degrees we learn to look upon him and all such men with more toleration , to recognise what was true . and worthy in them , and speak justly , if not generously , of their character and work . It is acknowledged now that Voltaire had an important work to do—to expose much that was hollow , and destroy much that was unfit to live both in Church and State , to vindicate forgotten rights , and urge neglected duties—and that , throughout the course of a long life , he did this with unfailing courage ^ gaiety , and skill . Without large views , profound convictions , or passionate enthusiasm , he had , nevertheless , a marvellously clear and active
intellect , a sincere love of liberty and justice , and was , to the utmost extent of his shrewd and brilliant though narrow logic , an apostle of freedom and truth . Any defence of Voltaire is thus scarcely necessary in this country . It seems , Ivowever , to be so in bis own , as M . Bebsot , who notices the ' Correspondence ' in the Revue de Paris , hails the introduction as a sign of the times ; and hopes it may help to recal attention to Voltaire ' s works , and revive what was best in his spirit and influence , which on many accounts he evidently . thinks is desirable . He points out that of late years Rousseau ' s influence has been injuriously dominant , ' and that it would be a great advantage to literature , as well as to the social life of the time , if it possessed more o ( the perfect clearness , force , and incisiveness of thought and action which characterised the sage of
Ferney . We all know how Voltaire patronised Shakspeabe as an interesting savage , who showed occasionally a certain power of expression , and was not without some sparks of genius ; how he wondered , nevertheless , with the most polished surprise , that the English could ever endure * those monstrous farces which he palled tragedies , ' deciding philosophically that it must be from their singular love of cock-fights , bull-baiting , and bear-gardens . But wo ought , at
the same time , to remember that it was Voltaire who first introduced Shakspbarx to France , and that he got into trouble with some of his countrymen foi doing so , being ' absurdly charged by them with an unpatriotic proference for foreign literature . This called forth his celebrated letter to the Academy , in which he certainly provea with convincing clearness that he has no undue partiality towards Shakspjbare . Among&t these unpublished letters is one written to Nbckbr on this occasion , whore he speaks as follows : — " I will never admit Shakspearb to take such rank in France that we must sacrifice
Cobneille and Haoinb to him . X tun like those who are oallod insurgents in America , and will not be a slave of t | ic English . I wrote the letter to tho Academy whioh you have done me tho honour to mention , to justify myself or having been the first panegyrist of English literature . It is not my fault jf the praises I bestowed on tho classic authors of that country have been abused , or if some would fain break my head with tho censer I used in their honour . My letter was that of a good Frenchman who fights for his country , and will not allow Paris to bo subject to London . " In tho current number of the Jfovyo des Deux Monde * is a brilliant artiolo
on ' Milton : his Genius and Works / by M . H . Taine , the author of tho happy papers on Dickens and Thackeray which have recently appea red in fa same journal . The writer has evidently studied Milton ' s entire works—l / prose as well as his poetry ; he shows a minute and critical knowledge of } ^ writings , which , is rare even in this country , and gives an estimate of } ' character and genius remarkably discriminating , just , and , in some respects even generous . According to M . Taine , 'La science immense et la loeique grandiose' form the basis of Milton ' s intellectual character . " The fa t accumulated by his erudition / ' he says , " were grouped in logical order A reasoner indefatigable , he built edifices of demonstrations whose rude foundations and solid buttresses bear witness to an energy that is no more
On . that foundation arose his poetry . The objects he saw were not only more numerous and better ordered than those of other men they were far grander . The whole circle of his ideas and images disposed in regular order , formed an immense horizon which he embraced at a glance . That magnificent view inspired him , he felt the emotion of the sublime , his spirit overflowed , and the ample river of his lyrical poetry poured from him undivided , impetuous , and splendid as a sheet of gold . " " This dominant disposition , " he proceeds , " formed his character . Resting on his logic and learning , Milton was powerful ; for the man who continually strengthens himself with solid demonstrations is able to believe , to will , and to persevere , both in his faith and practice . He is not moved with every accident
with every passion , like the facile , changeable being we call a poet . He remains firmly rooted in fixed principles , is able to embrace a cause and hold fast to it to the end , come what may . From the first hour to the last , throughout his entire course , he preserves intact the whole system of his ideas , and the logical vigour of his brain gives manly strength to his heart . With him the serried reasoning awakens the feeling of the sublime , and grandeur is added to strength . He loves his opinions , not only with constancy but with enthusiasm . He holds them to be not only true but sacred , and fights for them not only as a soldier bui-as a priest . He is erhpassioned , devout , religious , heroic . We rarely meet with such a combination of qualities ; but it exists to the full in Milton . "
After illustrating this description by an analysis of his prose works , M . Taine proceeds to speak of Milton as a poet ; and quoting at the outset his own description of the object and aim of poetry , the true use and function of the poet , he adds : " Milton practised what he preached . The profane poems he wrote before the civil war are in praise of virtue ; the sacred poems he wrote afterwards in praise of religion . His . first work is An Ode on the Nativity . His VAllegro celebrates the poetic joys of the soul . Everywhere he praises piety , chaste love ; generosity , and heroic strength . He does this not as a matter of duty , but spontaneously ; the sublime was his true domain . The perception of the grand is the prevailing need and faculty of his mind . He delights to admire as Shakspeare delights to create , Swift to destroy , Spenser
to dream . ' M . Taine then gives a minute and critical account of Milton ' s minor poems , and this is the best part of his article , showing throughout a genuine and poetical appreciation of the rich , delicate , and glowing imagination displayed in these early works . With Paradise Lost he is less satisfied . Parts of the great epic , indeed , he allows to be magnificent , but , as a whole , he not only condemns but laughs at Milton ' s greatest work . He satirizes the conduct of the poem , and gives a most amusing account of its leading characters and incidents . Adam and Eve in their intensely modern theological discussions arc evidently puntanic reasoners of Milton ' s own time—Colonel Hutcuinson and his wife the
Adam , he affirms , must have passed through England before he entered terrestrial paradise . He must have studied respectability , and learned the art of moral lecturing . The heroic greatness and sublime strength with winch the Genius of Evil is drawn , consoles him , however , for Adam and KaphaSls prosaic dulness . " The most beautiful object in Milton ' s paradise , he tersely says , " is hell , and in that divine epic the first place is certainly given to ac devil . " There is ; a good deal of absolute truth in this ; and , relatively to the critic himself , it is , at all events , only what we might naturally expect , in tuc first place , a Frenchman has no taste for epic poems ; in tho second he hates theological dissertations ; and in the third , he specially dislikes Calvinism . How , then , can a Frenohman admire , or even fairly estimate , a Calvimstio epic . He cannot jump from his own shadow ; and though Milton be the author , no naturally satirizes it after the fashion of his nation .
Untitled Article
LITTLE DORR IT . TJttle JDorrit . By Charles Dickena . With Illustrations by H . ^ JJjJJJ ^ Evans . Thb completion of one of Mr . Diokena ' s monthly nutubor books «» t 0 ^ critic what the termination of a year of great events is to the PJ 1 ' ™ 18 ^ ,,, the close of an epoch to the historian . Tho general reader may P 0 ^ Ir the perusal of the last chapter to the first chapter of some now *< Jft w « u endeavouring to harmonise and arrange the vanous impres «» n * »™ ° *™ of l , « K « a An * iJ ? , A fW . m » . hn whnlfl hut . ft if ) tho dutV 88 well aS tllO P ""* "" . „
, the critio to turn the completed globe round upon its axis , ana ir « various lines as they converge towards the final result . Even to mro , ever , the task is not eaay . TChero is such an affluence of 1 b Jn . worm Diokens ' a books—so vast a range of character and <» b «» pviition ox » j « thfl —so broad a canvas crowded with so many shapes and » n «»« f ™ B ™» fl 8 effect on the mind is not so much that of glancing over a » n » u ° " ! jZVtf that of looking at < m epitome of life itself . If Una involvaj some m ^ of imperfection in tho mere matter of story-telUng , it also * ° | ulQg b / ighegt eulogy that ca , n be pronounced on ft nQyoUfrt whose p / jpooiai
Untitled Article
. » Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edtnburgh Itevtew .
R Xihfltfttft 2l4«Vuurf» •
Kmtmn .
Untitled Article
1 616 THE LEA PER . . [ Ho . 379 , Sa . thri » v
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), June 27, 1857, page 616, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2199/page/16/
-