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Leader (1850-1860), 26th September 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 929

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    • ..-.-- H v -;+rt.iMf+ttViv jUlvUlUm. *
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      Untitled Article

      w During the last few mouths we liave Lad to record the serious losses which have occurred in rapid succession amongst French men of letters ; and this week , to the names of the distinguished poets , the popular novelist , and the profound tliinker , which have recently appeared in our literary obituary , must he added that of perhaps the first professional critic in France—Gustave Pjukciie . He died a few days since , in the delirium of a fever , brought on

      by that absolute negligence of his person and his health for which he was notorious . Those who knew him personally will remember that he combined with a passion for unwashed linen and faded garments an utter indifference to wind and weather . A stranger meeting him in the streets of Paris , and seeing his massive head cased in a shockingly worn chapeau , his tall hut slouching figure clothed in linen of uncertain age and neutral tint , and outer raiment that Hag Fair would scarcely own , might naturally have been tempted to offer him . a-small gratuity . But amongst liis friends , and over the claret he loved so well , he appeared in his true character as a veritable king of men . There , in the large grasp and easy play of his brilliant and incisive intellect , in the wide range and rare accuracy of his knowledge , in his passionate enthusiasm , his resolute

      opinions , and energetic nature , you at once recognized one born to rule in his own sphere , whatever that might be . This was , in fact , the position lie took as a thinker and a critic . Planche has been for years past a kind of dictator to art and literature . His style of criticism was the faithful reflex of his nature—luminous , decisive , and unsparing ; his enemies said , often culpably overbearing and dogmatic . There is , perhaps ., some truth in this charge , hut if his criticisms had sometiiries a tone of too arrogant self-assertion , they always evinced a firm grasp and profound knowledge of the subject , which both deserved and commanded admiration and respect . His papers on art and literature in the Revue des Deux Mondes formed a most attractive feature of that able journal ; and his death leaves a T ) lank in the staff of its contributors which it wiLl be difficult to fill .

      M . Gustave Planche was born in 1808 . His father was a chemist of some distinction , who translated several , foreign works connected with his profession . Gusta . ve had two brothers—Charles , a landscape painter , and Augusxin , editor of the Journal des Economistes ' and of the Revue Britannique , and translator of MacCuixoch ' s Principles of Political Economy . Gustave himself was intended for the medical profession ; but , after leaving college , he devoted himself to literature and criticism , especially to art in . its history and monuments ., instead . ^ () f . ^ rsuij ) g _ the career in which Ids father . expected he would distinguish himself . -His days were spent , m , thoriLp , u , vre and the museums , amongst artists , and in studying special collections and particular eras both of ancient and modern art . His father , on discovering that ' he was

      wasting his time in becoming a thinker and critic , gave him the alternative of sticking to business or leaving the paternal roof . Gustavk chose the latter course , and continued his favourite studies , in a state of poverty that often amounted to ^ actual destitution . II ; was during this period of his life , in all likelihood , that he acquired that habit of utter self-neglect which stamped his life with eccentricity , and at length hurried him to'the grave , After a while , however , his merit as a student and critic of art became known to M . Hicouut , editor of VArtiste , and the papers he contributed to that journal made him known , and soon procured for him more important work . In 1831 , M . ALi'RiiD be VIgny introduced him to the Bevne des Jjeux Mondes

      and the first ' article he cpi ^ fributcdj was a great success , and established his connexion with the journal ,, which . continued to his death . In Is 36 he worked with Baxzac to establish the Chronique de Paris ; and was afterwards for some years ^ tiched to the editorship of the Journal des Dibats ! Mairy of his , papers l ^ avc bcq ^ jrqpubh ' s . ' licd jn sepurate . yoiumes , which form ¦ ,. a scries oC criticisms in . ai't and ! literature alike "brilliant and instructive . ' ...., , M . Gustavo FiA-Ncmo ; like ail men of strong opinions and energetic . characjei \ madc \ yarrii friends . 'juid bittpr , enemies ; but . his friends will not assert tlia , t lie was Jfwutle , ssi in temper , or always just ; ' and his bitterest onenlies cheerfully allow his unquestionable power as a thinker , a , writer , and a critic .

      Untitled Article

      6 £ b-FASilIONED C 1 UT 1 CISM . , < . ; , ,, .. Lectures on tla llrritish Pocttts By . Henr ^ Kocih . Shnw . WiiasT is Written about 1 pbbt 3 is ^ en « ral ! y riot worth reiulin" -. There m " n » ht be named sorrtt line critics'Ufttbetiy ; bur , ibr the most part , fcbpy hayc , !)^ a dull race , givento thdlr . erytti ^ on . of platitudes , or to the " elaboration of n ijp T S « " w "We ' t ' tpd panet'yi- » cs .,. JFpw can hjvve failed , howeverVto notice the fi [ V * V «? P'Uwiff o yfi | H « n t > vl »^ U Has tulccn place in the tbuebMiienVry toT ? ' ^ W ® W JYfflf llPVte , *^! , < : pucpnK (] , Fornvevly ^ very poet ^ ebiAed " iW * - ^ J ^ tW ^ upd ^ w . vvJiWivjfK ^ ud ' a-evieivs wen ; written' as tli'onfglv With rmM ° ° jcc | lof l "' »« tj » s , ; nAvo-unftl .. Intoirr ihiys GitTovd ' K viriiltinee would iSS i i- * 1 , OT > a-w ^ 'ki ^ xecpt-liy this'feW- > mito-cliluviuns who promise uuinprtaut y : toitliu brutalitiUs-of tiliriHtoph ^ Ktnth . " UV'M said , spcakm * JTuST" ^ " " ^ tayl A r l nl te 1 ( fl w ! tt « lft oV ' iho veilI v f p ^ ate lk . « " { i u ' cf-Tw ' * ' ^ ' " ^ Itecl ' bjr a disgusting inctiirc thu ( , SSS ? M .: # not fefefe % « tVP WticJiia altfell . er ' cbntrt u

      wvv * - t ; wj $ w , mmwmm ^ m ^ u ^^ . ^ aet ^ ued - smibf y bflfi . , nnv \ i >\ - . i « Un < n :. Tj |> li |« 'J t < , \ hiu , iuhU * . ; i . » . * . » -. ¦ ., < ,-. ¦ I" ' ' ' ' ' ' / :. ' » !••¦"• t'l " ¦ : .:,. ' „ . i « .,. , , ; i ¦ '/ . "¦; { 'if iiJ c ..- .. :. I

      tended to correct Byron , annotating his proof-sheets with « ' Omit the last : six . couplets . " " Despicable stuff . " . " Strike out this section . " But nothingwas startling from the pen of a writer who asserted that Shakspeare ' s most characteristic eloquence , and , indeed , the only quality in which be excelled other dramatists , was wit . Rhythmical modulation , according to Gifford was not one of Shakspeare's merits . We are almost inclined to rank Gifforol with . Rymer , who described Othello as ' # bloody farce , without salt or savour' that fills the head with ' vanity , confusion , tintamarre , and j ingle - jangle . ' Yet we can forgive these libels upon books , as we forgive Johnson for despising Paradise Lost ., and declaring that to read Lycidas a second time would be to deserve death by surCeit . We have eccentric opinions and silly critics among us to this hour , but we have extirpated ( or silenced ) the venomous cowards who once spoke of a book in order that they might defame its

      author . To that race belonged the scribbler who spoke of Hazlitt as a ' pimpled fellow , ' and the other , who , laving exhausted his malice in an attack on the works of Campbell , added , " As a man , moreover , he is vulgarly ugly . " Campbell , in fact , was handsome , but an Irish critic wrote that * he was a miserable dwarf , ' * asrnall , thin man , with a remarkably cunning and withered face , and eyes cold and glassy , like those of a dead haddock . ' Having maligned the poet ' s person , the critic proceeded to misrepresent his opinions . Campbell , according to these biographical notes , said of Petrarch that 'he was a detestable donkey ; ' of Cervantes , that 'he was a most dull and lugubriousjester ; ' of Byron , that * he was a liar , and in heart and souL a blackguard ; ' of Allan Cunningham , that he was the most infernal liar that ever left Scotland ;* or ' Hazlitt ., that' of all the false , vain , sel 6 sh blackguards that ever disgraced human nature , he was the falsest , vainest , and

      most selfish ; ' of Northcote , the sculptor , that he was * a conceited booby ;" Shelley ' a filthy Atheist , ' Milton ' a savage-minded wretch , ' Gray ' a selfish , scoundrel , ' and ' a harmless , dirty beast . ' That was one way of clouding the reputation of a dead poet . Byron says that Wordsworth boasted he would not give five shillings for all Southey had ever written , and Mrs . Hemans , that the same poet talked of Scots wha . hatoi \ Wallace bled as ' miserable inanity ; ' but we must accept these testimonies very cautiously , and make sure that we are not mistaking a jest for an opinion . We know , however , how Wordsworth underrated Dry den , Pope , and Gray , and marvelled how they had been ranked among poets , and how Byron thought Milton and Shakspeare had been extravagantly praised , preferred Rogers ' . . to Coleridge , affected to value two or three of Moore ' s M « lodies beyond all the epics ever composed , and . considered as a tragedy , of the highest order Horace Walpole ' s play T / ie Mysterious Mother , which Coleridge described as ' the

      most disgusting , detestable , vile composition that ever came from the hand of man . ' Coleridge himself , however , talked of Wordsworth ' s drama The Borderers as absolutely wonderful , and containing a series of profound touches of the human heart found sometinqes in Schiller and Shakspeare , but in Wordsworth always ! There was ho little personal and political feeling mixed up in these discussions . The taste of the day , moreover , often , misled the critics , as when the verses called' Studies of Semation an& Event—a mass of -unintelligible , metaphysical , incoherence—were largely and elaborately praised . Warbuiton had his disciples when he foolishly annotated Pope , Gifford his admirers when , he feroeioasly assailed Shelley , Bentham his disciples -when he said that all the poetry ever written was of no more ,. iniportance than a game of pushpin , and , undoubtedly , that reviewer had his ' dupes who wrote that Shakspeare had done nothing but spread a poisonous fume over the mind of Europe . .

      V \ e extract from a series of thoughtful , refined , and suggestive essays , by Henry Reed , the well-known American critic , a passage bearing on this topic : — - i ¦ . ¦ : ; -. It ia important , too , to shun the lialit of dogmatic criticism . It is a singular but familiar fact , that men are never more apt to ., bq intolerant of difference of opinioa than in what concerns the mingled powers of judgment and feeling denominated taste-I need suggest no other illustration than the striking contrariety of judgment on the merits of the most distinguished poets ay ho have flourished in our own times , the discussion of which I shall not now anticipate by the ^ expression of any opinion . To what is this owing ? Partly , no doubt , to , variety of character , intellectual . and moral ; to diversity of temperament and education . ; and whatsoever else makes one man in some respects a different being from his neighbour . Each reader , as well ^ s each -writer , has his peculiar bent of mind , his oton way of thinking ana feeling so

      that the passionate strains of poetry Will find an adaptation in the heart of one , While its thoughtful , meditative inspirations will come Lome totlie heart of another . This consideration must not be lost sight of , because it goes far toward allaying -this literary intolerance , which , like political or theological intolerance , is doubl y disastrous , for ^ t at the same time narrows , a man ' s sympathies and heightens his pride . But ihe vaiicty of mind , or of general disposition will not wholly explain the Variaty off literary opinions . After making all due allowance in this respect , it is not to be questioned that there is right judgment arid wcong judgment , —a ; sound taste aud a sickly * taste .. There arc opinions which wo . may hold with a most entire conviction of tboU * truth , an . absolute and . imperious self-confidence , and a judicial-assurance that the , contradictory tenets are errors . There is a poetry , for instance , of which a man rriay both know and feel not only that it gives ' ' poetu ) gratification to himself , but that \ i cannot fail to produce a like effect on every well 1 -constituted and / wel ^ educiited miniJ When an English critic , ltynier , some hundred ,, and . iiftyyoars « go , dislc-yal iu his fojly , pronoTinced the , tragical part of Othello to Ije plainly none , other than a blopdy farce , without salt or savour , —when Voltaire , scooted at the . tragedy of Hamlet as a gross and barbarous piece , -which would hot be toWated by tlie Vilust ' rabble of Franco or ftiily , likening it ( I give you his own' . words )' toi'the ' fruit of the imitiriiiatioii of ti

      drunken . savago T—wlien J > tfcovtiusj an , « ditor v ( yi » ftkspct $ Jro ,, said that aiiA *} tiof l ' arliar ' meat would not be strongeuuugh to coinpel thoj-ierusal of the . ijonnets u ^ dother miuojp poems of the bard , —when Dr . Johnson remarked that Taruchse Lost might bo read Hsa'duty / but eould'not be ai ; ' plcatmro , and' proliouuccd ji sweeping condemnation ' on Milton ' s incomparable Lj'uida ' n , —> when , '' iii our- o \ vh ( h » y , ' n Scotch' critic , Lbrcl ' Jt ^ lQy , dochued of Wordsworth ' s majestic " poem ^ The'J&xcursiun ; that 'it would never , do ' ^ —in each of tliaso ppinions , 1 know , as any , bo < ly n ^ y ., wit . ii a con / ajeijoij , uwt ftUprfi . of tlciuouHtrntion , I know tluit there -was gross ati ^ gridvon , H iiiisoliop . d . i Now ' ,, if tholes , ' opinions arc defenceless on the score idf variety oi" iniiid , and aafely-to'do sti ^ niutizei aa rnHUfln < Viirn <( ortal j «»< lgnieii < H , it follows'Ithirt there iiiust exirf £ jiriii ' iiiplos to guiilex to wise conclusions . ! .- Ami liow ia . a ' theory-of . ' criticism' to bo foriiu ^ ' ? ' 'llo \ fr ; in '« . " matter , in which incn are apt to think ojid , f eel . yo > LUl «»< iu-tlji , to hnvabucli vuriuusJ fancies . pmjudiccH , and preposspsions , —fl ^ o ^ v ar ^ : kq to ^ jct at'thc tf . ^ Ui' ( ¦ i , .-.. i ! . ¦ '"Wr . Iteed ptitsa question , and * loqs not - \ vjiit ior in ) « n ^> v ^> .. ... ,,, ,,, ' ' , ; . ,. : ¦ , • , , . '¦ . i ¦ ¦ i ( ¦'¦¦¦ : . ! . Sun

      Untitled Article

      ? Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not makela-ws—they interpret and tiy to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .

      ..-.-- H V -;+Rt.Imf+Ttviv Julvulum. *

      ITttecittiitt

      Untitled Article

      o Kq . 393 , September 26 ,, 1857 . ] THE LEA D Ell . 929

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 26, 1857, page 929, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2211/page/17/