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LITERATURE.
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existence , because , until the opportunity offers ^ ought to be preparing himself for it . And what a , source—I will not say of amusement , that is a minor phrase—what a source of excitement is tne continual preparation for the inevitable occasion . 1 Lord Stanley , after referrihg-to the general advantages of education , said : If we aTe ever to have that which I believe would be a great public l ) oon , that which I believe would be a great administrative reform—if we are ever to have a really national and effective system of school teaching for the poorer classes of this country , that is a boon which you will not receive at the hauds of educationists or ot politieans . I don't despair of seeing it , but the people when make
of this country will obtain it only they up their minds to do that which the people of America have done long ago—when they make up their minds to petition for it , to require it , to demand it as a right at the hands of the Legislature and the Government ; then they will obtain it , and not , I believe , until then . You will allow me to say one word on the subject of examinations . I believe them to be of great use , and I attach to them the greatest value . In the first place , I do not believe that any course of mere reading , by itself , when a pupil is not called upon to reproduce in some form or another that which he has learned , can ever ensure that accuracy which is indispensable to all real progress . The old , cant phrase is as true now as when it was first tittered—if it be reading which makes the full man , it is writing which makes the
exact man . I think that these trials of mental strength arid skill supply an additional and very valuable incentive to study ; they supply the stimulus of that healthy personal competition between man and man which is so powerful an element in the training of our universities and public schools . They give to young men and to lads such as have passed upon this platform to-night ; they give to young men of talent and industry an opportunity of early bringing themselves forward into public notice , arid of obtaining a certificate not only of intellectual proficiency , but also , generally speaking ,, of steadiness and good conduct—a certificate -which at least is unbiassed , and which naturally will have weight with those who have employment to give . Again , these examinations furnish employers—and I think they , too , ought to be grateful for the fcoon—with a more certain and readier means than they would
otherwise possess of choosing young men for situations requiring intelligence and skill . And lastly , that to which I do riot attach less importance than to any of the considerations I have mentioned before , they enable the public of this district to do that which we are doing to-night—publicly to recognise the claims to our honour and our respect , of perseverance , of intelligence , and of mental culture in whatever station of life they may be found .
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Mepiteruanean Telechiaph . — A most extraordinary fatality attends the Alexandria and Constantinople cable . Mr . Newall , who has just arrived in London , has again failed in laying the link of cable which is wanting to connect Alexandria with Constantinople . It appears he succeeded in laying the cable from Candia to within about seventy miles from Alexandria , the deepest water having all been passed over , when a flaw of insulation was discovered , which compelled him to stop paying put . The flaw was about twenty miles from the ship , and when the cable was picked up to within about three miles of it , parted in about 1 , 500 fathoms of water .
The French Corn Trade . —The Moniteur publishes the monthly return of the price of wheat in the different markets of France , by which the import and export duties on corn and flour are regulated . The highest price is 2 If . 85 c . per hectolitre , at Marseilles , and , the lowest , 15 f . 25 cents , ( it Puimpol . The highest average price is lQf . GGc . in the markets of Mulhausen and Strnsburpr , and the lowest , 17 f , 3 c . in those of Saumur , Nantes , and Marnns . The average of the whole of France is I 7 f . 98 io ., being an advance of If . lOflc . on the last return .
Tradjb of tub Cafe . —The imports into the Capo of Good Hope for the first quarter of this year amounted in value to £ 650 , 000 , the exports to £ 473 , 000 , and the customs' revenue to £ 67 , 617 , being a alight increase on the previous year . This represents a trade of the annual value of about live millions sterling 1 , or less than half that of Singapore . Pout op London . —Increased activity prevailed ( luring the past week . The number of vessels announced inwards at the Custom House amounted to 169 ; there were ten from Ireland , and 364 colliers . The entries outwards were 112 , and those cleared 120 , besides 14 in ballast . The departures for the Australian colonies have been on an extensive scale , And comprise 14 vessels , viz .: —4 , to Port Phillip , of 3 , 189 tons ; 4 to Sydney , of 3 , 258 tons ; 1 to Adelaide , of 471 ton » i 2 to Van ZHeman ' a Land , of 919 tons ; 2 to New Zealand , of 730 tons ; I to Portland-bay , of 351 tons i making a total of 14 voosols , or 8 , 918 tone .
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¦ —*—? ' ' We are glad to hear that Mr . J . Hollingshead , whose last book , " Under Bow Bells , " has been so favourably received by the public , has in the press a second volume , which contains his political essays ; a third is to follow , which will be a republication of descriptive articles by him , —visits to strange places , &c ,. Mr . Hollingshead has also joined the staff of Mr . Thackeray ' s new magazine for a long period , to contribute a series of articles . Lord Brougham has been elected , as we anticipatedY to the Chancellorship of the University of Edinburgh ; and , at . a meeting of the Senatus Academicus , on Tuesday , the degree of LL . D . was
conferred upon him by acclamation . The next excitement in store for the members of the university will be . the election of a rector . We understand that Mr . Gladstone has been brought forward for this office , and that a committee is in course of formation for securing his election . The names of Lord Campbell , Lord Macaulay , Lord J . Russell , and Mr . Stuart Mill have been brought up ,-as have those of- > the Lord Advocate and the .. Lord Justice Clerk , but these latter are commissioners , and it is understood that the members of the Universities Commission have expressed themselves to the effect that they decline being proposed as niembers of any of the University Courts during the existence ofW-he
com-. We are requested to state that the " Sequel to Adam Bede , " which is now advertised , is not by the author of " Adam Bede . " This unauthorised use of a popular author ' s title for purely commercial purposes is scarcely fair dealing towards the public . The Cork Examiner publishes a correspondence between Mr . Charles Dickens and an ultramontane citizen of Cork . The latter gentleman , feeling himself , as a Roman Catholic ^ aggrieved by one or two in which
articles exposing Papal excesses Italy , appeared some time ago in All the Year Round , wrote to Mr . Dickens on the subject . Mr . Dickens , in reply , denied that the complaint was reasonable , declared that he had never ' ' pandered to any acri monious or intolerant feeling " against the Roman Catholic Church , and added—" Let me , in all . good humour , recommend you to observe whether its ( the Church ) accredited organs are as considerate towards Protestants , and to give your judgment of me the benefit of the comparison . "
The Librarie JVouvelle lias just published a translation of Mi " . Thackeray ' s " Yellpwplush Papers . " This work has been admirably rendered into French by an Englishman , Mr . William L . Hughes , who has contributed to several of the leading periodicals here , and even had one or . more dramas produced on the French stage . His perfect acquaintance with the language has enabled him to render Mr . Thackeray ' s work in the manner best calculated to convey the author ' s meaning to Trench readers . Where close translation was applicable , he has adhered strictly to his original , but wliere the meaning- could be better expressed by paraphrase he has adopted that method ; and the result is a very ' successful
rendering of a tale that offers unusual difficulties to a translator . Mr . Hughes has notr attempted to imitate the extraordinary orthography of the famous Mr . Charles J . Yellowplush , and any such experiment would most probably have resulted in failure . The version first appeared in the Revue Europdene , and the fact of its now being brought put in a separate form proves that it has been well-received by the ' public hero . A collection of facts respecting the weather is in progress on a scale that includes the North Atlantic and its several coasts . Contributions will be thankfullv used bv the Meteorological Department of the
Board of Trade and Admiralty . A Scottish clergyman lias liit on a method of making the service of his church attractive . The Ayrshire Express informs us that the Rov , Mr . Waddell , of Girvan , read from his own pulpit a poetical tragedy , of which he is the author , entitled " King Saul , " illustrating the power of madness , superstition , and jealousy combined . It is a flve-act tragedy , adhering throughout to the narrative as it appears in Holy Writ , and " containing on every pngo delineations of character , and fino dramatic taste , which would not disgrace the pen of the greatest dramatists . "
M . Philoxeno Boyer resumed on Wednesday , in Paris , his readings , in the rooms of the Scientific Club . A numerous audience of literary ladles and gentlemen were present . M . Boyer continued this year the work he commenced In 1858—tho explanation and glorification of tjie great William Shakespeare . M , Boyer ' s jtatroduotory address was
frequently applauded . He felt no hesitation in directing some strong and original attacks on the modern dramatists , who appear , he said , to address themselves solely to bankers arid courtezans . M . Louis Lurine , a well-known critic , and the manager of the Theatre Vaudeville , lias died suddenly of apoplexy . ' M . Empis , " says Galignani , " retires from the Theatre Francais , being called , it is announced , to superior functions , having raised the theatre by his enlightened management to a height of prosperity greater than had been known for a long series of years . The gentleman appointed to succeed him , M . E . Thierry , has long been known to the public as one of the most eminent of our dramatic critics .
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SHAKSPEAEE PAPERS . Pictures Grave and Gajr . By William Magrinn , L , L . D . —Richard Bentley . These papers formerly appeared in Bentleifs Miscellany , where they were some twenty years ago greatly admired . Their reputation was merited . Mag inn was one of the most subtle , perhaps the most subtle , of Shaksperian critics . For subtlety and refinement , in fact , these papers have never been equalled . Many , at the time of their publication considered them paradoxical ; and the author was accused of writing , " Mot to
comment upon Shakspeare , but to display logicial dexterity in maintaining the untenable side of every question . " The truth was , that the critic , in all instances , had dared to penetrate appears ances , and under the surface to detect the reality that they concealed . -He saw into the heart o £ Falstaff " , that it was melancholy ; and into that of Jacques , that it was gay . Roiheo , too , wa £ an instance of want of luck ; and Bottom , one where it superabourided . The criticism on Lady Macbeth , however ^ was the experimentum cruets , and excited most remark .
-This is certainly an extraordinary piece of criticism . The proposition is that the female character as generally drawn by Shakspeare "is pure , honourable , spotless , ever ready to perform a kind action—never shrinking from a heroic ; one ; and that the cheracter of Lady Macbeth is no exception to the rule . " The dark lady of that stupendous work which , since the Eunaenides , bursting upon the stage with appalling howl in quest of the fugitive Orestes , electrified with terror the Athenian audience , has met no equal I intend to maintain , " said Maginn , " that Lady Macbeth , too , is human in heart and impulse—that she is not meant to be an embodiment of the Furies . "
The tragedy is overruled by one leading ideablood , murder ; is indeed permeated by it . Macbeth is the centre , the moving spirit of it . The captain announcing him , speaks of his sanguinary combats . Hot from' such scenes , he is met by the witches , who prophesy Ms kingship , but say not a word about the means . Macbeth supplies these from , his own mind;—"My thought , whose Murder yet is but fantastical . ' Here Maginn had overlooked one thing , which , however , he afterwapds mentions — Macbeth'e right to the throne , which he , it is evident , consented to suspend for the sake of the honours which Duncan had , from policy , heaped upon him . But Macbeth was nevertheless dissatisfied ; and it is evident that he and his wife had , before tho
events with which the play opens , frequently talked of the means by which he might regain his rights . To these conversations Ludy Maobeth thus alludes :- „ ^ fcoMt ^ > That made you break tills entorpriao to me ? ¦ When yon durst do , thou you wore tt man ; - An 1 to bo more than what you wore , you would Bo so much moro tho man . Nor time , norpaoo nidthen adhere , and yet you would , make both : They hiV" innuo thomwSveH , and that their fltnese
HOW , ,, Doo 3 uumako you . Macbeth , however , migh t have boon moved from his long-chorishod purpose , by Duncan s studious attentions , had it not been that Malcolm wns named for tho succession , thereby defeating Maeboth ' s ultimate hopes , and , indeed , altering the constitution of the Scottish monarchy , which wns the" elective in the hereditary lino . « Tho Prince of Cumberland 1 That , 1 b a atop On which I muHt fall down , or else o ' orloap , For la my way It Hob . Stara I hide your nro » i £ ot not light fl co my black and dark dOBlro » . ' * Dr . Maginn infers from this passage that thq murder ofTMalcolm was resolved , , pn . by iyiftcbetfiv as well as that of his father .
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LITERATURE .
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LITERARY NOTES OF THE--WEEK .
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¦' ¦'' . f . ' ¦ , ¦ ¦ ¦' ¦ . ¦¦ ¦ ¦ tfo . 502 , Nov . 5 , 1859-1 THE LEADER . 1229
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 5, 1859, page 1229, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2319/page/17/
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