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MH. KEAPE'S POEMS.*
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MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS.*
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His business brought him into contact with a man who had seen and thought he could imitate a spinning-machine , and as he found the money for the effort , it was made , and by nineteen he was in possession of a small establishment bring-in *? in a profit of £ 6 a . week . Atthis time an opening" occurred in the mill of a Mr . Drinkwater , who required a manager , and after some demur , occasioned by Owen ' s juvenile appearance , engaged him at £ 300 a-jear , and left the whole concern , with five hundred operatives , entirely under his control . We must refer to Mr . Sargaiit ' s book or to Mr , Owen ' s autobiography—which is , in many respects , more interesting— -for the details of his career as a spinner , merely observing that it led to his purchase on behalf of certain partners and himself of the New Lanark Mills , whei'e his benevolent plans were first put in force ! This was a time of brilliant and honourable success ; large profits
were made under his administration , his goods stood high m the market , and he could exhibit to admiring visitors the spectacle of a happy , well-ordered community , ruled b y a truly benevolent will . He ' found New Lanark with a wretched population , addicted to drunkenness and thieving , and he soon made it as remarkable for good morals and prosperity . No force was used , no law invoked to punish the guilty , but they were reformed by example and the introduction of new conditions , which stimulated them to desire a better mode of life . Infant schools and schools for older children , all with new apparatus and the best modes of teaching , means of mental cultivation for adults , and constant encouragement to act well , certainly produced a wonderful and beneficial change , and filled Owen with the conviction that his notion was right , that people's characters were formed for them by circumstances , and not by them
at all . . When the sufferings of the poor children who were being worked to death in cotton mills became known , Owen was their champion ; and it was no small gain for the side of humanity that he coiild point to a factory which poured wealth into the pockets of its proprietors unstained by tyranny , and not tarnished by a single tear . We cannot wonder that Owen was looked up to by all classes , and stimulated to offer nostrums for the general refprmation of the world at large . The long struggles of the war against France left a terrible harvest of distress and demoralization for the peace to deal with . The ruling classes were alarmed , and almost as ignorant as the starving moba they endeavoured to coerce . Owen then , with the help of church dignitaries , members of . - ' . the Royal family , and
the leading public men , came forward as the Prophet of theNew Moral World , and for a little while wielded an extraordinary power . But his schemes were imperfect and unsound , and when he denounced all the religions in the world , although he was not torn to pieces as- lie expected , fits TiTiief followers began to stand aloof . He was , however , convinced that by one speech he hiydfor ^ evei * destroyed all superstition , and set the world free from its most serious evils ; So full was he of his " mission" that he gave up New Lanark , and all hopes of personal advancement , and set himself exclusively to work to reform mankind . From this time , whether in America or in England , his schemes had little success ; but he did undoubtedly scatter far and wide among the working-classes a thirst for knowledge , a taste fur civilized amusements , and a desire for that wellordered home life which is essential to human progress .
. Had . Owcn . been a more complete man , he . would hayc been , the greatest benefactor of his age . But ho was a very onesided man , without capacity to enter into the views or feelings of others , and his ideal of society and humanity was wanting in some of the highest and most important attributes . He wanted to make men according to his pattern , and sundry potentates were delighted at the idea of growing a population according to . their taste , and on this account gave a ready audience to his plans . He was a model of perseverance , a noble instance of unselfish benevolence , but never a sound thinker nor a full sympathizer with the wants and tendencies of his race . His life is ¦ worth preserving in npopular form , and Mr . Sargjmt ' s labours have been well spent . Such a man ought not to bo allowed to pass out of remembrance , and now that his philosophy is no longer a matter of controversy , ami will trouble tho world no more , his good deeds may live in remembrance' and form the best monument' of a worthy , but eccentric and imperfect man .
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to time the d ouble oF other poets , particularly of Byron . A Spenserian poem on " Italy , " a dramatic poem on the First Murderer , and a semi-lyrical drama on " The Deluge , " looked like so many imitations of " Childe Harold , " <' Cain , " and " Heaven and Earth . " They were the same in topics and in the mode of treatment . A closer investigation led to the suspicion that the author had undertaken to rewrite those contemporary poems , and to deal with their matter and form in a more correct spirit . There seemed in this presumption as well as imitation , and for a while Mr . Reade suffered from the impression thus created . As time wore on , and Mr . Reade still continued to appeal to public opinion , a revision of the current critical judgment supervened , and a more intimate acquaintance still was made with these . poems . It was then discovered that they were
however apparently , not really imitations or rewritings at all , but thoroughly original productions . The author had been in Italy , had seen what he described with his own e 3 'es , had remarked perfectly novel traits , and had indulged in his own reflections . His enthusiasm , too , was specific—had its origin in his own predisposition , and his intellect , though reflective , was spontaneously operative . Thus , too , in his religious poems the vein of thought was distinctive , and the spirit of a very different spirit from the Byronie : it was rather inclined to adore than to question , and to acquiesce in the mystery than to rebel against it . We . then began to understand what had so puzzled us in thegenius . of Mr . Reade . Wesawinhim a man , who had grown up among poetic influences , of an eminently sympathetic mind , who breathed the same atmosphere with others ,
was acted upon by and re-acted on them , and showed in all respects as a true brother of the Poetic Guild , whose soul was social , and little disposed , like a star , to dwell apart , but rather desirous of shining in company , giving and receiving light . Truly , he was not an independent prophet in his own right , but he was a pupil in the School of the Prophets , and bore about with him the marks of his special training . The present is by far the best edition of Mr . Reade ' s poems yet extant . The first merit it presents is that of an excellent arrangement . The poet first introduces himself and his early life , in that series of beautiful poems which he had entitled " Youth , and How it passed . " Then there follows a number of lyrics , more or less egoistic and descriptive , preluding his great poem on " Italy . " " The Deluge , " with "Hebrew poems , " and the " Vision of Ancient Kings , " and * Memnon , " all grand poems both in conception and execution , then continue and , conclude the first volume . The-second apparently aims at a like chronological disposition ; and
presents " Man in Paradise / ' " Cain the Wanderer / ' " Catiline , " " Life's Episode , " and " Revelations of Life , " interspersed with lyrical poems , all of great excellence , and some of unquestionable originality in thought , in feeling , in their framework , their metrical peculiarities , and in rhythm ; and rhyme . All have been polished to the highest point of perfection attainable by the author ; and some of them have been re-written to an extent that has excited our astonishment . We have compared this edition with a former , and therefore can speak with confidence on the point . Some poems have been omitted—among them that on " Sebastopol , " for which , in a patriotic point of view , we are thankful . Its place has been substituted by an " Ode to the Patriot Volunteers / ' in which a feeling is present ' in regard to Napoleon III , which we suspect Mr . Reade wiinivc to outgrow—afileast , we hope so , l \ Tr ^ tire ^ sirlre ~ l 5 nthof ^ tlTe French Emperor and of the author . Mr . Reade should recollect that the former has at least liberated Italy , and that there is some truth in Mrs Browning ' s estimate of that great transaction .
IT is not every author who can do such justice to himself as Mr . John Edmund Keade has done , by the magnificent octavo edition of his works , just issued / from tho press ; nnd he is perfectly right in thus assorting his claim to a place in tho poet ' s comer of every Englishman ' s library . Mr . Rondo has been before the- public for thirty years ns one of tho most aspiring of her poets , mining , indeed , at " tho highest heaven of invention , " and boasting n . strength of wing permitted but to Tow . Mr . Reado may tako rank with such of our poets as Gray in regard to his lyrical and dramatic ambition , and tho enro ami polish that ho bestows on his productions ; while ho has surpassed him in , point of multiplicity and completeness . IIo . haw the same Vivp ; ilian taste , the sumo emulation to excel in elegance and correctness , tho isaine classical colouring" of style , nnd soniotimes tho same obscurity , both touching tho subject and tlio treatment , Ho merit a much respect for tho conscientious ¦ ex . creisc of his faculties from tho considernto nnd rofiectivo render . Thoro wns a considerable interval when tho poetic powers of Miv Ronde were regarded with critical suspicion . Jloseoined from timo
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* Tito Poetical Vot'l's of John Edmund Rkadk . Now Edition . Two "vols . 8 vo . Longman , Greon , Longman & lloborfcs .
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T HE second series of " Discourses" by Dr . Anderson is , as to the quality and tendency of views and sentiments contained in them remarkably pure and ; elevating . In the discourses on " The Perpetuity of the Church , " " Christ , the Saint ' s Life , " " The Oracle Near , " there is a holiness of feeling and a Christian beauty of sentiment that make this edition particularly attractive and valuable . I'ldeed , the great charm of these discourses consists in tho spirit of love which they breathe , combined with the strong desire which the author evinces in every page that the pure doctrines of the Gospel should be more and more the subject of our earnest meditation , and the practice of our lives . We heartily recommend tho volume to tho attention of all Christian denominations .
The work entitled " Theology in Science" is , as an educational work , the best wo have seen upon the subject . Tho importance of the subject upon which it treats , the remitrkablo clearness of its style , and the sound and valuable information which it contains , will , we aro sure , render it a most popular school book . Dr . Brewer is nn eminent writer of educational works , and ho thoroughly understands what properly and truly constitutes ri ,: '¦ . ' . jducation , for lie deals in a masterly stylo with subjects that aro essentially calculated to instruct , enlighten , and enlarge tho min I of tho learner . The present work is divided into tho following interesting parts : " The
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¦ ¦* Visrournn , \ By WILLIAM -ANDERSON , LL . D . Kdinburgh : Adam and Churlta Black . T / tcolorfi / in Science . For the ' two of Schools nml of Privnto Headers ; By tho Hov , Dr . BiiEWljn , . Trinity Uu . ll , Cambridge . London : JurroIU and Sous , View of the Salmon Fixhc ) ' )/ of Scotland . By the Into Muudo IUA 0-Khnzik . William Bluckwood nnd Sons . , 1 Gli / ccrino and Cod PJrcv Oil ; their ITtehuy , I >> ' Oll ' '' \ r T ' ^ fXi ^ Valu ' o , and claims upon professional and jwMic attention . By \ Y . IUJKNIIam Willmott , author of ' A Few Words about Poisons , " &o . London . II . Baillierc .
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Mat 19 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 477
Mh. Keape's Poems.*
MH . KE ABE'S POEMS . *
Miscellaneous Books.*
MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS . *
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Leader (1850-1860), May 19, 1860, page 477, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2348/page/17/
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