On this page

• Departments (2)
  • 
  • 
• Text (6)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    AMERICAN VERSE AND THOSE.*

  • 

    FOiiElGN COKIUCSl^QNDENCIi:

• 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

    over the whole colony . Since 1841 , the professional and tradingclasses in'the country districts declined ; but mechanics , artisans , and labourei's increased more thnn . five-fold ; the number of the pastoral and agricultural class had more than doubled ; domestic servants Lad similarly increased , and the residue had nearly trebled . The period of the census of 1851 is one of the most inportanf . A-great change was' then impending in the social condition of the people . The discovery of gold had become an indisputable fact , and the Government had issued licenses to dig for the precious ore . Within two years of the discovery a great rise had taken place in the estimated commercial value of landed property . In some portions of the city of Melbourne , almost fabulous prices were paid per foot . In little more than three years the population , of Victoria increased by about 100 , 000 souls . The pastoral class , ' which had ,

    prior to . the g-old discovery , been the most prominent feature of the occupation tables of the country districts , assumed an inferior position . The new class of gold miners embraced upwards of 24 percent , of thei total country inhabitants . In the next triennial period the sale of land became still more extensive , and nearly 174 , 000 souls were added to the population ; the manufacturing' and labouring : classes , together with the gold-mining one had also wonderfully increased . The miners had augmented to ( 52 , 428 . There were also 20 / M ) Q Chinese . who successfully applied themselves to mining- pursuit . s— generally , however , confining their operations to working- out claims previously abandoned by Europeans . Domestic servants and others had also increased , from 21 , 300 to 3 S , GG 5 . The number of : persons- ' -ministering : to science and literature had risen from Hliq to 1 . 7 <) C ) . A similar development had talc ert place in the countrv districts . .

    In the infancy of the colony it Was riot possible for the inhabitants of Victoria to o-row the bread they consumed . Grain , flour , and biscuit were imported for the new-coiners . It was not until 1841 the inhabitants produced ^ eyen a third of thc wheat necessary for their consumption . In 1845 , they had advanced so far as to produce two-thirds of theirVequirements ; ' and by 1850 , theygrew as nuich as 01 percent * of the wheat available for ' . consumption ., This proportion has not been reached since ; the' gold fields drained the country of agricultui'al labourers , and the growth , of 1854 and 1855 was only a little over 10 per cent , of the annual need of the colony . In the year 1850 , strenuous efforts were made to revive the agricultural interests , and a third of the necessary brcadTstufts was once more the ' result . In 1858 , the harvest yielded inore than 54 per cent , of the requirements ofthc colony ; and in 1859 , the proportion : of' wheat grown , to the total quantity of wheat , flour , and bread available , was a little over -14 per cent .

    These details are full of the highest interest , and rich in hope . Tlie inheritors of the golden past may fairly expect a still more golden future ; and t ] io report of the present Registrar-General ' is not only satisfactory in itself , but lays readers of every class under . obligation for the information that it imparts .

    Untitled Article

    WE 8 TURN ' Canada has lorn- ' been ablo to boast of a new American poet , who has delighted to sing * of the " St . Lawrence and the Sng'iienay , '' and who , in the spirit of Wordsworth , has communed with the genius of tho lofty hills and mighty waters in the presence of whicli he has lived , and derived from them an intelligence that has blended with his own , reconciling 1 his heart Jind mind , or rather identifying- them with the character of the « ccnc . Canada justly claims him as hoi- own poet , who paints " her mountains , maidens , ' manner * , inornis , liikos , rivers , Valleys , seasons , woods , forests , and aborigines , her fuith and hope , " and whatsoever in her id amiable and good . fciho ' speaks approvingly , not only of his novcr-failing charity and poeticiil talent , but of his reverence of the -Godlike , his love or thy beautiful , and his adoration of tho . true . And now this siune puet , with his credentials accumulated Haul ratified , cmvios forth aj * am , attired in his singing robes , and calls on tho world .-admiringly to listen . And . it will wo listenthough Mr . ^ un ^ itor iii fav jvovn boing 1 a faultless poet . Like tho sun ,, ho has ¦ numerous speck * in Ins orb , but ho shines ¦ brightly nevertheless . His new volume i \ s one of exceeding beauty . It is almost entirely lyrical . In tho eavliov pooma , he seeks ( to adopt . Iris own words ) to " touch tho firmament of starry thought , " but Hoinotiincs he doo .-t more , ho would tvauMcoiid it , Tiv his " HoHporuH , " a legend of | h « stars , ho sours bravely ; but ho is »<> t always intelligible . Nor doqw ho appeal" to coneoivo it possible to bo : — ¦ " Thoughts loo roflnecl for utloranco , Kllicrcul ns tho nil , Orowd through tho brain'a dim labyrinths , And leiwolhpir impress thorc . " Periling there is too much of this snbtlo word-weaving in those initial poems ; their npirit , liowovov , cimno . t bo too highly comjneudecl . Tho rhannodiut than dcHcriboH hiinHclf : — " Droamoi ' in tlio voahna noi'iul , floiu'ohcv for llio tn , io ond ( food , JIopoi 1 for tho 3 > igli , oJLheroul Limit of Jk-ntiliido , , Jjifl tliy liourt to heaven , for Ihoro , 1 ' a omblihuod l ) iy ei / int-pmyor ; Hot in words is ahrinodl % \\ y prnyor , But thy thoughts owaitp they thore ,

    Grod loves the silent worshipper . The grandest hymn - . That nature chants , the litaiiy Of the rejoicing stars , is silent praise . Their mighty anthems stir The souls of lofty Serapliim In the remotest heaven . The melody Descends in throbbings of celestial light Into the heart of man , whose upward gaze , And meditatire aspect , tell Of the heart ' s incense passing up the niglit . Above the crystalline height The theme of thoughtful praise ascends . Uot from the wildest swell Of the voxed ocean soars the fullest psalm ; But in the evening calm , And in the solemn midnight , silence blends With silence , and to the ear Attuned to harmony divine Begets a strain ¦ , ' .. Whose tranco-like stillness wakes delicious pain . " We nri < rh-t multiply extract . sof equal merit . AVe can , however , only indicate the eontents * of th . e volume . There is , for instance , a charming Tennysoriian lyric , entitled "Mariline , " wliose bridal is celebrated withapproiiriate sweetness . A . cantata of " Happy Harvesters " supplies some capital rustic songs and ballads . We have then a true ' .. Canadian chant on .. ' ' - ' -the Falls of the Ohaudiere , Ottawa , " in which " the Torrent . Frophet "is made to speak like " an inspired Dem ostheiies ; ' \ By the bye , this is not a new 'figure with Mr . 8 ang-ster . He is foiid of picturing his native streams and rivers as oratort * . There arc some poems , also ,, welcoming the Prince of Wales ; and these , tooy are right hearty compositions . . Moreover , the volume contains . iiome good sonnets , though not always correct in form . The poems , howeverr to which the poet" would attract most attention , are those forming -a series Tinder the title of .. . " Into the Silent Land . " These appear to luive been suggested by the death of his wile . . They are , indeed , ' -tenderly , pathetic ; . arid exquisitely realize the sentiment implied in -the followmg fine lines ¦ : ¦— ¦' . " We carve om * sorrows pn the face of joy , Revei-sing the true image . " Dr .. Child ' s book on Pope ' s doctrine ,. " Whatever Is , is Right , " is poetry of another kind . Minds to -whom the . gift of verso has not been imparted , extract from the actual existence around them a sort of realised poetry which , however short i ' t ' mnv fall of real excellenep , satisfies them . lh \ Child belongs ~ to the sect of Spiritnalists , and frequently corroborates his argiiments by the utterances- of ecstatic clairvoyants . For the transcendental argument itself which . he would enforce , he has sought to state it iu the form that would most excite opposition . He states it boldly , Irroadly , bravely ; —but with too much of the Walt Wliitmuii swagger . ' Nor will he condescend on the metaphysics of the subjeet , but leaves the doctrine of fatalism in it 3 naked and unmiti ^ jited severity . of outline . He does not seem to ' make any difference between moval suasion and physical force , —that . working in a sphere of libprty , ih } a in one of necessity , l > ut both with equal certainty—and therefore shuts out tho action of human freo will from his demonstration . He is probably uneqiial to the task of maldng nice distinctions , and can only go ahead with his trauscondentalisin . s , as he would with any other speculations ,, commercial ones included . There in , in this respect , a characteristic singularity in the American mind ; Thoy certainly-import to these ' high doctrines an appearance of origihality , and all parties , advoeatcH and adver-saries alike treat tho topics as if on the tapis for the first time . This course of speculation was undoubtedly stimulated at first liy writer ^ who had matriculated in the German schools of thougiit ; but mil lions like Child and Whitman never- refer to pliiloHopluuni HVHtomn , but adopt tl «« ir results as discovoriofi of thenown , and do » l with them in tho crudest , mannor . They lnumfoatly despise jnothod , nnfl o \\\ y liood that their impulso should beawakoijed , and then daHh " ivlonjr the rugged i > laoe , s of thought without a . guide , and with iiianifest dangi'r both to thcmsulvps iiml otliora , In tins tondenov the freedom of the spirit of tho Now World »« declared;—but its l ' awlossuess is also exoniplified . Accordingly , we could have desidowted lews Hcoiiko than thin strango littlo book evince * ; and should liuve liked it better lmd its arguments been , worked witlun the HwttM , and on tlio lovc-1 occupied by the curclul student , unn reuognitiod by tlio , jiuliciou « logician .

    Untitled Article

    , Sl'ICC'IAL . IIawoyeh , Ootobor 10 , 1800 .. rr ^ MK ohio ' f ovontof l « et wook in this quavtor was tho settlojnonfc . JL of thp Wode J ^ ttets affair . Tho cbmrnission appointed ^ by tho king to consider this question , hns decided upon accepting two proposal madp Tby tho Englialx QovGynmont . Tlio M * mstor of Finanoo thought tho sum pf ? oi'ed too low , and oxiM-Qseorl it oa jus opinion that a more aUvaJxtagGOUB arrangement for X ^ anovor nu ^ nt liave lboon obbaincd , On tho other liand , tho MmMtov . for * oro » gn Af ? uirs , nwl tho Uaiwvorian Amhassftdor at ^ P ^» Jf ° » ; f » 5 political vmaom , in favour of tho ISHgh ' ah solution ^• W » w } ong ^ BputQa Quo ^ ipw , Wd m it Fo ™ ' « rfi «« wn s . i > voyivilocl , v t { ho conlniission dn 4 tho k&g . The nwpowl m ^ o by the J ^ $ * h GpVenwent ia that tlxp Stado Toll , t % 9 , oxmaX neUmas of wlwoh SoSo tW ftv ^ oVm , rtMiWUr fM be Jo «^« jJ p « fymwt of the pwSe < 3 » of flfteea yota-s and six months , Qf this

    Untitled Article

    * V <>< t > H > ri < i < , and oNiov pMiinnii't / , iirtoti . 1 iy C'luiiiow Suutr « tbr . ¦ how loai Triibiiuv nnil Co * Whataw / , » , u lilyht . Rf A , li , C'liHO , n . l > . Bouton , V « H , t . « a tttutes i Bony , Colby , j »» a Co .

    Untitled Article

    Oct . 20 , 1860 J The Saturday Anatyst ' and Leader . . 881

    American Verse And Those.*

    AMERICAN VERSE AND PllOSE . *

    Foiielgn Cokiucsl^Qndencii:

    F 0 KE 1 GN COKRjESPQNDISNOJS

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 20, 1860, page 881, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2370/page/9/