The Press. — London, England, 1858-05-08 00:00:00

442 these occasions nothing could be more gracious than the manner of the Prince, nothing more grateful than the feelings of the Poet. The gracious manner remained, but a short time saw the adulation of the songster converted into bitter hostility, his cringing bows into murderous lampoons, even the secrecy which should always keep guard over the hours of unreserved intercourse betrayed, and hospitality and condescension repaid with insolence and invective. The Prince might be bad enough—we do not defend him—but he was not worse than many oth r persons of his time. He had only the misfortune of being placed on such a height that his least proceed ings were seen, and at such a distance above the ob server that they could not be seen distinctly. But this, at all events, was clear and patent to all, that there was no cordon of exclusiveness drawn round the social circle of the royal reveller. Talent found its way into his private rooms, and such excuse and embellishment as brilliant sayings and intellectual effort could bestow on luscious viands and overflowing cups were not wanting in the symposia for which he was stigmatised. He was not afraid to throw off the armour of his rank, and descend into the arena on equal terms. When he hid Moore at his table, he sang song for song. When Walter Scott, in after years, was a frequent guest at his suppers, he told story for story against the best story-teller of the time, and sometimes left it doubtful which was most successful. As if for the purpose of publicly declaring his respect fur genius, he took an early opportunity, after his accession to the throne, of creating the Scottish poet a baronet. This was perhaps intended, and was felt throughout the country, as a compliment to literature itself. From time immemorial court physicians had achieved that rank, and court surgeons administered the bolus under the cogni sance of the bloody hand ; but no novelist, no historian, no writer (as such), had ever been so distinguished. The conduct of Moore to the King was, indeed, most disgraceful ; but the subject is a melancholy one to dwell upon. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. IF the tendency of the public taste may be de termined by the bill of fare provided by the leading Magazines, our alleged preference of foreign to do• mestic affairs has not been exaggerated. Out of eight articles in this month's Blackwood, five are devoted to foreign subjects ; and we are so far at issue with the age as to think the remaining three the most interesting. The papers upon food and drink are brought to a close, in an article more in teresting to the general public than either of the two preceding ones. "What will he do with it ?" takes us into the fashionable world of London. The present instalment is amusing; but the relation between Lionel Haughton and Darrell is a little too much of a repetition of that between Pisistratus Caxton and Trevanion. A third article strongly advocates the abol.tion of collegiate celibacy, but does not in our opinion touch the root of the matter at all. We do not see a single Round argument in its favour from the first page to the last; and we question, indeed, whether it is written by a University man at all. No Oxford or Cambridge man, for instance, would talk of young men being tempted by a fellowship "to engage in the profession of literature." The Dublin University is, with one or two excep tions, rather a heavy number. The four chapters of " Gerald Fitzgerald" are capital; and the conclusion of " Life and Death in Tipperary " is extremely graphic and touching. " Strong Government and Competitive Examinations" is rather a weak effort at catching a popular tone, and contains many stale fallacies dished up with spasmodic epithets and sar casms. " Parochialia," and " Trinity College, Dublin," are interesting and useful papers. But we do wish that Scotch and Irish writers would learn to he correct in their statements about English Univer sities ; e.g. : The latter sentences, however, sufficiently dispose of the argument founded on the Oxford fellowships; and we shall add, that the mode of election is as different in the two cases as is the nature of the office. At Dublin it is by an open competitive examination, between the most distiu• guished graduates of the University; at Oxford the minor fellowships are obtained sometimes by relationship to founders, sometimes by distinctions gained at Eton or Harrow, previous to matriculation. What rubbish The New Monthly, as usual, has its two good tales, "The Wager Boats" and "A Sad Story." We have also a very good review of Froude's History of Eng land, and some very pretty verses called " Shottery." Bentley, like the New Monthly, prevails by its storytellers. The tales in this number are the only really good things in it. But the other papers all have merit of a certain sort. The Magazine still seems well edited, and is well worth its money. We should say, by-the-bye, of the tale called " Three Hundred a Year," that the Lances are a little vulgar with their ostentatious economy, and also a little un feeling in their sell.gratulations before the Courte nays when Mr. Lance's salary is raised. The principal feature in the May number of the National Magazine is the first number of "The Wit and Opinions of Douglas Jerrold, collected by his son, Blanchard Jerrold." Perhaps the best thing in the present collection is the following One evening at the Museum Club a member rely osten tatiously said, in a loud voice, " Isn't it strange, we had no THE PRESS, MAY 8, 1858. Bah at the marquis's last night? That has happened twice lately. I can't account for it." " Nor I," replied Jerrold, " unless they ate it all up. stairs." " Penliqi" and " Unfinished Histories" are the two nett best papers in this number. Davenport Dunn and the Gordian Knot both progress pleasantly—each of them calculated to in crease the reputation of their respective authors. But we must enter our protest against the illustra tions, which are execrable. _ Titan and the Train are much as usual. The former contains so preposterous an article on 'l'utors and Professors," that we trust the editor will apologize for it in the next number. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—hay 6. BOOKII. Historical and Biographical Essays. J. Foster. Two Vols. M UT ray One and• Twenty. By the Author of " Wildflower," &c. Three Vols. - Hurbt and Blackett Types of Womanhood, in Four Stories. Sampson Low The Standard Course of Lessons on the Tonic Sol fa Method of Teaching to Sing. John Curwen. Ward ant Co. Likes and Dis lik es : Some Passages in the Life of Emily .. .. Marsden. S. W. Parker The Regent's Daughter. A. Duman. T. Hodgson The History of Herodotus. Murray Humbug Attacked, in Church, Law, Physic, Army and Navy. A Poem. John 13u11, Jun. Mountcastle Tudors and Stuarts. By a Descendant of the Plantagenets. Two Vols. Hardwicke PAMPHLETS. The Mortality of the British Army. Renshaw—Scrapsfrom the Ka if a Dead Rebel. J. Chapman —Ottawa, the Future Capital of Canada. Algar and Street—Merit v. Patronage. Riigway—Grammar on its True Basis. Longmans—Jeru salem ; its Missions, Schools, fry. Simpkin and Marshall •—Modern Anglican Neology. Wertheim and Co. PERIODICALS. Ca.ssell's Arl•Treasures Exhibition. Kent and Co.—The Ladies' Treasury. Ward and Lock—lrish Metropoliton. Simpkin and Marshall—The Art Journal. Hall and Virtue —The North British Review. Hamilton and Co.—The Neu' Quarterly. Bosworth—Mervyn Clitheroe. Routlkdge —Routledge's Shakespeare. Twelfth Night." Boatledge —Tait's Magazine. Partridge and Co. ROYAL LITERARY FUND. THE sixty.ninth anniversary festival of this institu tion was celebrated at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, on Tuesday evening, the Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston presiding. There was a very large muster of the friends and supporters of the Fund, covers being laid for 250. The occasion V 19.14 also honoured by the presence of many ladies. Among the principal guests were—his Excellency M. Van de Weyer, Belgian Minister; his Excellency Count Platten, Swedish and Norwegian Minister ; the Marquis of Westminster. the Earl of Ellesmere, Lord Talbot de Malahide, the Hon. Philip Pierre. pont, the Hon. Jared Sparkes, Sir R. Murchison, Mr. M. Milnes, M.P., Sir H. Rawlinson, M.P., &c., ikc. In proposing the " Health of her Majesty " the noble chairman referred to the fact that Queen Victoria was the first sover&gn of this country who had recognized high literary attainments as a claim to the distinctions which it was her peculiar preroga tive to bestow. He need not say he alluded to the peerage which bad been conferred upon Lord Macaulay, not so much on account of bis lordship's merits as an orator and a politician, great as those undoubtedly were, as for his brilliant reputation as a man of letters. Thanks were returned for "The Army" by Sir C. Pasley, and for " The Navy " by Count Platten, the Swedish Minister, who passed a portion of his career in the service of this country. Lord PALMERSTON, after some appropriate opening remarks, continued : The institution, the claima of which I have the honour to advocate, is peculiarly designed to aid and succour the distresses of those who have directed their intellectual faculties to literary and scientific pursuits. There are other branches of human skill in which the genius of man displays itself, and which, though they may give equal scope to the development of that genius, yet stand, in regard to the mode and the extent to which they appeal to the feelings of mankind, in a somewhat different position from letters. The painter, the sculptor, and the architect may possess, and frequently do possess, the fire of genius in as eminent a degree as the poet, the historian, or the novelist. But the productions of the painter, the sculptor, and the architect are restricted, so to speak, to a given local habitation; they are condensed in a specific work, which affords, indeed, the highest delight and instruction, and awakens noble emotions in the breasts of those who are so fortunately situated as to be able to behold them; but their influence on mankind at large is limited by space, and confined to those who are on the spot where the originals are to be seen, or where they can do honour to those originals through the medium of the best copies that can oe produced. The literary man, on the other hand, has this advantage, that his works travel over the whole face of the civilized globe—that in every nation where intellect is cultivated they are found alike among rich and poor, forming the enjoyment of the social family circle, or furnishing materala for the reflection and medi tation of the student in his serious hours. The benefits, therefore, which mankind derive from the results of literary U umtahno intellect ir i eh effort fiow f e a :m e me th o e r m w o i s cl t e s s u p e e r e e a d s s f a u n l d e x u e n r i t r i o e r l th ann s of h in the other departments to which I have adverted. But there is yet another advantage which literature possesses over those other art s , v i z ., i n w h at I may call the immor tality of its productions. Th e arc hi tect and the sculptor are taught to remembe r that th ey cannot rely for enduring fame . upon " the faithless colu mn or t h e crumbling boat.' Their works may live long, an d yet t h ey must Sooner or later succumb to the ravages of time. The painter, too, however great the glory he may acquire f or a l engthened period, produces works still more open to the destructive effects of time, even if they escape the more fatal, though, perhaps, less unfriendly eff o rts o f t h e restorer. But lite: rary productions survive for thousands of years. And we have an example, not only of the duration of such works but of how the genius of one a g e may st i mulate the genius ' of another, for we have recently seen an elaborate dissent'. tion upon the greatest poet of anti qu ity pu bli shed by one of the most distinguished men of our time. Rut, gentle. men, the career of men of letters is not without its diffical• ties and its troubles. The mount of literary fame way rise at first in a gentle slope above the level plain; the upward road may appear smooth, easy, and inviting; and some are tempted to make the ascent by fancying that the summit is near at hand and their strength sufficient to bring them there. But at they advance they find their difficulties increase, and many stop short almost at the foot of the mountain ; others are arrested midway; while a few rare spirits, spurred on by ambition and gifted with indomitable energy, reach the topmost height, and from their lofty elevation survey that horizon of glory which their labours have entitled them to enjoy. But even with them the rewards are sometimes doubtful. Gentlemen, we all admire the results of literary labour; but few there are who know all the anxieties, doubts, and difficulties by which those brilliant results have in many cases been accomplished. Could we but see the man of genius medi. toting alone —could we but have laid bare to us the strug. gling thoughts swelling within his bosom and endeavour .ng to embody themselves in a work which he believes will immortalize his name, while, on the other hand, he is dragged down by domestic cares, or by some of the many accidents and misfortunes which are the common lot of humanity—could we see the inward workings of that man of genius, we should not only say, with the ancient philosopher, that the noblest sight is a great man battling with adverse fate, but we should feel the high advantage of an association like this, which steps in at such a conjuncture with assistance, not great in itself, but invaluable from its timely application. We all know what a small support will save a drowning man and enable him to reach the shore. So a small amount of support, given at a moment of pressure, will enable a man of genius to keep his head above water and to reach in safety the goal of his aspirations. The fault of this institution is that its funds are not co-extensive with the objects to which it is desirable that they should be applied. That defect I call upon you, gentlemen, to correct, not only by the eontrf butions which you may yourselves be disposed to give, but by exerting your influence in your respective circles to induce others to furnish the institution with the means of enlarging the scope of that benevolence which even in its present limited sphere is beyond all price. The noble lord concluded by proposing the toast, which was drunk amid loud applause. The health of the noble chairman was next pro• posed, in very eulogistic terms, by Sir 11. Munclusos, and warmly received by the company. The noble lord suitably acknowledged the compliment, and then gave " The Foreign Ministers," to which His Excellency M. VAN DE WEYER responded. The remaining toasts were—" The Literature of Continental Europe," introduced by Mr.. M. Milnes, M.P., and acknowledged by M. Menmee ; and "The Distinguished Travellers," proposed by Mr. Hope, M.P., and responded to by Str 11. Rawlinson. _ . The subscriptions and donations announced in the course of the evening amounted to about 9001., her Gracious Majesty heading the list with 105/. s!t. MR. LESLIE'S oratorio of Immanuel wss performed yesterday evening at St. Martin's-hall by the mem bers of his choir, assisted by Mme. Clara Novell°, Miss Dolby, Mr. Sims Reeves, and Mr. Santley, as solo vocalists, and a small but most efficient orchestra. No composer could wish for a better corps, and the oratorio was presented with every advantage. But it can never take a place among the music that lives. As in most recent compositions of this class, a little is drawn from Handel and a great deal from Mendelssohn. Some passages, indeed, are open to the charge of plagiarism ; the chorus, " Who can forgive sins ?" in particular, is utter Mendelssohn in every bar. There is a mono tony, too, about the whole work which ma it it very fatiguing to listen to. But a fair share of blame must be borne by the libretto, one of the very worst ever put together. No one word will say what it is. It is neither original nor selected, neither Scripture nor something else, neither sense nor nonsense, but a mixture of . 911 these. But then why did Mr. Leslie have anything to do with such a production? Is the composition of an oratorio such an easy thing to him ? Can he, like Handel, scribble one off in a month, that he cares so little what he works upon ? But the per: formance plainly showed one thing, that Mr. Leskle* choir ought to undertake some of the great oratorios. We should like to hear them sing the Creation.