The Press. — London, England, 1858-04-17 00:00:00

THE PRESS, APRIL 17, 1858. yittrature. The Life and Times of Dante. By R. De Vericour„Professor, of Modern Languages and Literature in the Queen's University, Ireland, etc. London : Hope. WE are not aware that anyone has anticipated M. de Vericour in this undertaking, unac countable as it may seem that so obviously interesting a subject as " The Life and Times of Dante" should not have attracted any re spectable pen. When, however, we consider that Milton is in this respect in the same case as Dante, that any one who wishes to inform himself about the biography of the poet who is our national boast has to content himself with the hundred careless pages prefixed by the different editors to their editions of his works, we need not wonder that the Floren tine poet has not been more worthily com memorated by English writers. The Italians themselves, at least in recent times, cannot be accused of inattention to the memory of their countryman. M. de Vericour reckons up eighty-three works treating of the poet or the poem, which have been published in Italy during the present century. We may be per mitted, by the way, to express a hope that the biography of Milton upon which Mr. Masson is engaged may revive the memory of our own great epic poet among us, as the labours of Count Balbo and others have burnished the rusting bronze of Dante. M. de Vericour brings to his work an en thusiastic admiration for Dante and an acquaintance with the literature of the Middle Ages which, as far as we can judge, is substan tial and extensive. No English work which we have read furnishes an account nearly so clear and fresh of the politics of Florence at the close of the thirteenth century. Who pro fesses to understand the perplexed melee of the Guelphs and Ghibellines? These great party names are alone sufficient to con found most historical students, but when to these are added the countless titles of cause less and factious subdivisions, the Bianchi and Neri, the Sechi and Verdi—when all the spirits of sedition, " black spirits and white, " blue spirits and grey," mingle in one hell broth bet'ore him, then indeed the reader finds his toil and trouble far more than doubled. Out of such a witch's cauldron, from the midst of the seething of such a chaos, rises sud denly the laurelled head of him who sang the "mystic unfathomable song." But for this apparition we should have cared little for the cauldron. Florence, with its parties and sec tions of parties, might have concerned us as little as the bickerings of a vestry-meeting or of a contested election. The Blacks and Whites might have been reconciled in the common oblivion which has adjusted all the differences and silenced all the party cries of the thirteenth century. In this controversy, however, one thing seems not difficult to understand. All that made the Guelphic cause worth maintaining was sur rendered when Boniface called in Charles of Valois to act as Pacificator of Tuscany. To keep Italy independent of the Germanic empire, the citizens of Florence might well crowd round their carrochio and sound their martinella day and night; but it was better that Italy should become a province of the Empire than a province of France. The con nection of Italy with the Empire was at least of ancient standing If no Italian could be proud of it, no Italian could be altogether ashamed of it. For though it reminded him of his dependence, it reminded him at the same time of his ancient glory. It does not therefore seem surprising that the Guelph. Dante, when the ancient principle of the Guelphic party appeared to have been sur rendered and his country to bo given over fur a prey to foreigners, chose to attach himself to the potentate whose claim was at all events an ancient one, and whose disposition was not at that time aggressive. M. de Vericour is a foreigner writing Eng lish. It is a pity that ho did not submit his manuscript to the revision of a native. his composition, as he might have expected, teems with blunders. In making mistakes the press seems to have seconded him with great vigour. It is not easy to apportion to each party his due share of credit, but between them the author and printer have succeeded in making many sentences unintelligible and many ridi culous. We have composition like the follow ing :—" Although the details of the struggle " are little known, our limits oblige us to pass " over them rapidly, which wilt suffice for our " subject." Here "although" seems curiously out of place, and the relative clause is, to say the least, most clumsily introduced. " Will " and " shall " are confounded throughout the volume. We have the phrase, to us inex plicable, "conscientiously strong argument." The following sentence, also, we find difficult of comprehension :—" The various localities " reported by the tradition to have been visited " by their Homer are to the Italians what " Stratford-upon-Avon is to the Anglo-Saxons; " but with a profounder, greater intensity of " feeling, since in their associations, religion " and liberty, those great agitators of the " human soul and of the passions preponderate " with nobleness and an inextinguishable ardour." The construction of this last clause is some what difficult, and the doctrine still more sur prising. The poor, stupid Anglo-Saxons have commonly been allowed to possess some little ardour for liberty, at least. It is, at any rate, somewhat singular that the countrymen of Orsini, with all their ardour for liberty and religion, should have lost their liberty, while the insensate, unheroic countrymen of Sydney, who will not be at the expense of a bomb fur freedom, have retained theirs. Our author has enunciated some other ques tionable doctrines. He says, describing the Inferno, " Hitherto the souls of the dead do " not experience any other suffering but the " privation of the presence of God. The real hell " commences with ,the second circle, to which " the two poets now descend." Here the same naiveté strikes us. We do not think Dante would subscribe this statement. Has M. de Vericour never heard theologians explaining that "the privation of God's presence" is the utmost and ultimate misery, to which no pain or anguish can be added ? M. de Vericour says,—" No one, we believe, " will raise a voice to contradict Mr. Ruskin, " who in his Stones of Venice' has awarded " an exclusive pre-eminence to the Florentine " poet. ' I think,' says Mr. Ruskin, ' that the " central man of all the world, as representing " in perfect balance the imaginative, moral, " and intellectual faculties, all at their highest, "is Dante.' " So far from admitting this ver dict of Mr. Ruskin, we are so eccentric as to regard it as one of the shallowest and most nugatory of all the dicta which that distin guished writer, in his passion for passing Judgment upon everything and everybody, has allowed to fall from him. To estimate a man's greatness by an arithmetical calculation of his merits, is one of the weaknesses of book•ridden people who have never rightly conceived what zti human being is. But if this method be adopted, Mr. Ruskin's judgment must be reversed at once. For there are some intel lectual qualities which Dante has left us no proof that he possessed. He has nowhere shown a spark of humour, and he has at least been surpassed in wit. Nor is this merely an accidental consequence of the subject which he chose. Dante had clearly no mirth in his constitution. He probably laughed often with the lips, but never, we should think, with the chest. For in fact, so far from his being a well balanced man, his disposition inclined in the most marked manner to one side. He was all his life struggling, but in vain, to pre serve his balance. M. do Vericour thinks him greater than Shakespeare because Shakespeare has no animating principles. It is precisely on this account that we prefer Shakespeare. All passions, all principles, resided in Shake speare, but none mastered him. Dante must have a theory of the universe—a theory which, after the wear and tear of five centuries, looks somewhat ruinous. Shakespeare wants no theory of life ; he cares little about books ; he laughs sat the melancholy man, who quarrels with the constitution of the world. This is his weakness, says M. de Vericour. Yes! he is weak, both man and boy Hath been an idler in the land, Contented if he might enjoy 4 The things that others aaderstand. 367 This, to our mind, is the well-balanced man this is the man whose works do not grow old. Systems, theories of the universe, political passions, grow old ; but human nature and the constitution of the world remain, and he who builds for eternity builds on these. Not as a well-balanced man, but as the prince and chief of all ill balanced men, is Dante to be admired ; less great in his passions, his vehement struggles, in his resentments, and in the love that mastered his whole being, but perhaps by his very weaknesses more interest ing than the kings of men, Hornet, Plato, Shakespeare. The Views and Opinions of Brigadier• General John Jaeob, C.B. Collected and Edited by Captain Lewis Pelly. Second Editi on. London: Smith and Elder. As soon as the Indian mutiny shall be com pletely extinguished, one of the first responsi bilities that must devolve on the authorities will be the organization of an army for the future security of our Oriental possessions. A greater question could not possibly be sub mitted to the rulers of India, and it is one which the people of England should on no account overlook. Where the Indian army should be recruited from—how it should be commanded—and how its promotions should be regulated,—its pay, barracks, and discipline, with many other details, must be providently considered with painstaking attention. Recent events will throw considerable light on this great subject, which is not a new one. Sir John Malcolm wrote upon it many years ago with great speciality of detail, and so did Sir Charles Napier; but, unfortunately, the im portance of the subject was underrated—a thing which we trust will not happen again. As a suggestive book on this question, the volume before us is a welcome addition to our already numerous Anglo•lndian library. Cap tain Pelly has been at the pains of collecting the opinions of General Jacob, which can be read with much profit. They are taken from many publications, anl the results of the gallant General's opinions, rather than the processes by which they have been arrived at, are in most cases given. The dicta are pro nounced almost as oracularly as if the writer were a military Dr. Johnson. They have not the spleen or sarcasm of Sir Charles Napier, nor have they the striking Napierian style of expression, They are clear, vigorous, and brief, and if some will think them too peremptory in their tone, we must recollect that General Jacob is a remarkable man, whose experience and practice authorize him to deliver a strong verdict. The gallant officer is aide de-camp to the Queen, and to the Governor-General of India ; he latterly commanded the British forces in the Persian war; he is the political superintendent of the north-west frontier of Scinde ; and last, not least, he is the commander of the Scinde Irre gular Horse. In this last capacity, not to speak of other antecedents, General Jacob should obtain a willing audience from those who are interested in future defensive measures for India. The volume is divided by its editor and compiler into five parts, embodying the General's dicta on Civil Administration, on Military Matters, on the North-West Frontier of India, on the Persian War—with an Ap pendix on the present state of India Of them we think that the portion relating to " Military Matters" is most important, and has most applicability. Much that hes happened within the last twelvemonth is cor roborative of the views enforced by General Jacob, which were opinions before, and not after, the event ; and it is more plain than ever that certain Indian authorities were greatly to blame for their neglect of the repeated warn ings given to them. The main part of this volume can only be appreciated by the pro fessional branches of the Anglo-Indian service, and some of the plans mooted by General Jacob will at a proper time receive considera tion in another part of our Journal. In the meantime we may illustrate some of the literary peculiarities of this work. Captain Pelly in his preface observes of his author :-- uomentea u ue uugut, %Jujuy seem - 6 1 0 -....... , ;;. Be z u ni de ttaiiii . g Lu w artanuo ca ir; i Fi o ,... The things that others naderstaud. autho-r