The Press. — London, England, 1858-05-22 00:00:00

;.:~;: notice Mr. Rawlinson's translation. Sir J. G. Wilkinson's contributions display throughout a very com plete knowledge . of th e subject, but his style is somewhat languid, his conjectures and philosophical explanations of the Egyptian mythology are often rather trivial and super fluous as well, being totally uncertified, to use Mr. Grote's favourite word. He is more given t o deriving Greek i nstitut ions, customs, and myths from Egypt than we can approve, and appears to have obscured his conception of the genuine Greek mythology by giving too much attention to the philosophical perversion of it which was set up at Alexandria. Oxford Essays, 1858. Contributed by Members of the University. London :J. W. Parker and Son. Or the seven essays which the volume before us contains, there are three that will pro bably be read by everybody,—one upon " The Poetry of Pope," by Professor Conington ; another upon " The Theories of Parliamentary Reform," by Lord Robert Cecil ; and a third on "Oxford University Reform," by Mr. Goldwin Smith. Sir Alexander Grant contributes a paper on " The Ancient Stoics," which, together with • remaining three, we shall reserve for a future tposition distinguished by so much modesty and good taste as Professor we are sorry we cannot speak more , but, after a most careful considers we are driven to inquire with what was written. In his concluding para . Professor observes : time to conclude a task which it is perhaps to have undertaken. I should be glad to what has been here attempted insufficiently adequately performed by some other writer. has hardly received yet the careful critical rhich it deserves. The last century, indeed, johnson'a masterly critique, and the more though less penetrating, survey by Warton. aware of anything in our own day which -joirements of the subject. At one time it batt.le•field fur rival poets—Bowles, Campbell, I fight out their contending theories ; but no for Pope what Scott hes done for Dryden, biography which is a real contribution to the :inglirth poetry. Parts of his worki have been effectively by Professor Wilson and Mr. de • there is no single judgment of his various iy of being named with those articles on whisth the Edinburgh Review has been saccea• 1 by two of iti most distinguished contri the union of great knowledge of literary great power of poetical criticism is rare; where ies exist together there are other fields to ; and it is possible that we may have to wait before our literature receives the desired under what obligation did Professor lie to undertake a critical examina- Pope, unless he could perform it ade- We agree with him that such an desideratum in modern criticism. world could have waited. " The Pope" is not like some question interest, on which the leaders of opinion are obliged to pronounce a judg tbject to the reversal of posterity, when merits of the writer have been more fully can be more impartially weighed. the other hand, we had thought that Publication in which this essay appears was particularly intended to be the organ of ma tured opinion, and to convey the results of special ive study. " The last century can our author, "of Johnson's masterly but I am not aware of anything in our which meets the requirements of the Now, Mr. Conington must of course • that the requirements of the subject in our own day as in Johnson's, or that not. If they are, then Johnson's criticism sufficient ; if they are not, then a modern should be something different from john s Mr. Conington, though occasionally from the Doctor in the degree of praise warded, has not travelled one inch beyond in which Johnson trod—has pushed subject into no new light, and tried it tests. his observations on Pope's works contain nothing original or re , while his introductory inquiry into the 'that "correctness" for which the poet braced just stops short at the point might have become useful and interest be sure, to such persons as Lord Ma- 7a7i;7:= - 4 , attention to to which was set tt Oxford Essays, of the Unive] and Son. OF the seven 1 us contains, th bably be read b Poetry of Poi another upon " Reform," by Lo "Oxford Unive Smith. Sir Ale on " The Andel the remaining ti occasion. Of a composit unaffected mode: Conington's, we favourably ; but tion of it, we at purpose it was w graph, the Profe But it is time to presumptuous to ha think that what hi would be adequate Pope's poetry has I examination which i can boast of Johns, elaborate, though But I am not aware meets the requiren was made a batue•fi and 13yron—to fight poet has done fur Pi producing a biugrap history of English examined effectivel Quircey ; but. there writings worthy of Dryden with whizb sively enriched by boors. But the history with great p those qualities exi. invite them ; and ii Rome time before accession. Now, under IN Covington lie t tion of Pope, u quately ? We essay is a des But the world Poetry of Pope of newborn int( literary opinion ment, subject to ever the merits ( sifted, and can While, on the a the Publication one particularly tared opinion, ai and exclusive boast," says our " critique, but I " own day whic' " subject.' No mean either tha arc the same in 01 they are not. If is still sufficient critique should 1 son's. But Mr differing from tl to be awarded, 1 the circle in wl forward his subj by no new tes separate works workable, while nature of that ' was celebrated where it might ing. To be stu THE PRESS, MAY 22, 1858. caulay's criticism may be likely to mislead the Professor's remarks will be serviceable. But there was a great deal more to be made out of the subject than this. Had our author taken up the topic by itself, and made it the basis of an essay on " Correctness in Poetry" generally, he would have done yeoman's service to the cause of modern literature. What ifford did for the Della Cruscans, what Jeffrey did, to excess, for the " Lakers," what Lord Macaulay did for the author of " Satan," that it is high time some equally popular pen per formed for the Spasmodics. fo rescue the true canons of taste from the mass of verbiage under which critics of the romantic school have buried them, would have been a task worthy of the Pro fessor of Latin Literature in the University of Oxford. An essay upon Pope from the point of view we have indicated would have afforded an excellent opportunity of doing so ; and none who observe the moderation and the elegance which is wasted on the present essay can fail to regret that the same idea did not occur to Mr. Conington. With regard to the absolute position of Pope as a poet, no inquiries can be of any value at the present day which do not refer largely to the character of the age in which he wrote. All poets are more affected by their age than their age is by them ; but Pope was peculiarly so. Some of his highest gifts were literally bent backwards by it. Where nature prompted him to soar, circumstances compelled him to stoop. The imagination which flashed out in that noble conclusion of the " Dunciad " was forced to un congenial work in the "Essay on Dian, " and compelled to find relief in mock heroics. The Spirit of utility seized upon him, pressed him into her service, and ultimately turned him out one of her most effective soldiers. But his native fire would break out at times, and with sufficient heat to convince us that though the poetry of Pope must be ranked in the second class, the poet himself belonged to the first. Lord Robert Cecil's paper on Parliamentary Reform is short, but greatly to the point. It is simply a criticism on the different schools of Reformers at the present time, which he makes three in number, the Educational, the Demo cratic, and the Symmetrical. The essay through out is purely of a negative character ; and though the objections to each theory are stated with great precision, the noble author does not attempt to offer any counter-suggestions of his own. All, however, that he has undertaken to do he has done well; and in the present state of public opinion to point out the dangers which lie in our path is a more useful action than to excite the people by new and imposing schemes to set those dangers at defiance. Before, however, we give any further account of this essay, we would beg his lordship to con sider whether any good is really likely to result from such language as he has employed in his two introductory pages ; e.g.:— In politics, at least, the old antithesis of principle and expediency is absolutely forgotten : expediency is the only principle to which sincere allegiance is paid The only principle upon which, in the present day, any thinking politician really acts, is " the greatest happiness of the greatest number." Now, we must maintain that the antithesis be tween principle and expediency is one that can never be forgotten, either in politics or anything else ; not, at least, until the antithesis between science and empiricism, between the law and the instance, between sufficient and insufficient in duction, is forgotten likewise. While, in the next place, what but the ultimate benefit of the human race was ever supposed to be the end of any principles whatever ? The only difference of opinion relates to the mode of securing it. Some people would produce that happiness by giving the populace every toy they cry for. Others believe that certain restraints upon them arc likely to produce more happiness in the long run. Some think the many should govern the few; others that the few should govern the many. But all agree that it is the welfare of the many that is the ultimate end of either system. To proceed to particulars, we may say briefly that his lordship's objections to the educational franchise are as sensible and practical as his appreciation of its theoretic propriety is candid and generous. Still, when he says,— It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the still deeper objection which the number of persons excluded raises to any scheme limiting the intellectual or educational consti tuencies to the professions. The professions may be highly intellectual, but they do not contain a tithe of the intellect of the t;cuntry. To intrust to theta the office of 487 representing it would neither do justice to it, nor be fair to the far greater number whose claim to such a privilege is equally good— he leaves out of consideration the test of a University degree. We do not mean that we are in favour of such a test, but only that this part of his lordship's essay would have been more complete had he adverted to it. One defect which has struck him in the working of our geographi cal constituencies is curious:— The popular idea is, that class representation would produce class legislation. The truth is exactly the reverse. The ides seems to be that by distributing a class in frag mentary portions among a number of constituencies you neutralize its power, and make it harmless by dilution; just as has been sometimes done with a mutinous regiment. But, in point of fact, it is this very distribution which gives it such an enormous power of obstruction. Few members in these days hold their seats with such certainty as to be able to disregard the wishes of any tolerably influ ential section of their constituents. The section may be a small one, but it may be strung enough to turn a close election ; and therefore its behests must be obeyed. A small section thus wields the power of the whole consti tuency ; much in the way in which, some six or seven years ago, the Irish members tried to wield the power of the English Government. No one can have watched the utter impotence of Parliament to raise its hand against the attorneys or the licensed victuallers, or the extreme diffi culty with which even so small a body as the ecclesiastical lawyers have been dealt with, without perceiving how eflectively these tactics operate. Now, if any such class had a number of members proportioned to its importance wholly given over to it, and were debarred from auy other suffrage, their power in the House of Commons would be limited to that number of members. Whereas, now they command, or at least greatly influence, the vote of every member, of whose constituency some of them form a part ; and from this position it is impossible to dislodge them, until some popular ferment arouses the inert mass of the electors to overbear the active and interested few. The observation is acute. Yet it must be re membered, on the other hand, that the power thus wielded by minorities may perhaps be their only safeguard against far more serious wrongs than any which they at present inflict. We fear that any one of the classes mentioned by Lord Robert, if possessed of no more influence m Par liament than resulted from the number of mem bers that could be accorded them, would meet with little forbearance from their natural enemy, the public. Just as, according to Lord Robert, it is only the indirect influence which they exer cise at elections that saves " the upper ten thou sand " from immediate spoliation. This last remark conducts us naturally to the school of Democratic Reformers. The essayist notices five arguments usually adduced by the disciples of this school—which are, Ist, the sic min sic jubeo of the people ; 2nd, the supposed indissoluble connection between an extension of the suffrage and Liberal principles ; 3rd, the idea that it would put a stop to the abuse of patronage; 4th, the position, that taxation im plies representation; sth, the greater loyalty and contentment of a people who are admitted to a large share in the Government. To each of these arguments his lordship replies with skill As we have not space to quote him upon each, we shall offer a specimen of his answers to the third and fourth of these positions:— How will favouritism be arrested by the transfer of power from one class to another? The causes of it are the human frailty which makes men prefer the welldoing of their relatives to the public weal, joined to the necessity, it may almost be said, under which the Minister of a representative Government lies of bartering patronage for votes. Are men more pure from these frailties in propor tion as they descend in the grade of society ? Would the selection of our rulers from the poorer instead of the wealthier section of the population secure us a distribution of patronage on the score of merit alone ? I imagine that a very slight acquaintance with parochial affairs would convince a fair inquirer that a preference for the interests of their friends whom they do know, over those of the public whom they do not know, is not confined to aria. tocrats. It is, however, undoubtedly true that, if corrupt appointments are to continue to exist, it is not fair that they should exist for the benefit of any single class, and that the poorer classes would certainly share iu their fruits if a large transfer of political power was made to them. Perhaps this is Vie view taken by the Administra tive Reformers ; and the real definition of Administrative Reform is a fairer distribution of the spoils of corruption; and in that case they certainly are right in pressing for an extension of the suffrage. But, otherwise, the connec tion in their minds between the two is utterly mysterious. It can only be classed among the baneful delusions with respect to Reform which used to prevail thirty years ago, when so many of the working classes were led to look upon it as a panacea for commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural distress, and every other conceivable evil to which the body politic is liable. Again : _ _ Generalities are vague and hazy. Let us confine our attention to one particular section pt the electorate of England, and see how, in that selected constituency, the eaisting system [succeeds in niakint3 representation coesteu