The Press. — London, England, 1856-06-28 00:00:00

r meminmemmininominimiuminmumpligml " all the clear early men," seems weak, con sidering what the author has written in their praise : So far as they are quile clear, t'ley are imperfect, and knowingly imperfect, if considered as painters of real appearances; but by means of this very imperfection, or couveßtionalisin, they often give certain facts which are more necessary to their purpose than these outward ap pearances.—:v. 63. That is to say, they resorted to exaggeration or caricature for the purpose of representing truths which might otherwise have been un observed. We find a defence of this form of exaggeration elsewhere (iv. 32-3.), but it is stud that the more unconscious the artist is of the changes he is making the better. Per haps so. Yet the difficulty will always be— and it is a difficulty which ualive genius only can overcome—how to mark a truth more dis tinctly than it is marked in reality without disfiguring it. It, is when Mr. Ruskin gets to the eighth chapter of his fourth volume, on the " Struc • ture of Mountains," that he is most full of matter. He examines in detail all the pecu liarities of mountain character, discriutina ting them in their resulting forms of aiguelles, crests ,precipices, banks, and stones The 220 pages occupied with this dissertation (vol iv. p. 101 to 324) are by far the most masterly Mr. Ruskin has ever penned. The whole is the result of most accurate, diligent, and original observation of nature. It, is impossi ble to read this portion of Mr. Ruskin's book without profound respect for his ability. His researches—we may as regards art-aims term them discoveries—are most skilfully directed to illustrate the genius of Turner. After showing how the works of the artist are interpreted and made beautiful by the most critical scrutiny of the actual configuration of mountain forms, in all their cleavages and urves, he remarks can well believe that the reader will doubt the possi bility of all this being intended by Turner ; and intended in the ordinary sense it was not. It was simply seen, and instinctively painted, according to the demand of the imaginative dream, as the true Griffin wss, and as all noble things are. But if the reader fancies that the apparent truth came by mere chance, or that I am imagin ing purpose and arrangement where they do not exist, let him be once for all assured that no man goes through the kind of work which by this time he must be beginning to perceive I have gone through either for the sake of deceiv ingothers, or with any great likelihood of deceiving himself. He who desires to deceive the picture-purchasing public may do so cheaply; and it is easy to bring almost any kind of art into notice, without climbing Alps or measuring cleavages. But any one, on the other hand, who desires to ascertain facts, and will refer all art directly to nature, for many laborious years, will not at least find himself an easy prey to groundless enthusiasms or erroneous fancies. Foolish people are fond of repeating a story which has gone the full round of the artistical world—that Turner some day, somewhere, said to somebody (time, place, or person never being ascertain able), that I discovered in his pictures things which he did himself not know were there. Turner was not a person apt to say things of this kind; being generally, as respects all the movements of his own mind, as silent as a granite crest, and if he ever did say it, was probably laughing at the person to whom he was speaking. But he might have said it in the most perfect sincerity; nay I am quite sure that to a certain extent the case really was as he is reported to have declared, and that he neither was aware of the value of the truths he had seized nor understood the nature of the instinct that combined theca. And yet the truth was assuredly apprehended, and the instinct assuredly present and imperative; and any artists who try to imitate the smallest portion of his work will find that no happy chances will for them gather together the resemblances of fact, nor for them mimic the majesty of invention. No happy chance— nay, no happy thought—no perfect knowledge— will ever take the place of that mighty unconsciousness. I have often had to repeat that Turner, in the ordinary sense of the words, neither knew nor thought so much as other melt. Whenever his pet *option failed—that is to say with respect to scientific truths which produced no result pal pable to the eye,•—he fell into the frankest errors. THE PRESS. case of painting, attempts are made to pierce the veil which firms the boundary of mind in one case, of vision in the other; and then pro digality of accomplishment, as with wealth of language or manipulative delicacy, may sport with the profound it cannot penetrate, and the throes of baffled effort be mistaken by inferior minds for the oracles of inspired wisdom. A great part of this fourth volume is eminently practical. It shows, not indeed how artists may become great—for artists are not, accord ing to the consolatory theory of Reynolds, to be made great by tuition—but what studies lie in the path to greatness. And, more than anything yet written by Mr. Ruskin, it tends to stimulate a perception of truth in art, and to cultivate a taste for the pure ideal. The work is not yet finished. One more volume at least is to come, as the author has to ex..mine the scene►;y of the Firmament. His mind expands as he proceeds. His fourth volume is in many respects the most valuable he has yet issued. It could be wished that he were less fond of dogmatising,—that his mind were less vagrant or impulsive than it is,—that his undoubted eloquence and rare command of illustration were under the control of a stricter judgment. Yet, testing the whole work thus far by its actual results—seeing what Mr. Ruskin has established—considering the amazing amount of research and of thought embodied in these volumes—we are compelled to regard them among the noblest productions of this century. Indeed, we know no single work of the time so well entitled to be termed great, or more likely to endure. There is a passage in Schiller's " Carlos," in which the gloomy Philip expresses his thirst for truth, and desires above all things to be aided in the search. Not free from prejudice, nor without the obstinacy of a passionate mind, Mr. Ruskin has yet made this idea the ruling principle of his labours. He has done much to base the appreciation of art on broad and intelligible grounds, and to show in what its highest merit consists. There are some errors in the fourth volume worth the author's notice. The examples in plate 27 are wrongly placed, to the perversion of the author's meaning. The Crimean Expedition, to the Capture of Sebas topol. By the Baron de Bazancourt. Translated from the French by R. H. Gould, laudable reserve, leaving asterisks to comple4 an unfinished sentence, as at the end of his account of the battle of the Alma : If the English cavalry, commanded by Lord Lucan, had nor become bewildered in the marshes of the Alma, they would have been of immense service at the close of the battle, and have greatly augmented the number of prisoners remaining in our hands. "If I had had some cavalry,' writes the Marshal in his journal, under date of the 20th' " Prince Menschikoff would no longer have au army but • a • • Considerate Baron ! how much is our nation indebted to you for your kind reserve ! Even a compliment to the bravery of our soldiers at Alma is not permitted to pass withoutqualifi cation. By "facing every difficulty in flank " rather than seeking to attack it in flank," our troops commit an heroic error, which inscribes glorious names upon the page of history, but inscribes them upon the records of the dead Certainly the English army had given, at the Alma, in. contestable proofs of singular bravery and of unassailable firmness in front of the enemy; but it was completely wanting in trobifile. The 22nd was another lost day. It is in his allusions to Lord Raglan \that the author's indiscretion and total absence of generous feeling are most conspicuous. Pass ing over the numerous charges brought against him of delay and want of vigour, we come to the main counts in the indictment against him—his obstinate adherence to his own plan of operations, in opposition to the instruc tions of the Emperor, and the urgent counsels of General Caniobert. It is astonislung that the Baron should not have had sense to per ceive that in representing Lord Raglan as insisting upon the Reach expedition, and as uncompromisingly adverse to any plan of opera tions which would have the effect of impairing the vigorous prosecution of the siege, he does in effect give to the English commander the credit of the eventual fall of Sebastopol, and the honour of finally adhering to his own judgment in spite of obstacles which few persons would have had the constancy to overcome. Nearly the whole of this paragraph is just. But Mr. Ruskin should tell us what significa tion he attaches to "the imaginative dream," and such like phrases which arc of frequent occurrence with him. The whole of the elaborate portions of this fourth volume on mountain aspects is expressly directed to prove that Turner drew from nature, but with the very finest perception of natural forms. When this perception failed, ho fell into the " frankest errors." What, then, had " ima ginative dream" to do with his work" Mr. Ruskin, of all men, ought not to shrink from the duly of giving clear shape to his concep tions. In all that he says elsewhere on the pro foundest intellect losing itself in mystery, we disagree. The mystery 0011108 when, as In ti4e It was on the Ist of May that General Can robert received positive orders from the Em peror to concentrate all his forces to " attack " the enemy externally." The expedition to Kertch had sailed the previous day. It, was recalled, notwithstanding that "Lord Raglan " strongly insisted that the expedition should " take its course." In the middle of May the plan of the Emperor, in which " are strikingly " displayed the powers of a commanding " genius," was received by Canrobert. He pressed its adoption on Lord Raglan, but his lordship regarded it with decided dislike." All Canrobert's persuasions were unavailing. " Two conferences, the first of which lasted " seven hours, could not vanquish the repug " nance cf Lord Raglan." On this, General Canrobert determined on resignation. He could not give up the plan of the Emperor; he could not carry it into effect. He volun tarily retired to make way for the more vigorous genius of General Pelissier. In him the retiring commander " recognised the rata " quality of authority of command." The new commander received directions by telegraph:— " Conform as closely as possible to the in " structions given to General Canrobert." But Pelissier did not think it expedient to attempt to carry out those instructions. On the contrary, his first act of command was to authorise the departure of the Kertch expedi tion, and his next to arrange for the more earnest prosecution of the siege, to the entire exclusion of the Emperor's plan of external attack. It is the argument of the Baron that only Lord Raglan's obstinacy prevented this plan from being carried into effect with the most brilliant results. Well, a month later, and Lord Raglan was no more. The French Com mander-in-Chief was no longer fettered by the authority of the English field-marshal All the reasons in favour of the plan of exter nal attack subsisted in full force—were more strong, indeed, after the unsuccessful assau of the 18th of June—yet Pelissier made - movement to give effect to it. Wtl , - skilful and as timid as Lord Raglan M.A. Two Vols. London : Sampson Low and Son. As we reviewed this work at length on its pub lication in Paris, and extracted many of its important passages, we shall confine our notice of this English edition to some remarks on its general character and style. That the author was most favorably circum stanced for writing a complete history of the expedition is most certain. He was directly accredited to the French Commander-in Chief by the Imperial Government, he was received with open arms by the chief officers of the army, he was permitted to live, as he states, " in the very heart of siege," and both at the time and subsequently he seems to have had the most confidential documents communi cated to him With his materials and oppor tunities, nothing was wanting to the produc tion of a truly valuable history but ordinary judgment and fair literary ability. Unfortu nately the Baron possesses neither. His book is little better than a wind-bag. From its inflation it is positively ridiculous. It can only be described as history in hysterics. It is a confused compound of shrieks, exclama tions, sobs, tears, and raptures. Its absur dity is not its worst point. We can under stand that in his allusions to the English army the author wished to be complimentary, but there are sonic persons who, from mere itourderie, make their compliments the reverse of agreeable, and the Baron is one of them. We are only surprised that the book, in its present shape, should ever have received the sanction of the French Government. _ _ He dwells with great emphasis on the slug gishness of the English, aid hints that to this cause may be attributed the failure to capture Sebastopol by a coup.de main. But, that our military pride may not be wounded, he eonietimes manifests what he gowsidera We must assume either thai commander was right in his vie tion to those of the Emperor or that Pelissior was equally issier made no Was he as un- aglan ? at the English iews in opposi- and Canrobert, wrong-headed.