The Press.
London, England, 1854-11-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

is inclined to refer to her individual expe-
rience, which appears to us influenced to a
remarkable extent by her peculiar associa-
tions. Thus, one of her reflections is—
It is good for us to look up, morally and mentally. If I
were tired I would get some help to hold my head up, as
Moses got some one to hold up his arms while he prayed.
In another place she writes :
- -

If I fear God it is because I love him, and believe in his
love; I cannot conceive myself as standing in fear of any
spiritual or human bring iu whose love 1 do not entirely
believe.

This may be true for Mrs. Jameson, but
cannot possibly be true for the great majority
of mankind. Fear is the apprehension of
evil, and surely a being, whether spiritual or
mortal, who has power to inflict on ourselves,
or those dear to us, irreparable injury, may
well be an object of dread or fear. But on the
subject of fear Mrs. Jameson has peculiar
views. Thus she writes :

In morals what begins in fear usually ends in wickedness.
In religion what begins in fear usually ends in fanaticism.
Fear, either as a principle or a motive, is the beginning of
all evil.
But fear as a restraining principle must be
wholesome in its effect, as certainly no society
could exist if wholly released from its in-
fluence. As another instance of the per-
sonality of the sentiment the following may be
taken :
-

" You and I," said H. G., yesterday, " are alike in this
—both of us so abhor injustice, that we are ready to fight it
with a broomstick if we can find nothing better ."
Such sentences are plainly out of place in a
collection of ethical reflections.
The reader who likes matter for !thought
will, however, find here abundant exercise for
his mind, though his conclusions will often be
the opposite of those which the lady advances.
Not unfrequently she contradicts herself :
" A poet," says Coleridge " ought not to pick nature's
pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the
very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but
write from recollection, and trust more to your imagination
than your memory."
This advice is even more applicable to the painter, but
true perhaps in its application to all artists. Raphael
and Mozart were, in this sense, great borrowers.
As au artist, Mrs. Jameson should have
known that no worse rule could possibly be
given to form a painter, who can never widely
depart from actual nature and the constant
contemplation of it without great liability to
error. Contrast the above with what is said
elsewhere of the necessity of close attention to
individual nature in the painter :
Lftvater told Goethe that on a certain occasion when he
held the velvet bag in the church as collector of the offer-
ings, he tried to observe only the hands ; and he satisfied
himself that in every individual, the shape of the hand and
of the fingers, the action and sentiment in dropping the
gift into the bag, were distinctly different and individually
characteristic.
What then shall we say of Van Dyck, who painted the
hands of his men and women, not from individual nature,
but from a model hand—his own very often ?—end every
one who considers for a moment will see in Van Dyck's
portraits that, however well painted and elegant the hands,
they in very few instances harmonise with the personalile—
that the position is often affected, and as if intended for
display—the display of what is in itself a positive ftult,
and from which sonic little knowledge of comparative phy
Biology would have saved him.
There ale hands of various character ; the hand to catch,
and the hand to hold ; the hand to clasp, and the hand to
grasp. The hand that has worked or could work, and the
hand that has never done anything but hold itself out to be
kissed, like that of Joanna of Arragon in Raphael's pic-
ture.
Let any one look at the hands in Titian's portrait of old
Paul IV.: though exquisitely modelled, they have an ex-
pression which reminds us of claws ; they belong to the
face of that grasping old man, and could belong to no

other.
Some sentences to the like effect will be
rend with pleasure from Wilkie's notes on
Holland :
T thought T could trace the particular districts in Hol•
land where Ostade, Cuyp, and Rembrandt had studied, and
could almost fancy the spot where the pictures of other
masters had been painted. Indeed, nothing seemed new
to me in the whole country ; and what one could not help
wondering at was, that these old masters should have been
able to draw the materials of so beautiful a variety of art
from so contracted and monotonous a theme.
Their variety arose out of their truthfidness. I had the
same feeling when travelling in Holland and Belgium. It
was to me a perpetual succession of reminiscences, and so
it has been with others. Rnbens and Rembrandt (as
landscape•painters)—Cuyp, Hobbima, were continually iu
my mind ; occasionally the yet more poetical Ruysdaal
but why ever thinks of Wouvermans, or Bergham, or Karel
du .Tardin, as national or natural painters ? their scenery is
all gel up like the scenery in a ballet, and I can conceivr
nothing more tiresome than a room full of their picture
elegant as they are.

SATURDAY,

But this only shows how poorly imaginative
scenery can replace the truth of nature. Aa
respects music, the case appears to be dif
ferent. Of all arts it is the most essentially
creative. It is the subtlest and most ravishing
expression of the soul through the most
ethereal of all media. Occasicnally we meet
here with a reflection we can entirely approve,
as in the following:—
Social opinion is like a sharp knife. There are foolish
people who regard it only with terror, and dare not touch
or meddle with it. There are more foolish people who, in
rashness or defiance, sieze it by the blade, and get cut and
mangled for their pains. And there are wise people, who
grasp it discreetly and boldly by the handle, and use it to
carve out their own purposes.

Sometimes her criticism is open to ques-
tion :

Be [Chateaubriand] says of Madame Roland, " Elle
avait du caractere plutOt toe du genie ; le premier peut
donner le second, le second ne peut dewier le premier."
What does the man mean? this is a mistake surely. What
the French call caractere never could give genius, nor
genius, caracti re. Au rale, l am not sure that Madame
Roland—admirable creature genius ; but for talent,
and caractere—first rate.

But if Chateaubriand uses earaches in the
sense of mental idiosyncracy or force of will,
the passage is perfectly intelligible. Genius
is often impressionable and inconstant, and is
unable to impart strength of purpose; but will
can give that kind of genius which can over-
come incredible obstacles, and achieve un-
heard of successes to attain its objects.
The criticisms on art at the close of the
volume will, perhaps, be the portion most
relished. The following passage on Rachel is
finely discriminative :
Latterly she has become a hard mannerist. Her face,
once so flexible, has lost the power of expressing the
nicer shades and softer gradations of feeling ; so much so,
that they write dramas for her with supernaturally wickea
and depraved heroines to suit her especial powers. I
conceive that an artist could not sink lower in degradation.
Yet, to satisfy the taste of a Parisian audience and the
ambition of a Parisian actress, this was not enough, and
wickedness required the piquancy of immediate aproxilna-
tion with innocence. Iu the Valeria she played two char- ,
&eters, and appeared on the stage alternately as a miracle
of vice and a miracle of virtue ; an abandoned prostitute and
a chaste matron. There was someting in this contrasted
impersonation, considered simply in relation to the aims
and objects of art, so revolting, that I sat in silent and deep
disgust, which was partly deserved by the audience which
could endure the exhibition.
It is the entire absence of the high poetic element which
distinguishes Rachel as an actress, and places her at such
an immeasurable distance from Mrs. Siddons, that it
shocks me to hear them named together.
The volume is handsomely produced, but
might, we think, have been greatly improved
by friendly revision. In spite of much clever-
ness, it is the least pleasing performance of
Mrs. Jameson which has fallen under our
notice.

The Discontented Children, and how they were
Cured. London: Grant and Griffiths.
Amusing Tales for Children. By Miss Corner.
London: Deane and Son.
Puss in Boots. By Miss Corner. London : Deane

and Son.
THESE little books, belonging to the simple class of
pretty stories, are written in a lively manner and with
a good intent, though making no attempt to trench
on the province of school or governess.

Words by the Wayside; or, the Children and the
Flowers. By Emily Ay ton. London : Grant and
Griffiths.
A CLEAR introduction to botanical knowledge, plea•
santly written in the form of dialogue, adapted to
create and gratify a taste for those pure pleasures of
nature which chain the senses while instructing the
mind.