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-
610-.......,;;.Bezunidettaiiii.g Luwartanuocair;iFio,...
The things that others naderstaud. autho-r

368

beg the reader to bear in mind, when perusing the
following papers, that they are not the effusions of a mere
theorist, but contain some of the pungent maxims arrived
at by a man whose life has been passed in action. Him.
self believing in Universal Law, the General has dared to
apply its priaciples to business immediately in hand, pre-
suming that what was true for the whole could not but
prove true for the particulars of this whole.
The assertion that General Jacob " believes
in Universal Law " may raise a smile in bureau-
cratists, who believe only in precedents, and
others will think that the declaration savours
of pedantry. Captain Pelly, however, means
nothing more than that General Jacob is a
man who wishes to base his practice upon
scientific principles.

Of the peremptory tone, the broad and bold
views, and the trenchant style of these " opi-
nions," we may cite General Jacob's remarks
on "The Secret of Our Rule in India "

To the Anglo-Saxon race self-government is essential.
Bat force the Oriental to take his share in government,
and you will soon have no government at all. The
former considers that which unnecessarily interferes with
his freedom to be wrong, and thinks and acts upon the
principle that all men have equal rights. The latter con-
siders being compelled to govern himself as the greatest
oppression and tyranny. He expects to be ruled, and to
be ruled well ; otherwise he will, perhaps, rebel and
destroy his bad rulers. But in no case will he attempt to
establish freedom.
It is obvious that two races of men with principles of
action and feelings different, can never be successfully
managed by adopting one system, and forcing it alike on
both. But while incapable of self-governotent, the natives
of India, like other human beings, feel gratitude and
dewed= towards those who raise their moral, intellectual,
mid social position; and are actuated by a strong wish
Nisi airiest zeal to show that they are worthy of the
rtifsoiabie position to which they are raised. Too mi.-
timistflesie their equals to submit to their rule, they cheer-
tally stalhait to an English gentleman, whom they all ac-
and feel to be their superior.
kaliCitt India, then, by being in reality, as in reputa-
tion, a superior race to the Asiatic; and if this natural
minority did not exist, we should not, and could not,
rank the country for one week. If, then, we really are a
lafifilly superior race, governed ky higher motives, and
passeising higher attributes than the Asiatics, the more
the Natives of India are able to understand us, and the
more we improve their capacity for so understanding, the
firmer will become our power. Away, then, with the
assumption of equality; and let us accept our true posi-
tion of a dominant race. So placed, let us establish our
rale by setting them a high example, by making them feel
the value of truth and honesty, and by raising their moral
and intellectual powers.
But if we are not superior to the Indians, the attempt to
retain our sovereignty over them will be as hopeless as it
will be vicious. And England neither can nor wishes to
be powerful in evil.

That opinion was delivered in 1854. The
General believes in " race," but he does not
think that "race" can do everything. Policy,
justice, and the proper method of rule must
still be considered, even by the statesman who
kali the most impl cit faith in " race."
In 1854 General Jacob actively turned his
attention to the defects in the Indian army,
and from his long paper on military reorgani-
zation we shall take some passages:—
Qualifications, not numbers, are necessary for the leaders
of native Indian soldiers. One active, energetic, right-
feeling, and right-thinking English gentleman can, even
when alone, iutuse an excellent spirit into thousands of
these Eastern soldiers, till they will follow him anywhere,
obey him in all things, and feel the greatest pride in acting
is his absence as they know he would wish them to do if
present. The feelings thus engendered are most powerful
and moat honourable.

The native officers and men feel the deepest gratitude
towards him who has raised their moral, intellectual, and
trot-illy position, and are actuated by the strongest wish
and energetic seal to show that they are worthy of the re-
spectable position in which they find themselves.
With thirty Europeans, on the contrary, instead of one,
the native officer finds bin-self of no importance, and the
aepoy becomes a lifeless automaton.
The Englishman becomes too common to be held in
pr,per and wholesome respect. He is seen holding no
important position, but in the performance of trilling
duties which any native officer or non•commissioned
officer would do squally well. He is often seen idling away
his time in frivolous, or wasting his energies in vicious,
pursuits. The prestige of the superior race is thus de-
stroyed, while it too often happens that the European
officer, having nothing important to occupy him,loses some-
what of his own self-respect.
The young boy is placed in command of the old subedit,
from whom, when anything is to be done, he has to crave
instruction ; and the men see that, so far from taking a
pride in them and in the service, their European officers
are generally longing to be removed from them, craving
intensely for staff appointments, &c.
The example of the idle, the evil-minded, end the indif-
ferent, does more harm than the good can remedy.
The following remarks are worthy of special
attention:—

The presence of a great umber of European officers,
and the assimilation of everything to a European model,
however absurd that model may be, has enabled the native