The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-30 00:00:00


1848

body who has passed a few months at St.
Petersburg. Against Count Orloff, the Czar's
most intimate friend, and mast intelligent in-
strument, ho hesitates not to repeat the well-
known imputation of his having once made an
awkward use of poison. Of Prince Ps.skie-
witch's military services, and public career,
and character, he speaks with what we believe
to be deserved respect ; and he tells us a fact
not uninteresting now that war is impending
between Russia and Austria, that the prince
entertains a profound detestation of Austria
and Austrian generals, owing to the atrocious
cruelty displayed by the latter in the war in
Hungary. Lifting the veil of private life, he
shows us the illustrious warrior in the 'unfor-
tunate, and, for such a . man, grotesque
predicament of a hen-pecked husband :—" His
" obedience to his wife is equal to his respect
" for his sovereign," says he. He introduces ,
us to an influential personage of whom we
never before heard—Dr., Mandt, the Czar's
own physician—and he tells an anecdote of
how the Czar having once had a bilious attack
suspected the doctor of poisoning him.
Finally, he speaks not at all respectfully of the
public and private character of the Foreign
Minister, Nesselrode, one of the lions alias of ,
my Lord Aberdeen.
From what we have said and quoted it will
be seen that this book is well worth consult-
ing by all who are desirous of ascertaining the
real state of Russia—one of the most.momen-
tons subjects of the present day. • For that,
purpose we confidently recommend it... But
we cannot speak favourably of the manner in
which it is executed. Its matter is ill-
arranged ; the style is sometimes stiff mid, un-
gainly, and at others very slovenly ; and there
are numerous unpardonable blunders—such
as, removing Cronstadt to the Black Sea, and
making the Emperor Alexander the father of
the present Czar. The title, too, is a very
silly one.

Literary Fables from the Spanish of Yriarte.
By Robert Rockliff. Second Edition.
London : Longmans.
THESE fables, in their collected shape, have
very agreeably surprised us. Ingenious
thought and pointed meaning are conveyed in
sparkling verse, enriched with the sportive
allusions and apt images of a luxuriant fancy.
Each fable is a poem, and in this respect the
compositions of Yriarte are superior to those
of any fabulist of modern day. The collection
is further distinguished by great novelty of
design. In general, fables are of very wide
application, but here each bears some kind of
reference to authorcraft, or to the pursuits of
literary men. This unity of plan heightens
the merit of the collection as an artistic work,
but may perhaps impede its popularity.
Anthors form but a small portion of mankind,
and it is scarcely to be expected that fables
which have a special application to this class
will ever interest to the same extent as the
like compositions which appeal to the sense
and feeling of universal humanity. These
" Fabulas Litentrias," it is justly remarked by
Mr. Rockliff, resemble in design the " Ars
Poetica" of Horace ; but they are loss intended
to, establish laws of composition than to hit the
follies and errors into which the " scribbling
race " are prone to fall, though very often, as in
this one following, for example, the " moral "
is as world•wide as any to be found in 2Esop :
TUE BEAR, TILE APE, AND THE PIG.
A Hear, whose dancing help'd to gain
His own and owner's livelihood,
And whose success had made him vain

•

As any petit-maitre, stood
Upon his hinder legs to try
The figure of a new quadrille,
When seeing that an Ape was nigh,
He stump'd about with all his skill.
And 4' Tell me how you like," ho cried,
" My dancing, for I'm always glad
To hear the truth."—The Ape replied,
" I really think it very bill"—
" 'Tis plain enough," rejoin'd the Bear,
"'that envy makes you censure so;
For have I not a grateful air,
A slender shape and limber toe?"
but here a tasteless rig began
To grunt applause, and sui4l " I vow
REPRESS I've never met, in brute or man,
danced so well as thou."
-{ this, became
for awhile ;

eg:

And then; as if abash'd with shame, '
Replied in a more humble style :
" The agile Ape's tobuke might be
Inspired by jealousy or spigot(;
But, since the rig common's, l see
llow bad may dancing must hare been."
Let every author, WO; pu .
,And kola the maxim for rule—
The worst that can tidal filth is '
The approbation' of i fob'.
in ,other fable
$,
, howcVer, the moral is pecu-
liar,. nd, patt,,nutil that is stated is justice
done to the antlior's and 'invention.
Here at first sight is a little story, merely re
fleeting on that parasitic servility whleli de-
stroys the thing to which it clitigs
THE in AND THE THYME.

I've read—l know aid. where or when, or if in mos or
rhyme—
A dialogue that passAlbetween the Ivy and the Thyme,
The Ivy, bowing ha Lily, lily? like one of high degree,
Began : " God help thee' little ode, hoW Mucit'l2 Pitythee ;
For, though the sweetest. of theeheatta that, mien* 'the air
• ~arosind,, . 111 • -
Then art 11 dwarf ataterth, jaoarpo a.wpaw; wbovu ,the
ground," , ~ •
" I own my inSipifidiiiice," the „ , thyttie replied;
"But still, my stately friehdrl think thypity misapplied.
I rather ought to pity' thee, ttir I, Itowetror small,
Ass not andebteddbr my growth, :like thee, unto a wall ;
th•llo selfe4 twnio,the,stooea so which thy tibles
• • grow, •;•„• • L
Wouldst trail fiii4:litroiid 64 the,grOund,—the lowest' of the
. 11
• •
tt,blo emAtteised by, tllb'bAhcl'ti>iifng
.ye,k4e, t..4).1th Points' tOO troth not liniiiddiately
„
,Obvtotts, but aPpreciat6d pis soot as ex-
pressed:—
Thus many a scholiast contrives to climb the steep of
fame,
By linking to some lofty work his else unatitieed name;
For, though his scholia may deface the text o'er whicirthey
crawl,
-They grow incorporate with it, like ivy with the wall.
So in our next quotation an impression is
convoyed of the general truthfulness of the
meaning:—
tan noir AND THIS nohst.
A Goat, with feet that danced and head that sway'd
In modulated measure to the sound
Of a sweet violin, which, deftly played,
Awoke the blandest echoes all around,
flail listened long, when, with an air of pride,
He thus addreWs'd a Horse who stood beside : '

, " These chords that. speak so well, my humble friend,
Were borrow'd from the bowels of a goat;
And even I, when life is at ati end,
" • May still survive, and be a thing of nets;
For then some artist of harmonic skill
Shall twist my tripe into as sweet a trill." .
The Horse, as if iu laughter, neigh'd aloud,
And answer'd thus : " Poor wretch ! of what avail
• Would be the simple ,cliords which make thee pond,
Unless I had supplied them from my tail
With many a hair to forth the fiddle-bow,
Whose movement makes the hidden music flow ?
•
" And, though the loss allay pain me, I'm content;
For, after all, it gladdens me to see,
While t am still alive, the linitrumont
Indebted for its hXrttrony'teme.
But say, what pleasure tan its acettnts give
To solace thee when thou last ceased to live 7"
But it is reserved for the " mond" to furnish
thq Stmeial adaptation
ThUti 'many a wretched writer, who has tried
With unsuccessful efforts to engage
• Cotemporary praise, applals with pride
Unto the ,judgment of a future age,
As if posterity's approving breath
Could gratify " the dull cold ear of death."
In the next, Johnson's famous axiom, tbst
Those who litre to please
Must please to live, •
•
receives agreeable
rat Rxr. Amr, rite. err aoo.
• " Thou bubbler," cried a Deo, one day,
Unto a Cuckoo," pritheo, cease!
1 hate thy everlasting lay;
Begone, and let me work in peace.
" Ta< hew gas syllable Po 1046
With such monotony, the word,
The Angie word that is thy song,
Exhausts my patience, foolish bird."
" Well, f Any sung lie wearisome,"
Replied the Cuckoo to the nee,
" The structure of thy htineycoltib
Seems just as much in fault to me.
" Its endless hexagons display
No eftbrt of inventive skill ;
Then, shape it in some other way,
And I will try a newer trill."
" Our cases differ," said the Bee, •
My honeycomb needs no excuse;
The strielot, uniformity ,
•Is excellent in works of use.

• ' SATITRDIA,

"But works of taste, my friend, like thine,
Should take, of course, a wider range;
For pleasnre is their chief design,
And pleasure's essence lies in change."
The good sense and cultivated taste of this
Spanish fabulist usually lead him to the ex-
pression of unexceptionable principles; but in
the piece hesded *The Laee-makers," his con-
clusion is open to question :

i

Tan LACE-MAKERS.
In the same village dwelt a brace of neighbours,
A man and woman,—an uulustrous brew,
Engaged from morn till night in kindred labours,
For both were manufauturersof lane ;
But his from gold and hers from Rai was made,
And yet the woman's was the better trade.
" 'Tis strange," exellim'd the Man," that °lir galloons
Should differ so in value, andthat thine
Should fetch in anywarket more donbloons
Than twice an equal quantity of mina, • ,
While mine, as all may feel, are sterling attek,
And thine too flimsy to withstand *puff
" The different price, dear sir, et 'which we sell
Our different fabrics may be shortly- told,"
The dame replied ; " for though I him,/ frill well
That mine id wrought in thread and .youni in gold,
. The preference ofthe former to the latter
'ls bat a proof tbat Artturpasses ,Matter."
Let authors study to improve their style—
For, as the thread from which the costliest lace
Is firshian'd iw eumparsitively,
And owes Au art alque its wqrtli gut' grace,
The veriest trifle, if expreseid with ease
Anti elegance of style, is sure to please.
The analogy attempted to be established
here betiveen the manipulation of matter and
of intellect will hardly stand. We may in all
cases claim for art a superiority over dead
matter-even the diamond is lustreless till it
be polished—but this net so with that
mental mine whence productions often issue,
which no art, no labour, can improve. Perfect
at the fiat, they defy all efforts at improve-
ments, and when changed in any degree are
changed only to their, injury. An author's
first thoughts are commonly Ins best; and when
genius fires him, and "thoughts that breathe "
find meet expression in " words that barn"
to think of adding to their worth by ela-
borate chasing
,Would be simpler than "to
" gild refined gold or paint the lilY." In
authorship there are examples of study having
done much to improve style; but the greatest
authors have a style of their own independent
of study, and the inythelogy which repre-
sented: Minerva as springing all perfect and
armed from the brain of Zeus, points to that
essential inspiration which we may judge to
be heaven-deacended, so separate is it from
human skill and endeavOur. '
The wittiest fable here is directed against
that " refuse and trash of yore " which im-
poses on the ignorant by a show of research,
and, by its appearance of antiquity alone,
secures transient favour for compositions
which would otherwise be. despised; but the
piece is not well suited. for, extract. In the
" Rat and the Author " the, puns are so pro-
fuse as to suggest a doubt whether Mr.
Itockliff has not attempted to improve upon
his author. We must confess that we:cotico
this little volume without the advantage of
having the original Spauith before us. It is
evident that Mr. Roeklitre.rendering is often
extremely free, but some liberty may fairly be
allowed in compeeitiona of this class, as their
ru9rit, must, depend more on their pith and
poAnt, than pn,their, exact phraseOlegy., He
ShOUl4Dliny,,,liostevei, that the ride' ipi.qotes
.1u„ ii .Iccgp is not reeogniied in
„present
day, and.we certainly have felt deAb 'B,lll going
threngli thie very agreeable coileeirOß ,whetsher
klie,libe'rty:llowed to a translator has not in
some eases b?cn unwarrantably exCeeded,
The fables thus far quoted are .among
the, ilighte§t,.in tliF 1)001(1. but we ,r4ust not
dart from it peforo an example of the
eeper ineanipq Nvluteh is often embodied in
the verse, end ter thisi purpose 19 select
fl Are
,A?in, rne JUti GI.EIt. .
Good Pector Dunderhead, who lost his brains
By Orerstadying of natural histoY—
ror Students often take itsconmion pains
To turn the plainest matter to a mysterroo. . .
Who wrote a score et volumes to describe
Sonic score of beasts that Adam never saw,
Of phoenix, nnicorn, or griffin tribe,
And gamtbeir very likeness to itclaw ;
In short, who rummaged continent anti cape
For creatures of the strangest aisle and shape,
This reverend writer tells in,pondertme prose
A certain story, whic4l'llre-compoT,.l,
Thlightitrid eirelesi verse, aboiti an Ape.

A.

1 1% ~I. • ••• •••
With one who dances
tet4lW/
1$ The Bear, on hearing
• Sedate and pensive I
;i
Vl"°;7
N r f
• t

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