The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-03 00:00:00

THE MAGAZINES.

Blackwood's Magazine.

With several readable articles there is not one of
especial mark in this month's number. The consi-
deration of " Wellington's Career" is brought to a
conclusion, and, though the subject is now well
nigh threadbare, it must be allowed that in this
instance some interest is imparted to it by the
spirited style in which it is written. Without
going so far as the writer of these pages in suppos-
ing the career of "Wellington to be an excellent
subject for an epic, " hereafter when ages shall
have done their hallowing work, and when the
present generation of men shall have become as re-
mote as the early Greeks or the founders of Rome
are to us," it is certain that this present juncture is
not the time to depreciate the services or deprecate
the character of one who, whatever might have
been his peculiarities in private or his prejudices
in public life, was a true patriot, a gallant soldier,
and a zealots defender of his country. England
had no more successful vindicator of her rights than
he who so often led her sons to victory, and who
finally made them vanquish the conqueror of Europe.
Some of the remarks at the conclusion are very
well made in a terse and reflective manner. It is
said that the warm regard entertained for him by
his countrymen rests on sure grounds.
"They knew that he was a good and a great man. They
were proud of his deeds and his virtues. They loved his
personal dignity, his manliness, his simplicity and strength.
Their confidence in his judgment and sagacity was pro-
found, and they were assured that those pre-eminent qua-
lities were absolutely, without reservation, at the service of
the State, unbiassed by the hope of popular applause, or the
fear of popular censure. He had thus become a kind of
court of appeal of the people from their own impulses. In
him, too, they believed they saw an embodiment of the na-
tional spirit in its best aspect--the spirit which, in its most
practical aims, is directed still by the noblest influences.
His most remarkable characteristic was the union of com-
mon sense with lofty feeling—of matter-of-fact and chi-
valry. He was a man of great actions, but small profes-
sions—a knighterrant without extravagance ; a man of
business whose career was a romance. Recalling the me-
mory of mighty contests and of great successes, that good
grey head, with its halo of former glories, stood amid the
later times like the peak of a submerged world. Yet his
was not the dignity which lives apart, and calls exclusive-
ness to its aid. He was by sight, as well as by reputation,
the best known man in England."

Further on it is stated that " the spontaneous
mourning of a people lent solemnity to his funeral
splendours, and that while with him seemed to
"vanish some of the force and majesty of England,"
he left to his country a rich inheritance—the in-
crease of reputation abroad which sprang from his
achievements and his policy, and the gain at home
which a people derives from noble examples and a
great name. Another excellent article is on " The
Mill on the Floss," and those who have read the
work in question will readily accord their corrobo-
rating testimony to the general accuracy of the
opinions here expressed concerning that remark-
able production. There is a short epitome of the
story here given without trenching on the more
thrilling passages, which need no comment, and can
only be fairly considered by perusal. One passage
in this article is most veritable. It is that which
refers to the superior attractions of a softer, weaker
character, to enlist our sympathies, rather than a
cold, severe one, who is upright.

" Those who read the volumes before us with vivid recol-
lections of Adam Bede (as who will not ?) may notice how
much mire strongly our sympathies are roused by imper-
fect characters. In that story the author designed, we may
suppose, that we should be most interested (of the male
characters) in Adam. And certainly, if a noble portrait of
all that we profess to admire and love in the manly charac
ter, yet not too perfect to be human, could have effected
this, we found it there. Yet it will scarcely be denied that,
to most readers, the heart all along wont with the weaker
brother, Seth. That Dinah cannot love him—though we
know it to be impossible, and do not wish it—yet strikes
the tenderest chord, we have always thought, in the whole
story. In the Mill on the Floss' none of the characters
approach perfection; the heroine as little as any; yet we
will venture to assert that Maggie's passionate and rebel-
lious weakness has more interest for us, however undeser-
vedly, than Adam's enduring strength. The true heroic
struggles, which are silent and successful, are a spectacle
for gods, not men. The indications of weakness and peril
must be patent, to gain any deep sympathy from mortal
lookers-on."
Many will believe that a difficult task has been
successfully accomplished in this criticism of a
work which demands some skill on the part of
those who sit in judgment on its elaborate struc-
ture. These brilliant volumes will doubtless for
some time furnish the theme for essayists and re-
viewers, and this inaugurative notice in this periodi-
cal is worthy alike of the work under consideration
and of the publication in which it appears. " A
Feuilleton" is a most amusing sketch of life abroad.
The adventures of Lahure Mathieu are really most
entertaining, and his episode of love is endued
with some of the attributes of romance, although
the first scene is enacted in a place never supposed
to be akin to sentimentality—the interior of an
omnibus. A very curious paper is that on " Judi-
cial Puzzles," and the story of Elizabeth Canning
does not redound to the credit of the legal profes-
sion of last century. It is not likely that a girl
who had been so ill-treated as she evidently had
been would have invented a statement; it is far
more probable that the cunning of the gipsies and
their confederates proved more than a match
for the wisdom of the judges. Art-students
will be pleased with the paper on " Munich
and its School of Christian Art," which considers
the subject in an enlightened manner, and in a
fair spirit. While according to Munich Art and
the German Christian School the honour which
is their due, it is said that the nationality of the
country is in jeopardy. " The Art of Durer and'
Van Eyck is extinct. In its stead Perugino and
Pinturicchio, ravished from the rest of hallowed
tombs, are dragged over snowy alps across three
three centuries of history, and now come with the
skeleton touch of death to mock the ways of Na-
ture." There are soma admirable remarks in the
last article on " Switzerland and French Annexa-
tions." The subjoined passages are some of those
that forcibly illustrate the dangers that menace in
consequence of the unfair seizure of Savoy :
" As for the stipulation that the neutralised territory is
to be held by France, only subject to the conditions under
which it was held by Sardinia, and as to the plea that its
neutrality was only established in favour of this latter coun-
try, the stipulation is, about as valuable as the plea is sound.
The object of neutralising this territory was to protect not
merely Sardinia, but Switzerland; and indirectly not merely
these two countries, but all Europe. It was very properly
considered as the key to Italy ; and Sardinia, as most nearly
interested, was intrusted by Europe with this key. The
object was to lock out the very Power into whose hands it
has now passed. A man who has determined 'to force a
door open, is not likely to content himself with kicking at
the panels when he has got the key in his pocket, even
though he may have promised not to use it, particularly
after having been put to enormous trouble and expense in
getting hold of it. One fails to see the object of the sacri-
fices made to obtain possession of the neutralised territory,
if its strategical advantages are never to be made any use of.
If it is worth the while of France not merely to engage in
a costly war, but to incur the suspicion of Europe, for the
sake of these provinces, surely it must be the duty of
Europe to resist any such attempt, not only because it is
unjust towards the populations whose liberties are being
bartered, but because its own interests are at stake."