The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-09-16 00:00:00

rence and even aversion ar

ceeded attention and interest
ife. But we should be strap

; to de

thought that the mass of our contemp
returned to religion, that they have

the. revolution in the human

, of which there are so many indications, is complete.
the human mind is in labour, but it has not yet
hing forth; it strongly feels what is wanting
is not vet found what it needs. It is in a

per annum. Seven pounds and a-half of good mutton
may be had for a shilling ; fowls, and fat ones too, two-
pence each. Fish is sold by the weight ; thirteen rotclos
for a beshlik, or about 76th weight for a shilling. Eels,
the very best flavoured in the world, lid. each. As for
vegetables, whether cabbages, lettuces, des asperges, ce-
lery, water-creases, parsley, beans, peas, radishes, turnips,
carrots, cauliflowers, and onions, a pennyworth would
last a man a week. Fruit is sold at the same rates ; and
- raes cost about ss. the horse . Game is abun-
id of dignity, or the throwing it violently g
dantp. Dried fruits and nuts can be obtained a
inlso winter.
jog ages into the odious chains which it has In fact, living as well as one could wish, I found it ire-
able in breaking. It needs a religion, and by possible (house rent, servants, horses, board, washing,
.s Ido not wish to express that commonplace and wino included) to exceed the expenditure of £4O per
ch those who possess least of religion have so annum. Under these circumstances, it may appear mar-
:: mouths. I wish to express an actual fact. vellous that many Europeans possessed of limited means
,n in these days are yearning for a religion and are have not made Antioch their temporary home ; but every
agitated in numberless directions to find one adapted to question has two sides, and every thing its pros and cons.
their requirements. It is not from what others say to The cons in this instance are the barbarous character of
them, but from what their own heart speaks, that they the people among whom you live; the perpetual liability
feel so deeply the need of a religion. The privation corn- of becoming at one minute's warning the victim of some
rnences to afflict them, to torment them as a real infir- fanatical ereeute ; the small hopes you have of redress for
remedy for which they everywhere seek. It is the grossest insults offered ; the continual intrigues en-
of the gravest questions to which the friends of tered into by the Ayans to disturb your peace and com-
can turn their attention, that of knowing well fort ; the absence of many of the luxuries enjoyed in Eu-
eion is which men have need of at the pre- rope; the want of society and books; and the total ab- 1
-hat are the means of giving it unto them. Bence of all places of worship, which gradually creates in
. [The author of these remarks, which the mind a morbid indifference to religion, and which
, as applicable to England as to France, was a distin- feeling frequently degenerates into absolute infidelity.—
guished French Protestant Minister. He was born at Neale's Eight Years in Syria.
Nimes in 1787, and died there much regretted in 1837. LOUIS NAPOLEON.—The following is the character of
An account of his life and writings will be found in The the President of the French Republic, as drawn by M. do
's Magazine for June, 1850. He is one of the la Gueronniere, editor of the Pays :—" Louis Napoleon
en the French Protestants have had since the is a superior man, but with that superiority which con-
urin.—Critic.] teals itself under a doubtful exterior. His life is altoge-
DON Arr.—The opinions of a clever man upon ther internal; his words do not indicate his inspiration;
,oral are matters of general interest, and there is his gesture does not show his audacity ; his glance does
be collected from Mr. Ruskin's lately published not intimate his ardour; his demeanour does not reveal
, Pre-Raphaelitism, which it is very important his resolution. All his moral nature is in a certain man-
"ser. The possible influence of art upon the ner kept under by his physical nature. He thinks, and
'an can hardly be ever over estimated. Nor does not discuss ; he decides, and does not deliberate ;
is it easy to exaggerate the value of this influence when he acts, and does not make much movement ; he pro-
the art is high and the artists noble. As. however, too flounces, and does not assign his reasons. His best
often " noblest things find vilest using," so very fre- friends do not know him ; he commands confidence and
quently art is used to debase, rather than to elevate ; and never seeks it. * * Queen Hortense used to call him
its powers remain when its virtue is destroyed. Its the mildly obstinate; and that judgment of the mother
influence at present in England is not of the highest kind. is completely true. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte possesses
Few things make a real lover of art and a believer in its that goodness of heart which tempers and often conceals
power more melancholy than to look at the walls of the the workings of the mind. The somewhat English stiff-
Academy, or any other of our yearly public exhibitions. ness of his person, manners, and even language, disap-
Cleverness of design, skill in composition, dexterity in pears under an affability which with him is only the
handling are not wanting. Here and there (and we grace of sentiment. Many are deceived by that appear-
should generally agree with Mr. Ruskin in his instances, ante, and take his goodness for weakness and his affabi-
omitting perhaps some, and certainly adding others), we litv for insincerity. At bottom he is completely master
meet with pictures showing beyond a doubt the genius of of himself ; and his kindest movements enter into his
their authors. What is wanting is elevation of aim, an actions only according to the exact measure he has deter-
honest reverent love of nature, and the slightest attempt mined on. Easily roused, he cannot be led away ; he
to raise or purify the mind by the means of art. Our calculates everything, even his enthusiasm and his acts
artists, for the most part, have descended from the posi- of audacity ; his heart is only the vassal of his head.
tion of teachers to that of tradesmen. They paint and Does that inflexible will constitute an active will ? I
sculpture to sell ; they work to please the public, always hesitate not to reply, no ; and it is here that I have to
low in its tastes, and necessarily ignorant; and they pro- touch on one of the shades the most essential and most
duce works full of prostituted power and false conven- delicate of his character. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is
tionalism, agreeable to their patrons and degrading to endowed with an incontestable power of resistance, of
themselves. They make money, but they destroy art. vis inerlice; but what he wants, in the very highest de-
Transcendent genius, such as appears once or twice in a gree, is the power of initiative. * * * To thoroughly
century, breaks through and defies opinion; and a few understand a man's nature, we must study all parts of it,
men of refined and thoughtful minds remain in compare- and sound, as it were, the most intimate details. I have
tive obscurity from a high-minded faithfnlness to the said that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte possesses goodness
duties of their calling ; but, in general, the aim of our of heart. I must add, that he has not any emotion of
-ly unworthy of the abilities with which mind. He is capable of feeling all noble sentiments, but
An age of criticism is seldom one in incapable of certain delicate sensations. Thus, for exam-
genius and loftiness of purpose meet with their ple, he understands neither art nor poetry. A poem sends
'ion. And ours is a peculiarly critical period. him to sleep, and a picture makes him yawn. Nature
, single thing been more seriously injured by herself, in her grandest and most sublime spectacles, only
criticism than the Fine Arts in all their departments. On creates a slight impression on his mind. He is possessed,
DO other seibject do men undertake to criticise with such above all, of a practical intelligence which measures every-
an utter ignorance of the first principles of the things
sofess to judge; and as ignorance and pre- thing with a compass, and weighs everything with a ba-
lance. Near Windsor, in England, there is an admirable
~ go together, there is nothing on which
forest, all the trees of which had their tops cut off on the
men are so strangely presumptuous. This would matter day on which the head of Charles I. fell beneath the axe
little, perhaps, if it were not that they speak to and lead of the executioner. As if nature wished to protest against
others yet more ignorant than themselves, and form a this decapitation of royalty, these trees, mutilated as they
public opinion, which, for good or evil, is always powerful were, struck out in their strength with a vigour whirl
in this country, They can appreciate the worstf parts of soon gave them all the majesty of century- A charmin
our artists' doings. Sleight of lid,tricks of colour,i Woman, whose soul was open to all
affectation of design, and all the 1 r portions oaciver who lived in the intimacy of Prince Louts
picture are within their comprehension. These. . they I persuaded him to visit this forest as one of the n
praise and the public praise after them ; by their praise ous things of the times. He returned s'• •
r tilts I
and patronage they encourage artists in their worst ti frn,,,, .
~_____ ,

of inquiry, of curi
itself

of fever, of

use it sees in many the ill-
ons, in

on of deceiving its ardent aspir
from its errors. The c

ti nue for

result the r

it to a hi

so nit
these
truth
ofi

then one c
humanity

what the re

itel Vincent,

Gentleman

time of
A WI

pamphl
to rem
mind o

artists is entir

they pursue it
which

just appreciai

Nor has an

ble emotio

and irickerie's. avid tfieevireffects are as wide-sp._ _ 1 and wittily
tality of his noble f
they are melancholy and undeniable.—London Guardian.

Vapoleor

tuna cp noulogne, gnu pun
ie called the poetical sentito