Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1841-02-13
WI CELEA m ".
From Bent,ey's Miscellany, for October
CHAPTER ON SOME VERY CELEnRb
TED

TED AUTHORS. E
lis gratifying to be able to ua no those apth
os whose writings FIRST Taught Us that blocks ar,
a substantial world, Both pure and god, rountt
which, with tenlrils strong as flesh and blood. GU
pasttmes and cur happiness may grow : but tht
names OF some Of the greatest, the most deasl,
cherished, and mos, deservediy popular are to,all,
unknown TO Us and all the gratitude we CO,
display towards their memories must be summed
up III q pleasant recollection Of their works and d
the Impressions which these left upon our ycnna
minds. tbs names of Blind Harry, Ctrvan.es
DE Foe, Fielding, SraolIs.t, Richardson, va can
easily associate with the productions of their sep.
arate minds j; hnt who can tel US of The authors
Of the life and death of Little Cock Robin. Jack
the Giant Killer, Jack and the Bean stalk. Gin.
deEeiIa, Little red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb.
For,anatus, Wise Willie and Witty Eppie, the
Merry Tricks of Leper the Tailor, PADDY from
Cork, and a bundled Other inperishafle prroaue-
tons, the perusal of which in boyhood lent a
luxurious charm to that period of existcnce which
we can never know again? What is fame. and
what is authorship, when The names of these great
hcnefictors Of the human race are, and ever were.
unknown
Ample Justice has no doubt been done /, these
anonymous masters by the voice of common
fame their works are familiar TO our minds as
household gods: bu; strange 10 saw. their M nn n
!ionabie excellehces have never yet been Iectufed
upon in philosophical and literary institutions.
ami our periodical literature has hitherto left Them
TO stand upon their own merit. There is a deep
injustice in all this, which the growing in,elli
gence cf'he age must speedily dispel.
CT these masters, it is not too much to saw tb,,
they were the fathers of circulating libraries, and
Of that multitudinous race of authors whose i'm
a~gina'ion is never obscnred by the iudgment.-
The productions OF their ihitators, however, are
not TO he compared,i in any respect. with the things
initiated. TUE, they both address themselves
10 our cre,iuli,y, and our love of The marvellous .
but the ONO at'ains lis object, and something,
more, while the other falls short of t. There is
a greater polish about the one, 10 the sacrifice of
improhahili'y while there is greater strength
about The other. and a bold fear.essness, that dis
plays true genius unfft,ered, untrsmmeJled. un
controlled. In short We are ineiined to claim far.
the grea! anonymous authors a high niche in the
temple of flame, and we challenge, the most rigid
Investigation of those pretensions which we mean
to urge in their favour.
Our authors may be classified as tragic and
comic, or pathetic and humorous, aud bioerapbi.
cal. TO the first class belong the authors of Lit
tie Red Riding Hood. and the Life, and Death of
Little Cock Robin. Riding Hood has been tho
model Of am entire school of literature by itself-|
We may trace some Of our most popular novels
and successful nelodramas 10 this source. The
story is unexceptionable 1; and the heroine is az
perfect a creation of Innocence aid true charity
MS Pamela herself. AS for the rascal who rob-
her up, it is a well known fact, tia, he is the,I
bastard son Of Cluster, ia King Lear; and, al
though Stevens does not acknowledge this in bis
notes upon Shakespeare. he evidently suspects
something Of the sort, Cock Robin, again, has
been the foundation of what is now called the. |
Fhurtie and Wcare school; of literature. 1t is a
ale of wilfu', cold blooded murder. The prinei-
'le actor in this awful tragedy, with a Truth 10
nature which could scarcely have been expected of
lin, boasts of his crime, and even mantians the
Weapons with which he accomplished his dial,al-
purpose, in language that conveys to the ear
f the nearer a perfee, picture Of tho innate de.
Of the murderer's heart: a8a ,agi
sc sWho Killed Cock Robin,' I
Il saws the Sparrow, fwitt, my bow aud arrow
And | killed Cock Robin" ,-.
Ne have nothing equal to this in the Newgats
h 57 i
Cock Robin, indeed. is deeply calculated 10 ris-
/ the attention, and raise in tue human mind a
Of sangainary and eratuitous crime --a
Fhe whole affiif, as Lord Brongbam ably and
lstIy remarks, smells Of blood Every ciTeum-
lance connected with tho murder is powerfully
forward. The fly. with her little eve,
a Cock Robin die the fish with her little dish
aaght Cock Robins blood the bull, who could
rung bis passing bell and be was carried
. his grave amid weeping and ianlentation, and
and woe. Such, indeed, hasNbeen the
iiscs Of this powerful production on the popola>