Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-04-30


dction and certain congru in the several parts of the
entire piece the latter chiefly prize such modes
representation as, when combined with poetry shall
prove most effective The French chiefly affect polished
dialogue the English entertaining plot The g dra-
matte art of Shakespeare consists in the miraculous
bnation Of the successful scenes and the grand
est verse his action effective and his poetry inmtabe
If he cannot be justified out of Aristotle it is because
Aristotle had Shakespeare
But the time has passed when any justification of Eng.
sh dramatic art is needed in France. Attila
Shakespeare" exclams the Duke de Broge has taken
possession of the TASds Franeas with arms and bag
gage his banners streaming and the cang of thou
sand sound in wild confusion" In humble
English ~ the Moor of Venice has been played in Paris
with immense success and pieces which would have
been the horror of Boeau and the death Of Voltare
pieces in which F
"Enfant premier acte, est barbon denier" q
are nearly as common at the Porte Saint Martin as at
Haymarket and the horrible part Of it isl that now
there is Voltaire to greye over the end of
and good taste France is barbarian, and NJ Guzot
conservative he is gives in his adhesion the
dramatic Atla #ho has wrought the strange revolution
1t should be Conceded perhaps in this connection, that
German criticism avaed to procure for Shakespeare at
the hands of French this patient and favorable
huence long precuded The change in French opinion
dates from the publication of Madame de Saes book on
Germany; work which, in more ways than one, made
notable mark the times. The Germans, as every
body knows nothing if not critical Their literature
began in criticism and has got much further their
philosophers critics. their poets critics. Kant
evidently discovered the pnre reason for the sake of
writing his "hrk IT and Gothe indted poems that
he might afterwards analyze them Among such peo-
pie need not wonder that such subject Shakespeare
has furnished exhaustless theme of learned dsqui
son Shakspearian criticism, if lot always discrimi-
native in Germany is always sufficiently admring. We
know not but they surpass the English audation
of the great dramatist; but Geiman punds seve-
rally agree to venerate Shakespeare only they in
terpret him. Before the true German can consent
to admire any thing he must call it By some fine sound
ing name The Fart" Of Shakespeare does not move
him, but the philosophy of his art he expatiates
with rapture. genuine type of his countrymen in
this respect true representative German critic is the
erudite Dr. Hermann Urici. His work on Shakespeare
lies before u.s. done into very obscure English but not
we believe through any fault of his translator We have
dwelt at length Voltaire as specimen of French
criticism relative to Shakespeare; let us dip little
into German aesthetics under the guidance Of Dr. Urci,
who stands the admitted chief among the German writer's
Shakspeare's " philosophy of art"
Before the learned Doctor essay appreciate Shaks
peare's dramatic STYLE" he deems it necessary
certain and define the poets "vew of the world and
things The result of his investigations in this preim
mary discursus is that Shakespeare poetcal apprehen
sion of the universal system Of things based
tally upon christianity and its leading IDEAS Until we
have penetrated the mind with this idea in all its sign6
canoe he profoundly convinced that safe progress
can be made in Shakspearian criticism Accordingly,
we have reflected the proposition long and patiently
and we give it solemn and deliberate judgment
that Dr. Urici is altogether right We have hesita
ton in ayowing it candid conviction that Shak-
speare in this unlike Eschyus Sophoces, Euripdes
has adopted what Ulrici calls :" a Christian view of
things" We further AFFIRM with our Teutonic Arstar-
chus that neither in the Promcheus the Aar the Phoc
ces, the Aedea of ancient tragedy do we find the
Shakspearan idea of the universal system of things
But in our simplicity explain Shakspeares poetical
theory Of life without considering curiousy." We
remember that he born, according to the best &C
count in the year of Grace 1854 and that he was bap-
ed into the Christian church when he was in the third
day of his existence That he should consequently have
adopted Christian" rather than "heahen view of
things is to matter Of devou thanksgiving, but does
not affect us with great surprise Unlike Ulrici, we
would have been surprised had Shakespeare concud
ed to fall back the old ethnic view Of the world and
things But at any rate let be grateful that he did
not Ulrc clearly and cogenty proves in about four
hundred pages of close augmentation As to the orig
nay Of Shakespeare arising from the Christian view of
things, /" he discourses follows:
'The characteristic popularity of Shakespeare poetry
must lie in the entirety and in the Utmost core but this
has been shown, is with the Christian view in gene
raj How, then, is Shakspeare's poetry distinguished
from the poems of other modern dramatsts, whose
positions likewise are, we might presume founded the
Christian view Shakspeares originality consists in the
greater purity distincness and completeness with which
he exhibits this Christian view in his dramas in all the
two factors of human life and history, viz the supern
tendence Of God and the liberty Of man. the obectivy
and subecvity Of mind and e are brought before us
IN their due relative Importance, cooperating with and
reactng each other in intrinsic Misrepresentation and
consequently established in all their truth and reality
All which viii doubtless remind the reader unless he
has philosophical dc of Hobbess remark that ait
by means Of words only that man becometh exceenty
wise excellenty foolish" If we may believe Urici
Shakespeare was devout Christian and decided Cal.
whist in his theology The FIVE points of the great
Genevan divine all comprised in Shakespeare view
Of things not indeed under the form Of religious edfca
ton, moral instruction philosophical dsquiston but
still they are there, and in mode which in every respect
is truly poetcal." This is German criticism This is
what Urci calls the critical process by which the
e1 intellect enabled to reproduce what the poet called
into being by his artistic phantasy is accomplishing
the same work as the poet, only with different instru-
ment That is the volume Of criticisms by Ulrici
composites the same work" the volume Of plays by
Shakespeare, only with different instrument the one
springing from the reflex intellect the other from the
artistic phantasy" For ourselves we prefer the latter
NOTES EMENnA mon IT,, =,