This is a most severe and galling Philippic upon a very worthless
book. Indeed Barry Cornwall was the last person in the world who
should have attempted the Life of Kean. From the poet's peculiar cast
of mind, (Procter is merely a dealer in delicate prettinesses,) he is
particularly ill-qualified for discussing the merits of an actor whose
province lay altogether amid the tempestuous regions of passion and
energy. "A worse man"--says the critic--"might have made Kean's story
entertaining--a wiser, if he had told it at all, would have at least
tried to make it instructive." The Essays upon the chief characters of
Shakspeare, which fill nearly half the second volume, are truly said
to be devoid of originality, vigor, or grace. To the entire book is
laughably applied a couplet from an old criticism upon Suckling's
Aglaura.
This great _voluminous pamphlet_ may be said,
To be like one that hath more hair than head.
Article VI. 1. "Physiologie du Goût: ou Meditations de Gastronomie
Transcendante; Ouvrage Théorique, Historique, et à l'ordre du Jour.
Dédié aux Gastronomes Parisiens. Par un Professeur (M. Brillat
Savarin) Membre de Plusiéurs Sociétés Savantes. 2 tomes, 5me edition,
Paris: 1835."
2. "The French Cook. A System of Fashionable and Economical Cookery;
adapted to the use of English Families, &c. by Louis Eustace Ude,
ci-devant Cook to Louis XVI, and the Earl of Sefton, &c. &c. &c., 12th
edition, with Appendix &c., London: 1833."
This article is written in the most exquisite spirit of banter, and is
irresistibly amusing. It commences with a sketch of the history,
present state and _literature_ of cookery! and concludes with a
particular Notice of the books at the head of the article.
"Mirabeau"--says the critic--"used to present Condorcet with _voilà ma
théorie_, and the Abbé Maury with _voilà ma pratique_. We beg leave to
present M. Brillat Savarin as _our_ theory, M. Ude as _our_ practice."
A biographical account of Savarin is introduced--full of wit. Savarin
was Judge of the Court of Cassation, Member of the Legion of Honor,
and of most of the scientific and literary societies of France. His
work consists of "a collection of aphorisms, a dialogue between the
author and a friend as to the expediency of publication, a
biographical notice of the friend, thirty meditations, and a
concluding Miscellany of adventures, inventions, and anecdotes."
Article VII. 1. "Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensées, et Paysages pendant
un Voyage en Orient, 1832, 1833. Par M. Alphonse de Lamartine, 4 vols.
Paris: 1835."
2. "A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, &c. By Alphonse de Lamartine, 3
vols. London: 1835."
An English translation of Lamartine's Pilgrimage, and even a pirated
Bruselles edition of the original, were read in London before the
publication of the original itself. This is high evidence of the
writer's popularity, at least, however prejudicial it may have proved
to his literary and pecuniary interests. The Remarks in the Review
under consideration are deduced from the English translation, which is
from the pen of Miss Landon. With the exception of the French verses
scattered throughout the work, and which are not very happily rendered
(we should think it impossible to translate them) L. E. L. has
executed her task with much ability--at least so says the Quarterly,
and we believe it. Some singular misconceptions of the meaning of the
original are, however, occasionally met with, and we are at a loss
whether to attribute them to carelessness or an imperfect acquaintance
with the French. The Review cites the following as an instance, and we
have noted several others equally glaring.
N'attends donc plus de moi ces vers où la pensée
Comme d'un arc sonore avec grace élancée
Et sur deux mots pareils vibrant à l'unisson
Dansent complaisamment aux caprices du son!
Ce froid écho des vers répugne à mon oreille.
From me expect no more the verse where thought
Glances in grace as from the sounding bow,
When two words vibrating in unison
Complacent dance to the caprice of sound.
Now verse in its cold echo shocks my ear.
The Review lavishes many compliments upon Lamartine, and enters into a
compendious sketch of his Pilgrimage.
Article VIII. "Yarrow Revisited and other Poems. By Wm. Wordsworth.
12mo. pp. 349. London, 1835."
Here is one of those exceedingly rare cases in which a British critic
confines himself strictly to his text--but this is nearly all that can
be said in favor of the Article. A more partial, a more indiscriminate
or fulsome panegyric we never wish to see, and surely "Yarrow
Revisited" is worthy of a better fate. "There is," quoth the Reviewer,
"a spirit of _elegance_ in these poems more prominently and uniformly
prevailing than in any equal portion of Mr. Wordsworth's former works.
We mean an elegance such as Quinctillian ascribes to several of the
Greek and Roman writers--a nobleness of thought and feeling made vocal
in perfectly pure and appropriate language. It struck us, at first, as
an odd remark of Coleridge's, that Goethe and Wordsworth were
something alike, but &c. &c." Heaven save us from our friends!
Article IX.--1. "Rough Leaves from a Journal kept in Spain and
Portugal. By Lieut. Col. Badcock, 8vo. London: 1835."
2. "Recollections of a few days spent with the Queen's Army in Spain,
in September 1833, 12mo. (privately printed,) London: 1835."
3. "Recollections of a visit to the Monasteries of Alcobaça, and
Batalha. By the author of Vathek, 8vo. London: 1835, pp. 228."
Colonel Badcock's book is favorably noticed. This Officer was sent to
the Peninsula, by Earl Grey's Ministry, for the purpose of
transmitting exact intelligence to the government at home. In the
discharge of this mission, he traversed the greater part of Spain, was
present at the siege of Oporto, and attended Don Pedro to the camp
before Santarem. His "Rough Leaves" are the result. From the work
whose title appears in the second place large extracts are made, all
of a highly amusing nature. The _critique_ concludes with a brief
complimentary notice of Mr. Beckford's 'Recollections,' which are
excessively overpraised.
Article X.--1. "First Report of the Commissioners {63} appointed to
inquire into the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, 1835."
2. "Protest of Sir Francis Palgrave, against the First Report, &c.
1835."
3. "Observations on the Principles to be adopted in the Establishment
of new Municipalities, the Reform of Ancient Corporations, and the
Cheap Administration of Justice. By Sir Francis Palgrave, K. H.
London: 1833." This is a violent party-paper, and abounds in
misrepresentation. One of its passages is forcible enough. "The first
step in this extraordinary affair, (the plan of Municipal Reform) was
in itself most extraordinary. A commission was issued under the Great
Seal of England, with powers and for purposes now confessed to have
been illegal!... The town-clerk of a petty borough, discomfited the
Lord High Chancellor of England, on a point of law, of his Lordship's
own raising, within his own special jurisdiction; and for the very
first time, we believe, since the days of James and Jeffries, a
commission under the Great Seal of England was _convicted of
illegality_."
Article XI. "Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honorable Sir James
Mackintosh. Edited by his son, Robert James Mackintosh, Esq. 2 vols.
8vo. London: 1835."
This Article we think upon the whole, better toned than the one upon
the same subject, in the Edinburgh. It characterizes the work as a
most interesting collection of _Mackintoshiana_, although not a good
Life. Sir James is very justly styled an "idealogical writer, who,
treating of human affairs, prefers to deal with _thoughts_, rather
than _things_."