Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
nl aS ee te
SORROWS OF WERTER.
[The following is a rich metrical summary, by
Thackeray, of Goethe's Jachrymose romance, which
turned the brains of our grandmothers.)
“ Wuntxk had a love for Charlotte,
Such as words could never utter;
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.
Charlotte was a married lady,
“And a moral man was Werter,
And for all the wealth of Indies,
Would do nothing that might hurt her.
So he sighed and pined and ogled,
And his passions boiled and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out, ~~
And was no more by them troubled.
«
Charlotte, having seen his body
Borne before her on a shutter,
Like a well-conducted person,
Went on cutting bread and butter.
(Written for Dodge's Literary Museum.]
CRITICAL REMARKS
On the Writings of Dr. Johnson,
- NUMBER ONE.
“Let not your speech be grand: bombast is the
very soul of sel f-conceit.”—Sto:
“Ir to have his works rend: to be univers-
ally admired, to be praised in every com-
pany, and blazoned in every compilation of
literature, form the happiness of an author,
perhaps none ever enjoyed that happiness
in a greater degree than Dr. Johnson.’ ‘He
is now dead, and the swarms of writers who
during his life were silenced by envy, are
often’ contending which shall be loudest in
his praise. \'The newspapers teem with an-
ecdotes of Johnson ; every magazine is filled
with Dr. Johnson. * He is called the father
of English literature, the corrector of the
language, and the standard writer’ of Eng-
lish composition.’ The bagatelles ‘of child-
hood and the trifles-of youth become mat-
ters of importance when dignified by his
name; and every composition, shower er triv-
ial, acquires a’ sceming “sanctity from ' the
popularity of Johnson.
“The public,” says Blair, “are but too
apt to be imposed on; at least, the mob ‘of
readers, who are very ready to’ be caught,
at first, with whatever ‘is ‘dazzling and
gaudy.” But for the reasons of this elegant
writer, we should be partly at ‘a loss to ace
count for the multitudinous number of pens
once brandished in favor of Dr. Johnson.
Much of his prosperity, however, may be
traced to another source. He was a volu-
minois' writer; and his works, if saleable,
must constitute a lucrative item in the stock
of the booksellers.’ “ ;
“It is for the interest of the nvan whose
shelves are filled with Ramblers, Idlers, un-
sold ‘Dictioriaries,'and heavy criticisms, to be
liberal to hireling scribblers, who, by’ reck-
less puffs, can promote the sale of his goods.
This is undoubtedly the true secret of much
of the eulogium now passed upon the works
of this author. , It is a'mere trick of trade.’
« But where are the abilities of Johnson so
wonderfully displayed ?,;. Most. of the num-
bers of The Rambler are from his pen. .; ‘Try
to converse with one of his admirers, and
, is perpetually quoting | The Rambler, dn-
quire for the beauties of | J ohnson, you are
directed to The Rambler ‘To The Ram-
bler, therefore, a8 to hi opus magnum, we
direct our ‘speculations; and’ what'do we
find?, ,Some originality of thought, certain-
ly. But howsis it dressed . by this corrector
of the, language, this standard .of English
elegance ?- In a swelled, pompons, bom-
bastical language, an affected structure and
verbosity of style. ‘I , bombastical lan-
guage—but incorrectly. His style is hete-
rogeneous, and he may be said to have
‘written ‘in “no: Particular” langage. The
Dear dt
Dodge's iterary Museu.
things he calls Ramblers are composed of
Greek and Latin words with English termi-
nations; and the reader of but common
erudition requires a’ Dictionary at every
sentence! But to render The Rambler in-
telligent, not every Dictionary will serve;
it is that alone compiled by the author of
The Rambler, The English language, as a
late writer judiciously observes, is abhorrent
of all Latinisms which are ‘not introduced
through the medium of the French tongue-
Dr. Johnson, whose works are: filled with
Latin words and Latin idioms, is totally: re-
gardless of French derivations, for with the
Erench tongue he was unfortunately unac-
quainted. But his Dictionary ! his Diction-
ary! that greatest production of all human
genius! As a philologist, Dr. Johnson ap-
Bears to great advantage in his Dictionary. |
He seems to be well acquainted with lan-
guage. But partiality itself must own that
in the Greek and Latin tongues his knowl-
edge appears more conspicuous than in
English. ' Whenever he enters on English
etymology his work is full of blunders.’ His
Dictionary, however, possesses great merit.
Johnson was a laborious writer, and for the
drudgery of such compilations he was pecu-
liarly fitted. It is, however, remarkable of
this work that it contains all the foreign, ec-
centric words of which his Rambler and
other writings are composed; differing in
this particular alone from all’ the Diction-
aries which have gone before him. People
have hence been led to think that he wrote
his Rambler to make a Dictionary necessary,
and compiled his Dictionary to rerider the
Rambler intelligible. It is a work “entirely
void of system, destitute of any original
plan except the addition of a very faulty
grammar. IIence, it can never be named.
with those compilations, elegantly original,
of a Hentick or a Sheridan.” And withont
heresy i in literature, we may venture to pre-
dict’ that the Dictionaries of those gentlemen
will be resorted to, when that of Samuel
Johnson shall. be no more remembered, set-
ting aside all reference to the claims of the
stupendous and remarkable work of Dr.
Webster. “Nay, more; we may assert with
confidence that the works of Tillotson and
Bolingbroke, of Robinson and Blair, will re-
main the standard of English elegance, when
the turgid Ramblers, with all their shining
tinsel, are whelmed and buried i in ev erlast-
ing ruin. _ ;
‘Ttis now more than ‘a century since Dr.
Johnson usurped the literary throne ; ‘and
while poets and critics, scribblers of every
denomination and seribblers of no denomi-
nation, united i in his praise, men of real
genius were. imposed ' on by the shout of
popialatity’ and mingled in the torrent of
applause. At that time, the English Lexi-
phanes was at the acme of his literary fame ;
but that notable production, the Biographi-
cal Prefaces, created no yery favorable im-
pressions for him: The eyes of men were
now opened ;) and they no “longer , beheld
Dr. Johnson as the paragon of “English lit
erature.” “The pride, arrogance, ‘and: illiber-
ality which ‘characterized that work 1 will be
an everlasting stain upon the ‘niemory of its
author, © ‘We need only mention the critique
on, Milton, to be convinced | of this. That
performance discovers ‘at once the little soul
and ‘deficient, genius, replete with all the ig-
noranee, ill-nature, and illiberality of Dr,
Saniuel Johnson. * The inflated, magnilo-
quent style “sitecéeds with ‘the lower class of
readers, who are by far thé most numerous.
Hence, every writer who i is deficient in real
genius’ will affect. yomposity “and ‘ magnifi-
ence of langua
3 parties, were detached, 3
and popularity is the very food of authors.
It is that for which every writer, from the
heroic poet to the critical scribbler, is eager-
ly- contending; and the ‘influence of this
popularity upon the herd of imitators is al-
most beyond conception. ‘The pious Her-
yey was a writer of this class; destitute of
genius, he endeavored to supply its place by
a-poctical style, and an affected, stiff, ver-
bose diction..- Hervey has his followers.
Dr. Johnson was a writer of rather more
genius and a greater share of popularity.
He was, on that account, the more danger-
ous; and we accordingly find that of all
modern perversions of taste, the works of
Johnson have done the most mischief.’ It
must, however, be confessed that in the
works of this author, amidst the Gothic cloud
of language, much originality isfound. Let
us give him credit for every feeble ray of
genius; but for literature’s sake, do not
prostitute the august appellations of “ Fa-
ther of Literature” and “ Standard of Ele-
gance” upon that surly critic, who is the
perverter of taste and the corrupter of the
language !
ScATHELOCK COCKLESCRAFT.
Hard Language.
Dr.-Jomnson once drove a Billingsgate
fish-woman to the verge of madness by tell-
ing her she was an “individual.” Here is
a similar laughable instance of misappre-
hension :
“Your remarks» are crude, sir,’ very
crude!” said a.man_ to one who had called
him a scoundrel.
“Well, sir,” said the other, boiling with
rage, “I’ve got ‘proof that you are a scoun-
drel—proof, : sir, (shaking his fist,) that can’t
be denied. Mr. Brown, you will take no-
tice that this man said Iwas ernde, and.
will have satisfaction for the vile’ slander
upon my character, if there is:any law in
this country !
Tr is said that when the Turkish officer,
Amin Bey, attended some fashionable par-
ties at Washington, where the ladies were
dressed very low in the neck, he remarked
that in going into our society, che expected
to see ‘as ‘many of American ladies, but
not ‘as much.”
Ir is pretty evident that when a man
buys a hundred-dollar handkerchief for “a
duck of a wife,” that he is “a goose of a
husband.”
A LIVING SUSPENSION-BRIDGE.
66 FINHEY are coming toward the bridge;
they will most likely cross by the
rocks yonder,” observed Raoul.
“How—swim it?” T asked.
torrent there.”
“QO, no,” answered | the | ¥F renchman ;
“monkeys would rather go into fire than
water. If they cannot leap the stream, they
will bridge it” |
“ Bridge it! and how 2”
a ‘Stop’ a moment, cxplain—you “shall
see.”
‘The human voices ‘sounded nearer, and
we could perceive that the animals were ap-
proaching the spot where we lay. . Present-
ly they appeared upon the opposite ; -bank,
“it isa
headed .by an old gray chieftain, ‘and offi-,
cered like so many soldiers. They were, as
Raoul had stated, of the comadreja, or ring-
tailed tribe. ;
One—an aid- -de-camp, or chief pioneer,
perhaps—ran out upon a projecting rock,
and after looking across’ the ‘stream, as’ if
calculating the distance, seampered back,
and Appeared to ‘communicate with the lead- B
er. This” produced a movement’ in the
troops.” Commands were issued, and fatigue
arched: to the
front. Meanwhile several of the comadrejas
—engineers, no doubt—ran along the bank,
examining trees on both sides of the arrogo.
At length they all collected round a tall
cotton-wood that grew over the narrowest
part of the stream, and twenty or thirty of
them seampered up its trunk. On reaching
ahigh point, the foremost—a strong fellow
—ran out upon a limb, and taking several
turns of his tail around it, slipped off, and
hung head downwards. The next on the
limb, also a stout one, climbed down the
body of the first, and whipping his tail
tightly round the neck and fore-arm of the
latter, dropped off in’ his turn, and hung
headdown. ‘The third repeated this maneu-
ver upon the second, and the fourth upon
the third, and so on, until the last upon the
string rested his fore-paws upon the ground.
‘The living chain now commenced swing-
ing backwards and forwards, like the pen-
dulum of a clock. The motion was slight at
first, but gradually increased, the lowermost
monkey striking his hands violently upon
the ground as he passed the tangent of the
oscillating curve. Several others upon the
limbs aided the movement. This continued
until the monkey at the end of the chain
was thrown among the branches of a tree
on the opposite bank. Here, after two or
three vibrations, he clutched a limb and held
fast. This movement was executed adroit-
ly, just at the culminating point of oscilla-
tion, in order to save the intermediate links
from the violence of a too sudden jerk!
The chain was now fast at both ends,
forming a complete suspension-bridge, over
which the whole troop, to the number of
four or five hundred, passed with the rapid-
ity of thought. . It was one of the most
comical sights I ever beheld to witness the
quizzical expression of countenances along’
the living chain!
‘The troop was now. on the other side, but
how were the animals forming the bridge to
get themselves over ? ‘This was’ the ques-
tion which suggested itself. Manifestly by
Number One letting go his tail: ‘But then
the point d’appui on the other side was
much lower down, and’ Number One, with
half-a-dozen of his neighbors, would be dash-
ed against the opposite back, or soused into
the water. ,
Tiere, then, was a problem, and we waited
with some curiosity for its solution. It was
soon solved. A monkey was now seen at-
taching his tail to the lowest on the bridge,’
another girdled him ina similar manner, and
another, and so on, until a dozen more were
added to the string... These last were all
powerful fellows; and running up to a high
‘| limb, they lifted the bridge into a position
almost horizontal. Then a sercam from the
last monkey of the new formation warned
the tail end: that all: was ready; and the
next moment the whole chain :was swung
over, and) landed safely on’ " the opposite
bank.
~The lowermost links now dropped of like .
a melting candle, whilst: the: higher’ ones
leaped to the branches, and came down by
the trunk... The whole troop then scamper- .
ed off into the chapparal and disappeared.
Adventures i in South Mezico. Mercer
Tne last society spoken of in California
is the. “Pay Nothings.”. It is said. tobe
alarmingly prosperous. The. pass-word. is,
“Lend me.-a. dollar;” the - :TesPonsey
“ broke.”
Wuat is the ditference between the ‘Call
oy at the Drury Lane Theater, and the
Student of History ?
One calls saereaty and the other reads
Macaulay.
nn
=