-
Articles/Ads
Article REVIEW OF LITERATURE. ← Page 5 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature.
mindedness to advocate , in the instance of a class of female society , to whom the " AVomen of England" are so much indebted . We consider the subject itself so important , that we would have wished it to have been treated with a deeper philosophy—with a graver study . It should have been a book for all time , worked out with graphic truthtelling , and powerful interest . It is impossible , notwithstanding , to read any of Lady Blessington ' s writings with indifference .
Jack Sheppard . By J . H . Ainsworth . 3 Vols . Bentley . " Let us write for Truth—for Honour—and for Posterity . " PWR to SWIFT . If ever it were necessary to hear in mind this advice of Pope , it is now , when our criminal code has been so far adapted to an improved state of moral culture , and when the tastes of the lower orders satirize the follies of the dayby apeing them . The author before us , although not one of those
previously anathematized by Pope , has something to answer for in leading backwards the great mass , who may be improved by wholesome literary diet ; and who , not having quite forgotten the last d ying speeches of their former heroes , become not only reminded themselves of their former propensities , but may too probably instil into the younger portion of their class a dangerous predilection for evil . In the novel , truth is altogether out of the question ; honour is disregarded ; and
posterity will blush for the age which could patronize a work without a moral . Had its dangerous tendency been confined to the publication , there ivould have been less of evil ; but , because it is cleverly adapted for stage effect , thousands who might have escaped the mischief which it is calculated to create , become eye-witnesses of the worst species of dramatic writing . The several authors of dramatic monstrosities looked upon this novel as a God-send , and the minor theatres have , by way of "authority , " prefixed to their bills the approbation of the author !—nay the manager of a theatre , licensed by the Lord Chamberlain , has
ventured to encounter the equivocal approbation of the author , by producing it , and casting the part of the housebreaker to one of the ornaments of the profession , in whose hands the fidelity of the character { as written ) is fearfully true . It becomes a public duty to denounce the evil , which we prove it to be , by the great demoralizing results . But for the novel of Jack Sheppard , the theatres would not have produced acting pieces ; and the lower orders would never have crowded
to witness scenes which have a tendency to shake their loyalty to truth and nature . So impressively did Mrs . Keeley act , that a countryman , after gazing at the scene , looked at the bill , and , turning to the party on his right ( who happened to be Keeley himself ) , asked him if the actor was really a woman . " I really believe she is , " said her husband . Keeley , who is quaint in his way , did not appear to take the question as a compliment . Jack Sheppard was a little , mean-looking , ugly wretchand executed in
, was a regular way;—he deserved to die : he was as hardened a housebreaker as any of his class . It is true that his escapes were wonderful ; but so have been the recorded instances of many others , lt is true that a pantomime was brought out at Drury-Lane Theatre , and that sermons were delivered from the pulpit ; but we would as soon expect that Wat T yler , or Jack Cade , should , in their individual characters , be set up as examples of national excellence , as that , in these times , a Jack Sheppard flag should wave as the standard of the literature of 1839 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature.
mindedness to advocate , in the instance of a class of female society , to whom the " AVomen of England" are so much indebted . We consider the subject itself so important , that we would have wished it to have been treated with a deeper philosophy—with a graver study . It should have been a book for all time , worked out with graphic truthtelling , and powerful interest . It is impossible , notwithstanding , to read any of Lady Blessington ' s writings with indifference .
Jack Sheppard . By J . H . Ainsworth . 3 Vols . Bentley . " Let us write for Truth—for Honour—and for Posterity . " PWR to SWIFT . If ever it were necessary to hear in mind this advice of Pope , it is now , when our criminal code has been so far adapted to an improved state of moral culture , and when the tastes of the lower orders satirize the follies of the dayby apeing them . The author before us , although not one of those
previously anathematized by Pope , has something to answer for in leading backwards the great mass , who may be improved by wholesome literary diet ; and who , not having quite forgotten the last d ying speeches of their former heroes , become not only reminded themselves of their former propensities , but may too probably instil into the younger portion of their class a dangerous predilection for evil . In the novel , truth is altogether out of the question ; honour is disregarded ; and
posterity will blush for the age which could patronize a work without a moral . Had its dangerous tendency been confined to the publication , there ivould have been less of evil ; but , because it is cleverly adapted for stage effect , thousands who might have escaped the mischief which it is calculated to create , become eye-witnesses of the worst species of dramatic writing . The several authors of dramatic monstrosities looked upon this novel as a God-send , and the minor theatres have , by way of "authority , " prefixed to their bills the approbation of the author !—nay the manager of a theatre , licensed by the Lord Chamberlain , has
ventured to encounter the equivocal approbation of the author , by producing it , and casting the part of the housebreaker to one of the ornaments of the profession , in whose hands the fidelity of the character { as written ) is fearfully true . It becomes a public duty to denounce the evil , which we prove it to be , by the great demoralizing results . But for the novel of Jack Sheppard , the theatres would not have produced acting pieces ; and the lower orders would never have crowded
to witness scenes which have a tendency to shake their loyalty to truth and nature . So impressively did Mrs . Keeley act , that a countryman , after gazing at the scene , looked at the bill , and , turning to the party on his right ( who happened to be Keeley himself ) , asked him if the actor was really a woman . " I really believe she is , " said her husband . Keeley , who is quaint in his way , did not appear to take the question as a compliment . Jack Sheppard was a little , mean-looking , ugly wretchand executed in
, was a regular way;—he deserved to die : he was as hardened a housebreaker as any of his class . It is true that his escapes were wonderful ; but so have been the recorded instances of many others , lt is true that a pantomime was brought out at Drury-Lane Theatre , and that sermons were delivered from the pulpit ; but we would as soon expect that Wat T yler , or Jack Cade , should , in their individual characters , be set up as examples of national excellence , as that , in these times , a Jack Sheppard flag should wave as the standard of the literature of 1839 .