The troubadour, no ascetic, thus sarcastically puts a "problem theologic" as to what may be supposed
to be pleasing to the God of a Spanish inquisitor :
A well-burnt Jew or well-fed bishop best."
Of a shifty syllogism the host says—
"Thy speech is like an hour-glass; turn it down
The other way, 'twill stand as well."
The troubadour, describing his feeling for Fedalma, says-
"Don Silva's love expects reward,
Kneels with a heaven to come; but the poor poet
Worships without reward, nor hopes to find
A heaven save in his worship. He adores
The sweetest woman for her sweetness' sake,
Joys in the love that was not born for him,
Because 'tis lovingness, as beggars joy,
Warming their naked limbs on wayside walls,
To hear a tale of princes and their glory.
There's a poor poet (poor, I mean, in coin)
Worships Fedalma with so true a love
That if her silken robe were changed for rags,
And she were driven out to stony wilds
Barefoot, a scornéd wanderer, he would kiss
Her ragged garment's edge, and only ask
For leave to be her slave. Digest that, friend,
Or let it lie upon thee as a weight
To check light thinking of Fedalma."
Blasco the goldsmith thus represents the popular Spanish view of
"The Jews, now (sirs, if any Christian here
Had Jews for ancestors, I blame him not;
We cannot all be Goths of Aragon)—
Jews are not fit for heaven, but on earth
They are most useful. 'Tis the same with mules,
Horses, or oxen, or with any pig
Except Saint Anthony's."
And goes on to say that God
"Sent the Gypsies wandering
In punishment because they sheltered not
Our Lady and Saint Joseph (and no doubt
Stole the small ass they fled with into Egypt).
Zarca, stript of his ornaments, repressed his wrath.
"His eyes, his mouth, his nostril, all inspired
With scorn that mastered utterance of scorn,
With power to check all rage until it turned
To ordered force, unleashed on chosen prey."
The goldsmith, naturally a believer in the splendours of royalty, tells us that
But when you see a king, you see the work
Of many thousand men.'
Evening on the Spanish landscape is thus summed up :
"All beauteous existence rests, yet wakes,
Lies still, yet conscious, with clear open eyes
And gentle breath and mild suffuséd joy.
'Tis day, but day that falls like melody
Repeated on a string with graver tones-
Tones such as linger in a long farewell."
We have already remarked how beautiful is the description of Fe
dalma's dance on the Plaça. It thus concludes :—
"Swifter now she moves,
Filling the measure with a double beat
And widening circle; now she seems to glow
With more declaréd presence, glorified.
Circling, she lightly bends and lifts on high
The multitudinous-sounding tambourine,
And makes it ring and boom, then lifts it higher
Stretching her left arm beauteous; now the crowd
Exultant shouts, forgetting poverty
In the rich moment of possessing her."
Of the crisis of her fate Fedalma says:
"On the close-thronged spaces of the earth A battle rages: Fate has carried me
And when left alone with the tribe after Zarca's death
"I am but as the funeral urn that bears
The ashes of a leader."
Silva thus speaks of the sacrifice he made for her :
And loving dared-not Death the warrior,
But Infamy, that binds and strips and holds
The brand and lash."
And the Zincalo chief takes these views of life appropriate to his lofty character:
""Tis a vile life that like a garden pool
Lies stagnant in the round of personal loves;
That has no ear save for the tickling lute
Set to small measures-deaf to all the beats
Of that large music rolling o'er the world :
A miserable, petty, low-roofed life,
That knows the mighty orbits of the skies
Through nought save light or dark in its own cabin."
"The worst of miseries
Is when a nature framed for noblest things
Condemns itself in youth to petty joys,
And, sore athirst for air, breathes scanty life
Gasping from out the shallows."
In no part of this remarkable work is greater originality shown than in the songs which are frequently interspersed, one of which we have quoted. They are singularly graceful and musical, and we
will give two more specimens, in one of which a familiar idea is in vested with peculiar beauty-an excellent quality in a song-while the other is graver and grander.
"Warm whispering through the slender olive trees
Came to me a gentle sound,
Whispering of a secret found
In the clear sunshine 'mid the golden sheaves :
Said it was sleeping for me in the morn,
Called it gladness, called it joy,
Drew me on— -"Come hither, boy"
To where the blue wings rested on the corn.
I thought the gentle sound had whispered true-
Thought the little heaven mine,
Leaned to clutch the thing divine,
And saw the blue wings melt within the blue."
"Day is dying! Float, O song,
Down the westward river,
Requiem chanting to the Day-
Day, the mighty Giver.
"Pierced by shafts of Time he bleeds,
Melted rubies sending
Through the river and the sky,
Earth and heaven blending;
"All the long-drawn earthy banks
Up to cloud-land lifting:
Slow between them drifts the swan,
'Twixt two heavens drifting.
"Wings half open, like a flower
Inly deeper flushing,
Neck and breast as virgin's pure
Virgin proudly blushing.
"Day is dying! Float, O swan,
Down the ruby river;
Follow, song, in requiem
To the mighty Giver."
With this extract we will close our notice of a work which gives, in so notable a degree, poetical expression to deep thought. Probably few who read the specimens we have given will fail to share our
conviction that the author who holds so lofty a place among novelists, must also infallibly, and immediately, take high rank among Poets.
Abbot's Ann, the National School at,
614.
Abyssinian difficulty, sketch of the cir-
cumstances which led to it, 354 et seq.
-tactics of the Opposition regarding,
371.
ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION, LETTERS FROM
A STAFF-OFFICER WITH THE, Letter
I., 342-II., 357-III., 728-IV.,
738.
Abyssinian expedition, O'Dowd on the,
186 et seq.-details of the force com-
posing it, 742.
Abyssinian troops, appearance and char-
acter of the, 733.
Actors, disappearance of great, from the
stage, 469.
Aden, sketches at, 357.
Admiralty, the, their regulations with
regard to naval chaplains, 225.
AFGHAUN FORT, THE NIGHT WANDERER
OF AN, 91.
Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
implicated in the South Sea scheme,
430.
Alabama claims, position of Lord Stan-
ley and of Lord Russell regarding the,
AMERICA AND ENGLAND, THE EDUCA-
TION OF THE PEOPLE IN, 111.
America, the Irish in, 226.
AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, THE, AND
THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESI-
DENT, 707.
Aneiteum, the Presbyterian mission in,
37, 38.
Anne, state and dangers of England
under, 415.
Annesley Bay, aspect of, during the
Abyssinian expedition, 360.
Argyle, the Duke of, his motion on the
Kate-paying clause, 491.
Armour-plated vessels, O'Dowd on, 466.
ARMY AND NAVY, THE CHURCH IN THE,
251.
Ashangee, Lake, arrival of the Abyssin-
ian expedition at, &c., 745.
Auckland, New Zealand, missionary
establishment at, 40.
Austria, Church arrangements regarding
the army in, 273-the proposed sepa-
ration of Hungary from, 751.
Ava, the preparation of, in the South
Sea Islands, 30 et seq.
AYTOUN, WILLIAM EDMONDSTOUNE, 440.
Azuba Gallas, the, a Mohammedan tribe
in Abyssinia, 746.
Bacchus, Horace's Ode in honour of,
583.
Baden, priestly influence in, and its
effects, 294.
Balmoral, its original state, 245-the
new castle, 246.
Banks Islands, mission in, 39.
Barwell, Mr, supports Warren Hastings
in India, 160, 161.
Battersby, Dr, his decision as to posi-
tion of military chaplains, 252.
BATTLE FOR PLACE, THE, 488.
BELGRADE, WHAT I DID AT, 71.
Bentley's interpolations of Horace, on,
Beust, Baron, his voyage of discovery,
Biography, peculiar characteristics of,
Blair, the Queen at, 244.
Bobbery Pack, the (O'Dowd), 620.
Boissy, the Count de, O'Dowd on,
180.
Bon Gualtier Ballads, the, 443.
Bothwell, the publication of, 447.
Bright, Mr, his proposed remedy for
Irish grievances, 456.
BROWNLOWS-Part XIII., 42-conclu-
sion, 125.
Bruce, Mr, on national education in
England, 121.
Bunbury, the Haberdashers' School at,
Burke, E., his opinion of Sir P. Francis,
150.
Burke, influence of Francis with, as
regards the prosecution of Warren
Hastings, 162.
Burrows, Captain, on the national char-
acter of the English universities, 326.
Byron, Lord, his efforts on behalf of
Edmund Kean, 474.
Cairns, Lord, his answers to the Duke
of Argyle's attack on the Premier,
493 et seq.
Cameron, Captain, the Abyssinian con-
sul, 355.
Canada, prosperity of Irish in, 228.
CAROLINE, QUEEN OF GEORGE II.-a
historical sketch, 195.
Chaplain-General of the Forces, the,
258.
Charlemagne, relations of, with the
Papacy, 304.
CHARLES KEAN AND THE MODERN
STAGE, 469-decline of the stage, ib.
et seq.-his parentage, &c., 473-first
appearance on the stage, 476-his re-
ception in London and the country,
ib., 477-his marriage, 478, 480-
visit to the United States, and recep-
tion there, 478-death of his father
479-his fame established in London,
480-again in the United States, 481
-as lessee, &c., of the Princess's
Theatre, ib.-his Shakespearean re-
productions, 482-speech on his retir.
ing from the management, 483-visits
to Australia, &c., and reception there,
485 his death, ib.-character as an
actor, &c., 486.
Chesterfield, Lord, sketch of his career
and character, 511-effects of his posi-
tion on him, 512-birth and early life,
513-first appearance in Parliament,
514-attains the earldom, 515-em-
bassy to Holland, 517-his marriage,
ib.his extraordinary affection for
his son, 518 et seq. passim-his poli-
tical career, 519-his government in
Ireland, 520-his letters to his son,
527 et seq.-his death, 533.
Chloe, Horace's ode to, 592.
Christmas-day in a man-of-war, 351.
CHURCH, THE STATE IN ITS RELATION
WITH, MR GLADSTONE ON, 626.
CHURCH IN THE ARMY AND NAVY, THE,
Class interests and duties, Felix Holt
on, 4 et seq.
Classical education, the various objec-
tors to, 607.
Clavering, General, his connection with
Sir Philip Francis in India, 160, 161
et seq.
Clergy, general character of the, during
last century, 256.
Cocoa-nut palm, cultivation of, in the
South Sea Islands, 33.
Cole, Mr, his Life, &c., of Charles Kean,
Combe, George, on education in Ame-
rica, 112.
Compton, Sir Spencer, 202.
Coral-reefs of the Pacific, the, 34.
Cotton, culture of, in Samoa, 34.
COUNTRY GRAMMAR-SCHOOLS, 601.
Covent Garden Theatre, Mr Macready's
management of, 482.
Craggs, Secretary, and the South Sea
scheme, 425-his death, 430.
Craig, Mr, the ecclesiastical case of,
251.
Criticism, modern, characteristics of, 68.
Cromwell, first establishment of stand-
ing armies in England by, 253.
Crown, the, early connection of the Eng-
lish universities with, 329.
CYNICISM, MODERN, 62.
Danes, the, use of horse flesh by, 547.
Deadlock at Rome, the, 188.
Deak, the Hungarian Liberal, O'Dowd
on, 181.
Deities and worthies of Rome, Horace's
ode in celebration of the, 594.
Dellius, L., Horace's ode to, 581.
Derby, Lord, his retirement from the
Ministry, 488.
Dillenburger's edition of Horace, 396.
Disraeli, Mr, his accession to the Pre-
miership, 488-Lord Russell's attack
on his Edinburgh speech, 490.
Doering's edition of Horace, 396.
Dog, the native, of Abyssinia, 738.
Döllinger, Dr, on the English univer-
sities, 326.
Drama, universal complaint of its de-
cline, 469-causes of this, 472.
DREAMS IN THE INVALIDES, 756.
Ecclesiastical law, early denunciations
of horse-flesh by, and their origin,
547 et seq.
EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE IN ENGLAND
AND AMERICA, THE, 111.
Edward I. and III., the universities
under, 332.
ELIOT, GEORGE, THE SPANISH GYPSY
by, reviewed, 760.
Elizabethan era of the stage, the, 470.
Elliot, Sir Gilbert, on Sir P. Francis,
150.
England, state of, under Queen Anne,
415.
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