Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880. by Various None (smart ebook reader .txt) 📕

Intensity Of Compressed Expression." So Speaks Verplanck,  And His

Utterance Is Endorsed By Richard Grant White.

Such Being The Facts,  It Is Clear That Shakespeare Treated His Dramas As

Guido Did The _Cleopatra_,  Which He Would Not Let Leave His Studio Till

Ten Years After The Non-Artistic World Deemed That Portrait Fully

Finished. Meantime,  The Painter In Moments Of Inspiration Was Pencilling

His Canvas With Curious Touches,  Each Approximating Nearer His Ideal. So

The Poet Sought To Find Out Acceptable Words,  Or What He Terms "An Army

Of Good Words." He Poured His New Wine Into New Bottles,  And Never Was

At Rest Till He Had Arrayed His Ideas In That Fitness Of Phrase Which

Comes Only By Fits.

Had He Survived Fifty Years Longer,  I Suppose He Would To The Last Have

Been Perfecting His Phrases,  As We Read In dionysius Of Halicarnassus

That Plato Up To The Age Of Eighty-One Was "Combing And Curling,  And

Weaving And Unweaving,  His Writings After A Variety Of Fashions."

Possibly,  The Great Dramatist Would At Last Have Corrected One Of His

Couplets As A Modern Commentator Has Done For Him,  So That It Would

Stand,

  Find _Leaves_ On Trees,  _Stones_ In The Running Brooks,

  Sermons In _Books_,  And _All_ In everything.

To Speak Seriously With A Writer In The _Encyclopaedia Britannica:_ "His

Manner In diction Was Progressive,  And This Progress Has Been Deemed So

Clearly Traceable In His Plays That It Can Enable Us To Determine Their

Chronological Sequence." The Result Is,  That While Other Authors Satiate

And Soon Tire Us,  Shakespeare'S Speech For Ever "Breathes An

Indescribable Freshness."

                Age Cannot Wither

  Nor Custom Stale His Infinite Variety.

In The Last Line I Have Quoted There Is A Apa? ?E?? Mue?A But It Is A Word

Which I Think You Would Hardly Guess. It Is The Last Word--_Variety_.

On Every Average Page Of Shakespeare You Are Greeted And Gladdened By At

Least Five Words That You Never Saw Before In His Writings,  And That You

Never Will See Again,  Speaking Once And Then For Ever Holding Their

Peace--Each Not Only Rare,  But A Nonsuch--Five Gems Just Shown,  Then

Snatched Away. Each Page Is Studded With Five Stars,  Each As Unique As

The Century-Flower,  And,  Like The Night-Blooming Cereus,  "The Perfume

And Suppliance Of A Minute"--_Ipsa Varietate Variora_. The Mind Of

Shakespeare Was Bodied Forth As Montezuma Was Apparelled,  Whose Costume,

However Gorgeous,  Was Never Twice The Same. Hence The Shakespearian

Style Is Fresh As Morning Dew And Changeful As Evening Clouds,  So That

We Remain For Ever Doubtful In Relation To His Manner And His Matter,

Which Of Them Owes The Greater Debt To The Other. The Shakespearian

Plots Are Analogous To The Grouping Of Raphael,  The Characters To The

Drawing Of Michael Angelo,  But The Word-Painting Superadds The Coloring

Of Titian. Accordingly,  In Studying Shakespeare'S Diction I Should Long

Ago Have Said,  If I Could,  What I Read In arthur Helps,  Where He Treats

Of A Perfect Style--That "There Is A Sense Of Felicity About It,

Declaring It To Be The Product Of A Happy Moment,  So That You Feel It

Will Not Happen Again To That Man Who Writes The Sentence,  Nor To Any

Other Of The Sons Of Men,  To Say The Like Thing So Choicely,  Tersely,

Mellifluously And Completely."

In The Central Court Of The Neapolitan Museum I Saw Grape-Clusters,

Mouldings,  Volutes,  Fingers And Antique Fragments Of All Sorts Wrought

In Rarest Marble,  Lying Scattered On The Pavement,  Exposed To Sun And

Rain,  Cast Down The Wrong Side Up,  And As It Were Thrown Away,  As When

The Stones Of The Jewish Sanctuary Were Poured Out In every Street.

Nothing Reveals The Sculptural Opulence Of Italy Like This Apparent

Wastefulness. It Seems To Proclaim That Italy Can Afford To Make

Nothing Of What Would Elsewhere Be Judged Worthy Of Shrines. We Say To

Ourselves,  "If Such Be The Things She Throws Away,  What Must Be Her

Jewels?" A Similar Feeling Rises In Me While Exploring Shakespeare'S

Prodigality In apa? ?E?? Mue?A. His Exchequer Appears More Exhaustless

Than The Bank Of England.

James D. Butler.

An Episode Of Spanish Chivalry.

Don Quijote'S Readers Are Aware Of The Enormous Popularity Of The

Romances Of Chivalry,  But They Are Apt To Imagine That These Represent A

Purely Ideal State Of Things. This Is Undoubtedly The Case As Far As

Knight-Errantry Is Concerned,  But Certain Distinctive Habits And Customs

Of Chivalry Prevailed In Spain And Elsewhere Long After The Feudal

System And The Earlier And Original Form Of Chivalry Had Passed Away.

One Of The Most Curious Instances Of This Survival Of Chivalry Occurred

In Spain In The First Half Of The Fifteenth Century,  And After

Commanding The Admiration Of Europe Furnished Don Quijote With An

Admirable Argument For The Existence Of Amadis Of Gaul And His Long Line

Of Successors. The Worthy Knight Had Been Temporarily Released From His

Confinement In The Enchanted Cage,  And Had Begun His Celebrated Reply To

The Canon'S Statement That There Had Never Been Such Persons As Amadis

And The Other Knights-Errant,  Nor The Absurd Adventures With Which The

Romances Of Chivalry Abound. Don Quijote'S Answer Is A Marvellous

Mixture Of Sense And Nonsense: The Creations Of The Romancer'S Brain Are

Placed Side By Side With The Cid,  Juan De Merlo And Gutierre Ouijada,

Whose Names Were Household Words In Spain: "Let Them Deny Also That Don

Fernando De Guerara Went To Seek Adventures In Germany,  Where He Did

Combat With Messer George,  Knight Of The Household Of The Duke Of

Austria. Let Them Say That The Jousts Of Sucro De Quinones,  Him Of The

Pass,  Were A Jest."

It Is To These Jousts,  As One Of The Most Characteristic Episodes Of The

Reign Of John Ii. And Of The Times,  That We Wish To Call Attention.[4]

On The Evening Of Friday,  The 1St Of January,  1434,  While The King And

His Court Were At Medina Del Campo And Engaged In The Rejoicings

Customary On The First Day Of The New Year,  Suero De Quinones And Nine

Knights Clad In White Entered The Saloon,  And,  Coming Before The Throne,

Kissed The Hands And Feet Of The King,  And Presented Him Through Their

Herald With A Petition Of Which The Following Is The Substance:

"It Is Just And Reasonable For Those Who Are In confinement Or Deprived

Of Their Freedom To Desire Liberty; And Since I,  Your Vassal And

Subject,  Have Long Been In durance To A Certain Lady--In Witness Whereof

I Bear This Chain About My Neck Every Thursday--Now,  Therefore,  Mighty

Sovereign,  I Have Agreed Upon My Ransom,  Which Is Three Hundred Lances

Broken By Myself And These Knights,  As Shall More Clearly Hereafter

Appear--Three With Every Knight Or Gentleman (Counting As Broken The

Lance Which Draws Blood) Who Shall Come To A Certain Place This Year; To

Wit,  Fifteen Days Before And Fifteen Days After The Festival Of The

Apostle St. James,  Unless My Ransom Shall Be Completed Before The Day

Last Mentioned. The Place Shall Be On The Highway To Santiago,  And I

Hereby Testify To All Strange Knights And Gentlemen That They Will

There Be Provided With Armor,  Horses And Weapons. And Be It Known To

Every Honorable Lady Who May Pass The Aforesaid Way That If She Do Not

Provide A Knight Or Gentleman To Do Combat For Her,  She Shall Lose Her

Right-Hand Glove. All The Above Saving Two Things--That Neither Your

Majesty Nor The Constable Don Alvaro De Luna Is To Enter The Lists."

After The Reading Of This Petition The King Took Counsel With His Court

And Granted It,  For Which Quinones Humbly Thanked Him,  And Then He And

His Companions Retired To Disarm Themselves,  Returning Shortly After In

Dresses More Befitting A Festal Occasion.

After The Dancing The Regulations For The Jousts,  Consisting Of

Twenty-Two Chapters,  Were Publicly Read. In addition To The Declarations

In The Petition,  It Is Provided That In case Two Or More Knights Should

Come To Ransom The Glove Of Any Lady,  The First Knight Only Will Be

Received,  And No One Can Ransom More Than One Glove. In The Seventh

Chapter Quinones Offers A Diamond To The First Knight Who Appears To Do

Combat For One Of Three Ladies To Be Named By Him,  Among Whom Shall Not

Be The One Whose Captive He Is. No Knight Coming To The Pass Of Honor

Shall Select The Defender With Whom To Joust,  Nor Shall He Know The Name

Of His Adversary Until The Combat Is Finished; But Any One After

Breaking Three Lances May Challenge By Name Any One Of The Defenders,

Who,  If Time Permits,  Will Break Another Lance With Him. If Any Knight

Desires To Joust Without Some Portion Of His Armor Named By Quinones,

His Request Shall Be Granted If Reason And Time Permit. No Knight Will

Be Admitted To The Lists Until He Declare His Name And Country. If Any

One Is Injured,  "As Is Wont To Happen In Jousts," He Shall Be Treated As

Though He Were Quinones Himself,  And No One In The Future Shall Ever Be

Held Responsible For Any Advantage Or Victory He May Have Gained Over

Any Of The Defenders Of The Pass. No One Going As A Pilgrim To Santiago

By The Direct Road Shall Be Hindered By Quinones Unless He Approach The

Aforesaid Bridge Of Orbigo (Which Was Somewhat Distant From The

Highway). In case,  However,  Any Knight,  Having Left The Main Road,

Shall Come To The Pass,  He Shall Not Be Permitted To Depart Until He Has

Entered The Lists Or Left In Pledge A Piece Of His Armor Or Right Spur,

With The Promise Never To Wear That Piece Or Spur Until He Shall Have

Been In Some Deed Of Arms As Dangerous As The Pass Of Honor. Quinones

Further Pledges Himself To Pay All Expenses Incurred By Those Who Shall

Come To The Pass.

Any Knight Who,  After Having Broken One Or Two Lances,  Shall Refuse To

Continue,  Shall Lose His Armor Or Right Spur As Though He Had Declined

To Enter The Lists. No Defender Shall Be Obliged To Joust A Second Time

With Any One Who Had Been Disabled For A Day In any Previous Encounter.

The Twenty-First Chapter Provides For The Appointment Of Two Knights,

"_Caballeros Anliguos E Probados En Annas E Dignas De Fe_," And Two

Heralds,  All Of Whom