Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845

In Short

This volume of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine functions as a curated miscellany of its time, balancing heavy-handed literary scholarship with dispatches from the front lines of colonial administration and the fringes of pseudo-science. It offers readers a multifaceted view of the 1845 worldview, where one might move from a dense analysis of John Dryden’s Shakespearean adaptations to a curious report on the “mesmeric” influence of a steady gaze. The magazine has endured as a primary source for understanding how the British intelligentsia processed their rapidly expanding, interconnected world.

The Story

The magazine begins with a grand scholarly inquiry into the nature of criticism, framing it as a “kingly protector” of poetry—a way for the self-conscious mind to tame disorderly passions. This intellectual rigor is immediately tested by a critical autopsy of John Dryden, who is accused of "sacrilege" for altering Shakespeare. The editors treat the act of editing the Bard as a form of moral failing, lamenting how Dryden’s revisions stripped away the "veritable Shakspearean gold" to leave behind "pewter."

The tone shifts abruptly from the library to the dreamscape of European poetry. Readers are treated to a translation of Goethe, followed by a haunting, atmospheric ballad about a skeleton climbing a church tower to reclaim its shroud. This descent into the macabre serves as a prelude to a series of travel-focused accounts that bridge the gap between Europe and the wider world. The narrative moves through the political volatility of Spain, where the noble Countess Mina displays courage amidst a chaotic palace coup, before jumping to the rugged, fortress-like landscape of Aden.

The scope then widens to the shifting demographics of Alexandria, where the ancient world meets the speculative building projects of modern developers. This global movement is punctuated by a foray into the controversial science of the day: mesmerism. Here, the text explores the "curative effects" and mysterious perceptions of those under hypnotic influence, attempting to reconcile these phenomena with scientific principles of the era.

The final segments ground these lofty subjects in the mundane and the sociological. A biting social critique of the "bonnet mania" highlights the Victorian obsession with fashion as a symptom of cultural mimicry, specifically mocking the English peasantry for abandoning their national dress. The volume concludes with a sweeping historical reflection on the difference between the American Revolution—described as a measured assertion of majority—and the violent, primal eruption of Mexican independence, which is likened to a "caged tiger" finally turning on its keeper. These final pages serve to contrast the perceived stability of the British Empire with the turbulent volatility of the nations emerging across the Atlantic.

How It Unfolds

The literary mandate The editors establish the necessity of criticism, arguing that reason must guard the "impaled territory" of the imagination against the strife of modern opinion. They define the critic as a guardian of the soul's proper strength.

The critique of the masters The focus shifts to a forensic examination of Dryden’s Troilus and Cressida. The text argues that Dryden committed a form of artistic violence, replacing Shakespeare’s wisdom with "fustian" and buffoonery.

The translation of the macabre The rhythm of the magazine changes with the inclusion of Goethe’s verse. The eerie ballad of the skeleton and the shroud provides a stark contrast to the analytical prose, showcasing the magazine’s penchant for the supernatural.

The geopolitical survey The narrative moves into the field, detailing the political instability of Spain and the strategic importance of the Aden colony. These accounts highlight the "anomalies" and inconsistent nature of foreign governance, often summarized by the phrase Cosas de Espana.

The mesmeric hypothesis The text turns to the experimental, investigating the physical influence of the human eye. It proposes a theory of an "ethereal medium" to explain how mesmerised subjects perceive objects through opaque barriers, attempting to bridge the gap between the physical and the metaphysical.

The sociological conclusion The volume rounds off with observations on fashion and colonial history. It critiques the mimicry inherent in European headgear and draws a final, sharp contrast between the orderly birth of the United States and the chaotic struggles for power in Mexico.

The People

The figures in this collection are often presented as archetypes or case studies rather than intimate portraits. John Dryden acts as the antagonist of literary purity, a man whose "insolent" handling of Shakespeare invites the righteous indignation of the editor. Shakespeare, conversely, is held up as the gold standard of natural genius, a man who required no "spectacles of books" to understand human nature.

In the travel reports, the Countess Mina emerges as a figure of steel, her "noble and serious" manner marking her as the ideal of a lady in a time of political siege. She is contrasted with the Léperos of Mexico, who are described with a detached, almost clinical pity, representing the extreme end of the social spectrum—a class that possesses nothing and lives in the dust of history. Johann, the Swiss peasant featured in the mesmeric experiments, serves as a blank slate; his "unimaginative" and "mild-tempered" nature is essential to the author’s argument, as it proves that the effects of mesmerism are not merely the result of a suggestible, histrionic mind. Finally, the wandering warder of the ghost story serves as an Everyman caught in a nightmarish encounter with the physical manifestation of death, emphasizing the thin, fragile boundary between the living world and the unknown.

In Its Own Voice

"CRITICISM opens to us the poetry we possess; and, like a magnanimous kingly protector, shelters and fosters all its springing growths."

The magazine defines its own editorial philosophy by positioning the critic as a necessary guardian of the arts.

"Bits of veritable Shakspearean gold, burnished star-bright, embossed in pewter! Diamonds set in dirt!"

This vivid imagery highlights the editors' visceral reaction to what they perceive as the degradation of classic literature.

"As to any body attempting to divine what will be the next move upon the Spanish chessboard, it is out of the question, and nobody who knows the character of the people will attempt to do it."

The writer expresses the frustration of the Victorian observer attempting to impose logic upon foreign political volatility.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this magazine is about the struggle for order in a world that feels increasingly fragmented. Whether the editors are defending the sanctity of Shakespeare’s text, analyzing the erratic political shifts in Spain, or trying to measure the "mesmeric ether" with scientific instruments, they are searching for a system—a set of rules that can categorize and explain the human experience. It is a work preoccupied with the tension between the "divine instincts" of the past and the "reason" of the modern age. The underlying question is whether human intelligence can truly master its own environment, or if we are forever subject to the "caprices" of fashion, the "fury" of political upheaval, and the "inexplicable" laws of nature.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the slow, deliberate pace of nineteenth-century prose will find this volume deeply rewarding. It feels like a long conversation in a quiet, book-lined study, where the topics drift naturally from the profound to the trivial. You will appreciate the sheer confidence of the writing; these authors do not hedge their bets, delivering sharp moral judgments on poets and politicians alike with equal fervor.

However, the modern reader must be prepared for the period’s particular blind spots. The descriptions of colonial subjects and the dismissal of non-European customs reflect the era’s rigid, often paternalistic, racial and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, the prose can be dense, laden with classical allusions and the occasionally stiff, academic sentence structure typical of the 1840s. The fascination with mesmerism might also strike today’s reader as quaint, if not entirely bizarre. Yet, there is a genuine thrill in encountering a voice from 1845 that is so urgently trying to make sense of its own "modern" world. If you value historical authenticity over polished, contemporary narratives, you will find this collection to be an invaluable, if occasionally challenging, artifact. It stays with you not for its accuracy, but for its honest, unvarnished reflection of a society trying to map the edges of its own understanding.