We read Zanoni with pleasure, because magic
is natural. It is implied in all superior culture that a complete
man would need no auxiliaries to his personal presence. The eye and
the word are certainly subtler and stronger weapons than either money
or knives. Whoever looked on the hero, would consent to his will,
being certified that his aims were universal, not selfish; and he
would be obeyed as naturally as the rain and the sunshine are. For
this reason, children delight in fairy tales. Nature is described in
them as the servant of man, which they feel ought to be true. But
Zanoni pains us, and the author loses our respect, because he
speedily betrays that he does not see the true limitations of the
charm; because the power with which his hero is armed, is a toy,
inasmuch as the power does not flow from its legitimate fountains in
the mind; is a power for London; a divine power converted into a
burglar's false key or a highwayman's pistol to rob and kill with.
But Mr. Bulwer's recent stories have given us, who do not read
novels, occasion to think of this department of literature, supposed
to be the natural fruit and expression of the age.
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