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498 _____ _jrHB XjEAI)EIl. [No. i2G, Kay...
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^ . J. " 3LlimiIlirr*
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. ' ¦ ' ' • ? ¦ - . ' . '¦ ' OrihLCsare ...
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A'coubesponbest writes to us defending t...
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We have always thought and said that the...
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Tho reproduction of MouAik's Don Jti/m a...
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COUNTRY LIF.E IN PLKLmONT. Country Life ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
498 _____ _Jrhb Xjeai)Eil. [No. I2g, Kay...
498 _____ _ jrHB XjEAI ) EIl . [ No . i 2 G , Kay 22 , 1 ^ 8 .
^ . J. " 3llimiilirr*
iltotov .
. ' ¦ ' ' • ? ¦ - . ' . '¦ ' Orihlcsare ...
. ' ¦ ' ' ? ¦ - . ' . '¦ ' OrihLCsare notthe legislators , but the judgea and police oflitcrature . They do not makelaws—they interpret and try to enforce them .. —Edinburoh Bevieto .
A'Coubesponbest Writes To Us Defending T...
A'coubesponbest writes to us defending the word sensite , and other barbarisms condemned in our notice of the North British Review last week . His defence , in substance , amounts to this : that the greater part of our philosoplueal vocabulary being of foreign origin , any writer is at liberty to make as many new words as lie pleases on the analogy of the old , and that instead of condemning such -private tokens as base money , we ought to accept them witli thankfulness as sterling coin . We must plead guilty to the ingratitude arid even immodesty he implicitly charges \ is with . "Is it modest / ' lie singularly enough , inquires , " thus to look a gift horse in the mouth ? " We arc not affected by the delicacy of the appeal , and agree with Chaklks Lamb that if the beast is " a sorry 3 £ osinante 3 a lean , ill-favoured jade , whom no
gentleman could think of setting up in .- his stables , " the proverb which urges its acceptance is a popular fallacy . Bat it is riglit that such , a powerful reasoner , suck a delicate and discerning critic should have the opportunity of speaking for himself , aud we therefore give the paragrap h ' containing his remonstrance . " The word seiisile" lie says , "is alone the proper one in speaking of the senses philosophically or scientifically . ' Sensuous , ' -which you supply , is preoccupied by the appetites , and ' sensible , ' by the famous common sense of par . people ;; both , ypukuow , not quite synonymous with science or philosophy . So with edifying , ' ' synthetize , ' and . many otli & rs . Why , ia fact , not synthetize ' as well as ' aaalize' or ' criticize' ? Besides , in principle , since all our furniture of this higher order is innovation ( although no doubt superfluous ) upon our
Anglo-Saxon stock , are we logical in straining at the gnat of adaptation ? Is it modest thus to look a ' gift ' horse In the mouth , -when the grounds would have ,-moreover ,- made the whole gift impossible ? " It can be scarcely necessary , so far-as ¦ the .- 'majority of our readers are concerned , to correct the blunders and misconceptions of this passage , but in courtesy to our correspondent we niay point out a few . Taking the last part first , our philosophical vocabulary' i ^ no t an i nnova t n , but au . essential element of the language . English has a double root , Teutonic and Latin , the Anglo-Saxon representing the one branch , Nornian-JFrencb . the other ^ and the words derived from the latter source are as thoroughly English as those belonging to the former . And the philosophical terms thus obtained ,
so far from , being " superfluous , " are indispensable . It would be impossible to express the higher abstractions of the intellect without their help . From this double source we have a tongue peculiarly rich and expressive for the purposes both of the philosopher and the poet , and it behoves us to guard the heritage with jealous care . It is the Queen ' s English , and no new word can . pass current unless it hears the royal stamp of recognized necessity , and is issued from some authoritative mint . Our correspondent seems to suppose that we object to the forms in question because they belong to the Latin rather than the Teutonic branch of the language . Not at all . We should ohject to needless importations or adaptations from the Saxon just as much as from tlte Latin . "We object to them simply because they arc not
English . If every one were allowed to introduce new terms at will , merely to gratify a personal whim or to meet some imaginary deficiency , the language would soon become hopelessly corrupt . Adopting our correspondent ' s " principle , " and following out his "logical" precedence , any one might sit down and in a short time manufacture a hundred new verbs , such as " analogize /' " neologize , " " philologize , " and the like , nil of which , according to him , we ought to receive with thankfulness . With due deference to the opinion of such a competent judge , we respectfully decline to do so . But he is as unfortunate in detail as in principle , the particular word he champions being needless , and
the reasons he offers for its introduction erroneous . Hc ~ intimates that we need semilc to express the undisturbed action of the senses , " sensuous " toeing preoccupied by the appetites . But this is by no means true . " Sensual " is the term appropriated to the appetites , " sensuous" being wholly free from any such degrading and disabling association . It is , in fact , the precise word that is wanted , standing just midway between " sensual" on the one hand and " sensible" on the other , the former too much identified with the appetites and the latter with the intellect , to ex-prcss with philosophical precision the undisturbed action of the senses .
Without pausing to criticize our correspondent ' s style , or to comment on his eulogium of the Reviewers , which ho admires to the point of imitation , we simply repeat our protest against the fabrication of unnecessary words . Proved necessity and authoritative sanction arc indispensable to the acceptance of new terms ; but in the present case the novelties arc needless , and tho writer ¦ w ho uses them is unknown . The inilucncc of an isolated position , or tho development of national and individual character , is notorious . In the absence of any standard of comparison we naturally tend to form au overweening opinion of ourselves , to cultivate a spirit not only of self-reliance , hut of self-esteem and self-assertion also . Our insular peculiarities as a nation arc amongst tin ; common-plncc of European polite society , The national pride of a true-bom Kiiglishinnu is , however , as nothing compared with tho national pridt ; of a genuine Manx . The insular peculiarities of tho British nation arc exaggerated to tho extreme point of
caricature in the favoured island of Man . The circular of a society . r « cenilv I ' on ucd in the island , and which has fallen into our hands , affords the most decisive a well as the most amusing proof of this . The very title of thc .-socieiy was \\ itself a surprise—" The Manx Society for Publication of National Documents of the . Isle of Man . " Our education had been so neglected that wc Vcre startled to Jiud an independent nation so near our own borders . As we read ' however , our state of geographical and historical-. darkness appeared more and more clearly at every line , until at length we wondered where . -we . could havc lived to have remained so long in ignorance of the foremost nation of Europe According- to the circular of the society , the isle or kingdom of Man is I he most important spot , the central point , in interest , dignity , and influence ,. not om \ - amongst the British Isles , but in Europe—the centre of modern civilization " the very omphalos of the world . Any abstract of ours would but poorly re ' , present the eloquence aud learning of the original document . Quo ! at ion alone can do justice to the magnificent flourish of . trumpets that inaugurates 1 he new
society :- < - . The Chief of- " the multitude of Isles , " sat . ' ollitos to Great Britain and Ireland , lia , s local peculiarities of the most interesting anil important nature . It is an umwhaiistta field to the Antiquary and the Statesman , —the man of the past and of the futureof conservatism and of progress . Inhabited by tin aboriginal tribe of the'great'Celtic family , with language , institutions , and laws peculiar-to itself , —never united to Scotland , Ireland , or lingland , —to this'day a separate realm , independent of tho Imperial Parliament , and under its native and aboriginal Legislature , —with a singular relation between its church and state , —having-, as Lord Coke says , " such laws the like ¦ whe reof are not to be found in any other place , " so that " if the ancient discipline of the Church were lost , " said Chancellor King , " it might be found ia all its purity ' iii the Isle of 3 Ian , " surely this island has peculiar claims to have tho light of Catholic publicity at length cast upon all its' documents and peculiarities . It was not in jest merely that Burke , speaking to Dr- Johnson and Boswell about ' n . -vi-iit to tliii Isle , used the famous line of Pope , — "The proper study of mankind is Man . "
In plain prose the objects' of the society arc to collect and preserve all materials for illustrating the history , language , and . literature : of the island . These objects are really important , " and if the society will be content . ' \ vitli endeavouring to secure them in the most efficient manner it must do good service bo ill to history and philology . The Manx language is a dialect of the Celtic as yet very imperfectly illustrated . If the society \ yill eolli-ct the genuine remains of the dialect still existing in the island , and carefully note its differences as spoken north and south in . the island , it will directly help to elucidate an obscure but important branch of 'British , philology ,. and iiidirccth throw light on early British history .
We Have Always Thought And Said That The...
We have always thought and said that the most lasting , because the most vital , alliance between two . great countries like France and England is thu alliance of the brain and heart ; of the free thought rather ' -than '' of the official tape ; of the pens . rather than the swords . " It is ever r-liocring to note a sign of this rare intellectual brotherhood of two great nations which , foreign to each other in . blood , language , laws , and forms <>!'' government , are' , nevertheless , ' the twin torch-bearers of civilization . Au eminent French cvitic , writing , in the Siccle the other day , . mentioned , as one of the paradoxes of literary history , the singular fact that " the most French book of the most French epoch , " The 'Memoirs of the Chevalier dc Grain .-uu .-il , shoulil have been written by an Englishman :
In out own days , M . Fnxilc De-lord goes on to say , " it is ai ^ ain another Englishman who has just published the most complete and .. substantial monograph mi Montaign * -which the author of the Essays has yet inspired . Ia the present instance , it is true , the prodigy is less great , fi > r the work of which we ppi ;; ilc is not \ vrili < Mi iu French . Nevertheless , one would suppose it " \ vus written by a ( . oiintryin . 'in <> t" ours , from its rare qualities of clearness in the method , choice in tho details , and philosophy in the general structure . ... A veritable university thesis for its science , an iva . 'cllent historical study , a precious commentary for the philosophical : ind literary artist , this complete work fills a surprising void in French literature . Let us be rosi ^ nod U owe it to an Englishman . " Surel y this is high praise of an English writer from a French critic- ; but the many delighted readers of tho ftior / mpfiy ofMoufai / j / ia tho . Essayist will , we arc ready to believe , heartily endorses a generous and disinterested eulogy .
Tho Reproduction Of Mouaik's Don Jti/M A...
Tho reproduction of MouAik ' s Don Jti / m at . tho Theat ro-1 'Vanc . ai :- ; ha * hceu quite an event in the higher literary and dramatic circles in 1 'ari . - ; . l > has made a si ir among all the critics and etij » -i / , s forts . 'With Histoim ' s / ' // -V / v , it has occupied literary conversation in the French capita ! for i-onir day * . M . Victor Cousin is preparing an edition of the play with notes , ami In has been observed following the actors with the proofs of his new volume '" 'I | S hands . As now acted , the play is , we hoar , something unique : ; and KiMiMKR ' s Sf / anurriU > especially is spoken of as admirable iu conception , and in finished and powerful characterization : in all respects worthy of tho reputation of tin '' accomplished artist whose zeal and intelligence an aetor ami Profess ' ir , shine equally conspicuous in the theatre and the Conservatoire , and whose i xivlh'iil qualities of head and heart endear him to ah who have : tho happiiiib . s ol li ' acquaintance in public and private , life .
Country Lif.E In Plklmont. Country Life ...
COUNTRY LIF . E IN PLKLmONT . Country Life lit . Piedmont , liy Antonio ( jullcnga , Author of "History ofl'li'diiionl-• Chapman ai' < l "all-It is acildom that a book like this comes from an Ilulinn pun . H < :. » i >!; iiiih not : i pjigu of rhapsody . Al . Galh . 'nga thinks ho is purlonning : \ ^ oinl woi'U ia delivering to h is country men a lecture full of severity and sarcasm . J ^ ° "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051858/page/18/
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