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^6 THE LEADEB, | l^o . 474, Ap ril 23. 1...
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DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH " LITERATURE. A Cr...
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THE BROAD ARROW. The Broad Arrow ; being...
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Hose-coloured Spectacles. A novel, in on...
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books ki:ci:ivei>. The Unitarian Pulpit....
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Cotton Suwly.— The adaptability oi Aubti...
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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.
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Literary Remainsliterary Remains} Comiat...
much . effort ? Mr . Jones apparently means ' ^ the in-| luence \ vili be seen \ vithoutmucn .. -effort on the part of his hearers . " His unfinished works have many such sentences . Even his finished works are disgraced by them . In his carefully prepared lecture we find such sentences as these :- — " The forms and modes of distributing the produce of their- 'lands and labour , adopted in the early stages of a people ' s progress , " , " In looking at the different nations of the world , we find them assisting . the industry of their actual population by very different quantities of such accumulated wealth . " The different nations of the world are identical with the " actual populations , " so that one can in no sense be said
to assist the other . Nations and actual populations are different names for the same things . We must say straight out that we never met with a book in which language was used with so little thought as to its customary meaning . As the work is put forth by the Master of Trinity , it is , we presume , one of the class of works , which he informs us the " Syndics of the Press belonging to the University " Cambridge take on themselves the expense of printing . " They printed thus , Mr . Jones ' s Essay on Rent . This is the mode , then , in whieli the renowned University of Cainbridge expends its great revenues , on incorrect thinking , expressed in incorrect language .
^6 The Leadeb, | L^O . 474, Ap Ril 23. 1...
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Dictionary Of English " Literature. A Cr...
DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH " LITERATURE . A Critical Dictionary of English Literature , and British and American Authors , Living and Deceased ; from the Earliest Accounts to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century . By S . Austin Allibone . Vol . I . pp . 1005 . Philadelphia : Childs and Peterson . London : Trubner . 1859 . It is no national shame upon us -when we admit that the work before us has no equal among books of the same kind , . compiled by English editors ; because Mr . Allibone confesses , and if he did not confess it would be obvious , that lie has made a
free use of the labours' -of Watt , Lowndes , indeed , of everv ~ bibliographical work of importance that has ever been published , either in England or America . The list of works referred to , given in the introduction , contains inany . hundreds of names ; and ,, indeed , it must be clear to any one who will give a moment ' s reflection to the matter , that that , which is after all ( with no disparagement be it said ) onl y a compilation could not be put together without a careful and industrious collection of materials from all imaginable sources . For this reason it cannot be said that because Mi * . Allibone has done more than his predecessors , he is
therecdnstracted upon a different plan : the names of celebrated persons were given , with the nature of their celebrity ; dates of birth and of death briefly noted , and then a list of all the works ( so far as the editor could collect . them ) containing any information respecting the person- named . __ This work , however , which took the range of all imaginable celebrities , only contained about 25 , 000 names \ whereas this volume of Allibone * which is confined to authors of England and America only , and which has only such as can be alphabetically arranged between A . and J , gives , as we have stated before , 17 , 000 names . It -may , perhaps , be asserted as an unexceptional
fact , that the first editions of all such works as these must be necessarily imperfect . They are only to be rendered -otherwise by constant correction and the slow accretion of facts ; and so vast is the field of literature—so brief the life of man— -that without the assistance of those criticisms and corrections , which the publication of the earlier editions always bring to an author , no work of this kind could ever come within any reasonable distance of perfectioril Having so much to work upon , and engaging the aid of such careful guides as Watt , Lowndes , and Chalmers , Mr . Allibone is pretty safe , so far as their labours are concerned : it is only when he comes to the more familiar , arid therefore less understood regions of ' contemporary . lite-.
rature , that his authority is not quite : so . Although he had the biographical section of Knight ^ s Cyclopaedia , and " Men of the Time " ( not a very reliable authority , it-. must . be admitted ) , to guide him , there are omissions under the head of English literature . Glancing over the pages , we . miss many such modern names as Sydney Dobell , Pierce Egan , John Clay , the " old Gaol Chaplain , " ¦ Stirling Coyne , Robert Brough . : " Scores of others might-be named . Still , it is wonderful what a mass of material has been got together , and what small reputations have not been forgotten : to the smaller of these fry , " Men of the Time " would , of course , liberally assist' the ¦ editor . ; for never surely was there a work in which so many . flies were carefully enclosed in amber , very much to the bewilderment of the unwary student .
From the observations which we have oflere . il , our readers will perceive that we have taken some pains hi examining this book ; and , niter having done so , we can conscientiously declare- that , taking it for ill 1 in all , it is the be $ t and most convenient book of the kind extant—the only one , in fact , which affords the kind of information which it contains . Its price , though , of course , not very small , is low enough to-place it within the reach of moderate collectors ; and it is * a proof of the consideration in which it is held in America that the sale is said to exceed already 12 , 000 copies .
Fore greater than them . A child may stand upon the shoulders of bis ancestor and say that he is bailer than grandpapa ; and it is clear that whatever credit may be due . to Mr . Allibone ( and that is no slight measure ) arises entirely from _ judgment with which ho has selected his materials , and the industry with which he has arranged them . We certainly entertain no more exalted idea of his labours when we learn from the prospectus that ' . ' the volume contains upwards of two millions of words , " and that "in bulk of typographical matter it is equal to thirteen volumes ( 470 pages each ) of Putnam ' s edition o $ ' Irving ' s works , or about fourteen vplume-fl of 1 ' rescott's , Bancroft ' s or Ilalliun ' s . Histories , Svo , ; " yet we do feel a great deal of respect and admiration for the industry of an editor who enn compress within little more than a thousand pnji'es * very fairly complete notices of not less than Hu ' vuntoen thousand different authors , whose initial letters range between A and J , and of all of whom biographical particulars are given , nnd some at very great length . Thus , wo find on oneuing tho volume at random , that more than tnrao doublo-column , closely-printed pages arc given to Beaumont nnd Fletcher a page aud a half to Fox ; a page to Sir Matthew Hale ; a page and a half to Gilbert Kurnot ; throe pages and a half to Bentley , tho scholar Jive pages and a half to Byron ; seven pages to Lord Bnoon ; whilst tho American authors are not neglected , since Edward Everett has throe pages and a half ; Bancroft two pages 5 and AVaslnugton Irving nine pages and a naif . Those aro , of course , exceptional casos i but tihey will servo to give homo idea of the oaro with which tho work has boon oxocmtori .
Perhaps tho moat oomphjte work of reference of this kinu which has boonpublishoil in Europe during the last ten years is the " Bibliagrapliloal-Biogniphioal Dictionary , " by Oo . ttip . ger . That , howovor , wna
The Broad Arrow. The Broad Arrow ; Being...
THE BROAD ARROW . The Broad Arrow ; being Passages from the History of Maida Gwynnham , a Lifer . I 3 y Olive Kecso . 2 vols . " "London : It . J 3 entley . It is a pity these volumes wore not submitted to the correction Qt' some judicious and experienced friend before publication . A good deal of tho improbable would have been , omitted ; the leading incidents would have been made move consistent with probability , nnd the style would have been pruned of that redundant affectation and sentiment which so largely disfigure tho work . It required u food deal of " tact to deal with convicts and convict life ; that tact has , to a certain extent , been wanting : but nevertheless there is much power evinced in the handling of the leading passugea and personages , and much insight afforded into convict life
and treatment in the penal colonies . Wo hope the pictures of severities to which convicts aro subjected aro overcharged' wo fear , howovor , there is too much truth at bottom , and wo foci assured that many of tho soonon in tho colony aro not mere ^ efforts of imagination , but have their foundation on Tacts and personal observation . Tho plot of " The Broad Arrow" i « full of improbabilities . A beautiful , haughty , and well-educated girl , falls a viutim to a gay , Hhallow , unprincipled military adventurer . She commits forgery under hid instruction . She i 9 taken up on tliut charge and on another mine charge of child-murder . To save her paramour she voluntarily wubmUtf to trial for the docpor offonco of cliild-niurdor . Who is found guilty on evidence that would not have HiUiwfiad even a Welsh jury , nnd is condemned to die . A reprieve is obtained by her reducer , and tho punishment in
commuted to transportation for life . Prom this point w-e gain an insight into convict habits 3 discipline ; this being perhaps the main desiaaof the authoress . Certainly this portion of " -The Broad Arrow " is the most readable and probable portion of the work . The trials and sufferings x > f thp guiltless Maida are well detailed : but we stumble upon improbabilities throughout her career . Her seducer marries ; this comes to her knowledge she does not seek the redress of an injured and innocent woman—she calmly puts up with her fearful
inland writes home to inform the reju'obate-who is the cause of her unmerited sufferings that she will keep silence on one condition only , namely , that he remains faithful to and treats his new wife- with ' tenderness . _ Of the death of Maida and the remorse and end of the seducer we shall say nothing a < r they but add to the catalogue of improbabilities all of which , as we have already said , migltf have been modified or avoided by judieiuius revision There is some very good writing , and , what is rarer , some novel situations and . characters , which redeem the work , and will probably cause it to be popular with that class of readers who like strong sensations . . °
Hose-Coloured Spectacles. A Novel, In On...
Hose-coloured Spectacles . A novel , in one volume : by Mary ' and Elizabeth . Kirby . '• ' ¦ James Blaekwood , This is a pleasant-. novel . It refreshes us somewhat in the manner of a fireside evening , after tossing on the ocean , or travelling through , dangerous localities . We have home scenes and domestic characters , and the lady authors have shown themselves quite up to their subject , and beyond it , in some respects . ' Take the character of Laura Melville , for instance . She is far out of the common run of novelists heroines , and we ' arc 1 almost inclined to quarrel with the literary ' twain for marrying her to a . common-place-like young spark as Arthur Roseiibu ' rgl . i . Such a clever , loveable , lovely , and downright heiress of . a rich miser was worthy , of tile most . stalwart , rinelychiselled . featured , manly-minded monster . of perfection to be found on -this or the' other side of the Atlantic . AVe hope to see something more from the dainty pen of these clever writers .
Books Ki:Ci:Ivei>. The Unitarian Pulpit....
books ki : ci : ivei > . The Unitarian Pulpit . A <> . " 24 . li . T \ Whittield , Cam-lVs Popular Natural History . No . 1 . Cassell , Pettur and Co . The 1-inances of Great Britain Considered . By Reuben Browning . Iliciiardson Brothers . Reuben Sterling ., a Tale of Scottish Life . By Samuel A . Cox . In 3 Vols . T . 0 . . \ cwby . Handy Book on this Law of Banhauj . By W . J . Lnwson . Etnngham Wilson . A Tour in Dalmatia , Albania , and Montenegro-It . Bcntley . Moore 1 ts Irish Melodies . No * . \) and . 10 . Longman and Co . : Woodloiyh , in 3 vols . Hurst and Blaekett Communinas upon Daily Texts . . Siiinprfon Low and Co , A Statistical Vieio of American Ayrieiilture . Triibner and Co . , , Tho North American Jleciew . No . 1 SS . ' tiiuiipson Low and Co . Tho Fine Artn ' ln Italy , t . T . Wliltflulil . A Volume of iSmoho , A . Hull , Virtue , and Co . A Si / nplo Interpretation of the Jfevrlathn . Tnllant and Co . Button ' s Dictionary of Unievrmd Infonnntlon . Parts 1 to 0 . M . O . Bolton . That ' s it . Ilouldton oni WHglit . , Who wa . i Sold at the Bubblcton JSlfvlion . W . Ivcut Thb / Veto Apwttaa s or , Irvingtem . Jha Wnakwoocl . Don Pasijuala ; te Serenade ( Music ) - Leon wiu l-o .
Cotton Suwly.— The Adaptability Oi Aubti...
Cotton Suwly . — The adaptability oi Aubtio a and South Africa to tho growth of uutioii o " >? moat useful , as well as tho Jlnuui qnulii oh , h i liccu boyonU doubt , by tho sainplvs now m '' J ' ! lltl V > , ,, cotton ruuontly grown intliosu loeuliiuu . i " \ ' ^' . Supply Ilvportvr ( issuod by tho A '' ' > lluslo ^ ;; fE 0 tio . ) of fcJuturday , publlahoB iurtl . oi ; «» rruH | .. 0 noe ruoolvod from both thesu colonk >» . The ^» vt'i noj of Sydney , Sir William Donlaon , tukim « i » t « u " tf JJJ , soiwl interest in the qupBtlon of i » n ; in » i »» , I o cm tivution oi ' oqtton in Australia , ami ¦ l ' 10111 ' ^ * " .. ^ Seott , ol ' . Nutul , is doing all In Ills nnwur o > « thoBmno objoot at tho dpo . 1 ' rlva o u . tli > is and cultlvulora in bolli countrloa » ru unn J , » J ntlunilun to cotton culture , ami » vo lonn » " laboururu liavo boun oiigugotl touyuiiui . » icot . iiu >««' nt ltoukhatnntoLi , In AuHtmlin .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 23, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23041859/page/14/
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