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eminent respectability ) that there was enough of splendid rubbish in his life to cover up and paralyze a more active and subtile conscience than the judge was ever troubled with . The purity ot his judicial character , while on the bench ; the faithfulness of his public service in subsequent capacities ; his devotedness to his party , and the rigid consistency with which he had adhered to its principles , or , at all events , kept pace with its organized movements ; his remarkable zeal as president of a Bible society ; his unimpeachable integrity , as treasurer of a widows ' and orphans' fund ; his benefits to horticulture , by
producing two much-esteemed varieties of the pear , and to agriculture , through the agency of the famous Pyneheon-bull ; the cleanliness-of his moral deportment , for a great many years past ; the severity with which he had frowned upon , and finally cast off , an expensive and dissipated son , delaying forgiveness until within the final quarter of an hour of the young inan ' slife ; his prayers at morning and eventide , and graces at meal-time ; his efforts in furtherance of the temperance cause ; his confining himself , since the last attack of the gout , to five diurnal glasses of old sherry wine ; the snowy whiteness of his linen , the polish of his boots , the handsomeness of his goldheaded cane , the square and roomy fashion of his
coat and the fineness of its material , and , m general , the studied propriety of his dress and equipment ; the scrupulousness with which he paid public notice in the street , by a bow , aliftingof the hat , a nod , or a motion of the hand , to all and sundry his acquaintances , rich or poor ; the smile of broad benevolence wherewith he made it a point to gladden the whole world : ¦ what room could possibly be found for darker traits , in a portrait made up of lineaments like these ? This proper face was what he beheld in the looking-glass . This admirably arranged life was what he was conscious of , in the progress of every day . Then might not he claim to be itsresult and sum , and say to himseli and the community— ' Behold Judge Fyncheon there' !
" And allowing that many , many years ago , in his early and reckless youth , he had committed some one wrong act—or , that , even now , the inevitable force of circumstances should occasionally make him do one questionable deed , among a thousand praiseworthy , or at least blameless ones—would you characterise the judge by that one necessary deed , and that half-forgotten act , and let it overshadow the fair aspect of a lifetime ? What is there so ponderous in evil , that a thumb ' s bigness of it should outweigh
the mass of things not evil which were heaped into the other scale ! This scale and balance system is a favourite one with people of Judge Pyncheon ' s brotherhood . A hard , cold man , thus unfortunately situated , seldom or never looking inward , and resolutely taking his idea of himself from what purports to be his image as reflected in the mirror of public opinion , can scarcely arrive at true self-knowledge , except through loss of property and reputation . Sickness will not always help him to it ; not always the death-hour" !
Sometimes a remark or an aphorism arrests the eye , from its truth or its felicity of expression , as " Next to the lightest heart the heaviest is apt to be most playful , " which strikes us as both new and t ue . Again : — " There crre chaotic , blind , or drunken moments , in the lives of persons who lack real force of charactermoments of test , in which courage would moat assert itself- —but where these individuals , if left to themselves , stagger aimlessly along , or follow implicitly whatever guidance may befall them , even if it be a child ' s . No matter how preposteious or insane , a purpose is a god-send to them . "
The following is the only bit we can find room for out of the powerful , though somewhat overdone , deHcription of the death of Jud ^ e Pyncheon and itH consequences . To make it intelligible- we may junt mention that the judge has died in an arin-clmir in a lit of apoplexy , and is now alone in the house : — " Meanwhile the twilight in glooming upward out of the corners of the room . The shadows of the tall furniture grow deeper , and ut iirnt . become more definite ; then , ttprciuling wider , they lose their diKtitietncHs of outline in the- daik gray tide of oblivion , < ih it , were , that creeps slowly over the various objects , and the one human
figure Hitting in the mi < Jnt , of them . The gloom has not entered from without . ; it . lms brooded hen : all day , and now , taking it . s own inevitable time , will poHhCHH HBclf of everything . _ The judge ' h face , indeed , rigid and singularly white , r < iuniN to melt into this universal Holvent . Fainter and imnter grown the light . It is as if another double-handful ol dnrknenH had been m-uttered through the air . Now it , in no longer gray but , nuble . Then ; in fttill a faint , aj > - peimuict ; at the whitlow ; neither a glow nor a gleam , nor a glimmer- any phrano of light would expretiH something far brighter than this doubtful pereeulioi :, or hense , ruilier , that there in a window there . Has it yet vanished ? No !—ym ! -not quite!—And thero is Htill the swarthy whitonc » N—we tjhull
venture to marry these ill-agreeing words—the swarthy whiteness of Judge Pyncheon ' s face . The features are all . gone ; there is only the paleness of them left . And how looks it now ? There is no window ! There is no face ! An infinite , inscrutable blackness has annihilated sight ! . Where is our universe ? All crumbled away from , us , and we , adrift in chaos , may hearken to the gusts of homeless wind , that go sighing and murmuring about in quest of what was once a world !
" Is there no other sound ? One other , and a fearful one . It is the ticking of thejudge ' s watch , which , ever since Hepzibah left the room in search of Clifford , he has been holding in his hand . Be the cause what it may , this little , quiet , never-ceasing throb of Time ' s pulse , repeating its small strokes with such busy regularity , in Judge Pyncheon ' s motionless hand , has an effect of terror , which we do not find in any other accompaniment of the scene . " There is a want of skill in the denouement ; indeed throughout the romance we miss constructive power ; but its originality and vividness are unquestionable .
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ANCIENT ROMANCES . . Hamonand Catar ; or , The Two Races : a Tale . Simpkin and Marshall , The Ancient Britains : a Tale of Primeval Life . Chapman and Hall . There is a class of minds greatly delighted by historic pageantries moving through Fiction ; and more delighted the more remote and unfamiliar the scenes . We are not of that class . History furnishes a good background , good costumes , and certain advantages in the way of accessories , but it spoils more fictions than it assists ; not to mention the false ideas which become stereotyped in the popularity of fiction , and which no learned discussion can afterwards efface . But if we receive
historical fictions with suspicion , we are still less prepared to accept fictions which , professing to set forth primeval life , have the air of clumsy lectures — " cobwebs to catch flies" in archaeology ! Hence we confess to having failed to read through the Ancient Britons : many a worse book have we gone on with ; but though by no means destitute of cleverness , this tale is altogether without attraction for us , and indeed we regard the author's purpose as hopeless . History is not to be taught in that guise ; and Fiction needs a more cunning hand .
Hamon and Catar is a mixture of the prose poem and the historical romance . When we state that the introduction is a soliloquy by Cain , wherein he recounts his crime and subsequent career ; and further , when we state that the drama which follows is enacted in the city of Enoch , a few years after the death of Adam , the reader may guess the terrible anachronisms of feeling and thinking which inevitably disturb one ' s enjoyment of such a story . The author has imagination , and his style , though unchastened , has both power and animation ; but , although he fixes the attention and carries the reader on with him through the windings of his story ,
yet on the whole one feels in a strange fantastic world which has no points of contact with one ' s own , and is , nevertheless , not frankly fantastic . Fairy land is acceptable when peopled by fairies ; but Enoch peopled from the boards of Drury-lane Theatre is not acceptable . We are not casting any slight upon the author ' s power , but simply stating what we believe to be the inevitable result of any attempt to depict the life of remote cities and eras . No talent has yet been found capable of overcoming the inherent difficulties in . such subjects ; and Uamon and Catar , though it may delight a certain class of romance readers , has not altered our opinion of the mistake in hucIi attempts .
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BOOKS ON OUJt TABLK Symnisis mi Hi-vue Sonunain : das Proiluits dc I'lndtistria de ihjnposil ' um Univuisf . Uede lHi > J . I ' m- Robert Hunt . Hpiccr , Brothers . A translation into I'Veiieh of Mr . Hunt ' s useful synopsis of the Exhibition . There \ w one uho which thin t . ntnulaUoii may have , and which its low price renders available to the poorest of our readers we mean the very great facility it will aiford the student in the extension of his knowledge of French ; except in n dictionary , nowhere will lie find in ho small a eoinjKisH sueh a nuiss of words to express thhujs m in thin HynoDHin . By taking the English version , and comparing it , with thin translation , a very slender vocabulary may be splendidly inorciiHed . Juntas and hit . Works cinnjiarrtl witli the dhtirnctm and Writings t > j Philti > Doi mer titanluifie . Karl of ( UwMterjleld . My William Ciaiiii .. mulKirtil' tins l'luUisophyoJLunfiwt ^; ,:. Hdjmi ami Co . Thia , with three other pmnphUtu ( including tho pro- posul of u new edition of Juniim ) , we may pouwbly iind lime to notice hereafter , though we cunuot pro- mise to do ho , hh the public must be thoroughly tired
of the discussion by this time , and only a greatdp t . of subjects could reconcile us to a re-opening of ^ question . Meanwhile , we may say that Mr Cr has bestowed great labour and ingenuity upon S ? vexed subject , and makes out as good a ' case as « made out for other persons besides Sir Philip jw - whom , we still believe to have been Junius tuicis »
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Handbook of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy . Bv DTm . Lardner , D . C . L . Firet course : Mechanics—Hydroahfr 81118 Hydraulics—Pneumatics—Sound—Optics . With udw ^ 1 "" 400 Illustrations . Taylor , Walton , andTabeV Abd-el-Kader . A Poem in Six Cantos . By Viscount Maidsto /* Chapman and HaU * The Human Body and its Connection with Man . Illustrated k the Principal Organs . By James John Garth Wilkinson . y Chapman and Hall ' E 88 ays , Lectures , and Orations . By Balph Waldo Emerson * W . 8 . Orr and ' Manual of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human m ; j ' By the Reverend James Carlile , D . D . Muul ' Arthur HaU , Virtue , and Co The Reign of Avarice . An Allegorical Satire . In Four Cantos " -W . Pickeriojr * The Saint ' s Tragedy . By Charles Kingsley , jun ., Hector of EvewL ley . With Preface by Professor Maurice . Second Edition
J ; W . Parker Outlines of Physical Geography for Families and Schools Bv Roeina M . Zornlin . Author of " Recreations in Physical RaJ graphy . " ' J . W . Park ^" Thoughts on the Chief Bards of the Bible . A Lecture delivered ' before the Members of the Brighton Mechanics' Insti tution By James Howell . Hamilton , Adams , aud Co " Knight's Cycloptedia of London . Complete in One volume C . Knight . Knight ' s Excursion Companion . Excursions from London . C . Knight . Knight ' s Cyclopaedia of the Industry of All Nations . Complete in One "Volume . \ C . Knight Knight ' s Pictorial Shakspere . Part XVI . The Merry Wives of Windsor . Q . Knight
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What Men Believe . —If it were not matter of actual experience , it would sound incredible that men , women and children of all classes should , in this age and country ^ be summoned to read , mark , and learn , with prostration of soul , the oriental imaginings of Arab historians and poets , who lived and died some thousands of yeara since . It seems an infatuation almost surpassing example , that civilized Christians of the nineteenth century should be called upon to listen with awe to the wild traditions of a remote Syrian tribe , celebrating the triumphs of their furious , jealous , and fickle " God of Hosts , " and " God of Battles . " Yet , week after week , year after year , we go on ignoring the religious light of our own land and our own times in favour of the patriarchal haziness that obscured . the land of Ganaan in the days of Abraham and Moses , Joshua and Samson , David and Ezra . Our "
sabbaths , ' " solemn meetings , " our " appointed feasts " are still set apart to instruction , setting forth how the sun and moon stood still to countenance the slaughter of men by men ; how the noon-tide shadow went back tea degrees to comfort a king ; how the ass opened her mouth in articulate talk with the prophet ; how city walls fell prostrate at the trumpet ' s blast , and how an iron axe floated at the good man ' s call . There is , doubtless , in all these stories , and many similar , abundance of beauty and poetry , with usually an instructive moral . But to identify their prosaic acceptance with the soul ' s homage to religion pure and undented , is neither wiser nor safer than would be a similar postponement of understanding to the Norse literature of our own fathers , men no less worthy in their way than the progenitors of the children of Israel . — From the Reverend T . Wilson's Catholicity Spiritual and Intellectual .
Pskudo Cuhistianity . —Some religious persons the other day , with a view to the promotion of " Christian union , " had a meeting in Birmingham , at which they are said to have come to these two resolutions : —First , that is " everybody ' s right and duty to exercise private judgment in the intrepretation of the Scriptures ; " and second , that " nobody is to belong to their society who does not hold the divine institution of the Christian , ministry , and the authority and perpetuity of Baptism and the Lord ' s Supper . " This is the way Christianity has been spoilt ever since dogma interfered with it;—ever since something was put upon it that had nothing to do with it , in order that people might dictate to their neighbours instead of loving them , and indulge their
prugmatical egotism at the very moment when they pretend to leave judgment free and to promote universal brotherhood . It in just as if some devil had said , " Christianity shall not succeed—people shall not bo of one accord , and iind out what ' s beat for ' em ;—I'll invent dogma ; I'll invent faith versus reason ; I'll invent tho limperor Constantino ; I'll invent councils , popes , polemics , Calvins and Banners , inquisitions , auto-da-fes , massacres ; and should Christiunity survive and outgrow these , I'll invent frights about them , and whispers in their favour , and little private popes of all sorts , all infullible , all fighting with one another , all armed with their nine < jnd nons , for the purpose of heating down the olive-branch , and preventing their pretended object from superseding any real one . ' 1 do not believe , mind , that
j , i any such tiling was said , or that this chaos of oontrudiction Iiuh been aught else but a fermentation of good and ill , out of which good in to come triumphant , perhaps the better for the trial ; for evil itudf is but a form of tho desire of good , sometimes a necessity for its attainment . JJut the seeming needh-Hsneas of so much evil , or for so long a period , is provoking to one's uncertainty ; and the night of sUch a heap of folly is a trial of the patience . ( Jar patience we must not lone , for then we nhnll fall "ito the error we deprecate ; but let us keep reason and lament tidicule for ever on the watch . A . But they «« y that ridicule in unfair , jj . Y « a ; and make use of it whenever they can . In like manner they depreoata r « a « ou , and then reason in favour of th « deprecation . — Leigh Hunt ' s Table- Talk .
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588 wye He an ex . [ s < t ( RBay
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Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1851, page 588, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1888/page/16/
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