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Tub Bookselling Question still remains the great topic of our world of Letters , The Association is dissolved : Free-trade is inaugurated , and upon what system the publishing shall be carried on now comes into debate . The oJd system was so imperfect that it needed only a clear statement of the case , and the energetic expression of a few publishers and authors to decide its fall . In the remarks we have made on this point , we have unwittingly passed over the very energetic and decisive services rendered by Mr . Bentley , who was the first to join Mr . Chapman in his demand f ° unrestricted trade , and whose name and influence were of tod much weight in the cause for us to have been insensible to
the importance of his accession ; but it is never too late to be just , and our contemporaries who have shared our forgetfulness with regard to Mr . Bbntley may still pay a graceful compliment of acknowledgment to one of the most indefatigable movers of the reform . That done , we may turn to a consideration of the future . ~ What discount shall be allowed to retail booksellers ? Ten or fifteen per cent , is thought ample allowance for mere porterage , and when to porterage be added enterprise in speculalation , of course equivalent advantages will be offered . In the ease of
periodicals , especially scientific periodicals , the mere reduction of the discount will make all the difference between loss and profit , if the price to the public remain as at present ; and as the publisher is always at liberty to fix his own price , there can be no objection to the old price being retained , In the case of new works ; the reduction will also frequently make all the difference between profit and loss , so many copies now remaining unsold on account of the high price . And this will be more frequently the case with works of unknown authors , or with works of a serious scientific character ^ than with the works of those celebrated Writers
who command a sale irrespective almost of price . There has been an amount of fiction circulated with respect to the ^ speculation" of booksellers in Unknown works , which to all behind the scenes has not been without amusement j but in the Morning Herald of June . 2 nd there was a statement of this kind ^ worthy of preservation as a specimen of unintentional irony . The writer , after saying how the unknown author , unable to print his work " with assurance of its sale , " comes to the publisher for advice and assistance , adds with a calmness of assured conviction delightful to contemplate : —
" Now the sort of assistance which the publisher was always giving to cases of this kind , was of this sort . If he thought well of the general character of the work , and believed it to possess merit , he devoted some attention to the getting-up of the book , announced it extensively in his lists , and at last brought it forth and offered it to the trade . To induce booksellers generally to assist its sale , he gave a liberal allowance ; and in this way a respectable publisher would dispose of 500 or 600 copies of a book on the day of publication , lefore the public knew anything about it , or had ordered a single copy . "It was the possibility of doing this which encouraged publishers to undertake works of young or unknown authors . They could thus distribute the risk among the trade . "
It is impossible to convey to those unacquainted with the book-trade the ludicrous effect of this passage ; but the " facts" of Protectionist arguments are mostly of that kind . Desirable as it is to facilitate the distribution of books , and to encourage speculation among retailers is one mode , the great objects to be kept in view are—1 st , cheapness to the public , that the largest public may be secured ; 2 nd , limitation of intermediate channels , that no waste of money may go towards the support of unnecessary middlemen .
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The Countess D'Orsay , emboldened by the success—succes de salonof her novel , L'Ombre du Bonheur , has just given the world three volumes more , La Fontaine des Fees , which we announce , reserving till some future time , any opinion of its merit , should we be induced to read it . Le Marquis de Foudras , who created a scandal by his Caprice de Grande Dame , has endeavoured to revive that fugitive popularity by a continuation of it , under the suggestive title line Madeleine Repentante . Of very different quality , and addressed to very different audiences , is Maguin ' s new work , Histoire des Marionnettes en Europe dcpnis VAnti-9 «*< tf jusqu ' a nos jours , a reprint of some elaborate articles in the Retiue des Dauoo Mondes , wherein a vast and piquant erudition , aided by a clear nnd livel y style , gives philosophic dignity and interest to a subject which might aeem frivolous .
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When a man , deeply moved by ' his convictions , devotes himself to their Propagation , and wanders from rity ' to city , culling unto men to listen to h » ro , we cull him a Missionary , and aid him with our monoy and respect j V * » f his convictions arc antagonistic to our own , we call him n Dcmai ? ° K « o , or , an Anarchist ; and use our utmost to discredit his character and 'us aims . Wo forgot that in . m is accountable fov the uprightness , not for tll « ti ghtness of his creed—to use tho noblo words of Chonnmg ; wo forget thftt the sincerity and devotion to truth remains tho same under all varieties of inion ; wo forgot that the man who comes amongst us eager to destroy ** faijth , by preaching his faith , is doing precisely what in the Missionary * appl aud ui heroism ! The « heathen" whom we . wish to convert , hm Ue
not " the religion of his fathers , " to console and to guide him ? But the religion is false , you say 1 Granted . The Missionary desires to open the heathen mind to the light of truth . Granted also . But apply the same rule to George Jacob Holyoake , a wandering missionary , of the sincerest kind , who , for years , has been preaching what he believes to be the truth , and who has suffered for it in imprisonment , in contempt , in personal danger of various kinds , but who has persisted with mild manful courage , till , from a name of terror , his has become a name of wide-spread respect , even among adversaries . It may be startling to call him a missionary , but he is one , and all minds large enough , and generous enough , to admit , the sincerity of adversaries , and to appreciate the man , while disowning the ^^
man's opinions , will recognise him as such . His position is peculiar . He believes in his opinions , and considers the expression of them a duty . On the one hand , he is opposed by the orthodox , who are horrified at his opinions ; on the other , he is unsupported by the lukewarm heterodox , who , in these days of compromise and want of faith , discourage discussion on religion , and think it better "to leave religion to die out by itself . " He has clearly and forcibly stated his case in the new volume of The Cabinet of Reason , which he edits . It is entitled , Why do the Clergy avoid discussion , and the philosophers discountenance it ? No man ' s sixpence should be grudged for this little volume , so calm , so temperate , so sincere . The closing passage has a swelling eloquence ^ which forces us to quote it : —
" False is the tongue which tells us that we implore dehate in vanity . Let our lives bear witness whether we have idly entreated the privilege of controversy . We sought it for light , we coveted it for direction , and we maintain it for self-defence . We have won the privilege dearly , and shall not resign it . We appealed to the clergy , and they would not heed us . Standing on the dim and shadowy verge of the future , where every man must tread for himself and alone the vestibule of the eternal labyrinth , we appealed to our brother traveller for light and help . We trusted to his Christian profession of love and truth , of service and gentle speech , and he turned from us in contempt , bestowed no word upon us , but went and denounced us to those who had influence—and abandoned us to the fury of the bigot and the vulgarity of the rabble , and we were driven away like a plague ship to carry our agony into the loneliness of the sea . But we did not perish—we conquered truths which are light and safety to us , and which Christianity will never more conceal , and which we shall not cease to proclaim . "
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THEOLOGY W NATURE . The Natural History of Animals : being the Substance of Lectures delivered before the Royal Institution . By T . Rymer Jones , F . Br . S . 2 vols . , Van Voorst . These two volumes of an elaborate history of animals , exceed in interest and excellence of popular treatment every work of the kind we are acquainted with ; and we preface our remarks b y this emphatic commendation , that we may have more freedom in the objections which certain passages force from us . In a subsequent article we shall take a general survey of the contents ; our present purpose is with the theological and declamatory passages so frequently and so improperly dragged in . Mr . Kymer Jones may plead very high authority for his errors in this respect ; but the higher authority of Keason very distinctly condemns
the search after " final causes" as beyond our ken , and very plainly declares it to be dangerous , when not absui'd . To ascertain functions is tho office of the physiologist , not to ascertain final causes ; and it is owing to the confusion of these two , that final causes are for a moment tolerated . To our minds , the whole language of Natural Theology is repulsive when demanding our admiration for the " admirable contrivances , " and the " skill" with which God lias overcome the difficulties of lus task . Human intellect " contrives , " and human intellect admires tho contrivance ; and Natural Theology , descanting on the marvels of life , is in a perpetual state of anthropomorphism , and seems to say , " What a great Being is this , who can so astonish Man , and so greatly surpass tho ingenuity of Man ! " How else aro we to read these exclamations P
" The ingenuity of Man has enabled him to discover ono means of combining these two apparently incompatible qualities , in the construction of pipes which he employs for certain mechanical purposes . Into a leathern , or other flexible tube , ho introduces a spiral coil of wire , tho stiffness of which is sufficient to prevent the walls of the tube from collapsing , without interfering much with the flexibility of tho pipe . Little , perhaps , did tho inventor of this ingenious scheme imagine how long the contrivance had been anticipated , and how infinitely tits execution , of it was surpassed by the Designer of an Insect ' s traohece . Take any fragment of one of these air-carrying canals fi-om trunk to branch—from tho main stom to tho most microscopic ramification—and you will noon perceive , by tho aid of a microscope , that a most delicate clastic filament , a wire of almost invisiblo dimensions , coilod in oIoho spiral turns , extends from end to cud of its whole length , giving sufficient firmness to keep tho bore permanently pafeulouu , and at the sumo tnuo allowing all freedom of motion in ovory possiblo direction . "
And olsowhero Mr . Rymor Jonos says" Man with his paddle-wheels must liuvo his furnaces , his boilers , and his clumsy enginery ; But Nature's paddles aro thomsolvcs alive , can move or nfcop tit will , act Hingly ' oi' cooperato with all tho rest , and tluiH impol the bark and ntoor it too . " , i i ,. n r \ 1 . •! Jndood his book is ono incessant laudation of God s superior ingenuity . To us that tone is not reverent , but irrevcront . Tho danqor to wlfitih wo alluded is this : —If tho colobratod argument of design is to hold good aa ovidonco in favour , it must hold equally good as ovidonco against tho wisdom and beneficence of tho Creator . A . start- ' linn- nroDoaition . and ono , wo boliovo , never made boforo ; but ono from
which Logic has no escape . If from a watch , I infer a watchmaker , and if from tho ingenuity or that dosign , I infer tho ' skill' of tho designer , must I not also accuse tho watchmaker of imperfect skill , if the watch goos wrong P In other words , when you point to l-lio perfection of organizations , as evidence of wisdom , and to their manifold enjoyments as -evidence of goodness , you force the reflective mind to think of the iniperfep-Horn and the misery eo abundantly displayed \ —when you take your rela-
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Jvm 13 , 1 « 52 . ] THE ) LEADER . 5 5
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 565, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1939/page/17/
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