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The Oxford Installation can scarcely be considered a hterary eyent n . ow-a days , so completely has the literary pre-eminence of . Alma Mater passed elsewhere . A « seat of learning" it is still , but not the ^ scat of letters ^ The recitation of poems which would not gain audience through the pages of a first-class periodical , although attended with academic pomp , and the thronging forms of lovely women , grave doctors , lively , undergraduates , and curious strangers , is no literary event j it is a spectacle , and not of the most int rs eS g ' read the account of this Barmecide " feast of reason "—this banquet with an intellectual Humphrey—our thoughts wandered back to the days when Giordano Bruno , " fluttered their dove cots" by his
fiery prese nce at that splendid fete , given to the County Palatine by the Chancellor of Oxford ( the Earl of Leicester ) . Oxford called on her children to do battle for Aristotle and Ptolemy ; her existence seemed to depend on the validity of Aristotle ' s doctrines , as we learn in that statute which declares every Bachelor and Master of Arts liable to a fine . of five shillings for each point of divergence from , or fault committed against , the Stagyrite . Bruno arguing for the rotation of the earth , and the fallibility of Aristotle , against these stedfast partisans of tradition , in presence of the Principe Alasco Polacco ed altri de la nobilita inglcse , and
fifteen . times stopping the mouth of the unhappy doctor who acted as mouthpiece of the academy , must have been a sight suggestive of far other emotions , than what was seen this week at Oxford . Quel 2 > overo dottor J The " sensation" Bruno created was so great that Elizabeth granted him permission to lecture there on cosmology and on the immortality of the soul—until his fiery antagonism to all " sound orthodoxy" made Oxford nut an end to his lecturing .
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How ready people are with their " corrections , " and how seldom are thpse corrections correct ! This Aveek a small controversy about tlie Bon Ganltier Ballads amusingly illustrates the rash vagueness of those who rush into print . The Times , speaking of Professor Aytoun as the author of the Bon Gaultier Ballads , a Mr . Inglis writes a sharp contradiction ; he is " surprised" at the assertion , declaring , as if from the fulness of knowledge , that Aytoun did not write the Ballads , but that Theodore Martin did . When a gentleman corrects you so authoritatively you bow to his superior
information ; and accordingly the Times " stood corrected . " The next morning , however , the correctcr was corrected by two other writers , one declaring Aytoun to be the author of thirty-two ballads , and Martin of only sixteen out of the fifty-three ; the other has " reason to believe" that Aytoun wrote the whole of the ballads , and Martin only the prose introductions . Among the uncertainties and inaccuracies of this correspondence , we may note that " A . B . " attributes the " Death of Space" to Mr . Leech , whereas Mr . Leitch , the translator of Mulleu , is tlie
person alluded to . Now here are three gentlemen " correcting" somebody , and two of them obviously doing so on the most insufficient knowledge , for only one of these statements can be accurate , if one . Before rushing into print would it not have been well quietly to ask Mr . Aytoun or Mr . Martin what actually was the state of the case ?
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Among the marvels of the day must be reckoned M . de Saint-Simon Sicakd ' s invention of an apparatus which permits the possessor to take a half hour ' s promenade at the bottom of a river , and there occupy himself as fancy suggests—from flirting with mermaids to rescuing " moist bodjes . " We are recording what has been done in Paris , not what the inventor professes cati be done . M . ( j RANdchamp made a public experiment the other day , and remained thirty-five minutes at the bottom of the Seine . A little improvement in the apparatus will , it is probable , greatly extend its capacity .
This is all we can learn of its construction . A complete clothing of caoutchouc from bead to foot , including helmet and sock , allows the wearer to descend below the water without danger of contact ; the helmet has a valve which allows the air to escape fit the moment of submersion ; and no sooner is this submersion complete than the pressure of the water closes the valve hermetically . A provision of air to be inspired is curried in a box placed like a hump in tlie back of the cuirass of caoutchouc . This box has a tube which carries the air into the helmet in order that the breathing limy take place without effort ; and a little stopcock enables the distribution of air to be regulated at pleasure . No sooner is there difficulty of breathing than a signal is given , and the experimenter is brought to the surface once more .
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A correspondent sends us an amusing illustration of the 2 )<" r ( ' mall 1 : — Our follies hnv (! not even the eh arm of being new ; nor cum we bonst ; of Hur " passing our predecessors even in gaping credulity . The GreelcH hud a kjkjcich of magic , performed by iihhuin of a move . It in mentioned by Theocritus and others , and wua muned Ko ( fnyou . avT ( ta . How the Greeks divined by ' tho move is perhaps
doubtful . : The use made of it by our forefathers is thus described " by ^ g ihftld SC Stidc a pair of shears in the rim of a sieve y let two persons set the % of each of their forefingers upon the upper part of the shears , ^^ ' ^ ' ¦^ T ^* * £ sieve up from the ground , steadily . Then ask Peter and Paul whether A , or B or C , or LVhas stolen " the thing lost . - At the nomination of the guilty person , the sieve will begin to turn . " ; •' . '•"¦ • , -, + v V—o . Who can doubt , that in this case the turning of the sieve depends on the two forefingers , ' which , placed within the bow of the shears , hold up the sieve ? ^ And who-gulls excepted-can doubt that the turning of the tables is to be attributed to a similar influence ? E . H . ± 5 .
The mania of turning tables seems slowly dying , ' at least in the circles where we knew it lately to be vigorous . Nor does our correspondence on this subject continue of " , the , same eager amplitude . & has dwindled down to two letters , the one just quoted and the one we are about to quote : — As you have mistaken the purport of my letter , allow me to explain : — There is an invisible motor of some kind , which causes the muscles to contract when the arm moves . This is not hypothesis—it . is fact . What is it ^ that causes the muscles to contract ? Is it electricity ? Is it a distinct nervous fluid ?
Has it any connexion with the centripetal and centrifugal forces winch govern the mechanism of the universe ? These are hypotheses , and these it is the legitimate province of science to test , in connexion with the new phenomena of table-turning . ¦ Whether this be or be not a distinct nervous fluid , I do not know . I wished only to point out that , assuming its existence , for the sake of argument , the tests proposed by you and Dr . Wyld would be inconclusive . Your own theory of involuntary muscular contraction is an hypothesis . I will not return your compliment by culling it a " wild one . " It is a proper subject for investigation . ' Should it turn out to be well-founded , yoti will have removed the difficulty a step . We
may then take the liberty to ask you what is the law which causes " an unconscious tendance aw movement ? " Your obedient servant , H . We have no wish to pursue the controversy , and therefore leave this letter to the meditation of the reader . _ .
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The new number of The Irish Quarterly Review is a decided advance on its predecessors . It opens with a lively notice of Ddmas ' s autobiography , which will save many the trouble of skipping through thirteen volumes . A biographical article on Barry the painter will be read with interest . The agreeable erudition and gossip of the papers on Dublin Streets form quite a feature in this review . The northern poets , Motherwell , H ogg , Wilson , Baillie , Macnish , * Moir , Aird , Aytoun , and Alexander Smith , are criticised in kindly spirit , with a keen appreciation however glancing from under the friendiy smile .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Facts and . Fancies ; or , Random Sketches of Men , Women , and Principles . Bj Frederic Rowland Young . Simpkin and Co ., and James Watson , This little work is , as its title indicates , a series of brief sketches of social questions and eminent persons . Without pretending to high literary excellence , they are the utterances of a sincere independent mind , and intended to enforce the doctrine of individual reform and tha cultivation of individual free thinking . Soon after the appearance of the volume , a review of it appeared in the IpsioicTi Express , characterizing it as " a . deliberate attempt to indoctrinate the working classes with some of the most destructive tenets of infidelity , " and in the following number of that paper a letter appeared from si lady , who signed herself " Emma , " in which she statcdtliat she had " committed the book to the flames , " ami advised others to do likewi . se . These prominent criticisms rendered the position of the writer in that town incompatible with his honour or comfort , so that he has been obliged to resign a very responsible situation lie held in a largo factory there , and remove to London . Tho author's lady critic has , however , rendered essential service to the circulation of the book , and we understand that the second edition will bo especially named as "Eminn ' s edition , " and contain a notice of the ignorant attempt to injure ' tlie sale of a work which , however heterodox , is at least respectful in its tone and patient iu its stiitenieiit . s .
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Memorandum * made , in Ireland in the Autumn o / " 1852 . I 5 y J . Forbes . 2 voln . Smith , Klrter , and Co . Aubrey Conyert ; or , The Lordship of Allerdale . Jty Mihu K . M . Stewart . Ingram , Coolte , mid Co . The I'ilyrim ' s I'roi / ress . Ingraini , Coolio , jmd Oo . Claribel , the Sea Maid ! By MIhh K . M . Stewart . Ingrain , Cooke ., mid Co . The Adirondack ; or , Life in the . Wood a . JHy J . T . Headley . OlurUo , Uiwtou , mid Co . Mary Anne Wellington ; the . Soldier ' * Daughter , U'iJ ' c , and Widow . Hy tho Rev . 11 . CobboUl . Olnrko , Heelon , and Co . 2 'he Guard *; or , the Household Troops of England . Hy Cnptniu Knller . ( , 'lurlcc , Meelon , jiikI Co . J ' oemn on Slavery . Hy Longfellow , AVhittier , Soutlioy , Mtovve , . t <\ Clnrl . o , ISeelon , mid Co . Heading for . Travellers—Character aiid Anecdote * of Charles the Second , liy Charles Jiarker , M . A . Chapman and Hull . Introduction to the History of the . Nineteenth Century . Uy ( J . ( i . ( Jcrvinim . || . ( L Holm . Holm ' s Antiquarian Library .- Roger lie . lloveden ' x Annals . Vol . 1 . 1 . J | . ( J . Holm . Holm ' s Classical . JAhrary .-- The Comedies of Terence , ami . the JAibles of 1 'lurdrns . 11 . ( I . Jtohn . Bohn'a Scientific Library .--Ji'iimboldl ' * Trarela . Vol . III . II . ( J . Holm . Jiohn ' s Standard JAbrnry . - ¦¦ -History <;/ ' ' the . Home of A nutria . M . ( J Holm . I ' onltry ; their Breeding , Jlciriug , . DiscaKc * , and ( lateral Management . ] fy W . H . Uirktion .
II . U . Holm , The . Slave . Trade , Domestic and J ' omgn . I 5 y Jl . (! . Carey . HmnpHoii ' Low , Hon , nnil Co . Scieiifi / in Memoirs , i ' nrt . 111 . Taylor and l < Ynni ; i » . The Knijluh Htimouriits ( if the ICiyhtrcuth Century . Hy W . M . Tliackcriiv-. , . .. . „ ., Hniitli , Elder , anil Co . Scenes and Adventures tit the Atwn-Al / iiitc Jiegums of the Ozurk Mountain * of Missouri and Arkansas . J » y H . It . Nclioolorull . . 'IViilmor and Co . Thn Scottish Julucational . and Literaru Journal . Jaiiu-s Yloaa The I ' otdie . al and Dramatic Works < j / Sir K . Jt . Li / ttnn , Hart . Chapman and llafi . ' Poems . Hy Aroliy ( Junior . , j , j ) O !) VV () r (| it A Review < if the Spiritual . Manifestation * . Jty Charles Becoher . T HomwoiIIi mttshire Tales . Jly . John Yoi ^ o Ak < -ri .. an . J . Tt . mKell Hmifli . I he . 1 'htlusophy <>/ Athetsm h . vitnnned ami . Compared vith Chrhiumity . 15 y lt « v . H . Godwin , 1 > . l > - ' , . , . .. .. , Arthur J Lull Virtuo , und Co . The World * itrealeM Jlcnejactor . A Ijrdtiiro delivered Ijy A . AVa'laeo .
_ „ ,, ., o i i /• ii f Hamilton , AdaniH , and Co Ihoughtt on the Subject ij Bribery and Corruption at Election * . l \ y tho lion . O . l' \ H . Elliot . J union Itirfirwuy
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THE LEA D E R . ; ^ C ^*®^^' 570 ¦ ¦ - • — ;
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Leader (1850-1860), June 11, 1853, page 570, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1990/page/18/
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