On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (7)
-
, -jv*x * . ILHtrillurF* ___________
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
, -Jv*X * . Ilhtrillurf* ___________
tftamxt .
Untitled Article
Theke is something sadlj ludicrous in the reflections to whack the subject of Secular Education , when treated by the clergy , gives rise in every mind not cinder clerical domination . That the people should be taught , all are agreed , and if the whole nation were of one creed there could be no thought of limiting suet education , to secular subjects 4 but . nof being so , the intolerance or stupidity of , a large and influential class insists that unless arithmetic is saturated with " Scriptural teaching , * and calligraphy with c ** e cbifnnml dronings , no arithmetic nor calligraphy shall he taught . The clergy always omit to mention the fact of their having their schools—not merely Sunday Schools , hut Churches and Chapels 1 —expressly instituted for Religious Instruction . They want all . Too much of a good thing cannot be had , when they have : it to give ox sell . tha
Very * ludicrous was the argument used in ali ^ eriausness other day by Dr . Guthsee—a celebrated man in Edinburgh—at a public meeting- on the School question . He supposes the case of a boy having stolen an apple- ot a marble , and asks how the boy is to be taught that he has done -wrong . The . master , Or . Gciaaua quietly assumes * has n& other means ( the Bible excluded ) o £ convincing the peculator 'than " to address a learned discourse to the boy on the congruity and fitness of tilings . That \ rul do him a world oi ^ gotidl As t& eongruity , the boy faiows nothing * bou £ i % , and as to the fitness of things ; why he tHinks they fit remarkably wett—tlie apple fits His
appetite and the marble , fits his fingers . ** Now of two things , one : either Dr . GoTJaraa belieres that , a schoolmaster ^ witho ut the -Bible , would be reduced to such , an argument , or he does nofc believe it ; in the one ease ke is a blockhead , in the other .... B * it what ia Dr . Ctarmtns's mod * of teaching morality ?! WouW . he point out to the boyhovr , by robbing a schoolfellow , he was wronging him , doing unto him that , which in his own case , he would acknowledge to be a wrong ? Not so . Dr . Gcthbie thinks the only way of reaching the boy ' s heart is to tell him , " thov , bleeding Lamb , the best morality is love of Thee /"
Untitled Article
The success of Dotxe ' s wondrous work of fancy and humour , The Foreign Tottr of Brown , Jones , and Robinson , lias been something "unexampled , an edition of 2500 copies , at one guinea each r having been sold in six weeks , and claimants being clamorous for the new edition about to appear . This does , not seem much in favour of the principle of cheap ; literature so exclusively advocated by the Times , but shows rather that people like Co-have books , as well as pamphleta , and that beauty will be paid for in the matter of books as in all other matters . An edition of Goldsmith , for example , in shilling volumes would be very acceptable to a large class , whose means will not permit their possessing an expensive - edition j and as the works are . old ,
andl bear no burden of copyright ,, the Railway Libraries might very properly include them . But there ia > also a class , very numerous , to whom books are furniture and ornaments-, as well as books ; people who delight in the luxury of handsome type , stout and brilliant paper , elegant form , and splendid binding . Place before them a Railway edition ^ and such an edition as that published by Mckbat ia his British Classics—the second volume of which , containing the Enquiry into the State of Learning , and . the Citizen of the World , has just appeared—not for one mstant will they hesitate
to choose the latter . They will choose it , first , because it is really a new edition , produced with care under the auspices of Peter Cuitnin&ham ; secondly , because , apart from such considerations , it is an edition which attracts them by its consummate elegance , and ( Tor that elegance ) low price , drantmg that both edition * were equal in respect of text and notes ; granting that one were simply a reprint of the other , -we firmlj believe tliat no lover and possessor of books would purchase the cheap edition could he afford the dearer one .
No reader will imagine we are opposing the extension of cheap Literature by these remarks 5 we only bring forward a point omitted in the Times' argument . There are works which ran with success be produced at low prices , and there are works whose popularity having more than reimbursed all expense , can be reproduced at low prices . Chapmajt and Haix are about to republisb . Mary Barton for two shillings , and other popular works in the same style . Mary Barton , having long ago paid author and publisher handsomely , may now b-e sold for two shillings without danger . So also Longman and Co . are republishing Macauiay ' s brilliant essays in threehalfpenny weekly numbers , and nhilling monthly parts . The sale will doubtless be prodigious , now their reputation is universal .
Untitled Article
In French , literature we have to note among noticeable novelties Louis Bi . ahc ' s fifth volume of the brilliant nnd pntiunfc llistoire dc la Revolution Iraticatse , which carries the story forward to the massacre du champ duMars . We may , on some future occasion , return to this volume for detailed exanrinatiou ( we make no promises ) , but meanwhile seriously commend it to our readers . G eorum Sand y s new novel , La Filicide , wo regret to say , cannot be bo recommended : one volume was all we had courage to read . She
seems to have lost her speH now whenever she quits the peasants of her beloved Berry . Apropos of Gsorge Sand , there is a letter from her in La Pressc , too long unfortunately for us to give in this number , in which she rectifies the statement somewhat wildly made by Mr . Aupoed deMirecptjbt who has written what professes to be hor life ,, but which she calls a romance ! Next week we will endeavour to find room for it . Of Axbxandbk Dumas !¦ d his endless M ^ moires , what can be said ? Two more volumes the fourth aad fifth of the second series—are out , and they onlyr bring the atory of bis life down ps > the representation of Antony which ia described with all his gaiety . Eugene Strs ' s new novel , La Famille Jouffroy , « e content ourselves with announcing .
Untitled Article
A BAZZIA AMONG NEW BOOKS . The pile of books awaiting judgment grows daily larger , and ^ tixa cry is still , I'liey come . '' We must have a razzta . And as in an Algerine razzia it is not always a wholesome edible sheep which falls into victorious hands , so in this predatory excursion of ours , we may fkll in with very worthless food , which for the most part we shall throw down again , and say no more about it . Philosophy is first attacked . We have not many books to speak of on that subject ; among them , however , is the translation of ' a yerjr excellent work by Chalybaus of Kiel , The Historical Developmeuij > jt ^ ecuJatii > e JP # tlosophy from Kant to Hegel ( Price 10 s . 6 d . T . and I . Clark * Edutburgh ) . But when we characterise the work as excellent , the qualification niqst : be added " only to those familiar with German Blulosoimr ?* It Is ^™¦¦¦ ¦ * ¦ ¦ ¦ iwm ¦ ¦ wfc nivu
ar verv »»»»••»»» . j w vmvwv * XJI vl '"^ f * M'f "f * r " ¦ J * ' ' ' -M 9 + & «¦* w Q 4 V popular book for a German , book , but it is essentially German ; and the translator , Mr . Alfred Edersheim , who seems faithful to a degree beyond what philosophic translators usually are , has in no , way lightened the work by any cunning of his own . We repeat , the book . ie an excellent boo ^ lor students , but will not be easily intelligible-to those unlltmiuar mth modern German philosophy . One cannot say the same , q ^ ' ^^ l ^; ; 0 <( i 9 su £ > i Lectures on the True , the Beautifid , and the Good , translated by Q .. ! W , t ^ &h % U ?| ice 6 s . € d . T . andT . Clack ) . It as neither uxiintelligiWe nor exceUeht , but a lively ; winnowing of the veriest chaflT ; fttU of erjtoj ? as an egg is full of ineatl ' , - ¦ V ' / -- ^ "; ' ° . '
^ As , we usually see that an abase pushed to e . xtren > ifcy generates fie reaction wJbich issues in its abolition , it is not surprising to find the-strongest protest jet made against Sabbatarianism coming from Scotland * where lugubrious Calvinism , with scrip in its pocket anCiScripture oti its tpngue , resolves that the working man by whom , the d % of rest is not looked forward ^ \ fa > . with avidiiyj as an opportunity for singing psalms very much out of tune and listening to Dr . Candlish , shall have no alternative but tip stay at home and drink whiskey . This protest we owe to the earnestness and ainiity of Mr . Robert Cox ., who in a thick octayo . volame entitlect SaBbafh Laws jand Sabbath Duties CSimpkin and' Marshall ) ogives us a perfect cyclopaedia of th « philosophy , and literature of the Sabbath question . A wall-reasoned plea for Sunday Trains on the ground oFctvU right , a < tdi * essed to the Proprietors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway , occupies only SlTr +. PtfMl nJLcrPH n f t \\ f tmliim ' A- finri fiirma tiht * tovt fn an unnanVtiv rwf natiwTn
550 pages , in which every argument for the puritanical observance of thp Sabbath , whether founded on Scriptural authority , on prescriptive usage ,, or on social expediency , is brought to the text of reason , criticism , and . history-. Mr . Cox applies a fund of curious historical knowledge and unusual reading to the elucidation of his subject , and those who are not acquainted with the writings of our elder Protestant divines -will find an agreeable introduction to them in his well-chosen extracts . London is not groaning under the joke of Agnewism x like Edinburgh and Glasgow : not only LordPaimerston , but the poorest artisan may " enjoy a boat" on Sunday if he likes . But we have still much ground to win—witness the opposition to the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays—and all who wish to satisfy themselves or to convince others of the true course on the Sabbath , question , should give attention to the results of wisdom and research stored up in Mr . Cox's
volume . Captain HuttoiCs Chronology of Creation ; or , Geology and Scripture , Reconciled ( W . Thacker and Co . ) is a very modest , ingenious effort to succeed in the impossible attempt of reconciling Scripture and Science , written in a spirit of moderation quite remarkable , and with abundant knowledge . Differing as we do radically with Capt . Hutton , we have yet read his work with pleasure and instruction . He fails , because failure in such an attempt is inevitable . The same ingenuity which " reconciles * ' discrepancies so gLaring , would equally reconcile Geology with the Vedas , or the Nibelungen Lied if requisite . You have only to look into Bacon ' s Wisdom :, of the Ancients , to see how consistent-seeming may the wildest interpretation be made .
Dr . Lindley Kemp ' s Indications of Instinct ( Longman and Co . Price Is . ) which forms No . 54 of the Traveller ' s Library , is as interesting in its facts and anecdotes , as it is shallow in its philosophy . What could have induced one so incompetent to meddle with so intricate a subject , we will not conjecture ; only a strong interest in the subject will lure the reader through the shallow metaphysics of the introduction to the accumulation of facts which give a vaJue to this book . On the very first page we are told : — " We sometimes talk ns if gravitation had no existence until it was discovered by Newton ; and we use expressions na if chemical affinities were broug ht into play by the French philosophers of the lust century , or as if that , perhaps , most remarkable power of all—that of catalysis—was called into being but a few yeara ago . And yet it is evident thait all these were producing their wonderful results long ere lnunkind appeared upon the scene . "
} Fow Dr . Lindley Kemp may talk , his friends alone can testify ( v / ith a shuddering recollection , we suspect ) , but the rest of the world has not , we assure him , been in the least acciiHtonied to imagine that Newton created gravitation when he created the formula . But Dr . Kemp , who tells us on the next page , that no known " scientific principle seems to be a necessary property of Tnatler" i . s obviously in the densest of mental fogs ; which may account for tin ' s statement . lt It is plain that consciousness has no necessary connexion with life . " Nothing is less plain . What he meant is , that life does not of a necessity bring with it consciousness . The same fogginess
Untitled Article
Oritica are not fch . e legislators , but the judges and . police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce ti * em . —Edinburgh Review *
Untitled Article
February 18 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 163
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 18, 1854, page 163, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2026/page/19/
-