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Cr . tics arc not the legislators , but the judtfos and police of literature . They do not maicc la . / d—they iauerprct and try to enforce them . —JEUinburyh Review .
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Tue influence of the Oriental question and the war-gossip on the literary market is a to ]> ic on -which we could say a great deal , if we liked . Instead of making an original disquisition on the subject , however , we -will help ourselves to sonic considerations , not unconnected with it , which we find ready to our hands in an article in the last number of the British Quarterly Review . "We have already noticed the number : the following is from its opening article on Dryden and the Literature of the Restoration . " It is a . common remark thnt literature flourishes best in times of social order and leisure ,-and suffers immediate depression whenever the public mind is agitated by violent civil controversies . The remark is more true than such popular inductions usually are . It is confirmed , on the small scale , by what every one finds in liis own experience . When a family is agitato 1 by any matter affecting its interests , there is an immediate cessation from all tlie lighter luxuries of books-nnd music wherewith it used to beguile its
leisure-All the members of the family are intent for the time being on the matter iu hand ; if books are consulted , it is for some purpose of practical reference ; and if-pens are active , it is'in writing letters of business . Not till the matter is fairly concluded arc the recreations of music and literature resumed ; though then , possibly , with a keener zest and a mind more full and fresh than before . Precisely so it is on the larger scale . If everything that is spoken or written be called literature , there is probably always about the same ¦ a mount of literature going on in a community ; or , if there is any increase or decrease , it is but in proportion to the increase or decrease of the population . But , if by literature we mean a certain peculiar kind and quality of spoken or written matter , recognisable by its likeness to certain known precedents , then , undoubtedly , literature flourishes in times of quiet and security , and wanes in times of convulsion and disorder . When the storm of some great civil contest is _ blowing , it is impossible for even the serenest man to shut himself quite in from the noise , and turn over the leaves of his Jfovace . or practise his violin , it is
as UTidistractedly as before . Great . is the power of i ^ ocoeurantism ; and a noble sight to see , in the mjdst of some Whig or Tory excitement winch is throwing the general communion into sixes and sevens and sending mobs along the streets , the calm devotee of hard science , or the impassioned lover of the ideal , going on bis way , aloof from it all , and smiling at it all . But there are times when even these obdurate gentlemen will be touched in spite of themselves to the tune of what is going on ; when the shouts . of -the mob -will penetrate to the closets of the most studious ; and when , as Archimedes of old had to leave his darling diagrams and trudge along the Svracusan streets to . superintend the construction of rough cranes and catapults , so philosophers and poets alike will have to quit thek favourite occupations , and be whirled along in the common agitation . These are times when whatever literature there is assumes a character of immediate and practical interest . Just . as , in the supposed case , the literary activity of the family is consumed in mere letters of business , so , in this , the literary activity of the community exhausts itself in newspaperarticles
, public speeches , and pamphlets , more or less elaborate , on the present crisis . There may be a vast amount of . nrind at work , and as much , on the whole , may be written as before ; but _ the very excess of what may be called the pamphlet literature , which is perishable in its nature , will , leave a dehc-iency in the various departments of literature more strictly so called—philosophical or expository literature , historical literature , and the literature of pure imagination . Not till the turmoil is over , not- till the battle has been fairly fought out , and the mental activity involved in it has been let loose for more scattered worlc , will tho calmer muses resume their sway , and the press send forth treatises and histories and poems and romances as well as pamphlets . Then , however , men may return to literature with a new zest , and the very storm which has interrupted the course of pure literature for a time may infuse into such literature-when it begins n ^ ain , a fresh and stronger spirit . If the battle had ended in a victory , there will be a tone ol jo yi ° f exultation , and of scorn , in what men think and write after ' it ; if it has ended in a . defeat , all that is thought and written will be tinged by a finer and deeper sorrow . "
Let our readers make the application of these remarks for themselves , and console themselves with the expectation of new vigour in our bookmaking , after the Oriental blast is over . After all , however , we are not so badly off as might be thought—probably because the Oriental question does not barrow our civic vitals ns a civil controversy would . Even tho war itself is grist to the anill of our literary gentlemen—as witness the thousnnd-and-one books and pamphlets a 1 > out Russia and the Czar , Turkey and the Sultan . And , besides this literature of cphomcrals bred out of the war itself , have we not such works as Sir Wiujam Hamilton ' s edition of the Collected Works of Dugahl Stewart , of which tho first volume has been published , and Lord Maiion ' s History of England from 17 IS to 1783 , of which the seventh and concluding volume has just appeared , and Mr . Cnown ' s Rcujns of Louis XVIII . and Charles X . —not to speak of novels and of our reprints of such classics as Goldsmith and Gihiion—to show that Nicholas does not occupy all our thoughts , and that , though the Cossack is nt our gates , our publishers are still bold enough to buy copyrights ?
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Under tho reverential title o ( Shahspcare ' f ) Scholar , an American journalist , Mr . lliciiA . ni ) Gkast White , undertakes to rescue his great master from tho hands of Duyasdvst . Profoundly , and unUisguisedly , ho hates tho tribe of commentators , nnd unmeasured is the contempt which ho entertains for Mr . Cozxikh ' s folio of ifiS-J . Therein ho finds that poetry is turned to prose , dulucss substituted for wit , dramatic propriety exalted , tho context disregarded , and tho really important alterations tlostituto of novelty . According to Mr . Wums , Suaksphauu is his own interpreter . " It is folly to sny that the writings of such a man need notus mid comments to enable roadora of ordinary intelligence to apprehend their full meaning . There is no pretence for tho intrusion of such aids , except tho fact that Siiaksimhark wrote two "hundred and fifty yours ago ; and this seems to bo but a pretence . ' We shall givo a fuller account of Mr . Wiutk next wreck , Moanwhilo , wo gladly welcome thin addition to Shakiumoarian literature from ( be other uidu of tho Atlantic .
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Speculations and propositions on the Hubject ol' education arc increasing « t an enormous rate . It iH ns if all tho inqusilivcncw . and nil tho philanthropy of the . country Wero for the time working in this one direction . What to teach , and how to loach it , arc tho problems of tho day . Tho Crystal I alucu ltst'll figures in our current literature as something deriving itd clue
interest from its connexion with these problems ; and there is now in London an exhibition , called specifically the " Educational Exhibition , " and under the superintendence of the Council of the Society of Arts , the purpose of which is to bring under one view , for persons interested in education , all tlie apparatus , devices , and appliances , —in the shape of books , models , maps , pictures , and the like , —anywhere in use , whether in Great Britain , on the Continent , or in America , for facilitating the process of instruction in schools . This is but a palpable representation of what is going on everywhere in a dispersed manner . The press teems with books and pamphlets on the science of education . Almost every number of every periodical has an article beai-ing on the subject . And our Wheweixs , our Fakaoays , and other men of note , seem to have been seized with a passion for lecturing on educational reform .
All this is hopeful ; but judging from the heterogeneousness of that mass of speculations which now lies before the public in the character of materials towards this greatly desired " science of education , " it will be a long time before the public , or their authorities , can come to any satisfactory agreement , even as to the fundamentals of the " science . " It will require a mind of some force to drive a straight furrow through so much mingled sense and crudity as has been already accumulated on the subject . Confining our attention to school instruction alone , what a 1 number of notions and projects do we see abroad—each carried about like a flag , by some educational reformer or other , and followed by a hand of exponents and
advocates ! There is the " teaching of common tilings" notion of Lord Ashbttbton , one of the best of them all . By vray of extension of thi& notion , there is a demand by some for a species of schools , which should be ,, in part , inodel-farms , in part workshops , where youths might "be trained in the useful arts of common life . Then , there is also the notion that youths should all be drilled as soldiers , after something like the Prussian system . " Teach drawing , " say some , " cultivate the sense of form and colour . ' " Why is not music taught in all our schools ? " is the hobby -. question of others . " Teach the elements of physical science and chemistry , " say some ; " let children be made familiar with the constitution and laws of the world
they inhabit . ' " Teach rather physiology , " say another set of exclusives ; "it is , above all , essential that children should become acquainted with the structure of their own bodies — the laws of health , &c . " " Instruct the rising generation in the truths of political economy—the laws that regulate the exchanges and the other processes of society , " is the advice of a numerous class , -who trace strikes and other evils to the ignorance existing on these subjects . And so with a whole world of other notions , some broad and some narrow , but all characterised by a spirit of protest against the too exclusively literary and linguistic . education hitherto given in schools .
To extract the good and the practicable art of all these suggestions will , we repeat , require more philosophy than has yet been brought to the task . Some of the suggestions , however , are clearly of more value than others . All those efforts , for example , that are being made to introduce into education a provision for the instruction of youth in those orders of ideas which relate to their duties and functions as citizens , deserve especial attention . "We have before us a lecture by Dr . TV " . B . Hodgson , well fitted to suggest this remark . It is one of a series of lectures on education delivered at the Royal Institution , and published by Messrs . Parker and Son . The first lecture of the series is by Dr . Wheweuo , and is eatitled On the Influence of the History of Science upon Intellectual Education ; the second is by Professor
Faraday , and is entitled , Observations on Mental Education ; the third is by Dr . Latham , and treats of The Importance of the Study of Language as a Branch of Education for all Classes ; the fourth , by Dr . Daubejtt , is On the Importance of tlie Stuth / of Chemistry as a Branch of Education for all Classes ; the fifth , by Professor Tykda ^ l , makes similar claims for the Study of Physics ; the sixth , by Mr . Pacjet , advocates similarly the Study of Physiology ; nnd this by Dr . Hodgson is entitled , On the Importance of the Study of Economic Science as a Branch of Education for all Classes . The idea of teaching economical scieiico in schools is certainly more novel than that of teaching either chemical , mechanical , or physiological science . The most ardent advocate of this idea , wo believe , is Mr . TVilwam Eijus , of Camberwell , a gentleman of independent means , who has now for a sorics
of years put it into pi'actiee with signally good results , by actually himself touching the principles of political economy to the boys in several large sohools in , and about London , and has also written various pamphlets with a view to bi'ing tho matter more largely under tho notice of those interested in education . Already , wo believe , a considerable impression has been made by Mr . Erxis—Mr . Comdkn and other man of ! influence having been aroused- to tho importance of tho reform proposed by him . Ifc ls ^ * Hodgson ' s object in tho lecture before us to recommend this reform . lie considers that , if tho element * of sound political economy—ns the doctrine of wages , and tho like—wore taught in Bohools , tho rosulta would bo very favourable to social well-being , llo would huva this kind acknowledge made a part of tho education , not of the poor only , but of tho rich ; not of men onlybut of women also . ITo snys : —
, "ItUuuiorrnrtoBunposotlmt iu miUlors touching moii'a ' bimnoss nnd boaoms , oven though of dully and hourly mui . Tonco , inatruclion in not nocdo , ] , nnd that common sonsd i » a Huftfc&onl Rulilo . AIhh ! common hciim . i « wid « ly . IXlonmt * 7 « / "ST * . m ^ V ' r , ? X ™ ciBoly In tlic » o tmbjocts Una error » no « t ostonalvuly nrovi . il ... and that U I * moat pormolou vvhoro it ( Iooh prevail . In mutton , for rcmovo . l from on ! n « ry life * nd wiperwnoo , mm ignornnco la pLiblo , porh «|* i nnd , in compurtoon lilt o miao uovoiib . But m those which oonoorn us « 1 iind « t All Minos , it la allko Impossible to be purely ignorant nnd to bo Ignorant
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July 29 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 7 X 1 ^ " ^^^ ^ ¦ M ^^—¦ " ' ¦ — . i
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Leader (1850-1860), July 29, 1854, page 711, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2049/page/15/
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