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prefer the TadtenbucTi © F ^ ep Mus , or HHfe ^ C ^ eslral ^ sa ^ . df ^ Roii ^ e , ' ^ the rWte&r **> Aftuly 8 i 3 ( mdStiinntary ofThucydides ( Bonn ' s Classical Library ) , is ian-admirkbl ^ yoluEde . It is intended to facilitate the study of that great histonahWwdrk ^ , and is < weU calculated for its purpose ,, Mr . Wheeler has added a good chronological table , an explanatory list of coins , and distances , Ageographical supplement , and ah : abstract of all the speeches . In fact , the ; volutae may be entitled , " Thucydides made easy , " and it will be a godsend ' to -students preparing for their examinations . Whether or not it will
promote the true culture of the Greek language and literature , is another question . Joyce ' s Scientific Dialogues have been reprinted , with enlargements and corrections ^ iii Bohn's Scientific Library . They are now authenticated by the threefold labours of Mr . Joyce himself , and of his two successive editors , Mx , Pinnoek , of Catheehismal fame , and Dr . Griffiths , who has adapted , to " the present state of knowledge , " these conversations between " Father , " " Charles , " and ** Emma , " If Charles and Emma are not familiar with all that it is necessary for them to know of science , after working through these volumes , they are dull children , and unteachable .
The Modern Scottish Minstrel t edited by Charles Rogers ( Adam and Charles Black ) , is an issue , in six volumes , of the songs of Scotland during the past half-century . It abounds in quaintness , humour , and beauty . Another interesting reprint is a collection of The Poetic Works of Mark Akenside and John Dyer ( Routledge ) , edited by the Rev . Robert Aris Willmot , and illustrated by Birket Foster . We take this opportunity to mention the publication , though the place in literature of Dyer and Akenside deserve to be separately discussed . The first and second volumes of Hallam ' s Constitutional History ( Murray ) Sir Bulwer Lytton ' s Caxtons and My Novel ( Routledge ) , and Lizzie Leigh ,
by the author of Mary Barton ( Chapman and Hall ) , are repubhcations which only require announcement . Parker ' s Natural Philosophy ( Allman and Co . ) , and Walker ' s Pronouncing Dictionary ( Routledge and Co . ) , which seems gifted with perpetual youth , appear once more , enlarged and corrected , to settle the disputes of country table-talkers . Finally , we have Bohn ' s Handbook of Proverbs , less a cyclopaedia than a collection , for it is signally incomplete . The popular sayings of the East occupy but one page . Nor do we think the question , " What is a Proverb ? " satisfactorily answered by Mr . Bohn , though , in this respect , he only fails where all had failed before him . A bookful of proverbs , however , is sure to be valuable , as well as entertaining .
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ENGLISH : PAST AND PRESENT . English : Pott and Present . By the Rev . R . Chenevix Trench . - J . W . Parker . This author of these five very p leasant and instructive lectures , four of which the Preface informs us were delivered to the pupils of King's College School , London , and also to the pupils of the Training School , Winchester , is well known to churchmen as the writer of Notes on the Parables , Notes on the ¦ Miracles , and other learned theological works , while he is known to the world of literature as a sound and elegant scholar , a forcible prosaist , and a graceful poet . . In Lecture I . the Rev . C . Trench treats of English as a composite lanfuapc , and enumerates certain Hebrew , Ai'abic , Persian , Turkish , Indian , talian , and Celtic words which are in general use . Among Hebrew words we have " manna , " " cherub , " " sabbath , " &c . Among , Arabic words
" algebra , " " cypher , " " zero , " " zenith , " with the chemical terms " alkali , " " elixir , " " alcohol , " and the names of their articles of merchandise , as " giraffe , " " saffron , " t ( lemon , " " orange , " " sherbet , " " mattress , " " coffee , " " sugar , " " amber , " and "jasmin . " From the Persians we derive the words " bazaar , " " lilac , " " azure , " " caravan , " and " pagoda ; " while from the Turks , " tulip , " " dragoman , " " turban , " and " chouse , " the word current amon" schoolboys . To the Indians we owe the words " tobacco , " " maize , " " potato , " and " wigwam ; " to the Italians , " bandit , " " charlatan , " " duenna , " " pantaloon , " " gazette , " and " aligator ; " while Celtic things are designated by truly Celtic words , as " bard , " " clan , " " kilt , " " reel , " " pibroch , " and " plaid . " vV ^ e are glad to observe that Mr . Trench does not depreciate either the Saxon or the Latin portion of the English language . " Both , " he remarks , 44 are indispensable ; and speaking generally without stopping to distinguish as to subject , both are equally indispensable . Pathos in situations which are homely , or at all connected with domestic affections , naturally moves by Saxon words . " <
* 4 rBaffgage ;* ;' . kindly .. fruits '' were f . j ] tatural , frui * B ?' i $ p worship was , 0 f ) tejn simply to h 6 npuy ; & painful writer was a painstaking , writes ; apft a' ? blacj ; fuard" was one of the meanest classof those ; retainers who >; attended ; ing and his court when ; upon a journey ; ' meat" was a general name for food ; " bombast" was cotton which lined ^ the garment ; " gossips " .:. were " sponsors ; " " royal children" were " royal impsi ; " a ' , pros . er , \ . w ^ asja . piy > se writer ; and a " villain" merely a * bailiff . _ As . Regards this ,. lecture jipoin spelling , it will be enough to say that it points out in a very able roapnrgf the plain disadvantages of the phonetic system , which has bow , we belies , in common with other spurious systems invented to save time and trouble * died a natural death . ¦ ' - ' ¦ ! y -
In Lecture II . we are shown the gains of the English language as especially owing to the battle of Hastings , and the whole Norman Conquest . We are ; shown , moreover , how names of persons have become in course of time ' names of , things ; bow from Tantalus , Hercules , Daedalus , Epicurus , Academus , Lazarus , Duns Scotus , Pasquin , Rodomont , we derive respectively the words" tantalise , " " herculean , " " epicure , " " academy , " " lazaretto , ? ' " dunce . " " pasquil , " " pasquinade , " and 44 rodomontade . " This interesting collection of nomina appelativa , which have become noinina realia . would of itself be sufficient to render , this Lecture invaluable .
We have in Lecture III . the diminutions of the English language , an account of the loss of Saxon words , some of which have become provincialisms , and may be still found in use amongBt the pcasanty in some country districts . Hampshire peasants , for instance , are generally afeard , not afraid ; with them the prices have res when they ha , ve risen ; if they offend you , they axe , not ask pardon ; when they are tear , or hungry , they eat their nuntion ( luncheon ) ; when they are frightened , they are afront or fronted ; and when they have jitst done a thing , they have neu-st done it . Some of these old words the lecturer maintains are not bad English , nor are many
other words known to us aa Americanisms * Jjectures IV . and V- treat of the changes in the meaning of English words , and the alteration which has also taken place in the manner of spelling them . Thus , to take up one's " carriage , " was formerly to remove one ' a
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: A BATCH OF BOOKS . ti Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and his Time * . By a Journalist . , Son , and Co . WaiJsna ; or , Adventure * on the Mosquito Shore . By Samuel A . Bard . .. Liow , Son , and ' Co . the Prophets ; or , Mormonism Unveiled . With Illustrations . Triibner and Co . Modern Mysteries Explained and Exposed . By the Rev . A . Mohan . Trttbner and Co . Catherine , the Egyptian Slave in 1852 . By the Rev . W . J . Beamont , M . A . Cambridge : Macmillan and Co , The End of the World . By the Rev . John Baptist PaganL Dolman ,
Four of the six books constituting our " batch" tins week bring their credentials from the other side of the Atlantic . The biographical volume comes first to hand . What are its recommendations ? Perhaps we may answer the question most satisfactorily by giving a short string of marked passages . This will , at all events , show that the book is , in parts , amusing We have no difficulty in beginning our task , for we are met on the very title-page with an extract from the New York Herald , not to be passed over on any account . " I care for no man ' s friendship or enmity , ' says Mr . Bennett , speaking from the columns of his journal . " If I cannot stand on my own merits , let me fall . As'the public become acquainted with my individual purposes ( he goes on to observe)—with the history of my life—with the character of my several papers—with the independent and intellectual principles on which they are conducted , they will become more enthusiastic towards my course , and more desirous to do me justice . " If the introducliteral fact
tory announcement of the biographer is to be understood as , Mr . Bennett has certainly one very " enthusiastic" sympathiser to justify his boast . The gentleman who writes nearly five hundred oetavq pages , advertising Mr . Bennett as a philosopher , moralist , philanthropist , critic , and politician in the most extensive way of business , " has sought , no person ' s counsel upon his theme or its mode of treatment . " In particular , he has avoided consulting " Mr . Bennett or any one connected with him , " " either directly or indirectly , with respect to the writing or publication of these Memoirs . " The work , we are further assured by this disinterested admirer of editorial perfection , is no more than " a spontaneous act of literary justice , ' whicb , " had Mr . Bennetrbeen a less abused man , " would never have been performed : " - " But , " says the spontaneously chivalrio biographer , " there is a compensating principle in the mental and moral , as well as in the physical world , and it has been brought into action by its own inherent force , with what success time will determine . "
Never did hero , before Mr . James Gordon Bennett , owe so much to heroic examples and traditions . First of all there were the " thrilling legends" which belonged to " the scenes around the residence of the Eari of Fife , " in which romantic part of Banffshire , it seems , Mr . Bennett was born . He went to school at Keith , and afterwards he studied at Aberdeen ; belonging , while there , to a literary club , which held its meetings in the grammar school— "in the same room where Byron used to con his youthful tasks , " The name of Byron was just then becoming famous , and was proudly cherished by the club . " Indeed , " says our author , " it is quite evident that the history of Byron had no little influence on young Bennett ' s mind . " On the same page we read that the " Life of Benjamin Franklin " was similarly active in forming the character of Mr . Bennett , and that " the influence of the career of Napoleon , probably , was not slight upon , his naturally ambitious and aspiring spirit . " Bob Koy is mentioned on the
next page , as having produced a powerful effect on Mr . Bennett s mind , so much so that he went to Glasgow on purpose to examine objects connected with the history of the great outlaw , and , while there , heard Dr * Chalmers , whose preaching " probably exerted no small degree of influence , " &c , &c . At last , having emigrated to Boston , he received the finishing touch to his character , by reading the New England Galaxy , 4 t founded and edited by the much respected veteran Joseph T . Buckingham , whoso example must have had no little weight , " &c , iko . Here , then , we have , editing a paper in New York , a gentleman in whose person are concentrated the qualities of the Scottish chiefs , Byron , Benjamin Franklin , Rob Roy , Dr . Chalmers , and Joseph T . Buckingham , respected founder of the New England Galaxy I Let us now road how Mr . Bennett , being in Boston , and being hungry without the means of getting anything for dinner , providentially picks up a shilling : —
One day ho was walking on the Common , despairing almost of all hope , and complaining alike of the callousness of the world and the severity of Providence . He had had no food for two days , and knew of no means by which he could procure any , without becoming a mendicant . In this dilemma , aa he paced the ground and debated with himself on the mysterious ways of Providence , he thought that if there is a ruling Power in the universe , surely it is strange that those who are willing to work should hunger , In this mood , as he propounded the serious question tohimsolf , " How shall I feed myself ? " - —he saw upon the ground something that seemed to look at him directly in the face . He started back—paused—and having recovered from his surprise , picked up a York shilling ! This gave him courage . It appeared to bo A special gift of the moment , at once rebuking his complaints and encouraging him to
persevere . From this affecting incident Mr . Bennett's history takes a turn . Ho finds a countryman , and , through him , a clerkship . The clerkship is changed for a post as proof-reader in a largo printing-house , and from this step he mounts to the position , first of reporter and then of editor . The chief
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 896, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2106/page/20/
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