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*«* M T : M E I ^ EiA-iP M B . [ No ^ 292 , Scatiekdate ,
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_^« ijcB ; are : nat the-legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not / ^ " ^^^ saake laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
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It would-be curious to have before us accurate statistics of literature , especially with reference to the prices ^ of booksv When we see Dickens selling 40 , 000 copies of a guinea book in shilling numbers , we are apt : to suppose that * were the price , of books reduced , the sale , would be proportionately increased . Increased it certainly would be ; but proportionately ? Take o MacauiiAt's History as an example- The two new volumes cost six-andthirty shillings .- The first edition is 15 , 000 copies , and the whole , or nearly the wliolev o £ this- edition is sold before the work appears . Suppose the price were reduced to one shilling a volume , would there be 270 , 000 copies sold ? Or take Kingsuby ' s Westward Ho ! which is published at a guinea
and a half . Of this work , Mucib , the Napoleon of the Libraries , has 600 copies . These 600 copies he has issued 10 , 000 times ; and as each copy lent may be fairly supposed to represent 3 readers , we have 30 , 000 readers of the work issued from one library alone . Would 30 , 000 copies have been sold had the book been published at one shilling ? The figures just mentioned suggest what an enormous difference there is between , copies sold and readers ; but they do not show any reasonable ground for supposing that this difference would vanish before a reduction of price . The mass of people do not buy books ; they rely on libraries and book societies . Those who buy books want them ~ , and what they want they will pay forj as we know to our cost . In generaVmen do not buy books as women buy ¦** bargains ; " cheapness is quite a secondary element .
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1 h& Quarterly has not a single article referring to the war , or any other aclualttef and is none the worse for that abstinence . It is not , indeed , a brilliant" number , but it is a literary one . An old > French sceptic and divine is ; introduced in a pleasant scholarly sketch of the " Life and Opinions of Huefc . ' ? Thagkebat is lauded rather than criticised , apropos of the Newcomesywiiich the reviewer pronounces his greatest work , and which certainly ought to put an end to the old charges against him of cynicism , and want of sympathy with the good and noble . But the most amusing article in the number is that on " Arago and Brougham on Men of Science . " The writer exposes the miserable national vanity which made Aeago so unjust to foreigners , and so . wilful in his misstatements when they could " redound to the honour of his country . " With Frenchmen patriotism is a religion ; and as rigftt reverend gentlemen lie prodigally when the lie is to serve religion , so Frenchmen lie profusely when la France h in question . La patrie is a mistress ; they flatter her , caress her , deceive her ,. . lie for her , and die
for her , ; We must borrow an anecdote or two from this article . Monge , the great V mathematician , was appointed by the Committee of Public Safety to superintend th © manufacture of arms ; but the Committee did not pay : — \ t Hts ' poverty was » such that when BerthoUet ordered a warm bath for a quinsey ^ feieh he-had contracted in the di scharge of hia . arduousiduties , ho was unable to purchafl < Nt * aod to heat the water . His . invariable breakfast was dry broad , and going forth' onA morning at four o ' clock ; according to custom , hia meal under his arm , he found tha bhis family had added a small lump of cheese to the usual fare . * " You will "brinff «*« nto trouble , " Monge exclaimed with energy . " Did I not tell yon that , having h * •«*• ¦ rather gluttonous last week , I was alarmed to hear the representative Nibtt say mysteriously to those about him , ' Monge ia , getting easy m . his . circumstances j oofc , he eats radishes !'" "Nor vconld his poverty shield him : —
lusion , but that he should continue to . play , because the 50 , 000 francs which he knew he . nrostlose every year-would' -not ; if employed' in any othter manner , excite in his feeble body > -wasted witli \ 4 paii 4 « the-.- same ; keenr sensations-that ; he ? derivedJfrom the varied combinational , sometimes fertunate and sonnstHnea fataV which were developed every eveaing , upon , a ^ freen cloth . . This reminds -us-of Fox ' su celebrated saying , " The greatest pleasure in life is to play and win . j the next , to play and loseu" The mention-of Fox would form a natural transition to the article which closes the number , wherein Pitt and Fox are compared Jrom the Quarterly point , of view ; but we merely allude , in passings to . this'article ,, and return for more extracts to the one from whieh we have already borrowed . Here aretwo good stories of dogs : — Among the mental- problems which occupied much-of the-attention of Ampere was the vexed question of the nature of the faculties of animals . He . originally decided against their capacity to . reason , but he abandoned the opinion in deference to a single anecdote related by a friend on whose accuracy he could rely . Thfe gentleman , driven by a storm into a village public-house , ordered a fowl to be roasted . Old fashions then prevailed in the south of France , and turnspits were still employed in place of the modern , jack ; Neither caresses , threats , nor blows could make the dog act his part ., The gentleman interposed . " Poor dog , indeed ! " said the landlord , sharply ; " he deserves none of your pity , for these scenes take place every day . Do you know why this pretty fellow refuses to work the spit ?—it is because he has taken it into hia head that he and his partner are to share alike , and it is not his turn . " Ampere ' s informant begged that a servant might be sent to find the other dog , who made no difficulty about performing the task . He was taken , out after a while and his refractory partner put in , who began , now his sense of justice was satisfied , to work with thorough good-will like a squirrel in a cage . A similar incident was related by M- de Liancourt to the great Arnauld , who , with other Port-Ro 3 'alists , ' had adopted the theory of Descartes , that dogs were automatons and machines ,. and who , on the strength of this conviction , dissected the poor creatures to observe the circulation of the blood , and denied that they felt . " have two dogs , " said the remonstrator against this cruelty , " who turn the spit on alternate days . One of them hid himself , and his partner was about to be put to turn in his place . He barked and wagged his tail as a sign to the cook to follow him , went to the garret , pulled out the truant , and worried Mm Are these your machines ? " The great Arnauld , mighty in controversy and redoubtable in logic , must have had a latent consciousness that the turnspit had refuted him . The denial of intelligence to animals will one day be regarded as one of the incomprehensible errors of philosophy , one of the most striking illustrations of the tyranny of prejudice , and the readiness with which we are imposed on by verbal distinctions ; and it seems the more curious that men should have thus persisted , when we consider what exaggerated notions they entertained of the intellectual sagacity of the very animals to whom they denied intelligence ; as shown not only in the popularity of fables , but in the current anecdotes about animals . We conclude our extracts with the following curious trait of character : ¦¦¦ — It was the inevitable-result of the avidity with which Ampere , engaged , in a pursuit that this excess of actiore should be followed by reaction ^ -that . repletion , should give rise to satiety . A steadier pace could have been longer sustained ; but he . ran himself out of breath till he was unable to take one single step forward . He printed a treatise on the IHfferential and . Integral Calculus , which was entirely finished with the exception of the title-page and table of contents . Here he paused exhausted . Not all the solicitations of the bookseller could induce him to make the slight mechanical exertion , which was necessary to furnish the work with these usual accompaniments , and in this imperfect state it was published . Coleridge ' s want of " finger-industry to write down : a few-poems which he had repeated aloud , for which he had been paid , and the delay in providing which drove him day after day to feign humiliating excuses , is not more extraordinary .
Not'Vithfltanding . his services and his abstinence , Monge was denounced shortly afteP wards , and compelled to fly . In 1798 he accompanied Bonaparte in the expefUA-iou . to Egypt , and from thence to Syria . Ho came up on one occasion with a soldier ini the desert who was dying of thirst . The man cast a wistful eye upon a calabash whlOn . Honge . carried round his -waist . " Come , take a draught , " said the philosopher , in , reply ta this muta language of the countenance . The soldier swallowed a single mouthful . " Drink againf" said Monge , persuasively . " Thank you , " answered the man , " but you have Bhown yourself charitable , and I would not for the world expose you ta . the . atrocious torments I suffered just now . " That ia very touching , la the biography of Ampere there ia much interesting matter . The-ibllowing extract refers to a work on the Mathematical of Gambling : —
Th e * iproposition which Ampere set himself to . demonstrate was , that the regular garattoler was , certain to lose ... His method was to show that if two players were in other respeats upon equal terms , the chances were in favour of him who could go on the longest . , The richest . must consequently be the ultimate winner ., and his advantage Increased , rapidly -with the superiority of wealth . The regular gambler engages with everybody ; he Ia ono against the world ; an . individual with limited means , which he stakes against the resources , which in their aggregate may practically bo called unlimited , «> f the . whole , community of players . "In games whore the chances are equal , whore skill has no part , the professional player is therefore sure to bo ruined ; the formulae pf Ampere prove it beyond dispute . The- unmeaning words , such as good luck , good star , good vein , can neither hinder nor delay the execution of a sentence prououncod in the name of algebra . "
BC Arago expects that there will be people to ask , " What Is the uao ' of the demonstration ? " and' admits that a consciousness of the inevitable result would not deter everybody from following the trade . He was acquainted at Paris with a wealthy foreigner who pawed hia time between gambling and the study of science . M . Arago , to woaa him , from his vice , calculated , the number of throws and the stakes being giv « n ^ iWh « t mus t bo hia quarterly loaaos . The theory tallied with the fact , and the MPMwaAn pknowlodged that ho was . convinced . Ho abstained , for a fortnight , . and WWMMJtyqd upon M * Axugo . to say that he should never again be the unintelligent tributary ofrtteh /^ of Pftrfa ; , that ho had . coaaod . ta be the dupe of a ridiculous de-
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Our readers will not have forgotten the two piquant articles which appeared in these columns on the English Pictures at the Paris ; Exhibition . M . E . About has republished them in a charming volume , Voyage a travers I'Exposition des Beaux Arts , in which he characterises the English , German , Belgian , Spanish , Italian , and French painters and soulptors . ^ Of course la France is superior in both arts to all rivals ; but , apart from this nationality , M . About is an agreeable causeur on art , and a very amusing writer . His book contains more esprit than criticism—but what reader will make that a reproach ?
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THOMAS CARLYLE . Pcumgea selected from the Writings of Thomas CarlyZa . With a ^ Biographical Memoir Ry-ThomaaBaUantyne . Chapman and HalL It has been well said that the highest aim in education is analogous to the highest aim in mathematics , namely , to obtain not results but powers , not particular solutions , but the means by which endless solutions may be wrougbt . He is tho most effective educator who aims less at perfecting specific * acquirements than at producing that mental condition which renders acquirements easy , and leads to their useful application ; who does not seok to make his . pupils , moral by enjoining particular courses of action , but bv brincinff into activity the feelings and sympathies that must issue in
noblo action . On the same ground it may b « said that , the most ollectove writer is not he who announces a particular discovery , who convinces men of a particular concluaion , who demonstrates that this measure is right and that measure wrong ; but he who rouses in others the activities that must issue in discovery , who awakes men from their indifference to the right ana the wrong , who norvoa their energies to seek for the truth and live up to it at whatever cost . The influence of such a writer is dynamic He does not teach men how to uso sword and musket , but he inspires their souls with courage and sends ft strong will into their muscles . He does not , perhaps , enrich your stock of data , but ho clears away die film from your eyes that yomnuy search for data to some purpose . Ha does not , perhaps , convince ypu , but he strikes you , undeceives you , animates you . You arc not directly fed by hia books , but you are , braced as by a walk up to an alpine
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 27, 1855, page 1034, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2112/page/14/
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