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~y.i i '. ^LttttUultt* ' .
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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.
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Those of our readers who are interested in philosophy will be glad to learn that the logical and metaphysical lectures of the late distinguished Professor Sir William Hamilton , of Edinburgh , thU shortly appear . They are to be published by Messrs . Blackwood and Sons , under the editorship of the Hev . H . Ii . Manse ! , of Oxford , assisted by Mr . J . Veitch , an old pupil of Sir Wilham ' s , who , we believe , had also something to do with carrying the new edition of Dtjgald Stewaet ' s works through the press . Mr . Mansex ' s name is ' a guarantee of careful editorship , as he possesses in a high degree the philosophic insight and scholarly erudition indispensable for the work . He is , moreover , a professed disciple of Sir William :, and by directing attention to
his speculations has contributed perhaps more than any other University man to revive the study of philosophy at Oxford . The lectures , which will probably extend to three or four volumes , are , we believe , left in a tolerably complete form ; but whether any other papers are in a state for publication we have not yet heard . Sir William must , h . owever have left a number of philosophical fragments ; and we hope that in dealing with these , the editor will not be too fastidious , but , in the exercise of a wise liberality , publish as many as possible . Sir "William ' s whole method of working , so far as form is concerned , was evidently fragmentary , but as he always spoke in perfect knowledge of the subject , and from the most central point of view , the fragments are organic , and serve to illustrate what is left undeveloped in his system .
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We do not recommend ladies who are in pursuit of Woman ' s Bights to ' submit the case' to M . P . J . Proudhon . He has very little faith in the cause , which he says the " honourable liguemes'' are " agitating with so much noise and so little success . " He speaks of the " sort of crusade which certain estimable ladi « s in either hemisphere are carrying on in favour . of their sex as a symptom of the general revolution of ideas now going on ; but an exaggerated symptom , an ajfoletiient which belongs precisely to the infirmity of the sex , and to its incapacity for self-knowledge and self-government . " This is pretty well to begin with . M . Phoudhon , we should here observe , is replying to a certain Madame J . d'H ^ ricotjut , through the medium of the Bevue Philosqphique et Eeligieuse , a review with which we were unacquainted , but which we are now
at liberty to suppose has the advantage of considerably strong-minded contributors on both sides of the question . It is in the pages of La Rat ? io ? ie , " a weekly review of religious , political , and social philosophy , " published at Turin ( under the editorship of M . Atjsomo Pjoianchi , sometime a distinguished member of the Roman Constituent Assembly ) , that we discover M . Peoudhon engaged in single combat with Madame J . b'Hericouet . M . Pbotohon affects the forms of chivalrous courtesy when he assures his fair antagonist , " with all the respect due to her as a woman / ' that he " had not expected his own judgment to be so 3 peedily confirmed by her petulant interpellation . " He withdraws the word qffbletnent ( which he had employed in his former letter ) , " as it may have hurt your feelings , although you know it was not meant to
Surely this has the merit of frankness at least ! If M . Peotjdhon escapes the fate of Orpheus , it will not be for the sake of his beaux yeuxl We dare say he is perfectly convinced of the impregnability of his Wic But , as Alpeonse Karr has acutely remarked—On ne prouve rienaux fenames : elle 3 ne croient < iu ' avec lecceur- c ' estdono l persuasion , qu'il faut employer avec elles—ou plutot , il faut leur plai ' re car elles « laissent convaincre par celui qui raisonue et non par ses raisonnements . Again : — II he serait pas difficile de prouver qae c ' est une superiority qu ' ont les femmes dP refuser decroiser le fer dansTescrime ennuyeuse de la dialectique ; b . cette superiority ' de n ' accepter aucane raison elles joignent celle de n'ea donner aucnne , et de se con teater parfaitement , en . exigeant qu ' on s ' en coutente , de cette seule reponse qui n'a na * l ' air d'etre concluante , mais qui l ' est en effet , puis < iu ' elles Vy ajoutent ' rien : narce We have every confidence , therefore , that M . Protohon will be nonsuited and , for our part , we think he richly deserves it .
be published . " We trunk M . Prottdhon may well afford to withdraw the word of offence , since it is a substantive that has no place in any French dictionary , and owes its existence to the invention of this gallant and chivalrous pamphleteer . The verb affbler , if we mistake not , is seldom used but in the participle , to signify the sweet excess of passionate folly , or , as a second intention , the defect of a needle in a ship ' s compass when it refuses to point to the north . We do not , of coarse , presume to correct the terminology of M , PnoxmrroN , who no doubt , of malice prepense , invented the substantive in the sense of what Tacitus calls " muliehris impotentia" which may be interpreted " womanly impulsiveness , or want of self-control" —a charming defect of nature , and one , we are persuaded , the stronger sex would not willingly forego .
M . Proudhon had been anxiously wondering whence this insurrection of women against " the paternal and mental supremacy" could have sprung . "Which , of our manly faculties or virtues , or prerogatives" —perhaps , rather , ¦ whioh of our miserable weaknesses and pettinesses is it that they resent P e | TTorty false reasonings in your letter of eight pages " suggest the reply . A physical incapacity in tho feminine understanding to apprehend the true relation of things . M . Pj&oudhon proceeds to dilate on this nattering discovery of his with a fulness of illustration and detail which we are not at all prepared to admire or to imitate ; but the pitli of his " demonstrations " - —the result , it ¦ appears , of ct rery serious and very interesting studies "—is contained in tlic threo following positions : —
I . That thq aifflBronoo of aex establishes between man and woman a separation *«• *?"" £ " ? nQt ** y equal—to that which the difference of races and of species establishes between animals . a $ mi € t ^ I ° a 8 On ° tMa 8 e P ar < rtlon or dHtownoe , man and -woman are not By iuiociA , wo aupposo M , Peotjdmon implies a perfect equality and reciprocity ^ ^ oral and intellectual faculties ^ l ^ &tfS ^** ™ CatmOt b ° Call 0 d Cit ° » »« «« ¥ * *" f ^ pg $ the samtjuttwKuthe condition * fm * Jtttjtni dWk : she uXT' V r 3
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We are glad to find that M . Jtoes Simon has collected into a volume tli course of lectures delivered by him at the invitation , and in presence of , the Literary Society of Ghent last December , on Liberty of Conscience , ' our readers will remember the highly-interesting and important discussions in the Belgian Chambers on the right of Professors to teach History and Philosophy , independently of episcopal censorship . It appears that two Professors of the University of Ghent , and the Literary Society in that town , had drawn down the thunders of the Church on account of their " false , bad , blasphemous , and heretical doctrines , " as the' Bishop of Ghent very naturally described lectures not sanctioned or approved by the Church Catholic , and not imbued with the spirit of absolute
submission to Papal infallibility . The Literary Society , whose library actually contained Protestant works , was stigmatized by this mild and benignant Bishop as " anti-religious and anti-social , and their library as full of the most impious and immoral books . " About the same time the Bishop of Bruges issued a pastoral letter , in which the liberty of conscience was called " a false , pernicious , and extravagant doctrine , " and the liberty of the press "horrible . " These gentle words created some sensation in a country jealous of its freedom and of its constitutional rights , and oh the opening of the next session of the -Ijree University of Brussels , M . Teiihaegen , the Rector , delivered an address , protesting with dignity and energy against the monstrous pretensions of the clerical party . Even in the Chamber , M . de Decker , a Catholic and Conservative Minister , was compelled to
express his regret that a " blast of intolerance had passed over Belgium , " and that purely clerical instruction would produce " a generation of idiots . " The two censured Professors asserted their riglits with equal energy , and finally M . Jules Simon" was invited to deliver a course of lectures on Liberty of Conscience in the great hall of the University of Ghent . It was in , that liall that the esteemed Professor of Moral Philosophy defended the cause of human reason , of true religion , and of toleration , before an enthusiastic audience of more than three thousand Belgian citizens . These lectures arc now preserved to us in a volume to which we shall take an opportunity to return . For the moment , we content ourselves with observing that these lectures are -written in a deeply religious and reverent spirit , and may safely be recommended to the most timid ( and intolerant ) of Protestant readers nearer home .
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M . Mntfcs , the great Parisian capitalist , holder of the Spanish Loan , proprietor of the Constittitionnel , and , for all we know to the contrary , decorated with the Order of the Golden Fleece , has rushed into immortality as the CuB / rnrs of the Bourse . After a recent visit to the Gymimsc to assist at a performance of the Qiiestioii d'Argent ^ M . Miubs was unable to contain the feelings of an indignant capitalist , and ( vicariously it is supposed ) sat down and took , up the pen to indite a criticism in the fcuilleton of the Constitutionnei on the piece , and a friendly remonstrance to the autlior , whom he twitted with treating speculators rather cavalierly for one who had himself applied for shares . We have now the reply of M . Alexa-NDEE Dumas the Younger . Here it is , as we find it in the lively feuilleton of the Belgian National : — My dear Mir&s , —Wo perfectly understand one another . When I am going to write a play , I shall have recourse to your good advice . When you are getting up a great affair , you will apply to me . But no nonsense , and , above all , let us bewaro of Spanish loana . Yours—A . Dumas , fits .
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A HEAVY-ARMED G 31 AMMARIAN . Modem English Literature : Its Blemishes and Defects . By IlenTy II . 13 reen , Esq ., F . S . A . Longman and Co . We have more than once had occasion to remark upon the weakness of style exhibited by authors who cliooso Style as their subject . We may add that writers on plagiarism are often impertinent , that critics of quotation are continually incorrect in their references , and that books on books , vrhicii should be the most entertaining of all , aro frequently dull . Mr . Homy Breen has qualified himself , in Ins own opinion , to measure tho capacities
mmm of modern English literature , to detect tho flaws of style , the vicious mannerisms , the stolen passages , in the productions of our popular pens . He seems to aim . at avoiding error by composing in a strain of low , lcvel >_ sluggish monotony , and ho certainly supplies himself with an amplitude ot material from works of indifferent authorship , or of no authorship at all . To devote pages of analysis to paragraphs from Sir Archibald Alison , is almost as ridiculous as to blame Mr . Montgomery Martin for not being a literary purist . Mr . Breen ' s strength , however , lies in the department of scrutiny and exposure . Many a brilliant ejcnnvple of ftxt is dappled by tho
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Critics are nofcthe legislators , but the judges aod police of literature . They do not make laws — they interpret and try to enforce them . — Efanhurgh Kevr-ew .
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304 . THE LEADER . XJ [ g ! Jgg ^ g ATxr RPAT ;
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 28, 1857, page 304, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2186/page/16/
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