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A correspondent writes to tis defending the word sensile , and other barbarisms condemned in our notice of the North British Review last week . His defence , in substance , amounts to this : that , the greater part of our philosophical vocabulary toeing of foreign origin , any writer is at liberty to make as many new words as he pleases on the analogy of the old , and that instead of condemning such private tokens as base money , we ought to accept them with , thankfulness as sterling coin . We must plead guilty to the ingratitude and even immodesty he implicitly charges us with . "Is it modest , " he singularly enough inquires , "thus to look a gift horse in the mouth ? " "We are not affected by the delicacy of the appeal , and agree with CuAUtus La ^ ib that if theteast is " a sorry Rosinante , a leau , ill-favoured jade , whom no gentleman could think of setting up in his stables , " the proverb which urges its acceptance is a popular fallacy . But it is right that such a powerful reasoner ,
such a delicate and discerning . critic should have the opportunity of speaking for himself , and we therefore give the paragraph containing his remonstrance , ¦" The word , sensile" he says , " is alone the proper one in speaking of the senses philosophically or scientifically . ' Sensuous , ' which you supply , is preoccupied by the appetites , and ' sensible , by the famous common sense of our people ; both ,-you know , not quite synonymous with science or philosophy . So with' edifying / ' synthetize , and many others . Why , in fact , not' synthetize ' as "well as ' analize' or ' criticize' ? Besides , in principle , since all our furniture of this higher order is innovation ( although no doubt superfluous ) upon our Anglo-Saxon stock , are we logical in straining at the gnat of adaptation ? Is it modest thus to look a gift horse in the mouth , when the grounds would
have , moreover , made the whole gift impossible ? " It can be scarcely neeessary , so far as the majority of our readers are concerned , to correct the blunders and misconceptions of this passage , but in courtesy to our correspondent we may point out a few . Taking the last part fust , our philosophical vocabulary is not an innovation , but an essential element of the language . English has a double root , Teutonic and Latin , the Anglo-Saxon representing the one branch , Norman-French the other , and the words derived from the latter source are as thoroughly English as those belonging to the former . And the philosophical terms thus obtaiiiedj so far from being " superfluous , " are indispensable . It would be impossible to express the higher abstractions of the intellect without their help . Prom
this doable source we have a tongue peculiarly rich and expressive for the purposes both of the philosopher and the poet , and it behoves us to guard the heritage with jealous care . It is the Queen ' s English , and no new word can pass current unless it bears tlie royal stamp of recognized necessity , and is issued from some authoritative mint . Our correspondent seems to suppose that-we object to the forms in question because they belong to the Latin rather than the Teutonic branch of the language . Not at all . We should object to needless importations or adaptations from the Saxon just as nvuch as from the Latin . We object to them simply because they are not English . If every one were allowed to introduce new terms at will , merely to gratify a personal whim or to meet some imaginary deficiency , the language would soon become hopelessly corrupt . Adopting our correspondent ' s " principle , " and following out his "logical" precedence , any one might sifc down
and in a short time manufacture a hundred new verbs , such as " analogize , " " neologize , " " philologize , " and the like , all of which , according to him , we ought to receive with thankfulness . With due deference to the opinion of such a competent judge , we respectfully decline to do so . But he is as unfortunate in detail as in principle , the particular word he champions being needless , and the reasons he offers for its introduction erroneous . lie intimates that we need sensile to express the undisturbed action of the senses , " sensuous " being preoccupied by the appetites . But ; this is by no means true . " Sensual " is tho term appropriated to the appetites , " sensuous " being wholly free from any such degrading and disabling association . It is , in fact , the precise -word that is wanted , standing just midway between " sensual" on the one hand And " sensible" the other , the former too much identified with the appetites and the latter with the intellect , to express with philosophical precision the undisturbed action of the senses .
Without pausing to criticize our correspondent ' s style , or to comment on his culogium of the Reviewers , which ho admires to the point of imitation , we simply repeat our protest against the fabrication of unnecessary words . Proved necessity and authoritative sanction arc indispensable to the acceptance of new terms ; but in the present case the novelties arc needless , aud tin : writer who uses them ia unknown . The influence of an isolated position , or the development of national and individual character , is notorious . In the absence of any standard of'comparison we naturally tend to form an overweening opinion of ourselves , to cultivate a spirit not only of self-reliance , but of self-esteem and self-assertion ; ilso . Our insular peculiarities as a nation arc amongst the common-place of " European polite society . The national pridoof a true-born Englishman is , however , . as nothing compared witli the national pride of a genuine Manx . Tho insulin peculiarities of the British nation are exaggerated to the extreme point of
caricature in the favoured island of Man . The circular of a society leeenily . formed in the island , and which has fallen into our hands , affords the most decisive well as the most amusing proof of this . The very title of the society was \ n itself a surprise—" The Manx Society for Publication of Natiun / d Documents of the Isle of Man . " Our education had ' - been so neglected , that we wore startled to find an independent nation so near our own borders . As we rend on however , our state of geographical and historical darkness appeared morn and more clearly at every line , until at length we wondered where we could have
lived to have remained so long in ignorance of the . foremost nation of Europe According to the circular of the society , the isle or kingdom of Man is the most important spot , tlic central point in -interest ,, dignity , and influence , not only amongst the British Isles , but in Europe—the centre of modern civilization the very omphalos of . the world . Any abstract of ours would but poorl y \ cpresent the eloquence and learning of the original document . Quotation . alone can do-justice-to the magnificent nourish of trumpets that inaugurates the new society : — ¦ : ' ¦ ¦ - .. ¦ ¦¦
The CJiief of " the multitude of Isles , " satellites to Great Britain and Ireland , lias local peculiarities of the most interesting and important nature . It is an nnexlmusted field to the Antiquary and . the Statesman ,- —the man of the past and of the future of conservatism and of progress . Inhabited by . an aboriginal fibe of the great Celtic family , -with language , institutions , and laws peculiar to itself , —never united ' to Scotland , Ireland , or England , —to this day a separate realm , independent of the Imperial ' Parliament , and under its native and aboriginal Legislature ,: —with a singular relation between its church and state , —having , as Lord Colce says , " such laws the like ¦ whereof are not to be found in any other placed" so that "if the ancient discipline of the Church / were'lost , " said Chancellor King , " it miglit . be found in all its puritv'in the Isle of Man , " surely this island lias ' peculiar claims to have the light of Catholic publicity at length cast upon all its documents and peculiarities . It -was not in jest merely that Burke , speaking to Di \ Johnson and Boswell about a visit to this-I-jle , used the famous line of Pope , — - " The proper studv of mankind is Man . "
In plain prose the objects of the society arc to collect and preserve all materials for illustrating the history ,-language , and literature of the island . These objects are really important , and if the society will be content-with endeavouring to secure them in the most efficient manner it must do good service both to history and philology . The Manx language is ' a dialect of the Celtic as yet very imperfectly illustrated . If tlic society will collect the genuine remains of the dialect still existing in the island , and carefully note its differences as spoken north and . south'in . the island , it will directly help to elucidate an obscure but important branch . ' of " British philology , and indirectly thro-w light on early British history .
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We have always thought and said ' that the . most lasting , because the most vital , alliance between two gi eat countries like France and England is tlic alliance of the brain and heart ; of the free thought ratlicr than of the official tape ; of the pens rather than-the swords . . It is ever cheering to note a sign of this rave intellectual brotherhood of two great nations which , foreign to each other iu blood , language ,-laws , arid forms of government , arc , nevertheless , the twin torch-bearers- of civilization . An eminent French . critic , ' writing in the Su'de the other day , mentioned , as one ol' the paradoxes of literary history , the singular fact that " the most I'Vcncli hook of the most French epoch , " The Memoirs of the Chuealier de Gr < tiinnoiit , ?\ u ) x&A have been written bv an Englishman :
" In our own clays , " M . Taxilc Delord goes on to say , " it is a ^ iin another luig - lishman who has just published the most complete and substantial lnono . ujrajih <> n Montaigne which the author of the Essays lias yet inspired . In the present , in . sr .-incv , it is true , the prodigy is less great , for the -work of which we spi > ak is not writum in French . Nevertheless , one would suppose it was written by a countryman of ours , from its rare qualities of clearness in the method , choics in the details , and philosophy in the general structure . ... A veritable university thesis for its sc ' ioihil" , an excellent historical study , a precious commentary for tho philosophical sind literary Mi-List , this complete work iills a surprising void in French literature . Lot us be rosujMud tJ owe it to an Englishman . " Surely this is high praise of mi English writer from a French ciiiic ; hut the many delighted readers of the Jtioffraplnj of Montai // i / e thv Esssi / ji-s / , will , weave ready to believe , heartily endorse a generous and lUsinterestcil eulogy .
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The reproduction of Moiikuk ' s Don Juan at the Tlteatro-Fr < uu ; : iis Ins boon quito an event in the higher literary and dramatic circles in Paris , li liiis made a stir among all tho critics and esprit * forts . 'With liisToui ' s f '/'/ rihr , it has occupied literary conversation in the Prcneh rapilnl for sonir i !; iv . s M . Victor Cousin is preparing an edition of the play with notes , ami In : has been observed following the actors with the proofs of his new volume in his hands . As now acted , the play is , we hear , something unique ; and UkijMkii ' . BgaitarcUc especially is spoken of us admirable ; in concept ion , and in finished and powerful chnmctorizntion : in all respects worthy ol' the reputation of tin : accomplished artist whose zeal and intelligence an actor and Professor , sliinr equally conspicuous in the theatre and the Conservatoire , and wIio . sccaccIK'iii qualities of head and heart endear him to ah who have the luippiiii-sti of hi * acquaintance in public and private life .
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COUNTRY LIKE IN PIEDMONT . Country Lift : in I'ialiuout . Hy Antonio ( julk'ugu , Author of "History of 1 ' iViliiioiit / Cliupmuii and Hull . It is seldom that a book like this comes from an Italian pi ' . n . ll . r . niiiuinri not n p : »» u of rha ' psody . M . 0 xidli : iu ^ 4 i thinks ha i . s performing a good work in dulivorin" to liis countrymen a . lecture full of sevcrily and . sarcasm . JDu-
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Critics are notbhelegislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . — Edinburgh Review . ' + ' . .. . ¦
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498 TEE LEADER , ¦ __ _[ Na . 126 Mat 22 , lR ^ s .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1858, page 498, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2243/page/18/
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