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    172 THE LEADER. [JSTo. 463, Pebutjab y 5...

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    TALES VKOM THE NOESE

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    THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. Historic Not...

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    Man And His Dwelling-Place. Mart And His...

    been asked whether it truly is so or not . When once attention is fixed on it , and the inquiry distinctly raised , Is there inaction in nature , or inadequate apprehension on the part ; of man ? the whole case will assume a different coiivplexion . " Can it be decided except in one way ? - Fairly to ask the question / is the difficulty , not to answer it ; to free ourselves sufficiently from conclusions which Lave always been taken for granted ; . " One obvious objection will strike the intelligent reader . Our author assumes that the inertness is in man . Why not in Nature ? Analogy is

    certainly in his favour . In astronomy , the fact has been demonstrated to be the contrary of the appearance . Why then not in all cases ? So , then , if Nature appears inert , it must be man who is really so . Again , our essayist calls this inertness in man a defect . Why a defect ? That the senses are passive recipients was the doctrine of the founder of transcendentalism . But it never occurred to him to regard this passivity as a defect . It was simply the law of their structure . Nor is it the tciiole mind that is thus passive . The intellect is awakened to

    activity by the impression passively received ; and the reason at once recognises a cause for it . The impression . made on the senses is an effect . That e ffect has a cajuse in forei gn being . Now , the difference that must be predicated between cause and effect , gives the precise difference that our author contends for , ; tie latter passive ] the former active This passivity , however , is confined to the senses . Again , the impression made on the senses , or their organs , becomes ! a sensation ; but not necessarily . Unless the mind is in an attitude of attention , the

    impression received will never reach the consciousness . An act ef attention must therefore be presumed ; that is a . predetermination of the will . In this activity of the will ; accordingly , man already co operates ^ as an active caiise , with the cause in Nature , and the sensational result is the product of their communion . It is this consciousness of activity in himself , as a cause , that justifies him in inferring other causes , in Nature , as contributing to the generation of the phenomenal world . Man is , consequently , in the very state of redemption ist thinks desirablebut which he

    which the essay so , regards as still future . Such is the construction of the human mind , as now acknowledged in all philosophical schools , however much they may differ on other points . What , then is the " sum of the matter ?^ Nature appears inert so far as she is a system of effects in the human sense and intellect ; but she is alive and active , so far as she is a system of causes p . herself and in the estimation of the human reason . Does the author mean that the general recognition of this philosophical truth is equivalent to a regeneration of the race ; or does he suppose that the limits as now recognised of the senses and the understanding of man will be rev moved or enlarged , so that JNature shall appear to be living and active , as well as really be so ?

    Some have supposed that what we call JJeatu may mean this ; but pur author seems to mean it of what we call Life , when man shall have arrived at the redemptive period . He seeks , indeed , to reunite philosophy and theology ; a worthy attempt in the main , and which we are glad to see made by such a writer as our essayist , who is evidently a clergyman desirous of reconciling Faith and Soience . By some misapprehension , however , of the full scope of philpsophy , as now recognised , and an evident desire to ignore certain authorities that should have beon more carefully consulted and gratefully acknowledged , the author has landed in a perplexed statement which ho may find it difficult to explain . Nevertheless , the purpose of his book is admirable 5 the stylo cleat and / logical ; and it must bo of eminent service to theological studouta with philosophical tendencies .

    172 The Leader. [Jsto. 463, Pebutjab Y 5...

    172 THE LEADER . [ JSTo . 463 , Pebutjab y 5 ^ 1859 .

    Tales Vkom The Noese

    in common with the brothers Grimm , Professor Max Muller , Sir William Jones , and other Oriental scholars , as forming a link in the chain of evidence that seeks to establish a common origin between the East and the West—between the Hindoo on the one hand , and the nations of . Western Europe on the other . "We all came , " says he , " Greek , Latin , Celt , Teuton , Slavonian , from the East , as kith and kin , leaving kith and kin behind us ; and after thousands of years , the language aud traditions of those who went East and those who went West , bear such an affinit y to each other , as to have established , beyond discussion or dispute , the fact of their descent from a common stock . "

    Dn Dasent has no mercy on the old classical theorists of the eighteenth century , who saw no importance in these philological inquiries ; or only in subservience to the claims of Greek or Latin genius , from which it fondly believed that all other literatures were copies . The despised vernacular tongues , he contends , with a host of authorities , too , on his side , " have preserved the common traditions far more faithfully than the writers of Greece and Rome . " He carries us up to a prehistoric race , traces of which we find everywhere , underlvine more recent vestiges—a race probably

    akin to the Mongolian family , " whose miserable remnants we see pushed aside , and huddled up in the holes and corners of Europe , as Lapps , and Films , and Basques . " That all the thousand shades of resemblance and affinity , lie insists , " which gleam and flicker through the whole body of popular tradition iu the Aryan race , as the aurora plays and flashes in countless rays athwart the Northern heaven ,, should be the result of mere servile copying of one tribe ' s traditions by another , is a supposition as absurd as \ that ; of those good , countryfolk , who , when they see an- aurora , fancy it must be a great fire , the work of some incendiary , and send off the parish-ensrine to put it out . "

    One of these tales originally appeared in Blackwood ' s Magazine . It is called * " The Master Thief , " and comes in illustration of the above , reasoning Traits of the same story are to be found in fb ° e Sanscrit Hitopadesa * , also in the story of Rhamp . sinitus , in Herodotus / and in ma'ny German , Italian , Flemish , and popular tales , but told in all witli variations of character and detail . , Thus , also , in relation to the popular tale of William Tell aud his daring shot , we find that it is told of many a hero , and , indeed , is common to the whole Aryan race . It appears iii Saxo GrammaticuSj who flourished in the twelfth -century , where it is told of 3 ? alnatoki , King Harold . Gormson ' s thane and assassin . In . the thirteenth century , the Willcina Saga relates it

    of Eg ill , Volunde ' s younger brother . So , also , iu the Norse Saga of Saint Olof , King and martyr . Other instances are mentioned which would occupy too much space to recount . Suffice it to add that the fable is common to the Turks aed Mongolians ; and a legend of the wild Samoyeds , who never heard of Tell or saw a book in their lives , relates it , chapter and verse , of one of their famous marksmen . " What shall we say , then , " asks our author , "bat that the story of this bold master-shot was primaeval amongst many tribes and races , and that it only crystallised itself round the great name of Tell by that process of attraction which invariably lea ' cb a grateful people to throw such mythic wreaths , such garlands of bold deeds of precious memory , round the brow of its darling champion . "

    We commend this volume , as an important addition to our general stock of information , in relation to a most interesting inquiry .

    - Most of our readers will stumble at the term " Aryan race" in the above extract . The term , whether applied to race or language , means the Indo-European . The theory implied by the term is , that our ancestors came from the central plain of Asia , now commonly called Iran—" Iran , the habitation of the tillers of the earth , as opposed to Turan , the abode of restless , horse-riding nomads ; of Turks , in short , for in their name the root survives and still distinguishes the great Turanian or Mongolian family from the Aryan , Iranian , or IndoJEuropean race . " This race wandered

    westwards until they reached the Atlantic and the Northern Ocean . Those they left behind , after a while , appear to have turned their faces eastward , and passing the Indian Caucasus , poured through the denies of Afghanistan , crossed the plain of the Five Rivers , and descended on the fruitful plains of India . Those who travelled westward became the prominent actors in the drama of history , as Celts , Greeks , Romans , Teutons , Slavonians . " In continual struggle with each other , " says Muller , " and with Semitic and Mongolian races , these Aryan nations have become the rulers of history , and it seems to be their mission to link aU parts of the

    world together by the chains of civilisation , commerce , and religion . " Dr . Dasent thinks that this race is intended by the younger brother , in the tales that he has collected , who went out and did , and who passes under the name of Moots , the hero ot incredible adventures . The elder brother ( the Southern Aryans ) , who stayed at homq , having 1 driven out the few abori g inal inhabitants of India with little eflbrfc , and following tljo cqurso of the great rivers , gradually established themselves all over . the peninsula , and gave themselves up to tho busuijbss of thought . The result is to bo found in tho V ' edas , tho oarliest collection of philosophical speculations that tho world possesses . And they havo remained over since ia a passive , abstraot , unprogressive

    TALES FROM THE NORSE . Popular Tales from the Norse . By George Webbo Dasent , D . CX . With wa Introductory EeBay on tho Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales . Edinburgh : Edmonston and Douglas , Thb popular talcs of all nations , if ; is now well known , have a remarkable similarity . Horo arc fortysix brief Tales from MoNorsa , translated with groat vigour and correctness j and it will bo found that , either in spirit or in form , thoy resemble tho tales once told in our own nuvsories and lately familiar there , and wight be so . still , but for tho manufactured child-books wluoh have roopntly usurped tho place of the simpler fablos in which , ourselves wero educated . This ( similarity- is claimed , by J > v . Dnsent ,

    state . Nevertheless , wo havo a great interest in thoir literature , for those same Vedus arc written in u , languago olosoly allied to tho primoval oommon tongue of tho two branches boforo tliey parted , nnd descending from a period anterior to thoir separation . It may oven bo tho vory tongue itself—oortainly it is not far removed—while tho spcooh of tho emigrants to tho West rapidly changed . This il ; is , to quoto our author , " which has given suqh value to Sanscrit , a tongue of which id may bo said that if it had perished the sun would never have rlson on tho soionoo of comparative philology . " Our studious readers will thank us for this brief statement of a learned argument frequently misuu . derstood .

    The Old And New Testaments. Historic Not...

    THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS . Historic Notes on the Books of the Old and Neio Testaments . By' Samuel Sharpe . Smith , Elder , and Co . Mb . Shabpe ' s aim is to- ' explain , the- history of Hie books of the Bible by the aid . of the history of the Jewish nation . By confining himself to this object he seeks "to avoid the difficult subjects of inspiration , miracles , prophecies of a Messiah , and the authority now due to the Mosaic law since the introduction of 'Christianity . " The public generally appear satisfied with his performance , for this is the second edition of the work , which it is scarcely necessary to say addresses itself more to the English

    reader than to scholars and divines .. It is not for us to test the merits of a work by a higher standard than its author adopts , and for those tor whom it is especially compiled it has many recommendations . We quote the following passage : — Toe languages of history is easily translated , and needs little remark ; the actions and the things named are nearly the same at all times ; a horse , a camp , a general , a battle , a sword , find words in all languages . But it is far otherwise with our philosophical thoughts and religious feelings . The words which express these easilunderstood in

    in , one age of the world are not y another . They must bo explained by the help of the known opinions of the people who have used them , and adapted them to their wants . The simple language of the Gospels which speak to the heart , which describo the Saviour ' s life and acts-of mercy , is more easily understood by everybod y ^ than the philosophical arguments of the Apostle " Paul , which have often been wreateil by the unlearned to the defence of opinions whiph the apostle never held . But even in the simplest parts of a book written eighteen centuries ago there are many words which a translation leaves obscure , and which

    require the help of a commentator . Many wprda by use gain a meaning more limited and more particular than they at fir « t bore . Thus the Jews had Huoh strong national feelings , that thoir word nations means foreign nations , and we leave it untranslatedthe Heathens or tine Gentiles . So Paul , in Cor . xlv ., speaking of a lanr / nayo , moans a foroigu language Smco the conquest of Judoa by the Assyriuns , the . Tows had > eon very much scattered among tho neighbouring nations , but never lost their love of homo . Tho won

    dispersion thoroby gained a peculiar moaning ; ana Potov , writing to his countrymen abroad , call * thorn tuo Pilgrims of tho Dispersion ( 1 Peter , i . 1 ) . Jainon also ¦ writofl to tho twolvo tribos of tho Dispornion . Words which have two meanings in tho same Hontoiico oaivsoldom bo properly translated . Thus , In John ill . » , wo have ono word moaning both Wind and Spirit , i " Marts vili . 05 , 87 , wo have a word meaning both w « and Soul . In Jlobrowa , ix . 15 , 20 , wo have a word monning both Tostament and Covenant . In encii oi these aaaofl tho n-rgum ' ont rests on flic ambiguity ot ti ) o words , and la lost In a translation . It must bo leu to tho commentator to explain thorn . ¦ Even tho very simple words Groehsx J « ws , and Ihbmo 9 > arc not without two meanings each . Tho Apostle X twh by Greeks , often moans nil who arc not Jawjl «* " There is no difference botweon Jew and uwo »

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05021859/page/12/