On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    M is ^ oag ^ . mtrnm js*m&. mmsl _ _ ,. ...

  • 

    ENGLISH: PAST AND PRESENT. English,: Pas...

  • 

    :A BATCH OF BOOKS. Memoirs of James Gord...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Translations And Reprints. We Have A Var...

    ulSSiSSS ^^ ^^^^^ Tdd ^ Sum ^ - ^^ P 8 ^* ^ the Cel ^ stiaL Essays of Ronge , to the < WI ^^ A ^ a ^ s and Bimtmary of' Thucydides ( Bohn's Classical Library ) is an idmirabfe -volume . It is intended to facilitate the study of that great historian ' s works , and i f well calculated for its purpose . Mr . Wheeler has added a ; gbpdclirQnolQgical table ,. an explanatory , list of coins , and distances , a geo"raphicq . I supplement * 'land an , abstract of all the speeches . In fact , thei Volume inay 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 angther question . "'""" Joyce ' s Scientific Dialogues have been reprinted , with enlargements and correctioni , in Bonn ' s Scientific Library . They are now authenticated by the threefold labours of Mr . Joyce himself , and of his two successive

    editors , Mr . Pinnoek ; of Cathechismal 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 , edited by Charles Rogers ( Adam and Chfirles' 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 ttien ; tion , jthe publication , though the place in literature of Dyemmnd Akenside deserve to be separately discussed .

    The first and second volumes of Ha Ham ' 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 republications 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 .

    M Is ^ Oag ^ . Mtrnm Js*M&. Mmsl _ _ ,. ...

    M is ^ oag ^ . mtrnm js * m & . mmsl _ _ ,. b ^ ^ fBms ^ mm -t—^¦^ i—^^^*^^^*^^^^^^^^ m ^—MMIBMBI Bj MMI - ' - --- \ > . » r »» r _™ 'I - ' ,- t > * v- 7 ^ . ZT- _ r

    English: Past And Present. English,: Pas...

    ENGLISH : PAST AND PRESENT . English ,: Past and Present . By the Rev . R . Chenevix Trench . J . W . Parker The author of these five very pleasant 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 i 3 known to the world of literature as a sound and elegant scholar , a fiorcible prosaist , and a graceful poet . In Lecture I . the Rev . C . Trench treats of English as a composite languageand enumerates certain Hebrew , Arabic , Persian , Turkish , Indian ,

    , Italian , 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 , " " 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 among 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 . " W © are glad to observe that Mr . Trench does not depreciate either the Saxon or the Latin portion of the English language . " Both , " he remarks , 41 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 . " 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 <> f persons have become in course of t ime names of tilings ; how 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 " rodomontade . " This interesting . collection , of nomina appelativa , which have become nominn , 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 bo still found in use amongst the poasnnty in some country districts . Hampshire peasants , for instance , are generally afeard , not afraid ; with them the prices have ris when they have risen ; if they offend you , they axe , not ask pardon ; when they are lear , or hungry , they eat their nuntion ( luncheon ) ; when they are frightened , they are qfront , or f ronted ; and when they harvojnst done a thing , they have neicst done it . Some of these old words the lecturer maintains are not bad English , nor are many other worda known to us as Americanisms . 1

    Lectures IV . and V . treat of thechanges in the meaning of English words , and the alter ation which has also taken place in the manner of spelling them . Thus , to take up one ' s " carriage , " was formerly to remove one ' s

    ut baggage j " "kinctty fruits' * were " natiiral frufts ; " ^ to w , C ^ fc £ ^ rioften simply to honour ; a painful writer was a ^' piainBfMa ^ ng '^^ f ^ . ^ ' ^^ a ' ^ . bla ^ :-guard' * was bne'bFtnie meanest class pf / those reta ^ ^ king aridiiis court when upori ajourney ; meat" was a general ^ najme ^> j food ; " bombast" was cotton which lined the garment ; *' , gossips" yf ? re " sponsors ; " " royal children" were " ri ? ykl imps ; " a **^ tbs ^ ^ as' ^ pri } se writer ; and a " villain" merely a bailiff . ^ As regardsJtje ; ififltwe ;; uEl )| i spelling , it will be enough to sky that it points oujb in 7 a very abje , nignaer the plain disadvantages of the phonetic system , which has now , wet . heUevej in common with other spurious systems invented to save time and trouble , died a natural death . -. ^^^^^ ' ..... ^ * . *^ . . ^^^^^

    :A Batch Of Books. Memoirs Of James Gord...

    : A BATCH OF BOOKS . Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and hi * Times . By a Journalist . Low , Son , and Co Waihna ; or , Adventi ^ res on the Mosquito Shore . By Samuel A . Bard . Low , Son , and Co-The Prophets ; or , Mormonism Unveiled . With Illustrations . Trubner and C . oii Modern , Mysteries ' Explained and Exposed . By the Rev . A . Mohan . Trtibner 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 Pagani . Dolman . Fobb of the six books constituting our " batch" this week bring their credentials from the other side of the Atlantic . The biographical volume 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 Neio 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 oil 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 introductory announcement of the biographer is to be understood as literal fact , Mr .

    Bennett has certainly One very " enthusiastic" sympathiser to justify his boast . The gentleman who writes nearly five hundred octavo plages , 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 , " which ; " had Mr . Bennett been a less abused man , " would never have been performed . " But , " says the spontaneously chivalric 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 v the scenes around the residence of the Earl 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 . " Rob Roy 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 , " founded and edited by the much respected veteran Joseph T . Buckingham , whose example must have had no little weight , " & c , & c . 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 ! Let us now read how Mr . Bennett , being in Boston , and being hungry without the means of getting anything for dinner , providentially picks up a shilling : —

    One day he was walking on tho Common , despairing almost of Tall hope , » nd 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 bocoming 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 ho propounded the serious question to himself , " How shall I feed myself ?" ' —he saw upon the ground something that seemed to look at him directly in tho face . He started back—paused—and having recovered from hto surprise , picked up a York shilling ! This gave him courage . It appeared to bo a special gift of the moment , at once rebuking hia complaints and encouraging him to

    persov « re . From this affecting incident Mr . Bennett ' s history takes a turn . He finds a countryman , and , through him , n clerkship . The clerkship is changed for a post us proof-reader in a largo printing-house , and from this step no mounts to the position , first of reporter and then of editor . Tho chief

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15091855/page/20/