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Leader (1850-1860), 29th November 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 1141

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      Untitled Article

      cow are Saxon , but beef Norman ; calf is Saxon , but veal Norman ; sheep is Saxon , but mutton Norman ; it is s everally with swine and pork , deer and venison , fowl an ^ P ullet « Bacon , the only flesh which may ever have come within his reach , is the single exception . " j ^ ay , in another direction see what words indicate : — « The ' bayonet' tells us that it was first made at Bayonne— - ' cambrics' that they came from Cambray t damask' from Damascus—* arras ' from the city of the ' same name—' cordwain' from

      Cordovai currants' from Corinth—the ' guinea , ' that it was originally coined out of gold brought from the African coast so called . Such indeed is the manufacturing progress of England that we now send our calicoes and muslins to India and the East ; yet the words give standing witness that we once imported them from thence ; for ? calico ' is from Calicut , and muslin' from Moussul , a city in Asiatic Turkey . " Then for the morality in words : —

      " There is much too that we may learn from looking a little closely at the word ' passion . ' We sometimes think of the ' passionate ' man as a man of strong will , and of real though ungoverned energy . But this word declares to us most plainly the contrary ; for it , as a very solemn use of it declares , means properly « suffering "; and a passionate man is not a man doing something , but one suffering something to be done on him . When then a man or child

      is * in a passion , ' this is no coming out in him of a strong will , of a real energy , but rather t )> e proof that , for the time at least , he has no will , no energy ; he is suffering , not doing—suffering his anger , or what other evil temper it may be , to lord over him without control . Let no one , then , think of passion as a sign of strength . As reasonably might one assume that it was a proof of a man being a strong man that he was often well beaten . Such a fact would be evidence

      that a strong man was putting forth his strength on him , but of anything rather than that he himself was strong . The same sense of passion and fe ebleness going together , of the first being the fruit of the second , lies , as I may remark by the way , in the two-fold use of the Latin word ' impotens' —which , meaning first weak , means then violent ; and often the two together Again , why should the word ' simple' be used slightingly , and ' simpleton' more slightly still ? In itself and according to its derivation the word means ' without fold , ' sine plica ; just what we may imagine Nathanael to have been , and what our Lord

      attributed as the highest honour to him , the ' Israelite without gile '; and , indeed , what higher honour could there be than to have nothing double about us , to be without duplicities or folds ? Even the world , that despises ' simplicity , ' does not profess to approve of duplicity , ' or double-foldedness . But inasmuch ns we feel that in a world like ours such a man will make himself a prey , is likely to prove no match for the fraud and falsehood which he will everywhere meet around him , and us there is in most men that which , if they were obliged to choose between deceiving and being deceived , would make them choose

      the former , it has come to p . iss that the word ' . simple , ' which in a world of righteousness would bo one ol hi ghest honour , implies here , in this world of ours , something of scorn for the person to whom it is applied . And must it not be confessed to be ; i striking fact that exactly in the same way a person of deficient intellect is called an ' in innocent' ; that is in nocens , one that does not hurt ? ho that this word assumes that the first and chief use men make of their intellectual powers will be to do hurt , that when : they are Wise , it will be to do evil . What a witness dons human language here bear against human sin ! "

      We must reserve for our Notes and Extracts the other passages we had marked ; and the various points which appear to uh questionable , we must pass over—at leant for the present .

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      TWO STOIUK 8 : FltKNCH AND KNCiLIKJI . * ne Old Jinyuycment : A Spinster ' s Story . By Julia . I ); iy . licntlcy £ < ' Gatlit ChampHrct . Pur Jules Jniiin . W . Jrfls w K read these two stories together , and togcthei vv vvill notice them , although they have only one P > ni ( , of reHeniblance , viz ., the extreme simplicity of y \ - In all other respects they are contrasts ' "ha Day has her simple story to tell of an old ^ 'K ^ Kei nent broken and renewed , and that i . s all .

      • Hum hiiH to lead us through the elegant futilities , I * '' masked corruption of the eighteenth century , ' (! has to call up Onee more the Watteau period ol rt'nc : h social life—the epoch of Idylls written by yountf dragoons . The pen is held now by an ""Klish woman , and now by a French journalist : y ° y « eo at once the contrast , 1 u ' ja Day tells her simple story simply . Miss o "Khan , the middle-u ^ ed heroine , conquers all r sympathies , and with Colonel Kstcourt , tho « u ™> middle-aged hero , wo feel on terms of

      respectful intimacy . Mrs . Pemberton , the pretty , coquettish widow , sets her cap at us not altogether in vain ; and we settle quietly down into the humdrum life of that village , with a pastoral sense of calmness not without its charm . The book is light , so light ! We dare not take it in our critical hands , lest our most delicate handling rub the down off its butterfly wings . You may read it , you cannot criticize it . The quiet scenes of country homes , of fireside chat , of small dinners and their small tall ? , of small flirtations , and small incidents pass before you unobstrusively , pleasantly , and you have closed the volume before you begin to think that it is time some more substantial food were offered .

      Jules Janin is a writer of another genus . With him style is the aim and end , principium et fans To turn a phrase gracefully , to make his meaning sparkle with some unexpected yet appropriate image , that , and that only , is what Janin cares for . It is that passion , " du beau langage , " with which he confesses he intoxicates himself in his maturity , as he had formerly done with the champagne of A'i in the golden cup of his twentieth year . If you have no love for the refinements of style , for the evanescent pleasure which improvisation creates , pass by . Tanin ' s book ; for he is at once an improvisatore and a Euphemist . His pen runs on from phrase to phrase with an abundance that seems

      inexhaustible , and yet with an art and deliberation that seem as if infinite labour were employed . He quits his story , he quits his personages , he quits his theme , to follow the caprices of his Fancy , darting , like a will-o ' -wisp , over a wide expanse : now here , now there , now suddenly disappearing , now as suddenly bursting into sight . Expect from him neither dramatic conduct of a well-planned story , nor the rich observation of details . He has a story to tell , and he takes the longest way to tell it you . If you enjoy the desultory ramble through all the lanes that turn away from the high road , and care not to hasten to i , he end of the journey , then Janin is a companion to be sought ; not otherwise .

      There is no concealing the fact : with ihe best will in the world Janin is found fatif ^ uing on a long journey ! We counsel your taking the Gaites champ etres in easy stages . Do not over-read yourself . A few chapters at a time will be charming . A volume is too much . No man can make a meal off an omelettegoujjlee . But if you like that delicate creation of the Frenchman's art , we can promise you this book of Janin ' s will be to your taste .

      Untitled Article

      BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Itcmarks on the Plea of Insanity and on the Management of Criminal Lunatics , li y \ V . Wood , Al . I ) . of Hethleni Hospital . Longman and Co . A well-considered pamphlet , worthy the attention of all who interest themselves in that extremely delicate and important question , Criminal Lunacy . That the law as it at present exists is very defei tive no one ventures to deny ; but . before Lord Shaltesbury brings his motion before Parliament next session , itwoul'i be w « 11 for legislators to consider in what direction the law should be altered . Dr . Wood ' s pamphlet should be in their hands . He points out the diflieiiltit ' .-i or tlu : question . He show . s how , in cases of unquestionable insanity , the perception of right and wrong i . s as active as ever — tlu : p ; iii < 'iit knowing that the act is criminal , but tumble to resist the impulse He shows also , that in many cases ot' unquestionable insanity the patient , can control his acts , can regulate them accoi ding to the fear of punishment ; and he is led to thiH conclusion , viz ., that instead of a verdict , of Insanity , tlu : jury should bring in a verdict of " ( jluilty , with extenuating eucuinsUuc < s" —insanity being considered as t xtcnuat ing accoiding to its degn e , and the observed power of Hclf-control which tlu : evidence has furnished KoMtittli : hit Speeches in Kiifjand , with a brief Sketch of his Lift ' . % .:. ( jil pin . Authentic Life , of l . oui . s Koisitth , with u full llc / iort of his / Speeches delivered in iUnjUiiid . llr . i < ll > ui > . mil Kviliis . The- magnificent display of oratory which Kos . suth delighted all Hnglaud with during his In icf stay , w . is well worth preserving in sonic . shape less fugilive than that ol our newspapers . Two < : hcup hooks arc before in , containing tlu : speeches ; but , strangely enough , they both omit . that , which be < lt Hvcied to the i'ticiuk of Italy w speech which may be characterized as the finest " essay on puhlii : opinion" that has yet been given . It was reported in the Daily News , and we advise the compilers of these volume ' s to insert , it in their subsequent editions . A Practical ( , ' nnnmar of the Italian Language . For t . h « u « u of ( hr Hludciita iu 1 . 1 m London llniv < : ruil . y CoUefje . Hy I ,. Mnri""'• ' llohuiill . Abundant as Italian grammars are , there is scarcely one in Kuglirih which has g-uned any extensive nut ? . Muriotti ' s book , thereloie , comes to fill a decided place . It bus tho advantage of being un Itulian

      Grammar by an Italian , written in English by one to whom English is a second mother-tongue . Such a combination was never seen before , and will venture to say that no such forei gn grammar has been seen before . It is clear , brief , and full . The niceties of the language are adroitly taught , even while the broader features are being displayed . The Book of Ballads . Edited by Bon Gaultier . Illustrated by Croivquil , Leech , and Doyle . Orr and Co . Bon Gaultier is ever welcome : he has wit , wisdom , rhythm , and a high sense of parody . His Book of Ballads is a book of endless fun . He it is " Who framed Of Widdicomb the wild and wondrous song . " he it is who has

      made" Macaulay chant a more than Roman lay . " And 6 hown us how Montgomery can rave" In all his rapt rabidity of rhyme . " To the former collection he has added fifty pages of new fun for Christmas ; Crowquil , Leech , and Doyle have given their potent aid , and altogether the volume is one to be welcomed with loud hurrahs and heartylaughter . It is a new edition , and a new book . Of two things one : either you have read Bon Gaultier ' s Ballads , or you have not : if you have not read them , hasten to do so ; if you have , hasten to reread them !

      The Toman Islands ; what they have lost and suffered under the thirty-five years administration of the Lord High Commissioners sent to govern them . By an Ionian . Bidjpvay . A pungent but bulky pamphlet , in reply to the " Ionian Islands \ mder British Protection , " in which the misdeeds and recklessness of our Colonial Government are unsparingly treated . There is , be .-ides politics , a sprinkling of literary interest , and abundance of Greek , ancient and modern . Pulmonary Consumption , Bronchitis , Asthma , Chronic Cough , # c , successfully treated by Medicated Inhalations . By Alfred iJeamont Maddock , M . D . Fourth , edition . Simpkin and Marshall .

      An interesting volume on a subject in which all are more or less nearly concerned . Dr . Maddoek has , in a popular style , explained the leading facts in the process of Respiration , in the pathology and symptoms of pulmonary diseases , the statistics showing the extent and duration of such diseases , and how they are influenced by sex , climate , race , occupation , &c . ( a most important chapter ) ; and , having thus set forth his subject , he proceeds to investigate the causes of disease and the means of prevention ; but he here enters such debateable ground that we must leave it for our professional brethren to decide on the merit of his proposed treatment .

      Untitled Article

      Observation . —It is far more difficult to observe correctly than most men imagine ; to behold , Ilumboldt remarks , is not necessarily to observe , and the power of comparing and combining is only to bo obtained by education . It is much to be regretted that habits of exact observation are not cultivated in our schools ; to this deficiency may be traced much of the fallacious reasoning , the false philosophy , which prevails . —British Quarterly Review , No . 28 . TuuTH . — How can the love of truth be implanted , and the dishonesty of society counteracted ? First , with reference to speaking the truth . The truth is not merely a literal representation , it is that which

      does * not deceive . In early childhood it ia much more easy to teach a child not to deceive than to tell the truth . A child in trying its new and firwt acquisition , its faculty of speech , says bo much with no other purpose : than the pleasure of talking , mixes Bo much nonsense and pure imagination with the truth that it is vain to attempt to discriminate between fiction and falsehood , and aa use . csss as vain . We must be very careful , therefore , how we ace me children of falsehood : we must be content to wait till they can themselves discriminate between one and the other , ami in the mean time , when their statements are very wide : of facts , let us merely say , «• Oh , that is

      nonsense , that is only fun . " JJnt an vnon as wt : can , as soon as tin ; proper age will permit , let us train a child on all occasions scrupulously to tell the literal truth , and teach him how to do it . Thin Bpccies of teaching is one of the best exercises the mind can possibly have . Language , although it is too frequently the medium of concealing our thoughts , was not given for that purpoHc—on tho contrary , we . should always enneavour that our speech should , as near as we can make it , correspond exactly to our thoughts and feelings . How little is this practised ! one half ol what almost every one says is false , that i » , it docs

      not correspond to the real state of thought and feeling , but is said rather in obedience to the dictates of kindnesHor politencHH , or the deniro to please ; whereas the dictates of truth ought alone to influence uh , and if we may not npeak the truth let us at least n » y nothing . How often is the lungunge of grief upon the tongue with joy Npnrkling in the eye ! und how easy does it seem to compose ulmont perfect « mtencca expressive of condolence , of joy , or sorrow , without any feeling whatever in the heart ! We must learn to value truth above all thi ng ^ i , and to do without thin inconvertible currency ot mere words , of less value even than French asaignuts . —¦ Education of the Feelings , by Charles Itray .

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      Nov . 29 , 1851 . ] &t > e Header . 1141

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 29, 1851, page 1141, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1911/page/17/