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Leader (1850-1860), 28th January 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 90, ° ''3P rlrf**-iT4 l M*»A * 5t|.UVU4HV v^

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      ° ''3p Rlrf**-It4 L M*»A * 5t|.Uvu4hv V^

      • Ifkrnfore .

      Untitled Article

      Eva had occasion ti¢ly to apea . lt of the Rewards of Literature , and this creek a curious illustration oomes to Land . Let a man win a victory or so , l « d hi * descendants will sit in tke House of Lords to give the nation the entailed benefit of their unwise counsel . Bat let him win never so many victories over ignorance—let him teach and delight millions *—he founds no family , h « leaweft bo fortune . From obscurity he sprang , into it his family ? anishes . It w « but the other day that a descendant of the great Cobsjbiclk Was discovered i& . Sfetnce . The Emperor , knowing his countrymen , immediately pensioned hear * Will oux Government pension t&e descendant of Dm Fob , xeGfeJrtly-tfis&trrered P Our Government can , from its niggard stores

      Allotted to Liteatnno , Sdence , and Art , pension widows who have houses in fidgrar ^ antll ^ ve "in ^ n 1 » tcircles , '' l > utif itfind * one penny for a greatgiwndfon of Dk Fdat « . the , aauuEeinent of th « nation will be immense . ! ?«« , it istt-ufc , ! iitd thinfcof it tte ft tdsriLenof Robinson Crusoe ! the greatgrandson of the maawhose imagination had enchanted you , whose creations Save been the . long ; ftuailiax' household words of Europe , is now alive , destitute , « eTenty-s « vett yoars old , with a wife aged sixty-nine , and five children « drve out of fifteen , one of whom helps the mother in her washing , the « &ei 8 not aftle to do more than support themselves .

      The first public intimation of hi * exUtence was made in 1830 , in Wilson ' s ttfcand * H&te& tf&atiW foe [ 'Ftej from * ^ Mt& ir * borrow an extract : — * ' ** F&tt 1 fofb ^ i ^^ the male line , 3 £ « g $ dritf 11 i ^^ leaned Sanrtwl 0 » Foe , but from which of bis sons tfrdeiteetti ^^ ^ from the one who continued in EagUndi tfjwnttte 1 «* of ^ j ^ 174 ^ ie Wa » pot appwntWto a calico-printer io Londo n , wamtomt * d » iwlafr « l : $ » fcoaiaeBB tapoaihisowti account ; bttt nuftryfrrg a person who ioet » t th « iRtjr « i ; Tato , « t W «** H * m , in Eteex , he nnovtd thither , and condacted tho con-< eim « uitu ^ datt& *> f bfe wifia , wjien fe « retained to cjrtkw-prihtirj * . Se afterwards mar-« ei > a * ec «^ wi ^ rpiWeduirforf « Bat » JB business , and dvme at-P « dIarts-aem in November . and

      1788 w » buried laJLambeth charcbjxrd . By tlw iunst mKtiage , h # bad three sons : Sattyel , who ^ di ^ joimg ;| W ; J ^ Xcarpenter ; Joseph , who came to atx unianHdy efi < L By bis seea&d % if ^ be fijiid fotlt sons and four daughters . Daniel was bound wmcttaW * ^ vm ^ m $ m ^ JfiO : 1 sm'itiray and w «^ J ^ « Ba . H « afterwards became cook jmriwturiltbcSbwtytrSlotfrjrtf war , and w ^ li ^ ing ; ' in that employment , in 1787 . Samuel % U be ^ 4 i ^ MM « n ^ y ^««; Jditejpt w *» Swtaght up »< 3 Milker , and went to sea . He martfcd , aftdftsi ^ w ^ t&iftriiraa ?; < ott »^ # boB ^ ta » ring * is ownnanw , isstill living ., Ja ^ ie ** the $ mmg ** m * , i * Uvmf * t thu tfw « , <» Jwe-nwriwr «* i imdertakmu i * Buwcrford-market , "Htfn&mz Bniumhfcm fattuly of eight children , of wfeom two an sow Imog , James and

      Mr . Wrtsojr gave * cepv ^ of his book to tbis James De For , having estaiillshed hia identity . And CflABCfis KsiCiirT—ever ready when generous wockia to Wdone— -has satisfied himself oif this identity by examination of b » AGxioutit books Wftd marriage certificate . In 1846 , James Be Foe , then in TiuiiiBe ^ in BedlbTd-street , ftiled , and was Compelled to divide his effects ^ Unong &s creditors * $ iikCe then he nas struggled againstpoverty , bearing *¦ most excelld&tttbaracte * . We have flUted briefly the few fiusffc within our knowledge , and now leave the matter with tike Press . Our brethren need not be tol ' d that the autLor o £ Robinson Crusoe was also a journalist ; for the name of Db Fob is enough in itself to move every English pen in behalf of his descendant .

      Untitled Article

      The oft-qnoted phrase , " Knowledge is power , " attributed to Bacoic , has b&en , as our readers know , rejected by Bux . wKBin My Novel , on the ground that he not only ftever did use tne phrase , but that he was " the last man in the world to have said ; anything so pert and shallow . " As a matter of fact Bacom did Hot-use the phrase ; bnt the phrase is , nevertheless , the abbreviated formulae of several passages in his writings . The idea is Bacouian , if not the phrase . General D . F . Jamiesox , in the January number of the Southern Quarterly Jteuiew , noticing My Novel , has discussed this point with * uch completeness , that we borrow the whole passage : — " Ko one , we prfcSUHie , will affirm tliat Lord Bacon used those very words , the discovery rfwbfeh ftct seemtrto haV « * aftteniahed * Lenny Fairfield so much—or deny that they were

      • pproatibeth nearest to the similitude of the divine rule ; fba-t the sovereignty of man lieth commaadinent over the reason , belief , and understanding of men ; that there is no power a earth which aetteth op a throne in the spirits and souls of men , bnt knowledge and hid in knowledge ; and that the trad end of knowledge is a restitution aud reinvesting in great part , of man to the sovereignty and ptfwer : can it be contended , We repeat , that Lord Bacon could have meant anything else than that ' knowledge is power ? ' We have some reason to suspect that Sir Edward Bulwer did not examine these passages for himself and in tiiis instance-fell into * the error of the would-be scholar , ' which he * ao gravely rebakes and quoted "hirnseM ' " second-hand , ' or , at least , finding , or being informed , that Lord Bacoil did not us * the specified words , which he regarded as an important discovery , he hastened without das examination , to : a conclusion , against the plainest import « f very plain English words , aa they appear to us . Our author seems to be in earnest in this matter . He is not willing to trust the discussion to Dr . Kicabocca and the parson alone . He adds to the text

      the . followiag -note : — ** * This ^ apbori&m has been probably assigned to Lord Bacon upon the authority of the index to iia works . It is the apborism of the index rnaker , ceTtainly not of the great author of indactive philosophy . Bacon has , it is true , repeatedly dwelt on the power of knowledge , but with so HHiny explanations and distinctions , that nothing could be more unjust to his ffeneral meaning than to attempt to eramp into a sentence what it cost liim a volume to define . Thus , if in one page he appears to confound knowledge with power , in another he sets them in the strongest antithesis to each other , as follows : — " Adeo , ngnanter Deus opera potential « t sapiential discriminavit . " But it would be as unfair to Bacon to convert into -an aphorism the sentence that discriminates between knowledge and power , as it is to convert into an aphorism any sentence that confounds them . ' Book iv . chap . xix .

      " We do not perceive why Sir Edward Burner quotes , in the above note , a Latin passage from the treatise on * AdVancement « f learning , ' when that treatise was "written , not in Latin , bat in English . Me gives no note of reference to the passage , but it is evidently the Bame which we found with some difficulty , and which most clearly has a meaning far different from that which it might appear to btave , when torn from the context , and in a Latin dress . * In the passage referred to , it is most evident that Lord Bacon did not intend either to confoand powe £ uan < L knowledge , or to place them in opposition to each other . He first attempted to show the difference between human learning and ' sapience , ' or divine wisdom . He then , draws a distinction , in the works of the creation , between those which he refers to tpower and those to * wisdom , and concludes , as stated in Balwer'fr Latin quotation : ' Such a note of difference it pleased God to put upon the works of porer and the works of wisdom . '"

      ttifed by the maker of the iftiMC to his works , in giving a summary of the author ' s views on ifaft advAntfegt * of l « atnlmi * fcut Jt is aomewtait snrpnsing to see Sir Edward Bulwer gravely WVttfSt the propriety iof wta ^ those words as «* presamg Lord Bacon's meaning ur the ^ astagea to whicft ther refer . They certainly mean that , or they mean- nothing . "' From moral Virtue * ' ohservos Lord Bacon , * let us pass on to matter of power aud commandment , and consider whether in right reason there be any comparable with that wherewith knowledge investeth and crowneth man ' s nature . ' ( And after certain illustrations to ' show what he means by commandment over the will , he continues . ) ' But the commandment of knowledge is yet higher than the commandment over the will for it is a commandment over the reason , belief , and understanding of men , which is the highest part

      « ff the siind , and girath law to the mind itself ; for there is no power on earth which settcth UJ > a throne or chair « f itate in the spirits and souls of men , and in their cogitations , imaginations , opinion * , and belief but Knowledge and learning ; ' ( and further on he adds , ) So the just and lawful sovereignty over men ' s understandings is that which apneareth nearest to the similitude of the divine rule . ' ( rn . a different essay he observes , ; 'The sovereignty of man lieth hid in knowledge , ' ( and in still another essay he says , ) ' Ana therefore , it is not the pleasure of curiosity ^ nor the auiet of resolution , nor the raising of the epint , nor the victory of wit , nor faculty of speech , nor lucre of profession , nor ambition of honour or fame , or inablement for business , that are tlie true ends of knowledge - some of theso being more worthy than others , though all inferior and degenerate ; but it is a restitution and reinvesting , » n great part , of man to the sorereignty and power . ' ' Can it be seriously contended , that when Lord Bacon uses such languago as this—let ns consider whether in right reason there be any comparable with that power wherowith knowledge investeth and crowneth man ' s nature—that the commandment of knowledge is a learning ; that the just and lawful aovereignty over men ' s understandings is that which * Tho author of tn » "AnalysiH"to tho " Advancement of Learning , " uses for the same passiiges , an equivu-loiit expression , " Learning ' « powor . "

      Untitled Article

      In tbe Scottish Review , a temperance organ of great ability , there is an interesting paper on Shakspeare ^ Sots , although , w * fimcy , n < rae but temperance advocates will see more in it than a literary paper . There is also a good article on Chloroform , which , as the writer justly says afibrds one of the flat contradictions to the old ccy about novelties being rejected by the medical profession because they are new . Chlorbfbrm was at once put to the test of experiment , and at once adopted . Opposition there was , but it was not formidable from the medical side . Here—as ever—Religion was made the great obstacle to progress . The writer « f the paper under consideration has grouped together a series-of illustrations of the blind bigotry

      which has from time to time endeavoured to obstruct progress : — "The establishment of the Royal Societrr was opposed because it was asserted that ' experimental philosophy was subversive of the Christian faith , ' and the readers of D'Israeli will remember the telescope and microscope were stigmatised as ' atheistical inventions which perverted our organ of sight , and made everything appear in a false light . ' . What ridicule and incredulity , what persevering opposition greeted Jenner when be commenced the practice of vaccination ! So late as 1806 the Anti-Vaccination Society denounced the discovery as the cruel despotic tyranny of forcing ctfw-pox misery on the innocent labes of the poor—a gross violation of religion , morality , law and humanity . ' Learned man gravely printed statements that vaccinated children became * ox-faced , ' that abscesses "broke out to 'indicate sprouting horns , that the countenance was gradually' transmuted info the visage of a co . w , tore « oiee into trie bellowing of bulls , '—that the character underwent ' strange

      mutations f ^ orn quadripedan « ymparhy . ' The Influence of religion was called in to strengthen the prejudices of ignorance , and the operation was denounced from the pntyit as * diabolical as a ' tempting of God ' s providence , and therefore a heinous crime , ' as ' an invention of Satan , ' a * daring and profane violation of oar holy religion , ' a ' wresting out of the hands of the Almighty the divine dispensation of providence , and its abettors were charged with sorcery and atheism . ' When fanners were first introduced to assist in winnowing corn front tbe chaff by producing ' artifidal currents of air , it was argued that ' winds were raised by God alone , and it was irreligious in man to attempt to raise wind for himself and by efforts of his own . One Scottish Clergyman actuall y refused the holy communion to those of bis parishioners who thus irreverently raised the Devil's wind . ' Few of the readers of ' Old Mortality * will forget honest Mause Headrigg ' s indignation vhten it was proposed that her ' son Gndxlie should work in the barn wi' a new-fangled machine for dighting the corn frau thfc chaff , thus impiously thwarting the will of Divine Providence , by raising wind for your leddy&tiip ' s ain particular use by human art , instead of soliciting it by prayer , or waiting

      patiently for whatever dispensation of wind Providence was pleased to send upon the sheeling hill . ' A route has just been successfully opened by Panama between the Atlantic and Pacific . In 1588 a priest named Acosta wrote respecting a proposal then made for this very undertaking , that it was his opinion that 'human power shonld not be allowed to cut througli the strong and impenetrable bounds which God has put between the two oceans , of mountains and iron rocks , which can stand the fury of the raging seas . And , if it were possible , it would appear to me very just , that we should fear the vengeance of HeaTen for attempting to improve that which the Creator in his Almighty will anc providence has ordained from the creation of the world . ' When forks were first introduced ^ into England some preachers denounoed their use ' as an insult on Providence , not to touch our meat with our fingers . ' Many "worthy people had great Bcruples about the emancipation of the Hfgraes , because they were the descendants of Ham , on whom tbe curse of perpetual slavery had been pronounced . Many others plead against the measure for the emancipation of the Jews , that the bill is a direct attempt to controvert the will and word of God , and to revoke his sentence upon tho chosen bnt rebellious people . "

      From the same article we borrow a passage respecting the safety of Chloroform . : — " The most serious objection to the use of Chloroform , whether in _ surcjory or midwifery , is the danger which is supposed to attend its use . In several cases death lias followed the use of Chloroform so closely that the drug has appeared to be the sole and direct cause oi death . In most of tho cases the appearance has beon deceptive , h *» t in others death may have resulted from tho use or abuse of Chloroform alone ; yet when we find that in one hospital in London alone , that of St . Bartholomew , more than thirty-five thousand persons have been submitted to its full influonoe with only one accident of importance—that in Edinburgh moro than 400 , 000 doses have been sold by the druggists to the Burgeons ot that city , and . only on % death from its uso has resulted—when we reflect how generally it has been used in all parts of tho world by persons who had to obtaiu their knowledge of its effects by experiment , and were therefore unskilled in its administration—remembering alao that it lias very frequently beon used in an impure state , and combined with deleterious substancesthe wonder is , not that Home few uunths may be traced to tl » o use of a new remedy , but that , they should have been bo few . Cousidernblu doubt still hauca over tho l ' trvv exceptional cases

      Untitled Article

      * The word sapiential , in tho quotation in the not <' , dons not moan " knowledge ! , " as ho suppoHOB , but wisdom . " Wo havo no moana at hand of reforrinu ; ton , Latin translation o I tho Advancement of Learning , but if Micro ia an , y othorpasHago Lhiiu tlio one wo havo supposed , it has escaped our recollection and our clo . soul scrutiny .

      Untitled Article

      ttfites are * net ttor TergtSlalors , but the judges md police of libera . fctire . ^ lTliey do ftfrt ttodrJS U ^ rii-tlsey interpret and try to enforce them . —JEdimburak Jtevino .

      Untitled Article

      m THE LEADER . FS « nr »» AT _ i ^^_^__ L _ Li _ llii il i"rt M ^^ jjj ^^^^ a ^ . ^ aj , ^ ^^_ . ^^ _ . . ___ . . ... __ - | ¦ ~ ii -

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 28, 1854, page 90, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2023/page/18/