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Leader (1850-1860), 6th December 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 15, In Fraser's Magazine this month we see a...

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      Dec. 6, 1851.] K^T Vltatltv* 1163

      Dec . 6 , 1851 . ] K ^ t VLtatltV * 1163

      Litttatort.

      litttatort .

      ^Itiea Are Not The Legislators, But The ...

      ^ itiea are not the legislators , but the judges and police c \ + o ™ Sure They do not make laws—they interpret and 0 to enforc e them . —Edinburgh Review .

      If If Gossip Report Be Not A Liar," Whic...

      if If Gossip Report be not a liar , " which she mostly is ( see Virgil ) , then may we congratulate Dickens 1 his accession to the full and complete copyright ° f all his works ; so that both he and his children jnay now reckon on a handsome property . It is interesting to notice the rise and progress of the belief in literary property . There still remain many who , recognizing a property in mechanical inventions , refuse to recognize a property in inventions of a less tangible character . That the produce of a man ' s hands should be lawfully accounted his property is ' * plain common sense "; but that tlie produce of his brain should also be lawfully so accounted is thought preposterous . Nevertheless , that preposterous thought has made its way in the world , and now we are not only learning to respect literary property , but are rapidly advancing towards international copyright !

      In Fraser's Magazine This Month We See A...

      In Fraser ' s Magazine this month we see a new story , by the author of Alton Locke , announced for 1852 ; good news to the readers of Fraser , who generally provides us an entertaining number . December gives an amusing paper on Gastronomy and Civilization ; an eloquent and suggestive criticism on the poems of 1851 ; and a good paper on The Races of Mankind , in which the unity of our race is advocated . This question of race is more far-reaching than will generally be thought . " For if , " as this writer observes , " the scientific inquiry should issue in the certainty or strong

      probability that the human race had several pairs of progenitors , and not one Adam and one Eve , the scientific result would admit of no explanation consistent with the truth of the Scripture narrative . " Perfectly true . On the other hand , if the unity of race be established , then it establishes in an overwhelming manner the Development Hypothesis by showing the immensity of the modifications known to be produceable by differences of climate and other external conditions . Take the six foot Patagonian and the pigmy Bosjesman—the Carib and the Caucasian—the grovelling Wawa and a Shakspeaee or a Goethe—the fair Circassian

      and the ebony African—see what modifications are manifest in the various races of man , and the main arguments against the Development Hypothesis of Lamarck and Geoffrey St . Hilaire fall to the ground . A pretty " fix " for theologians ! The other papers in Fraser are also worth reading , especially that on the Use and Beaut ]/ of Words , and the continuation of the able History of the Hungarian War . Tait this month has a good article against Homoeopathy , which friends and foes of that system will read with interest—none the less , we

      believe , because of some very lame arguments which cripple it . Considering , however , the nonsense usually written on this subject , we must prize the paper in Tait . There is too much of the common error of demonstrating the " impossibility" of a fact , when tlie thing needed is to ascertain if the fact be a fact . So many things ' * can't be " and noverthelcas " " ! For ourselves , we are decidedl y not IlomocopatluKtH , but we take interest in all the vigorous efforts made to get at the Truth ; and in the present ignorance of Pathology and Organic Chemistry—ignorance so profound that

      the writers on Homoeopathy , pro and con ., Kcem rarely to suspect it—every system of cure must be em pyrical , and to a great extent delusive . While ° n this subject we will add a word wo should Kliidly have added to Mr- Kkm-y ' k letter , printed in our "Open Council" ( No . Ho , p . HMKi ) , but that on principle we abstain from meddling with all < he letters that appear there . It is this . His opponent rnado the very common objection , that inasmuch as increiisu of quantity gives increase of power , the minute doses were absurd : ho replied to that objection . We should add , that the phrase increase

      of power is delusively vague , and that , speaking in the sense in which the phrase is used here , it is false . Chemistry abounds with illustrations . Place water in a heated iron vessel , and the temperature will rise ; but if you increase the quantity of heat beyond four hundred degrees , and then place the water into it , the temperature of the water will not rise . Here increase of quantity paralyzes the power of raising the water ' s temperature . Directly the vessel cools to four hundred degrees , a new phenomenon is presented—the water explodes . Now ,

      reasoning by analogy ( supported by fact , if the fact be so ) , we may conclude that whereas a certain increase of heat would not produce a rise in the temperature of water , for which a considerable decrease was necessary , so a patient may swallow a handful of globules without effect , yet be affected by one globule . We give this only as an illustration . What we want to see proved is the unequivocal fact that a globule will produce a given effect . If that be proved , we can quietly submit to its being " impossible . "

      Tt Is Said By Goethe, In His Wise Sarcas...

      Tt is said by Goethe , in his wise sarcastic way that it is easy enough to make laurel crowns , but the difficulty is to find a brow to wear them" Ein Kranz ist gar viel leichter binden , Als ihm ein wiirdig Haupt zu finden . " But in these last days a brow has been found—a new poet has been revealed to the world . A new Poet ? Yes ( and the word is pleasant to write ) , a new Poet : one who will hereafter present a brow to the world , upon whose calm breadth the world will lovingly let fall a crown , unless he disappoint the promise of his youth—unless he , too , turn out

      one of those buds that never become flowers ! At present he is but one-and-twenty , and having spent the last half of his life in a counting-house , his experience is probably small ; but his faculty is rich , spontaneous . ALEXANDERSMiTH , of Glasgow , is the man . We hear of him through the columns of the Critic , where this week several " passages " from his unpublished poems are printed . As passages they are unquestionably very remarkable . They have the faults and exuberance of youth , but the contain striking images—as this of Night" Which like a sea

      Breaketh for ever on a strand of stars . ' He is fond , too fond of the stars ; but his love prompts him to new imagery—here is another" When the dark dumb earth Lay on her back and watched the shining stars . " The following strikes us as grand and pictorial" I seek the look of fame ! Poor fool , so tries Some lonely wand'rer ' motig the desert sands By shouts to gain the notiee of the Sphynx , Staring right on ivith calm eternal eyes . ' We have a dim remembrance of a passage like that somewhere in Horne , but cannot drag it into the light of clear recollection . We have only space for one more extract , and it shall be a whole sonnet . " Lust night my cheek was wetted with warm tears , Each worth a world . They fell from eyes divine . Last night a silken lip was pressed to mine , And at its touch fled all the barren years . And golden couched on a bosom white , Which came and went beneath me like a sea . An Emperor I lay , in empire bright Lord of the beating heart ! while tenderly Love words were glutting my love-greedy ears ; Kind love 1 thank thee for that happy night . Kicher this check for thouc warm tearn of thine , Than the vast midnight with its gleaming spheres : Leander toiling throatyh the midnight brine , Kingdomless Antony were scarce my peers . " If our mood were critical , we should make sad havoc of some of these lines : " silken lip" and " golden couched " are the- upholstery of love that should have no place . The fourth line , if it have u meaning , has not expressed it . The comparison of his check to the vast midnight is more fanciful than agreeable . Hut what a glow and pulse in the rest 1 How like the burning love of a hoy , intoxicated with tlie newness and intensity of feeling !

      It is not often that we an ; guilty of tlie crime of urging a man to publish poems ; but if Ai . kxaniiek Smith ' s poems are at all equal to the passages quoted in the Critic , wo should decisively Bay publiuh by all means !

      Mantkll's Petrifactions And Their Teachi...

      mantkll's petrifactions and their teachings . Petrifactioni and their Teachings ; or , the Handbook to the Gallery of Organic Remains of the British Museum . By Gideon Algernon Man tell , LL . D . With numerous Illustrations . ( Bonn ' s Scientific Library . ) H . G . Bonn . Mb . Bohn should be encouraged in his recent enlargement of the sphere of his Monthly Volumes , thus bringing excellent scientific works within the

      reach of those who can ill afford to pay for the more expensive . It is but a few weeks since we reviewed Stockhardfs Experimental Chemistry ; we have now an original work by Dr . Mantell , and a reprint of the Comparative Physiology by Agassiz and Gould , not to mention the various scientific works announced as in preparation . Let him continue in this direction , and we are persuaded that an ample sale will repay the venture .

      Petrifactions and their Teachings is a book of unquestionable usefulness , but we must sharply define its uses . From the title , or from a casual inspection of its pages , the reader would be apt to form a conception of it which a nearer examination would disappoint ; the amount of " Teachings " given with these " Petrifactions " being both small in quantity and insignificant in quality . The philosophy of the subject must be brought by the reader . Besides the absence of scientific generalization , we have to note the presence of an

      impertinent amount of scientific petulance . What have the fossil remains of former worlds to do with the small squabbles of scientific men ? What is the condition of that man ' s mind who shows us the great records of eras when this planet was no abode of man , and moves amidst these mysteries , thinking mainly of how Jones does not appreciate him , nor Smith make mention of his small discoveries ? It is always thus with commentators—a terrible race ! and Dr . Mantell , in this edition of Ancient Fragments , follows in the path of many a learned Doctor , and distracts our attention from his Author

      to himself . Although a searching criticism would find much , that was objectionable , both in omission and commission , it would , however , also find much that was commendable in this volume . Its value is as a catalogue raisonnde of the organic remains which , solicit study in our British Museum . To give it this special interest , Dr . Mantell has arranged it in the form of a Handbook . The specimens in each

      room of the Museum are described in separate chapters , and a ground plan of the cases , with a Synopsis of their contents , are given in the first section of each division . Thus , to wander through . the rooms with this volume in hand , is to examine their contents in company with an accurately informed guide ; and for the first time these rooms will have an interest and significance to many of those who take the volume there .

      Its use is not , however , limited to that of a Handbook . It is intelligible and interesting in itself ; and the numerous illustrations , many of them of a superior kind , serve as substitutes for the actual specimens . We specify the merits of Petrifactions and their Teachings , that no reader may be misled by the title into the supposition of its being a work of philosophical character . It is a handbook , and it is more than that ; but it has nothing to do with philosophy .

      8pi5nckk S Eiiiiopean Tukkky. Travels In...

      8 PI 5 NCKK S EIIIIOPEAN TUKKKY . Travels in Kuropeun Turkey in 1830 . By Ednmncl Spencer . Kuq . 2 volt . Colbuin antl Co . ( Second Notice . } In returning to Mr . Spencer ' s admirable , and in many respects important , volumes , to cull more extracts , we feel unusually embarrassed by the quantity which solicits us , and the scantiness of tho space at disposal . We decide on something touching Hungary , on account of its actiiutite . Mr . Spencer gives a brief but striking . survey of tho Hungarian struggle , and then adds those reflections : —• "Now that all ia over , and the sword of the O / ar and the Kaiser , with the executioner , have laid low the brave rueo of the Magyar , the render muy bo < le-HirouH to know by what nyHtem of political casuistry the Austrian Cabinet could have acted with Much baao perildy towards the Hungarian people . It might ho presumed that n Government , whose subjects nri ^ composed of so many nationaliticH , over which tho Slavonians predominate in number —a people whoso tendencies from nn amnity of race , language , religion , customs , and manneiH , are more Russian than German , would rather have- nought an alliance with the IIungnriiuiH - by far the most valorous and enterprising nationality in tho Austrian Umpire , ia order to counterbuhmce and hold in check the influence of bo powerful ft neighbour an Russia . This apparent

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1851, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06121851/page/15/