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S30 THfl LfEAgER. [i^v 468; JVLarch 12, ...
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JLITEKATITRE, SCIENCE, ART, &c.
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ILITEHAKY CHRONICLE OF TPIE WEEK.
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It was scarcely to be expected that a qu...
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SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON'S LECTURES. (first ...
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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.
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S30 Thfl Lfeager. [I^V 468; Jvlarch 12, ...
S 30 THfl LfEAgER . [ i ^ v 468 ; JVLarch 12 , 185 9 ^
Jlitekatitre, Science, Art, &C.
JLITEKATITRE , SCIENCE , ART , & c .
Ilitehaky Chronicle Of Tpie Week.
ILITEHAKY CHRONICLE OF TPIE WEEK .
It Was Scarcely To Be Expected That A Qu...
It was scarcely to be expected that a question so much mooted already as- ' the authorship- of the " Vestiges , " could be disposed of by a mere ' ip . se dixit , and we are not surprised therefore , that many doubters have arisen as to the accuracy of the assertion , or that Professor ISTichol has plainly , denied that Dr . George Combe had anything " to do with the authorship . " I beg you distinctly to state from me , " writes the Professor to the Editor of the North British Daily Mail , " that
Mr . Georcre Combe was not the author of that book" ( that is , the i ; Vestiges ") . To this , the Critic replies : " Notwithstanding the A-ery strong and confident assertion on Mr , Nichol ' spart , we adhere to our statement . Secrets of this kind have been kept by authors , even , from their most . intimate friends ; and although we are not yet authorised to state the precise grounds upon whmh we attributethe authorship to Dr . George Combe , we may go so far as to say that Ave have done so : on the authority of a writer ^ v / hose name in the world of science is
inferior to hone . As , however , Mr . Nichol seems to "hint that he is in possession of the secret , perhaps he . will have no objection to inform us to whom , in his jxidgment , we ought to attribute the authorship . " Thus stands the matter for the present , and we hope that ere long both our contemporarv and the Professor will see fit to be niore explicit . Assertion goes very little in such matters , liOAyever respectable may be the authority-. One of . _ most important book issues of the
Anthony Trollope ( Chapman and Hall ) . Brother Prince , of the Agapemone , has also put forth some hundred pages of extatie nonsense under the title of his" JournaV' which are published for him ( but certainly not on their own account ) by Messrs . Hall , and Virtue . Sparse items of gossip may be noticed . " Tom Brown , " that is , Thomas Hughes , Esq ., has 7 joined the honorable society of Antiquarians . " Sam Slick" has been lecturing at Isleworth—Avhere he has now taken up his permanent abode—on the favoimte
North American colonies . Tins is a subject with the Judge ; for lie delivered the same lecture . at the Glasgow Bums' dinner ; when he was called upon to propose " the Church of Scotland . " Finally , Mr . William Longnian has been delivering the " first of a series of lectures , on English History , to the members of an association at Chorley-wood , in Herts , near his country residence . This lecture has been printed with much luxury of paper and illustration , and is an excellent specimen of a plain lecture intended for common sense hearers .
There is not much literary news from Pans . M . d'Argent , the son of the late marqtiis , has cited M . Guizot for what he calls an imputation on his father ' s , memory . In his memoirs , the ex-Egeria of the Roirbourgeois accused d ' Argoiit of servility to Ca ' simir Perier , on the flimsy ground that once when the former was going up the Legislative Assembly , Perier called piat to him in an imperious tone of voice to " Come here ! " Imagine a cosus belli of that kind offered to the notice of John , Lord Campbell , at Westminster . But then we English are such thick-skinned dogs .
week lias been Messrs . Sotlieby and Wilkinson ' s catalogue of the Libri IV 1 SS ., to be offered vip for competition on the 28 th instant and seven following day * , omitting Sunday . By the word catalogue , it must not be supposed that a mere dry list of the lots is all that is given . Here is a goodly volume containing , on tv , o hundred' ancl ,. sixty pages of type , and thirty-seven splendid plates , full desc riptions and specimen fiicrsjinile ' s' of ' the eleven hundred and ninety kits of ' . which the sale will
consist . The descriptive notes are very minute , of high bibliographical value , and the list of works ited in them contains the titles of nearly three hundred and fifty works in English , Latin , Italian , French , & c . These notes are the work of M . liibri himself , also tho very erudite preface , or introduction , written in French , with an English translation . on the opposite page . Altogether , this may be pronounced to be a pearl of catalogues , and in every way worthy of the important sale which has called it forth . The mere cost of'preparation iniisf . lio « r » iiTr > t . 1 iino" fiiv nvn . i > orlintvt \\ e > . nvihn r » Um « nrorl
and years henoe it will possess a bibliographical value quite apart from its present purpose , Our readers may remomber that the eminent collector , who has brought together these literary treasures , is the pnmo M . Libri whose case occupied so much attention a few years ngo . After a searching investigation into the charges against him , he was thoroughly acquitted of tliem all , and was even p ermittedby tho French Government to remove ins library . ' This salo is ono of the largest and most hujiuvttuit which Lns taken pln . ee for many years , nnd it will attract virtuosi nnd collectors from all pnrts of the work ! .
There is no secret now that the reports respecting tho dissolution of Jfmiachold Words nnd tho creation of a new periodical , to bo conducted by Mr . OhnrloH Dickons , find supported by tlio contributors of Household Words , arc true , Ihflfc ovoiy preparation is being iniute for ( starting tho now adventure , and that tho Jfivst number will bo issued on the 30 th of April . Tlio namo so ' lectod for tho new periodical is "All tho Year JRound "—rather an eccentric one , it must bo oonfbssod—and tho m * otto chosen is tho lino in Othollo , " The . Story of . my Iiifb from Year to Year . " Ifousohotd Words , it is said , will not "be continued . . ' The past week has not bcfttold tho issua of many good books , We have Archbishop ¦ Wliutoloy ' s edition of Pn ley ' s " Moral Philosophy" ( John 1 ST . Parker ); "Kllon Raymond , " by Mr s " . Vidal ( Smith , KUlor and Go . ); nnd " Tho Bertiwns , " by
Sir William Hamilton's Lectures. (First ...
SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON'S LECTURES . ( first notice . ) Lectures or Metaphysics . Tiy Sir William Hamilton , ¦ Hart , Edited by the Tlov . JI . L . Hansel , B . JX , Oxford , and John Voitch . M . A ., Edinburgh . 2 vols . TV . BJackwood and Sons . Every one who has studied .. under Sir William -Hamilton , and has mentioned his name with laudation in general society , has been accosted with a
query like the following :- —'' How is it that you students of mental philosophy and pupils of Hamilton estimate him so highly ? We can understand the high opinion expressed of Reid ; for he has left his essays as the exponents of his views . Brown ' s lectures enrich the mysteries of metaphysics with all the graces of poetry . There is a dignity , precision , and beauty in D . ugald Stewart that entices the most exoteric and unread student .
by the statement that , he had engrafted trpon Reid all that Avas sound and valuable in Kant , acknowr ledged the impossibility of explaining to anyone , who had nnt haard the lectures , their merits and excellencies until their publication . Sir William ' s logical course is not yet published . His lectures on metaphysics lie before us . We shrill best discharge our duty to our readers b j' as concise a summary of tlieir chief points as the subject ,. the space at our command , and our competency tor the task , Avill allow . .
Adopting Kant's division of the mental . powers into those" of knowledge , feeling , and desire , Hamilton confines himself almost entirely to the first , touching little on the emotions and less on the desires . The phenomenology of the cognitive faculties and tlieir nomology ; that is to say , the description of-their aspects and nianilestiitions , and the inquiry mto tbe laws which regulate these , principally ' occupy linn . There is little of ontology , or metaphysics proper , that is ,, the science of the
results and inferences' to be deduced from the psychology and nomology of mind- —the questions of .. the ' -being of a ( jod ,: immortality of the soul , & c . These lectures , theii , do not travel over the whole field embraced under the term metaphysics . They are lectures on the phenomena- and " kn \ -s of the intellectual powers , as distinguished from-emotions and desires ; ethics and logicy of course , i \ re necess . ai-ily excluded ,, as'far ' .. as the . t-ognatt-noss of the themes can prevent the partial treatment of these clbsely-relntctl-snbiects .
Two lectures . demonstrate , the subjective and tue objective utility of the . study -of philosophy , that is o ' say , the value of' philosophy , as the 1 iest : means of mental training ,- •' as- tho centre ot' i : ll studies , and the instrument of all stiulief ? . The latter contains , a , magniiicent demonstration , of tin .- oxistence of the Deity as a belief neccr-.- ! itiUod by the freedom of our will as rcA'oalcd t < i us by fnnsciousnrss . A third leeture , rich and interesting , in its history pf the definitions of p hilosophy and pf '^ iiccossive estimates of its proper objects , describe ¦ its njitiu'C , limits its comprehension , and defines it , us distinguished from empirical or historical knmvkidge , as
the knowledge of things , m and by _ { 1 r . mi- causesthe . knowledge cur res sit , as distinguished irom the knowledge rem esse . .. The causes of philosophy—th ;! f is , flio mental necessities which compel men to ' phSh > soph . isi >; that is , to discover the causes of jihcnonu'iia- —arc the necessity , native to us , to look upon evvvy ^ phenomenon as an elfijct ; hence , to be < liss !\ tisited till its causes are discovered ; and the desire lo curry all otu' knowledge into unity , or to seek i ' vr general of not
truths und laws ' . This lovi ? jiniLy jV only an effective means , of discovery : it is u boundless source of error . It produces huMy < jeuenihsatioi . is and ]> rmnature theories , lion , too , is to be . classified , ns a source of dclusi < in , the influence of preconceived opinion . ' v ondcr is an auxiliary cause of philosophy . ^ I'lio worcw of Socrates— ' " . To attain to ii kninvlodgy o ourselves we imist banish , projmlu- 'o , | iii . ^ i <> n , aiul aloth *'—are taltcnas the text for n lueluru on < 4 tho dispositions with wl . iich philosophy ouylit l <> *
studied . " ' Dbtib ' t is tlio first step towards ]> hiliw < il > hy ; hut doubt as a transitory state , not as u risting p luce . As Aristotle has it , philosophy is not . 111 * . ' i"J oi doubting , but the art of doubling well . " ' l' ^ ' is a great diilbronpo , " says Mallobrum'ho , Letwocu doubting and doubting . We doubt llirouglj passion and brutality ; ( . hrovigh Windings nmi malico , and iiiuilly through fancy , and iVum me very Avisl » to doubt ; but we doubl , also , worn pvudonco and through distrust ; iVom wih « 1 «» i » nnu through penotratioii of mind . , " , . There is onlf one method of phihwoph ) um ,
composod of analysis and synthesis—tliu ( k'cojuposition of elleots into thoir constituent enucun , omy that- 'we nuiy reconstruct tho noMiplox eliocw which wo have analysed int ; o thoir nuwori . i »« precedent annlysiH must not oontuin iWnooltMnoiuBi tliat tlio consomiont Hynthosis , may not iUrnl , iUlso resulls . Iiulnction , gonornlly torinoci o " analytic , is ronlly a synthetic process . Xntiuciw "
We can understand tho high estimate formed of these Scottish philosophers . But , as far as we know , Sir William Hamilton has done nothing more than engage in a somewhat exciting controversy with-Professor Do Morgan about tho possibility of reducing all conclusive reasoning to the syllogistic fbrinula , write n few articles in tlie 12 dinburgh Review on Universities , and one or two distinguished philosophers living and deceased , and bring out an edition of Ileid , Avith supplementary notes and dissertations . And yet- our best metaphysicians and logicians sooin to estimate his merits na far higher than , those of all the rest of the Scotch school put together , " This question has boon put ,
and it is most pertinent nnd fair . To such querists our reply has generally boon , that Sir William Hamilton ' s merits , like those of all philosophic ) teachors , must bo measured inoro by his influence upon his students' minds than by any now truths taught , or oven by any novel views of previously taught truths ; and that mental philosophy js not a progressive scioncc ; like those Avhicli deal with any of tho conditions or manifestations of material existenoo—such , for example , as chemistry , in whose past history you can allocate to each discoverer his special gains [ and trophies ; as , for example , to Davy his aio ' oovory of certain motallia bases ; or to . Faraday bin adumbration ( now almost a demonstration ) of tho identity of heat nnd eleotricity . And wo have generally , while defining Hamilton ' s gonoral relation to tho Scotch school
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12031859/page/10/
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