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BOOKS ON OUR . TABLE. Forest Daps. By Gk...
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COMTE'S POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY.*. By Gr. .'...
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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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The Fortress Of Komarom. The Fortress Of...
Grorgey > ' .. admits of no compromise , lie speaks out -with the most admirable 'frankness '; A spirit of soldier-like honour and openness pervades the book , coupled with adelightful simplicity , and an innate quality of truthfulness . Colonel Thaly is amanyou . must believe in all matters of fact personally attested , and respect , in all matters of opinion and secondary testimony- . ¦'' .- . ¦ ¦ ' . ¦¦ •¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ' ¦ : '¦¦ ¦ - ' . . ¦ ¦ . ' : ¦¦ ' ¦ Tiie : ; events Narrated in this volume begin with the restoration of selfgdreriiment in Hungary , in April , 1848 , and terminate with the surrender of Goinornv by Bljapjta ^ on the first five days of Oct ^ During this period , Comprn is the centre round which all the facts of the campaigns of these exciting times , having relation to that fortress , are crrouped ; and the reader thus obtains , a tolerable insight into the spirit ,
the resources , the energy , and the free genius of at least one portion of the Hungarian ^ people . Incidentally , the ^ prominent figures of Kossuth and Gprgey , of Jellachich and OBtaynau , of G-uyon and IQapka pass before the reader , as ^ they are more or less connected with Comorn . Kossuth and Grdrgey visit it , Haynau and Jellachich besiege or menace it > Guyon and Elapka are , for a time , its governors . Around it the war rages , now on this , now on that bank of the ^ Danube . The Austrian bombshells sometimes setting on fire . the town or Comorn , at others , the fire of the 2 Jung $ riein gtins , and the courage of the Honveds , beating back the Austriansj now victory , , now defeat for Comorn ; finally , " Submission , "—a word which all Elapka ' s services , and all his pleading , can never erase
from its indissoluble connexion with his name . We , trust that enough : has been said to impress tbe reader with the fact , that CJojbnel Thaly has made a contribution to the history of the War of Independence of great value . It is not the less so , as will be readily apprehended , because Colonel Thaly had in view not so much the party , or even national contests of the day , as the great story of his country . We enter here into none of the controversies which , this volume would excite ; satisfied with indicating that it presents evidence of great importance , tendered with equal modesty , upon the subjects of those controversies . "Whether Gorgey was not a great general , but traitorously , because
selfishly and ambitiously , inclined from the beginning of the war , we will not attempt to decide ; neither will we discuss whether Elapka might not have sated his country , or , at least , extorted honourable terms from the Austrians ; but these are topics upon which Colonel Thaly must be heard . The last thirty pages of the book contain a spirited and well-written sketch of the life of a man who has been too lightly spoken of in England , General Peirczel ; He was a staunch patriot , a bold soldier , and an honest man ; and , in so far as he had means , he certainly surpassed Grorgey in military exploits . Perczel Was on his way to England when this volume Was published . Has he yet arrived P
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. ¦ 3 ft iink ^^^ j : : ¦ ; '¦ ¦¦ ¦' ; ' ¦; . ¦ THE LEADERS 615
Books On Our . Table. Forest Daps. By Gk...
BOOKS ON OUR . TABLE . Forest Daps . By Gk . P . B . James . ( Parlour Library . ) Simms and M'Intyre . We simply announce this reprint . The readers of Mr . James ' s novels will welcome it .-. Wa have not had the courage to make a deliberate attempt on it . The Disowned * By Sir Edward BulwerXyttdii , TJart . "With a Frontispiece . Chapman and Hall . This cheap reprint of the disowned has been " lightened and improved" by Sir Edward , who however speaks somewhat disdainfully of it , and we are too polite to contradict him . To the young readers of Bulwer , to those who delight in his metaphysics , the Disowned hag its charm ; and even the older reader will recognise passages of considerable interest , —but on the whole , the work has not a very high position in the Bulwer library . Sermons on National Subjects , preached in a Village . Church . By Charles Kingsley . ' . ¦ ¦ . J . J . Griffin and Co . KiNGSLEY ' s name is duly prized by us all , and the mere announcement of any work of his will to a great extent forestal criticism . For obvious reasons we shall not criticise these Sermons , further than to point in passing to the directness and force with which , in many pages , ho announces his views . There are twenty-three sermons in all , and they are sermons in the strict sense of the word , therefore beyond our jurisdiction . Bead able Books : —1 st . Edgar Poo ' s Tales and "Poems . 2 nd . Letters of Peter Plymley ; Essays and Speeches , by the Kov . Sydney Smith . H . Vizetelly . Readable Books ! Never has a title been better justified than in those two contributions to our Literature of the Rail . They are prettily got up volumes , illustrated with woodcuts , but moro brightly illustrated by their contents . Surely there never was a more cunning hand at making the impossible real than that of Edgar Poo , whose stories have a horror of thoir own ! Was there ever a moro genial wit than Sydney Smith , —so wise , so merry , and so unctuous ? Peter Plymley is immortal , although the troubles of his day are appeased . The essays from the Edinburgh Jteview hero reprinted , are selected from tho well-known thrco volumes , —by what copyright mystery we divine not ! Memorial qf James Fenimore Cooper . w ^ n ^ ^' Portrait ( falter ,,. Part VI . w - S . Orra id Co . The Magnttoscope . By T . Lo « cr . _ ftj . _ _ n T . * S ' * 5 ? A TreaiUe on the Method , qf Observation and Reasoning in JPohUot , B Jo ^ ° ^ JaJkeTan ' d 8 on The Imperial C / clopndia . Part XI . „ Charles Kni p ht . The Infiuenceqf Poetry . By Rev . F . W . ttobortBon . M . A , «• *• £ »*«¦ Jiokn ' sClasnoal Library—The Comedies qfFlautus . By JI . T . Eiloy , B . A . Vol . I . H . G . B ° hn . John ' s Illustrated Library—Homo in tho Nineteenth Century . By Chivrlotto A . . fcaton . ^™ \ * £ XoJkn ' s Scientific Library—ITuviboldt ' s Travels . Vol . II . g . G . Bohn . John ' s Standard Library—The Analogy qfjleligion . By Joseph Butler , D . C . L . II . G . Bohn . Universal Free Trade . By A . Alison . * ¦ J , « * „ £ ™ T h £ T £ Readable Hooks —The Letters-qf Feter Plymley , Essays and Speeches , By tho Bev . Sydney Smith v Henry VMOteUy . Personal Adventures qf" Our Own Correspondent" in Italy . By Michael Burlto Honan . 2 vola . v ' Chapman and Jiail . Reminiscences qf Thought and Fedinff . " __ W . Piokorjng . The ConquerorsqftheNew World and their Bondsman . Vol . 11 . YT . luikenng . Foreian Affairs . . ' Eaton , Blonkin , and Co . The liftrZnd Adventures qf James JTelly O'Dwyer . 3 vola . . «• Bontloy . Obsoletism in Art . A Reply to the Author qf Modem Fainter * . By E . V . Rippingollo . * II . Bontloy . Irish Quarterly Review . No . VI . „ Simpkin and Murflhall . A few Words on the Iffleot of the Increase qf Gold upon th « Citrrenoy . James Kidgway . A Letter to the Rev . W . Ooode , M . A . By tho Kev . W . M . Blower . ' J , Mufltoru . Fyroteohny ; or , a familiar System qf Jtecreattv * Br * Work : By 0 . W . Mortimer . _
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We Should Do Ovir Utmost To Encoaarage T...
We should do ovir utmost to encoaarage the Beautiful , for the "Jseful encourage itself . —Goethe .
Comte's Positive Philosophy.*. By Gr. .'...
COMTE'S POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY . * . By Gr . . 'H . Lewes . Part XIII . —Organic Chemistry : Evolution of Life . It may be taken as evidence of the erroneous views current among scientific men on the true nature of science as respects its classification , that a distinct body of doctrine should claim for itself a distinct existence in the shape of a Science of Organic Chemistry . Against this pretended science , Comte energetically protests , as a source of inevitable confusion , and as a consequence of the absence of that Philosophy of Science which he has endeavoured to elaborate .
I open Dr . Gregory ' s admirable Handbook of Cfrganic Chemistry— -the latest published- ^ -and this is the definition I find : " Organic Chemistry is so called because it treats of the substances which form the structure of organized beings and of their products , whether animal or vegetable . " Now , although it is not possible ., I believe , to draw a line of demarcation between the inorganic and organic worlds , although the differences we observe are not essential , but phenomenal , being differences in the varieties of direction of force , not differences in the nature of force , nevertheless we , who only study phenomena , recognise a marked difference between the phenomena of organized and of inorganized substances , such as necessitates a corresponding difference in classification ; and as the phenomena of
organized matter are regulated by special laws not applicable to inorganized matter , we insist upon isolating them . Comte , therefore , properly objects to physiological phenomena being treated as simple chemical phenomena ; he objects to the chemist undertaking to solve problems which require the concourse of the Physiologist ; he objects to a science which , while it has physiology for its subject matter , attempts to dispense with physiological method . The very phrase , Chemistry of organized bodies , implies the presence of an element not within the competence of Chemistry , except upon a vicious extension of the term . Chemistry does not concern itself with the phenomena of Life ; yet those phenomena are necessary to organized bodies !
In protesting against making Organic Chemistry a separate science , Comte must not be understood to underrate the importance of inquiries into the chemistry of organized bodies ; but his meaning is , that you might as well constitute a science of Animal Mechanics from the specification of all the mechanical phenomena observable in animals , as a science of Organic Chemistry from a specification of the chemical phenomena noticeable in organic bodies . Physiology is subordinate to Chemistry ; its greater complexity of phenomena embraces chemical laws , and some other laws
peculiar to it . That the Physiologist could not constitute his science without the aid of Chemistry lies in the very nature of his science ; but the chemist can and does constitute Chemistry without the aid of the Physiologist . Therefore the positive philosophy insists upon a division of this said Organic Chemistry into two different parts ; 1 st . That which relates to Chemistry , properly so-called . 2 nd . That which relates to Physiology . No mind familiar with the importance of Method
will fail to appreciate the necessity of this division . The general principle upon which this division must be founded , Comte says , resides " in the essential separation of the condition of Death from that of Life , or , what comes to nearly the same thing , the stability and instability of the proposed combinations subject to the influence of ordinary agents . Among the various compounds indistinctly united under the term organic , some owe their existence to the vital movement , are subject to
continual variations , and almost always constitute simple union : these cannot belong to Chemistry , but to Biology , static or dynamic , according as we study them in their fixed state , or in the vital succession of their regular changes—blood , lympjh , fat , & c , are of this class . The others , on the contrary , forming the immediate elements of these , are substances essentially dead , susceptible of remarkable permanence , and presenting all the characters of true combinations , independent of life—these , tho organic
acids , alcohol , albumen , urea , & c , belong to the domain of Chemistry , for they are the same as inorganic substances . " How , then , is the Chemist to distinguish between what belongs to his domain and what to the domain of Biology ? Ity a very simple rule . He has only to examine whether the proposed problem can be solved by the application of chemical principles alone , without the aid of any consideration of physiological action whatever . As soon as nny of the phenomena of Life manifest themselves , he is warned of the presence of more complex agencies than arc " dreamt of in his philosophy . "
It is well known that although we can create certain organic compounds , w e can only do so by the degradation of somq previously-existing organic substance . ^ is in vain that we analyze organic matters and ascertain their elements ; we cannot put those elements together again , as we can with inorganic substances . There lies a mystery of synthesis we cannot penetrate . I think we may sec an analogous mystery in the remarkable facts of isomerism , or bodies having the same elements , the same equiva-* For tho Oomto Subscription Fund I havo to aoknowlcdgo tho rocoipt of 10 s . from Mr , J . 0 , Duncan , and of 6 * . from T . Pay ton .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26061852/page/19/
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