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    revised this translation according to the last edition , incorporating " Wendt ' s additions ; he has also brought the history down to our own day by brief notices of his own , and has prefaced the whole with a vocabulary of some of the principal terms in German jnetaphysics . A chronological table and an index complete the serviceableness of this book . As a M anual we know of no book equal to Tennemann , in spite of its serious drawback of its Kantism . It is brief , clear , erudite . The bibliography is minute and extensive . The expositions , though of little service to one who has not already gained some insight into the systems , are excellent as brief indications . It is not a book from which to study philosophy , but it should be for reference on the shelves of every student . Germany has produced a vast array of Histories and Handbooks , but this of Tennemann ' s still holds its ground .

    Mr . J . B . Morell has considerably improved the work by his additions . He was probably limited as to space , so that we will not object to the unsatisfactory meagreness of his notices , especially when we observe that he only devotes a page to Fourier , an author for whom he has the predilection of a translator . Yet surely St . Simon and Proudhon deserved something more than the simple mention of their names , even if that something had been confined to an enumeration of their works . It would have been better , we think , to have preserved the same silence with respect to Comte , who , we are told in the preface , receives some little of the notice which his merit and influence deserve , because

    silence is better than error ; and not only is it quite evident that Mr . Morell knows nothing whatever of Comte at first hand , but he repeats the absurd charge of Atheism . " His system , " Mr . Morell says , " which is remarkable for ingenuity ( ingenuity as the characteristic !) establishes Atheism as a material basis . " Our readers can appreciate the truth of that sentence . But neither we , nor in all probability they , can divine what Mr . Morell ' s meaning is , when he says , " A considerable analogy may be traced between Hume's and Comte ' s systems . " text

    Minute criticism would pick many a hole both in Tennemann's and in that of his editor ; but these small details do not affect our estimate of the general excellence , and we commend the book to all students as a serviceable Manual , in a compact , cheap , and even elegant form . While noticing this the most recent of Mr . Bonn ' s valuable contributions to our library of serious books , let us also mention his republication of the Bridgewater Treatises , in his Scientific Library . The entertaining work by Kirby we have already noticed . This month we have Professor Kidd ' s Adaptation of JExternal Nature to the Physical Constitution of Man . On a former occasion , we called attention to the profoundly unphilosophical idea implied in the title and the contents of this Treatise ,

    which follows the old theological assumption of the Universe being made for the special purpose of serving Man as a theatre , or , as this title-page has it , " with reference to the supply of his wants , and the exercise of his intellectual faculties . " We do not make this objection in any spirit of blame to the late Professor Kidd . He was an orthodox professor , bound to write according to orthodoxy . Our remark is a general one , pointing at the immense absurdity of considering the Universe as constructed with a view to man ' s wants , instead of man as constructed in " adaptation" to physical laws . Dr . Kidd ' s book , without possessing any remarkable characteristics , is a pleasant and suggestive survey of an interesting subject . The comparison between Aristotle and Cuvier , and the parallel passages quoted in the Appendix , deserve attention .

    Further , let us mention that , in the Classical Library we have the second and concluding volume of JPlautus , translated by Henry Thomas Uiley ; and , considering its object , very creditably translated , with brief useful notes , and a capital index . The second volume of Frederika Hremer s Works , translated by Mary Howitt , contains the President ' s Daughter , and Nina .

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    COLLOQUIAL SOLILOQUIES . Colloquial Soliloquies : beinq a Day s Serious Table Talk on serious suljccts . By Ono Avho took all the Tuik to himself . C . l \> x . Tnis little brochure may bo read in a quarter-of-an-hour , yet it contains tlio results of many many hours thinking . We are puzzled an to the authorship . If the writer is young , he will become remarkable , for there is a vein of humorous thought fulness which associates him with our finest essayist—the author of Friends in Council . But as his little book defies analysis , we will let a passage or two explain all we mean : — " SELF-COMMUNING . " Wise men— ( they are numerous)—have often counselled us to fly from society * to commune with ourselves , and so learn wisdom . A most efficient mode of learn' » £ , I doubt not , for the' —wise . They have thus learned wisdom . Hut what do all the rest of us learn thereby ? We commune with ourselves , adopt some suggestion of our own prolific ; brain , view it on its beautiful aide , turn it round and round in tho same way as the moon ' s face is turned round and round , wo keep the very Name disc Htill in view , pronounce all arguments in its favour to be quite unanswerable , draw upon fancy for facts in support of them , applaud our own originality ,

    "leateness , love of right , freedom from prejudice , and every other qualification for drawing up bucketfuls of Truth . So far , we are pursuing a process very like that of The Wise . We instill ourselves among those who left legacies of wisdom to guide succeeding ages ; wo invite them to conference , we condescend to bid them ' >»• seated with us , we ask their opinions , we receive nods of approbation . Any syinpl , oms of contradiction are accounted for by the ancient sage ' s obvious want of modern light . So we truss up our bundle of infallible illumination and irrefragable deduction , to go forth into the world as have done The Wise . Then we discover that Kclf-communing hits bestowed upon us , a . 4 upon The Wise , favours truly , but * o bo « worn with a difference . '

    "A retiring friend tells mo how much it vexes him to have ' aAnock-down-blow from n-great-stick of-connnon-Hense' levelled at his choicest lucubrations . This * n treatment which none of the shades of the mighty dead whom he invoked ever beHtowed upon him . Whilst he was communing with himself , they all politely J ? avo assent and consent , or at least withheld contradiction . It is only in contemporary society , frivolous , vain , and ephemeral , that he gets this grcut-knock-down-«) lo w . My friend obtains my Btroiigewt sympathy , for 1 havo often been nerved so

    myself . The Wise , on the contrary , find self-communing guard them against accidents of this kind . " " DIVINE SERVICE . " ' Finish your breakfast , old-fellow , whilst I tell you what happened when I lived at Court . The scullions and the stable-boys were dutifully loyal , and desirous of showing their pre-eminent love for the service of the monarch . Their device for testifying this good feeling was to meet in one of the great halls of the palace and thank her Majesty for the provision of food , lodging , and liveries which she gave them , sing ' God save the Queen , ' read the Royal Proclamations , and ask for promotion . The cook called the scullions to wash the dishes , the groom called the stable-boys to use the curry-comb and say ' e-s-s-s-s-s +. ' "

    " THE ETEBNAL CAUSE . " ' No absurdity can surpass that of our speculating upon the operations of the Deity before his having begun to call into existence a single-one of his creatures . ' The sentiment expressed by my most sage friend bears the usual marks of his wisdom . It is gravely sententious and fit for quoting , with that delightful "quality , ever charming to a quoter , of attributing absurdity to the gentleman opposite so conclusively that his mouth must be stopped for the evening . I see , Madam , you have written down the Doctor ' s sentence on the back of your card ; permit me to request you will interline ' knife-making' over ' operations ; ' ' cutler' over ' Deity ; ' and ' knife' over the words that follow the word ' single . ' Read it with these substitutions , and you have made a trap to catch the Doctor ' s ignoralio elenchi . 'You amaze me , Sir ; pray don't at dinner talk about catching such creatures . ' Pardon , Madam , I only want to show that the Doctor wont see the point of the fork . ' Then , Sir , he does but prick his own fingers . ' Perchance , Madam , he pokes it into his neighbour ' s face .

    " We who assent not to the Doctor's ' Evidences of Design , ' do not speculate on operations performed before the operator operated . As much as the Doctor deprecates talking about tlie Deity ' s doings before lie did anything , am I disposed to shrink from language which attributes to the Deity a beginning to operate . If there was a time when the Deity began to operate , by creating the first thing that has ever existed distinct from himself , his whole previous existence , the never-beginning eternity up to that moment of first creation , was spent in absolute inaction Omniscient ! Omnipotent ! and Non-energetic through a course extending infinitely in one direction !!! My reverential feelings prevent my using such words as ' Creator' and ' First Cause , ' which necessarily carry back a thinking mind to the absurdity condemned by Dr . Touchitoff . Unthinking minds will be glad to be furnished with conventional phrases , solemn sounds lightly shot off by a thoughtless tongue , which are sure to be well received , since they evince to the unthinking , as well as the thinking , that the talkers wish to stand well with society . "

    How many of our readers will bring this home to themselves : — " Have I prejudices ? is my judgment biassed by foregone conclusions ? Have I bigotry , do I refuse investigation , or do I retain opinions in spite of conviction ? " Tried by the opinions which I have , my questions remain unanswered . What will appear to be my mental condition if tried by opinions which I have not ? The religion of ancient Athens—the religion of modern Siam : two faiths held by vast numbers of the human race , with capacity and means far beyond what L can pretend to have for examining and weighing evidence of the faith as it was in Zeus or as it is in Buddha . Of these two widely accepted faiths I know but little ; and I

    form no systematic design of labouring to acquire a more extended knowledge . What but prejudice , u conclusion of the mind antecedent to proof , influences mo to refuse investigation ? Shall I commence making acquaintance with the liirinese articles of Faith , resolutely determined to live by and die in that faith if I find it to have a satisfactory basis ? I have no such present intention . Surely it is by virtue of prejudice that I do not examine the Credibility of . Buddhism . Is it safe to pass by without serious investigation si faith in which millions of men find for their spiritual life comfort , trust , and hope ? The inquiry is not attempted , nor does the reasonableness of the call for investigation induce me to commence it . Am I then bigoted ?"

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    SCJMELCHER'S HISTORY OF 2 nd DECEMBER . Uistoire des Crimes du Deux De ' eembrc . Par V . Sclurlcher , Represont . anl < lu Peuple . John Chapman . ViCToit ScrrrKLOiTEit is an eminent member of that section of French ^ Republicans which , under tho designation of La Montaynv , keeps up the traditions of 'i )' A . " We may remark in passing , that there is something singularly in contradiction with revolutionary principles in this conservatism of revolutionary traditions . The old conservative party may glorify their " traditions , " without incurring the- charge of inconsequence ; they may use former successes and former greatness as an argument for future action ; but surely the men who avowedly disclaim tho argument of tradition , who proclaim the word . Progress as their watchword , and who believe that Humanity grows , are singularly placed when they call upon the " traditions" of a , transition era , like 'W . i , and demand the symbols and the actions which grew up out of the necessities of ' 1 KJ !

    The IVlontagtinrds , however , whatever the faults of their policy , showed themselves animated by a sincere and courageous patriotism in . December , 1 H 51 , when all oilier parties gave way , held aloof , or vilely applauded the acts of Louis Napoleon . M . Sohuileher has written in burning pages the history of that frightful and ignoble epoch . Ho was foremost at tho barricades . The sword powerless in his hand , he exchanges it for the powerful pen . He writes—and it is as if tho sword-point cut in blood tho disgraceful , annals of reactionary I'Yance . To those who havo read tlio splendid indignation of Victor ' . ' Hugo , we now commend tho damning evidence of Nehutlclier ' s narrative . There is much that is new in it , and

    every page ih curious . Tho history of the several " preventive arrests " with which tho cou p d' / tai opened , is told Avith circunistanl ial minuteneHS , and reads lilite a Dumas novel . This chapter is followed by ono on the " Kirst Measures of tho Insurrection , " and by one on the " ' Resistance of tho Assembly , " which leads to that more dramatic chapter , " The 'Resistance of Paris . " M . Scho > lcher then pauses to consider the attitude of tho People in this crisis , and shows bow completely the People , duped by tho lying promises of Louis Napoleon , and disgusted by the " palaver" of tho Assembly , welcomed , rather than opposed , the coup d ' etat . The conclusion M . Schmleher draws—and ho repeats the sentence with emphasisis ono which can hardly be said to belong to revolutionary " traditions , "

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    September 25 , 1852 . ] T HE LEADER . 927

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 25, 1852, page 927, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1953/page/19/