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trouble of sending representatives to Parliament off the hands of the nation * The late Duke of Newcastle ( to whose family Mr . Fynes Clinton wa » related ) wanted somebody to represent Aldboroagb , and thought his young kinsman would do . ~ &hr . ynes Clinton ' s father thought so too , and accepted the duke ' s offer forthwith , on his own responsibility , befo re he wrote to his son . Thws , the only persons who were not consulted in the matter of the representation of Aldborough were the electors of Aldborongh and the member , for Aldborough . —Ah ! those good old times ! those glorious old times ! Tears fill our eyes , and pangs of fond political regret wring our bosom as we look back on them !
Let us dry our tears ( with blotting-paper ) , and get back to Mr . Fynes CSlinton . Although he had neither ambition nor vocation for Parliament , be was too honourable a man not to do his best to prepare himself for his new duties . With rare and admirable self-denial he laid aside his classical studies altogether for the time , and did his best to make himself a useful member of Parliament , thinking at first of trying his fortune as a speaker , but wisely abandoning the idea on after experience and consideration . Though he had resigned his ancient authors , be had not altogether divorced himself from the Muses . In his first year of senatorial life he published his tragedy of Solyman—but it had no success , and no sale . His next venture was of much greater importance—he
married-His life had hitherto been calm and prosperous , but it was soon to he tsottbled b y the saddest and hardest of bereavements . In a year from his marriage his wife and child died ; and then , in his great affliction he turned once more to his old mute friends , the books , for companionship and consolation . From this time his studies were resumed : they were the studies which , led to the two great chronological works that made him known and hoiumred among the moat learned men in England . He married a second time a daughter of the Bishop of Bangor , who now &jrvives him . From this period ^ to the period of his death in 1852 , the history o £ Ms life is the history of his classical acquirements * His industry as a scholar is something astonishing . We will give the reader one specimen of it , taken at hazard from his autobiography . In the year 1816 these were Ilia Greek studies : «—
PAGES Philemon . 150 Parthenius 33 Heraclittis ... 9 Schol . iEschyli . 438 Appiani 467 Dionis Cass 180 Plutarchi 660 Harpocratio ............ 200 PhotiiLex ... 517 Demetrii ........ 72
' ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ . 2726 . These 2726 pages of hard Greek are mentioned as a less compass of reading'than -he had accomplished in almost any year since his return to study . " With this-criterion to judge by , the reader ¦ wiU be able to guess what a good yearV work amounted to ; and will gain some idea of the conscientious industry of 1 the great scholar . Of the unwearied patience required from him in the prosecution of his immense labours in ancient chronology , this passage frona his Journal will be found to afford a striking example : ¦—• December 4 . —I seem to proceed slowly . These lagt ten days have been consumed iii the chronology of Philip , B . C . 359—839 ; a small portion of a small division of the Work . Tie eleventh , year ia now far advanced since the first rudiments of this labour , in April , 1810 ; and much is yet wanting to complete it . However , the recollection of : the time for the completion of similar literary labours may console me . Wolfius
consumed ttoertty-two years in the edition of Demosthenes alone ( Reiske , Pref . p . xli . ) . Wyttenbach , in 1794 , had already arriv € d at the twenty-second year from the period at which he first projected an edition of Plutarch ; and sixteen years more intervened before he published , in 1810 , bis first volume of annotations . Mr . Mitford has suffered almost forty years to elapse between the composition of his first volume and the completion of his tenth .. And Barthelemi was thirty years engaged in the preparation of Bis " Anaieharsis . " None of these -undertakings demanded more laborious research ¦ and compilation than ia requisite for a " Civil and Literary Chronology of Greece and KGmse , " copiously explained , and verified by the original passages of the authors . And eould not all the years thus patiently devoted by Mr . Fynes Clinton and his learned predecessors to the production of classical editions , and books of classical information , have been employed more profitably for their
own good and for the intellectual good of humanity ? This is a quesion which many an nnlearned reader will ask—a question which we will leave an open one , as not arrogating to ourselves any right to decide on it . It is , on the other hand , however , hardly possible for any one to read Mr . lynes Clinton ' s Journal without being struck by the evidence which it ^ presents on the face of it of the meagreness and insufficiency of the study of Greek and Roman literature as the main intellectual nourishment for the atnind of any intelligent and inquiring man . How does Mr . F y nes Clinton Jhiinsolf , and how do we after him , trace the progress of hia classical studies ? ^ Solely W'the number of pages that he contrived to toil through in each year . Could any man , devoting himself to the living literature of nia own or swiy other nation , write a Journal of his studies without showing
sympathetically their effect on hia mind and heart—without letting ua guago his intellectual growth by something more than the bare record of the number of pages he read every day i * The mechanical intellectual means by which classical" knowledge is acquired , and the mechanical intellectual results to which classical knowledge leads , when it is pursued as the main science , seem to us to be made mournfully apparent in the pages of Mr . Fynes Clinton ' s Journal . We are the more struck with this becauae we have derived from passages of that Journal , unconnected with his classical studies , the highest idea of his character , as si gentle , modest , high-minded man , with great clearness of intellect and power of will . Wo < lo not undervalue the importance of the Fasti Hellcnici as a monument of extraordinary learning ; but , with the highest appreciation of Mt . Fynea Clinton ' s profound olassicul acquirements , wo close hia autobiography feeling a doubt » h our own minds whether , in doing himaelf the fullest justice as a scholar , he might not have failed , after all , in doing himself sufficient justice as a man .
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SOME POLITICAL BOOKS . The Sphere anal Duties of Government . Translated from the German of Baron "Wlthelm von Humboldt , by Joseph Coulthard , Jun . John ciapmaIU The British Commonwealth ; or , a Commentary on the Institutions and Principles 07 British Government . By Homersham Cox , M . A . Lonemans England under Queen Victoria . By Edward H . Michelsen . Black , EdinburebJ The Happy Colony . By Robert Pemberton . Dedicated to the Workmen of Great Britain . Sanndera and Otley Bribery ; or , the Political Curse . By Gibson Box . R . Theobald , Paternoster Rovr Our Fntwre Parliaments . By the Author of Taxing Made Easy , " 1850 . C . Beckett , Kingsland Road . The book which we have placed first on this list of political brochures is not likely to obtain a place in English political libraries . As the revelation of the
mind of a German philosopher upon that precious theme , abstract politics , it is interesting , and upon this Essay another doctrinaire , so disposed as in the case of our lamented friend , John Chapman—might conveniently found another set of speculations—such as the Westminster Review ' s article on the book . But its merits are not calculated to attract more than curiosity , and we are indeed surprised that the publisher has considered it worthy of a rank in the " Catholic series . " It is no doubt an excellent book for Germany , where ( in 1852 ) it was read with avidity ; but it is a superfluous volume in the political atmosphere of England , where we avoid theories , and , most especially , the theories of young Germans , for it is observable that 'William Humboldt wrote this in 1791 , It illustrates European progress in our celebrated century that this exposition of the evils of excessive state interference was considered Utopian in 1791 , and , so far as Germany is concerned , is a mere Utopist dissertation in 3854 .
Mr Homersham Cox is almost as much of a theorist in politics as William HutnboldV and , accordingly , has failed in attempting a book which we admit to be a desideratum . But while awaiting the philosopher who will do with Delolme what Stephens has done-with Blackstone , this book might usefully be put into circulation . It would make a good sehool-boy ' s bcx » k ; and , happily , our public schools are beginning to understand that such " Commentaries" as " Blackstone" and such Essays as " Delolme" are necessary to complete the " History of England . " Mr . Cox ' s merits are accuracy and impartiality ; in consideration of which we may forgive weak dissertation on " [ Representation of Minorities . " Mr . Miehelsen's History is " not an old almanack , " but its best pretension is to that class of analastic writing . As a "Doctor of Philosophy , " Mr . Michelsen naturally betrays an innocent ignorance of the actualities of contemporary English politics * but , as in Mr . Cox's case , we must concede -to him that , apparently because he has no opinions , he has observed great impartiality in his setting down of the familiar facts 6 f the last decade .
When will Mr . Wyld publish a map of the Utopian Continent ? Mr . Pemberton proffers his happy land , in a volume of touching faith in human nature . The land seems to be the one discovered by 3 VEr . Robert Owen : Mr . Pemberton only explores it . In his preliminary remarks on the future he is arranging , Mr . Pemberton says : "I require all the patience of the -workman of Great Britain , that he may bear -with me , " &c . Those who have patience , which implies time to waste , should read Mr . Pemberton . Those who cannot spare time may take our word that the beneficence of Mr . Pemberton entitles him to every respect—and , we may add , every one ' s good \ vishe 3 . For who would decline to be one of his "Happy Colonists ?" Mr . Box ( unintentionally answering the theoretical challenging of the antithetical Cox ) appears to be published by the Maidstone Eeform Association . " This little work , " says the author , * ' owes its origin to a stern conviction that some such effort was necessary , " &c ; and there it ., throughout , the indication of a mind at once thoroughly in earnest and thoroughly practical . The point ia in this
sentences—Important as we deem the ballot we attach still greater importance to a proper adjustment of the franchise ; for tie principal cause of all this mischief is to be found in the smallness of constituencies , not as yet having been too bulky for individual pockets or club purses . Those who glory in the present mode of contesting elections , seem to exult in the idea that alteration is impossible ; that the franchise only regulates the price and does not affect the principle ; in support of which they triumphantly quote the Reform Bill of 1832 , as having only increased the evil it was to have suppressed . But that reform bill , though , an alteration of the franchise , was not a proper adjustment of it , its framcr having clung tenaciously to a false principle , — political favouritism . It conferred privileges without reference to claims , Abandoning tho dictates of justice , it threw the tremendous responsibilities of limited authority upon the shifting basis of accident , and madly transferred tho principle , of accountability to " stocks and stones . " How was it to bo expected that such a scheme would operate ? Tho writing is very diffuse , and some of it is foolish , as in the attack on *• party" while there is a constant appeal to the working man to stand by his class . To that class the author belongs ; and it is a pleasant sign of the times that there are working men who can " turn out" such sinowy political essays .
A man who thinks tliat taxing can bo made easy is not likely to bo a safe guide in politics , and tho writes ( Mr . T . ITurnivall ) of tho pamphlet which wo have placed last on our list is open to the objection that , as his premises are rather impossible , hia conclusions are not very practical .
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A Winter Wreath qf / Summer Flowers . By S . G . Coodneh . Trubnor and Co . Mr . Goodrich , tho original Peter Parloy ( none othara are genuine ) , hua written a very pleasant book for young poojplo , which boars the elegant numo of " A Winter Wreath of Summer Flowers . " TUo writing is of that description which calls for approbation rather than for criticism } but tho illustrations , soft , and beautifully coloured , cull for moro than usual recognition .
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CHILDREN'S BOOKS . The Story of die Peasant-Boy Philosopher , ij'c , < f'C . By Henry Mayhow . Author oC " London Labour and tho London Poor . " Boguo . This ib indeed the era of children ' s books . Mr . Mayhow has produced one of the moat charming and useful little works we have soon for a long time . Tho principles of natural science axe explained so simply , so thoroughly , and withal in 60 interesting a manner , that the boolc really bridges over tho usually formidable gulf between 'instructive" and " amusing" books . To tho thoughtful and inquiring child it will be a precious possession .
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Truo Stories Jbr Children from Ancient History . Tallunt and Alien . The storioa are commonplace , and . wo especially dislike tho moral which ia perpetually tagged to them .
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u * * 6 THE LEADER . [ Sactbday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 2, 1854, page 1146, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2067/page/18/
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