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Leader (1850-1860), 21st July 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 700, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

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      R . MOCB with its thousand tongues has so repeatedly ™ °° ™<* d * he ™ me comin- of MACAtrtAr ' s eagerly-expected volumes that the public has become sceptical ; at length , however , we are enabled to stete ^ on unexceptional authority that the third and fourth volumes are in the press , so that before the close of the year we may have them on our tables . This work alone would suffice to give an interest to the season . There will , however , be others , ii spite of the war ; among them Tenktson ' s Maude , which is on the eve of publication , and a new poem by the author of Ferftw . Gbotb also completes his History x > f Greece with a twelfth volume , which will contain a review of PiAto and Abistoti ^ . A new edition of Popb and one of Swnrr will appear in Mcbhay ' s beautiful series of" British Classics , ' so that there is hopeful promise for readers , as they will see on turning over the advertisements of the EdivAurgh or Quarterly .

      Strange indeed is the activity Indicated by these advertisements , and still more strange will / it appear when contrasted with the timid solitary armouncementsof earlier days . Take up the last Quarterly and read the delightful suggestive paperof erudite gossip on" Advertisements , " in which you will see pass before your eyes a panorama of the progress of this branch of industry . The writer ; haa rummaged : among the old newspapers , and , following th 6 streanitof time , contrivea to present a sort of typical history of Our ciyilisatiQii , as inJaicate ^ , by advertisements : •—"The v <^ tojt , advertisement wo have oust with , after an active search among the earliest newspapers , relates to * book which is entitled—IRENODIA GRAT 1 XLATORIA , an Heroick Poem ; being a congratulatory pHnegfrick for my Lord Gen « r » T « l «* e return , summing up his successes in to bVsokl bTjokn Holden , in the New Exchange , London . Printed by Tho . Newcourt , ¦ ¦¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦

      I 6 CS . : ¦¦ - ' ¦• ' - ' ¦ . . .. '• : This appeared in the January number of the Parliamentary paper Mereurius PoKticus . It is evidently a piece of flattery to Gromwell upon his victories in Ireland , and might have heen inserted at the instigation of the great commonwealth leader himself . BooksellersAppear to have been th « first to take advantage of this new medium of publicity , and for the obvious reason that their goods were calculated for the readers of the public journals , who at that time must have consisted almost exclusively of the higher orders . From this date to the Restoration , the quaintest titlesof works on the political and religious views , such as were then in the ascendant , few

      are to be found in the Mereurius Politicus : thus we have " G ospel Marrow , " " A Signs front Hell , or the Groans of a Damned Soul , " ' Michael opposing the Dragon , or a Fiery Dart fltrncfc through the Kingdom of the Serpent . " And in the number for September , 1659 , we find an advertisement which seems to bring us face to face with one of the brightest names in the roll of English poets : — / "tONSIDEBlATrONS touching the likeliest means to remove Hirelings \ - / out of the Church ; wherein is also discoarsM of Tithes . Church Pees , Church Revenues , and whether aiirm « iu * e ' ftanoe' of -Mtnistors can-be settled by Law . The author , J . iM ^ Sold by Iapmoel Chapman , at the Crown in Pope ' s Head Alley . Another gKmpse of ^ he < great poet is caught -at the [ Restoration . It isciesr there Is a great commotion at hand ; the leaves are rustling , and the dust ismbying . Inthe very"midst of it , however , we find one name still faithful to the " old c « usej ' \ He ' Puritans call it ; on the 8 th of March , 1660 , that is , while the sway of Charles ' s fceptre mid alrtatty cast its shadow from Breda , we find the followfUg advertisement in the J ^ fet ^ riiis pdHHcusi ' / i ^ HEl read jf and ' easie" , w . av to ' establish ' a free Commonwealth , and the JL excellence thereof conSparea with the inconveniences ani dangers of readmitting Kingship into this Nation . The author , J . M . Wherein , by reason of the Printers haste , the Errata not coming iu > time ; it :, ia . desired ; tbnt . < the following faults may bo amended . Ya& 9 , line ; 3 Z , for Jha . r 4 reopcwut . FsaA of Araopaaus . J . 10 , I- 3 . for full Senate , true Senates 1 . 4 , for flfca . TsTha whole AH ^ oci&jyVIfV : Tor ^ Provincial States , States of every £ » ty . P ; iT . L 29 jf 6 rfc » 6 » , ci «»; l . 30 . tor Uqfii'Seltii Sold by Livewel Chapman , at the . Qrown , in P « pe ' aih « i 4 ; AW « ir « i .: ¦ . ' i . ' -.. .. ¦ ¦ - ¦ , ! . ! i . K , ; : ., ¦ ¦ .. ;¦ ¦ ,. . ¦ . , . ¦ . .. . The calmn ^ ftso ^ Xhe / bliud bard , in £ hus ^ suiog corrections to his hastily-printed pamphlet on . behalf of a falling causie , expiiea our » 4 miration ; and gives us an exalted ^ ea ; of , b 43 mora } fWJWjB ^ i ? 9 / - * ?<<^ WjiMj f . niig ^( h ^ ye been expected , he was a pvoBcnbed fn ^ tvir / sr » yelt ^ nn ^ hU Hoppuretf ^ ' headfrom the pursuit of Charles ' s myrmidonsin sonie' secxep j hiaing-place iii'Wesiininster , ;' whilst '^ ia works / by order of , the tiouse , were being ; 'burned- tfy ' tK 6 commb'fi hangman . ' ' ' ' r . Curious it is to , compare these / beginningsjot . the net of advertising with the maturity of to-day ; The Ti // iA ? newspaper ^ for instance , on a given day was examined , » ft d . found to contain the fenqrm ' ous raass of two thousand five hundred and wavenfryTfinre . advprtjsemQnt ^ ! -,, The fortunes spent on advertising may be estimated by considering only a few items : thus , Professor HoixoifAT spends tip I ^ ss | h ^ ri 'thfrt ^ tbouJjarid " penimis a yffcar in making known tiUe existence qf hja pjillaand ointment , ^^/ tq ^ x ^ - ' ^ nd Sok spend ten thousand a year , Rowiam * and Co-, ten 'thousand , JDjb ' iIonobi ten thousand ^ not to inentioh MoiHttyk - or the publishers 1 ) But of the many Curiosities of this curious paper wofaye o ^ ljf , spa ^ e | io ffi&tffi , * % Tottcflrfa gV ~ Some of the earliest npticoa . of bpxiri ^ -r oatches tjpoiri record , singularly enough , took place between combatant of tib . e tab ; a « x ,, In ft . public journaloC 1722 , for matance , we find the following gage of battle ^ r ^ w ^ dow ; n , an 4 Accepted : ¦—

      /^ H ALLENGB . —1 ^ Elizabeth Wilkinaon , of Clcrkeawell , having had Vy some words with Hannah Hyneld , and requiring satisfaction , Ho inrito her tomoet me upon the stage , and box ma for . throe gulnu > a « i each , woi ^ an holding half-a-crown in each hand , and the nrsib woman that drops tho money to lose tlte battle . < AW 8 WBH . —I , Hannah Hyneld , of New «* t < fl Market , heaving M the resOlutenosa or Elizabeth Wilkinson , will not fall , God wilUnpi . to give hevttnore blow * than words , desiring , home blows , and from her no favour : sho may axpecfr ag ^ od thumping ! , The half-oroivns in the hands was an ipgenious device to prevent scratching 1 A still more characteristic specimen of one of theae challenges to a fisticuff between two "women I * to be found in the Daily Post , of July 7 th , 1728 : —

      \ T Mr . Stokes' Amphitheatre , in Islington Road , thispresent Monday , **¦ being the 7 of October , will be acomploto Boxing Match by the two following Ohampionesses s—Whercw I , Ann Field , of Stoko Jferrlngton , aos-cfrlvor , well HuQvrn for my

      ss ^ tarjSsa » 5 s ? i 3 ss £ s ^^ ^¦ % 8 & 3 fl 8 ^ Jfit ^ ll ^^^ fought in this way since I fought thefemousJboxing-woman of Bilfingsgato 20 minutea . and gained a complete victory ( which is noTsix years ago ); but as tho famous Stoko Nowington ass-wonmn dares mo to tight her for the 10 pounds * . I do assure her I will not fail . nie « ttng hor J ^ tum . Ju ^ Tk l doubt not that tho blows which I shall present her with will be "W ^^ pf " f * f t ( J dieeat than any she ever gave hor asses . —Note . A man , known by the namoof Ruguc < l and &ikallenK « tho best San of Stoke Nowington to teht him tor wo guinea ^ wl , at Attendance win to given i lo "* _ _ _ fc

      sum they please to venture . N-B . . » -u « c , •»"" «•« » " «""""" begin at rourpreoisoly . Thoro will bo tho divorsion of Cudgel -playing as ut , ual . We have long considered the Quarterly tho model of a successful Review ; and this opinion is of course determined by quite other qualities in the Heview than those which would elicit our political , religious , or philosopMcnl sympathies ; we envy our antagonists their admirable organ , and should be too glad to see our friends rival it . The Quarterly has the art of presenting an attractive programme . It knows what are the articles read , relished , and talked about by the public . Giving up a certain apace to political and theological subjects , it employs the remainder in agreeable essays , antiquaria ' n researches pleasantly communicated , biography , and science ; and thus claims its place on the drawing-room table as well as in the study .

      Take this number as a specimen : it opens with a biographical and critical paper on Archdeacon Hake , which is succeeded by a scientiBc paper ( " The Circulation of the Blood" ) , poor indeed , and unworthy of the subject , but popularly written ; this is followed by an article on " Sardinia and Home , " which is succeeded by a bit of topographic gossip , " The Romans at Colchester . " " Sydney Smith " is another of the many articles called forth by the delightful Memoirs . " The Fewst of the Conception " is meant for the theological . " Advertisements" we have already noticed ; the "Supply of Paper" is crowded with startling facts on the danger -we are in of having supplies stopped unless some ingenious man invent a substitute for rags ; and tbe " Objects of the War " brings up the rear to harass Government ,

      and delight the Tories . No commendation from us is needed by the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal , one of the few scientific journals this country has to boast ; and although its contents are for the most part addressed to adepts rather than to the general reader , yet the general reader will do well to look out for it , as almost every number contains some papers which will interest him . Dr . John Davt's remarks on " Climate and Physical characters of the Lake District of Westmoreland" should be read , as also Asdbew Mcbbat ' s paper on the " Natural History of Electrical Fishes . " If the nerve-force should turn out to be electrical , these Fishes will become eveu greater objects of interest ; the problem then will be : what determines this storing up of the force in fishes , which is nowhere traceable in animals ? No particular

      family of fishes has the monopoly : sea water , fresh water , brackish water , each furnishes its species . The only peculiarity uniformly observed i 3 that every electrical fish is without scales ; and they nil live in or close to the mud and sand of the bottom . Another paper by Dr . Daubktjt , on " The Influence of Vegetable Organisms in the Production of Epidemic Diseases , " will , from the nature of the subject , attract many readers : his arguments nrc forcible in favour of tbe fungus theory of cholera , 11 theory which explains inany of the anomalies of that disease , but which is not satisfactory to many

      physiologists , resting as it does upon very disputable and disputed hypo theses concerning fermentation . This occurs to us ns a preliminary tlirticulty . If cholera be owing to the introduction of n . fungus into the blootl , chemical analysis should detect in the blood of cholera patients the presence of this fungus ;• for if the blood be in such n condition as to afford the requisite nidus for the growth of the fungus , the growth will be inconceivably rapid and the presence of the fungus unmistakable ; and if tlic blood be not in the condition of a nidus , then the fungus introduced will not propagate , will not produce disease .

      Untitled Article

      THE SPANISH CONQUEST IN AMERICA . The Spanish Conquest in America , and it * Relation to the History f ] f Slavery ami to the Government qf Colonies . By Arthur Helps . J . W . Parker and Son . Speaking of Lord Hniles ' s Annals of Scotland , " Johnson said , u Sir , it is a book which will always sell : it has such a stability of dates , such a . certainty of fact , and such a punctuality of citation . " These qualities no one will refuse to the Spanish Conquest , one of those laborious works which only a strong purpose , acting with sensitive conscientiousness , will ever produce in these days of cheap erudition and second-hand reference . Wo have no Special knowledge from which to control the statements made by Mr . Helps , but we have experience enough of literature to know when a man is Hpenking from first-hand or from second-hand , when ho is compiling from the original documents or compiling from the compilers . It is not alone the Ire

      queut reference , to unpublished documents which testifies to the author ' * diligence ; the reader feels in every pugc that the old chronicler * , not the modern historians , « ro followed . Nor is thia visihle merely in foot-notes and * citations . Tho structure of the book tells of a thorough recasting of the materials in the writer ' s mind . Ho has bcon at infinite pains to make clear to himself , and then clear to tho reader , every detail through which the narrative moves , Ho slurs over nothing . What he does not underatand , ho tells you is olutcuro ; what he does understand , he roprcsontB in vivid picturcsquencss . Thus , rising from the " stability of date , certainty of fact , and punctuality of citation , ' which is indispensable ns an historical basis , we have a mode of presentation which vivifies tho dry bones of history , nnd makes the past intelligible . Readers of Friends in Council nnd tho Companions of my { Solitude will be prepared to find jn this Hietory a

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      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1855, page 700, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2100/page/16/