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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd April 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 526, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      lirtieh effort ? Mr . Jones apparently means " the miftttfenee will be seeiUVrthont rttucsh eftort on the part of Ms hearers . " His titifinishefd works have many Such sentences . Even his finished works are disgraced l > y them . Iii his carefully prepared lecture we find such sentences as these : — " The forms and modes of distributing the produce of their lands fcnd labour , adopted in the early Stages of a people's progress , " , " " Inlooking at the different nations Of tne world , we find them assisting ^ the industry oftheir actual population by Very different quanti--feies of such accumulated wealth . " The different nations of the world are identical -with the " actual populations , " so that one can in no sense be said

      to assist the other . Nations and actual populations are different names for the same things . We must say straight out that we never met with a book in which language was used with so little thought as to its customary meaning . As the work is put forth by the Master of Trinity , it is , we presume , one of the class of works , which he informs vis the " Syndics of " the Press belonging to the tJniversity ' Cambridge take on themselves the expense of printing . " They printed thus , Mr . Jones ' s Essay on Rent . This is the mode , then , in which the * renowned tJniversity of Cambridge expends its great revenues on incorrect thinkino-, expressed in incorrect language .

      Untitled Article

      DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE . A Critical Dictionary of English Literature , and British and American Authors , Living and . Deceased ; from the Earliest Accounts to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century . By S . Austin Alliborie . Vol . I . pp . 1005 . Philadelphia : Childs . and Peterson . London : Triibner . 1859 . It is no national shame upon us when we admit that the work before us has no equal among books of the same kind , compiled by English editors ; because Mr . Allibone confesses , arid if he did not eonfess it would be obvious , that he has made a free use of the labours of Watt , Lbwndes , indeed ,

      of every bibliographical work of importance that has ever been published , either in England or America . The list of works referred to , given in the introduction , contains many hundreds of names ; and , indeed , it . must be clear to any one who will give a moment ' s reflection to the matter , that that , 'which is after all ( with no disparagement be it said ) only a compilation could not be put together without a careful and industrious collection of materials from all imaginable sources . For this reason it cannot be said that because Mr . Allibone has done more than his predecessors , he is therefore greater than them . A child may stand upon ' the Brxoulders of his ancestor and say that he is

      taller than grandpapa ; and it is clear that whatever credit may be due to Mr . Allibone ( and that is no slight measure ) , arises entirely from the judgment with winch he has selected his materials , and the industry with which he has arranged them . * \ Ve certainly entertain no more exalted idea of his labours when we learn from the prospectus that " the volume contains . ¦ upwards of two millions of words , " arid that " in bulk , of typographical matter it is equal to thirteen volumes ( 470 pages each ) of Putnam ' s edition of Irving ' s works , or about fourteen volumes of Prescott'a , Bancroft ' s or Hallam ' s Histories , 8 vo .: " yet we d , o feel a great deal of

      respect and admiration . for the industry of an editor who can compress within little more than a thousand pages very fairly complete notices of . not less than seventeen thousand different authors , whoso initial letters range between A and J , and of all of whom biographical particulars aro given , nnd some at very gi'ont length . Tims , wo find on opening the volume at random , that more than three double-column , closely-printed pages are given to Beaumont and Fletcher ; a' page and a half to Fox ; a page to Sir Matthew Iiale ; a page and a half to Gilbert Burnet ; three pages and a half to

      Bentley , the scholar ; five pages and a half to Byron ; seven pages to Lord Bacon ? whilst the American authors are not neglected , since Edward Everett haa three pages and a half ; Bancroft two pages 5 and Washington Irving nine pages and a « W . Those tire , of course , exceptional oases ; but HSwhr Tyill serve to give some idort of the core with • rtjnoh . theVork has been executed . JPwThtvpa the nnoHt complete work of vefereneo of this kind which has been published in Europe during tltolipist ipri years is the " Bibliographioal-Biographi-Oal Bib ' tibmary , ' " * by Oottinger . That , however , woi *

      constructed upon a different plan : the names of celebrated persons were given , with the nature of their celebrity ; dates of Irirtb . and of death briefly noted , and then a list of all the works ( so far as the editor could collect them ) containing any information respecting the person named . This work , however , which took the range of all imaginable celebrities , only contained about 25 , 000 names ; whereas this volume of Allibone , which is confined to authors of England and America only , and which has only such as can be alphabetically arranged between A . and J , gives , as we have stated before , 17 , 000 names .

      It niay , perhaps , be asserted as an unexceptional fact , that the first editions of all such works as these must be necessarily imperfect . They are only to be rendered otherwise by constant correction and the slow accretion of facts ; and so vast is the field of literature—so brief the life of man—that without the assistance of those criticisms and corrections , which the publication of the earlier editions always bring to an author , no work of this kind could ever come within any reasonable distance of perfection . Haying so much to work upon , and engaging the aid of such careful guides as Watt , Lowndes , and Chalmers , Mr . Allibone is pretty safe , so far as their labours are concerned : it is Only when he comes to the more familiar , and therefore less understood regions of contemporary

      literatiirej that his authority is not quite so . Although lie had the biographical section of Knight ' s Cyclopaedia , and " Men of the Time " ( not a very reliable authority , it must be admitted ) , to guide him , there are omissions under the head of English literature . Glancing over the pages , we miss many such modern names as Sydney Dobell , Pierce Egan , John Clay , the " old Gaol Chaplain , " Stirling Coyne , Robert" Brough . Scores of others might be named . Still , it is wonderful what a mass of material has been got together , and what small reputations have not been forgotten : to the smaller of these fry , " Men of the Time" would , of course , liberally assist the editor for never surely was there a work in which so many flies were carefully enclosed in amber , very much to the bewilderment of the unwary student .

      From the observations which we have offered , Our readers will perceive that we have taken some pains in examining this book ; and , after liavjng done so , we can conscientiously declare that , taking it for all in all , it is the best and most convenient book of the kind extant>—the only one , in fact , which affords the kind of information which it contains . Its price , though , of course , not very small , is low enough to place it within the reach of moderate collectors j and it is a proof of the H consideration in which it is hold in America that the sale is said to exceed already 12 , 000 copies .

      Untitled Article

      THE BROAD ARRQW \ The Uroad Arrow , being Passages from the History of Maida Gwynnham , a Lifer . By Olive Keeae . 2 vols . ¦ •"" ' London : li . Bentley . It is a pity these volumes were not submitted to the correction of some judicious and experienced friend before publication . . A good deal of the improbable would have been . omitted ; the leading incidents would havo been mad , o more consistent with probability , and the style would have been prunod of that redundant affectation and sentiment which so largely disfigure the work . It required a good deal of tact to deal with convicts and convict life ; that tact has , to a certain extent , been

      wonting : but nevertheless thero is much power evinced in the handling of the leading passages and personages , and much insight affbraod into convict life and treatment in tlio penal colonies , We hope the pictures of severities to which convicts aro subjected aro overcharged ; wo fear , however , there is ifcoo much truth at bottom , and wo fool assured that xnany of the scones in the colony aro not more efforts of imagination , but nave their foundation on facts and personal observation . The plot of " The Broad Arrow" is full of improbabilities . A

      beautiftil , haughty , and well-educated girl , falls a victim to a gay , shallow , unprincipled military adventurer . She commits forgery under his instruction . She ia taken up on that charge and on another false charge pf clnld-murder . To save her paramour she voluntarily submits to trial for the deeper offence of child-murdor . She is found guilty on oyidenoo that would not havo satisfied even a Welsh jury , and is condemned to die . A ropxieve ih obtained by her seducer , and the punishment is

      commuted to transportation : for life . From this point we gain an insight into convict habits and discipline ; this being perhaps the main design of the authoress . Certainly this portion of " The Broad Arrow" is the most readable and probable portion Of the work . The trials and sufferings of the guiltless Maida are well detailed : but we stumble upon improbabilities throughout her career . Her seducer marries ; this comes to her knowledge ; she does not seek the redress of an injured and innocent woman—she calmly puts up with her fearful lot , and writes home to inform the reprobate who is the

      cause of her unmerited sufferings that she will keep silence on one condition only , namely j that he remains faithful to and treats his new wife with tenderness . Of the death of Maida and the remorse and end of the seducer we shall say nothing as they but add to the catalogue pf improbabilities , all of which , as we have already said , . ¦ mi ghjt have been modified or avoided by judicious revision . There is some very good writing , and , what is rarer , some novel situations and characters , which redeem the work , and will probably cause it to be popular with that class of readers who like strong sensations .

      Untitled Article

      Rose-coloured Spectacles . A novel , in one volume by Mary and Elizabeth Kirby . * James Blackwood . This is a pleasant novel . It refreshes us somewhat in the manner of a fireside evening , after tossing on the ocean , or travelling through dangerous localities . We have home scenes and domestic characters , and the lady authors have shown themselves quite up to their subject , arid beyond'it , in some respects . Take the character of Laura Melville , for instance . She

      is far out of the common run of novelists' heroines , and we are almost inclined to quarrel with the literary twain for marrying her to a common-place-lifee young spark as Arthur Rosenburgh . Such a clever , loveable , lovely , and downright heiress of a rich miser was worthy of the most stalwart , finelychiselled featured , manly -minded monster of perfection to be found on this or the other side of the Atlantic . We hope to see something more from the dainty pen of these clever writers .

      Untitled Article

      BOOKS RECEIVED . The Unitarian Pulpit . No . 24 . E . T , Whitfield . Cassell ' s Pojntlar Natural History . No . 1 . Cassell , Petter imd Co . 2 'he Finunces of Great Britain Considered . By Reuben Browning . Richardson Brothers . Reuben Sterling , a Tale of Scottish Life . By Samuel A . Cox . In 3 Vols . T . C . Newby . Handy BooJi on the Law of BariMiuj . By W . J , Lawson . Effingham Wilson . A Tour in Dalmatiit ., Albania , and Montenegro . R . Bentley . Moore ' s I ? 'ish Melodies . Koh . 0 and 10 . Longman and Co . Woodldgh , in 3 vols . Hurst and Blaekett Communing * upon Daily Texts . { Sampson Low and Co . A Statistical View of American Agriculture . Triibner and Co . The North American Review . No . 188 , Sampson Low and Co . The Fine Arts in Italy . E . T . Whitneld . A Volume of Smoke . A . Hall , . Virtue , and Co . A Simple Interpretation of the Revelation . Tnllant and Co , Beaton ' s Dictionary of Universal Information : Parts 1 to 0 . W . O . Bolton . That ' s it . Hpiilaton nn J Wright . Who was Sold at the Buhbloton Election . W . Kent TheNw Apostles s or , Iroinalsm . Jus , Blackwood . Don Patquale i Lo Serenade ( Miwie ) . toon and u > .

      Untitled Article

      Cotton Suri'Mr . —The adaptability oi Austra la nnd South Africa to tho growth of cotton pi tno most useful , na well as the finest qunliiioH , isi plttoo « beyond doubt , by tho samples now at Munc lostor oj cotton recently grown inthoso loeulitos . / "o ^ fg Supply Reporter ( issued by tho Manchester A »«» tion ) of Saturday , publishes furtlior correspondence rSvod i ' vom botli ilieao oolonloB . The Oovornopof Sydney , Sir Willlftin ipenison , takes iv stro » 8 flPJJ sonal intereat in tho auostion of promotJ « 'B t » o « u » tivution of opttonln Australia , and b \ Qut . -bovovnm Soott , ofNtttal , iadolnff all in liis power ^ »[}» JJ the same object at tho Cape . Private no olu n " and oultivatprs In both counlrius uro twrnjntf t ««« attouilou to cotton culture , and wo loan »» «" labourers have boon engaged to commence oultl > aii ° H at RocUlmmpton , In Australia .

      Untitled Article

      S ^ ; ¦ f : IIS 1 / B A IB B , } No . ^ 74 , Aa ^ it > 23 , 18 §^ .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 23, 1859, page 526, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2291/page/14/