have compared the Security Life to the Security Fire; now we compare the latter to the former, feeling that one is as solid and benevolent an institution as the other. It seems that neither Mr. Barnes nor any other commentator deems it necessary to make any explanatory remark when speaking of the "unsatisfactory condition" of the Washington Insurance Company. Everybody appears to understand perfectly, that when any equivocal epithets are used, the flourishing institution at the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane is not alluded to; and so secure does the company itself feel in its reputation, that it takes no notice of what may be said of those who have done violence to the good name which it so worthily bears. We are glad to see that the Superintendent bears testimony to the soundness and integrity of the Hope Fire. Last year it sustained heavy losses, but it met them manfully; and we predicted at the time that the public would appreciate it accordingly. But we will allow Mr. Barnes to speak of one other Fire company: "The premiums of the Etna, of Hartford, nearly equal those of the great consolidated English company, the Liverpool, London, and Globe, and exceed the premiums of the Royal Insurance Company by more than $1,000,000." Well may that little Yankee city be proud; for it is not one great Etna it can boast. It has two Phoenixes, and two Charter Oaks. But although comparisons are not always agreeable, we, whose business it is to review and state facts, may say that there is but one genuine Phenix and one genuine Charter Oak at Hartford; and that neither has any thing to do with any other fire than that which good old Prometheus brought down from Heaven. CONTENTS OF NO. XXXIV. 3. Éloge de Copernic. F. ARAGO. 4. Copernicus and his Native Country. SZYRMA. 5. Cosmos. A Description of the Universe, Vol. ii. HUMBOLDT. 1. Human Life in Shakespeare. By HENRY GILES, Author of 1. Histoire médicale des maladies epidémiques. Ozanam. 2. Rapport à l'Académie de medicine au nom de la commission de 1. A Popular Treatise on Comets. BY JAMES C. Watson, A.M. 2. A Treatise on Comets. By J. R. HIND. 3. Exposition du Système du Monde. Mécanique céleste. 4. Histoire de l'Astronomie au dix-huitième siècle. MATHIEU. THE NATIONAL QUARTERLY REVIEW.. No. XXXIV. SEPTEMBER, 1868. ART. I.-1. De Revolutionibus Corporum Cœlestium. NIC. COPERNICI: 2. Vita Copernici. GASSENDI: Paris. 3. Eloge de Copernic. F. ARAGO: Paris. 4. Copernicus and his Native Country. SZYRMA: London. Ir is but seldom that mankind bestows its highest praise on those who deserve it most. There is a favouritism even among the votaries of science which is not always either logical or just; they, too, are frequently influenced as much by prejudice as by merit. Some give the preference to a great thinker for no better reason than that he is their own countryman; and the same feeling prompts them to disparage the claims of one who is not their countryman. Others prefer one because his opinions or his faith accords with their own; or they condemn him if his opinions or his faith be adverse to their own. This would seem incredible at first sight even to those who practise it most; they would be very unwilling to believe that they are so puerile and thoughtless. But on reflection the fact cannot be disputed. Thus, for example, there are none of our readers who are not aware that those whose vernacular is the English, regard Bacon as superior to any other philosopher of modern times, Newton to any astronomer, and Shakespeare to any poet. The French, the Germans, and the VOL. XVII.-NO. XXXIV. 14 Italians have similar predilections and prejudices, and they form their preferences accordingly. It is true that in proportion as a nation is intelligent and enlightened, it is liberal and cosmopolitan; but no nation possesses so much intelligence and enlightenment, but that its masses are partial to the claims of their own countrymen. Still more partial are they in circumstances in which partisan politics interfere; but their partiality or prejudice attains its climax when influenced by religion. Nor is it merely the vulgar whose judgment is thus warped ; indeed, there are very few so intelligent and thoughtful as to be entirely free from all these prejudices. And if these few oppose the prevailing sentiment, they are regarded at best as visionaries or pedants. The timid shrink from this; and thus it is that error and injustice are propagated, not only from year to year, but from century to century. Had mankind been capable of exercising an unbiased judgment as to the respective claims of its great thinkers, Copernicus would undoubtedly have occupied the highest rank among modern astronomers and discoverers. But all the circumstances by which he was surrounded were adverse to his fame. He was a native of Poland,* and the fate of his country was sealed while he was engaged on his great work; at the same time the Reformation had made considerable progress throughout Europe; and no dogma was more persistently or more zealously maintained by the Reformers, than that the old Church was inimical to science. That an obscure priest should be the founder of a system of astronomy which no modern had hitherto thought of, was very inconsistent with this theory, especially in view of the fact that the priest was so poor that he could not have published his great discovery had he not been aided and encouraged by dignitaries of the Church, and that he was permitted to dedicate his work to the Pope. At this time science was more cultivated in Gerinany than in any other country in Europe, and the mathematicians "C'est donc à tort que le roi de Bavière," says M. Hoefer, "l'a fait ranger parmi les illustrations allemandes dans le Temple de Walhalla: Kopernik est Polinais et de nom et de naissance." Nouvelle Biog. Gen., t. xxviii., p. 59. |