صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

or care.

the men I saw looked capable of making a chair running up to us with her hair flying. She is not pained at the discord between these lovely or a window-shutter, or even of putting a new but-my sister either, but the daughter of my mother-in- sisters, which he is compelled to witness ton on his door. The streets had once been paved, law. Her name is Maria-I am Teresa-Ah, Ma- week after week in the exercises of public but the stones generally lay loose in the dust, and ria! Where have you been to get your cheeks so did more harm than good. Now and then we pass- red? Come here and put on your bonnet.' But Worship. We do not suppose that every ed the high walls of some forbidden ground, the pre- the bright-eyed little girl refused and resisted, from one has been sensible of this disagreement; mises of a petty title-bearer, or the garden of some mere excess of spirits; and though more wild and for it is an evil of so long standing, that it is convent; but every thing was concealed except the roguish, was quite as good natured as her sister. accounted in a manner necessary, and passtops of the nearest trees, and nothing but the own-There, signor, you see what a trouble she is: she ed by as a matter of course without notice ers and the birds could conjecture at what they con- won't mind me. She is very bad [cattiva,] do you tained. not think so?-But would not you like to go in and see the church, sir? You will find the chapel of San Fabiano, and that of San Sebastiano over his own tomb. Oh, they are very beautiful. You can see the catacombs too, sir, where all the Christians were buried; and if brother Luigi were only here -I'll ring the bell, and then he'll come back, and tell you a great deal about them. He knows all the chapels, and the statues and the pictures, and where the Christians used to pray under ground, and bury the martyrs.'

It was an after-thought with me to draw a comparison between these villages and our American towns, for there was nothing to make me think of those of a city, and the streets as narrow and uncomfortable. There was no neat and tasteful mansion which might be the residence of the lawyer, the physician, or the clergyman, and there was not a single brushed coat or tidy gown in the street, to discountenance the universal poverty and slovenliness. ****

it at the time. The houses were as closely built as

No one indeed, can cast the most hasty glance about him, without being convinced that the state of society is entirely different from that among ourselves, and so different as to make him doubt what sort of change would ultimately prove most beneficial to the country. The people are ignorant and poor. Under the present (that is the late) state of things, they will always remain so. Overthrow the moral oppression of the priesthood and the political oppression of the lords, and you will make it possible for them to improve. But what sort of government should be established in the mean time. There must be an interval, and a long

I was too much in haste, and contented myself
with a hasty glance at the interior of the church,
without waiting for the catacombs to be opened,
concerning which my book confirmed the words of
my little friend. As I came out she asked me for
some money, though with a downcast look and an
actual blush, which, on account of their rarity,
speedily atoned for a specimen of that avarice far
more common in this country. How can you ask
me for any thing,' said I, when you have nine
large oxen like those, and I have not one, and never
had any. Please to bear in mind, signor,' she an-
swered, coming nearer with her needle pointed at
me- Please to bear in mind that they are not my
one too, between the establishment of a new and
oxen. They belong to Giuseppe [Joseph], a gen-
better system, and the securing of that system by a tleman who leaves them with us to be taken care
proportionate improvement in the people. It must of, and pays us very little for it. Giuseppe lives
be a government which will not only protect the in Rome. My house [casa mia] is only a little way
lives, the property, and the independence of its sub-from here. Will you go and see it? Come, I will
jects, but which will improve their minds and their show it you.-Thank you, signor-But if
habits. Now in what proportion should be mingled give Maria a baiocch' too, I am afraid she will cry
the ordinary elements of a supreme power? Maria did indeed begin to look sorrowful, and was
The people will make but a sorry figure at legisla- just about to cry-or, as Teresa expressed it, to
tion for some time yet to come, if we may judge set herself to weeping-but she could not dissem-
from their appearance when at their daily occupable, and broke out in a broad laugh,, while Teresa

tions; and will the monarchical or the aristocrati- bade me 'addio' with a sweet smile."
cal branch of the national tree cherish and protect
the infant shoot, for the express purpose of allow
ing it to rise high above and overshadow them-
selves? This has not been the inclination usually
shown by them in other countries, but it must be so
here, or, for aught I can see, the Neapolitan peo-
ple are likely to gain little by this revolution."

We have hardly room for more extracts, but think it due to our author, to show how he writes when upon less sombre subjects. "As the old priest had now gone away, the little girl walked slowly towards me, looking by turns at the cattle and the stranger, and knitting very sedately. Is this the church of St Lorenzo, little girl? Signor si, [yes sir,] will you go in and see it? Shall I go and call brother Luigi back? No, no, I have no time to spare-You have some fine oxen yonder.' 'Yes, sir, they are very good and quiet. They let me take care of them, and do eve

you don't

The work appears to have been written hastily and carelessly; the style is unequal and sometimes bad. There are passages of true eloquence, and others where the attempt is too obvious and the success not very decided. The plates, although mere outlines, are not only ornamental but useful, and it would be well if the fashion of appending such engravings to books of travels should become prevalent. We have found the want of an index of contents troublesome, and suggest to the author to add one when his work comes to a second edition,-which we think he has good right to expect.

But it may well be regretted that it should be so; for if, instead of uniting hymns and tunes at random, as is now done, pains were always taken to adapt the expression and style of the one to the other, and to regard the sentiment in the performance, it is very certain that the psalmody, which now is so much a mere relaxation, or a beautiful exhibition, or perhaps a wearisome noise, would become as attractive as eloquent speaking, and do as much to accomplish the purposes of religious worship.

Mr Willard, in his preface and hymns, aims at precisely this object; a most commendable and important one. And if his poetical genius were equal to his judgment and taste, we should say that he had made, not only a most original, but a most valua ble book. The hymns are all written by himself; and as no man ever yet has writ ten a hundred and fifty-eight good hymns, our readers of course will not be surprised at being told that these are not all good. Many of them are excellent; but as a collection, we fear they want that richness, are essential, in this age of poetic refinebeauty, and melody of composition, which ment, to draw a large share of public attention. The spirit of profound piety and ardent religious feeling which pervade them, and their correct language and strong expression, will be sufficient recommendation to devout readers; and we hope will interest them in the design for which they are composed.

This looks like a

The main point, as we understand it, which our author would secure, is this: that in any given hymn the stanzas should all be formed on the same model, and adapted to the same tune; so that the modulation of no line in the poetry should contradict that of the music. very reasonable proposition; and some may fancy it like soberly laying down the maxim, that if a man have six coats they ought all to fit him. It is in fact a parallel proposition; and yet, self-evident as it may be, it in practice. Nay, so much are we govit never has been thought absurd to deny erned by custom, that we quietly bear to hear fine verses matched to tunes, which By they as ill fit as the armor of Goliath the youthful limbs of David.

Regular Hymns, on a great variety of Evan-
gelical Subjects and Important Occasions,
with Musical Directions for all the Va-
rieties of Appropriate Expression.
Samuel Willard, A. A. S. Minister of the
First Church in Deerfield. Greenfield,
Mass. 1824. 12mo. pp. 132.

The system may be better understood by our musical readers from one or two exam

ry thing I tell them, although I am a little girl. There are only nine now; the other has gone away -the companion of that you see on the little bank. I don't believe you ever saw better oxen, sir. Only observe what a good grey colour they have: that is the best colour for oxen.'-She wore a bonnet made of coarse braided straw, and carried another tied to her arm. She had a most amiable little face, and I thought might have been taken for a THIS work appears to have been designed ples of hymns. The 158th is adapted to New England child, even to the crooked, rusty for the purpose of recommending some im- the tune of Arundel; well known as having knitting-needles she had in her hands. The stocking, however, was of brown thread; her knitting-portant principles, which have been too a pause in the middle of the third line, which sheath a hollow stick (perhaps elder), and when little regarded, and by attention to which always interrupts the sense of the verse, she spoke, it was only Italian. Is that your first the singing of psalms may be rendered and sometimes divides words asunder. The stocking? Signor no-I have knit a whole pair more expressive and affecting. That this is following hymn, though of course it is putbefore this, for you will perceive I can knit almost all day, while the weather is so clear and warm, a most desirable object, must be acknowl- ting a strong case, will do more than a volthough I am sometimes interrupted when the oxen edged by every one having a taste for eith-ume of argument to show the absurd manstray, and very often by my little sister you see there, er poetry or music, who has had his soul ner in which tunes have been frequently

[ocr errors]

tied to unsuitable verses, and the advantages of the plan proposed. Let any one sing it and try; and after singing this, let him apply the same tune to any hymn of common metre he may select.

"1 Far from the world we now retire,
And raise our eyes to God,
Who in his love-Smiles from above,
And cheers our dark abode.

2 Author of all the countless worlds, The vault of heaven displays, Awed by thy power-Thee we adore, And chant our evening lays.

3 Under those eyes, which never close,
We lay us down to sleep;
Hearer of prayer-Make us thy care,
And safe our slumbers keep.

4 Soon as the sun with new-born rays,
Relumes the eastern skies,

Source of all light-Beam on our sight,

And bless our waking eyes."

Let the same experiment be made with the following, designed for the tune of Blendon. We are sure that the exact mutual adaptation of music to metre will be felt to give a new beauty to the tune, and added expression to the verse.

"1 Infinite God-thy glorious name—
Let earth and heaven-with joy proclaim;
Angels and men-Join in the strain,
Chanting aloud the rapturous theme.

3 Wisdom belongs to him alone,

by the writers of songs, and therefore cannot be insuperable to the writers of hymns. The profane poet easily accommodates his measures to the music, even when most irregular and capricious. Witness Moore's songs for the Irish Melodies, in which he has successfully attempted combinations of metre before unknown. He would feel himself disgraced by the plea, that it is necessary to make some stanzas unsuited to the music, in order to render the work easy to himself. How much more irrational the plea, in one who is writing for the plain and regular melody of church tunes. Besides, that in regard to songs the license would be far more excusable, because they are to be sung by single voices; the performer therefore has the power of favouring the accent and the sentiment, and, by singing ad libitum, of rendering that conformable to the tune which the poet had not made so. This is a liberty which a single performer may take, and does take. But this cannot be done by a whole choir, performing a hymn impromptu. They must adhere rigidly to the notes as they are set, however they may thus injure the sense. It is impossible that they should make up for the want of adaptation, of which the poet has been guilty. For which reason it is the more important that he should be guilty of

none.

We think Mr Willard has done a great 2 Great is the Lord -whose sovereign sway-good service in calling attention to this The sun and moon-and stars obey; subject, and are glad of the opportunity Strong is his hand; Sure his command; Millions of worlds his power display. to make known his labours, and, as far as we can, second his efforts. How far the deep-rooted evil may be made to be felt and removed, it is difficult to conjecture. But we are very sure that common psalmody will continue to be infinitely below all other music in interest and effect, until the principles laid down in this little book are understood and acted upon.

To whom our every thought is known;
Holy and just-He is our trust;
Mercy forever gilds his throne."

These examples may prove that one great cause of the ill adaptation of tunes, is to be found in the careless manner in which the hymns have been constructed. Mr Willard's hymns are composed for certain tunes; but most poetry of this sort has been written without any regard to tunes. Poets have forgotten that they were writing for music; and not only for music, but for that of a very peculiar character. Now it certainly is absurd, to keep out of view the express object for which the composition is designed. That object ought, in all reason, to determine the character of the composition; the form of expression should be accommodated to this, just as much as to the rhyme. Various licenses may be given to him who writes what is to be read, which cannot be claimed by him who writes what shall be sung. When he writes for a tune, he subjects himself to further restrictions, he agrees to conform to the paces of its movements; he puts on, as it were, another chain, and if he cannot walk so gracefully in these additional fetters, let him cease to write for singers, and be content to have only readers.

To all that we have heard alleged, or which might be alleged, respecting the restraints thus imposed, and the difficulties and impossibilities thus created, there is this sufficient reply; that they are submitted to

[blocks in formation]

IT is not easy to say of what this little book treats, except by selecting subjects from the Index. There we find nearly three hundred topics, more or less interesting, upon which a mother and her daughter converse in a very intelligent and intelligible manner. We are gratified with finding an American writer, who duly estimates the importance of giving to children such knowledge as will be actually useful to them, instead of filling their minds with vague, and therefore useless notions of subjects, which are not accommodated to their age. We do not mean to imply that this point has been hitherto wholly neglected; but that our school books are generally very deficient in facts which children can understand, and which are directly adapted to tell them what they most need to know. | How much time is spent in teaching them to read mechanically, political, moral, and theological speculations, in poetry or prose, which really give them no knowledge at all.

To form their minds rightly, they should have descriptions of such things as actually exist, and not learned discussions, nor abstract speculations, nor imperfect rudiments of sciences, which cannot yet be learned. Whoever considers how limited their knowledge is, will easily believe that they are incapable even of increasing it by many, if not most, of the lessons which compose their books for reading.

The selection of topics in this work, is, in general, judicious; the style has but few faults, and those are inconsiderable. In such descriptions it is impossible to avoid the use of many names and terms which cannot be found in a dictionary. The author generally explains them, but he has given the scholar no means for determining their proper pronunciation. ishes its value as a school book; but it will still be highly interesting and instructive as a book for domestic reading.

This dimin

There is a still more formidable objection to its use in schools. Conversations between a teacher and a pupil are not suitable for study. Children very soon become unwilling to read simple questions, or remarks that are made merely for the sake of obtaining replies. It is awkward for one scholar to read the whole, and if two are engaged, they do not converse as equals, and are not satisfied. After the first perusal of the book, nearly all children will regard the questions as tedious; and even at first, most readers who are not absolutely infantile, would prefer simple descriptions, in which the subjects were regularly announced by sections and chapters. Written discourse requires a kind of dignity which is inconsistent with many things that are allowed in the freedom and familiarity of conversation. No one wishes to read the common expressions of fondness, which pass between a mother and her daughter, nor the full detail of their conversations on

any subject. But in this work the author seems to have taken great pains to give the whole in its natural style. Still, we have no hesitation in saying, that the book is valuable in its present form; and we sincerely hope that the author will be encouraged to give us another edition on a plan better adapted to the use of schools.

Evening Entertainments, or Delineations of the Manners and Customs of Various Nations. By J. B. Depping. Third Edition. Philadelphia, 1821. 12mo. pp. 260.

In our review of Worcester's Sketches, we took occasion to recommend works of this character, as highly deserving of more attention than they receive. We are gratified with finding another before the public, which, though less elaborate in its construction, and less classical, is well adopted to its purpose. It embraces that part of the information contained in the Sketches, which is peculiarly suited to children; but there are few persons who would not be entertained, and instructed by reading it. The style is familiar and interest

ing, the descriptions are comprehensive and just, and the morality is amiable and

correct.

It purports to be an English work; and it contains the following notice from the London Monthly Review.

"We are told by a Mr Depping, that he proposes to unfold all the advantages with which the teaching of Geography is capable of furnishing parents and instructers of youth; and in pursuance of this plan, he has written a series of conversations, in which an intelligent father is supposed to describe to his children every thing remarkable which he has learned or observed in the course of his travels. The dialogues therefore impart so much general knowledge and amusing information, that we think the author has not only established his proposition, but has produced a very entertaining and valuable book for children."

We fully concur in this commendation, and should think the work deserving of more critical attention, were it an American production, or one very recently published in our own country.

MISCELLANY.

LORD BACON AND THE NORTH AMERICAN
REVIEW.

In the last number of the North Ameri-
can Review there is an article on De Ge-
rando's History of Philosophy, which takes
from that work the following, as the lan-
guage
of Aristotle.

But if the

"It belongs to experience to furnish the princi-
ples of every science. Thus astronomy rests on
the observation of the heavenly bodies, by means
of which we discover the laws that regulate their
motions: and so of other branches.
light of perception fails us, all science fails with
it. We derive our conclusions either from induc-
tion or demonstration. By induction we ascend
and by these, in time, we are able to demonstrate;
from particular perceptions to general principles,
so that all our knowledge rests ultimately upon the
same basis."

On which the reviewer makes these re-
marks.

"It is curious to see how little the speculations Mental Improvement; or the Beauties and of subsequent inquirers, up to the present day, have Wonders of Nature and Art. In a proceeded beyond the positions here taken. In the Series of Instructive Conversations.- extracts from Aristotle we find the Baconian theoBy Priscilla Wakefield. 8vo. Philadel-ry of induction, as clearly stated, as it could have been by the illustrious Chancellor himself, and we phia. can hardly justify him in calling this method a new one, Novum Organum, in opposition to the Organon, or method of Aristotle, which was the name given by the Stagyrite to his work on logic."

THIS is still another work, somewhat resembling that above described. It has passed through many editions in England and in this country; and we are justified in introducing it to the attention of our readers, only by the fact, that books of this sort are too little read, and are really scarce, when compared with the worthless stories which help children to waste their time. A work of this kind, if estimated by the number and variety of useful and interesting facts which it communicates, is worth many thousands of the common nursery books of equal cost. When we speak of it as interesting, we mean that most children above ten years of age, would receive pleasure enough from reading it, to lay aside any story or romance, till this was completed. We cheat our children most barbarously, by multiplying before them nonsense, clothed in an enticing dress. There can be no excuse for this. We but little promote their present intellectual pleasure, and add nothing to their stock of such knowledge as will ultimately be useful. It is altogether a matter of deception, except so far as regards the external appearance. Let children have books of the character indicated by the above title, sufficiently well printed and bound, and we shall hear no demand for the idle tales, that are "made to sell

[ocr errors]

We expressed in a previous number our opinion of the writings of Mrs Wakefield. The style of the work before us is not equal to "Instinct Displayed," but it has no great faults; and in every other respect, the work is excellent. The printing and paper of this edition are disgraceful. We repeat, that all works of this kind should be executed in a handsome style; and that parents need then never believe that their children will prefer the gossiping fooleries with which they are now so liberally supplied.

The article containing this, is in the main excellent,-very able and amusing,and reputed to be as it evidently is-from the pen of one of our finest and most fortunate scholars. But the above remarks of his may lead his readers into two or three mistakes,-and, unless we greatly deceive ourselves, they contain one error in particular, which is of no small consequence to the History of Philosophy,-the noble theme on which he is writing. For this reason we wish to make a few comments upon them. If it can ever be our business to take notice of errors, it is when they are found in so good company as they are here.

the learned had used before, but which had wrought out so little for the benefit and improvement of man. It sounds strangely to our ears, that he was not justified in so calling it; for it appears to us not only without one single feature in common with that, to which its name contrasts it, but as containing more original views with reference to extended and elevated education, than all the previous writings on that subject put together.

It is not however a new idea that Aristotle had anticipated the Chancellor, in setting forth the method and the uses of Induction. We have seen this repeatedly stated before; but Mr Stewart, in his last volume on the Mind, has refuted it so fully, the subject, that we are a little surprised without saying half he might have said on to see it again,— and from such a quarter. It is indeed inatter of surprise to us, whence such an opinion could have arisen at first, and how it can hold ground for a moment with those, who know any thing about the writings of the two great masters before Bacon's Induction forms the whole

us.

body of his work. It is with him a science and a system. This single purpose is always before him throughout; and we know no work among all the elementary aids of education out of mathematics, and hardly excepting these, where the leading object is pursued and taught so directly and exclusively, in such admirable order, and with so great a variety of principles entirely new, and of thoughts and designs entirely original,-to say nothing now of the bold yet unassuming style of its execution,-as this most important art of finding out infallibly the great general laws of nature is, in the Novum Organum of Bacon. But, in running over all the pages of Aristotle, we have fallen on only one chapter,-which may be comprised in a score of lines like these, on the subject of Induction, and the perusal of this is enough for us. He turns Induction into a syllogism of course; and his object here is to explain its form, We think it a great mistake to accuse and show how it differs from other sylloBacon of assuming too much in the title of gisms, and that it is much less conclusive his work; for considered as a whole-and than these, though it may appear more plain the word organum plainly implies and di- and familiar to us at first. We had this done rects this-the most superficial observer into English for the satisfaction of our readmust see at a glance its entirely new char-ers, but its technical phraseology would be acter. If Aristotle has indeed taught us unintelligible without too much explanathe art of reasoning,-Bacon has taught us tion, and we must therefore keep it back. an infinitely more useful art,-that of col- There is really not a single principle, nor lecting the materials for reasoning. If the even a trace of Bacon in it beyond its former has put together a profound philoso- name. It is true he borrowed this, and so phy of language, and traced out its various he did many other of his terms, from the applications, as an instrument of thought School logic;-but, as Mr Stewart has and study as well as of communication,-and shown, he gave them very different meanthe etymology of its common title, logic, ings, and he frequently declares and exmay perhaps indicate this,-Bacon, on the plains this himself. Thus, for example, he other hand, pointed to the philosophy of often used the word "Forms"-subtle things things,-and made man "the interpreter indeed in a Schoolman's mind,-for "the of nature," and taught him to analyze laws of nature," and what is more to our and digest into a code that great body purpose, he says expressly of Induction, of her laws, which, since his time, it has that "it must be presented and studied been the business of the practical scholar under a new shape," and that "we have to administer and apply. He called his its name alone, but its power and use work a "New Engine," in opposition to have as yet been totally unnoticed." It is that intricate machine of words, which no small confirmation of these remarks,

to the workshop of the artificer,-and tachment he may have for her, by taking
when we observe how essential an arti- from his brow one single well-deserved
cle the regulation of these makes in Ba- plume, and telling him it is borrowed. He
con's system, it is almost sufficient of itself, will certainly go to his work with less spirit
we should think, to give his the character when he is informed that the ancients,
of being quite original.
whose industry he can never hope to rival,
and whose systems have perished, yet knew
their true basis as well as we do,-than
when he sees ours resting on one entirely
new, and which cannot in fact sink till the
whole order of things is reversed and the
laws of nature themselves repealed;-and
this is really the case with all those raised
on the plan of Bacon. Science will ad-
vance just in proportion to the dignity it
feels, and the security it enjoys. If the
comparison degrade it not, it is like proper-
ty, which, under good and wholesome laws,
where the possession of it is rendered safe
and honorable, will be sure to go on and
indefinitely increase. But how fatally oth-
erwise is it, where the case is reversed?
This is the first principle in the wealth of
nations, and so it is too in that of science.

that the learned enthusiast, Dr Gillies, who
has analyzed and translated the best part
of Aristotle's works, and who seems dispos-
ed to find in them the seeds of every great
modern discovery, has hinted at no such
resemblance between his Organon and the
Novum Organum of Bacon, though he frets If Aristotle had indeed " as clearly stat-
and is very indignant at the Chancellor for ed the Theory of Induction" as is said, it
not treating the Stagyrite with candour. would have been more fully developed long
Nor is a single doubt raised in our minds before it was. His authority must have
by the extract from De Gerando. We made it popular at once. He had more
have been unable to obtain his History, and sway in the republic of letters, if it could
know not what he himself thinks on this be called so under his reign, than his royal
subject, nor whether he offers any more in pupil had in Macedon. Never, indeed, did
support of his reviewer's remarks. He may mere man rise to the rank of making his
have taken some insulated passages from opinions so emphatically law, peremptory
Aristotle, and mingled his own inferences and conclusive, as did the preceptor of
with them, as we are very apt to do when we Alexander. If then he taught the right
represent the opinions of another, and thus method so clearly, why did not his follow-
made him express ideas, that he never imag-ers adopt it? and why were not its effects
ined nor dreamed of himself. If the above on science visible? Why did not natural
extract, however, is all, it is absolutely philosophy and the useful arts then spring
nothing; and, taking it for an exact trans-up and flourish? and now, while they date
lation, it casts not the slightest shade upon their birth comparatively a few years since,
our argument.* It refers at best to that they might have run back their genealogy
"simple enumeration" which Bacon calls for ages, and brought us down an inherit-
"puerile and precarious," or that "mere ance rich indeed. Happy would it have
naked observation," which he says is "like been for man, if it had been so. The accu-
groping by night." That experience is the mulated capital of science would now have
safest guide;-that the scholar ought to been immense. Instead of groping about
study nature;-that all our general conclu- in the dark on the stilts of syllogism for cen-
sions arise from summing up particular in- turies, among essences and powers and forms
stances, are very good old maxims to be and visionary, unfathomable things alto-
sure, probably familiar and trite enough gether, producing of course no good fruits
long before the days of Aristotle,-but no- to be known by, but, on the contrary as Ba-
body ever thought of finding in them the con says, only "the thorns and thistles of
scientific Induction of Bacon, nor the first wrangling and controversy" (disputationum
origin and cause of our stable systems of et contentionum carduos et spinas), it would
philosophy. Ancient philosophy was in- have been at work for man,-ameliorating
deed, for the most part, merely contempla- his condition and elevating his mind,-
tive. Aristotle knew nothing of the mod- furnishing him then with the most divine of
ern mode of interrogating nature by ex- all human employments, and leaving us now
periments. His rank and station, the feel- the full benefit of his example as well as of
ings of the age, and the elevation of his his labours. We may be assured the Stagy-
own mind, raised him above them, as rite never saw or never pointed out this tru-
the historian tells us, and confined them ly "royal road" to learning, or it would
have appeared more distinctly either in his
writings or in its effects.

There is one other minor error in the reviewer's remarks, which we had almost forgotten to notice. The title Organon was not given, as he supposed it was, by the Stagyrite himself, to the writings that bear that name, nor can we perhaps call it simply "his work on logic." It is written and recorded in the books of the critics, that this is made up of several distinct, independent treatises,-that they never could have been the work of a single hand,-that there is some evidence of their having come down to us from an antiquity far beyond the days of Aristotle, and that if he were really their author, he had probably no intention of ever uniting them. His editors did this, and they, and not their mighty master, gave them the imposing title of Organon. The best edition of his works, however, has dropt it, and they now appear again in their original form. The fortunes and fate of this volume have been most singular, even within the period of true history, and indeed within the memWe have dwelt the longer on this point ory of man. There is none, which has so because another opinion has been given opposed to each other the opinions and by several very popular writers, and be- feelings of the learned. cause we think it a question of some so high a rank among the books of educaconsequence in the history of philosophy. tion;-none, once admitted, has sunk so We ought to know that we have found a low. There was a time when the human new way, and are not not simply swifter mind was not thought rational in its proper racers than our forefathers were in an old sense, till its rational powers had been one,-that our sciences rest on a better drilled in the tactics of the schools. Now foundation than theirs did, and not that we we every day give them the epithets of jarare a little more enterprising in clearing gon,-subtilties,-imposing show of words, and rearing on theirs ;-and that the "illus--and scarcely allow them the meanest trious Chancellor," who is rightly so called place in that great course of intellectual in every sense, originally marked the discipline, which they formerly led and diIf Smith stand so high as an original writer in ground, and sketched out slightly the mag-rected. And the wonder is,-not in the the estimation of unquestionably the first judge now nificent proportions. This we thought change of sentiment itself; the light of disbefore the public on that subject, how far beyond the just pride of the moderns, and decided covery will always produce enough of this; the possibility of the reproach we repel, ought the in their favour, on one important point at but no new discovery seemed necessary to same reflections to place Bacon? It is a hard case, if an author is to be stripped of his reputation, be- least, the great question of superiority be- produce it in the instance before us. cause a few in advance of him have dropped some tween them and the ancients. Nor do we look merits and defects of the Organon, such as loose, scattered hints upon a theme, which he has upon this coolly as a mere matter of histo- they are, are intrinsic,-and men of sense enlarged into a science, and made the engine of were as capable of judging of them a thousresults. Under such conditions, we feel safe in sort of national pride. He is the citizen of a and years ago as they are to day. We the ablest discoveries and the most useful practical Ty. The pride of the modern scholar is a saying, that we know of no one, who can put in a new republic, and it is wrong to check are not willing to confess that we know the feelings of enthusiasm and patriotic at- enough of it, to pass any opinion on these

* After the printer had this article, we found in Say's Introduction to his "Political Economy" the following strictures upon those critics of a day, who accuse Smith of Plagiarism in his great work on the "Wealth of Nations.'

64

[ocr errors]

Que signifient de telles pretentions?-un homme de génie a des obligations à tout ce, qui l'a entouré, aux notions éparses qu'il a recueillies,aux erreurs, qu' il a détruites, aux ennemis mémes, qui l'ont attaqué, parce que tout contribue à former ses idées ;-mais lorsque ensuite il se rend propres ses conceptions, qu'elles sont vastes, qu'elles sont utiles à ses contemporains, à la posterité, il faut savoir convenir de ce, qu' on lui doit, et non lui reprocher ce, qu'il doit aux autres." *** "Wher Smith is read," says the same author," as he ought to be read, every body must see that political economy did not exist before his publication."

claim for the merit of originality.

None has held

The

We hope our readers will not accuse us of waking the long slumber of the Organon in order to show our knowledge of it. We do assure them, if they have not found it out already, that we know very little about it. We recurred to it for the purpose of removing some doubts from our own minds; and our only wish now is to correct the false impressions, which the extensive popularity of the review,-and the favourite writer of the article in question, might have fixed upon the minds of many, of whom it may be a compliment to say, that they had scarcely ever heard of the Organon before, and who have read Bacon's work principally in its prodigious effects on science and the arts.

POETRY.

AN INDIAN STORY.
"I know where the timid fawn abides

In the depths of the shaded dell,
Where the leaves are broad and the thicket hides,
With its many stems and its tangled sides,

From the eye of the hunter well.

"I know where the young May violet grows,
In its lone and lowly nook,

conflicting decisions;-but we must say, preparing the way for the highest intellec-
that it is a hard doubt for us to solve, how tual pursuits and attainments. We intend-
that great and enlightened philosopher ed to offer some further remarks on this
should not only spend the best of his days, subject, but have neither room nor time
and the keenest of his talents, in mak- now, and therefore must defer it.
ing up a system of mere verbal subtilties
and legerdemain, but should likewise be
guilty of the petty, paltry artifice and chi-
cane, for the purpose of disguising, though
he could not hope long to conceal it,-which
have been ascribed to him by some very pop-
ular writers in our day, who are never-
theless high in their admiration of his un-
rivalled powers and wisdom. We allude par-
ticularly to the opinions of Reid and Stew-
art, who say that he uses algebraic charac-
ters in his syllogisms instead of real exam-
ples, because these last must completely ex-
pose his weakness and his inanity. Perhaps
a solution of some of the difficulties in the
History we are examining may be found in
this, that the Organon is in fact a work of
real philosophic merit, but not at all fitted
nor intended for the purposes to which it
was applied. An ingenious admirer may
possibly find in it, as we have intimated be-
fore, a profound inquiry into the structure
of language, and its various departments,
and the powers that universal consent has
assigned to each, and the nice adjustment
of them to all its uses,-in a word its whole
organization, which like the works of na-
ture, the more it is examined, the more full
of admirable design it appears in its con-
trivance; the strongest proof perhaps of
its divine origin, or at least that it is not a
thing of mere human art, but probably one
of the principles at first interwoven with
our constitution, and necessarily developed,
as our other faculties are, by its growth to
maturity. All this we say may possibly be
found in the Organon of Aristotle,—we do
not profess to have found it ourselves,-
and all this is very proper in its place, but
it is by no means suited to take the lead, as
it formerly did in education, nor to instruct
men in those important branches of it, which
are intimately connected with the business
and the duties of life. The art of reasoning
is much better taught by analyzing and
studying things than words, and the most
beautiful theory of these, without the for-
mer, would be at best but an ingenious and
interesting amusement. The learned have
seen this truth by degrees, and not by any
new or sudden discovery. But Common
Sense,, which is always slow and sure, and
will find its way even into the halls of uni-
versities at last, suggested it, and the trial
of every day gave it additional proof.
This has reversed the whose course of things
in the scholar's study, and turned Aristotle
from the recitation room, and brought about
those practical changes in scientific spec-
lation, which Bacon was the first to teach
systematically and with effect.

We really think that the Novum Organum ought to be made an essential branch of education. It needs but to be stripped of a few quaint technical terms, illustrated a little, and freely translated into the language of the present day, and it would make an invaluable elementary treatise in |

On the mossy bank, where the larch tree throws
Its broad dark boughs, in solemn repose,

Far over the silent brook.

"An that timid fawn starts not with fear
When I steal to her secret bower,
And that young May violet to me is dear,
And I visit the silent streamlet near,

To look on the lovely flower."
Thus Maquon sings as he lightly walks

To the hunting ground on the hills;
"Tis a song of his maid of the woods and rocks,
With her bright black eyes and long black locks,
And voice like the music of rills.

He goes to the chase-but evil eyes

Are at watch in the thicker shades;
For she was lovely that smiled on his sighs,
And he bore, from a hundred lovers, his prize,
The flower of the forest maids.

The boughs in the morning wind are stirred,
And the woods their song renew,
With the early carol of many a bird,
And the quickened tune of the streamlet heard
Where the hazels trickle with dew.

And Maquon has promised his dark-haired maid,
Ere eve shall redden the sky,

A good red deer from the forest shade,
That bounds with the herd through grove and

glade,

At her cabin door shall lie.

The hollow woods, in the setting sun,

Ring shrill with the fire-bird's lay;
And Maquon's sylvan labours are done,
And his shafts are spent, but the spoil they won
He bears on his homeward way.

He s ops near his bower-his eye perceives
Strange traces along the ground-

At once, to the earth his burden he heaves,
He breaks through the veil of boughs and leaves,
And gains its door with a bound.

But the vines are torn on its walls that leant,
And all from the young shrubs there
By struggling hands have the leaves been rent,

And there hangs, on the sassafras broken and
bent,

One tress of the well known hair.
But where is she who at this calm hour,

Ever watched his coming to see,
She is not at the door, nor yet in the bower,
He calls but he only hears on the flower
The hum of the laden bee.

It is not a time for idle grief,

Nor a time for tears to flow,
The horror that freezes his limbs is brief-
He grasps his war axe and bow, and a sheaf
Of darts made sharp for the foe.

And he looks for the print of the ruffian's feet,
Where he bore the maiden away;
And he darts on the fatal path more fleet
Than the blast that hurries the vapour and sleet
O'er the wild November day.

'Twas early Summer when Maquon's bride

Was stolen away from his door;
But at length the maples in crimson are dyed,
And the grape is black on the cabin side,-
And she smiles at his hearth once more.
But far in a pine grove, dark and cold,
Where the yellow leaf falls not,
Nor the Autumn shines in scarlet and gold,
There lies a hillock of fresh dark mould,
In the deepest gloom of the spot.

And the Indian girls, that pass that way,
Point out the ravisher's grave;
"And how soon to the bower she loved," they
say,

"Returned the maid that was borne away

From Maquon the fond and brave."

MIDNIGHT HYMN AT SEA.

By thy dusky mantle streaming,
By the stars that there are gleaming,
By thy lone and solemn sky,
Darkening on the pensive eye,
By thy wild waves as they sweep
Constant through the gloomy deep,
Night! we hail thy solemn noon,
Sky without or cloud or moon!
Swiftly gliding o'er the ocean,
Rides the bark with rapid motion,
Waves are foaming at the prow,
Trembling waters round her flow,
Midnight hears the lonely sound,
Through her ocean caves profound;
Night! we hail thy solemn noon,
Sky without or cloud or moon!
Sailor, on thy restless pillow,
Why so tranquil on the billow?
Sailor, when thy vessels roam,
Think'st thou not of native home?
But when midnight shuts the scene,
Hark! he sings with heart serene-
Night! we hail thy solemn noon,
Sky without or cloud or moon!
Weary wanderer, sadly roving
Far from home and all that's loving,
Midnight lulls thy soul to peace,
Then thy griefs and sorrows cease;
Join us then in that wild strain,
Sighing o'er the heaving main,

Night! we hail thy solemn noon,
Sky without or cloud or moon!

THE BLIND MAN'S LAMENT.

B.

O where are the visions of extacy bright
That can burst o'er the darkness, and banish the
night?

O where are the charms that the day can unfold
To the heart and the eye that their glories can
hold?

Deep, deep in the silence of sorrow I mourn-
For no visions of beauty for me shall e'er burn!

« السابقةمتابعة »