The Press. — London, England, 1855-09-08 00:00:00

SaPT. , 1855. could make Thucydicles speak to us in no less bold and vigorous, but more pure, English than could even old Hobbes of Malmesbury. But in the etymological* part of the under taking much was likewise required. The labours of Bopp, carried out by Donaldson, Max Muller, and others, have thrown a new light upon many points of the language, and have proved that " Grttcia in GrEecii non " swum qmerenda est." Accordingly, we find a constant reference to Sanskrit, and not unfree uently an interesting comparison with Anglo-Saxon and other languages, while the careful manner in which the separate articles on each letter is drawn up proves the polyglot capabilities of our editors In recent editions the grammatical and dialectic portion has been increased and im proved by countless references to the Rev. W. E. Jelrs edition of Eiihner's grammar ; but, to say the truth, the information given in the lexicon itself is generally so clear-headed and satisfactory, that a student needs but little further assistance. Furthermore, although not in any way professing to be a dictionary of antiquities, the incidental notices on such subjects are of infinite use to those whose shelves must remain unburdened lest their pockets suffer the reverse, while references are everywhere given to fuller sources of in formOion.f We cannot now do better than advert to the plain and conscientious statement of the editors in their carefully-written preface:— Our plan has been that marked out and begun by Pas. sow—viz., to make each article a history of the usage of the word referred to. Then, if no change was introduced by later writers, we have left it with that early authority alone—adding, however, whether it continued in general use or no, and taking care to specify whether it was com mon to prose and poetry, or confined to one only. In most cues the word will tell its own story: the passages quoted will themselves say whether it continued in use, and whether it was used or no both in poetry and prose for there are few words that do not change their significa• Lions more or less in the downward course of time, and few therefore that do not need any references. As to the claims of originality (a question which is almost set aside by the ever-progress ing nature of lexicography) nothing can be more candid than the modest asaertion that " in calling this work a lexicon based upon the " work of Passow," tl4' have the same (we might say a better) right " than Passow ha 4 to "eject the name of Schneider from his title " page. Their object is not to claim undue " honour, but to give as accurate a title as " they can " It is useless to speak of the excellent arrangement and " getting up" of a book so well known, still less necessary to eulogise the admirable co-operation of the Rev. Prebend Scott, or the painstaking accuracy of the fellow collegian of both, the Rev. George Marshall. It is of the probable result of such a combina tion of labours in the old and new schools of Greek criticism that we would speak. That two men both so eminent in Greek scholar ship should have succeeded one another, we hail as a happy omen that no radical system of mere utilitarianism will readily pull down and destroy those tastes for the puro and the beautiful—that love for the flowery beauties of Hellas—whether in her art, her poetry, or even in her but too wayward philosophy— which, since civilisation burst forth in the fairest lands of the South, have been the in spiration of the young, the delight and con solation of the old. Of the future plans of the head of the noblest college in Oxford we can say nothing ; we can only augur that his practical and governing influence in the promotion of Greek scholarship will be as great and as successful RS has been his literary. In his predecessor learning was unbounded, perseverance untir ing, steadfast honesty ever unshaken; in the present ruler of Ch►ist Church we trust to look for all these qualities, but com bined with the no less important ones of a willingness to progress forward, to throw open every opportunity of this splendid founda tion alike to the student and the servitor, when they shall have earned their 'need of honours: we look to him to show himself the living and active representative of that thoroughly prat• • Cf. articles, XI:otito;, + See, for example, the articles Xsixo;, Aotrxil, isiancrin, cti+assc. But it la almost unnecesaitrY luOt• 4 naniPlielirkfß 1 •7 4401144 Oa every page. T THE BLESS. --- tioal and onward system of which he has drawn the lineaments in his great work. In brief, we hope to see a new golden age for Christ Church, when no first-class man shall be forced to leave because his home sheltered him not, wbeu confidence shall take place of fear, and when the largest college in Oxford shall once more look largest on the clits-list. A Londoner's Walk to the Land's End ; and a Trip to the Scilly Isles. By Walter White. London : Chapman and Hall. " WHO," exclaims Mr. White, at the conclusion of his sensible and amusing volume, " who " would be querulous that, with ten pounds in " his pocket, and knapsack on shoulder, can " go forth, wander lovingly over his birthland, " and live tor a month amid sunshine and " beauty?" This narrative of his travel through Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, with a trip to the Scilly Isles, shows how economically a home tour, devoid of neither interest nor association, novelty nor incident, may be made. The only requirements to render it pleasant are, a pair of strong legs, some little acquaintance with the history of one's own country, and fair weather. Mr. White went by rail from London to Southampton, and from thence started on his tour, making his first excursion from his di rect route to visit Rufus's Stone in the New Forest. The tree has long since disappeared, and all that is left is a stone, authenticated by the Earl of Delaware in 1745 as marking the spot where be had seen the fatal tree growing; taut how, or why, or when the tree was cut down no record tells. It is curious, en passant, to remark that there is now in London, keep ing a publichouse, one Purkis, the direct and lineal descendant of the man who carried the body of Rufus in his cart from the spot to Winchester. Corfe Castle, the scene of young Edward's murder by Elfrida, was also visited by Mr. White en route. It is now in ruins, having been blown up by the Parliamentary army, and never restored. Round the coast, towards the famous Bill of Portland, our hardy traveller plodded his cheerful way. And here is the curious Chesil Bank to be seen—a long strip of shingle, about fifty or sixty feet high, three or four hundred feet wide, and about ten miles in length—running out from the mainland, and holding Portland Bill by the slenderest thread : but the bank is secure, the drifting shingle is perpetually replaced, and although, as it happens sometimes in heavy gales, millions of tons are washed away in a night, they are replaced in the next day or two, as deep and as regularly terraced as before. At Portland there is now constructing a fine breakwater, and Mr. White's description is graphic and good : The mode of construction is ingeniously and eminently adapted to its purpose. The Plymouth Breakwater, which is not quite a mile long, and cost a million and a half of money, was formed by dropping large stones through the bottom of the boats in which they had been transported from the quarries; but Mr. Bendel builds a timber stage running out from the shore into the sea as far as may be required, and laying down rails, waggons laden with stone are pushed along the stage by locomotives, and made to drop their load into the water beneath by a very expedi tious process. Having walked down one of the floored divi sions of the stage to the end of the flooring— My conductor, pointing to the unprotected beam, asked, " Are you nervous? there's the circular head ;" some sixty yards farther. I followed along the narrow timber, though not without apprehension, the height being thirty feet above the sea, and presently stood looking down on the great white circle of masonry, that had a strange, unearthly gleam, seen through the green water. The appearance of one single block of the outer course a few inches above the surface, was hailed as an encouraging sign of progress, and had been made the occasion of a feast far the workmen a few days previously. The divers were busy with their labours, too deep down to be visible, supplied with air from the pumps . kept incessantly going in the boats moored above the spot. Not once did the men pause in their task, not withstanding the uneasy rocking which jerked the boats about like walnut-shells; and be who held the line fastened to the diver's arm, failed not to give it the half-minute tug, which signified—la all well ? A few months ago the air pipe burst, and though the diver gave an immediate signal to be hauled up, he was recovered with difficulty. Another, not answering the tug, was found to be dead : he had, as was supposed, stooped too far forward while intent on his work, and the water running in under the joint of his hel- met had drowned him. And these divers work fur two and•sixpence a tide ! " Now" said my conductor, after a time, " we'll go out Mid fett alto drop Olt fitettft." i hk-filtittOd i o; t 9 lrfait I 86i . . quarter of a mile further on a single beam, away from all protection, was, fur one rather timid than adventurous, perhaps to risk a fall. Seeing this, the other pointed to a planked gangway on the opposite side of the stage which hat nut before seen, and retracing our steps we walked down it to the very extremity. The 'uninterrupted swee of the sea through the 400 feet gap, which w e fi rs t passed over, showed, by contrast with the contiguous calm, how gteat was the protection afforded by the breakwater even in its unfinished state. The foundation of the second circular bead was bring laid, but nothing could be seen ; then there was the rugged embankment again. dividing the waters fora space, and beyond it the stage still encroaching On Neptune's dominion. When we were near the end a train pushed by the locomotive came up; the speed was slackened, two men, one on each side the foremost truck, kumped off, and running along on the e d ge o f t h e t i m b er, nocked out the bolts that held the iron ievers, these in turn striking against the "chocks ," screwed to the beams, let go their hold, and the bottom of the truck, balanced as a seesaw, falling suddenly at one end, dropped the whole load into the water. The shock and splash are tremen dous ! Seven tons of stone, lumps from four or five tons' weight down to a pound, let tall from a height of thirty feet produce an astounding effect. Sometimes a vast Ocular jet is thrown up twenty or thirty feet higher than the stage, giving an uncomfortable shower-bath to all within reach ; or narrow streams burst out horizontally with a furious hiss ; or you hear a loud slap, followed by a hoarse rushing gulp, and a mound of discolored water boils up for a few seconds. But before you have recovered from your first surprise, the train, all the while creeping forward, has advanced a few feet, the two men repeat the operation of striking out the bolts, and the recond truck drops its load, then the third, then the fourth, and so on to the sixth, and all with the same terrific plunge. Not a moment is last ; for by long practice the " tippers " have become expert and fearless, and away speeds the panting locomotive, soon to reappear with another laden train. But immediately the whiz and rush are behind you, and, looking round, you see a similar train on the outer line of rails on the opposite side of the stage, the mighty splashes follow, and befOre the water has cleared comes a third train down one of the inner lines, and discharges its load in the same unceremo 1110118 way. So it goes on all day along the five lines of rails, first one, then the other ; and every day 2,b00 tone at stone are thus flung into the engulfing waters. The stone flung iu is the refuse or " cap " of the quarries, of which the quarrymen are glad to be rid, and the mass is left to rind its own slope by the action of the waves. More than two million tons of stone have already been used, and as much more will yet be required before the work is finished. In Devonshire our tourist visits all the famous spots, Torbay and Brixham, where William 111. landed, and passes up the valley of the Teign, whore the most lovely scenery is to be found, wooded slopes, rich meadows, cottages, homesteads, dank hills, and steep cliffs, enclosing the cool, clear river as it ripples down to the sea at Teignmouth. Chudleigh, with its cider and lanes, and its magnificent landscape, is searched out and seen ; and while crossing one of the fields 'he comes up with a party of haymakers, who cried to know what he had to sell : They took my knapsack for a pedlar's pack. If nothing to sell, perhaps I could tell some news—how was the war going on ? and so forth. 1 was minded to humour them, and sat down on a haycock, when they drew round me, and half a dozen ciderkega were held out fur me to drink from. One among them, evidently the politician, had plenty to say, and delivered his opinions with an eloquence that surprised me. " If the Zar, as people called 'n, would only come into the field for about half an hour, he'd show'n what 'twas to go to war. He'd mark 'n. Bread was dear enough a'ready, and what was poor men to do when 't got dearer ? I f Austria and Prussia would come too, he'd rub them down into the bargain : none of 'em was a bit better 'n they should he ; they was all in the same boat"— and more to the same purport. The sunburned orator was warmly applauded by his companions ; and when I told him there were people in London who thought as he did, he looked round with an air of triumph. With dear bread in prospect, they were, however, for the moment in gay good humour, perhaps owing to the cider•kegs, and made a show of keeping me prisoner, unless 1 would consent to " zing a zong." While in Cornwall Mr. White witnesses a " wrostling" match, and fairly describes one of the customs of the country : Soon each wrestler hail put on a large loose jacket, tying with strong tapes down the front, and then betiding forwards, with hands on knees, they slowly came together, each fixing a keen look on the other's face. Both were abont the middle height. and of ordinary musenlar development. One, however, with his shock head of hair and bushy sweep of whisker, seemed to me as he stooped no unapt resem blance to a grisly bear. Now they turned this way, now that—now a few paces to the right, now to the left, still with the same fixed stare ; and at last one, stretching out a hand, gripped the shoulder of his opponent's jacket, and was in turn seized by the elbow. Another moment, and the other two hands were fast ; and, keeping their legs as far as possible out of reach, they wheeled round and round. a convulsive jerk showing now and then an rffort for a fall —the two umpires keeping a jealous watch on their move ments. Not for an instant did a knee bend. or an arm slacken ; and when a leg was suddenly advanced, it was as suddenly withdrawn. So the contest went on for about h►U' houi. PPP brill; l'eai becsilly *Taunt, sgil