The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-02 00:00:00

hmt 1855. the Fall was effected through a physical medium, accord ing to the common course of nature. The fruit from the tree of knowledge was eaten and digested in the same manner as ordinary food ; and thus, being received into the system, impregnated the whole man with new feelings and sensations. What these were I hate already partially stated, ani now purpose still further extending the inquiry. That the tree might thus naturally be eaten, and affect the whole bodily system, we have only to remember the fact of there being a greater propensity to think more highly of ourselves, when there is a high current of blood running through the system. That when the appetites necessary for our bodily sustenance have been freely indulged, there is a much stronger inclination to rush into almost every description of vice and folly. Thus, by accelerating the source of life, you multiply the evils which naturally spring from it, and hurry on the mind into wilful sin. This would be the natural conclusion, according to our own ideas, of the fruit of any tree affecting vitally the human frame. And this idea is, in some degree, borne out by Scripture itself, in depicting the results which ensue from the dominant power of the flesh. We cannot approve this style of argument. It is very dangerous ; and our greatest churchmen, who would not confute Popery and transubstantiation by the evidence of the senses lest it. should seem mate rialism, would hardly have adopted the line here followed. Nor do we think that, even admitting that the subject is one proper to be sifted in the manner here selected, Mr. Topham is endowed with sufficient knowledge of the principles of evidence. The fol• lowing is opening a field of conjecture to mere human power interminable : The sentence passed upon the serpent would seem to embody another great truth with respect to the animal race in general, showing that the curse was far from being altogether confined to the most sagacious of the race. The words " thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field," prove clearly that the whole animal creation participated in the change wrought by the Fall. And had not the word of God thus evidently alluded to their degeneracy, the fact would have been clearly estab lished by our examining into the present condition of the animal kingdom, and comparing it with that of the serpent. Moreover, how else is it possible for us to account for their barbarous instincts and cruel practices, displayed in their fighting with, and preying upon, one another? We know that it has been very plausibly asserted, that it is a much wiser dispensation for them to live by this worse than carnal forage, rather than to suffer starvation. And this is undoubtedly true, so far as to prove the admirable adapta tion of nature to brutes so constituted. But the word of God leads us to infer that, before the Fall, this was not the ease ; for to the whole of the animals was " given every green herb for meat." This is the extent of the informa tion vouchsafed upon a subject which I must dismiss summarily. Whes such a subject as this was selected, we had looked to see some confutation of the vulgar cry of lbe deists who, down to the latest German importa tion, have repeated the sophistry put into form in Bolingbroke's letter to Archbishop Tillotson. This, however, is not touched here. There are minds, no .doubt., to which the hook will prove attractive, and judgments to which its subject will seem proper for this kind of discussion; and to such we can say that 'the book i. written pleasingly as to style, and collects a multitude of facts and speculations both in text and motes. .A Latin-English Dictionary. Based upon the Works of Forcellini and Freund. By William Smith, LL.D., Editor of Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London : Murray. IT has been Dr. Smith's purpose, in the preparation of this elaborate volume, to produce a dictionary which should be sufficiently copious to illustrate the meaning of all Latin authors, and at the same time be as compact and as cheap as possible. The plan Ipursued is, to take a familiar example, that adopted by Johnson in his dictionary; and this plan Dr. 'Smith, from the ample materials at his command, has been able to render most comprehensive and 'complete in the several departments—grammatical, 'etymological, and exigetical—of the Latin tongue. The genesis of Latin words often defies research ; but when their origin is clear it is placed in brackets at the commencement of the article; then follow the significations in their natural order—the etymo logical first, the physical next, and afterwards the figurative and moral. Quotations are in each case 'selected from authors by whom the word has been most commonly or most significantly used ; and where the etymology of a word is doubtful, discussion 'on it is reserved for the end of the article, the place also where remarks on comparative philology are found. To each word space is apportioned according to its importance. The typography and arrangement are a great improvement upon every dictionary we have yet seen. The words are primed in a bold type, so as to stand out in relief from the body of the text, and attract the eye at once; and - the numerals, to denote the various significations of the word, are in the same type. The ordinary print is remarkable for its clearness; and it is evident, even from a cursory inspection, that immense labour has been bestowed in correcting the press. As a THE PRESS. Latin dictionary for general use, affording a complete analysis and exposition of the language, with judi ciously-selected examples, from Enuius the poet to Justinian the emperor, this book is all that could be desired: 1,210 closelyininted pages, of three columns each, attest the comprehensiveness of the work and the industry of the compiler. For its worth, it is ono of the very cheapest works ever issued from the press; and we emphatically recommend it as an admirable aid to sound scholastic education, and the best and most useful work that can possibly be placed in the hands of a student, whether he be at school or college, and, at the same time, as the dic tionary which every gentleman should have on his shelf in companionship with classic authors. A more remarkable instance of what may be accom plished by the union of learned labour with pub lishing liberality has never been witnessed ; and the result we hope may prove as profitable to those concerned in the production of this noble volume as it must be satisfactory to the public. English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula. By Lieutenant-General Sir William Napier. London: Murray. FROM his history of the Peninsular war Sir William Napier has extracted those stirring passages which relate the great military achievements of Wellington's ever-memorable campaigns from his first arrival in Portugal to his victorious passage of the Pyrenees. The historian informs us that " the combats of "Rorica, Vimiero, and Corunna, and the character of " Sir John Moore " have been entirely recomposed. In compressing the other portions of his work, so as to include the details of actual fighting, he has pre served a connecting link of narrative ; and the record of what that army accomplished with which Wellington could " go anywhere and do anything " is complete. We take the closing paragraph, in which Sir William vigorously states the services of that army, as the best summary which can be given of the contents of his volume : Those veterans had won nineteen pitched battles and innumerable combats; had made or sustained ten sieges and taken four great fortresses ; had twice expelled the French from Portugal, once from Spain ; had penetrated France, and killed, wounded, or captured two hundred thousand enemies— l e aving of their own number forty thousand dead, whose bone's whiten the plains and moun tains of the Peninsula. The merits of Sir William's history are too well known to need illustration from our pen. Jt is a strong testimony not only to the fidelity of his narra tive, but to his genius for military description, that his work is most highly prized by soldiers of every grade, from the private to the general. He is less the historian of the study than of the camp—passages of his book are recounted round watch-fires and told in the trenches before Sebastopol, and are never hoard without warming the soldier's heart, and firing his mind and nerving his arm to emulate the deeds they tell. The opening passage of the successful assault of Badajos is a fine example of the author's style, and in part appropriate to the expectant atti tude of the allies in the Crimea:— Dry but clouded was the night, the air was thick with watery exhalations from the rivers, the ramparts and trenches unusually still ; yet a low murmur pervaded the latter, and in the former lights flitted here and there, while the deep voices of the sentinels proclaimed from time to time that all was well in 13adajos. The French, confiding in Phillipon's direful skill, watched from their lofty station the approach of enemies they had twice before baffled, and now hoped to drive a third time blasted and ruined from the walls. The British, standing in deep columns, were as eager to meet that fiery destruction as the others were to pour it down, and either were alike terrible for their strength, their discipline, and the passions awakened in their resolute hearts. Former failures there were to avenge on one side, and on both leaders who furnished no excuse for weakness in the hour of trial; the possession of Badajos was become a point of personal honour with the soldiers of each nation ; but the desire for glory on the British part was dashed with a hatred of the citizens from an old grudge, and recent toil and hardship, with much spilling of blood, had made many incredibly savage : for these things, which render the noble minded averse to cruelty, harden the vulgar spirit. Numbers also, like Ciesar's centurion, who could not forget the plunder of Avaricum, were heated with the recollection of Rodrigo and thirsted for spoil. Thus every passion found a cause of excitement, while the wondrous power of disci- pline bound the whole together as with a band of iron, and in the pride of arms none doubted their might to bear down every obstacle that man could oppose to their fury. Passages here and there show that it is not without cause that the managers of the present war are so fond of referring to the events of the Peninsula for precedents. The following relates to the second siege of Badajos And this to the first : The greatest impediment was the badness of the cutting tools furnished from the storekeeper-general's office in England; the profits of the contractor seemed to be the only thing respected. The engineers eagerly sought for French cutlery, because the English was useless ! Thus the first serious siege undertaken by the British army in the l'eninsula was commenced, and, to the dis credit of the English Government, no army was ever worse provided for such an enterprise. The engineers were zealous, and some of them well versed in the theory of their business, but the ablest trembled at their utter destitution. Without sappers and miners, or a soldier who knew how to carry on au approach under fire, they were compelled to attack a fortress defended by the most prac tised and scientific troops of the age; hence the best oil errs and boldest soldiers were forced to sacrifice themselves in a lamentable manner, to compensate for the negligence and incapacity of a Government always ready to plunge into war without the slightest care for what was necessary to obtain success. The sieges carried on by the British in Spain were a succession of butcheries, because the com monest materials and means neceassary for their art were denied to the engineers. The volume is a right one issued at a right time. The gloom and glory of war are faithfully pictured in it, and such generous praise is accorded to the gallantry of our old foes that tho narrative of our tierce struggles with them must tend to raise admira tion of their chivalry and increase the cordiality of the existing alliance. Every Boy's Book. By G. Forrest, M.A. London : Routledge. STARTING from the principle that "there is as much " instruction in the playground as in the schoolroom," Mr. Forrest has included in his hook of sports and amusements not only all games which can healthily exercise the physical powers of boys, but those also which have a tendency to call forth their faculties of contrivance and ingenuity—which can lead them to think, plan, look about them, and consider how diffi culties are to be overcome, and objects requiring some forethought and perseverance are to be achieved. This is an important part of a boy's education at all times, and more especially so now, when there is a continually-increasing demand for proficiency in me chanical science. In addition to chapters on all kinds of athletic sports, as skating, swimming, cricket, boating, angling, doe., and on such parlour amusements as chess, puzzles, and conjuring, the elements of the principal sciences are clearly ex plained and amusingly illustrated. The directions for the rearing and treatment of birds and pet animals furnish a good introduction to natural history, and chapters on carpentering and gardening are calcu lated to direct the ingenuity of boys into the most amusing, harmless, and, it maybe, most useful chan nel. The articles are all written with full knowledge of the subject, and explained by a profusion of wood engravings, the book containing upwards of six hun dred of them, from original and spirited designs. Written in a free, bold style, which boys will appre • ciate, the tutor is kept out of sight, though humane and moral intelligence is never absent. Mr. Forrest has been, perhaps is still, engaged in scholastic la bours, and it is a strong proof of his fitness to pro duce an encyclopedia of boy's sports that he says he has found the task of directing the youthful mind a pleasant one ; that he is fond of boys, has mingled in their sports, and invented new games for them. The book is produced in all respects in a style most cre ditable to Mr. Routledge's press. The Calendar of Victory Commenced by the late Major Johns, R.M. Continued by Lieutenant I'. H. Nicholas, R.M. London : Longmans. WE cannot better explain the design of this volume than by a passage from the preface : The plan of the work is exceedingly simple. Beginning with January Ist, the successes of the English arms by sea and land are briefly related for each successive day throughout the year. The synopsis of our victorious achievements is accompanied by a carefully-prepared index, which, while it gives the date of any enterprise, and directs the inquirer to the source of more extended information, at the same time supplies a chronology of military and naval occurrences from the wars of the cru sades, to the heroic struggle in the Crimea in the present year. We may add that the achievements of the army and of the navy form separate portions of the work, and that in each part, while usually there are several distinct exploits for every day in the year, there is no instance of a single day being without its blazon of success for each service. That the sun never sets upon our empire is a proud boast, but it is a prouder that it should never rise but to commemorate our victo►ies by sea and land. In the face of this volume Lord John Russell would find it difficult to maintain the assertion with which he meets all complaints of governmental mismanagement—" England is not a "military nation." Chronological tables, carefully compiled, give every engagement of the army and navy from the baule of Hastings to that of Inker mann, and an index refers to the exploits of every commander in our annals. The volume must have taken immense labour in its preparation, and, from the vast amount of information it contains, its con venient arrangement, novel plan, and careful execu tion, richly deserves the patronage of the public. —......-...., 'where the etymology of a word is doubtful, discussion a cause of excitement, while the wondrous Power of disci- that it should never rise but to commemorate our 'on it is reserved for the end of the article, the place Aline bound the whole together as with a band of iron, and victories by sea and land. In the face of this volume also where remarks on comparative philology are in the pride of arms none doubted their might to bear down Lord John Russell would find it difficult to maintain found. To each word space is apportioned according every obstacle that man could oppose to their fury. the assertion with which he meets all complaints of to its importance. The typography and arrangement Passages here and there show that it is not without governmental mismanagement—" England is not a are a great improvement upon every dictionary cause that the managers of the present war are so "military nation." Chronological tables, carefully we have yet seen. The words are printed in a fond of referring to the events of the Peninsula for compiled, give every engage►nent of the army and bold type, so as to stand out in relief from the precedents. The following relates to the second navy from the battle of Hastings to that of biker- body of the text, and attract the eye at once; and siege of Badajos : mann, and an index refers to the exploits of every the numerals, to denote the various significations of commander in our annals. The volume must have The greatest impediment was the badness of the cutting- - the word, are in the same type. The ordinary printtaken immense labour in its preparation, and, from tools furnished from the s t ore ke ep er-general's office in is remarkable for its clearness ; and it is evident, England; the profits of the contractor seemed to be the the vast amount of information it contains, its con- .even from a cursory inspection, that immense labour only thing respected. The engineers eagerly sought for venient arrangement, novel plan, and careful execu- has been bestowed in correcting the press. As a . French cutlery, because the English was useless ! tion, richly deserves the patronage of the public. _.. ----