The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-08-07 00:00:00

THE LITTLE SHOE. —_____-. ',outwit here —a worn-out shoe, 411•4'llelew'd with time and wet with dew, : 1 4 ;!ll a little thing; ye would pass it by yeTlittever a thought, or word, or sigh. Aim • 4tir ' 11 1 nay spirit a hidden well, ' -4 in eloquent tones of the past doth tell. Titi:lle Of a little fairy child of 4 h t And my heart with a magic wild right blue eyes and golden hair, T hat • , el er shed joy and sunlight there— vr a Prattling voice, so sweet and clear, lAnd the tiny feet that were ever near. t tells of hope that with her had birth, • ' , Jee p b • It a b o f now in the silent earth; Th ear.t that had met an answering tone, at again is left aloae—alone 1 Of clays of ,rt,,‘•• Of ._ . - , uin ig a,d anxious prayer-- a ni„ht of sorrow and dark despair' it tells of a form that is cold and still — f a little mo nil That ' 'u- 1)011 Yonder hill, ._ 1 t h earer rar to a mother's heart . ~ rikhaii classic "statues of Grecianart.a.r, i;rltltotangers M al' Pass it with a careless air, h„ dream of the hopes that are buried there. es wept— wept vi ho '- e ! ,Rho bare never o'er .e lo n v e e ,e d r o L ik. a , ! °tightest hopes have from the Liii`e:,lleePilUre white cloudbeen n s 141 4 ; i % r .eatli of mist from.. a t n mountainm e r h s i k g b y -- Ih e 1 1 ' al!ibow, bearnin. . t m he om e a here, Melting away to its native sphere;— loosed by the zephyr's sigh- that zephyr wafting its perfume The the wave that kisses som e graceful spot, itiike th ese away —yet it is never forgot ; le Liege your life -hopes have never fled, astitiot know of the tears I shed. l' ea 1,0)- !lot know what a little thing . Iketns4; enl43's silent fount can bring Yet t 1. 1 , -.4 alld form that were once so dear . V e te are hearts, were they only here, foatZtdtl i fe is ei Z n i r t n h i i nni," ;Thhisenlitwtleet swhioteh.dews .......,,..._ MARY NEAL. ter m; .1 I I E TV" S. stg 13 i i i . 1 8 , c f th e z . .—. 4 .) ezjel,Arefeton trritings, and Discoveries of L k re to 0i .4( linb i ,„ . , By Sir David Brewster, K.H., N e " . ' e xr of th e - tgn : Constable & Co. 13)1 a °F th e 14,: Lfe and writings of the great dis s: t'4 so lvetk q d whi ch governs gravitation is . nece '''loNg t ezitly i h ee ,P M . terest to any commum . ty, and - -et 'Lter est a s , °us e , ed in the accuracy with which ii that '' at - lots can be reduced to practic , Ul , )I ) ,' l'e of L. ih'ea 1,... A* werpool, it must prove the '4,,i7tore mere literary compilation, I N : 44 ; a 11 5% 41 :, e not entitled to any very high N.' 11(1 lab" ,Pled with facts illustrative of the d k ,'„, 4 44 as .°ns investigations of the great ' 4l \iii 11NwIrklicative of his high independence of , ', Ile,,rving integrity of purpose, they are ' ll. tr4llll / '' ' liter arY drawbacks on the value of d ant he diter,t numerous, and may be classe lattetlieselli'llt beads of looseness of style and a A l Perf o r !llt i, ell ee in the order of its arrangement.. i -( ' co °l le of grave importance, leading to Not PPrehension of the various steps by 11 1 4111' 4 ?°lll being the tiny yet intellectual 41.4iittiait 81.idow in Lincolnshire, became the t 5 kWilich I.l3'ulosophers and the second intellec t4lpo'cilakspe;l2:l,M has 'as yet produced , . yielding NI, et. That In the diversified vigour of his ve ts , tat th 4 1 th 4 b , -e great optical savan has ailed e reasoick)iabK.which should in its execution L expectations formed concerning SUPPLEMENT TO Dr aibtrinioli tanbartc AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER. it, is not so much a matter of wonder. The task was probably too great a one to admit of satisfactory accomplishment ; but that an experienced and veteran litterateur as Sir David Brewster unquestionably is should have failed in the structural arrangement of his work seems " passing strange." As a book con structor, the learned and somewhat vituperative Caledonian has had extensive practice ; and as the successful illustrator of abstruse science in a popular form, Sir David Brewster has been long before the world, and in these capacities he has earned so fair an amount of reputation as to lead to the expectation of an orderly, clearly-written biography, if we might not also have 'anticipated a skilful moral anatomy of the great philosopher. In all these respects the book proves disappointing. The narrative is confused and perplexing in no ordinary degree. From almost the period of his infancy, the literary knight of St. Andrews is in the habit of representing Newton as Sir Isaac ; and by this knightly title we are informed that the future philosopher was a negligent grazier, and devoted his time to study and reading in hedge-bottoms, when he ought to have been attending to his mother's cattle. Similar want of distinctness pervades the chapters of college life ; and the reader who started in ignorance of the facts of the case derived from other sources, and who did not finish the reading of the two volumes, might be induced to think that the meditative boy had been born the heir to a baronetcy instead of being the son of i a farmer. In like manner the rea d e r i s inciden tally informed of the fact, that Newton was President of the Royal Society, but at what time and under what circumstances this dignity was conferred on him, as well as that of knighthood, is left for, explanation to nearly the conclusion of the book. The dramatic effect of this arrangement may indeed be artistic, and the surprise created by it may be complete, but it is a method of constructing biography as puzzling as it is new—as unsatisfactory, as it is unusual. These singu lar defects in the personal biography are, to a great' extent, repeated in relation to the scientific career of Newton, in connexion with which we are treated to a liberal insight into the scientific progress and dis cursive success of Sir David Brewster. This latter portion of the achievement is somewhat adroitly per formed, under colour of a disquisition on what has been done in science since Newton's time. These defects, though numerous and striking, nevertheless, are not by any means sufficient to rob the book of interest, and that, too, of a high order. It contains much and varied information on nearly all the subjects connected with the very important public life of Newton. The facts narrated In the two volumes are numerous and generally well stated, the objection to the book being chiefly its want of method and order. These facts, which bear on almost every phase of character, and explain every doubtful position of his life, are mainly contributions from a previously pro jected biography of Newton, by Mr. Conduitt, father of Sir Isaac's favourite grand niece. • Sir Isaac, as is well known, for many years enjoyed the important position of Master of the Mint ; but it is not so gene rally known as it ought to be, that his careful investi gation into the nature and chemistry of metals fully qualified him for discharging important duties con nected with the office ; while the high integrity of his nature led him to disdain the idea of making the situation merely a money-making sinecure. Of this latter spirit there are numerous instances scattered throughout the book. One illustration of this is in dicative not only of his spirit and temper, but it also shows the debasing habits to which courtly favour may reduce high-bred people. It is contained in a letter from the Rev. Dr. Derham, author of the Astro- Theology, to Mr. Conduitt FIRMNESS AND lIONESTY OF NEWTON The last thing, Sir, that I shall trouble you with, shall be a passage relating to the coinage of the copper money some years ago, which pleased me much in setting forth the integrity of my friend Sir Isaac. The occasion of our dis course was, the great inconveniences which many underwent by the delay of the coinage of this sort of money. The occa sion of which delay Sir Isaac told me, was from the numerous petitions that were presented to them, in most of which some person or other of quality was concerned. Amongst others, he told me that an agent of one had made him an offer of above £6,000, which Sir Isaac refusing on account of its being a bribe, the agent said he saw no dishonesty in the acceptance of the offer, and that Sir Isaac understood not his own interest. To which Sir Isaac replied, that he knew well enough what was his duty, and that no bribes should corrupt him. The agent then told him, that he came from a great Dutchesse, and pleaded her quality and interest. To which Sir Isaac roughly answered, " I desire you to tell the lady, that if she was here herself, and had made me this offer, I would have desired her to *go out of my house; and so I desire you, or you shall be turned out." Afterwards he learned who the Dutchesse was." Newton's great attainments as a chemist have been already alluded to, and the fitness for the office of Master of the Mint, which those attainments conferred on him, have been glanced at. That these qualifica tions were chiefly obtained by diligent study of the fruitless science of alchemy, is no diminution of their practical value, nor couldit at all justify the unprincipled attempt to denude him of the office and saddle the country with the heavy annual burden of £2,000 during his life, as a pension to him for giving up the place that a political partizan of th e Minister might be inducted to it. So, however, it was ; and in the biography now under consideration we have the fol lowing example of MINISTERIAL FAVOURITISM. During the dissensions which prevailed in the ministry, be fore the death of Queen Anne, the Tories ( professors of the present principles of Whiggism ) were desirous of securing for their friends some of the more valuable offices in the patronage of government. The mastership of the mint-was one of those which they thought within their reach, and the scheme of re leasing Sir Isaac from the labours of his office, and thus giving him more leisure for the prosecution of his studies, seemed to be one that was likely to meet with general approbation. It was resolved, therefore, to offer him a pension £2,000, on the condition that he resigned the mastership of the mint, the, salary of which was only about half that sum ; and Dr. S w ift' was commissioned by Bolingbroke, one of the secretaries of state, to propose the plan to Mrs. Catherine Barton, the parti cular friend of Swift, and the favourite niece of Newton. The, liberality of the offer might have tempted ordinary function-, aries, but it met with a very different reception from Newton, who saw at once the character and object of the proposal.' When Mrs. Barton communicated to him the message from Bolingbroke, Sir Isaac replied, "My place is at their service, but I will have no pension." In the compilation of the book, Sir David Brewster has manifested much diligence and a considerable amount of forbearance. He has also exerted himself greatly to show a full assemblage of all the facts con nected with the personal history of his hero ; but, while doing this, he has scarcely succeeded in doing , more than producing a book which will immensely aid in enabling some future biographer to write a syste matised and digested life of Sir Isaac Newton, a work still greatly needed. --- Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medi2zalt and llfeceah. By Richard. F. Burton. London : Longman and Co. Books of oriental travel have of late years become so common as to be looked on with little relish ; but from this generally-deserved listlessness of appreciation, Mr. Burton's book is entitled to honourable exception. The scene of his wanderings is new to European eyes. Wandering in a really strange land, our adventurous author saw strange sights, and these he narrates With fresh and racy energy. He combines instructive nar rative with a fine spirit of wild adventure; and, suit ing his somewhat unbending English habits to those of native orientals, he so completely imbibes the spirit of their life and habits, as to be easily mistaken for one of the eastern wanderers with whom he associated. A successful assumption of this character was indis pensable in attaining the object he had in view; no European, or at all events no unbeliever in the