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—leaving 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