The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-01 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Porson ! The truth is, German literature was

beginning to develop its influence on English
scholarship ; and, under Hare and Thirlwall,
our classical language threatened to become a
dry and bald imitation of the heavy prose of
German scholars. It was impossible for the

Philological Museum to become popular, and
so it failed of its purpose ; for, unless a book
be read, what is the use of it ?
The influence of German literature and
thought, which was obvious in the Philological
Museum, became rampant in its next heir, the
Classical Museum. This publication contained
many capital articles. Those furnished by
Newman, Long, and Buubury, not to mention
others, are admirable ; but the predominant
tone and spirit of the work was cynical and
captious. Its general object seemed to be to
disparage English scholarship, and sneeringly
to express contempt for all the exertions of
English students, as compared with those of
more laborious Germans.
There was a sycophancy and a meanness in
their adulation of anything and everything
German. They were seldom just to au
English scholar unless he happened to be one
of their own contributors. Nothing could be
more unfair or unjustifiable than the criticisms
on C. Wordsworth's edition of " Theocritus "
and Shilleto's edition of " Demosthenes de
False Legatione," two books of admirable scho-
larship ; and nothing could be imagined more
absurd than the fulsome panegyric passed on
Mr. Cornewall Lewis's edition of " Babrius"—
a very elegant work, but not entitled to such
praises as Mr. Lewis received at the hands
of his coadjutors in the Classical Museum.
The list of the committee, who are guaran-
tees for the carrying on of the now Cambridge
periodical, the Journal of Philology, contains the
names of many of the best scholars in the
University. There can be no doubt of the
ability embarked in the work. What we feel
anxiety about is lest the ability of the younger
and more energetic writers should not be con-
trolled by the discretion and riper judgment
of older and more experienced scholars. One
of the worst results of our increased intercourse
with German literature is that our scholars
have learnt to imitate the vulgar ruffian-
ism so much in fashion with Teutonic critics.
Every English gentleman of education must
observe this with regret, and we feel that we
are doing the conductors of the Journal of Phi-
lology a service in reminding them that, if they
mean their work to be successful, they must
conduct it in a Christian spirit of kindness and
generosity—not iu a mean, depreciatory, snarl-
ing spirit.
The first article in the work is the production
of a young scholar named Clark, on the " Birds "
of Aristophanes. The author's object is to
overthrow Siivern's theory of the meaning of
the play. That Siivern has run his theory to
rags, and has carried it out with most unrea-
sonable particularity, is, we think, quite plain ;
but still, that the main foundation of his
theory is correct, and that Aristophanes did
mean in his play of the " Birds " to ridicule
the absurd and ruinous ambition of Athens in
undertaking the Athenian expedition, we can
have no manner of doubt ; though we do not
believe that Peisthetserus meant Alcibiades
any more than Mr. Clark does. But why can-
not Mr. Clark express his disbelief of Siivern's
theory with modesty and simplicity ? Why
need he call Siivern " a dunce "? not
to mention other titles of honour freely
bestowed upon his victim. Why need he
speak so superciliously and contemptuously,
and with such ill-temper, of a very ingenious
and scbolarlike book? This arrogant dogma
tism is very offensive, and we trust we shall
see no more of it in the Journal of Philology.
The second article is on Lucretius, by Mr.
Monro, and bespeaks a writer of high critical
powers. We think he has formed an exag-
gerated opinion of Lac hmann's services in
the cause of Lucretius ; for we cannot help
feeling that Lachmann has very often disturbed
the orthography, text, and arrangement of
the verses of his author in an unnecessary and
arbitrary manner. By-the-bye, we should like
to suggest to Mr. Monro that in v. 419, b. 4, in
the expression which he quotes and trans-
lates, the word " mirando " should be trans-
lated "to be seen, "rather than "marvellous."
That the word " mirari" properly meant

303

"to see," is rendered certain by the Spanish
" mirar," and the French " miroir, and
English " mirror." We hail the appearance of
Mr. Monro's criticism ; fur it is precisely the
sort of minute verbal criticism in which
English scholars are too commonly deficient.
We are equally pleased with Mr. Conington's
observations on Hartung's edition of the
"Agamemnon ;" it shows sound scholarship and
judgment, as well as independence of thought.
There is an elaborate paper on the " Dating
of Ancient History," the author of which
wishes to establish a system of Chiliads, in
dating events that occurred before the Chris-
tian era. Nothing can be more puzzling and
confused than the present system of dating by
three different methods—viz., Olympiads, years
of Rome, and years before the birth of Christ.
All Olympiads, and years of Rome, should be
discarded, and the date A.C. alone preserved.
It would really seem as if learned men had
taken a malignant pleasure in complicating
matters, and rendering the attainment of ac-
curate chronological knowledge as difficult as
possible to the perplexed and bewildered
student.

But we must bring our remarks to a close,
though we have left many articles in this new
periodical unnoticed on which we should have
been glad to say a few words. We sincerely
wish success to the Journal of Philology, and
we trust we have proved the genuineness of
our regard by using the language of honest
friends rather than the flattery of sycophants.

The Life of Girolanio Cardano, of Milan,
Physician. By Henry Morley. London :
Chapman and Hall.
IT is a curious fact that biography should be
the department of letters in which the genius
of our English authors should have shone with
least success. We can point to few classi-
cal masterpieces of biographical composition
like those left us by the writers of antiquity,
or like some of the charming memoirs pro-
duced by French vivacity. Our " personal
narratives" are the most interesting, but we
refer to them for historical reference rather
than peruse them with pleasure ; and some of
the least known amongst them were dictated
to secretaries, like " Travels by a Nobleman,"
in the last century. It is true that there is an
austere pathos in " Clarendon's Life" which
will always strike a responsive chord in
the melancholy of the human heart, but his
narrative fatigues, and his facts are overlaid
by a cumbrous mode of statement. Burnet's
gossip, even in its ridiculous triviality, is
amusing ; but we have often thought, if the
bishop had been a Tory, what a sarcastic por-
traiture of him would have been left by Mr.
Macaulay, very different from the rose-coloured
picture in which "P. P., Clerk of the Parish,"
finds his historical features limnod with the
graces of a Lawrence instead of being ridiculed
with the satirical pencil of a Gilray. It is pos-
sible that " Bozzy " might have composed his
work influenced unconsciously by the example
of Burnet; and, though it is the fashion to
speak in extravagant terms of the merits of
" Boswell's Johnson," we should be sorry to
commend it as a model for biographers. John-
son was a great man and an original talker,
very different from the fluent "Conversation
Sharps," with their pyrotechnic sparkles
illumining nought but themselves. He was
surrounded by a famous circle—Burke, Rey-
nolds, Goldsmith, Bishop Percy, the Wartons,
and others ; and " Bozzy " has not only left
us the life of his idol, hut has given us Dutch
pictures of his company. But, when in-
ferior subjects are brought before the artist, it
is ridiculous to misapply such minuteness of
narration, and to detail the table-talk of me-
diocrity and the contortions of spurious art
with stenographic fidelity. We have read
elaborate lives of the illustrious obscure, with
good-sounding rhetoric, interspersed with sen-
sible passages, and exhibiting some rare re-
search ; yet, after arriving at the last page, we
felt just as if we had been shown a drawing-
room steam-engine for poking a fire, or a
miniature portcullis for extracting a claret-
cork. Without reality of new matter, mere
literary skill will not give interest to a work.
When Sheridan and his first wife were living
in needy circumstances, in days described by