Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-27 00:00:00

THE GREAT EASTERN STEAM-SHIP.

Everything connected with the great ship, says the
Observer, remaits at present in statu quo. The ex,
penses -on board have been reduced to the smallest pos.,
sible amount, and pending the inquiry going on before
the arbitrators between the company and Mr. Scott
Russell, no works other than those which are absolutely
necessary are being carried on. When the arbitratiox
may be concluded it is impossible to say, as the numer-
ous engagements of Mr. Hawkshaw, and the other engi-
neers who act as referees, prevent their devoting much
time to the subject. The questions which they have
to decide are exceedingly intricate. The question, of
course;: as beta een the company and Mr. Scott Russell,
is with respect to the fitting of the ship for sea after the
launch. With all that took place before, the arbiteas-
tors have nothing to do, whether with. respect to that
part of the ship built by Mr. Russell, under his original
contract, or the portions completed by the Eastern Steam
Naviptien Cempany, under the direct inspection of Mr.
Brunel. It was, of course, a matter of great impor-
tance-to have the ship ready for sea as soon as possible,
and, after careful consideration on the part of
the board, it was decided that as Mr.- Scott Fus-
sell possessed all the requisite plans and models,
and was also the only engineer who would under-
take the completion of the paddle-engines, the con-
tract should be given to him. By the terms of the con-
tract' the vessel was to be fitted entirely as a first-elan
ship, and ample security was-given for the 'performance
of the conditions of the contract. Time was an import-.
ant element in the contract. The sum agreed upcn was-
£l2s,ooo, to which £4,000, was to be added in the
event of the works being completed within a specified.
time. The work was to be carried on under the con-
trol, and responsibility of Mr. Brunel as engineer, and
• arbitrators, were 'appointed to settle all questions
which -might arise. The tunount of work to he done
was. something-. enormous,, as may be supposed in a
vessel which was ten timcs.the size of the Great -Britain.
Some portions of the work, were only required to be of a
temporary character; among these many of the cabins,
which were Only put up-avowedly to serve for a short
voyage, and somee other parts of the ship, ,such, as
the-deck, were to be completed after she' had made
her firSt-vOyage or trial trip. When the ship left
the Thames, Mr. Brunel, it is understood, stated
that a sum of about £5,000 would be required ,to be.
expended in 'addition works,- in order to:bomplete the,
ship, and-thaiwholvdemands of the Board:-.of Trade may
be complied with forsomething under £3,000. There am
various t; .which have been., niggested, but
which are not, considered as essential; and when once the
field.Of suggestimtis thrown open to any persen—pxos
fessional or neneprofeasional-7-it is easy.-to run up ,a ,
toreTabie good ilat, and More especially when the cost of
theta is to be dbfrayed by other parties. The whole
amount of these suggested alterations and additions.
would be covered by from eight to ten thousandpeunds.
In thd face of- such 11 state of things as this, it, is-diffi7
cult to account 'for the 'panic which appears to, have
seized the,Praprietots=of this-magnificent vessel. There
is surely not lesslround for'confidenee 'in her.now than
when shelayt and unfinished hull in the Thantei.
Her pow.era,,h4ve been tested, and 'they have been
been found to be in every respect eqnal to
the: antieipatiens,of her designers and-.huildersel-,,The
shiphas made more tlyinrthO fifteen knots an hour which
were required by Mr. ;Binnel; and which. gives her
seed of 50 per cent. over, that Which is stiptOate4,. for
the Mail-contracts With the line of oceaß steamers
already at work. And this spred is. attained with an
economy of fuel and horse power which even exceedi
the anticipationvof- Mr. Brunel. With -respeet to its
commercial:prospects, those surely, are in no degree
altered, -for, the ~.worse . since it has- been proved
that, with immence carrying power, the noble.ship.
haa.the qualities (of, gp4t,epeed and economy in,.con-
,suraptiMa of fug': ; ,It is to-be regretted that conflicting
opinions, prevail amonj; the directors and shareholders to
such an extent as to interfere, to a considerable degree,
with the satisfactory, working of the undertaking. Upon
this and 'many other pointi connected with' its adminis-
tration, no -death:ill explanation will be afforded at
the meeting of the shareholders called by the directors
for the 11th of January. The chairman and directors
of the company have expressed their determination of
asking for .the appointment of a' committee of share-
holders, and of giving.the fullest explanation upon many
matters, with respect, to which a great deal of misrepre-
sentation has been disseminated by persons whose sole
object appears to be to throw discredit upon an. under-
taking which has in it many of the attributes of a great
Rational work,

The volume which is looked forward to with so much
curiosity as revealing in a certain measure the extent or
nature of Mr. W. H. Will's direct contributions to
Household Word', is to be published on January by
Messrs. Chapman and Hall. It will be entitlw " Old
Leaves gathered fron`frauseh.old Words

LITERATURE.

GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS, CONSIDERED AS TENDING TO
ENRICH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By the RC V, A.
HUME, D.C.L., &c., &c., &c. Liverpool.: 1859.
This is a most interesting pamphlet on a subject
which deserves greater attention than perhaps it gene-
rally receives, even in the ordinary routine of education
in our schools ; and we regret that it has been so long
overlooked by us—having come into our hands several
weeks ago. The learned author, Dr. Hume, treats our
geographical terms as tending to enrich the English
language—as undoubtedly they do tend to amplify our
language very considerably indeed, and in amplifying
enrich it.

" Some years ago," says Dr. Hume, "a paper of
mine was printed, entitled Philosophy of Geographical
Natines,' the object of which was to 'show that from the
earliest times to the present hour, and in all countries,
the names of places have been imparted on fixed princi-
ples. Though the individual who assigns a new name,
may appear to himself to act capriciously, he is in reality
verifying a known rule unconsciously : so that the.
knowledge of these principles, and of a few terms from
foreign languages, unlocks to us the meaning of a vast
number of local words. Thus Ras-ton, gres-ton, Nor-
ton, and Sat-ton, represent places which are related in
direction, to a larger central town ; Middle-ton is the
central Point between more important extremities
Entre Rios is the country between the rivers; Snea-fel
the snowy mountain ; and Deena--ponts the two bridges."'
This introductory remark will give the reader some idea
of the manner in which the subject is treated. But at
the same time, as the learned author further shows,
in pursuing researches of this kind the attention may
often be arrested by an opposite tendency, and one not
taking effect to anything like the same extent as the
other. "It is thereciprocal action of geographical terms,"
he says, "in giving back to language significant and
useful words. Pew suspect that such a fact exists, and
I am not aware that any one has done more'than merely
notice it, in connection with two or three words. To
anticipate a little, for the sake of illustrations words of
this kind include the terms bayonet which comes from
Bayonne, deli' from Delft, and muslin from, Mosul.
Thus the names of foreign places enrich the English
language; and as our productions are very numerous,
English local names, enrich foreign languages in return.
Sometimes, as will be seen, places in any particular
country add to the words of that country itself." 'We
might extend this exposition of the course that is
pursued by Dr. Hume in dealing with the subject, to
which it is evident he has devoted considerable attention,
and which he illustrates 'in the course of his pamphlet
very fully, and in not a few instances very amusingly.
But our space forbids us to dwell upon it further : we
must conclude, therefore, by quoting his own final
remark on the whole subject—that "Thus, the reci-
procal influence goes forward, geography being, as it
were, both active and passive. These names, like the
Orin& in an echo, have their incidence and reflexion;
the object on which they fall, and from which they are
transmitted, being at one time the surface of the earth,
and at others a human being or a natural or artificial
object. And though, like the echo, these sounds wax
fainter in the distance, their characteristics are pre-
served; and their notes are still distiaguishable.
amusing myself with their examination, I venture to,
believe that I have gathered and arranged some impor-
tant and carious information but the point for which',
I think the remarks particularly' valuable is, their
sUggestiyeness."

THR POETICAL WORKS OF JOSEPH ADDISON ; GAY'S
FABLESI AND SOMERVILLE'S CHASE 7, with Memoirs'
and Critical Dissertations, by the Rev. GEORGE
GILFILLA.S. Edinburgh: Tames Nichol.
The volume whose title stands at the head of this-
notice is a• very handsome one, printed from a large
clear type,-on beautiful paper, and altogether it forms
a very handsome bock, consisting of three hundred and
eighty-six pages demy octavo. Having said so much
for it external aspect, we have a few words, and only a.
few, to add in commendation of the series of which it
forms the latest published portion. It is the forty-
second volume of Nichol's Library Edition of British.
Poets ; a publication whish has now 'nearly completed
the first great division of the undertaking, compris-
ing the works of the British. Poets from Chaucer
to Cowper. To complete this great division, six.
volumes are still wanting ; , but these are an-
nounced to constitute the issue of the year 1860.
They will consist of " Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,"
with Tyrwhitt's notes, in three volumes ; " Cowley's
Works," in- two volumes, and a- sixth volume, compris-
ing "Specimens, with Lives, of the less-known British
Poets,". from Chaucer to Cowper, "In the preparation
of the text of Chaucer," says Mr. Nichol, in his -pre-
liminary-:-notice of the ensuing: year's issue, " the plan.
will be , adopted which has proved so adeeptabl-..5-: in the
case of Spencer. ' The text, so, far as can be effected
without impairing its integrity, will be modernised:
Where this is not practicable, the necessary explana-
tions will be- given in the. margin." To comprehend
what is meant by this promise, it is requisite to go a
little back, and to include in: the retrospec', what was
&ne in the case of the author of the " Faerie Queene."
The works of Spencer were published this year in five
volumes, the antiquated' orthography of hi.s day
being' superseded by the adoption of the medera
spelling, except in. such eases as would interfere
with the rhythm, airs 4 where that would:oecur, to re-
tain the original forms giving in that, aimell as in the
case et obsOlete Words, 'glossarial explanations in. the
Margin, so that the ,inconvenience of referring to .age-7
nerd glosiarY is obviated: TheSame:course is proposed
to be follOWed with respect to Chanier:;, in short, Mr.
Nichol's desire is to do for Chaucer and Spenser. 14
yr
many of our best-scholars have employed themselyes7
admittedly with, advantage to the publie-4n. doing, fob
ShaisPeare. The portion of this laiidable intenti'o'n,
which has, been,accomplishecl has 17Clet with yierat and
deserved approbation, and is such as to. fOrm agunrap.
tee for tbe-SuCceSsfut achievement of that which is, to
come.
In this somewhat gibernian retrospect, which has
been looking 'quite as mach forivard as 'backward,. We
have been insensibly led into a divergence from that
Which ought to beimmediately before us, -we mean the
poetry- of Addison,. Gay, and, Somerville. To- the etU-
dent of English poetry it *not be neCessary—indeed,
desirable—tO say 'anything of the learned, artistic, and
polished elegance., Of 'Addison; who alike in prose ir and
poetrY- conferred a finish and a seeiningly artless grace
upon his
,writings Which won fer them the good opinion
of contemporary critics, but which did more than that
which exrcised a refining influence on
#the,English
langUage `and` his, had no SMall.share in elevating and
purifying thesentimeq ass, well as improving, the style
of ,Engliih' literature Of the sententious wisdom
enunciated in Gay's fables, all classes ,of . readers are
students and admirers. True, their, terse anti. sagacious
as well as generalised veracity has led most readers to
regard them more in the light of dear, familiar house-
.
hold apothegms than to consider, far less canvass, their
Merits as pnetical effusions. Yet, a closer examination of
their merits in this last-named point of view will show us
clearly how much even wisdom may gain from its asso-
ciation with grace and sweetness. The placid flow of Gay's
versification is so beautifully wedded to the epigrammatic
terseness and strongly- expressed lessons which, he incul-
cates, as to enhance their value by the graceful manner
lin which they are presented. Among , readers of the
-present day the peculiarities of Somerville's Chase are
not very generally known. To many, however, who
have no pretensions or desire to be considered among the
Ninarods of the ttnie, much -true poetry will be retaily.