The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

DICTIONARY OF GEOGIMPITY : Descrip-
tive, Physical, Statistical, and Ilistorical.;
A.' K. Johnston.
Henceforth "Johnston's Gezetteer" will rank
among those standard works of reference which are
to general literature what a grammar or dictionary
are to any particular language. For condensation of
knowledge the compiler of this extraordinary volume
competes, and competes successfully, with such men
as M'Cullagh or Macgregor. His present remark-
able work has about it the compactness of one of
" Maunder'a Treasuries," and the completeness of a
voluminous encyclopedia. Already Mr., Johnston
had revealed his powers, or we might eay his
cultivated adroitness in this respect, that is
to say in regard to the close packing of information
into a compass which, while singularly portable as a
whole, was not in any way stunted or stinted in
detail. His wonderful physical Atlas of Natural
Phenomena, one of the most surprising books ever
printed for the scope and variety of its intelligence,
had above all demonstrated the skill with which he
could congregate together upon a single sheet of paper
a multitude of scattered particulars,, and arrange
them into a systematical form, without marring in
the slightest degree their lucidity. In his present
herculean undertaking' our geographer has had less
novelty of performance to accomplish, but, to our
thinking, a tougher work to get through, and a
larger variety of obstacles, impediments, and
difficulties to overcome. Many gazetteers already
existed, but filled to very repletion with
blunders and mis-statements. To avoid the stereo-
typing of these errors, Mr. Johnston has had to
dispense with the assistance of all previous labourers.
Rather than drop into their fallacies through inadver-
tency, be has preferred to cling to the enormous task
enjoined to any one who can take courage upon
such a field of investigation to be strictly original.
Materials for a similar compilation had been already
collected together to a considerable extent, the
principal contributor being Mr. Brent, and the inten-
tion of the publi)hers, the Messrs. Longman, having
been several years ago directed to the publication of
a general gazetteer. It is true that some of these
materials have been judiciously incorporated in the
present dictionary, but an intimation in the preface
informs us, that "the author thinks it proper to
. .

state that he alone is responsible for the contents of
the whole." By a simple but comprehensive system
of abbreviations (an explanatory table of which is
prefixed to the volume) a large amount of space is
economised that must otherwise have been squandered
upon needless repetitions. Not only are proper names
and designations shortenedto mere initials (as Bpe.

for bisho—pric, G. for gulf, L. for lake, M. for miles
and so forth), but mere expressions and adjectives are
curtailed with equal propriety and usefulness ; for
example, circumf. stands for circumference, iodep.

for independent, cr. for crossed, dom. for dominion,
and inf. for interior. Through this ingenious and
easily understood employment of signs for epithets,
the toil of description is sirgularly simplified.
As nn illustration of the extent of exertion
and research devolving upon Mr. Johnston from his
resolute determiO ation to be original and accurate,
we may mention that he himself has in each case ex-
amined into the situation of the different spots of the
globe mentioned in his dictionary, weighing the real
value of foreign estimates and comparing his 'own
figures with those given .in some accredited printed
statements. By this means alone has he been enabled
to secure his volume from the blemish hitherto ohs
servable in all 'books of a similar description, namely,
the blemish in. this particular of grossly erroneous
calculations. The result is before us it 1,432
double - columned and closely printed -octavo
pages—wonderfully clear and explicit, but. re-
voiding in the very circumstance of their pre,
sent lucidity the enormous effort required for
their accumulation. The unexpected dimensions as-
sumed by the 'manuscript, even when reduced to the:.
miniature of letterpress, has prevented, we regret to
find from the
i.preface, the insertion of a supp`e-
mental catalogue of the most important mew. geogra-
phical and stati ktical works which had been referred
to by the author; and Which might be judiciously
consulted for further information. This catalogue,
livieg been actually prepared for insertion as a sort
of appendix, we ;trust may be ultimately published in
seine shape for
,the sake of popular guidance. One
or 'two :peculiarities in Mr. Johnston's gazetteer:not
yet mentioned eles erve to he especially particularised.
Among other thili gs, it -may be as well to observe, for
instance, as a circiumstance entirely •characteriseic of
the compiler and of the compilation, that the proper
names as well as the corrupt Englishnames of places
are given with Laborious exactitude, such as Wien
and T'ienna, Aachen- and Aix la Chapelle ; while the
Eastern names -sire Invariably spelt in accordance
with the systens adopted by the Royal Geographical
Society. Hoe'', caretully the whole• of the niforme-
tion in this nett n;ehing Dictionary has been brought
down to the pis (nt time, inclusive of some of the
most recent occiterencesonay be recognized even by
a cursory glance through the production. Under
"Gaeta" we find it stated "Pope Pius IX. sought an
mell= here in 1849." Under " Naples" it is said,
that that city was. " the scene of a znoeti disgraceful
Outrage in Dray, ':1848, when 1,500 lives were lost, and
.it was plundered by the lazzaroni." Other para.:
graphs scattered, through' the work :testify to the
punctilious canon with which Mr. Johnston has
turned again and again to his MS. original for the
purpose of addipg some new atom of information,
thereby rendering his labour more complete and esti-
mable. .We may congratulate ourselves, in common
with the rest of -the community, on the circumstance,
that from time to time men eminently qualified for
the task take' upon themselves to collect and
collate large masses of knowledge of this elementary
and, indispensable character—,undeferred by • the
effort requisite for the accomplishment and the appli-
cation essentiaUto success. Of all individuals in the
United Kingdom, capacitated by education, by skill,
and by experieince, to compile a standard Gazetteer
—we should have pointed to the very man who has
here -undertaken the task and carried it triumphantly
to a completion. Alexander Keith Johnston, by his
long practice as a geographer, by his familiarity
with .the particular kinds of knowledge required in
the formation of a descriptive, physical, statistical,
and historical Geographical Dictionary, as well as
from " being possessed 'of an extensive and valuable
collection of books, maps, and notes, relating to
every portion of the globe, collected during
a period of more than fift( en years unre-
mittingly devoted to geographical pursuits," was
precisely of all men the man to adventure upon the
achievement .of this literary exploit especially
seeing that with all the advantages just enumerated
he combined indomiteble energy and unflinching
perseverance. Having carried his toils tit length to a suc-
cessful issue, we can here most cordially, and as far as
our sense of usefulness is concerned, gratefully felici-
tate him on the close of his wearisome undertaking.
Our congratulations, moreover, are due not merely
to the compiler, but .also •to the publisher of this
superb Gazetteer.

, MAGAZINES, stc.—(CONTINUED.)
COLBURN' S UNITED SERVICE.
The first article of the June nuniber of the United
Service is entitled " Destinies of Great Britain in the
East," and- is an unanswerable vindication of the
policy of which Sir Charles Napier is the champion.
It is demonstrated by the writer of this article that
the substitution of the rule of the British for that of
the petty tyrants who call themselves Native Princes,
has been invariably attended with a great increase of
prosperity to the great bulk of the people of India;
that it is " for the greatest happiness of the greatest
number," that the direct rule of British authority
should be substituted for that of Rajas and Ameers,
and that increase of territory has been forced upon
us rather than sought. "The first Political Relations
of England with Russia" is a history of the discovery
of the shore of. the White Sea by Chancelor, and of
the subsequent embassies to Russia up to the com-
mencement of the reign of Charles 1., and cannot
but be interesting at the present moment,
when our relations with Russia are so cri-
tical, and when the influence of the then barbarians,
but now semi-civilised Muscovites,is so overwhelming
in the affairs of Western Europe. ." The Antarctic
Voyage " is the only account which has yet appeared
of the expedition of her Majesty's hired barque Pa-
goda to the Antarctic Ocean, under the command of
Lieutenant Moore, in 1845. We have also from the
pen of Captain Drew, R.N., an admirably written
biography of Captain Sir John Phillirnore, R.N., from
which we extract the following account of the ordi-
nation of a bishop by the captain of a frigate, which
we commend to the especial attention of the
Puseyites :
" On-the passage home, the Thetis put into the Island
of St. Michael's, one of the Azores, for supplies, particu-
larly for the sick, and it was here that Sir John Philli-
more had an opportunity of showing the versatility of his
genius, mid of proving that ho could surmount any diffi-
culty, even the want of a bishop on the Atlantic ocean.
The English inhabitants on the island waited upon him
in a body, and stated that they had no consecrated piece
to bury their dead, and requested him to hare a piece of
ground, which was allotted for that purpose, consecrated.
This he at one promised should (so dune—for %Ia can-
do? The chaplain of the
not captain of a man-of-war
Thetis, the Nov. W. G. Roysr, was immediately rent for,
and received his orders to be ready to censecr=tr the
piece 'of ground by noon the next day. It was in vain
he prote:,ted he h9.d no authority to do it; that he was
not competent; why not? beeauce,.Sir John, it requires
a bishop to con:iecrate. Well,
Sr.ll give. you an a:.!ting
order, you shall be,Eithop of S 2lichael'e. Still tiro
reveren ea
d gentletu looked about for an excuse; I cannot
do sir, there is no form of consecration in the Prayer-
book-, I have nothing to guide me, in fact I know nothing
about it. Wch, give the first Lieutenant an order to
write you eat a form, and that tattles the matter. Tice
first Lieutenant was too strict a dretplicarian to hest-
tat© to obey any order be received ;rota his captain, so
he and the elergypaan put their heads together and made

LONDQ/sT,

out A tolerable form of Consecration, not quite so pet,fect
as the Archbishop of Canterbury would have made, but
one which served the purpose. The ccremony went off
with greet (Mat, the seamen and marines fornnrg a line
of..procession, and the whole concluded (much to the
satitf4Ction of all parties) with a royal salute from her
jes ty 'ts. ship The tii."