The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-17 00:00:00

CHARACTER OP GIBBON'S HISTORY.

"The merits of the work are incontestably proved by
its success in an age which had produced Montesquieu ;
and which, at the time of the publication, still possessed
flume, Robertson, and Voltaire : they are confirmed by
the subsequently undisturbed permanence of that success.
In the most enlightened countries of Europe, in England,
France, and Germany, Gibbon is always quoted as an
authority. Even those who have detected his inaccuracies,
or do not assent to some of his opinions, never point out
his mistakes nor contest his views, but with the respect
dae to superior merit."

That M. Guizot is a great admirer of the acute
judgment and subtle analytical powers of Gibbon
is manifested in many ways, but that admiration
is never permitted to carry him beyond reach of a
position on which he can readily supplement
opinion by reference to fact, and offer commen-
dation in strict conformity with justice. In the
memoir of Gibbon, this cautious, though admiring
biographer, sets out by reducing to the severity of
definition the attributes of which an historian
should be possessed, and by the application of
which his merits should be judged.

PRILSONA_L QUALIFICATIONS OE AN HISTORIAN.
"It is among probabilities, that the historian must find
and restore truth from the disfigurements of time. His
is the duty to judge the worth of his materials, and ours
the right to estimate his decision, according to the opinion
we form of the judge. In our idea of the requisites to
form all impartial historian, we place foremost a passion-
less temperament, habits of moderation, and that middle
station in life where ambition is dormant and the pressure
of want unknown. In this point of view, none could be
better fitted for the office than Gibbon."

After briefly discussing the probably disposing
causes which led to Gibbon's antagonistic attitude
to Christian doctrines and faith, which M. Guizot
attributes to the prejudices by which his mind was
biased in favour of ancient institutions, (which
view, by the way, is somewhat modified by the
editor in a foot note,) M. Guizot proceeds thus to
apologize for Gibbon. How far the apology is a
satisfactory one, or, indeed, to what extent at all,
it is to be admitted, must, in a great degree, be
judged by the reader for himself. The good faith
and liberality of the apologist will hardly, we
think, admit of question.

UYECTS AND AGGRAVATIONS OP GIBBON'S PREJUDICES.
Where prejudice prevails, honesty cannot be perfectly
sound. There may be no fixed design to mislead others ;
but there is self-deceit. In this frame of mind, a writer,
to uphold what he considers to be truth, has recourse to
little liberties, which he either avows not to himself, or
professes to regard as unworthy of notice, and his passions
overcome his scruples by exaggerating the importance of
their victory. Thus it was, no doubt, that Gibbon found
nothing in the history of Christianity but what favoured
the opinions which he had formed before he had strictly
examined the facts. The alteration of some passages,
which he quoted, whether curtailed designedly, or neg-
ligently read, furnished arms to his adversaries, by giving
them reason to suspect him of dishonesty. The whole
sacredotal order was leagued against him. His most
active opponents were rewarded by dignities and favours ;
ironically he congratulated himself on having given " a
royal pension to Mr. Davies, and collated Dr. Apthorp to
an archiepiscopal living." The pleasure of thus bantering
adversaries who had, in almost every instance, attacked
him with more vehemence than discretion, compensated
the first vexation of their attacks, and, perhaps, caused
him to overlook the real wrongs, for which he had to re-
proach himself.
in the last few words we may read the sincere
declaration of one who knows the bitterness of party
opposition and misrepresentation. It is perfectly
true that a friend by remonstrance, and a gentle
demonstration of error, might have been ineffectual
in eradicating the prejudices, and correcting the
misrepresentations of Gibbon ; but every one in the
slightest degree conversant with the business of
life must be familiar with the baneful effect pro-
duced by dictation, and the obstinacy engendered
by attempted coercion. Gentleness will lead a
strong man as a child ; indiscreet vehemence and
abuse, by offending his self-love, will convert an
error which a man regarded with indifference into
a cherished dogma, surrounded by all the entrench-
ments which can be reared by wounded vanity and
offended pride. But to conclude our remarks on
the subject more legitimately before us; the present
edition of Gibbon, by the introduction of explana-
tory foot-notes, is well guarded from the chance of
propasatmg error, while the noble historical struc-
ture is retained in all the grandeur and beauty of
its proportions and details.

Memoirs of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D.
By the Rev. William Hanna, LL.D. Edinburgh :
Thomas Constable and Co.
This, the second quarterly part, of the cheap or
people's edition of these interesting memoirs, main-
tains
in every respect the character for beauty and
comprehensiveness which had been suggested 13.3 the
first. In typography it is clear and legible ; the by
is unabridged ; and the work is cheap even in these
days of miraculous cheapness in the literary market.
Of the memoirs themselves it will by most people
tedeemed sufficient commendation to say that they
_literally and in truth an almost unadorned nar-
rative of the life of that great man and eminent
Christianupastorn4 concerning whom they are written.
In des ig
beg them an unadorned narrative, we
must not
suspicion of carelessness or crudity in their compo-
sition ; on the contrary, they are written with a
clearness and unostet atisousness of diction, yet
f
nervous delineation of and fulness of incident,
which show at once that I:ir
artist, has acquired the higheallanna' as a literary
excellence in his
Mition• The subject of the
memoir,, Dr. Chal-

mere himself, was a singular instance of childlike
simplicity united to the highest intellectual gifts.
The comprehensiveness of his mind grasped with
facility the most abstruse mathematical subtleties,
or felicitously unravelled the mazes of metaphysical
inquiry. Born in a humble station of life, he, not
without difficulty, attained the usual resting-place
for the ambition of a Scottish clergyman, the
incumbency of a country pastorate. Such a position,
however tempting, by its undisturbed security and
seductive ease, was not the goal at which the genius
of Thomas Chalmers sought its wreath of victory ;
a wider field, and a more thorny path, invited him
to active usefulness, and he courted the strife of a
city incumbency, where his energies might have
full sway, in conflict with the vices and misery
incident to poverty and physical degradation. The
Tron Church, parish of Glasgow, was accorded to
him, and here he had his hands full of work in his
endeavours to sustain the backsliding, to reclaim
the wandering, and to confirm the virtuous among
the dense and not undegraded population of a large
manufacturing and commercial city. While attend-
ing to his pastoral duties, in this arduous sphere of
ministerial labour, he laid- the foundation of that
critical and personal knowledge of social indigence
which found utterance in his admirable treatises
connected with poverty and the poor laws. Here
also, notwithstanding the most unflinching attend-
ance upon the duties of his spiritual calling', he
found leisure to compose, digest, and publish his
celebrated " Astronomical Discourses," a work
whose popularity was so great at the time of its
publication, that for a whole year it ran a neck-
and-neck race, in competition for public favour,
with one of the most popular novels written by the
world-renowned "Author of Waverley."

EXTRAORDINARY POPULARITY OF TICE ASTRONOMICAL

DISCOURSES.

It (the volume of Astronomical Discourses) was pub-
lished on the 28th of January, 1817. In ten weeks 8,000
copies had been disposed of, the demand showing no
symptom of decline. Nine editions were called for within
a year, and nearly 20,000 copies were in circulation. Never
previously, nor ever since, has any volume of sermons met
with such immediate and general acceptance. The " Tales
of my Landlord" (Sir Walter Scott's novel above referred
to) had a month's start in the date of publication, and
even with such a competitor it ran an almost equal race.
Not a few curious observers were struck with the novel
competition, and watched with lively curiosity how the
great Scottish preacher and the great Scottish novelist
kept for a whole year so nearly abreast of one another. It
was, besides, the first volume of sermons which fairly broke
the lines which had separated too long the literary from
the religious public. Its secondary merits won audience
for it in quarters where evangelical Christianity was
nauseated and despised. It disarmed even the keen
hostility of Hazlit, and kept him for a whole forenoon
spell-bound beneath its power.

Greater feats, however, than merely bewildering
the sceptical wits of the Cockney critic lay in the
path of Dr. Chalmers, and were speedily achieved.
From being a distinguished luminary in the humble
Scottish Kirk, the great divine was soon raised to
the eminence of a " bright particular star" in the
circles of science, opulence, and grandeur ; courted
by men of letters, caressed by the hereditary
nobility, and countenanced by royalty itself ; yet
all without detriment to the simple humility of
mind and earnest Christian benevolence of the
modest and unassuming, though eloquent and
powerful preaeher. A narrative of the life of such
a man, written with perspicuity and truth, must
furnish many a lesson of Christian virtue ; such a
narrative is that now before us. Need we, can we
say more in its commendation P

Miss Corner's Scriptural History Simplified.
London : Thomas Dean and Son.

The object of this volume is to bring the leading
facts and events of Scripture history prominently,
yet simply, before the mind of youth. It is
arranged in answers to a series of questions which
embrace the history of man from the period of the
deluge to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans under Titus. -The book has evidently
been compiled with much care, and will be found
an admirable companion to the nursery or school-
room ; and will bear a fair comparison with the
other school-books produced by Miss Corner. This
one, we perceive, has been submitted to the revi-
sion of Dr. Kitto.

The Dublin University Magazine. Dublin :
James M`Glashan.

The January number of this favourite periodical
is of the accustomed excellence which has distin-
guished its career and maintained its popularity.
The number opens with a scene in " Our Winter
Garden," which is gaily bedizzened with poetic
fruit of rare excellence, and no inconsiderable
variety. To this succeeds the first portion of what
promises to be an interesting series of papers under
the title of " A Voyage to Van Diemen 's Land."
The present part of it is written with much spirit,
and indicates great shrewdness and a vigilantly-
observant eye on the part of its author, who, as
yet, in his descriptive voyage, has got no farther
than the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe, the diffi-
culties to be encountered and vanquished in
ascendinc, which he describes with great spirit.
This is followed by a capital paper on our " Present
System of Cavalry Tactics," in which the defects
of the system are clearly pointed out, and sugges-
tions are modestly made for the removal of those
defects. "Memories of the Count de Lally" is the
commencement of another biography of " Eminent
Irishmen," with which the readers of this magazine
have been so frequently charmed. Besides the
papers named, there is a collection of excellent
articles on various subjects in prose and verse, and
the number is appropriately closed by a smart
analysis of " The early Continental Campaigns of
the British Army." As a whole, the January
number forms a promising inauguration to the
year's magazine, and fully maintains its reputation.

Index to Familiar Quotations. Liverpool:
Walmsley.

The frequency with which quotations are used,
both in speaking and writing, gives them a more
than ordinary interest, for few will deny the ad-
vantage of being able to express an idea in the
words of one who has used the most appropriate
language. But, amidst the multitude of these
gems of thought, there is a strong desire to dis-
cover the authority made use of, not only for the
purposes of curiosity, but also to ensure the cor-
rectness of the quotation. Few, however, have
the means or the opportunity for the research, and
they have here a help and a guide in the labours
of Mr. Grocott, of this town. His relaxationfrom the
dry study of the law he has made not only pleasant
to himself, but profitable to others, by the produc-
tion of a book of which every one of the reading
public will gladly avail himself. He has wandered
through the ample stores of literature, collected
their gems, and arranged them with such me-
thodical precision, that the reader has but to select
a subject and find a quotation ready fitted for it.
His field of research has been ample, comprising
the Holy Scriptures, the matchless Shakspere, and
authors in prose and poetry, foreign as well as
British, and the materials he has arranged in
alphabetical form, giving parallel passages from
various writers, so that the reader may compare
them, and select according as his judgment or
caprice may dictate. It is no slight advantage
of this mode of arrangement that claims to priority
of particular forms of expression are thus brought
prominently forward ; and it is curious to notice
that several passages for which comparatively
modern writers have hitherto enjoyed the credit
were borrowed from earlier authors, and issued to
the world with merely a thin disguise. Mr. Gro-
cott's has been a labour of love, but it is one for
which many will heartily thank him, and we anti-
cipate for his little work a very extended patronage.

" More and More." A word to my _Flock, at
the beginning of 1854. By the Rev. W. M.
Falloon, A.B. Liverpool :A. Newling.
The beginning of a new year has been appropri-
ately seized on by the incumbent of St. Bride's, to
offer an address to the members of his congregation.
The address is opened with following suitable
EXORDIUM.

Another year has opened upon us all through divine
mercy ; it dawned with the sacred light of the Lord's
day, so that its earlier hours were hallowed ; if allowed
to travel through its appointed course of months, with
the same blessed day it is to close ; between these two
holy days, the first and the last of our New-year, what
changes may occur ! Changes national, political, spi-
ritual, ecclesiastical, congregational, pastoral, personal,
relative, and domestic ! Even before the buds of the coming
spring burst forth into beauty; or before the summer's
sun ripens the fruit upon the trees ; or before autumn's
blast strips nature of its verdure, and introduces hoary
winter, what hopes may be blighted ! what expectations
shattered ! what eyes darkened ! what tongues silenced !
what hearts rent and torn ! what families dismembered !
what souls lost ! what sinners saved! what conflicts
endured ! what battles fought ! what victories achieved !
We cannot with intelligence look our New-year in the
face, without perceiving on its disc some faint outlines
which seem like the shadows of coming events ; and
though they do not as yet fully declare their intent, or
say to which of us they come, still the very uncertainty
wakes up within us varied anxieties ; these produce fears,
and these can alone be allayed by being at once committed
to the care of Him "with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning :" and so, dwelling in the secret
place of the Most High, and abiding beneath the shadow
of the Almighty, you may turn your eyes from the clus-
tering ehadowe of the future, to the bright lines written

on the blessed pages of inspiration, and gather to your
souls a gracious confidence as you read: " He shall deliver
thee in six troubles ; yea in seven there shall no evil touch
thee. In famine He shall redeem thee from death ; and
in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid
from the scourge of the tongue ; neither shalt thou be
afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruction
and famine thou shalt laugh ; neither shalt thou be afraid
of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league
with the stones of the field ; and the beasts of the field
shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that
thy tabernacle shall be in peace ; and thou shalt visit thy
habitation, and shall not sm."

After a brief review of the past year's experi-
ences, and an earnest exhortation to perseverance
in Christian well-doing, he proceeds to express his
anxious desire to promote the well-being of his
flock, and states his apprehension that on this
point he may be misunderstood, and even misrepre-
sented, as expecting too much. He then advances
in the following eloquent terms his admonition for