Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-06-14

con can he nr.1uced, it ought to be laid aslde'
,rd meyer mentioned in history, says thai IN !,
the conoueror's survey, 1t Is called 1othal''
from goats. which we may imagine al 'ha'
time we're plentiful in or about 1t; and oeins
.sh .her;sbed here. il was hence called Goals
Lo.,o or dwelling" But Fuller says that the
o,.s,h ss.s wise as man of Gotham, pass
a,h nuh,icly for the pariphrasis OF Tool, ana
an hundred fopperies are forged and tatherea OIL
,h. ,ownsfolk of Gotham. Still he thinks IL no
wore remarkable than the customs OF other ma
TONS. for il has been well observed, that Gus
tom seems 10 have prevailed, even among .the
earliest na,ions, of stigmatizing some particular
spot as remarkable for stupidity. Amongst
the Asiatics, Pbrygia was considered as the
GOTHAM of that day; Abdera, among the nra-
clans: and Beotia among the Greeks. ruler,
however. has the candor TO add-"but to return
| to Gotham, i, doth breed as wise people as any
who do causelessly laugh at their simplicity
Sure am. ST. William de Gotham, fifth mas
ter of Michael House, Cambridge, ammo 1889,
and twice chancellor Of the University, was as
grave Governor as the age did afford: and
Gotham is goody large lortship, where inc
ancient and right well respected family OF o.
| Andrew have hourished some hunared CT years,
till of late the name is extinct, lands DIVIDED
| betwiXt female co-helrs matched unto very "or-
shipfu persons" From these various protests
| in favor Of the men OF Gotham, says the work
before US, cit is evident that considerable publ
city had been geen given to the many rdicu-
Ious fables tradilionally told; particularly oil
theil having often heard the cuckoo, but never
having seen her, and therefore hedged IN ouSh
from which her notes seemed 10 proceed, that
being confined within so small compass, they
might at length catch her, and satisfy their Gu
riosity 1t has been observed by several wrl'
tiers in the last century, that what gave rise to
the story is not remembered; but they all men
ton that there is at place called "Courthiil,
in the parish, bush still designated by the
name of the cuckoo bush :" There was also
sold, during the month of April now last past,
in London, collection Off old plays, among
which was one called, "a pleasant and Merle
new comedy, entitled n Knacke 10 knoc Amaze,
,ciih Kempe's appiauded Merrimsnts Of the Men
of Gotham, 594" The book sold for loi S..
or nearly so dollars; so that toe stories OF these
Gothamites are not Of contemplate value; nor
from the manner in which they are uniformly
spoken OF, as merry set oil r0Sues, DO we De-
leve they were quite as great bockheads, as
many of their neighbors who lived without the
confines OF "Goatshome.
From the foregoing interesting and elaborate
history, those who read the" Merry aes OF
our author will at once declare that they are ge-
nuine to all intents and purposes. We are only
skeptical upon one point, and that is this: we
can find no well authenticated account that the
Gothamites were navigators; and therefore the
story Of their having gone to sea in bowl,
must be pure fiction. Again: as the author
sinks the whole concern in the Norwegian
Maelstrom, exactly over the centre of which
the bowl broke, there is little probability that
the tales would have been longer had the
bowl been ever so strong; since IL would have
been rather difficult for the navigators 10 have
extricated themselves from the all devouring
whirlpool. Blu, that is neither here nor there,
since the poir, is of no great importance to the
truth and dignity of the stories themselves! BE
that, however, as il may, the first Of he ales,
in this collection, is excellent; the second Is
good; and the third shows that the GothamNes
are not so great fools as many people suppose
them 10 be- The burlesque of Owen, and his
system of communities" and doctrines OF
e" circumstances" and counteracting prlnci-
PIES, is one Of the happiesi pieces OF satire that
we have lately seen The second ale is bur-
ieSQue oil the Common Law hSiS IL q St'a'
deal Of genuine humor in il; but we have so 1T
tie faith in the Qualification System OF Jeremy
Benlham, and the dwelling principles OF Coun-
se!lor Sampson, that we should have liked 1t
much better had the shafts Of the authors wit
been directed to some other object. Ncverthe-
less, "the glorious uncertainties OF the law"
are hit off so admirably, that Mansfield, and
Blackstone, and old Lord Coke himself, would
laugh till their ribs cracked, if they could see il.
The third Tale is satire upon the fashionable
sciencesof PhreGology, and is on the whole We
nv fair, although not equal TO either OF the 9th
ers There are several grammatical inaccura-
cies in the work-one, in particular, which
seems to be habitaal, as it runs through the
whole book; and which we hope to see correct
ed in second edition. For example: Neither
philosophy Or morals" page 1888. This sub
sri,ulon of the conjunction or, for the verb nor,
prevails through the whole book, with very
few exceptions. every one Of them in my OPT
Mon are practically false" page 1873. "But,
in truth, the Doctor ,caS become tired OF Paris"
sc. page 29S We might make additions TO
this catalogue. But perhaps they will be con-
sidered too triAing for particular attention.
NAPOLEON AND HANNIBAL.
In late number of the Military Magazine,
l. Al