The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1848-08-16
LITERARY NOTICES.
THE EDINBURGH AND WESTMINSTER REVIEWS FOR
JULY.

THE EDINBURGH AND WESTMINSTER REVIEWS Fo
| JULY.
The prompt and elegant reprints of these celebra
ted Quarterlies are seasonably upon our table, iron
! the press of Scott & Co., New-York. The presen
number of the Edinburgh is both massive and rich
1t opens with an essay on I" Provencal and Scandi
| navian Poetry" which, as well subsequen
review of "Herschells Survey of the Southern
Heavens" is paper redolent of learning and in
dusry. Almost sprighty sketch of the life of Oliver
Goldsmith is founded upon a biography by Johr
Forster and again, the theme of pointed and read
able article is found in German Strausss Political
Pamphlet which, under title of "The Romanticist
(Romantiker) on the Throne of the Caesars" and I'M
der preext of delneatng the character of Apostate
Julian, describes in broad carcaturc and biting sar-
casm the Emperor Frederick William of Prussia
Then we have "Academical Test Articles" an at
tempt to breathe moderate spirit of warmth into
the perpetual SHOWS of Oxford University; "The
French Republic" pungent and partly just article,
having fer premise that the Revolution was bun
die of dccedenS and for conclusion that nothing can
EMPIRE whch-we have not read
The Westminster Review likewise presents & var
led list of contents, but among its articles we will
mention only two. The first is entitled The Lite
nature of the United States" Its tone is fair and
even kindly; and we only wish that the writer's
ability were equal to his candor He gives the
Americans considerable credit for appreciation and
proficiency in Philosophy and AYERS that Kant has
been hrjce Translated into american English. He
classes Emerson Thy an error absurd but not singu-
lar) among the Philosophers-and first at that
while Of Poetry he says not word; in which i'm
portant moiety of literature Emerson lin our pri-
rate judgmen) stands ,f1cie princepS on this side
the water In the department of Eloquence tic
by Mrs. Maury, and of course possesses no fitness
to pronounce upon the eloquence of Webster
WEBSTER, whose speeches will be as immortal, and
as fragrant, and as independent of politics and Of
history as are those of Demosthenes himself. We
cannot wonder that he rises from the perusal of
Mrs. Maury d" with disappointment" In fiction the
writer mentions Irving and Cooper; and congratu-
of History with names so credtabe as that of Pres
colt, whom the Reviewer had read, and of Bancroft
whom he had not.
The other article to which we wish to alludc treats
of English University Education" 1t leans to the
fashion $50 prevalent among certain modern build
ers) of negccting the Foundations Of education in
order to spend more pains upon the upper acorhs;
and is another exemplifcaton of the truth that Pro-
gress is not always Matched in the nests of Radical
ism. That something must be done, however, to
save the English University from final and utter
foSSilisation, seems evident. The writer says:
An ordinary Cambridge Graduate has seen some
service in arithmetic. algebra, and Euclid, in Homer
and Virgil, with trile of Paley and Locke. All
er, must be obtained from other quarters or wholly
omitted"
Bad enough to be sure. And our Reviewer seems
to expect this deplorable state of things to be
died partly by diminishing the "scrvice in Homer
and Virgil' in order to increase that in Palcy and
Locke and partly by founding more professorships
in the Physical Sciences--whether of " Agricultu-
raj Chemistry or other lie does not specifically adj
vise.-This article, however, is somewhat carefully
written, and contains some important suggestions,
after all.
We cordially commend these able Quarterlies to
the public furnished at present. we regret to say
american Industry having no protection in this
Department. for the mere cost of paper and ink.