Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-05-01
NATIONAL IrTELLIGENcER:
NOTES ON NEW BOOKS.

LECTURES AND MIscELLANIEs. BY Henry James.
Redfeld, New York, 1852.
Apothecaries, by wise enactment, are forbidden
to yend any of the compositions of their retorb
mortar, and pestle without af6xing label to each
box and vial descriptive Of their contents; and SO
too the bookmakers, it seems to us, should be re-
quired to utter. their volumes with such titlcs as
shall at least give one suspicion of what they
contain. If any son Of Esculapius should retail
the au1 von,ica or prussic acid under the names
Of Vegetable Life Pills or " Universal Phoenix
Bitters" he would justly incur the penalty Of o
criminal prosecution. Now, Mr.. James, in issuing
the work whose name stands at the head of our
columns has acted Exc the druggist who should
dispense o specific nostrum under the general de-
scription of "n,e2icated nairtxre;" for who can
tell from the title Of his book whether 1t is intend
ed to minister to mind diseased, by purging of
certain errors of the understanding, or whether,
like mental cordial, it aims merely TO refresh the
fancy and crafty the taste We DO not protest at
all against the publication Of these Lectures and
Miscellanes" We wish the press to be just as free
forthe dissemination Of Mr.. Jamess speculatons as
it lis for the advertisement Of .sWattss Mirfc Ner
vous Antidotep or Dalley's Pain Killer" We
presume to say nothing in this connection against
either quacks in medicine pretenders in literature
Mr. James assures us that society is at present es-
tabshed on very unscenti6c basis, and so long as
this abnormal state endures, it must needs be,
we suppose, that charlatans and ophiosophcrs
impose on the credulity Of the " great vulgar" We
could wish however, that Mr.. James had selected
such title for his book as would have given pur-
chasers an iDkng of the socialistic rhapsodes and
theosophic trash which were in store for them And
still further, we think that the author has chosen an
inopportune time for the final publication in printed
form Of the lectures composed and delivered by him
al few years ago. Then they had the charm Of pub
Lie and engrossing interest, and foated upon the
agitated surface Of society ike SO many brilliant
but insubstantial bubbles The popular mind Of
Europe was at that time inflated by the leaven Of
socialism and demagogy, and it was the trans
mitted influence Of these same elements that gene
rated even on our own shores fermentation of
thought that occasionally broke out in just such
gaseous eruptons as are discernible in the work
before But present the crudities Of these
refomers and humanitarian philanthropsts have been
pretty generally left the digestion Of few very bash
full ladies, loud in the advocacy of womans rights,
and certain menscant statesmen Of Europe who have
been recently illustrating among u.s. by modern in
stance, the old saw concerning beggsrs put horse
back All such unripe speculatons either too
late too early in the dayteo late to ride upon the
crest of the that has already broken the Shore
too early to stem the recedng tide which is set
ting back into the a.s4 laa
As to the merely literary execution of the yolume
der consideration free confess that it possesses
considerable merit Mr. James has at ready commando
vocabulary of philosophical language that leaves no
in doubt respecting the authors opinions the most
conde subjects which he undertakes discuss There
is of that cropping after the light in misty vacuity
which seems to have been the attitude of certain writers
metaphysical subjects Mr. James clearly eyes his
mark and hits it in the whte he does handy words
merely the dazzling fence of rhetorcian but speaks
like really in earnest, endeavoring to seem
Sometimes it is true, We think he becomes the dupe of
his enchantments and magnes when he has trcked
off old idea in the livery of his peculiar dialect that
his brain has been safely delivered Of Minerva the
reader the contrary bethinks himself Of the mountain
laboring with We propose to give readers
before INDUCING in further remark side view of the
most salient features which stand out in these remarka
BILE political and philosophical sketches 1t has generally
been wont to Gull few excerpts from author
der consideration in order append them TO the foot Of
our own dispositions but the present occasion
prefer give Mr. James the honor Of first hearing
serving ourselves the right Of following with such ami
madyersions shall good to rs in the premises
With the New Theology Of author it does not be-
come us specially to ourselves whether the
collective sphere Of human existence is external in
terna to the subjective and whether consequently the
relation Of God to external internal tits no part
Of our theology either to deny affirm. Believing that
such questions minister strife and vain angngs rather
than OBLIGATION we dismiss them with the simple query
of honest Srepsadss in the play Of Arstophanes How
nv friend being DID, forgetfu and slow shall we ever
learn the hair plittings of such nice words? 20 ~
Mr. JamesAas mixed up his politics with his religion
that Il becones easy task for to evscerae the
former from the body Of his lectures without bringing
AWAY somportions Of the latter but politics undoubed
Nv form ne chief staple of the three opening lectures Of
the prcent volume which are respectively entitled "De
noop1cy and its Issues" Property rs Symbol" and
..ne Principle Of Universally in Art" What our po-
lca philosophers theory respecting the origin and ends
Of government actually is viii sufficiently appear from
the following extracts n 81 IL e3oH8 aot
every Governmental institution has been standing
testimony to the harmonic destiny Of society standing
proof that the life Of is destined for peace and amity
instead Of disorder and contention No one can doubt
that human life had been perfect in the infancy Of the
race-that is say, just social relations had existed
from the acknowledgements would never have been
thought of necessity of human society Its existence
is simply confession Of the immaturiy Of society"
IL look upon Democracy heralding the moral per-
lection Of inaugratng the existence of perfect
ly Just relations between man and man. and conse-
quenty preparing the way for the reign of infinite Love
II supposes that capable Of so adjusting their
relations to each other that they win need no police
or external force control them, bat will spontaneously
do the right thing, in oil places and at all times"
Because the moment society becomes perfect the mo-
ment all legazcd privilege among its SUBJECTS and
every man becomes the equal of every other in the pub
lie care that moment you make it the interest Of the in
diydua to cherish the good Of the WHOLE because his own
advantage is identified with IL; and If you make il
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