The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-11-05

an example take the following verse from soHeoouy VI
the name Of williamson
An August evening, on balcony
That overlooked a woodland ana axe,
sat in the still air, and talked with one
Whose face shono farer than the crescent moon.
ono doubt the situation had its charm" to the fortu
nate Mr.. Williamson, and possibly might have been
agreeable enough Mr. Dana had he been there but tho
description of above gwen is neither poetry nor prose
Mr. Dana evidently anticipates that objection will be
raised against his book for his omission of established
names and to meet the case he says in preface Bu
is believed Of those which the unanimous verdict OF
the intelligent has the seal of ndputabe greatness,
none whether Of English Scotch Irish American orr
GIN viii be found wanting" If othe Intelligent, means
Mr. Dana and four or five dozen other members of the lit
tie mutual admiration clique who to the great misfortune
of American literature control rs destiny then
perhaps his assertion not out of the way but Il the IN
tcgencc Of the people meant nothing can be wider OF
the mark. OF the fifty three names he has in his book
American poets, upon whom, according to himself,
hc intelligent have the seal Of ndisputabc great
ness = only twenty are known at all poets, while
thirty entirely destitute Of poetic fame And he
has lett less than thirty upon whom the intei-
gence Of the people has set the seal OF greatness quite
.'indisputaby upon any he has retained II is the
people and not few selfconsttued critics. who give
withhold fame and this effort Of Mr. Dana to disparage
of crowd Of abolition hedgings will have other effect
upon the public mind than to awaken indignation and dis
gust al such PARTISAN holiness
The selections from foreign poets contain many pieces
of undoubted excellence while there number very
inferior merit. But we miss the admirable songs of
Thomas Lodge do also the of such poets
Parne Prior, Denham, Otway, Crabbe and Congreve If
he left thirty OF the thirty five dull poems he
inserted from Wordsworth, and put in their place few
such sparkling songs as Love in my Bosom like Bee
by lodge: "Cupd and Ganymede," by Prior {" The
Poets Complaint" by Otway; and the " Birth of the
Muse by Congrevc his book would be much improved
We also miss many OF the finest Scotch songs such as
Behave Yourself Before Folk )" by Alexander Rodger
g Logan Draes,n by John Wayne " Roys Wife, by Mrs
Grant aud the % Making O the Hay by Robert Nico
The thing may also be said OF his selections from
Irish songs Had he left one half of the hundred
poems he has inserted from American poets OF abolition
tendencies which are not particularly good he would
have had space for great many of the gems Of
song native and foreign which crowded out Of his
volume.
As is the book is far from being fair or full reprcscn
tatve of the best poetry of the English language and
what STILL Of the finest songs in the volume
are mutated by the hand OF the editor In the last
verse; for instance Of the charming song 1--WE parted
in Silence, by Mrs Crawford Mr. Dana inserts color"
for 'odor line, and ''oer" for ground" in an
other which evidently not typographical errors, but
intentional alterations of the text very much to its det
rmcnt.
We notice number OF poems put down as anonymous,
the authors of which are well known, and others which
are credited the wrong authors Thus Mr. Dana
dts Freneau's well known song Of Alknomook to Anne
Hunter Of Scotland.
There many other faults and mistakes which we
could point out in this volume if it worth while to
occupy more space 70 do so As literary performance
the book failure, evincing absence OF the candor
patient research and which are ndis
pensabc TO the just performance Of such task II would
that the compiler entered upon the labor OF making
the book with intention Of surprising well informed
by his independence Of public opinion In that view
only can his performance be deemed a success.
The publishers have performed their part crcda
bly, TO themselves, which, regret say is the only
good thing conscientiously say Of the work.
PHYsIc AND IT'S PHASES: London, 1858.
British literature like that Of the Greeks is without
its sanitary poets. AS Lycophron and Ncander Of old
sung the healing power of drugs, so Garth, Akensde
Armstrong and Darwin have written of prcserv
ing health We have aspirant to poetic fame
the author OF "Physic and its Phases man who
TO extensive medical knowledge adds preensions
a sstrst.
The practice OF physc, as all reflective men must know,
has too long been made art and mystery simply
empirical without any scientific basis or great leading
principles to guide IT, and thus author very justly
observes in his preface the physicians OF epoch
times on one plea sometimes another but seldom or
never assigning the reason have been gradually
more or less reversing their whole Of disease
The poem is throughout bitter satire the cqucism
Of the profession which heaven knows, has attained
towering heigh, already; and thus the author says
Reason and sense, where things out Of joint,
Must call in rdicule or lose their point:
While sage professors argument Withstand,
Science and satire must go hand IN hand.
In the new system recommended by our author the
principe OF dualsm is made the basis and though the
stomach the liver and the lungs have been considered
the great origin OF disease he sets forth the brain the
pr me Of the whole system and the lines
very forcible and the point, need apology for
extracting them
Placed an an emincncc. o'crlooking all,
The brain, lord paramount begins the ball
procaims the tunc and when the music answers,
keefs measure. step for step, with all the dancers
rs brain notes time, and marks the moods and mizcs
That give life Us htfu flows and phases;
Through brain. when struck with fever men succumb,
To brain drugs spcsk--to make disorder dumb
Tho condition a. the brain indeed and lie temperature
are the great bases which the chrome thermal theory
o. Dr Dickson, advocated by the author rcposcs-and
this he colueny defends against all the Of the
schools The BRAIN in short, y The principle Of sensation,
hy which all the other MISUNDERSTANDING lungs, kidney,
rancrcas or liver throat or siomaci-are governed In
Their acton through the animal system.
Again an things proclaim the unity a. life, there
similar unity in disease all forms Of sickness being
forms Of fever Of which ague the type bark and qu
nine the general remedies and those who would not
admit the chrome thermal theory have been compelled 10
acknowledge TIN, the grand oblec, Of modern chemical
inquiry TO prove that disease Is unity, with variety
N phenomena and that ~ are reducble 70 a few
elementary forms Aud yet, continues The pot Alci.
rhron-
in the teeth Of truth and common sense,
Behold how doctors daily. on preence
To cure sick men with calome destroy
Enough 10 make the sections jump for JOY
No matter what the victims sex or age,
Nothing will make these pcdants change their
stFl eaiome calomel-irst and last resource
In this doctrine we fully agree for certainly there