Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1876-04-22
SoHth.
SALMAGUNDI.
BY REV. W. }. scorr.


that when some one suggested 10 DR..
johnson that Boswell thought of writing
his (JOhnsOn's) life, that the Doctor re-
piled that il he believed Boswell serious
~ contemplated such thing, lie would
prevent it by taking Boswell's life. And
yet Boswell, the prince of tOadies, has by
general consent produced the most char
ming of English biographies. 1t is GER
tainIy. however, an almost unexampic'l
instance OF herO-worship that man of
gentle if not patrician blood, of ample
fortune and considerable literary culture,
should devote the prime Of bis life 70 re-
cOrding the minutest sayings and least
dignified dOings of Sam johnson. For
johnson, as Is well understood, was of
plebian extTaction-sloyenlyi in his hab-
its and not unfrequently coarse even to
vulgarity.
Moreover, on all occasions he made BOs-
well the butt of his ridicule or spleen, as
might best serve his turn. In spite of
this, Boswell seems to have never faltcr-
ed in his attachment, deeming il no small
honor even to loosen the shOe-latchet Of
his idol.
We can forgive johnson his extreme
TOryism; we can cOndone his corruption
of our Yernaeular of Learned length and
laundering sOund;" we can even pardon
his superciliOus contempt for poor Gold
smith, but we cannot excuse his atrabili-
Gus sneers and SCOTS at poor Boswell
These were cruel if not cOwardly.
johnson, however, merits the highest
praise for asserting his indepence of pat
rOnage, preferring to drudge for Cave,
his publisher, for the merest pittance
rather than dance attendance on any
British Macaenas whatever. This was a
''new departure" in literature, and while
authorship has not been a gainful craft
pnder the present regime, yet it has lost
nothing in that respect since the days that
Otway went supperless to his lodgings in
a garret, and Butler was indebted to
charity for Christial burial.
DIR. BledsOe, in the January number of
the Southern Review, has very able and
exhaustive article on the great revival
movement under the leadership of Messrs
Moody aud Sankey. Without approving
all that is said or done by either of them,
he nevertheless gives the movement it
self his hearty Endorsement He is par
ticularly severe on sundry small divines
who have Ventured to criticise the man
ner of Moody and the music of Sankey.
His rebukes are timely ana well desery-
ed. He says that a precociOus school
girl has clapped the climax by asserting
that ''MOody's grammar is asgftd bad"
Most geOlOgists, and not a few eminent
and orthodox divines, question the literal
universally of the NOachian deluge. As
a theological question, il is of as little i'm
pOrtance as that other question of the an
tiquity of man. Whether man has exist
ed six thousand years, as is probable in
regard to the Adamic race, or forty thou
sand, as some of the PrognOthaces tribes
are supposed to have existed, is matter
that does not affect in the slightest de-
gree the Inspiration Of the Holy Scrip
lures.
But while the extent of the deluge may
be debated, the fact itself is incontrOVer-
tibly established. Aside from the testi-
mOny of Moses, we have the testimony of
tradition, as embodied in the mytholO-
gies of the east. Every college bOy-is ia
miliar with the story Of Deucalion-the
Greek Noah, and his safe landing on Il
mountain of Thessaly. So likewise the
inscriptions found at Ninevah and on the
| Egyptian tOmbs at Thcbes and Memphis
I CorTobOrate the sCriptural narrative.
/ Nor is there anything improbable in
/ the statement in Genesis. A change 0" a
/ few hundred feet in the sea-level would
I overwhelm the American Continent with
/ the waves of the Atlantic. There is now
/ a gradual subsistence of the coast of
/ Greenland and of some nOrthern portions
I of Europe, which in a few thousand
/ years would bring about a floOd as fear
q
l gratifying TO the Christian to know that
| the researches of science have been and
/ will star be helpful to Christianity Sci
enf discoveries may sometimes clash
/ with particular interpretations Of the sa-
/ cred writings, but true science and the
! Bible will always be in harmony, for
/ what after all is the Outspread volume of
/ the universe but the unwritten reyela-
/ ten of the majesty and mercy of God?
/ The ''Man in the Iron Mask" is not a
/ greater mystery than the author of the
/ "Junius Letters" a half score of vol
umes have been devoted TO this knotty
problem. Reviews and magazines have
/ likewise continued to "embrOil the fray, -
| and after well nigh century of disputa-
| ton, the question is unsettled. OF all the
| theories which have been propounded
that which attributes them to Sir Philip
| Francis is by far the most plausible
The manner in which Mr.. Stephens dis
poses of this hypothesis, is hardly credi-
table to his scholarship or sasacify, Al
other times and on other questions so adj
mirable.
Alacauley, who had access 10 all The
sources of Information, has shown thai
the evidences, intrinsic and extrin sic
point with unerring finger TO Francis
Whoever Junius may have been, he was
. providential necessity In that age of of
fetal Williams and political corruption
With some of his utterances We have NJ
sympathy. His scurril0us abuse Of Mans