New-York tribune., 1879-09-01
LITERARY NOTES.

LITERARY NOIEc.
Tho catalogue of the late Henry Huths IL
hrsrv comprises I've volumes, mpe' ial octaVos III ~
The sum asked for them in Loudon is So2 90 io' Wv Nv
Cannon Farrar's Life of st. Paul wiz uo
veacy early this month at Csssei Peter suo ,ss
One circulating library alone III bo"uo" w
for a thousand copies OF H. IT.,
J,arf for August 10 contains poweriui
fnl,rase etching Of Victor Hugo by r. huo" ~.
Rennat's wellknown portrait OF the poet III u.
fls79 II il said Of 1t that the trouble oi 'no"e" -
inc the old giants mind IL admirah ~ y.
rn e coputenapce and that II Is portrait ths, s
All worshippers at Victor Hugo's SHRINE ""' "A'
possess NJ, D;1;or,s
A review in Tile AheaeUm of Mr. Dldier
5fe Of Madame Bonapsrte closes in this anutne'ea
t.non. she died at ninety-four; and If egotsm an"
an Unconditional temperament were enough 10 AeeP
woman alive she might have lived for ever she was
rtr Of ten repeating Rocreoucaud. when IN ths ne
nni had She lived but few months lonser sn, " rer
have seen seer its anal eH.pSs sSs On abou m her
Max Miller prefaces the first volume OF 'ne
ooor,ant work ON the Sacred Books OF the East, VI
which he is the editor. with striking passage Io "a"
writings of b shop Beveridge the distinguish N
scholar of the seventeenth century lnueeu' s"'
hson there was never any religion 50 barOarous anu
oahonesl but II was preferred before all other regohs
xbosoever by them that old profess t otherwise tney
would not have professed 1t. Aud why say they' may
no, Won ,e mistaken as well moi Especially when
fhere is at least six against your cnristian re-
Eion al OF winch think they God arlght and ex-
rect happiness thereby as well ~ you.'
The volume of speeches by John Bright,
which Thorod Rogers has edited and Macmillan Co.
have publshcd is the tlrd volume Of the kind that mas
been issued The Others appeared eleven years ago
High tributes are paid to Mr. Brights eloqnence IN
recon, numbers oftwo Engish periodicals. The sdt"r
dry Rerier says II was geuecaly admitted when the
frst two volumes appeared that no living orator was
equally entitled 10 tue distinction Of permanent 'ecou
ofhis eoquenco" Mr.. Gladstone while more versalle'
more accomplished, and reader IN debate iais i"i
sbort ~ his friend and competitor in rhetorical grace
afl finish OF style" The AMen0em says tnat - ~,
thae c any oner orator q time. They arr nnished
.u all taeir parts, resembling IN ths Tue luds % %
the orators OF Greece ana Rome 80 s9ou "a az = i9
pieces OF composition t1at they may almost DC ca'ici
ttudIes In tory"
Mr. Sayce. in his work On BabyloDian liter
nture brings out the curious iacs that among the my
theological poems ana epic Which succeeded the age OF
pabvlonlan hymns whch rt"Ounis the descent OF
tho Goddess Isar INTO Hadcs search OF her husband
Jammuz the beautiful sunrsod slain 10y the tusk OF
Winter, the prototype OF the Greek legehu Oh
Aphrodite and AdOnis AnOlher tells OF ChaIoeah
prometleus who the of the gods anG was
Transformed into bird o. prey. II was around thc
name OF G. dhubar that mythology in that country cus
tered most thcky and t1 tbs foundations OF the ohief
EPIC OF ancient Babyonia. This epic was IN tweiVe
books, arranged upon al ASTRONOMICAL prhcpie the
subject OF each book corresponding Win tAe haiuc oi
month and the sign o. the Zodiac after whleh
the month was called. The antiquity OF the epic may be
Judged OF from the fact that the language In which II
IL was originally composed became extinct before the
seventeenth century b. c. Gisdhubar, Mr. ssyce shows,
T. solar hero, and MS twlve abOrs were Ie orlgnu
of those o. The Crock III rcues. who was himsef the
Tyrian sun-god. Mekarth. Evidence Is aocumulatlng
60 make IT nbuudanty clear tiat the germs ol
much Of the Greek pantheon ana ANTHOLOGY IKE IN"
germs Of Greek art, were pfiharly derived iIoD
EibvlOnia and Assyrs through the hands OF the fIel
clans, tntt the results O. AssyIliu research nave
proved thcns Ives impor 'ni not ony 10 the BIBLICAL
student. but 10 the Greek scholar as WELL
Considerable attention has been drawn In
England to On article in the last Spectator Mr. Peter
nayne's lessons from my Masters" those masters
being Carlyle Teunyson and Ruskin aad report has got
INTO the newspapers that Mr. Ruskn Is the author OF IT,
Very little sail Of Rusku in The article, the reason
gwen lug that present writer only competent
to say on that head ha. Mr. Byne study Of Ruskn as
an art critic Is full Of interest,"" while IT Is added that
.on Mr. Rlskius general doctrines, sr. Bayne speaks
with reserye-perhaps with too mach reserve" Else
where In the article IL Is said that Mr. Bsyne speaks OF
Mr.. Ruskin's writings art " with reverent defer
tnce 10 which cannot think them entitled" BE the
author who ne may the article is superior piece OF III
trary work. It's estimate OF Carlyle interesting, even
II be not Ruskn's II has been probably his great
Ell fault says writer "esa dcIineator that as
rule he has shown tendency overpaint the inward
phenomena of which he had discovered or thought he
had scovered the signs" " He Is too free, not only
with the eterntes and tho mmensitics. but with the
failure the etrnitos and the immensiiieS Caryes
SOBER intellectual Judgment is vastly inferior to his
teeinE power HIS has been a wise and serene HE.
lived without bong bent into conformity with any
standard right except his own but oonformed To thar
Standard 50 lar as any cAeal lUiBc can 10, ah es
timafe with great resolution. Agaln, II has been "
great genius" Mr. Bayne calls IT IRE OF " epcai
Grandeur" bl; this exceptions are taken since such
life belongs to the world ei action ana epteIpr,se
and winch sIlrs the pulses Of those VINO watch
liz fortunes"