Brief Literary Notices. 539 of our faith, that he may allure our feet into the by-paths of sin. Let us, dear brethren, give earnest heed to watchfulness and prayer, that, being not ignorant of Satan's devices, we may continue steadfast in the faith, and stand fast in the evil day." The Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853: a Catalogue of its Contents, with Critical Dissertations, Statistical Information, and Accounts of Manufacturing Processes in different Departments. Edited by John Sproule, assisted by eminent Literary and Scientific Men. Dublin: James M'Glashan. 1854. IN looking over this magnificent volume, one is struck with its singular riches as a source of education. Suppose a boy who had learned arithmetic and a little mathematics, but was totally ignorant of the products of nature, the laws of science, or the arts of life, to fall in with this book, and never expect to see another. It would lead him to an acquaintance with the earth, its embedded metals, and its products for food and fabric; with the machines which man uses to form these to his use; with the endless fabrics which result; with the processes of their manufacture; with the arts of architecture, engineering, sculpture, painting, and music; with the countries where certain productions or arts flourish; and with many a name which has taken its place among the mighty. Having stored his mind out of this one book, he comes into the world, meets with reading and educated men, and, instead of finding himself, as he expected, behind them all, finds that, for either range or accuracy of information, few can compete with him. Consisting of more than five hundred pages of large octavo, closely printed, the volume contains a great mass of matter. Every class of subject is handled by men competent to it, and adorned by copious illustration. The editor, Mr. Sproule, has contributed many of the most important articles, and always with an accomplished hand. The book is a worthy literary memorial of the most beautiful and the most hopeful scene in the civil history of modern Ireland. Would that men were equally susceptible of attraction by the mental show and permanent insight here offered to them, as by the bewitching display in Merrion-square! It was pleasant and easy there to go and see the wonders of nature and art, set in a casket of rare beauty, and enlivened by crowds of cheerful faces. But it would be far more profitable, would leave more solid fruits of enjoyment, more pregnant seeds of improvement, to sit down with Mr. Sproule, Professor Sullivan, and their collaborateurs, and clearly learn what those objects were, whence they came, how they stood related one to another, and all to man. Such a book ought not to be regarded as a mere souvenir of the Exhibition. If installed in every family library in Ireland, and made the study of the young, it would not merely recall the pleasures of the Exhibition to such as had seen them; but would train many men for practical life, by giving them large views and solid information as to the bearings of art, science, and industry, at once on the designs of Providence, and the true happiness of nations. We hail the book as a symptom of that progress on which Ireland now seems fairly started. Its style of getting up is no less creditable than its literature; and its illustrations are admirably executed. May the studies and pursuits to which such works tend, thoroughly supplant the ignorance and idleness on which demagogues rejoice to play! The Ethics of the Sabbath. By David Pirret. Edinburgh: Constable and Co. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. THE main subject of the discussion contained in this volume is, the obligation of the Sabbath; and the argument in proof of such obligation is drawn, not from the statements of Scripture, or from the results of experience, but from the dictates of reason and conscience. It is not that the author thinks lightly either of the Scriptural or the historical argument. On the contrary, he very properly holds that the word of God will ever remain the great bulwark of the Sabbath; and that, as the most direct, intelligible, and conclusive, the Bible argument must ever stand high above all others. He also attaches great importance to the historical argument, from expediency. But he has selected the argument from reason and conscience, as being one which has been in a great measure overlooked. It being first assumed that "man is a religious being, and that he is bound to exercise and cultivate his religious affections," the argument is presented under the following heads:-the worship of God demands the appropriation of time, of a set time,-of an entire day,—and, from us, of a seventh day; and, being philosophical, rather than popular, it is especially addressed to those whom the arguments from Scripture and experience have failed to satisfy. Two chapters are added, on Sabbath worship and Sabbath recreation, which are particularly adapted to the present crisis. The argument is well sustained; and the entire work, for its intrinsic value, and its appropriateness to the times, has our cordial recommendation. The Collected Works of Dugald Stewart, F.R.S. THESE handsome volumes have reached us since we first commended the work to our readers; and, while they fully sustain the promise of its first instalment, seem even to increase in literary interest and importance. The Philosophy of the Human Mind is comprised in the second, third, and fourth volumes. More diffuse than the Dissertation, this work is, nevertheless, superior in elegance and entertainment. Neither profound nor accurate, as a philosophy, it abounds in graceful details and felicitous distinctions. The fifth volume contains the author's Philosophical Essays, admirable in themselves, and serving as pleasant episodes to relieve the more serious attention demanded for his great inquiries. In the sixth volume is commenced the author's last production, which is also his most valuable,-namely, the Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. It is worthy Brief Literary Notices. 541 of careful study, and so charmingly written, that he who is least disposed to metaphysics may read it without remembering his dislike. We may add that the editorial care is unrelaxed, and very efficient. Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, classified and arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas, and Assist in Literary Composition. By Peter Mark Roget, M.D., F.R.S. Third Edition, enlarged and improved. London: Long mans. 1855. A BOOK which shall realize to the student and literary man the purposes expressed in the above title, is of value beyond price; and from a careful examination of this volume we think it will answer to its title-page. It is altogether a new book; no other has adopted the philosophical principle of associating words and phrases under their generic idea, so that, at a glance, one can find true synonyms and words of all diversities and shades of meaning, retaining the original idea. In order to facilitate the finding a word and its correlatives, an ingenious and comprehensive "synopsis of categories" is prefixed, upon a plan of classification which must commend itself alike by its simplicity, beauty, and practical value:— "1. The First of these Classes comprehends ideas derived from the more general and ABSTRACT RELATIONS among things, such as Existence, Resemblance, Quantity, Order, Number, Time, Power. "2. The Second Class refers to SPACE and its various relations, including Motion, or change of place. "3. The Third Class includes all ideas that relate to the MATERIAL WORLD; namely, the Properties of Matter, such as Solidity, Fluidity, Heat, Light, Sound, and the Phenomena they present, as well as the simple perceptions to which they give rise. 66 4. The Fourth Class embraces all ideas of phenomena relating to the INTELLECT and its operations, comprising the Acquisition, the Retention, and the Communication of Ideas. "5. The Fifth Class includes the ideas derived from the exercise of VOLITION; embracing the phenomena and results of our voluntary and active powers, such as Choice, Intention, Utility, Action, Antagonism, Authority, Compact, Property, &c. "6. The Sixth and last Class comprehends all ideas derived from the operation of our SENTIENT AND MORAL POWERS; including our Feelings, Emotions, Passions, and Moral and Religious Sentiments." Thus are comprised all the varieties of words, in order, genus, species, and individuals; and this arrangement brings out a result of nearly one thousand groups of words. And then we have a very copious index to show, by numerals, in what group we may find particular words. There is a peculiarity in this work, lost sight of by too many writers, in the insertion of phrases and idioms, generally purely English, which often greatly illustrate the force of our language; and they may be said to form a constituent part of it. It will, however, require a little time and use to enable any one fully to understand the plan, and to know the value of Dr. Roget's book. Who has not felt himself at a loss for a word? either from the excessive fastidiousness that Cobbett so justly condemns, which will not allow him to use the same word again; or from a nice perception of euphony and rhythm, which will not allow of more than so many syllables, or admit a particular accent; and another from the conviction that such a word does not nicely and accurately express that shade of meaning which is in the author's mind. Every word has a fixed meaning,-a sense so definite that there are few absolute synonyms in any language; and the only fear we have, regarding the use of this and similar works, is, that writers may content themselves with diversity of terms at the cost of accuracy. On the same table, Crabb's or Archbishop Whately's Synonyms ought certainly to be found. There is no test of composition more severe, so far as style is concerned, than the use of supposed synonymous words; and no painstaking is more profitable, to young authors especially, than assiduous labour in this department. We are much pleased with one feature among others in Dr. Roget's book,-that he is not a word-coiner. The rage for making new words is most offensive, and has a most injurious effect upon the writer and his readers, and upon the language. "This vicious practice, the offspring of indolence or conceit, implies an ignorance or neglect of the riches in which the English language already abounds, and which would have supplied them with words of recognised legitimacy, conveying precisely the same meaning as those they so recklessly coin in the mint of their own fancy." To say that the volume has our strong recommendation, is only doing justice to the labours of an author eminent in several departments of literature, who first attempted something on the plan of the present work fifty years ago, merely for his own use; and who has employed a period of comparative leisure, arising from his resignation of the duties of Secretary to the Royal Society, in perfecting the scheme, and publishing it for the use of all literary artificers. They, like all other workmen, find their work greatly eased and forwarded by having a diversity of the best tools always at hand; and to them whatever facilitates the acquisition of a copia verborum is of vast advantage. To assure them that they may find great help in the use of this Thesaurus, is but just praise of the book itself. The Christian Life, Social and Individual. By Peter Bayne, M.A. London: Groombridge and Sons. THE maiden performance of a young author who seems to have a special vocation for biography, and who has set himself, in the present volume, to show in a series of sketches the adaptation of Christianity to the wants of the age, both in its social action and in its individual development. It is a work full of promise, though exhibiting very palpably the verdancy and leafiness of youth,-faults to which we object as little as to the verdancy and leafiness of the pleasant spring-time. In this illustration we mean especially to indicate, that the volume abounds rather in valuable suggestions than in matured results. Full of life and thought, and universal in his sympathies, Mr. Bayne discusses almost every conceivable problem that is at present either stirring the nation or perplexing the individual; and if he does not always solve the difficulty, he at least always does the next best thing, he states it clearly, and shows its Brief Literary Notices. 543 relation to Christianity. This, indeed, is the peculiar excellence of his performance, that he has come boldly forward and handled the leading questions of the day, political and personal, from the Christian point of view. He has studied the writings of Carlyle with enthusiastic admiration and profound thought, with such profound thought, however, that he is quite unsatisfied with the conclusions of his master, and regards them as pernicious, unless rectified by Christianity, even as the waters of Marah were most bitter, until the tree was cast into them. To cast a branch, therefore, from the Christian vine into the fountains of the Carlylean philosophy, and so to purify it, has been the ambition of Mr. Bayne; and his work has, accordingly, assumed, in many parts, the form of a polemic against the philosopher of Chelsea. Especially does he defend against Carlyle that Christian philanthropy which, in common with Isaac Taylor, he regards as the latest impersonation of the spirit of Christianity. The chapter in which he thus treats of philanthropy, and of the function which compassion has to fulfil in relation to law, we most strongly recommend to our readers, as, in many respects, the most able in the volume, and full of material for thought. While, however, the work thus abounds in the elucidation of principles, and from these derives its chief value, its great interest depends upon the biographical sketches with which Mr. Bayne has relieved his discussions. The discussions resemble a tempestuous sea, and it is a pleasure to land on one of these sunny isles of biography, and feel that, let the billows beat as they may, here is the firmness of a soul based on eternal laws, and living in the eye of God. The biographies chosen are those of Howard, Wilberforce, and Samuel Budgett, to illustrate the Christian life in its social action; and those of Foster, Arnold, and Chalmers, to illustrate the Christian life in the development of the individual. The sketches of Wilberforce, Foster, and Chalmers are the best. They are all, however, written with fine feeling and appreciation, and we have little doubt that, if Mr. Bayne will follow in the same path, he will achieve signal success. He writes with a noble elevation of purpose, with manly sympathy in every phase of human feeling, with the cultivation of a student, and with the instinct of a true artist. The result is a volume which is as full of matter for the thinker as it is full of interest for the reader. The Errors of Infidelity: or, An Abridgment of various Facts and Arguments urged against Infidelity. By David M'Burnie, Author of "Mental Exercises of a Working Man," &c. London: Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co. 1854. THIS is a very seasonable publication, written by a layman, to which was awarded a prize offered by George Baillie, Esq., Glasgow. The writer of this valuable little work has succeeded in collecting and condensing the scattered rays of evidences to the truth of revelation from every practicable source, and has thus presented a summary of the arguments against Infidelity, which may be found extremely useful to those who are debarred, by want of leisure and opportunity, from the perusal of more extensive or more profound treatises. |