F. W. NEWMAN'S MISCELLANIES.*
IT is not always by the main tasks of authors that their readers profit most. No principal subject can be discussed thoroughly without extensive inquiries that only assist the writer remotely and indirectly. Having done his work, he may have accumulated materials for something better, or as good, though it may be very different in kind. Hence the subsidiary fruits of a long effort, or the accumulated miscellanea of a life, may inform and interest more than the special work without which they could not have existed. The wider an author's sympathies, the more catholic and harmonious his capacities, the more likely are his life-long labours to yield rich second harvests which the world could ill spare. Not only does long and persevering study, bearing on some one section of a certain department of learning, make the student more at home in the entire department, so that his mind can play freely on every question in it, but a catholic- minded man in any literary pursuit almost necessarily acquires the same facility in distinct departments of learning. A historian, for instance, whether his object be descriptive, or philosophical, or to trace out in either manner merely some one aspect of the historical evolution of a people or race, should not fail to be as well informed in cognate branches of inquiry as the one to which his investigation belongs. Say that he writes the history of a people's jurispru- dence as a philosophic lawyer might write, he must know the manners and customs of the people, the nature of changes in their language, their financial and economical history, almost as thoroughly as a special writer on these topics ; and whatever restraint he may put on himself, his interest in things will necessarily seduce him into following up for its own sake many a clue which is at first laid hold of for its incidental advantage to the purpose in hand. No doubt, the disadvantage of this temper is, that a man with deficient formative impulse may be overwhelmed by his learning ; but it is, nevertheless, essential, with all its disadvantages, to the highest kind of writing. We can hardly exalt too much the importance of this sort of side-learning. One special use is to secure the best means for popularizing knowledge. As often as not, it is not the direct investigators as such from whom the public at first learn new things, but the indirect investigators,—those who, while busy with their own pursuits, take an intelligent interest in what is going on, and can direct popular attention in the many ways now open to them to new ideas and results. They * Miscellanies; chiefly Addresses, Academical and Ifistorital. By Francis William Newman. London: Triiimer and Co. 1869. may be the more able to explain popularly, because while they know mutt, yet in the particular matter before them they have not had theedirect burden and responsibility of inquiry. We are tempted to these remarks by the present " miscellanies," the variety of whose subjects might seem to argue a weakness of treatment, on the popular hypothesis that wide knowledge can hardly fail to be superficial. From a treatise on logic we are taken to lectures on the forms and essence of poetry, written with the fullest sympathy, as a poet-critic, and not a mere logician would write ; thence to lectures on the chief forms of ancient nations, including a defence of Carthage, in which the garb of philological and ethnological learning is put on as easily as of that ordinary classical learning which the writer evidently possesses in unusual measure ; last of all, there are three discon- nected essays on such dissimilar topics as liberal instruction in mathematics, elocution as a part of education, and national loans. There could not easily be greater variety. Yet it is evident, not only from the writer's past performances in litera- ture, but from every line of the present work, that the usual rule fails on which the popular hypothesis of superficiality is built. On every topic there is full knowledge and power, though the quietness, calmness, and absence of parade with which everything is done prevent the reader from being struck by the extent of the gifts to which the writer lays claim, and the real value of the single contributions in themselves. In such an essay as that on national loans, however, we cannot but see that there is something very strange and new,—that, after all, only an author who could write on the other subjects of the book in the manner here dis- played, could bring to bear in an original economical essay a thorough acquaintance with mathematical methods and ancient and modern history. The book thus illustrates what a litterateur of genius may accomplish in the most diverse fields during a long career. It would almost seem that the writer had scattered his intellectual activity so much that his principal tasks appear small in comparison with his miscellanea, but one has only to remem- ber how important these principal tasks have been, to see that it is only by comparison with himself we should be led to think of this. It is only because the miscellaneous writings are so good in them- selves and indicate so much,—are enough, in short, for a score of ordinary writers,—that we begin to think the author's principal achievements have not done him justice. However, that may be, there can be no question of the value of the present " second harvest." Whether regarded as popular expositions of things not generally known, or as original essays on account of their originality of thought and new points of view, the collection will well repay perusal both by the scholar and the general reader.
It will be useless to attempt giving an account in detail of the various papers, but one or two of the most prominent characteristics may be noticed. The lectures on poetry perhaps show best the author's capacities as a popular expositor. Whether his notions are true or false, no arrangement could be clearer or better than that which he adopts, from his simple definition of the essence of poetry as " that which aims at elevation " to his final conclusions on the use of poetry in education. All the parts are fitly subordinated, the topics, the forms, and the language and ornaments of poetry being successively treated to show how the elevating aim of poetry is effected. The style, again, is carefully accurate, but written with such ease and mastery that the painful monotony often found in exposition from this close attention to accuracy is never exper- ienced. Add to this a wealth of felicitous illustration, derived from the study of poetry of all ages and schools, though the classical poets have the preference ; and we have summed up qualities which amply entitle the composition to the epithet of "admirable." It is no fault again, but rather a merit, that there are often discursive remarks,—a little off the subject, but not more so than are needed to give it variety—the sort of remarks with which a lecturer full of his subject, and knowing that his audience follows him, would introduce without any risk of confusing for the sake of enlivening his subject. Thus, a propos of the neglect of scenery on the Greek stage, he remarks quietly enough that "the English theatre will perhaps die out," consider- ing that a reasonable and beneficial amateur system may take the place of the professional one of the cultivation of the drama as a part of education. The observation is expanded in his essay on elocution, and is thus an instance of the happy manner in which wide study and information may be used—things which the writer himself appreciates highly. In the paper on logic he talks of the value of "miscellaneous knowledge" as the sure cor- rective for the barbaric error of making general propositions from first experiences, but his whole book furnishes proof of the very various uses of miscellaneous knowledge. We wish we could quote
more, but one specimen may serve to show that the substance of the thinking is equal to the manner :-
" There has been much zeal in recent times for national education.; but I apprehend an error has been committed in aiming at it in the, direction of science, instead of poetry and general literature. Science is a higher growth out of Industrial Art, and is the goal to which all schools of Industrial accomplishment ought to drive. I highly esteem such schools where they exist, and believe that we greatly need them ;
but they seem to me to have a different object, viz., to make individuals- better in their work, better in their trade or profession, but not mom refined, more sympathetic men, of nobler and higher sentiment. The• latter end cannot be served by science, but is the direct province of fine, art and poetry."
We do not agree with the thought, for science enters deeply into culture and cannot be neglected, while in education the necessities- of earning bread do make it expedient that a foundation for- technical instruction should be laid early ; but as a protest against a now prevailing current of opinion the remark is well timed, and: it would indeed be a pity if in the pursuit of science far more- important instruments of education should be lost sight of.
Of the papers in which originality is more apparent in the direct object intended, the " Defence of Carthage " and the essay on " National Loans" commend themselves most to our taste, though they are all of high value. The key of the former is the rule of historical testimony alluded to in the chapters on logic— that while the evil related by enemies of each other is to be distrusted,. we are pretty safe in accepting the good they tell. Acting on this principle, the author constructs a picture of ancient Carthage with. all the light that can be obtained from comparison with races to the Carthaginians were allied, and from the scanty favourable notices in ancient authors, arguing from what can be known with tolerable certainty in this way to the incredibility and incon- sistency of many of the charges for which only enemy's testimony exists. Illustrations are drawn, again, from the picture of European countries, England being one, which might be con- structed out of the hostile notices of it during a period of conflict. The method is sound, and makes the paper a valuable specimen of historical criticism. In "National Loans " the writer- arrives at a proof of their utility as compared with high taxation, by demonstrating that high taxation is really the same thing in a. much worse shape. The mathematical illustration of a state with only one subject, to whom it would be the same thing if the state borrowed for him or if he borrowed himself to meet the high tax, since in either case his revenue would be diminished by the same amount, is a little odd at first, but really opens up the whole subject. Thence the steps are easy. If there are two sub- jects, and B has to borrow from A to meet his share of the high tax which would be necessary if there was no loan, he is obviously in the same position as if there had been a loan, and a tax were- imposed to pay the interest. Thus no harm is done by borrowing. instead of taxing, except the harm which comes to any individual by overborrowing ; and it is easy to add the proofs by which in the world of fact the theoretical justice of borrowing and injustice: of high taxation are enhanced. Intermixed with all, are observa- tions on such points as the lightness of taxation in England—the evil. of taxation, for instance, is said to be probably less than that of many bad laws, or evil habits of the subjects themselves—clearly proving a thorough study of the facts and theory of the subject. The author is perhaps a purist in regard to permanent debts, but the practical morality of nations on this point is not yet strict enough to make it desirable to question the inculcation of a stoic creed. The essay was written to prove the justifiableness of the large loans- which Mr. Chase brought out at the opening of the American war, and the author's case, including the supreme excellence of the cause which necessitated the loan, is more than made out.
If only for the sake of the hint in the preface that the publication of other volumes depends on the reception of the present volume, we heartily wish it success. There cannot but be a great deal in the same stores which are richly deserving of study. There are few books to which young readers could be directed with more con- fidence as bringing them in contact with a mind of rare candour- and love of truth, as well as rare capacity. For that reason alone it is to be wished that the range of subjects on which the author- publishes should be as widely enlarged as possible.
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