The virtue of the popular collections, or " libraries," as
they are called, is, that they must necessarily produce numerous respectable compilations and abridgments of voluminous original works. This is a branch of literature which has always been scandalously ne- glected in England,-partly because it was vilely paid for, and next, because scholastic education has • ever been rare in this country. We have had more inventors and original thinkers than we have had writers skilled in the acquired and almost meehani- cal parts of their profession. Composition, except in Latin, is no part of English education; and few, even of the most meritorious works of science or literature, can be said to be decently written, as regards mere style or method. Now that these " libraries" hold out considerable inducements to writers to take pains and spend time over their undertakings, it is to be hoped that the occasion of this complaint will disappear. Certainly, some of the abridgments already executed have not deserved praise, and given but small promise of amendment: this is an error that will be corrected. In these small volumes we can scarcely expect originality—it is frequently not even desirable ; but we have a right to look for extreme lucidity of style and method. . .
These remarks are apropos to the first volume of DR. Thole- RON'S History of Chemistry, No. III. of the National Library ; for though the voluitie-cannot be complained of for its method, which is simple and intelligible, we much wish that its author were a greater proficient in the art of writing. That his style is bald and meagre, his phrases feeble, his vocabulary limited, is the de- fect of the author—he:must re-educate himself on this head : but inasmuch as his sentences: are incorrect, and frequently ungram- matical, a - ofqtheblame must fall upon the editor,-e-who, if he has nek Oretikadintekt% correct, and where it is necessary,;, r remodel.-an reducelo some standard the various contributitins submitted to his care, .we-are at a loss to understand his office. We will select a few sentences, simply by turning over the pages, and choose a few which catch the eye.
P. 315. " Fortunately Dr. Cullen had just begun his great career in the college of Glasgow ; and having made choice of the field of philosophical chemistry, which lay as yet unoccupied before him. Hitherto, &c.
Here, it will be perceived, is a participle (" having") without any government whatever, and sticking up, like a stake in the middle of the road, without either rhyme or reason.
P. 292. " This opinion was attacked by Haller, and defended by M. Fougeroux, nephew of M. Duhamel; but it is not our business here to inquire howler correct."
The following is a sentence—for it is printed as one—in which it would be very difficult to trace the logical, if not the grammati- cal connexion.
P. 293. " The Memoirs of M. Duhamel on ether, at that time almost unknown [qu. " ether " or " memoirs"], on soluble tartars, and on lime, contain many facts both curious and accurately stated ; though our pre- sent knowledge of these bodies is so much greater than his—the new facts ascertained respecting them are so numerous and important, that the contributions of this early experimenter, which probably had a consider- able share in the success of subsequent investigations, are now almost for- gotten. Nor would many of our readers bear patiently with an attempt to enumerate them."
The editor, like Homer, sometimes nods. Here is a melan- choly confusion : the punctuation, the logic, and the grammar, are all sadly to seek together. The editor, if the author could not, should have established the lucidus ordo in some such manner as follows:— " The Memoirs of M. Duhamel on ether, a body at that time almost unknown, on soluble tartars, and on lime, contain many curious and accurately stated facts. Tke progress of chemical knowledge, however, has been such that they are now almost forgotten, amidst the great num- ber of dikciveries which have since been made respecting these bodies; and, though it is probable that they in their time greatly contributed to the success of subsequent.investigations, their utility has now ceased,' and it is unnecessary to'record them here."
We do not pretend to be stylographers—that is to say, persons who. ought to write on pillars : still the corrigenda of such sen- tences as these are too obvious not to present themselves to every one accustomed to " daily with his vernacular ;" and truly a claim- ant for a place among the SPECTATOR CLASSICS ought to mould his- sentences in a more correct and polished form. . A favourable specimen -of ,Dr. Tuomsolv's style may be seen in hist sketehof CULLEN. It is simple in the extreme—even antique in its nakedness: it is a pity it should-also be feeble and insigni- ficant. We have italicized a few words of exceeding barrenness and poverty of expression,
" _His private conduct to his students was admirable, and deservedly endeared him to every one of them. He was so uniformly attentive to them, and took so much interest in the Concerns of those who applied to him for advice ; was so cordial and so warm, that it was impossible for any one, who had a heart susceptible of generous emotions, not to be delighted with a conduct so uncommon and so kind. It was this which served more than any thing else to extend his reputation over every civi- lized quarter of the globe. Among ingenuous youth gratitude easily de- generates into rapture ; hence the popularity which he enjoyed, and which to those who do not well weigh the causes which operated on the students, must appear excessive. "The general conduct of Cullen to his students was this : with all such as he observed to be attentive and diligent he formed an early acquaint- ance, by inviting them by twos, by threes, and by fours at a time, to sup with him ; conversing with them at such times with the most engaging ease, entering freely with them into the subject of their studies, their amusements, their difficulties, their hopes, and future prospects."
" Remembering the difficulties with which he had himself to struggle in his younger days, he was at all times singularly attentive to the pecu- niary wants of the students. From the general intimacy which he con- tracted with them he found no difficulty in discovering those whose cir- cumstances were contracted, or who laboured under any pecuniary embarrassment, without being under the necessity of hurting their feel- ings by a direct inquiry. To such persons, when their habits of study admitted it, he was peculiarly attentive : they were more frequently in- vited to his house than others, they were treated with unusual kindness and familiarity, they were conducted to his library and encouraged by the most delicate address to borrow from it freely whatever books he thought they had occasion for ; and as persons under such circumstances are often extremely shy, books were sometimes pressed upon them as a sort of task, the doctor insisting upon knowing their opinion of such and such passages which they had not read, and desiring them to carry the book home for that purpose : in short, he behaved to them as if he had courted their company. He thus raised them in the opinion of their ac- quaintances ; which, to persons in their circumstances, was of no little consequence. They were inspired at the same time with a secret sense of dignity, which elevated their minds, and excited an uncommon ardour, instead of that desponding inactivity so natural to depressed circum- stances. Nor was he less delicate in the manner of supplying their wants: he often found out some polite excuse for refusing to take money for a first course, and never was at a loss,for one to an after course. Some- times (as his lectures were never written) he would request the favour of a sight of their notes, if he knew that they were taken with care, in order to refresh his memory. Sometimes he would express a wish to have their opinion of a particular part of his course, and presented them with a ticket for the purpose. By such delicate pieces of address, in which he greatly excelled, he took care to anticipate their wants. Thus he not only gave them the benefit of his own lectures, but by refusing to take money enabled them to attend such others as were necessary-for completing their course of medical study."
With all these defects of style, however, the biographies of the most eminent chemists are very interesting ; and the whole work abounds in curious information respecting the divine science of • which it is a history. In addition to carelessness of style and inaccuracy of language, the editor has allowed other inaccuracies to pass : for instance, in page rS, the- Septuagint 4,iitioted. in its oym. Greek.; and yet, with surprising ignorance, it is-called the Vulgate. : In speaking of the Honourable HENRY CAVENDISH, the great chemist, or airist, as he deserves to he styled, Dr. THOMSON calls his father a cadet of the house of Devonshire, " one of the oldest families in England." Do not then the old families in England date higher than Queen ELIZABETH or HENRY the Eighth ? CAVENDISH, the founder of the house of Devonshire, was Cardinal WOLSEY'S esquire.
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