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formed of the relative positions of the Temporal and Spiritual Emperors. It was generally understood that the latter was an idea rather than an active principle, and that his sacred character deprived him of any power or influence whatever in controlling the destinies of his country. Though this is true in one sense, and the Spiritual Emperor has for centuries taken no active share in the executive, still he exists as the source of power, and as the embodiment of the laws and traditions of the Empire. Should the so-called patriotic party feel themselves powerful enough to cope with the Tycoon's Government, it is just possible they might invoke the sacred authority of the Mikado, and that he might, for once, in so exceptional a case, if successful intrigue had won his sympathies, condescend from his exalted position to sanction with his countenance those who professed to be upholding the sacred and exclusive character of that empire of which he was the sainted and sovereign lord. And there can be little doubt that the prestige of that sanction would render any hostile action on the part of the Tycoon or his Government hopeless. Rather than incur the risk of such a catastrophe, the "powers that are" at Yeddo would join in what would then become the popular policy, and adopt whatever measures they might consider palatable to so formidable a conjunction of power. But it is, on the other hand, to be remembered that the very position of the Mikado, as a part of the Government, renders him

more accessible to influence from those who are in office than from those who can only act upon him indirectly, and with the greatest difficulty and secrecy; and that the isolation of his dignity renders it very difficult for him to estimate the popular view of any question, or form any opinion whatever upon matters of state policy. Hence we may be permitted to hope that such a contingency as that here contemplated will never arise, but that an extended mutual intercourse will each year render more remote the chances of a crisis; and that, though occasional instances of political fanaticism may lead to outrages, the general feeling of the public will gradually display itself in our favour, until at last a class will be created whose wealth will give them influence, while their interests will make it their policy to encourage foreign intercourse; and a more intimate acquaintance, on our part, with the people with whom we have to deal, will render us not only more careful of offending their prejudices, but will give us such an insight into their political and social systems that our diplomatic agents will no longer be working in the dark, but will be able to steer through the intricacies of that political channel now only partially surveyed, where many hidden rocks still exist, which, when they have been marked and buoyed, will cease to present those dangers and difficulties to the adventurous explorer, with which, whether he be traveller or diplomatist, he will always have to contend.

A BOX OF BOOKS.

INCESSANT rain, a country house, no visitors, and not a book to read -surely this is as dreary a prospect as a bilious and unoccupied man can look upon ?

That prospect is ours. We gaze through windows, blurred by the blubbering rain, out into the dim and misty distance, and notice the indistinct trees wearing an aspect as forlorn as that of a drenched cat, and the garden paths sloppy and uninviting as a marsh. It is not cheering. In weariness of spirit we turn into the library; not that we have much hope of finding anything there; for, as just hinted, there is not a book to read. There

are plenty of books on the shelveshundreds; and they are likely to remain there in silent eloquence. You know the kind? Classics, for the most part; works which no gentleman's library should be without, and which few gentlemen care to shake the dust off. There, for example, stand the works of Hooker, the judicious Hooker," calf neat! 'Toplady's Works; much obliged ! Euvres de Bernardin St Pierre,' merci! Tiraboschi,' tante grazie! Immanuel Kant's Werke,' danke schönstens! On the table lies Essays and Reviews'-uncutand the last Edinburgh.' All these treasures are surveyed with an equanimous regard. There is no temptation in them. There is doubtless a great amount of "solid instruction" to be gained from our friend's library; but we do not happen to have a large appetite for such food; and at this moment we feel little inclined for beans and bacon.

We saunter into the inner sanctum, where our studious host is poring over some dreadful blackletter book, deluding himself with the idea that he gains nutriment from it. A collector of books, as of everything else, is only too happy

(tyrannously so) to display his treasures to any misguided mortal who, in a moment of weakness or complaisance, may have expressed a gleam of curiosity; accordingly, our suggestion that perhaps something piquant might be found in this sanctum, at once rouses our host to strew before us a variety of bibliopolic treasures. First comes the Aldine Politian, printed at Venice in 1498, in which we learn that the first printed line of Hebrew appears. Very likely; but we glance at this line without any emotion, and by no means feel that the Panepistemon is likely to make a rainy day pass cheerily. Then we have the 'Epigrammata' of Marullus-a small and ill-favoured volume-which we learn cost five guineas. The odd shillings seem to us more than its value. Then comes the 'Epistolarum Familiarum, libri xxxvii.' of Philelphus Venice, 1502: "tall copy." We turn over its pages languidly, curse the contractions, and find that the literary squabbles of scholars in the fifteenth century soon become as uninteresting as the literary squabbles of our own day. Next come some rare editions, and books with eagerly-desired initial letters. Then Elzevirs.

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One by one our friend's treasures are produced, and tossed aside, or sprinkled with the cold water of indifference. He has mounted the library steps, and is seeking a copy of Hermolaus Barbarus, and, as we know nothing, and care less, about that once famous now forgotten scholar, we secretly hope the search will be in vain; when, lo! the sound of wheels! Is it a visitor? Better still, it is the carrier with a box from the library! Now let the rain wash, and the wind toss about the dripping branches, there is a gleam of sunshine in-doors. That box will certainly contain some volumes which one

would not read in the wettest of weather, in the dreariest of days; volumes, in comparison with which Hooker would be entertaining and Kant lively; but one is also certain that it must contain volumes which one wants to read, if only because "everybody" is talking of them. A box of new books from the library is not all bonbons. The despot of a librarian will have his way, and, Napoleon-like, is certain to fling his columns of raw conscripts upon our centre at the first onset, as mere food for powder; but he has his vieille garde in reserve, which can be brought up to decide the wavering fortunes of the day. It is as we expected. Out tumble feeble novels, and watery travels; but they are speedily dispersed, and we fall upon the small but effective reserve.

The first volume we carried away was that on the Animal Kingdom, by Professor Rymer Jones,* a work we knew well, and valued, in its earlier editions; and as 1855 was the date of the edition preceding this, our expectations, of course, were to find the present representing the science of 1861; for in this study advances are rapid, and a book soon becomes out of date. Moreover, a scientific, and a literary, journal, had both complimented the author on the skill with which he had introduced the latest results of investigation into the old text. A cursory examination of the volume soon revealed that these critics were either very friendly; or (but that is an improbable supposition) somewhat ignorant. It revealed that Professor Jones had only made unimportant alterations, and was very far indeed from having brought his work up to the level of our day. Nay, he has not even revised his text with decent care. He has actually retained, in 1861, the allusions to researches as "recent," which could only have been ap

propriate in 1845 and '50. Thus, at page 99, he mentions the recent observations of Van Beneden respecting the generation of medusæ from polypes, those observations having been made in 1843; and at page 82 he refers to the "recently discovered" ova of the hydra, the date being 1850. Any one can see that these are unaltered passages of former editions; and no one even slightly acquainted with the progress of zoology, will accept such a complete disregard of all the subsequent labours of naturalists. At page 110, reference is made to Ehrenberg's researches in 1835, and not a word is given to Ehrenberg's numerous successors; nay, even Huxley's magnificent monograph on the Oceanic Hydrozoa, published by the Ray Society, and therefore easily accessible, receives no notice whatever. As a matter of bibliography, some mention of "recent" writers was called for. Again, there is no allusion to Stein's great work on Infusoria; or to Van Beneden's monograph "sur les Vers intestinaux;" no notice is taken of Huxley's researches on the Aphides, but the views of Owen are given as the latest and completest. A similar neglect of British investigators is seen in the absence of all notice of Professor M'Donnell's Memoir on the Habits and Anatomy of the Lepidosiren.t

We might draw up a long list of omissions inexcusable in a work which professes to represent the state of science in 1861; but it would be needless. Let us rather turn to the pleasanter consideration of the merits of this book, which are many. As a survey of the organisation of the animal kingdom, it is to be recommended for its clearness, and its excellent illustrations; twenty-four new illustrations have been added to this edition, making four hundred and

* General Outline of the Organisation of the Animal Kingdom, and Manual of Comparative Anatomy.' By Thomas Rymer Jones.

+ Journal of the Royal Society of Dublin,' 1860.

3d Edition.

and more instructed critics to determine its philological value. And, first, as to the name. Mr Max Müller confesses that the new science is anonymous at present. It has indeed been variously named

twenty-three valuable aids to the understanding of the text. The book is not bulky; yet it contains an immense amount of information not easily to be found elsewhere; and, as the study is daily becoming more popular, the book will assuredly not fail of finding readers to profit by it.

The hours passed swiftly as we turned over the pages, dipping here, reading there, admiring, questioning, and considering. So pleasant was the book and its suggestions that it naturally determined our choice of Mr Max Müller's book,* as the second to be drawn from the box. This may possibly seem strange to you. Indeed it is not, prima facie, intelligible how lectures on language came to be classed with comparative anatomy, since nothing is less like science than the laborious pedantry of most philological researches. But a glance at the pages of this brilliant German will at once convince the reader that here the dry bones of erudition are clothed with the flesh and blood of eloquence and philosophy; as in the pages of a philosophical anatomist, the smallest details of form, position, and number are made the alphabet of great thoughts on Life. Nor is this the only resemblance. The science of language, unfolded in these lectures, is so singularly like that of comparative and transcendental anatomy in its laws-the principles of evolution and modification of the one are so similar to those demonstrable in the other-that the two sciences mutually assist and collustrate each other (to use the favourite phrase of the Florentine Platonists). Unless we are greatly mistaken, the biologist may gain new illumination from the philologist, and the philologist may learn in biology to guide his steps, and to correct some of his misconceptions. It is from this point of view we shall offer some remarks on Mr Max Müller's work, leaving to other

Comparative Philology, Scientific Etymology, Phonology, Glossology, and La Linguistique. But none of these satisfy him. "If we must have a Greek title for our science," he says, "we might derive it from mythos, word, or from logos, speech. But the title Mythology is already occupied, and Logology would jar on classical ears." What does Mr Müller say to Etymogeny ? It would perfectly express the idea of genesis and development of words; as Organogeny expresses that of the genesis and development of organs. Etymogeny would thus stand in the same relation to Etymology as Organogeny does to Organology, as Histogeny does to Histology; and it would furnish all necessary derivatives.

But let us be as indifferent as Juliet herself to names, our interest in the thing cannot be tepid. If the reader takes up these 'Lectures' in a state of blank ignorance respecting all that European scholars have effected towards the establishment of a genuine science of Language, he will devour the book as we did, and undergo a succession of delighted thrills at the vistas of a new world of thought unfolding themselves before him. Much in the book must assuredly be Mr Max Müller's own; how much, we are too ignorant to guess. But of this at least we are certain, that such power of philosophic exposition, such consummate mastery as is implied in the ease and lightness of touch by which the subject is made to grow up before the eye, are rare in all departments, and rarest of all in the works of German savants. It is true that Mr Max Müller is a very exceptional German. Not only does he write English with a felicity

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* Lectures on the Science of Language.' By Max Müller. 2d Edition.

and precision rare even among Englishmen, and perfectly marvellous in a foreigner, but he has emancipated himself from the painful minuteness and inartistic prodigality of the German, who insists on your taking with the statue all the chips and dust which his chisel has struck off. Goethe says truly, that "only the fulness of strength turns to the freedom of grace ”—

"Nur die gesättigt Kraft kehret zur Anmuth zurück;"

but either the German is seldom gesättigt, or else he forgets to turn back. He has laboured in the production of the work, and insists on your labouring, like a galley slave, to read it.

Just as the biologist disregards every question of Medicine or Hygiene, seeking only to detect the laws of life and the development of animal forms, seeking his material in the most useless and despised creatures the slug that crawls over his cabbages, the mite devastating his cheese, the worm burrowing in the earth, the animalcules crowding in the stagnant pool,-so likewise the etymogenist (if we may begin to use our new word) neglects the ordinary claims of language as a medium of social and literary intercourse, and seeks his material elsewhere than in classic and literary language. "Dialects which have never produced any literature at all -the jargons of savage tribes, the clicks of the Hottentots, and the vocal modulations of the Indo-Chinese-are as important, nay, for the solution of some of our problems, more important, than the poetry of Homer or the prose of Cicero. We do not want to know languages, we want to know language; we want to know its origin, its nature, its laws."

It appears that there are some nine hundred known languages. That so vast a field should never have tempted the curiosity of philo sophers until the beginning of the present century, is not so surprising as Mr Müller would have us believe.

Although as old as Aristotle, Comparative Anatomy only began to be scientifically studied towards the end of the last century. Of it we may say what Mr Müller says of Language. "Like a veil that hung too closely over the eye of the human mind, it was hardly perceived. In an age when the study of antiquity attracted the most energetic minds, when the ashes of Pompeii were sifted for the playthings of Roman life; when parchments were made to disclose by chemical means the erased thoughts of Grecian thinkers; when the tombs of Egypt were ransacked for their sacred contents, and the palaces of Babylon and Nineveh forced to surrender the clay diaries of Nebuchadnezzar ; when everything, in fact, that seemed to contain a vestige of the early life of man was anxiously searched for and carefully preserved in our libraries and museums,language, which in itself carries us back far beyond the cuneiform literature of Assyria and Babylonia, and the hieroglyphic documents of Egypt, which connects ourselves through an unbroken chain of speech with the very first ancestors of our race, and still draws its life from the first utterances of the human mind-language, the living and speaking witness of the whole history of our race, was never crossexamined by the student of history, was never made to disclose its secrets until questioned, and, so to say, brought back to itself, within the last fifty years, by the genius of a Humboldt, Bopp, Grimm, Bunsen, and others." Among "the others' not the least eminent being Mr Max Müller.

Now that the study has commenced, its results already disclose the richness and importance of the science. In its infancy we already detect the thews and sinews of a Titan. Some of the disclosures are startling. What think you, for example, of the statement that, on any view of the origin and dispersion of language, it is demonstrable that nothing new has ever been added

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