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Article REVIEW OF LITERATURE, THE DRAMA, &c. ← Page 5 of 7 →
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Review Of Literature, The Drama, &C.
is that , identically , which our friend had purposed to himself to have entered on in his treatise , and although so far it would seem to savour of imitation were he to publish now , still we hope to be able to tempt him from his self-imposed restriction on the point , and allow us to be benefited by his peculiarl y fortunate experience . But to return to Dr . Johnson . He has acted , it must be confessed , somewhat too mechanicall y in the partitions which he has made of
human life ; he has taken out his rule and measured off its various stages with too much mathematical precision , to be altogether free from the suspicion that his plan had so far tickled his fancy as to render him blind to the very obvious accusation , of making a Procrustean experiment upon his subject , rather than adopting any definite and well conducted plan of philosophical results . But this may be considered a blemish incidental to his materials , and the object he had in view , and we must not look too minutel
y or exactingly into a work which has much merit , and deserves , to a large extent , approval . The author divides human life into periods of seven years , a convenient subdivision ; and he ri ghtly places the golden era of human existence between twenty-ei ght and forty-two , at which he fixes the ebb-tide of life , dating the grand climacteric at the ninth septennial , or from fitty-six to sixty-three . We have accorded due praise to the author s easy style . In some of his former productions Dr . Johnson was evidently anxious to attain the character of a scholar , here he
presents himself with the greater object of utility ; for as he feelingly remarks m his preface , "the race of competition is abandoned , and the goal of ambition has dropped the mask and assumed its real character'the scoffing termination of man ' s vain hopes—the withering finger pointing to the tomb . '" This sentence has a moral ; one which Masonry inculcates in its every day practice with a more easily decyphered handwriting . We had intended to be critical on parts of this work , but the of the author '
object s disquisition to teach that most difficult of tasks , how to curb ami regulate the three master passions of humanity , LOVE , AMBITION , and AVARICE , and to teach us the still more difficult task , " how to die , ' has disarmed us , and where many good things abound , we shall not be querulous . The latin quotations scattered through the volume are unworthy of Dr . Johnsonthey seem culled from Lill ' Latin GrammarWhat
, ys . , too , can be said of such witticisms as the following , which we print , italics and all , as we find them in page 30 ? "Some of the remarks on the education of male youth will bear , mutatis mutandis , on that of the female ; but others will not . It cannot be said that too much of their time is dedicated to the Greek and Latin Classics . Ihey are much fonder of living tongues than of dead languages . " Dr . Johnson can well afford to pardon few sincere remarks—He has
a done as much practical good as most men—and his high standing in the profession , of which he is indeed an ornament , makes us jealous of the slightest possible failing in one who has afforded us much pleasure , and some instruction .
Coulson on Deformities of the Chest , &; c . Hurst . —It will be no offence to any , nay to all who have preceded Mr . Coulson , in the subject to which he has devoted his pen , to say that he has given a manual to woman , which deserves her gratitude . Let his book be read by alleven b y her whose graceful form has proved an amulet against the evils
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature, The Drama, &C.
is that , identically , which our friend had purposed to himself to have entered on in his treatise , and although so far it would seem to savour of imitation were he to publish now , still we hope to be able to tempt him from his self-imposed restriction on the point , and allow us to be benefited by his peculiarl y fortunate experience . But to return to Dr . Johnson . He has acted , it must be confessed , somewhat too mechanicall y in the partitions which he has made of
human life ; he has taken out his rule and measured off its various stages with too much mathematical precision , to be altogether free from the suspicion that his plan had so far tickled his fancy as to render him blind to the very obvious accusation , of making a Procrustean experiment upon his subject , rather than adopting any definite and well conducted plan of philosophical results . But this may be considered a blemish incidental to his materials , and the object he had in view , and we must not look too minutel
y or exactingly into a work which has much merit , and deserves , to a large extent , approval . The author divides human life into periods of seven years , a convenient subdivision ; and he ri ghtly places the golden era of human existence between twenty-ei ght and forty-two , at which he fixes the ebb-tide of life , dating the grand climacteric at the ninth septennial , or from fitty-six to sixty-three . We have accorded due praise to the author s easy style . In some of his former productions Dr . Johnson was evidently anxious to attain the character of a scholar , here he
presents himself with the greater object of utility ; for as he feelingly remarks m his preface , "the race of competition is abandoned , and the goal of ambition has dropped the mask and assumed its real character'the scoffing termination of man ' s vain hopes—the withering finger pointing to the tomb . '" This sentence has a moral ; one which Masonry inculcates in its every day practice with a more easily decyphered handwriting . We had intended to be critical on parts of this work , but the of the author '
object s disquisition to teach that most difficult of tasks , how to curb ami regulate the three master passions of humanity , LOVE , AMBITION , and AVARICE , and to teach us the still more difficult task , " how to die , ' has disarmed us , and where many good things abound , we shall not be querulous . The latin quotations scattered through the volume are unworthy of Dr . Johnsonthey seem culled from Lill ' Latin GrammarWhat
, ys . , too , can be said of such witticisms as the following , which we print , italics and all , as we find them in page 30 ? "Some of the remarks on the education of male youth will bear , mutatis mutandis , on that of the female ; but others will not . It cannot be said that too much of their time is dedicated to the Greek and Latin Classics . Ihey are much fonder of living tongues than of dead languages . " Dr . Johnson can well afford to pardon few sincere remarks—He has
a done as much practical good as most men—and his high standing in the profession , of which he is indeed an ornament , makes us jealous of the slightest possible failing in one who has afforded us much pleasure , and some instruction .
Coulson on Deformities of the Chest , &; c . Hurst . —It will be no offence to any , nay to all who have preceded Mr . Coulson , in the subject to which he has devoted his pen , to say that he has given a manual to woman , which deserves her gratitude . Let his book be read by alleven b y her whose graceful form has proved an amulet against the evils