546 Literary and Critical Pro'emium 



wliicli,.as pursuing a middle course be- 



tween the profound ik-pllis into vvliicli the 

 pliysiciiin and surgeon are required to pe- 

 netrate, and tile comparatively siiperficwl 

 knowledge ncce.'sary to tlie artist, if, in a 

 drgree, calculated to promote tlie objects 

 of botli ilie n-.edical student and the gra- 

 phic enquirer. We cannot help saying, in 

 the language of liie preface, that it is " a 

 great pity that those wlio devote them- 

 selves to the arts of desii,'n, do not study 

 xucii pans of dead subjects as they liave 

 occasion to represent; that they do not 

 combine this siudy with that of living mo- 

 dfcl:J, and strive to make themselves ac- 

 qiianited vvith the causes and rules of that 

 which they have observed." We are too 

 well acquainted with the advaniajjes ob- 

 tained at the Ro\al Academy (rom the 

 study and dtlincation of the living subject, 

 not to feel ilu' conviction, that a student's 

 previous acquaintance with so much of the 

 iiiiman organization as concerns the exer- 

 cise of his art, would materially aid ins 

 practical progress. 



The University of Oxford has adopted 

 books for study and examination exactly 

 on the plan of those on the Interrogative 

 .System of Sir Richard Phillips. Thus 

 Muall books have been printed of Queslion.s 

 (like tlia^e by Baruovv,) on the Old and 

 New Testamcut, and on sundry other 

 works used in the University ; and a set of 

 Questions is announced on Thncydides. 

 \Ve consider tins novelty to be as credita- 

 ble to the University as lo the popular 

 Si stem which it hat adopted. But, at the 

 same time that the (juestiosis arc more 

 erudite than could be adopted in juvenile 

 cstaMi.shment.s, they are less skilfully pre- 

 j)artd by being arranged in the exact 

 Older of the ie.\t-book to which they lefer, 

 and thereby losing the cliief advantage of 

 the genuine Interrogative System. 



The translator of IVHhehn MeisUr's Ap- 

 prenticeship, n Novel, from ilia German of 

 Goethe, is nianil'estly a very clever man ; 

 l)ut, whilst we admire his ability, we can- 

 not agree with all his positions. He tells 

 ns in a preface, abounding in smart things, 

 that " Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has 

 been very unjustly dealt with " in this 

 country, in respect to the selections which 

 have been made of his works for the pur- 

 ,ioses of translation. Now it is with 

 literature just as with ail other human 

 productions, mechanical or inti'liectual. 

 If they are worth the importation, tiiat is, 

 if they suit the market, tliey will always be 

 liberally brought into the market. If this 

 has not been the case with Goethe, the 

 reason luust be, that his works have not 

 been fitted for the tastes and wants of the 

 En-lisli public. " Wilhelin Meister " is 

 one of his matiirer productions; and, un- 

 der the pretext of giving the history of a 

 young man's life and adventures, contains 

 iiints or di:!qui9itions on almost every lead- 



ing point in life and literature, and atforiis 

 a di.stinct view of Goethe's developed ge- 

 nius, his manner of thought, and his fa- 

 vourite notions. It has, from its first ap- 

 pearance, been extremely popular in Ger- 

 many, and its songs and poems are familiar 

 to the public, who speak of it vvith enthusi- 

 astic admiration. The translation is exe- 

 cuted in a masterly way. Perhaps a lit tk 

 too much of the German mode of expies- 

 sion has been preserved ; but there is a 

 strength, originality, and raciness, about 

 it, whicli cannot fail to please the reader, 

 even wlien he is little disposed to admire 

 the story or the sentiments of the air.hor. 



If mysticism and metaphysics were the 

 best materials fur lire construction of a 

 novel, we should set down Rosaline dt- 

 Vere as a first-rate production. Kut un- 

 happily for the author, and happily for the 

 reader, something else is required in a 

 popular novel than German mysticism and 

 unintelligible abstractions. Lord Dillon, 

 wlio is reputed to be the author of these 

 volume.", has already published several 

 works of equivocal lepiitation ; and, 

 although we are glad to see noblemen 

 assume the livery of authors, yet we 

 cannot congratulate his loixhhip upon his 

 success. 



Smith's Geoli'gical Atlas, Part VI., con- 

 taining very detailed coloured maps of the 

 strata of the four most northern English 

 counties, separately on siugle sheets, via. 

 Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and 

 Westmoreland, has just appeared. After 

 the long interval in which the ingenious 

 author, smarting under a deep bCnse of 

 nnineriled wrongs and neglect, has se- 

 cluded himself from his friends in the 

 metropolis, we are happy in perceiving, 

 from the maps before us, that Mr. Smith 

 has, in the mean tune, not iclaxed in liis 

 zeal and industry for completing the 

 Slratigrapkical Survey of our Island, which, 

 so long back as 1793, he had begun, on 

 simple and original principles, alto^etlier 

 his own, and borrowed fiom uo one, as 

 was parliculaily set forth, in March 1818, 

 in the " Philosophical Magazine," and 

 others of our monthly journals, Mr. 

 Smith, on commencing his labours, pro- 

 posed to himself theaidiious and very ex- 

 pensive undertaking, of surveying and 

 mapping the strata of our island, and of as- 

 certaining the mineral and the orgauized 

 contents of each stratum ; and, about the 

 conclusion of the last century, he had so 

 far accomplished the same, as to then have 

 ready for publication, his first general 

 " Map of the Strata of England, Wales, 

 and the southern parts of Scotland ;" but, 

 unfortunately, owing to the want of coun- 

 tenance to Mr. Smith, and in lack of the 

 frequent mention of his novel labours by 

 the professors, lecturers, and numerous 

 writers, on the geology, mineralogy, and 

 natural history, of ilriiain, whilst many of 



these 



